Belal Muhammad, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Islam Makhachev are not preferred opponents for current UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.
This was announced by the British coach, Dave Lovell, in the next edition of the program “The MMA Hour”.
“If I had a choice, I would want Leon to fight Gilbert Burns,” said the British specialist. “I would prefer Burns to Belal because he has more to offer than Belal. Leon has already beaten Belal – the fight was declared a no contest, but if you judge by the first round, Leon won it, and in the second round he should have finished Belal, but there was a poke in the eye”
“We still don’t know who will be next. Shawkat has a leg injury and I don’t think he’ll be ready for April. Even if they pick Belal, we’ll be ready to go, but will this fight be profitable in terms of pay-per-view sales? You have to look at it from a business standpoint, from a UFC standpoint.”
According to Lovell, representatives from the organization have already contacted Edwards’ team regarding his participation in the UFC 300 anniversary event, which takes place April 13 in Las Vegas.
“It’s just talk for now, but we’ll wait to see what Leon decides – he’s the boss. Personally, I think he could do it. He’ll have a bit of a break over Christmas and then he can get back to work to prepare for April. All we need now is the name of the opponent so we can make a plan for the fight for a specific opponent”
Leon Edwards made his second successful title defense this past weekend at UFC 296 in Las Vegas, winning a five-round unanimous decision over Colby Covington.
Gilbert Burns last stepped into the octagon in May of this year, losing a five-round unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad, and is currently ranked fourth in the UFC welterweight rankings.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/33458-komanda-leona-edvardsa-nazvala-idealnogo-sopernika.html?rand=19907
