Leon Edwards’ coach Dave Lovell has opened up on the motivational speech that he gave his fighter ahead of the final round of UFC 278’s main event, in which Edwards knocked out Kamaru Usman to become UFC welterweight champion.
Edwards was down on the scorecards on Saturday night, on course for a decision loss to Usman – seven years after being outpointed by the Nigerian-American in their first clash. But with a minute left in the fight, Edwards produced a stunning head-kick KO to become Britain’s second ever UFC champion.
The strike immediately went viral, as did Edwards’ post-fight interview. Another viral element to the victory was Lovell’s rousing corner advice ahead of the final round. “Stop feeling sorry for your f***ing self!” Lovell shouted at Edwards, 31. “Come on then, what’s wrong with you? You gotta pull this s*** out of the fire!”
Explaining his impassioned urge to Edwards, who had appeared despondent between rounds, Lovell told The MMA Hour on Wednesday: “I just needed to get this kid shook up to make an effort, because I know the work he’s put in.
“I just didn’t want him to finish a fight quiet as a lamb, after this is his big moment. At least, Leon, go out with a bang; give the crowd [something], give yourself a chance.
“I just told him as it was. Panic stations. I just read him the riot act, simple as.”
When asked whether he had ever spoken to Jamaican-born Edwards in such a manner before, Lovell said: “No, because I’ve never seen Leon in that state in a fight, in training, at no time at all. So, I could not understand; I was getting frustrated, but I just had to do what I had to do.
“When I’d read the riot act, I went back to the corner and I said a little prayer to myself,” Lovell said tearfully. “I just wanted him to go out on his shield, I didn’t want him to go out like a lamb.”
Edwards’ body language throughout the fight, after a successful first round, had concerned Lovell, who put the behaviour down to his fighter struggling with the altitude in Salt Lake City, Utah – where UFC 278 was held.
“His body language, the way he was slumping down... he wouldn’t look at me,” Lovell said. “I was thinking: What is going on here? Because I knew this guy was on point physically. I’m looking at the kids in the corner, asking: What’s happened? – not realising that it was the altitude factor.
“When I did do a little bit of research, I believe if you go into altitude, you need a minimum of 6-10 weeks before your body accepts the blood levels, oxygen levels, and all the science bits that go with it. But Leon was only over there for two weeks, so that was – for me now – the factor.”
