Leon Edwards’ coach reveals conversation with Dana White following UFC 296: “Where do you draw the line?”

By Josh Evanoff - December 20, 2023

Leon Edwards’ coach Dave Lovell spoke with Dana White following UFC 296.

UFC 296 weigh-ins with Leon Edwards, Colby Covington and Dana White

Over the weekend, ‘Rocky’ returned to the cage against Colby Covington. Given that the bout involved ‘Chaos’, there was naturally a lot of trash talk involved. To his credit, Leon Edwards largely seemed unphased. Save for a wild press conference, where Covington mocked the murder of his father.

In the cage, it was all domination, however. On Saturday night, Leon Edwards scored a unanimous decision victory, to retain his welterweight title. Still, Colby Covington’s comments got under the skin of the British fighter, and even Dana White. Following the event, the promoter admitted that he really hated hearing those comments.

Still, Dana White declined to fine Colby Covington or anything of the sort. At the UFC 296 press conference, he stated that this is one of the few sports where words like that can get properly handled. That being said, that didn’t quell any of the anger from Leon Edwards and his team.

On The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Dave Lovell discussed the bout. There, Leon Edwards’ head coach revealed that he privately spoke with Dana White regarding Colby Covington’s comments. According to the trainer, he asked just how far he was willing to let fighters go moving forward.

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Leon Edwards, Colby Covington, UFC, UFC 296, Results

Dave Lovell discusses conversation with Dana White following UFC 296

“I even stated to Dana afterward when he came over, ‘Dana, Where do you draw the line?’” Dave Lovell stated to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, recalling his conversation with Dana White following Leon Edwards’s win over Colby Covington.” Dana turned around and said, ‘Well listen. You know what kind of scum you’re dealing with.’ I said, ‘Yeah Dana, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere bro’. If that’s the case, he’s given the green light to [anything].”

He continued, “That means if me and you are going to fight, I can do a little bit of history on your family. God forbid I heard that one of your family members passed away under whatever circumstances, and throw it in your face for a fight. Is that what everybody is about now? Are we bringing the game down to that sort of guttersnipe life? You know? This is what hurt me.”

Dave Lovell’s comments about Colby Covington are far from new. In the days since Leon Edwards’s win at UFC 296, many, many fighters have slammed ‘Chaos’. As of now, however, Dana White stated that he won’t enforce any rules about trash talk relating to him.

It also appears that Colby Covington himself won’t be heading anywhere either. Following his loss to Leon Edwards on Saturday, he called for a bout with Stephen Thompson. ‘Wonderboy’ too returned at UFC 296, suffering a submission loss at the hands of Shavkat Rakhmonov.

What do you make of these comments from Leon Edwards’ coach Dave Lovell? Do you agree? Or are you a fan of Colby Covington’s personal trash talk?