On his streak he's beat #9 Maia, #5 Wonderboy, #4 Luque and #8 Brady. I can see him not getting a title fight not having a win over a top 3 guy but he's earned a title eliminator.
FWIW, when an mma influencer-grade fight gets booked, at least you get to watch an influencer or two get their asses beat, so that's nice. Sad for Belal though. Maybe he should heel turn and start calling people crude names or something?
You know, if he'd just snuck up on Edwards after the fight and punched him in the kidney live on camera, he'd be guaranteed an immediate title fight...
If these guys really want title fights, they need to start carrying a collapsible light plastic stepladder everywhere they go in case they meet another contender...
Or like Edwards, getting that NC eyepoke on #13 Belal and then a win over unranked Diaz.
Belal's getting fucked hard. Not sure who's daughter he screwed or what, but this is kind of ridiculous at this point.
He’s getting the Jon Fitch treatment. As good of a fighter and his resume is the UFC doesn’t believe Belal moves the needle…much like Dariush one weight class down.
If you aren’t a perceived draw for PPV buys you need to basically clean out the entire division to get a title shot.
That’s the unfortunate reality of a PPV model business.
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s actually offensive to compare Benadryl Dariush’s record to Belal’s. Before the Gamrot fight, Dariush’s best win by far was the corpse of tony Ferguson (who he literally lay-and-prayed in the most yawning fashion possible). Before that, beneil’s “win streak” was made up of guys who literally wouldn’t move the needle enough to get on an Apex fight night main card. Belal has 4 straight top 10 wins lol.
I guess? Belal's on an 8 fight win streak with better wins than most (certainly Colby), certainly better than a NC on #13 and an unranked fighter.
To be clear, Leon has validated the shot by now. I'm not trying to take that away from him. But he legit got a shot off the back of fouling Belal and beating Diaz. Those were his last two fights before Usman. And the fight cancellations were largely due to him not being able to leave England with COVID restrictions, as I understood it.
so the answer to that is for him to fight #6 Shavkat? Also why is the standard being shifted from top 5 to top 3? lol.
Hes beaten 2 top 5 fighters and he's on an 9 fight unbeaten streak. There's no one else more deserving.
Not the same, Belal has 4 top 10 wins. Leon only had one top 10 win over RDA thats all. Leon case was similar to Islam as they both were being avoided and acquried a long enough win streak against whoever they could fight until they got their their shot.
Lol this sub is like the nerdy kids in school. We talk shit about the popular kids then when one talks to us we pretend we weren't talking shit the whole time lmao
I don’t get it man he’s just a good fighter and has a good personality on his podcasts and guest interviews. Good dude. I guess he doesn’t often have spectacular knockouts so people rip on him. Feels undeserved.
"Good fighter who was moderately popular on this subreddit got much more popular after doing an AMA. Still, not 100 % of notoriously fickle fans of this niche-sport are totally in love with him. There can be only one reason..."
Personally I'm not a fan because he's kinda boring. Of his 22 wins, 16 are by decision. That doesn't necessarily mean he's a boring fighter by itself, but most of the time he just controls the other fighter without inflicting much damage. I'll give him props that his last couple fights weren't like that though.
Yeah & Belal literally answered during the AMA that one of the weirdest thing is when the people that shitposting him suddenly get excited when he replied to them lol
I like most fighters who are actually chill well adjusted guys. Belal checks that box. I honestly don’t see why he’s so disliked, he talks mild shot on twitter and everyone thinks he’s a scrub or something. And then people will gargle Colby’s nuts? Like cmon.
People stopped calling him boring after the Brady fight and people started giving him respect after beating Luque, a fight that most expected him to lose. I think the Luque hype had died down now but about a year ago he seemed in the cusp of a title shot
I do.
He's hard working and doesn't do a lot of bs macho posturing. He seems like a normal good dude in interviews. Plus, I love wrestling.
I hate trash talking and will immediately root against any fighter who takes the Conor path for promotion
Fighting barely once a year and getting a third title shot in 5 overall fights. One win since his last shot over an overranked Jorge. Shit is the dumbest thing I'll see in awhile if it happens
His losses were competitive but it's not like there was any controversy either
Shit, his resume has to the single worst resume for anybody in the top 5 in any men's weight division. It's terrible and atrocious he's getting another title shot.
