Leon Edwards was severely diminished in his welterweight title loss to Belal Muhammad last year, according to his coach Dave Lovell. 

Edwards’ extended undefeated streak came to a halt in Manchester last summer when he was comprehensively outpointed by challenger Belal Muhammad in the UFC 304 main event in July. However, the card was catered to a North American pay-per-view audience meaning that the main event in Edwards’ home country didn’t take place until somewhere in the region of 5am local time — and according to Lovell, this situation is partly responsible for the former champion’s muted performance in what was his first defeat since December 2015.

“It’s a bitter pill for me to swallow for the simple fact, how Leon lost it, the lacklustre effort for whatever reason,” Lovell said on The Ariel Helwani Show, as noted by MMA Fighting. “Because we all know that was, what, 30, 35, 40 percent of Leon Edwards that night?”

Lovell added that a niggling back injury had also hampered his fighter’s preparation but with an impending showdown with Sean Brady scheduled for UFC London this weekend, Lovell says that the time has come to turn the page and get back into the title conversation at 170-pounds.

“There were some major factors leading up to the fight, forget the minor injury apart,” Lovell explained.

“In England, when have you ever heard of a sportsman performing 6:00 in the morning? It’s never been heard of before and no doubt you’ll never hear of it again. 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, the world knows he’s a lot better than that. We know. Most and foremost, he knows he’s better than that.

“Yeah, it was a major setback, but we’re on the road back to gold, what more can I say to that?”