It’s like a scene from Rocky! Coach Leon Edwards motivated his charges with a speech that went viral

Leon Edwards’ trainer motivated his tired charge before entering the fifth round of the title fight for the UFC welterweight championship belt in a way that has gone viral.

Before entering the fifth round, few believed Edwards would win

Leon Edwards was the hero of this weekend’s UFC 278 tournament. The highlight of the night was shutting down the No. 1 pound-for-pound ranked fighter in the UFC, Kamara Usman, and taking away the undefeated fighter’s championship belt in the top league in the world.

Although he surprised “The Nigerian Nightmare” in the first round when he successfully took his back, few expected him to threaten Usman’s reign. The next rounds proved the Jamaican-English fighter’s doubters right as the Nigerian turned the fight in his favour.

After four fought rounds, he sat back in his chair, taking deep breaths and considerably exhausted. Edwards’ coaches had just one minute to get their fighter together especially mentally.

The Brit’s trainer Lovell gave a flashback to the famous boxing movie Rocky Balboa

Although most people wrote him off at that moment, his trainer Dave Lovell was certainly not one to lose hope in his fighter. During the break, he injected blood into the “British Lion’s” veins with a speech cut from the movie screen, based on the fighter’s nickname “Rocky”.

“You must stop feeling sorry for your bloody self,” Lovell shouted at his charge. “Come on, what the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded of his broken wrestler. “Come on Leon, you got the guy, ” he encouraged Edwards in a way that went viral on social media around the world.

The speech, loved by millions of people across the planet, certainly served its purpose. For with one minute left in the game, Leon Edwards took a kick that went around the world.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do what you want, was his motto

Coach Lovell now returned to the aforementioned moment before the fifth round. “His body language, he didn’t even look me in the eye,” he recalled , according to MMA Junkie, of the intermission before the decisive fifth round.

“He was slumped over in his chair and looking dejected, I had to shake the kid out of his slump,” he described the fighter’s condition. “You haven’t come this far, all the work you’ve put in over the last six, seven years to come to this country, and you’re going to be worshipping like a lamb,” he recalled of the Brit’s efforts going into the UFC title fight.

“If it inspires people, it can be a good thing,” Lovell said of his speech. “It can inspire anyone in any walk of life, just stop feeling sorry for yourself and go out and do what you want to do,” he repeated the powerful words that ultimately meant a world title.

Source: MMA Junkie, Twitter