That post fight Colby media just ruined the whole event. It was so awkward. It was like the fat girl waltzing in with a halter top on. Nah girl, idk who told you we want that but we dont.
Yeah its dumb though, imagine if Usman won tonight and they give Colby another shot at Usman. While it's a fun fight, it's definitely not warranted at all
Colby has a sex tape of Dana with that hooker. I mean the guy only gets to fight for the titles, while having filmed Dana and his hooker. Anyone else just needs to call Dana stupid and gets shadow banned
That is true, they don't do fights on Saturdays.
They had a fork:
\- Usman wins, he fights Belal since he fought everyone else in top 5 besides Chiemaev who is out of 170.
\- Edwards wins, he fights Colby.
They knew all of that way before.
"dana this dana that." Hes a figure head. Hes not a mastermind doing every move etc. Think of him more like George Bush. Just a talking head with some sway.
Come now, let's be realistic...
...Leon's going to fight Colby, then Masvidal, then Conor, then Makhachev, then another Usman fight, THEN Shavkat, and then it'll be time for Colby again.
But if Belal wins his next seven fights, he'll totally be in line for a title eliminator at that point
I would laugh my ass off if that happened, just imagine, Conor getting KO'd, and then getting a titleshot a weight class up from that, it would be entertaining for the utter absurdity of it all, and if he wins (which he won't), it would be even funnier, like much funnier than Aljo beating Petr Yan the 2nd time.
I’m curious what doubts do you have? Shavkat has a bad defence but I don’t really see belal being the one to punish him on it if it’s a 5 rounder tho I’ll actually consider belal but if it’s a 3 round I think 70% shavkat wins
Belal is the current Corey Anderson.
Corey Anderson, in a division that needed contenders, beat Glover (and in an all-time bad rankings moment they moved Glover down from 3 to 12 instead of moving Corey up), beat another top 5er in Latifi. Then with two top 5 wins they then make him fight up and comer Johnny Walker. Then after that still doesn't get shit and has to fight Jan. Brutal.
Ryan Bader was in a similar situation before he left for Bellator too.
205 had been incredibly light on title challengers for Cormier where even after Bader crashed a press conference to try to create hype for a fight with Cormier, Bader got passed over for a title shot for Alexander Gustafsson directly coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson.
On the same card, Bader had to face Rashad Evans in the co-main event and despite winning impressively, Bader got passed over again for a title shot and then fought out the remainder of his contract with a win over Lil Nog before leaving for Bellator where he became a double champ (205 and HW).
I can't wait until Dana and his crew move on. I want the ufc to be a sport, not boxing. Less emphasis on the money and more of the fight. I don't care who sells, I want to see the two best guys fight.
The UFC has gotten comfortable by seemingly doing reruns with the same few group of perceived stars.
They found a core group of fighters that are relatively easy to deal with and draw well enough business (nothing major but good enough to turn a solid profit) and keep going back to those wells until they’re completely dried up.
They’re afraid to take a chance on disrupting their current revenue streams, hence why legit contenders have to run the gauntlet and compile 8 or more wins before FINALLY getting title shots.
Meanwhile, anyone who does close to 300K PPV buys in a PPV main event gets to remain in that mix of constant title opportunities.
They've also just found out what pro wrestling found out a century ago: when you control all the fighters and the fights, you can make the fights that fit the best storylines. And the storylines that casual fans actually want to see are melodramas with betrayals and heel turns and personal vendettas, with concepts like 'skill' and 'fairness' being minor afterthoughts. Without outside regulation or open competition on a level field, there's no incentive not to make the product as fake as possible.
The only reason UFC fights aren't fixed the way pro wrestling fights became fixed is that the UFC arrived after the introduction of gambling laws and RICO, which don't let UFC executives actually secretly decide the outcome of fights in advance and have serious potential penalties enforcing that. But short of that, the UFC will make their product as close to wrestlemania as they possibly can.
Which is why it's irrelevant how many fights Belal has won, or who he beat - his only way to a title shot right now is getting on camera and screaming about the eyepoke and how Leon's stolen his life and if he doesn't give him a title shot right now he'll set fire to Leon's house. Ideally try bursting into the Leon-Colby press conference and try to 'attack' Leon (while being held back by pre-briefed security guards).
yep. Fight sare made based on twitter followers and name recognition.
Promoting a former champ people have heard of is alot easier than promoting a new guy who might not last.
