Leon Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, has been watching him train for six years before he got his first chance to compete for a UFC title. Meanwhile, Colby Covington only had one win but came back and earned a shot at the same belt that Leon Edwards holds. Coach Lovell thinks it’s unfair and that something’s wrong with how fights are being chosen in the Welterweight division.
Lovell said on The MMA Hour that he does not think it is fair for Colby Covington to get a shot. He said the boss (Leon) makes the decision and they must follow it, but as a coach Lovell thinks giving Colby this chance doesn’t sit well with him.
This will be his third try at getting something. He’s been away for around one year. His most recent success was against Jorge Masvidal, but before that he had two losses to Kamaru Usman. Usman won both times and did a lot of damage in both matches.
Why does he deserve to go ahead in line and already get a fight when Gilbert Burns and our enemy, Masvidal, are about to have their own fight? Usually, we should pick the winner from that one. I would like it if Masvidal won because there are certain reasons behind this choice. But if Burns wins, then it makes sense for him to get a second chance since all the other fighters have already got theirs.
This past Saturday, 31-year-old Edwards defended his UFC welterweight title when he fought against Kamaru Usman. He won the match by a majority decision after an intense fight. This is the second time that Edwards beat Usman as he had previously scored a fifth-round head kick knockout at UFC 278, which was a very memorable moment!
Once the event was over, UFC President Dana White left everyone -including fans, media and even Edwards -shocked when he declared that Covington was next in line.
Covington has won only two out of four fights since September 2019, both against Tyron Woodley and Masvidal. His other two were title-bouts where he lost to Usman.
At 170 pounds, Belal Muhammad is doing much better than others. He has been undefeated in his last nine fights since early 2019 and competed six times in the past two years, making him one of the most active fighters at that weight class.
However, Coach Lovell isn’t convinced that Muhammad should get a title shot either. When asked about it, he reminded us of Muhammad’s match against Edwards in March 2021 that was called off early because Muhammad poked him in the eye 18 seconds into second round – as if he had planned it.
“What I mean with an eye poke isn’t a direct hit to the eye, it was more of what Justin Gaethje did during the fight against Rafael Fiziev at the weekend,” Lovell explained. “Have you seen what he pulled forward with his finger? Well Belal did something similar and blood came out around his eye, but not from his eyeball so he didn’t get medical treatment or go to the hospital as a result.”
Rocky scratched the skin under Mr. Belal’s eye, which wasn’t that bad of a wound. First people thought it was really serious but then Leon said he had worked hard to gain his titles so Mr. Belal should have to do the same and if he deserves to be number two in titles, then that’s okay.
Lovell and Edwards both agree that the next UFC challenger should be the winner of the Masivdal vs. Burns fight, happening on April 8 in Miami. Masvidal and Edwards got into a dispute back in March 2019 called the “Three-piece with a Soda”, while Burns defeated two fighters named Neil Magny and Stephen Thompson, as well as another one for Fight of The Year runner-up against Khamzat Chimaev since his failed 2021 title shot.
Lovell is confused as to why White picked Covington as the next challenger before we even know who won between Burns and Masvidal.
Lovell said, “It doesn’t feel right to me. We have to have a meeting with the team and management to see what does. If Dana says anything about the situation, we must go with that. But for now, let’s not worry much and just give him some time to rest his foot after the fight. It’s only normal that he needs to recover. No matter what happens, this is how I feel.”
