Leon Edwards’ path back to the welterweight title should go through Ian Machado Garry, according to the former champion’s coach Dave Lovell. 

Edwards was outpointed by new champ Belal Muhammad in the small hours of Sunday morning in the main event of Manchester’s UFC 304 card; a fight which marked the Briton’s first defeat since December of 2015.

It stands to reason that Edwards won’t stray too far from title contention, even if UFC brass (and indeed Muhammad) have hinted that the unbeaten Kazakh destroyer Shavkat Rakhmonov will likely be the next man up, particularly given the currents statuses of Kamaru Usman (three fight losing streak), Jack Della Maddalena (injured) and Colby Covington (0-3 in title fights in recent years).

And as far as Lovell is concerned, this leaves one suitable candidate for Edwards’ return bout.

“I’d like to see Leon and Garry,” Lovell said via talkSPORT. “As you know their little background story we had going back last year, he’s looking for a scalp. Now, Leon’s not champion, he may think, well, it is a good scalp for him to get.”

Both fighters spent time on the mat together in Edwards’ training base at Team Renegade in 2023 before Dubliner Garry would later settle at the famed Chute Boxe academy in Brazil.

“If Leon beats him that then puts him at the back of the queue,” Lovell added. “And then maybe if they want one more before he fights back below. If Belal still got the belt well, that would be the future move. The future plan.”