Leon Edwards' coach on a potential trilogy against Kamaru Usman



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Leon Edwards' coach on a potential trilogy against Kamaru Usman

Many are hoping for a new fight between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards. Edwards' trainer was talking to The MMA Hour about a potential new match between Usman and Edwards. “If that’s the script, so be it,” Lovell said, as quoted by mmafighting.

“But you never know how these things work. There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing behind closed doors. We’re in a dirty game, and you’ve got to know to play your cards and keep them tight to your chest.

You know, I know, they’re grearing up this Khamzat [Chimaev] guy – he’s their next cash cow, and they’re fast-tracking him. So listen, it’s not a foregone conclusion that we’re going to get Usman.

“Let’s not forget – I’ve heard a few people skirt around what I’m going to say, like Khabib [Nurmagomedov] mentioned some things – but Usman had a loss earlier in his career where he got choked out before he was in the UFC.

He’s never been knocked out. It’s one thing a fighter getting dropped and getting counted out while he’s still conscious, or taken a body shot and couldn’t get up from it, or getting stopped on his feet with the referee pulled the other guy off him, but when you get knocked out in a fight where you just wake up and think, ‘What’s happened?’ Let me tell you, it’s a life-changing event, and I’m not just talking about fighting, I’m talking life itself”.

Lovell on Usman

Lovell is aware of Usman's qualities, but the question is whether he can be the same again and whether he is ready to fight Edwards. “Usman is a bully-style fighter,” he said. “And when a bully gets knocked out, or hurt that way, that’ll always be in the computer, mate, regardless of what he wants to say.

“Does it change him? Does he now become gun-shy? Does he become more cautious. We don’t know. So when we’re talking Usman next, this is not a foregone conclusion or a guarantee. Let’s see physically if he can get back to where he needs to – and mentally”.

Wembley has been mentioned as an option for the match, but Edwards' manager has other ideas. “I know that they’re talking about Wembley,” Lovell said. “But listen, where we live, we’re a stone’s throw from our football ground, which is [Aston Arena], which can hold [approximately 42,000].

... I know Dana would entertain Wembley, London, the capital, but why not bring it to where we live in Birmingham in our underprivileged [city] and let some money spin and generate around our area. But that’s my opinion”.