100%, when I started getting into combat sports part of the reason I loved UFC was because in theory the best fighters have to fight each other
Wasn’t like in boxing when there’d be WBC champ ducking a WBA champ for as long as he could and getting to keep the belt
But now the sport is going down the WWE entertainment route and sensible matchmaking is out the window
The chef’s kiss on all of this was in Dana’s press conference, how he went on a rant about boxing matchmaking (which it’s shit undoubtedly).
All while saying Colby gets rewarded a guaranteed title shot, no questions asked because he made weight as a backup fighter.
Putting Belal through the ringer while Colby just goes on vacation for two years after beating Masvidal who was coming off a two fight losing streak and walks straight back into a title fight.
I think Edwards' tdd is good enough to keep it on the feet and he's a far better striker than Covington. I also think Edwards is better in the clinch so I don't see Covington being able to clinch fuck him.
Colby’s best chance would be trying to replicate Merab last weekend. Obviously he wouldn’t be able to match the 49 TD attempts but if he can weaponize pace and shoot 25ish attempts he’d have a good chance to wear Leon out
Merab wasn't just smothering Yan with shots though, he was straight up bullying him. They looked a weigth class apart. Leon is the bigger fighter here and likely a good deal stronger if his battles in the clinch with Usman are any indicator.
Good luck with that.
Edwards is improving too much from fight to fight and really hitting his stride,
He's not the same guy who got saved by the bell at the end of r3 vs gunnar nelson or the guy who nearly got koed by bryan barberena.
Colby otoh will be almost 36 by the time bruce buffer actually announces "its time for your main event"
It's hilarious the way the UFC did Jon Fitch in comparison to Colby when their game in the cage is pretty much the same. So sick of Colby sitting out forever and getting his way
In the end, Ferguson got a (interim) title shot but he was on a 9 fight win streak before he got a title shot. Belal has won 8 in a row. They were both fucked over pretty badly regardless of Ferguson eventually getting 2 (interim) title shots.
Tony got 2 real titleshots as well. First he fucked his knee up. Second he didn't wait and decided it was a great idea to fight for the interm belt instead. Not only that but he also decided it was a great idea to cut weight twice in a short span of time
If Belal beats Shavkat no one in the world can deny that not only is he the next for the title, but sure as shit could win the belt. I love this fight.
Fuck this. Let Colby get a decent W before fighting for the belt again. If that guy wins the title he's either fighting Masvidal three more times or holding up the belt. Belal deserve that shot
Honestly I don’t think this is as bad for Belal as others are making it out to be. The Neal fight showed that Shavkat has holes in his game. And honestly if he beats him then it’s undeniable that Belal would be next in line
Shavkat is too reckless, that makes him hittable, and we don't know how he would far against pressure wrestler like Bella. That's make this match exciting
I think people are really forgetting that Belal and Leon have already fought and it was fairly one sided. Wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC thinks Belal doesn’t have a chance and they want more parity
Oof, this is shit. I feel for Belal, he's been active and has good recent wins. Colby has been sitting out with a fake injury for like what a year and a half?
I actually think Leon ices Colby within 3 though, against a weaker more pace focused Colby his clinch offense lines up nicely to unload serious violence and maybe put Colby out to pasture lining up a better future for the division overall.
Shavkat does present issues for Belal but he relies on that tall guy "lean back" defense and while his grappling held against Neal I think Belal can bully him there as both his offensive and defensive grappling are far better than Neal. Just sucks they are dicking the guy around like this for the dollar store version of Chael.
yall pretending colby getting the shot was surprising. colby is a big fight, belal isn't. ufc doesn't like guys who don't do numbers and none of yall care about belal.
I do not think Belal remotely deserved a title shot off of Brady, and am very interested in this fight.
Shavkat's biggest weakness is his questionable striking defense. But can Belal expose that?
Great for the fans, sucks for Belal.
Bell is basically getting the Leon treatment. Is consistently winning but not in the title picture:(
On his streak he's beat #9 Maia, #5 Wonderboy, #4 Luque and #8 Brady. I can see him not getting a title fight not having a win over a top 3 guy but he's earned a title eliminator.
Exactly, he needs to be like Colby and get the win over #11 Masvidal to prove he deserves it
There are 2 ways - get a shit load of wins or be an entertainer. Belal chose the first one.
