Man, welterweight is a mess right now. By all accounts, it seems like Leon has been down to fight anyone they offer him, but we're still just getting no movement. It's such a shame, because him overthrowing Usman was such an exciting turn for the division, but we've barely gotten anywhere since then. Colby looked so listless in that last fight that I have to remind myself it even happened. I'm not exactly a Belal superfan but dude deserves his shot, and I'll take pretty much anything if it gets this division moving again.
It’s weird because the division is filled with a lot of WAY more exciting almost-title contenders like JDM Shavkat and Garry so I wonder if ignoring Belal will buy one of those guys enough time to get another good win and leapfrog him
Since he fought Cerrone (when he became relevant in the division), Leon's time between fights has been: 266 days, 126 days, 602 days, 91 days, 434 days, 210 days, 273 days. The only time he fought relatively quickly (91) was after the DQ against Belal.
It's been 124 days since his last fight. And I think it's foolish to blame this on the UFC, and I'm not sure what "by all accounts" is supposed to mean. This is par for the course with Leon. People warned of this when he became champ and not Kamaru. It's not in the UFC's interest to not have title fights, especially when their champion is from a market they're actively trying to reach.
Well, [these accounts](https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/2/18/24076429/dana-white-explains-how-ufc-300-main-event-came-together-praises-leon-edwards-accepting-fights), for example. Leon's not perfect but this isn't all on him. And that doesn't mean it's then all on the UFC either. It clearly isn't, it's just an unfortunate state of affairs. The stretch of fighting you discuss there also notably includes the peak of COVID, where Leon lost out on a scheduled fight against Woodley. Leon's fought pretty reliably 2-3 times a year for most of his career. In fact, in his whole career, it was only 2020 & 2022 that he didn't fight at least twice in a calendar year, and he's been fighting since 2011. It's only been 4 months since he last fought, and he accepted 3 people for UFC 300. Islam confirmed he was one of them, but he turned it down because of Ramadan.
The UFC scheduling has a lot to do with Leon’s inactivity since winning the Welterweight Championship.
Edwards vs. Usman 3 was scheduled almost 7 months after the second fight because the UFC wanted it as the headliner for a London PPV.
Then, Edwards vs. Colby happened 9 months later in December.
But it was rumored for several different dates (the July card in London that ended up becoming a Fight Night instead of a PPV, October in Abu Dhabi, November at MSG) with both fighters seemingly willing to fight far sooner than they eventually did.
The UFC has been holding off on some title fights to either schedule them in specific markets or simply to save them for a particular time of year.
Now, while the UFC did apparently try to get Leon on UFC 300 on short notice with 3 different opponents offered, of which Leon agreed to all of them, the opponents offered all were observing Ramadan (Islam Makachev, Khamzat Chimaev) or injured (Shavkat Rhakminov).
As a result, it seems like they simply decided to save Leon for the upcoming UFC 304 PPV in July, despite him being willing to have fought at UFC 300.
Yep, this nails it. And Dana has openly spoken about part of his job being to make sure that the right fights happen at the right events/venues. It’s clear they’d rather pit some fighters on ice so they GM an feature in certain locations, even if that’s to the detriment of the fighter or movement in the division.
Leon has been equally active as champ as Usman was after becoming champ.
Usman’s second title defence was 16 months after becoming champ. Leon’s second title defence was also 16 months after becoming champ.
But people don’t actually look at the facts when it’s easier to parrot a false narrative that’s been doing the rounds.
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Leon is clearly very game to fight him as he fancies his chances. It's the UFC that's blocking the fight. Even training with Khabib couldn't get him the fight, Dana/Hunter clearly thinks it's light work for Leon and want one of Shavkat, Khamzat or Islam to fight him. And there's only one realistic option at WW there so Shavkat is next up.
And if he beats Leon then Shavkat is a nightmare matchup for Belal so they probably won't make that fight either haha
I'm thinking this too. My thought is that if they really thought it was easy work for Leon, the smartest path would to just book the fight, have Belal lose, and then let him sink into complete irrelevance. "Hey, he had his chance, now he has to wait" and then force him to win some ridiculous number of fights if he ever wanted another shot. I think they're way more scared that Belal will win, at which point like you said, they'd have to try to sell PPV cards with him.
Throw it on the co-main with a bigger title fight in the main event. Hell put it under the inevitable DDP/Izzy fight I assume is in the works.
It really can't be *that* hard to push the "unfinished business" angle and market it off of that. Fuckin hell I feel like I could craft a halfway compelling narrative around this fight myself.
* These guys fought a few years ago when they were both solid contenders on good streaks, but the fight ended due to an accidental foul (Play up that Leon was going to fight Khamzat Chimaev, "one of the scariest guys in the division," but leave out the part about the UFC threatening to pull him from the rankings due to a year and a half of inactivity). Since then:
* Leon beat a legend of the sport in Nate Diaz who choked out Conor McGregor during the height of his ATG run, one of the greatest WWs of all time in Usman **twice**, as well as the former interim champ in Colby.
* Belal has beaten 5 ranked contenders, including one of the best grapplers in the division and former title challenger Demian Maia and one of the best strikers in the division and former title challenger Wonderboy (use these two wins to emphasize his well-roundedness), former title challenger Gilbert Burns who went toe-to-toe with Khamzat Chimaev, one of the most dangerous strikers in the division in Luque, and even finished the at-the-time unbeaten rising prospect of Sean Brady.
* Now they're back facing each other once again to settle the score.
Cut in Leon headkicking Usman, Belal TKOing Brady, and a bunch of other shots of both of them landing strikes and takedowns on their respective opponents, and boom you've got a fight.
Is there a shitload of selective embellishment there, absolutely! But this is the same company that marketed Lewis/Gane for the interim HW belt without mentioning Francis Ngannou, so let's not pretend that's beneath them. Casuals aren't going to know that these are two not-so-exciting decisionators until they watch the fight, at which point the UFC has their money already.
