Team Sean Strickland has hilarious reaction to Leon Edwards’ coach calling out ‘lackluster’ effort
Leon Edwards' coach laments early-morning lackluster title performance; Sean Strickland's coach, Eric Nicksick, laces up the same feeling.
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Sean Strickland's coach, Eric Nicksick, echoes the same sentiments with team Leon Edwards (Source: X)
Leon Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, is of the opinion the MMA community did not see the ex-champion’s best in his last outing. ‘Rocky’ lost his UFC 170-pound title strap to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304, last July. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side; Sean Strickland’s coach, Eric Nicksick, knows the feeling quite well. Hence, he responded to the comments, with a humorous GIF.
Leon Edwards lost his welterweight title via unanimous decision. It was quite a dominating win by the upset winner and now-champ Muhammad. Edwards echoed his frustration at having to fight in the middle of the night in Manchester to fit into the US pay-per-view schedule slot. He said it has had a major impact; his head coach agrees and feels disappointed about how it went.
It was just a freaky moment in time, and Leon had to deal with it. To lose to Belal in the fashion he lost to him — It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I take nothing from Belal… He won his way to this like Leon did, so let him make the most of it, fair play to him. But it’s a bitter pill to swallow for the simple fact, how Leon lost it, the lackluster effort for whatever reason…Because we all know that was, what, 30, 35, 40 percent of Leon Edwards that night.
Dave Lovell on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat (@ArielHelwani)
Leon Edwards will look to shake off the cobwebs in his UFC London return at O2 Arena, aka the weekend’s Fight Night return to the UK. As for Team Xtreme Couture’s Eric Nicksick, he knows lackluster output from fighters. Sean Strickland lost out on his PPV title rematch at UFC 312: Du Plessis vs. Strickland 2 headliner at Qudos Bank Arena.
‘Tarzan’ could not go beyond his teep-and-jab method even though the coach asked for changes from round three onwards. Hence, Eric Nicksick posted a laid-back GIF on Lovell’s comments on Instagram, essentially saying ‘welcome to the club.’
Nicksick aptly criticized Sean Strickland’s low effort and lack of urgency to reclaim his title gold. ‘Tarzan’ let Dricus Du Plessis do all the damage, without any urgency to fight back. In fact, his lack of urgency was the major reason why DDP broke the nose of Strickland.
The American MMA coach later humbly joined in fan commentary who claimed Edwards made a lot less effort than Strickland did. Yet the coach was flamed for wanting to coach ‘champion’ mentality fighters and not lackluster performances.
UFC London’s Leon Edwards can now be ‘free’ when he fights, promises better performance
Leon Edwards returns to action in the main event of this week’s UFC London against #5 ranked Sean Brady. After a disappointing PPV title loss, ‘Rocky’ needs a hard rebound. At the time, he was on a very long winning streak, having not tasted defeat in 10 long years. Edwards even meant to overtake Georges St-Pierre for the second-longest winning streak in UFC 170-pound competition history (12).
However, all the hopes came to an end. With his streak broken, Edwards has a load lifted off his shoulders. Second-ever UK UFC champion does not have the mounted pressure that he might lose the belt. Hence, he means to perform as such.
I can go out there and be free. Before, when I hadn’t lost in 10 years, I didn’t want to lose, …and I was trying to break this record of GSP, …I was putting so much pressure on myself because I didn’t want to lose a fight because of GSP’s record. But I’ve lost now, and now I can go out there and be young ‘Rocky.’
Leon Edwards to TNT Sports’ Adam Catteral
Edwards is out to remind everyone that he is still #1 ranked welterweight in the division. He also aspired to get into title contention fold with another win. Per BetGM opening odds and picks, Edwards has propped as a +160 underdog for his next affair. Here is looking at if he can make his case back to title gold.
Related: ‘Skinny a**’ Leon Edwards gets WARNED by Jorge Masvidal ahead of return to UFC
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