"Life doesn't just mean you gotta be selling drugs or robbing houses" - Coach Dave Lovell on the impact Leon Edwards' win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 has on the youth his area
Leon Edwards shocked the world at UFC 278, knocking out dominant champion Kamaru Usman with a headkick in the final minute of their welterweight title fight. Edwards becomes just the second fighter from the UK to hold a UFC championship belt, and now he has an entire country looking up to him.
According to Edwards' longtime coach Dave Lovell, 'Rocky' winning the belt is going to have a big influence on UK youth, especially those from their hometown of Birmingham. In a new episode of The MMA Hour, Lovell said:
"It's massive. Where we're from, we're living in a city area that's poverty-stricken ... The kids are running riots up here, they're stabbing each other, killing each other lock stock and barrel, shooting each other. It's getting out of hand. But Leon, coming from where we're from, this is a kid that could have gone down that path."
"The youth are gonna look up to this kid and think 'Well, I can be like that. Why not? He's come from where I come from.' So it's massive for us. Not just black kids in general, but all the youth in the area. It's set a precedent that there's something to follow or strive after, life doesn't just mean you gotta be selling drugs or robbing houses."
Watch Dave Lovell discuss Leon Edwards' huge win at UFC 278 below:
Edwards credits MMA with saving him from a life of crime or early death. According to 'Rocky,' he was already getting swept up in gang life when his mother took him to Lovell's gym and enrolled him in the MMA program there. changing the path of his life forever.
We shook up the world #ufc278 https://t.co/wKwVyvjivh
Leon Edwards now has a mural in his hometown of Birmingham, U.K.
While Leon Edwards was born in Kingson, Jamaica, he considers Birmingham, England his home. Specifically Erdington, a suburb just outside of downtown Birmingham. It's there that a new mural dedicated to Edwards was painted.
Leon Edwards Mural in Birmingham https://t.co/Vrrengy3cW
It was important for Leon Edwards to stay loyal to his gym and city. After winning the welterweight title, he said:
“This has never been done before, to have a guy from Birmingham in the U.K., did it from the U.K. I know Bisping did it first, but he did it from living in America. So it was hard for people like me to relate, to say, ‘Look, we can do it, as well.' I made a point to stay in the U.K. to achieve this, to show the other guys coming under me that, look, if you believe in your country, if you believe in your team, you can achieve it.”
This win over Kamaru Usman sets the stage for a trilogy fight, one that will take place in the U.K. and give Leon Edwards a chance to cement his position as the undisputed welterweight champion.
🏽 (Instagram-Renegadejiujitsu 📸)The UFC Welterweight Champion of the World, Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards has returned home to the UK 💪🏽 (Instagram-Renegadejiujitsu 📸) https://t.co/2EixlgoXnC