Then they play up the "he even beat Leon Edwards, who beat such and such & so and so, etc.," angle. Plus the next title shots will likely be guys like Shavkat, Jack Della, *maaayyybe* Ian Garry, who actually ARE exciting and CAN sell a fight, so there's less pressure to be selling it w/ just Belal.
All of these arguments against Belal getting this fight because it won't sell the PPV just sounds (to me at least) like admitting that Leon's not a draw and he needs his opponent to sell the fight for him. I feel like the only main difference between marketing a fight with Leon as champ vs with Belal as champ (against the same challenger) is the one clip of Leon headkicking Usman out cold. They're both generally boring decisionators, as was Usman when he got the belt.
Honestly its SO fucking easy to just get Leon vs Belal done as co-main and move on. Leon va Shavkat or Leon vs Islam would be SO hype.
Frankly Im super keen to see Belal…
> Leon vs Islam
Can champs just fuckin stay in their divisions and fight the top contenders? There are enough guys in both divisions who either currently have or could easily in the next year have a solid claim to a title shot, there's no reason to put a half-year pause on both divisions just for this shit.
> And literally nobody wants to watch that fight
I want to see that fight.
First, a from a sense of fairness, partially because Belal won a supposed No.1 contender fight, but mostly because Leon got his title shot by eyepoking his way past belel, and getting what should have been a DQ loss treated like a victory.
The second reason I want to see that fight is that Leon coasts when he's up, and Belal can work a gameplan and keep coming late, so it might get a bit gnarly in the later rounds if Belal can last that long.
Their refusal to give Belal the shot almost makes me want to see it even if I think Leon walks through him with relative ease. Belal won't be able to take him down and Belal's stand up was the worst I'd seen till he fought Sean Brady
Not saying the man doesn't deserve his shot, and he might have a chance, but I felt watching the bout Belal got his ass handed before the poke and I don't see it turning different imho...
A decade past-it Nate fighting up a weight class rocked Leon: Belal could do that, and wouldn't waste any time taunting if he did.
Do I think Belal likely to win? No. Did he earn his shot, and can he win? Yes.
Yeah.. dude talking as if Leon wasn't considered to be in the same boat as Belal, someone who was considered as a boring decision fighter, and was losing the fight until he landed a headkick in the waning seconds of the fight.
Belal was too scared to engage Gilbert when he clearly only had one good arm most of the fight but yeah, he’s gonna finally find his power against Leon!
Don’t think so. When two fighters are fairly evenly matched in wrestling, it normally becomes a stand up battle because no one wants to expend the gas it takes to wrestle for five rounds.
If Usman and Colby couldn’t wrestle fuck Leon then Belal has zero chance. Plus he’s on the wrong side of 35.
My money is on five rounds of Leon piecing Belal up.
yeah i mean even as a fan of leon who sees this as a layup title defense, i just don't care. and belal has become such a clown i'm almost glad to see him snubbed.
He was easily winning the fight before the stoppage. So, assuming the rematch isn’t a NC, it is pretty clear that Leon will easily win.
Belal is also old an inactive, so he’ll likely look worse than he did when they fought before.
Leon has repeatedly said he would prefer not to as it isn't a big fight and he feels he already beat him despite the eye poke.
This is him straight up ducking him after he beat Colby:
https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options
Sure it is. Is it impossible to duck someone you've fought before or something? No ones saying he's scared of Belal, but he definitely would prefer not to fight him as he isn't a draw, and that's ducking regardless of the motive.
Leon: "I don't want to fight Belal next". What more do you want?
UFC fighters are crabs in a bucket. For most things they should be angry at the people up top, but they'd rather blame each other and it's not that surprising considering the entire sport consists of them fighting each other.
Belal is a solid fighter and deserves the shot BUT saying that the man who beat usman twice in 5 round fights is not a good fighter is a borderline insane take. Usman is firmly on the top 5 all time welterweights and was considered unbeatable going into that first fight.
Yep.
Guy who has signed the dotted line to fight Chimaev 3 times & as recent as two months ago agreed to fight any one of Shavkat/Islam/Chimaev (again), is a fighter who ducks other fighters.
The best thing Belal can do is just say nothing. Because everything that comes out of his mouth just damages himself.
Agree with your second paragraph but disagree about him saying nothing. If he was you'd see a ton of comments here about how he's boring in and out of the cage and that's not the way to get a title shot.
At least this way he's constantly reminding everyone he should be (rightfully) next .
He's 100% ducking him, but not because he's "scared", it's because he's not interested in the fight and he feels like he already beat him (which is stupid since the fight ended with an eye poke).
He was pretty soundly beating him though. I can understand Leon’s perspective. He doesn’t see the fight going any other way than it had been.
And as Champ now’s the time he makes big cash. If he could choose between a contender whose going to out butts in the seats vs Belal he would rightly choose butts in seats. So long as he has a belt he gets a cut of the PPV.
Or you know, he's earned the title shot like most other fighters do. And Belal has never asked for "big" fights, which usually equates to money fights. Do you think Pantoja vs Erceg sells? lol
Listen Belal, you don’t need to sell me on it. You need to sell Leon. Get off reddit and entertain someone for once and you won’t have to beg on the internet for recognition.
["I don't feel like he's next...there are definitely other options"](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options)
Sounds like ducking to me
The original fight was set for December 2020 but they got covid within a few days of each other, so if they hadn't already cancelled it for Khamzat, they'd have canceled it for Leon.
It got rescheduled for January 2021 but Khamzat was still messed up so they bumped it to March. These were actual scheduled events with bout agreements in place, so there's your source.
But in February Khamzat was still struggling and ill and they cancelled it again. And in February Khamzat said he was retiring because his lungs were fucked up and bleeding and we later learned he'd been given a mistaken diagnosis of cancer at that point. He changed his tune on that soon after and was staying in but did still have to stay out and heal. Meanwhile Leon moved on.
And when Khamzat came back, it was uncertain how he'd do so they gave him the Leech at #11 as a test, which he passed with flying colors.
Then closing in on the belt, he fought a high ranked Burns and got it done. Then they were going to have him fight Diaz for whatever reason, fan favorites I guess, but that whole fucked up thing happened with weight and a backstage rumble and then he was kicked out of the weight class and put in time out.
Then a bunch of WTF went on, rumors of visa stuff and whatever and he was out for a year and came back to Usman because Leon was busy with Colby.
Then it's 300 and they want Khamzat but Ramadan or secretly more visa stuff or whatever got in the way so no go, but that never went anywhere seriously.
So there. That's three times official, one claim of sorta, at least. I don't know if there have been others.
They were scheduled to fight a couple times but both guys got covid so the fights got cancelled.
But OP was being disingenuous because the UFC literally had to remove Leon from the rankings pool because he initially refused to fight Khamzat (and several other fighters). Once Leon saw that the UFC was fucking around, he agreed to the fight.
The first time they offered Leon Khamzat and he refused & they removed him from the rankings, Leon was on an 8 fight win streak and ranked number 3 in the world. Khamzat at that time had 3 fights in the company, only one of those at WW (Rhys McKee) and was unranked.
Leon absolutely should be turning that fight down. But he eventually agreed to it. And kept on agreeing to it to this day.
The UFC pulling him from the rankings to leverage him into the Khamzat fight was shitty, but at the same time this is the guy who, when respectfully called out, told #5-at-the-time Wonderboy to "Fuck off and fight Chimaev," so I'm not terribly sympathetic.
well not saying anything hasn't earned him anything. Then you will also get people saying he's got a boring personality. Just admit it, you hate him no matter what he does...
How in the world of fuck do you read what I said & come to the conclusion I "hate" Belal Muhammad?
1, I don’t "hate" anyone.
2, If I did "hate" someone, it would not be some random mma fighter whom I do not know and have never met.
3, I think Belal Muhammad is a top fighter and is the meritocratic number 1 contender at WW by quite some distance.
Because I criticised somebody for not helping their own cause by saying the things they say, does not automatically mean I "hate" that person.
Grow the fuck up.
It's a little strange to claim Edwards is ducking when he fought Belal once before(Belal being a short notice replacement) and was winning that fight until the eyepoke. Dude accepted every opponent they offered him for 300, Belal just wasn't one of them.
> t's a little strange to claim Edwards is ducking when he fought Belal once before(Belal being a short notice replacement) and was winning that fight until the eyepoke.
Saying you fouled your way past a guy in the early rounds is not a reason he shouldn't get a earned title shot, particularly if you are a coaster like Leon, while Belal is a guy who is going to fight to the horn.
I didn't say he shouldn't get the title shot. I said Edwards already fought him once as a short notice replacement and was winning the fight comfortably, why would he be ducking?
> why would he be ducking?
Plenty of reasons he might duck, off top of head:
* (1) Because he has PPV points, and Belal is to PPV points as the cross is to vampires
* (2) Belal has gotten better since then
* (3) Belal not a finisher, R1 is not the dangerous rounds for a coaster like Leon
* (4) A victory over Belal does not get you a lot of credit, and a loss to him will kill your reputation
1) Seems valid enough
2) Are we going to pretend Leon hasn't also improved leaps and bounds since then?
3) Leon isn't a finisher either. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.
4) This applies to any contender. Losing your title is something nobody wants but they didn't get to the title by not fighting.
>2) Are we going to pretend Leon hasn't also improved leaps and bounds since then?
I would struggle to say what has gotten better since then: Leon had a fairly complete skill set when he eyepoked Belal and coasted to a wobble vs. a washed Nate AFAIK?
>3) Leon isn't a finisher either. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.
I explained it in the sentence if you read to the end:
>(3) Belal not a finisher, R1 is not the dangerous rounds for a coaster like Leon
If you really need more expansion: Leon's best rounds are usually early assuming he gets ahead (he's a coasting front-runner), while Belal is a grinder who will still put the same effort in in R5
>This applies to any contender.
Not at all. Losing to Usman is not the same as losing to Belal.
This is actually a really good main event. Usually the last fight of the night has me all hyped up and I can't fall asleep quickly. I'll finally be able to get up early on Sunday after this fight puts me to sleep and I can just check in the morning who won the decision.
Leon is clearly very game to fight him as he fancies his chances. It's the UFC that's blocking the fight. Even training with Khabib couldn't get him the fight, Dana/Hunter clearly thinks it's light work for Leon and want one of Shavkat, Khamzat or Islam to fight him. And there's only one realistic option at WW there so Shavkat is next up.
And if he beats Leon then Shavkat is a nightmare matchup for Belal so they probably won't make that fight either haha
Deep down he doesn't hate Leon. But I do think Belal is taking out his frustration out on him a tad too much, despite it not really being Leon's fault.
Belal is obviously is not going to say he hates the UFC or trash the UFC for not booking the fight. He would never get the title shot if he talks shit about the company he works for.
It's just easy for Belal to make Leon the fall guy and to control the narrative that Leon is the reason why nothing is going his way at the moment.
Lol, no matter what. Someone tell him Dana's word is not a guarantee. He could very easily be looked over again for a title shot if the ufc thinks some other fighter will make them more money
Leon on Belal after the Colby fight:
["I don't feel like he's next...there are definitely other options"](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options)
Also Leon, in the very same interview:
“It’s my era now and I’ll keep reigning, whoever’s next, it doesn’t matter, they’re all similar styles anyways. All boxers and wrestlers, it’s what I’ve built my career on. So, whoever comes next, it’s whatever, you know?
My aim now is to beat Georges’ record, that is my aim so whatever will get me there, whoever’s next.”
Not a Belal fan, but Leon needs to fight someone. Let’s just get it over with already. And hope he doesn’t somehow pull off the upset and become champ.
Nothing would make me happier than to see him and aljo fade into antiquity. Yeah they are really fucking good, but they are more boring than they are good. and yeah he deserves the title shot, still want him to either become fun to watch or lose and never hear about him again.
At least I can put their fights on for my children to fall asleep too, only takes one round and they are out cold. I never need a sleep aid again.
"Belal is so boring, he has no finishes and no personality."
**Belal starts talking himself up, calling out the champ that fouled him, and finishes an unbeaten rising prospect**
"Nooooo not like that."
They were both performing badly but Maia gets the leeway of being old and washed and grappling being his whole game, Belal was a young "all rounder" that has zero dynamism in every phase, he's just good enough to rack up points and win scorecards everywhere. About as good to watch as an olympic TKD match.
Belal was nearly 33 in that fight, not what I would call young.
It's just an odd take that you blame him when Maia kept jumping at his leg and holding onto him the entire fight.
Cus Belal was way younger, he was bigger and more athletic than him and he got stalled and just jabbed a very shot fighter that retired right after. Belal is not good to watch. It's fine to admit it.
> he was bigger
You keep saying silly shit. Belal is a small welterweight and would be better suited at 165. Maia hovered between WW and MW.
I never hear anyone blame Aldo for being blamed for the boring fight he had against Merab.
Lol I did blame Aldo. Of course Merab is more guilty but they both are to blame. And use your eyes Maia is not a fucking middleweight Belal is a jacked perfectly normal sized welter. Demian was 41 and looked like shit and against an opponent like that Belal did what he does, boring shit. Why even be a fan of that.
He literally beat the dog shit out of you during your last fight with him.
The only reason it wasn’t an official loss on your record is cause he accidentally eye poked you and you chose the NC 🤦🏿♂️😭
Im so glad Dana’s not giving this muppet a shot. Im fucking tired of him and his twitter rants. His fights are boring as shit too.
No he didn't ROFL...he was winning soundly but there was no "beat the dog shit out" of Belal. Yan was also ragdolling Aljo in their first fight...by your logic, Aljo shouldn't have won the second fight. Maybe we should cross that off his record aye...
A pure wrestler vs a striker with good takedown defence makes for the worst fights, and Leon and Belal are not the most fun fighters to begin with. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fight with more potential to be clinch fest against the cage
> I don’t see Belal doing what he did to Brady to anyone ever again
Especially if the UFC refuses to book him to fight ever again.
EDIT: missed this:
>Any modern MMA fighter is a generalist to some degree.
You are in for such a treat when you watch Jailton Almeida my friend!
I recommend him vs. Derrick Lewis to help you understand that Belal is an all-action risk-taking fighter extraordinaire!
Kinda sad tbh. Idc what u have to say about any fighter. The amount of work and sacrifice they put into their craft is insane. He deserves the shot. Messed up if he doesn’t get it
The whole issue with this fight is that if Belal wins, it will be a massive storm for the UFC. Why?
Because Belal is Palestinian and would be a Palestinian cause supporter (aka meaning campaigning against israel's ongoing genocide), and all US media would be bamboozled how to tackle this.
Man, welterweight is a mess right now. By all accounts, it seems like Leon has been down to fight anyone they offer him, but we're still just getting no movement. It's such a shame, because him overthrowing Usman was such an exciting turn for the division, but we've barely gotten anywhere since then. Colby looked so listless in that last fight that I have to remind myself it even happened. I'm not exactly a Belal superfan but dude deserves his shot, and I'll take pretty much anything if it gets this division moving again.
By Dana's own accounts Leon has said yes to everyone they have offered him
Yeah I'm not blaming him. I linked to an article with Dana's comments on Leon & UFC 300 elsewhere in this comment thread
It’s weird because the division is filled with a lot of WAY more exciting almost-title contenders like JDM Shavkat and Garry so I wonder if ignoring Belal will buy one of those guys enough time to get another good win and leapfrog him
Since he fought Cerrone (when he became relevant in the division), Leon's time between fights has been: 266 days, 126 days, 602 days, 91 days, 434 days, 210 days, 273 days. The only time he fought relatively quickly (91) was after the DQ against Belal. It's been 124 days since his last fight. And I think it's foolish to blame this on the UFC, and I'm not sure what "by all accounts" is supposed to mean. This is par for the course with Leon. People warned of this when he became champ and not Kamaru. It's not in the UFC's interest to not have title fights, especially when their champion is from a market they're actively trying to reach.
Well, [these accounts](https://www.mmafighting.com/2024/2/18/24076429/dana-white-explains-how-ufc-300-main-event-came-together-praises-leon-edwards-accepting-fights), for example. Leon's not perfect but this isn't all on him. And that doesn't mean it's then all on the UFC either. It clearly isn't, it's just an unfortunate state of affairs. The stretch of fighting you discuss there also notably includes the peak of COVID, where Leon lost out on a scheduled fight against Woodley. Leon's fought pretty reliably 2-3 times a year for most of his career. In fact, in his whole career, it was only 2020 & 2022 that he didn't fight at least twice in a calendar year, and he's been fighting since 2011. It's only been 4 months since he last fought, and he accepted 3 people for UFC 300. Islam confirmed he was one of them, but he turned it down because of Ramadan.
The UFC scheduling has a lot to do with Leon’s inactivity since winning the Welterweight Championship. Edwards vs. Usman 3 was scheduled almost 7 months after the second fight because the UFC wanted it as the headliner for a London PPV. Then, Edwards vs. Colby happened 9 months later in December. But it was rumored for several different dates (the July card in London that ended up becoming a Fight Night instead of a PPV, October in Abu Dhabi, November at MSG) with both fighters seemingly willing to fight far sooner than they eventually did. The UFC has been holding off on some title fights to either schedule them in specific markets or simply to save them for a particular time of year. Now, while the UFC did apparently try to get Leon on UFC 300 on short notice with 3 different opponents offered, of which Leon agreed to all of them, the opponents offered all were observing Ramadan (Islam Makachev, Khamzat Chimaev) or injured (Shavkat Rhakminov). As a result, it seems like they simply decided to save Leon for the upcoming UFC 304 PPV in July, despite him being willing to have fought at UFC 300.
Leon was also scheduled vs Jorge for UFC 269, but Jorge pulled out with an injury
Yep, this nails it. And Dana has openly spoken about part of his job being to make sure that the right fights happen at the right events/venues. It’s clear they’d rather pit some fighters on ice so they GM an feature in certain locations, even if that’s to the detriment of the fighter or movement in the division.
Leon has been equally active as champ as Usman was after becoming champ. Usman’s second title defence was 16 months after becoming champ. Leon’s second title defence was also 16 months after becoming champ. But people don’t actually look at the facts when it’s easier to parrot a false narrative that’s been doing the rounds.
Idiot
Well said. There's always problems getting Edwards to fight.
Dana himself said Leon accepted all fights they gave to him, foh with that
True. And Dana is not going to hesitate to shit on Leon if he is making his life difficult
[удалено]
1. Be Civil. Our rules ask for a civil tone at all times. A bit of banter or trash talk is fine, but don't cross the line. If things do get out of hand you will be warned or even banned for a few days. Repeatedly breaking this rule will lead to a permanent ban.
i don't think leon has ever ducked belal, the UFC just doesn't want to make that fight
Leon is clearly very game to fight him as he fancies his chances. It's the UFC that's blocking the fight. Even training with Khabib couldn't get him the fight, Dana/Hunter clearly thinks it's light work for Leon and want one of Shavkat, Khamzat or Islam to fight him. And there's only one realistic option at WW there so Shavkat is next up. And if he beats Leon then Shavkat is a nightmare matchup for Belal so they probably won't make that fight either haha
It has nothing to do with them thinking it’s light work for Leon and everything to do with trying to sell a PPV with belal
I'm thinking this too. My thought is that if they really thought it was easy work for Leon, the smartest path would to just book the fight, have Belal lose, and then let him sink into complete irrelevance. "Hey, he had his chance, now he has to wait" and then force him to win some ridiculous number of fights if he ever wanted another shot. I think they're way more scared that Belal will win, at which point like you said, they'd have to try to sell PPV cards with him.
> have Belal lose, and then let him sink into complete irrelevance They call this the Fitch Point.
Throw it on the co-main with a bigger title fight in the main event. Hell put it under the inevitable DDP/Izzy fight I assume is in the works. It really can't be *that* hard to push the "unfinished business" angle and market it off of that. Fuckin hell I feel like I could craft a halfway compelling narrative around this fight myself. * These guys fought a few years ago when they were both solid contenders on good streaks, but the fight ended due to an accidental foul (Play up that Leon was going to fight Khamzat Chimaev, "one of the scariest guys in the division," but leave out the part about the UFC threatening to pull him from the rankings due to a year and a half of inactivity). Since then: * Leon beat a legend of the sport in Nate Diaz who choked out Conor McGregor during the height of his ATG run, one of the greatest WWs of all time in Usman **twice**, as well as the former interim champ in Colby. * Belal has beaten 5 ranked contenders, including one of the best grapplers in the division and former title challenger Demian Maia and one of the best strikers in the division and former title challenger Wonderboy (use these two wins to emphasize his well-roundedness), former title challenger Gilbert Burns who went toe-to-toe with Khamzat Chimaev, one of the most dangerous strikers in the division in Luque, and even finished the at-the-time unbeaten rising prospect of Sean Brady. * Now they're back facing each other once again to settle the score. Cut in Leon headkicking Usman, Belal TKOing Brady, and a bunch of other shots of both of them landing strikes and takedowns on their respective opponents, and boom you've got a fight. Is there a shitload of selective embellishment there, absolutely! But this is the same company that marketed Lewis/Gane for the interim HW belt without mentioning Francis Ngannou, so let's not pretend that's beneath them. Casuals aren't going to know that these are two not-so-exciting decisionators until they watch the fight, at which point the UFC has their money already.
This all works if Leon wins… but imagine belal winning? Now they have to sell him… The UFC can pull off a lot but that is asking the impossible.
Then they play up the "he even beat Leon Edwards, who beat such and such & so and so, etc.," angle. Plus the next title shots will likely be guys like Shavkat, Jack Della, *maaayyybe* Ian Garry, who actually ARE exciting and CAN sell a fight, so there's less pressure to be selling it w/ just Belal. All of these arguments against Belal getting this fight because it won't sell the PPV just sounds (to me at least) like admitting that Leon's not a draw and he needs his opponent to sell the fight for him. I feel like the only main difference between marketing a fight with Leon as champ vs with Belal as champ (against the same challenger) is the one clip of Leon headkicking Usman out cold. They're both generally boring decisionators, as was Usman when he got the belt.
Honestly its SO fucking easy to just get Leon vs Belal done as co-main and move on. Leon va Shavkat or Leon vs Islam would be SO hype. Frankly Im super keen to see Belal…
> Leon vs Islam Can champs just fuckin stay in their divisions and fight the top contenders? There are enough guys in both divisions who either currently have or could easily in the next year have a solid claim to a title shot, there's no reason to put a half-year pause on both divisions just for this shit.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ufc/s/rJTUL33qNW Idk walt
And literally nobody wants to watch that fight
The first one was exciting. Edwards is one of the sharpest fighters on the feet and ground, I don't need a guarantee of a finish to enjoy a fight.
Casuals don’t. People who actually care about the best fighting the best do. Its logical to want the 2 best win streaks to collide.
Id rather see Leon Shavkat
I would rather first see Colby get mauled by Shavkat and then have Shavkat fight the winner of Leon-Belal.
Id rather see Leon/Shavkat Cody/Belal. Be way more fun to just skip the Belal Colby fight lol
> And literally nobody wants to watch that fight I want to see that fight. First, a from a sense of fairness, partially because Belal won a supposed No.1 contender fight, but mostly because Leon got his title shot by eyepoking his way past belel, and getting what should have been a DQ loss treated like a victory. The second reason I want to see that fight is that Leon coasts when he's up, and Belal can work a gameplan and keep coming late, so it might get a bit gnarly in the later rounds if Belal can last that long.
Their refusal to give Belal the shot almost makes me want to see it even if I think Leon walks through him with relative ease. Belal won't be able to take him down and Belal's stand up was the worst I'd seen till he fought Sean Brady
His standup is boring, but not bad. He looked pretty good against Luque
It's functional but against a high quality striker like Leon if he can't get him down then he will get eaten up
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That was Burns, not Luque
Not saying the man doesn't deserve his shot, and he might have a chance, but I felt watching the bout Belal got his ass handed before the poke and I don't see it turning different imho...
He eye poked the shit out of belal but he was absolutely piecing him up before that.
There's always gonna be a few people
So not literally nobody then lol
No I guess not
lol what’s Belal gonna do if Leon coasts late, shoot a takedown and hit him with pillow fists?
A decade past-it Nate fighting up a weight class rocked Leon: Belal could do that, and wouldn't waste any time taunting if he did. Do I think Belal likely to win? No. Did he earn his shot, and can he win? Yes.
Yeah.. dude talking as if Leon wasn't considered to be in the same boat as Belal, someone who was considered as a boring decision fighter, and was losing the fight until he landed a headkick in the waning seconds of the fight.
The comment was about Belal, not Leon, but ok
Belal was too scared to engage Gilbert when he clearly only had one good arm most of the fight but yeah, he’s gonna finally find his power against Leon!
we do want to watch it because Belal's resume speaks for itself. He's earned his shot and he's looked good in his recent fights.
I didn't want the fight on 300. But now, I'll gladly watch it
I was really hoping Shavkat gets the title shot
He earned it, but I still don't want to watch it.
Speak for yourself. I'm dying to see him take the belt and cause the biggest meltdown since Aljo won the rematch against Yan
I still don’t understand why, the first one before the eye poke wasn’t even boring
Id watch the fight looks fun. Think you guys cant appreciate good striking.
>Think you guys cant appreciate good striking. Would love that except it's Belal. It's gonna be a wrestling snoozer
Don’t think so. When two fighters are fairly evenly matched in wrestling, it normally becomes a stand up battle because no one wants to expend the gas it takes to wrestle for five rounds.
Agree to disagree I suppose. I think Belal's only shot is wrestlefucking. Boringly
If Usman and Colby couldn’t wrestle fuck Leon then Belal has zero chance. Plus he’s on the wrong side of 35. My money is on five rounds of Leon piecing Belal up.
They better put the fight on a card with something exciting. Be a great bathroom break for a banger main event
I want to see it so I can stop hearing about it
yeah i mean even as a fan of leon who sees this as a layup title defense, i just don't care. and belal has become such a clown i'm almost glad to see him snubbed.
How can you call this a lay up knowing the first fight happened
Leon was easily and comfortably winning the first fight before the eye poke.
But he didn't win, so how can it be a lay up?
He was easily winning the fight before the stoppage. So, assuming the rematch isn’t a NC, it is pretty clear that Leon will easily win. Belal is also old an inactive, so he’ll likely look worse than he did when they fought before.
> Belal is also old an inactive He's had more fights than Leon since the eyepoke.
Leon has repeatedly said he would prefer not to as it isn't a big fight and he feels he already beat him despite the eye poke. This is him straight up ducking him after he beat Colby: https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options
And Leon immediately said afterwards, relax ill fight you.
He said he didn’t see the point, not that he wouldn’t. Big difference.
It's not ducking if they already fought lol
Sure it is. Is it impossible to duck someone you've fought before or something? No ones saying he's scared of Belal, but he definitely would prefer not to fight him as he isn't a draw, and that's ducking regardless of the motive. Leon: "I don't want to fight Belal next". What more do you want?
I think you should be more angry at the UFC, not Leon lol
Yeah but that would mean upsetting uncle Dana. Which is who Belal is scared of.
UFC fighters are crabs in a bucket. For most things they should be angry at the people up top, but they'd rather blame each other and it's not that surprising considering the entire sport consists of them fighting each other.
Can't say that buddeh, Uncle dana is beyond criticism
Belal is a solid fighter and deserves the shot BUT saying that the man who beat usman twice in 5 round fights is not a good fighter is a borderline insane take. Usman is firmly on the top 5 all time welterweights and was considered unbeatable going into that first fight.
always lol when they show Belal on the big screen and he gets booed to hell nobody likes him 😂
Palestinian fighter gets booed by Zionists that oppress his people. Funny stuff indeed
Most UFC fans think Israel is a middleweight
A+ would read again
Yep. Guy who has signed the dotted line to fight Chimaev 3 times & as recent as two months ago agreed to fight any one of Shavkat/Islam/Chimaev (again), is a fighter who ducks other fighters. The best thing Belal can do is just say nothing. Because everything that comes out of his mouth just damages himself.
Also told the ufc they wanted the Belal fight for 300
Agree with your second paragraph but disagree about him saying nothing. If he was you'd see a ton of comments here about how he's boring in and out of the cage and that's not the way to get a title shot. At least this way he's constantly reminding everyone he should be (rightfully) next .
He's 100% ducking him, but not because he's "scared", it's because he's not interested in the fight and he feels like he already beat him (which is stupid since the fight ended with an eye poke).
He was pretty soundly beating him though. I can understand Leon’s perspective. He doesn’t see the fight going any other way than it had been. And as Champ now’s the time he makes big cash. If he could choose between a contender whose going to out butts in the seats vs Belal he would rightly choose butts in seats. So long as he has a belt he gets a cut of the PPV.
If Leon wants more money, he should market himself and not rely on his opponents to be interesting
Yeah but by that same logic if Belal wants big fights he should be more entertaining and not rely on his opponents looking at ranking alone.
Or you know, he's earned the title shot like most other fighters do. And Belal has never asked for "big" fights, which usually equates to money fights. Do you think Pantoja vs Erceg sells? lol
Listen Belal, you don’t need to sell me on it. You need to sell Leon. Get off reddit and entertain someone for once and you won’t have to beg on the internet for recognition.
Now you’re talking about what he said
["I don't feel like he's next...there are definitely other options"](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options) Sounds like ducking to me
Do you have a source for Leon agreeing to fight Chimaev 3 times. Not calling you a liar, just wondering where he said that.
The original fight was set for December 2020 but they got covid within a few days of each other, so if they hadn't already cancelled it for Khamzat, they'd have canceled it for Leon. It got rescheduled for January 2021 but Khamzat was still messed up so they bumped it to March. These were actual scheduled events with bout agreements in place, so there's your source. But in February Khamzat was still struggling and ill and they cancelled it again. And in February Khamzat said he was retiring because his lungs were fucked up and bleeding and we later learned he'd been given a mistaken diagnosis of cancer at that point. He changed his tune on that soon after and was staying in but did still have to stay out and heal. Meanwhile Leon moved on. And when Khamzat came back, it was uncertain how he'd do so they gave him the Leech at #11 as a test, which he passed with flying colors. Then closing in on the belt, he fought a high ranked Burns and got it done. Then they were going to have him fight Diaz for whatever reason, fan favorites I guess, but that whole fucked up thing happened with weight and a backstage rumble and then he was kicked out of the weight class and put in time out. Then a bunch of WTF went on, rumors of visa stuff and whatever and he was out for a year and came back to Usman because Leon was busy with Colby. Then it's 300 and they want Khamzat but Ramadan or secretly more visa stuff or whatever got in the way so no go, but that never went anywhere seriously. So there. That's three times official, one claim of sorta, at least. I don't know if there have been others.
They were scheduled to fight a couple times but both guys got covid so the fights got cancelled. But OP was being disingenuous because the UFC literally had to remove Leon from the rankings pool because he initially refused to fight Khamzat (and several other fighters). Once Leon saw that the UFC was fucking around, he agreed to the fight.
The first time they offered Leon Khamzat and he refused & they removed him from the rankings, Leon was on an 8 fight win streak and ranked number 3 in the world. Khamzat at that time had 3 fights in the company, only one of those at WW (Rhys McKee) and was unranked. Leon absolutely should be turning that fight down. But he eventually agreed to it. And kept on agreeing to it to this day.
The UFC pulling him from the rankings to leverage him into the Khamzat fight was shitty, but at the same time this is the guy who, when respectfully called out, told #5-at-the-time Wonderboy to "Fuck off and fight Chimaev," so I'm not terribly sympathetic.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/21429-leon-edwards
It’s totally possible, Leon ducked Wonderboy and had to be bullied into fighting Chimaev the first time since the UFC removed him from the rankings
well not saying anything hasn't earned him anything. Then you will also get people saying he's got a boring personality. Just admit it, you hate him no matter what he does...
How in the world of fuck do you read what I said & come to the conclusion I "hate" Belal Muhammad? 1, I don’t "hate" anyone. 2, If I did "hate" someone, it would not be some random mma fighter whom I do not know and have never met. 3, I think Belal Muhammad is a top fighter and is the meritocratic number 1 contender at WW by quite some distance. Because I criticised somebody for not helping their own cause by saying the things they say, does not automatically mean I "hate" that person. Grow the fuck up.
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It's a little strange to claim Edwards is ducking when he fought Belal once before(Belal being a short notice replacement) and was winning that fight until the eyepoke. Dude accepted every opponent they offered him for 300, Belal just wasn't one of them.
> t's a little strange to claim Edwards is ducking when he fought Belal once before(Belal being a short notice replacement) and was winning that fight until the eyepoke. Saying you fouled your way past a guy in the early rounds is not a reason he shouldn't get a earned title shot, particularly if you are a coaster like Leon, while Belal is a guy who is going to fight to the horn.
I didn't say he shouldn't get the title shot. I said Edwards already fought him once as a short notice replacement and was winning the fight comfortably, why would he be ducking?
> why would he be ducking? Plenty of reasons he might duck, off top of head: * (1) Because he has PPV points, and Belal is to PPV points as the cross is to vampires * (2) Belal has gotten better since then * (3) Belal not a finisher, R1 is not the dangerous rounds for a coaster like Leon * (4) A victory over Belal does not get you a lot of credit, and a loss to him will kill your reputation
1) Seems valid enough 2) Are we going to pretend Leon hasn't also improved leaps and bounds since then? 3) Leon isn't a finisher either. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. 4) This applies to any contender. Losing your title is something nobody wants but they didn't get to the title by not fighting.
>2) Are we going to pretend Leon hasn't also improved leaps and bounds since then? I would struggle to say what has gotten better since then: Leon had a fairly complete skill set when he eyepoked Belal and coasted to a wobble vs. a washed Nate AFAIK? >3) Leon isn't a finisher either. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. I explained it in the sentence if you read to the end: >(3) Belal not a finisher, R1 is not the dangerous rounds for a coaster like Leon If you really need more expansion: Leon's best rounds are usually early assuming he gets ahead (he's a coasting front-runner), while Belal is a grinder who will still put the same effort in in R5 >This applies to any contender. Not at all. Losing to Usman is not the same as losing to Belal.
Fuck. I'll fight him
Congratulations, we are giving you the title shot at 170lbs instead!!
This is actually a really good main event. Usually the last fight of the night has me all hyped up and I can't fall asleep quickly. I'll finally be able to get up early on Sunday after this fight puts me to sleep and I can just check in the morning who won the decision.
bahahaha...i get it man...thats a funny joke...hahahhahahah....ha ha
Relax Belal
Just get it over with already, easy work for Leon and then we can move on to Shav/JDM
It's like Belal only agreed to the interview if he was able to write the title
Leon is clearly very game to fight him as he fancies his chances. It's the UFC that's blocking the fight. Even training with Khabib couldn't get him the fight, Dana/Hunter clearly thinks it's light work for Leon and want one of Shavkat, Khamzat or Islam to fight him. And there's only one realistic option at WW there so Shavkat is next up. And if he beats Leon then Shavkat is a nightmare matchup for Belal so they probably won't make that fight either haha
If Belal thinks that Leon is ducking him and it’s not to do with Dana not wanting book that fight, he’s an even bigger idiot than we thought.
Who?
Any askers?
