Ex-UFC star can "understand where Leon Edwards is coming from" after 'Rocky's' claims about not being at best during Belal Muhammad fight

Leon Edwards did not feel like he was at his best when he lost his belt to Belal Muhammad, and some recent comments from Edwards' coach have inspired a response from a former UFC welterweight veteran.

Dave Lovell is the head coach for 'Rocky' and made some claims during a recent interview with Ariel Helwani. He suggested that Edwards' charge was operating at about thirty or forty percent of his capabilities when he dropped his 170-pound strap to Muhammad at UFC 304 last July.

The dynamics associated with having to make the cage walk at 5 a.m. local time was specifically cited as a big reason for this sub-optimal performance, according to both Leon Edwards and Dave Lovell in separate interviews.

When speaking to MMA Fighting's Damon Martin on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Matt Brown mentioned how he could relate to the struggles of a fighter in the context of outside circumstances taking away from your peformance.

Getting into the specifics of this subject, Brown said:

"I understand where Leon's coming from, especially being in his home country. He's certainly accustomed to a certain rhythm, a routine of sleeping and waking. Belal coming from another country, there's some excitement and everything's new. The time zone is new.

"You're going to be adjusting to the timezone regardless. I guess I could see it a little bit, but we're right on track with the same thing we always say. You can't take anything away from Belal. He fought amazing in that fight."

Check out the comments from Lovell that Brown was responding to below:

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Leon Edwards foresees road back to UFC gold

Leon Edwards is looking to return to the win column after losing his hold on the gold. He foresees a victory in his next fight vaulting him back into the title contender conversation.

Leon Edwards prepares to compete against No. 5-ranked contender Sean Brady this weekend at UFC London.

As the former champion still sits as the division's number one contender, Leon Edwards foresee this contest being a title eliminator. Jack Della Maddalena was initially supposed to fight Edwards but ended up being placed opposite Belal Muhammad in a welterweight title fight set for UFC 315 instead.

During an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, Leon Edwards discussed how he perceives this Brady bout:

"I feel like, for me, it's a number one contender fight. I go out there and I perform like I know I will perform, I feel like the title shot is next. That's the only fight that makes sense for me."

See the full interview below: