Leon Edwards registered a statement win at UFC 296 against Colby Covington. However, the commentary team appeared to be critical of the welterweight champion during the closing stages of the fight. Meanwhile, Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, shut the commentators down and addressed the criticisms regarding his star fighter’s performance at UFC 296.

The classic trio of Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik reunited for the final pay-per-view of 2023. They called the main event between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington and were all praises for the British fighter during the initial phase of the fight. But the final round saw Rogan and his colleagues criticize the champion for his tactics. Let’s see what Edwards’ coach had to say about that.

Dave Lovell addressed Joe Rogan and co. criticizing Leon Edwards at UFC 296

Dave Lovell appeared during a recent edition of ‘The MMA Hour’, where he mentioned having rewatched the fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. He opened up on the criticisms of Joe Rogan and the other commentators on ‘Rocky’ and shut them down by claiming that the champion dominated ‘Chaos’ despite what they had to say about his last-round performance. Lovell said, “Let’s say Leon won the first four, hands down. The last round, even though there was a bit more wrestling involved, okay.”

He also mentioned that Colby Covington was only able to shine during the fight in the last round. Even though it was a close five minutes, Leon Edwards’ coach had no problems giving the round to ‘Chaos’. “Because Colby had the last sort of exchange in the wrestling, the round was close. But okay, let’s edge it and give him the round,” Dave Lovell added. Nevertheless, he was happy with Edwards’ performance because he ticked all the boxes. Let’s take a look at Lovell’s comments on that front.

Coach Lovell claims ‘Rocky’ showcased a complete performance

Leon Edwards had a decisive victory at UFC 296. As such, Dave Lovell claims that the dominant win was due to his star fighter showcasing all kinds of skills, from grappling offense to grappling defense. He further stated, “Leon showed, like I said, his offensive wrestling, his anti-wrestling and he ticked all the marks.”

Moreover, Dave Lovell believes that Leon Edwards’ grappling skills surprised a lot of people. This is because most people thought they would easily take down ‘Rocky’ because he is mostly a striker. However, Lovell was over the moon with the fact that Edwards showed that he could handle himself in all aspects of fighting.

“Everybody on the podcasts, all the fighters, they were all sort of taken aback, like how good Leon’s wrestling is. So all these guys that just think, ‘Oh, I’ll out-wrestle him because he’s a striker’, well, he just proved that he can more than handle his own in the wrestling department,” Edwards’ coach added.

Read More: Not Impressed by Leon Edwards and FIFA World Cup Winner Collab, Belal Muhammad Insults UFC Champ With a Taunting Message

Leon Edwards will now shift his focus to Belal Muhammad, who will be the opponent for his third title defense. Fans were not pleased with Dana White when this fight was announced. However, it will reportedly happen at the monumental UFC 300 PPV. We will have to wait and see if Edwards retains his title again or if Muhammad captures the belt and continues his winning streak.

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