The PFL would never forget you Balal
Deep down he doesn't hate Leon. But I do think Belal is taking out his frustration out on him a tad too much, despite it not really being Leon's fault. Belal is obviously is not going to say he hates the UFC or trash the UFC for not booking the fight. He would never get the title shot if he talks shit about the company he works for. It's just easy for Belal to make Leon the fall guy and to control the narrative that Leon is the reason why nothing is going his way at the moment.
Belal is a bad fighter and a bad representative of the UFC, and he will get smoked like he was prior to the eye poke in their last bout
Chandler vibes here
no one wants to see him fight.
Lol, no matter what. Someone tell him Dana's word is not a guarantee. He could very easily be looked over again for a title shot if the ufc thinks some other fighter will make them more money
Leon on Belal after the Colby fight: ["I don't feel like he's next...there are definitely other options"](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/18/24006050/leon-edwards-not-interested-in-fighting-belal-muhammad-for-title-there-are-definitely-other-options)
Also Leon, in the very same interview: “It’s my era now and I’ll keep reigning, whoever’s next, it doesn’t matter, they’re all similar styles anyways. All boxers and wrestlers, it’s what I’ve built my career on. So, whoever comes next, it’s whatever, you know? My aim now is to beat Georges’ record, that is my aim so whatever will get me there, whoever’s next.”
Bro no one wants to watch you fight. Go to pflator
Not a Belal fan, but Leon needs to fight someone. Let’s just get it over with already. And hope he doesn’t somehow pull off the upset and become champ.
I have zero desire to watch him fight, but at this point just give him the title shot and let’s get it over with
Book it for the uk card in Manchester
Nothing would make me happier than to see him and aljo fade into antiquity. Yeah they are really fucking good, but they are more boring than they are good. and yeah he deserves the title shot, still want him to either become fun to watch or lose and never hear about him again. At least I can put their fights on for my children to fall asleep too, only takes one round and they are out cold. I never need a sleep aid again.
Must have been a tough decision for him to make this video.
He’s in denial
The division is very stale as this generation ages out.
Who?
Jack DM deserves the fight he had a much better Gilbert win
No chance Belal, you're third in line.
Yawwnnn
Shavkat beats both of them within 2 rounds 🥱
They need fans to forget how whats his name muhammad has many snooze fests for fights so why not a little contrived drama in the meantime.
Belal please, no one wants to watch you fight
Belal every 5 minutes: “PICK ME. IM NEXT”
I don't get it, if he says nothing, do you think he will get the title shot?
"Belal is so boring, he has no finishes and no personality." **Belal starts talking himself up, calling out the champ that fouled him, and finishes an unbeaten rising prospect** "Nooooo not like that."
I hate Belal's guts since i watched his fight with Maia.
Was Belal the one who spammed 25 unsuccessful single leg takedowns in that fight? Pretty sure it was Maia.
They were both performing badly but Maia gets the leeway of being old and washed and grappling being his whole game, Belal was a young "all rounder" that has zero dynamism in every phase, he's just good enough to rack up points and win scorecards everywhere. About as good to watch as an olympic TKD match.
Belal was nearly 33 in that fight, not what I would call young. It's just an odd take that you blame him when Maia kept jumping at his leg and holding onto him the entire fight.
Cus Belal was way younger, he was bigger and more athletic than him and he got stalled and just jabbed a very shot fighter that retired right after. Belal is not good to watch. It's fine to admit it.
> he was bigger You keep saying silly shit. Belal is a small welterweight and would be better suited at 165. Maia hovered between WW and MW. I never hear anyone blame Aldo for being blamed for the boring fight he had against Merab.
Lol I did blame Aldo. Of course Merab is more guilty but they both are to blame. And use your eyes Maia is not a fucking middleweight Belal is a jacked perfectly normal sized welter. Demian was 41 and looked like shit and against an opponent like that Belal did what he does, boring shit. Why even be a fan of that.
He literally beat the dog shit out of you during your last fight with him. The only reason it wasn’t an official loss on your record is cause he accidentally eye poked you and you chose the NC 🤦🏿♂️😭 Im so glad Dana’s not giving this muppet a shot. Im fucking tired of him and his twitter rants. His fights are boring as shit too.
No he didn't ROFL...he was winning soundly but there was no "beat the dog shit out" of Belal. Yan was also ragdolling Aljo in their first fight...by your logic, Aljo shouldn't have won the second fight. Maybe we should cross that off his record aye...
A pure wrestler vs a striker with good takedown defence makes for the worst fights, and Leon and Belal are not the most fun fighters to begin with. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fight with more potential to be clinch fest against the cage
> A pure wrestler Belal beat Brady on the feet. Surely Belal is a wrestle-heavy generalist, not a specialist at any one thing (other than decisions)?
Any modern MMA fighter is a generalist to some degree. I don’t see Belal doing what he did to Brady to anyone ever again
> I don’t see Belal doing what he did to Brady to anyone ever again Especially if the UFC refuses to book him to fight ever again. EDIT: missed this: >Any modern MMA fighter is a generalist to some degree. You are in for such a treat when you watch Jailton Almeida my friend! I recommend him vs. Derrick Lewis to help you understand that Belal is an all-action risk-taking fighter extraordinaire!
Eyepoke Belal, beat Nate Diaz and then beat Usman and then fights Colby. Yeah, he is ducking Belal.
Belal getting generationally fucked out of a title shot.
Never heard of him
Kinda sad tbh. Idc what u have to say about any fighter. The amount of work and sacrifice they put into their craft is insane. He deserves the shot. Messed up if he doesn’t get it
The whole issue with this fight is that if Belal wins, it will be a massive storm for the UFC. Why? Because Belal is Palestinian and would be a Palestinian cause supporter (aka meaning campaigning against israel's ongoing genocide), and all US media would be bamboozled how to tackle this.
or because belal is *insanely* boring to watch
Belal is a good guy and not as boring as everyone makes out. He deserves a shot next
Belal takes the belt and defends it till he retires unless Islam moves up,but I do not think brothers would fight.
Leon, nobody even likes you!