Leon Edwards’ coach was eager to provide some context to the former UFC welterweight champion’s wrestling match against Belal Muhammad.

Edwards headlined the UFC 304 pay-per-view event at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England this past weekend, defending his gold medal in the 170-pound division in a rematch with Muhammad.

Against all odds and despite many backing the champion, “Remember the Name” proved his confidence was justified by delivering a dominant performance over five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.

A key component to Muhammad’s title triumph was his renowned grappling game, as he used a smothering wrestling ax to control Edwards for key portions of the UFC 304 headliner. That came as a surprise to many, considering Edwards’ strong wrestling defense, which helped him defeat both Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington on points last year.

Now some additional information has been added regarding the former champion’s failure to combat Muhammad’s takedowns…

Coach Lovell was ‘doubtful’ about Edwards battling injury at UFC 304

During a recent interview on Submission RadioCoach Dave Lovell reflected on the setback his man suffered in Manchester last weekend, his first defeat since losing on points to Usman in 2015.

While acknowledging Muhammad’s performance and suggesting it simply wasn’t Edwards’ night, the veteran trainer did reveal some injury issues that he believes hampered “Rocky”‘s ability to handle the challenger’s main offense at UFC 304.

“As far as Leon, a lot of people don’t know this — and I’m not making excuses for him — but we had a couple of little issues in camp. His back was acting up,” Lovell said. “So he wasn’t able to wrestle the way he really needed to, offensively and defensively. We’re not taking anything away from Belal’s performance. He did a good job; the best man won that night. But Leon will be back.

“I was very skeptical because he had been having these issues on and off for about five weeks. He had to go to a chiropractor (for) regular massages. But after one session, it was back to square one,” Lovell continued. “I was thinking in the back of my mind, ‘Should we do this?’ But because he hadn’t fought in so long, Leon said he wanted to, so we just went through the injury, trained through the injury and then tried to push through and get a win. Unfortunately, that never happened.”

Edwards made no mention of the physical challenges he faced entering the cage at UFC 304. In a short and concise statement after the bout, “Rocky” apologized to his fans and vowed to regain the gold.