Edwards' coach prefers Burns over Muhammad for next title defense

Leon Edwards' head coach, Dave Lovell, already has an ideal opponent in mind for Edwards' next UFC welterweight title defense - and it's not Belal Muhammad.

Lovell said Wednesday on "The MMA Hour" that if he had his way, Edwards would face Gilbert Burns in the spring.

"To be honest, if I really had a choice - but I don't think it will happen - I would like Leon to fight Burns," Lovell said. "But Burns had two bites at the cherry. I think maybe (the UFC would) want Burns maybe to have a couple more before if he was gonna be a contender for Leon.

"But if I had a choice who was gonna be next, I would prefer Burns over Belal. Because I think Burns brings more to the table than Belal."

Edwards is coming off a unanimous decision win over former interim champ Colby Covington at UFC 296 last weekend. After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White didn't commit to Edwards' next opponent, and Edwards downplayed a potential matchup against Muhammad. However, Muhammad is still widely expected to be next. He's unbeaten in 10 straight fights, with the only blemish during that stretch being a no-contest against Edwards in March 2021.

Meanwhile, Burns lost to Muhammad via a lopsided decision in a five-round fight earlier in 2023.

"You can't judge it by the first round totally, but it looked like Leon obviously had the first round locked down with Belal, and he was going in for the kill in the second," Lovell said.

Lovell implied the Edwards-Muhammad rematch may not sell well on pay-per-view. However, the coach admitted Muhammad has done enough to warrant a title shot and said, "We'll take whoever they throw at us."

"If it's Belal, so be it," Lovell added.

"Belal's earned his place. Even though he still hasn't done what Leon did. He didn't go through the tribulations Leon did. But you know what? He's earned himself his contendership."

Muhammad reacted to Lovell's comments Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter:

Edwards fired back, sparking a back-and-forth between him and Muhammad: