Leon Edwards explains coaching change to tackle key issue from Belal Muhammad loss

Edwards faces another wrestler on Saturday, headlining UFC London against Sean Brady while aiming to bounce back from his title loss to Muhammad

Leon Edwards has said he brought in a new grappling coach after his defeat by Belal Muhammad, as he prepares to face another wrestler this weekend.

On Saturday (22 March), Edwards fights Sean Brady in the main event of UFC London, aiming to bounce back from his welterweight title loss to Muhammad last July.

Edwards was comprehensively out-grappled as he suffered a decision defeat by Muhammad in Manchester, and the British-Jamaican decided a change was needed after that result.

“As far as coaching goes, it’s the same team, [but] I brought on a new coach, a grappling coach,” Edwards told Uncrowned on Monday (17 March).

“[He] is in sync very well. The way he breaks down grappling and fights, I feel like this is very beneficial moving forward.”

Edwards, 33, added there was no point “changing up everything”, as the issue “weren’t the team, really”.

He explained: “It’d been almost 10 years since I lost with my team, so I’m not gonna suddenly change everything up and throw everyone away and get a new team, because that’s not the case.

“I’m confident now in myself, confident in my team, what we’re preparing, what we’re doing.”

Belal Muhammad (top) outpointed Leon Edwards with a grappling-heavy approach (REUTERS)

Prior to his loss to Muhammad, Edwards was unbeaten in nine years, dating back to a decision defeat by Kamaru Usman, another wrestling specialist. Edwards avenged that loss in 2022 to win the title, out-grappling Usman in round one but failing in that area in the following rounds – before producing a stunning head-kick knockout with one minute left.

In his first title defence, Edwards again beat Usman, this time on points as he showed off improved wrestling. Then, in December 2023, Edwards beat another wrestler in Colby Covington, picking apart the American at range to retain the belt once more.

At the O2 Arena on Saturday, he was due to face a striker in Jack Della Maddalena, but the Australian was pulled from UFC London and placed in a title fight with Muhammad, scheduled for 10 May at UFC 315. That move occurred when Shavkat Rakhmonov, Muhammad’s intended next challenger, sustained an injury. Edwards therefore needed a new opponent, so in came Brady.

On the fact that he is facing yet another wrestler, Edwards said: “It’s been like that for the last... however long. I don’t see myself as a striker no more, I actually don’t. The amount of camps I’ve done for wrestlers now is just like... I feel like a f***ing wrestler! That’s all I do!

Edwards out-grappled Kamaru Usman briefly in their 2022 title fight, despite the latter’s wrestling pedigree (Getty Images)

“My understanding of the grappling, I think [people are] judging it from the last performance. They’re seeing what happened in the Belal fight, even though it was still a close fight. But before that, I took him down, I took Usman down, I took Colby down. I know how to grapple.

“This is not a striker versus grappler fight, this is a mixed martial arts fight. I’ll show that Saturday night: that was just a blip in my career, that night [against Muhammad]. If they’re judging it off that, then [Brady is] in for some mistake, you know?”

Edwards’s fight with Muhammad took place at around 6am BST in Manchester, as UFC 304 was scheduled for a US audience. Edwards has long attributed his struggles against Muhammad to the timing of the event, while his coach later said the Birmingham fighter was suffering from a back injury.