The UFC’s 16 outing in London saw their hometown hero Leon Edwards get mauled by the now #1 ranked 170lbs contender Sean Brady. Utter dominance from start to finish! What was anticipated to be a close encounter between a striker and wrestler turned out to be a nightmare for the former champion. Moreover, it also resulted in Edwards being finished for the first time in his pro career when he tapped out to Brady’s guillotine choke in the fourth round. And it seems that ‘Rocky’ has upset legendary boxing coach Teddy Atlas with his game plan last weekend.
Mike Tyson’s former coach reviewed the whole bout and came down to one single lapse in judgment by Edwards, which he believed was the reason for the Brit’s lopsided defeat. Ahead of the bout, Brady had already predicted the way he would finish Edwards, which made the win for the Philly native even sweeter. ‘Rocky’ just couldn’t find any answers after the American set the tone from the get-go. Brady would even go on to claim that getting the win over Edwards “was a lot easier” than he imagined.
Moreover, he even mocked the Englishman for attempting a takedown in the later half of the bout after being dominated on the ground from the first bell, deeming it as “dumb s—.” Atlas took issue with that exact same move, which proved vital to the result. “Why did he shoot?” A livid Teddy Atlas went haywire on Leon Edwards on his YouTube podcast for not playing to his strengths and instead, in the third round, trying to out-grapple a grappler, and a pretty dangerous one at that.
“He’s a smart guy. He’s a former champ. Why did he do something so stupid? Why? Why? [Was it] just a mistake or was it kamikaze?” Atlas then turned his attention to Edwards’ team, who were recently put on blast for their poor cornerman work. The veteran boxing coach sensed a lot of unnecessary “urgency” from Edwards, given that he was chasing the welterweight belt. On that note, he criticized ‘Rocky’s team for failing to communicate with the former champion to stick to his game plan while he was getting bested by Brady.
“Somebody’s got to sometimes bring out these things that are not easy to bring out. I love Edwards, but he’s in a tough spot. He’s even said he’s trying to get the fire back. He came back, he wants to get the title. It might not be as urgent to him as it was before he had the title,” Mike Tyson’s former trainer added. “I’m just saying that’s a possibility that the urgency might not be quite the same to go to the places he was prepared to go to before he won the title.”
MMA: UFC 278- Usman vs Edwards, Aug 20, 2022, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Leon Edwards blue gloves leaves the arena after defeating Kamaru Usman red gloves during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports, 20.08.2022 23:05:07, 18905992, NPStrans, Kamaru Usman, MMA PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJeffreyxSwingerx 18905992
Meanwhile, Brady not only mocked Edwards for his takedown attempt but also shared some constructive criticism. These comments, in a way, are similar to what another one of ‘Rocky’s former rivals had to say.
Sean Brady claims Leon Edwards is lacking ‘focus’
Dropping the belt to Belal Muhammad stung Leon Edwards, who claims that ‘Remember the Name’ doesn’t look good with the belt. That was the distraction that Sean Brady claimed to have taken advantage of and essentially won every round. “I think he was too worried about Belal… he was too worried about a bunch of other things that didn’t matter, and it showed tonight. He got smoked. He should’ve been more focused on this fight,” the 18-1 star stated during UFC London’s post-fight press conference.
Similarly, Colby Covington also came out to share some unpleasant words for Edwards, who claimed to have witnessed some lapse in ‘Rocky’s game plan when they fought at UFC 296. Those observations made the Clovis native question the former champion’s drive to become kingpin again and suggested that maybe his time’s up. “I broke my foot [at UFC 296] immediately, and he did nothing. He didn’t try and come after me. He just tried to point, coast to a decision,” Covington stated on the ‘Submission Radio’ podcast. “I just don’t think he’s motivated anymore. He should hang ’em up.”
Leon Edwards hasn’t shared any statement after his lackluster outing last weekend, as we wait to see who he ends up fighting next, given that he’s still in the top 5. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.
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