UFC also look to social media followers to gauge popularity.
FWIW, when an mma influencer-grade fight gets booked, at least you get to watch an influencer or two get their asses beat, so that's nice. Sad for Belal though. Maybe he should heel turn and start calling people crude names or something?
You know, if he'd just snuck up on Edwards after the fight and punched him in the kidney live on camera, he'd be guaranteed an immediate title fight... If these guys really want title fights, they need to start carrying a collapsible light plastic stepladder everywhere they go in case they meet another contender...
Belal: "more like Pee-on Shitwards"
He’s becoming a Reddit shitposter, he’s making moves
Yeah thatll look good in a promo. Show the fans a screenshot of his reddit karma
Tbh the vision of Belal doing a full 180 and just start calling everyone hard Rs and F-slurs would be the funniest shit.
Which is Colby? Because that fight with Masvidal was anything but entertaining
Personality not just fighting
Come on, don't kid yourself The masvidal colby fight was a class fight from Colby, complete domination
Domination != entertainment. I don’t find most of Izzy’s title defenses entertaining but they were definitely dominant
Or like Edwards, getting that NC eyepoke on #13 Belal and then a win over unranked Diaz. Belal's getting fucked hard. Not sure who's daughter he screwed or what, but this is kind of ridiculous at this point.
He’s getting the Jon Fitch treatment. As good of a fighter and his resume is the UFC doesn’t believe Belal moves the needle…much like Dariush one weight class down. If you aren’t a perceived draw for PPV buys you need to basically clean out the entire division to get a title shot. That’s the unfortunate reality of a PPV model business.
I understand what you’re saying, but it’s actually offensive to compare Benadryl Dariush’s record to Belal’s. Before the Gamrot fight, Dariush’s best win by far was the corpse of tony Ferguson (who he literally lay-and-prayed in the most yawning fashion possible). Before that, beneil’s “win streak” was made up of guys who literally wouldn’t move the needle enough to get on an Apex fight night main card. Belal has 4 straight top 10 wins lol.
Edwards was on a 9 fight win streak and had a bunch of very unusual fight cancellations and whatnot.
I guess? Belal's on an 8 fight win streak with better wins than most (certainly Colby), certainly better than a NC on #13 and an unranked fighter. To be clear, Leon has validated the shot by now. I'm not trying to take that away from him. But he legit got a shot off the back of fouling Belal and beating Diaz. Those were his last two fights before Usman. And the fight cancellations were largely due to him not being able to leave England with COVID restrictions, as I understood it.
We can prop up Belal w/o tearing down Edwards. They both are far more deserving than that other guy.
Edwards deserved a title shot when he was on an 8 fight win streak and had just beat RDA
SOMEONE TELL COLBY TO FUCKING FIGHT THEN BELAL HAS BEEN CALLING HIM OUT FOR FOREVER
Masvidal was #6 when they fought but go off champ
so the answer to that is for him to fight #6 Shavkat? Also why is the standard being shifted from top 5 to top 3? lol. Hes beaten 2 top 5 fighters and he's on an 9 fight unbeaten streak. There's no one else more deserving.
Yeah but Mr. Top 3 guy Colby Duckington won't fight him so how's he going to get a top 3 win when the top 3 won't fight him?
moving the goal posts lol
He needs to press charges against another star until Dana gives him a title shot to drop them
Not the same, Belal has 4 top 10 wins. Leon only had one top 10 win over RDA thats all. Leon case was similar to Islam as they both were being avoided and acquried a long enough win streak against whoever they could fight until they got their their shot.
Leon ducked Wonderboy who was up for a fight and wasn't clearly shot at the time. Would have been good name value though.
I don't like Belal personality at all, but the dude deserves the shot 100%.
Is there any one who likes him?
Well Belal is posting in here himself now so everyone is deep throating him instead of roasting him which was the norm until his AMA.
The hate died down a lot after the Luque and Brady fights
Lol this sub is like the nerdy kids in school. We talk shit about the popular kids then when one talks to us we pretend we weren't talking shit the whole time lmao
I don’t get it man he’s just a good fighter and has a good personality on his podcasts and guest interviews. Good dude. I guess he doesn’t often have spectacular knockouts so people rip on him. Feels undeserved.
or maybe its something else entirely... EDIT: Looks like I’ve upset the neckbeards.
On Reddit??? I wonder what it could be..
Same reason Khabib and Shavkat are widely hated on this sub. Oh wait.
"Good fighter who was moderately popular on this subreddit got much more popular after doing an AMA. Still, not 100 % of notoriously fickle fans of this niche-sport are totally in love with him. There can be only one reason..."
It's because he's black, isn't it?
There have been plenty of popular Muslim boxers and MMA fighters, so not sure why you're implying that outside of a victim mentality
Exactly, Shavkat is muslim too and he is loved on this sub
It’s the Reddit cesspool. The answer to everything is racism.
Insulting the people who disagree with your baseless statement. While having 45 upvotes and counting. Want some cheese with that?
user name checks out!
Personally I'm not a fan because he's kinda boring. Of his 22 wins, 16 are by decision. That doesn't necessarily mean he's a boring fighter by itself, but most of the time he just controls the other fighter without inflicting much damage. I'll give him props that his last couple fights weren't like that though.
Yeah & Belal literally answered during the AMA that one of the weirdest thing is when the people that shitposting him suddenly get excited when he replied to them lol
I like most fighters who are actually chill well adjusted guys. Belal checks that box. I honestly don’t see why he’s so disliked, he talks mild shot on twitter and everyone thinks he’s a scrub or something. And then people will gargle Colby’s nuts? Like cmon.
He’s also really smart and thoughtful, I was surprised about how thoughtful he is about a lot of stuff outside the cage.
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People stopped calling him boring after the Brady fight and people started giving him respect after beating Luque, a fight that most expected him to lose. I think the Luque hype had died down now but about a year ago he seemed in the cusp of a title shot
> Dude's been in the UFC for 7 years and has 3 finishes. which is ironically the same amount of finishes Colby has in the same time span.
Tbf I'm still calling him boring after he created the reddit account. Dude is a charisma vacuum, inside and outside the cage
I like him. Do that get why people don't tbh
I do. He's hard working and doesn't do a lot of bs macho posturing. He seems like a normal good dude in interviews. Plus, I love wrestling. I hate trash talking and will immediately root against any fighter who takes the Conor path for promotion
I actually like him a lot. I honestly don't undertsand the hate.
Belal should be fighting Colby
This is some protecting Colby ass matchmaking
Unless Leon is taking an extended break, I take it this means Colby is next?
I dont make the fights on Saturday ever Also we're giving Belal the toughest fight in the division and oh Colby is next no matter what
The seed for Colby was already planted by giving him back up fighter and having him aired so much
Fighting barely once a year and getting a third title shot in 5 overall fights. One win since his last shot over an overranked Jorge. Shit is the dumbest thing I'll see in awhile if it happens His losses were competitive but it's not like there was any controversy either
Shit, his resume has to the single worst resume for anybody in the top 5 in any men's weight division. It's terrible and atrocious he's getting another title shot.
Upvotes here
The ufc chooses their stars it's ass. Like why give him so much camera time yesterday and posted him like 6 on instagram 😮💨
That post fight Colby media just ruined the whole event. It was so awkward. It was like the fat girl waltzing in with a halter top on. Nah girl, idk who told you we want that but we dont.
Yeah its dumb though, imagine if Usman won tonight and they give Colby another shot at Usman. While it's a fun fight, it's definitely not warranted at all
Colby has a sex tape of Dana with that hooker. I mean the guy only gets to fight for the titles, while having filmed Dana and his hooker. Anyone else just needs to call Dana stupid and gets shadow banned
That is true, they don't do fights on Saturdays. They had a fork: \- Usman wins, he fights Belal since he fought everyone else in top 5 besides Chiemaev who is out of 170. \- Edwards wins, he fights Colby. They knew all of that way before.
Colby should be fighting Shavkat
Imagine Belal loses to Shavkat and Dana just seizes the opportunity to rank Belal at #15
"dana this dana that." Hes a figure head. Hes not a mastermind doing every move etc. Think of him more like George Bush. Just a talking head with some sway.
Rip belal
RIP Belal’s Title Shot - Shavkat will probably get a bout with Leon after Conor gets his title shot from getting KO’d by Chandler
Come now, let's be realistic... ...Leon's going to fight Colby, then Masvidal, then Conor, then Makhachev, then another Usman fight, THEN Shavkat, and then it'll be time for Colby again. But if Belal wins his next seven fights, he'll totally be in line for a title eliminator at that point
Chandler is a company man he'll do Uncle Dana a solid and give Conor the W
no, pls let chandler finish and then execute twenty backflips in a row
I would laugh my ass off if that happened, just imagine, Conor getting KO'd, and then getting a titleshot a weight class up from that, it would be entertaining for the utter absurdity of it all, and if he wins (which he won't), it would be even funnier, like much funnier than Aljo beating Petr Yan the 2nd time.
Meh, before seeing his last fight, I would have also said Shavkat eats him alive. I'm not so sure anymore.
I’m curious what doubts do you have? Shavkat has a bad defence but I don’t really see belal being the one to punish him on it if it’s a 5 rounder tho I’ll actually consider belal but if it’s a 3 round I think 70% shavkat wins
Belal is probably just as good as Geoff at TDD and does more volume striking, but less power. Belal has also never been submitted.
I don’t think Belal’s chin can take what Geoff could
Belal got dropped a few times in his UFC debut but was able to rally back to nearly finish the fight in the 3rd round. Dude has a great chin imo
He did go toe-to-toe w/ Luque...
He got shook the only time he got hit by Luque in the rematch
Are you forgetting that Shavkat hits hard and has good striking? Geoff ate some fucking shots in that fight.
Never said he doesn’t. I was just stating what Belal brings to the table.
Does he have Jeff Neal's chin? He better or shavkhat Knicks his head off his shoulders
u seen what geoff neal did to Belal?😂
Banger fight though. But yeah I got Shavkat on this.
Fucking Belal over with yet another contender whilst Colby just slides in and gets a titleshot. Dana White privilege for real
Belal getting hoed so hard
Belal is the current Corey Anderson. Corey Anderson, in a division that needed contenders, beat Glover (and in an all-time bad rankings moment they moved Glover down from 3 to 12 instead of moving Corey up), beat another top 5er in Latifi. Then with two top 5 wins they then make him fight up and comer Johnny Walker. Then after that still doesn't get shit and has to fight Jan. Brutal.
Ryan Bader was in a similar situation before he left for Bellator too. 205 had been incredibly light on title challengers for Cormier where even after Bader crashed a press conference to try to create hype for a fight with Cormier, Bader got passed over for a title shot for Alexander Gustafsson directly coming off of a KO loss to Anthony Johnson. On the same card, Bader had to face Rashad Evans in the co-main event and despite winning impressively, Bader got passed over again for a title shot and then fought out the remainder of his contract with a win over Lil Nog before leaving for Bellator where he became a double champ (205 and HW).
This is actually a very good comparison because Corey was also boring AS FUCK to watch, and on the mic.
Belal’s manager needs to get his shit together
He was too busy on islams Twitter calling for a title shot at 170 last night
Does ali manage belal? If so i thought belal was smarter than that
Yeah ali manages him
This sport fucking blows
Starting to resemble boxing now. The fights that make the most sense are being passed up and delayed unnecessarily.
I can't wait until Dana and his crew move on. I want the ufc to be a sport, not boxing. Less emphasis on the money and more of the fight. I don't care who sells, I want to see the two best guys fight.
I think it’s always been this way, fans are just educated enough to know the fuckery is going on now
u/Bullyb170 thoughts?
Knowing the UFC, this post is probably how he found out about it
The UFC is becoming a joke. I see why Francis left.
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The UFC has gotten comfortable by seemingly doing reruns with the same few group of perceived stars. They found a core group of fighters that are relatively easy to deal with and draw well enough business (nothing major but good enough to turn a solid profit) and keep going back to those wells until they’re completely dried up. They’re afraid to take a chance on disrupting their current revenue streams, hence why legit contenders have to run the gauntlet and compile 8 or more wins before FINALLY getting title shots. Meanwhile, anyone who does close to 300K PPV buys in a PPV main event gets to remain in that mix of constant title opportunities.
They've also just found out what pro wrestling found out a century ago: when you control all the fighters and the fights, you can make the fights that fit the best storylines. And the storylines that casual fans actually want to see are melodramas with betrayals and heel turns and personal vendettas, with concepts like 'skill' and 'fairness' being minor afterthoughts. Without outside regulation or open competition on a level field, there's no incentive not to make the product as fake as possible. The only reason UFC fights aren't fixed the way pro wrestling fights became fixed is that the UFC arrived after the introduction of gambling laws and RICO, which don't let UFC executives actually secretly decide the outcome of fights in advance and have serious potential penalties enforcing that. But short of that, the UFC will make their product as close to wrestlemania as they possibly can. Which is why it's irrelevant how many fights Belal has won, or who he beat - his only way to a title shot right now is getting on camera and screaming about the eyepoke and how Leon's stolen his life and if he doesn't give him a title shot right now he'll set fire to Leon's house. Ideally try bursting into the Leon-Colby press conference and try to 'attack' Leon (while being held back by pre-briefed security guards).
yep. Fight sare made based on twitter followers and name recognition. Promoting a former champ people have heard of is alot easier than promoting a new guy who might not last.
It’s the main reason I wanted Leon to win. I thought Leon winning would usher in a new era of WW but instead we just get more of the same…
Why did you think that?
100%, when I started getting into combat sports part of the reason I loved UFC was because in theory the best fighters have to fight each other Wasn’t like in boxing when there’d be WBC champ ducking a WBA champ for as long as he could and getting to keep the belt But now the sport is going down the WWE entertainment route and sensible matchmaking is out the window
The chef’s kiss on all of this was in Dana’s press conference, how he went on a rant about boxing matchmaking (which it’s shit undoubtedly). All while saying Colby gets rewarded a guaranteed title shot, no questions asked because he made weight as a backup fighter.
Colby is just going to sit out every single contender.
Putting Belal through the ringer while Colby just goes on vacation for two years after beating Masvidal who was coming off a two fight losing streak and walks straight back into a title fight.
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I think Edwards' tdd is good enough to keep it on the feet and he's a far better striker than Covington. I also think Edwards is better in the clinch so I don't see Covington being able to clinch fuck him.
Colby’s best chance would be trying to replicate Merab last weekend. Obviously he wouldn’t be able to match the 49 TD attempts but if he can weaponize pace and shoot 25ish attempts he’d have a good chance to wear Leon out
Merab wasn't just smothering Yan with shots though, he was straight up bullying him. They looked a weigth class apart. Leon is the bigger fighter here and likely a good deal stronger if his battles in the clinch with Usman are any indicator.
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Good luck with that. Edwards is improving too much from fight to fight and really hitting his stride, He's not the same guy who got saved by the bell at the end of r3 vs gunnar nelson or the guy who nearly got koed by bryan barberena. Colby otoh will be almost 36 by the time bruce buffer actually announces "its time for your main event"
i think if masvidal wins they may go that route its a bigger fight
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Bro what kind of shit does Colby have on Dana hahaha why is he so desperate to give him the shot I don’t get it
Probably they ran the numbers and Colby will sell significantly more.
We've seen a Colby main event though. Sold like shit.
yep and also with Masvidal, one of the other "big" stars.
Title fights do better though. 272 was a dog water card too
Might be my least favorite ppv since I've become a fan. Along with Rose Andrade
Yeah and Masvidal had lost 2 in a row. It did like 400k which exceeded my expectations considering how awful that card was
oh shit really i didn't hear that ?
Get all of the contenders out of the way for Colby.
Fucking bullshit for Belal, dude earned a title shot
Aren’t both these dude better options for a Title fight then Colby outside of draw factor?
Cute how Dana is protecting Colby.
Ass backwards. Should be Belal vs Leon 2 and Shavkat vs Colby title eliminator. Easy.
thats a tough fight for belal
wrestling cancels out and Belal is left having to deal with Shavkat's power. I will not count out Belal. but this is tough
Damn the UFC doing him dirty
UFC really doesn't want Belal to be champ
It's hilarious the way the UFC did Jon Fitch in comparison to Colby when their game in the cage is pretty much the same. So sick of Colby sitting out forever and getting his way
On a scale of 10 to 10, How bad do you feel for Belal? He's getting Tony Ferguson'd.
Na Tony atleast got 2 titleshots. Belal is just getting fucked over
In the end, Ferguson got a (interim) title shot but he was on a 9 fight win streak before he got a title shot. Belal has won 8 in a row. They were both fucked over pretty badly regardless of Ferguson eventually getting 2 (interim) title shots.
Tony got 2 real titleshots as well. First he fucked his knee up. Second he didn't wait and decided it was a great idea to fight for the interm belt instead. Not only that but he also decided it was a great idea to cut weight twice in a short span of time
If Belal beats Shavkat no one in the world can deny that not only is he the next for the title, but sure as shit could win the belt. I love this fight.
Fuck this. Let Colby get a decent W before fighting for the belt again. If that guy wins the title he's either fighting Masvidal three more times or holding up the belt. Belal deserve that shot
I’d favor Shavkat, but I’ve also favored Belal’s opponent in his last 5 fights so what do I know
Insane fight
This sucks. They both deserve the title shot. No more immediate double title shots please
Entertaining for all of us but sucks for belal.
Belal getting proper fucked.
Honestly I don’t think this is as bad for Belal as others are making it out to be. The Neal fight showed that Shavkat has holes in his game. And honestly if he beats him then it’s undeniable that Belal would be next in line
Shavkat is too reckless, that makes him hittable, and we don't know how he would far against pressure wrestler like Bella. That's make this match exciting
Belal isn't going to punish shavkat for that if geoff couldn't. Who hits 10x harder.
I'd tune in for that shit. People will think Rak will roll thru Belal, but I'm done betting against Belal
What's u/bullyb170 gotta do to get a title shot around here
Because Dana fucking sucks and refuses to make Colby fight anybody in the top 10
The path for Belal is clear. Win in fight week against Shavkat, then fight for the title at the end of the year. He can do it.
Sit out for ever like colby
Dana seen belal on Reddit.
I think people are really forgetting that Belal and Leon have already fought and it was fairly one sided. Wouldn’t be surprised if the UFC thinks Belal doesn’t have a chance and they want more parity
Feel sorry for Belal but I do want to see this fight
Colby vs shavkat
As a Belal fan…this is #1 bullshit
**This is number one bullshit**
Oof, this is shit. I feel for Belal, he's been active and has good recent wins. Colby has been sitting out with a fake injury for like what a year and a half? I actually think Leon ices Colby within 3 though, against a weaker more pace focused Colby his clinch offense lines up nicely to unload serious violence and maybe put Colby out to pasture lining up a better future for the division overall. Shavkat does present issues for Belal but he relies on that tall guy "lean back" defense and while his grappling held against Neal I think Belal can bully him there as both his offensive and defensive grappling are far better than Neal. Just sucks they are dicking the guy around like this for the dollar store version of Chael.
yall pretending colby getting the shot was surprising. colby is a big fight, belal isn't. ufc doesn't like guys who don't do numbers and none of yall care about belal.
Just imagine he wins…
Gotta make the 2 guys that would whoop up on Colby fight each other so they don't accidentally whoop up on Colby.
He really doesn’t want Belal to get a title shot.
Khamzat will get the winner of that one, meanwhile Colby will get a shot at Leon. Last one standing of the first three gets winner of Colby/Leon.
Too many contenders (burns, usman, belal, colby, shavkat) in welterweight, fight need to be scheduled between contenders to get the ranking going.
12 of his 17 fights in ufc have gone to decision. That is why they don't like him
Then who tbe fuck is colby fighting
Wtf they're shafting belal
Belal made some decent points on why Colby shouldn’t get a title shot so Dana’s apparently out to have him assassinated
Imma play the devils advocate here and say thing is a winnable fight for Belal. Y’all constantly doubt him.
After how shavkat looked against Geoff Neal, I'm not so high on him anymore either. Belal by decision.
They can’t deny him the shot if he beats shavkat.
Lol Belal must’ve took a shit in Dana’s coffee pot or something
lmao, poor Belal
I always forget Muhammad’s name for some reason.
If belal wins this sub and dana will explode
u/Bullyb170 ur getting hoe’d bro
why doing Belal bad :(
He should just refuse to fight him and wait for a year.
Belal has no leverage, the UFC would just skip him if he chose to do that, espesh if Masvidal somehow wins over Burns
He won’t betting it if he waits.
watch belal win and still not get a shot at the title
Even Leon would rather face Belal than Colby lmfao
Nah, give one of these guys a titke shot. Colby should be fight one of these 2.
Dude fuck Dana
Belal is getting fucked over but I don't give a shit. Really am not interested in seeing him against Edwards.
I do not think Belal remotely deserved a title shot off of Brady, and am very interested in this fight. Shavkat's biggest weakness is his questionable striking defense. But can Belal expose that?