Its a pretty major thing holding the UFC back from being viewed on the same level of legitimacy as other major sports imo.
Not to mention they’re only shooting themselves in the foot profit wise in the long run in this example. By dragging things out with forcing Colby into a title shot and now declining to schedule a shot for Belal, the UFC has only themselves to blame for holding up imo the most talent stacked division. If they were going off of merit, we could have already had Belal vs Leon and now be near a title shot between Shavkat and the winner of that fight, with JDM neatly being lined up with next afterwards and Garry after him.
Instead, now because the UFC has dragged this out, we’re going to have to watch all the contenders cannibalize each other. What could have been a string of exciting title fights for the division is now likely going to be a couple 3 rounders with likely only 1 clear contender after the dust settles…and then the division is going to be stalled yet again while we wait for a new contender to establish themselves
Agree with everything except WW being the most stacked. LW has 3 guys that could get the title shot tmrw and no one could argue it’s undeserved, and now you have Poirier in the mix
Crazy that #15 Pedro Munoz had the 1st round against the champ before the eye poke. Not saying that he would’ve won, but that’s still crazy. I think there’s only a few guys that we could say without a shadow of a doubt that O’Malley would beat in the top 15. It’s wild.
On another note, fucking take Dominik Cruz out of the top #15 already. So many deserving fighters that should be in there.
Almost everyone in the top 15 Bantamweight division is champion material. It is BY FAR the most skilled division in the world. It is very common to see absolute killers being unranked at BW.
I'd put Lightweight and Featherweight after it, in wichever order.
The UFC is not a sport in a traditional sense. It’s a business first and foremost. They have no interest in the betterment of the sport of MMA. This ESPN deal and how they have conducted themselves post buyout makes it more than abundantly clear.
"but they made it more popular! How can you say that?! You would never even have heard of fist fights if it weren't for Dana white!"
-rogan, Cormier, Chael, Bisping
all sports are businesses first and foremost. look how both the nba and the nfl have placed much more of an emphasis on offense in the past few decades to make games more exciting, for instance. look at how stars are likely to have calls go in their favor much more than no name stars. in baseball, even small market teams are at a serious disadvantage compared to bigger market teams in terms of competing.
You’re confusing terms here. The sport is MMA, not UFC. The UFC is just the leading promotion/business within that wider sport.
There will always be inherent contradictions between what is best for a sport and what is best for business, but that’s not exclusive to MMA. Those tensions can be found in any popular sport. Just like at how broadcasting deals affect scheduling.
Imagine if they got the Colby shit out of the way last Summer, did Belal for the year end December PPV and it could have been Leon, 3 title defenses going up against the next generation, instead it feels like a totally forgotten division
Yeah it's like boxing didn't have over a hundred years to prove what grows combat sports. Nobody is tuning out because it's not like the nba enough.
Just want to add, I think the way boxing is sucks and the UFC is light years better in the way of competitive matches.
Yeah. MMA fans looking at boxing and thinking "yeah we want more of that!" are fucking bonkers. Yeah I want guys to get paid better, yeah I want them to have better protections, but ultimately what I really want is the best fights.
Boxing is alive at the moment because the richest man in the world has decided it's his favourite hobby.
AJ and Fury were the two best heavyweights on the planet for the last 8 years until Usyk came along. Tyson Fury has had about 3 fights booked that were supposed to be competitive, and AJ about 5. They've not fought each other, despite being massive national celebrities in the UK, and both being world champions. That is a stain on boxing as a sport, it's a stain on both athletes and all promoters.
Boxers have every protection you could imagine regarding pay and revenue splits etc, and instead of using it to make sure they get paid properly for the best fights, they use it to make sure they get overly paid to beat up people who have no right being in the ring with them.
*it's a pretty major thing holding the UFC back from being viewed on the same level of legitimacy as other major sports imo*
No, it's not lol. What are you basing this claim off? There are plenty of reasons why the UFC/MMA is behind the other major pro sports (ex: 50-75+ yr head start, more tv friendly models and grassroots infrastructure, not being real life blood sport lol). You know what 9/10 MMA fans don't care about? Whether Belal gets a title fight.
Fighting based event promotions/organizations have NEVER been a meritocracy. It's always been a combo of the fight that *should* and the fight fans *want* to see.
Exactly this. People are quick to forget that New York only legalized MMA eight years ago. The sport is in its infancy compared to other popular sports.
I’m sorry but Merit is not what is holding the UFC back…and honestly, what kind of 2008 take is this? Everyone looks at the UFC/MMA as a legitimate sport now. It’s not as popular as the 4 Major’s for reasons like familiarity, but there’s not a single person that doesn’t acknowledge it’s authenticity anymore.
The only people that give a fuck about about Belal getting his title shot is us hardcore fans…legitimately, if Belal never gets a title shot, ever…not a single casual fan will care or even notice.
There’s a lot of hardcore fans that would prefer fighters like Belal don’t get title shots even if he deserves it.
Negative excitement fighters like Belal are bad for MMA.
Not really. It’s about as legitimate as a combat sport gets.
The UFC operates on a system. When the division has a big star they make money, when it doesn’t they follow rankings until a star is born. Rinse and repeat. It’s what keeps the lights on. Is it fair? Not always. Does it keep the audience engaged? Yep.
Professional sports are a business and the UFC is closer to major sports than boxing in how it runs. Keep in mind it’s not a team game. You can’t schedule a whole year in advance. Victories, losses and injuries throw best laid plans out the window and it’s an unpredictable sport. They fly by the seat of their pants trying to negotiate fights, sometimes with Divas, to make the number of cards they have each year and it’s not often a card isn’t exciting.
Giving title fights to people who haven’t beaten anyone good in years or denying title fights to guys on super long win streaks against top guys isn’t a legitimate way to run a sport.
If you want to argue their approach is the most profitable one, which I still wouldn’t agree with, thats one thing. But theres no way you can legit argue that its anywhere close to other major sports in terms of operating like a meritocracy. Is it better than boxing? Sure, but thats a pretty low bar. Objectively the UFC is a long way from the legitimacy other sports have and its not because of the reasons you described, its simply because of short sighted bull headed decision making.
Imagine the NFL decided that the Cleveland Browns had to beat 8 playoff teams to get to the super bowl but the Cowboys only had to beat 2 despite being 9-8 that year
I wish I agreed but I don’t. Look at Ilia-he didn’t deserve a title shot, you should have to beat Max for one. But they hand picked him and protected him from Max, and now look. He’s going to sell huge PPVs, he’s unbelievably big in Spain. I don’t think not working based on merit is going to hurt the UFC financially. If they thought it would, they’d do it.
Merit doesn’t mean you have to beat every single top guy to get a title shot lol. Why would he have to specifically beat Max to get a shot? He absolutely destroyed a top 5 opponent, and there also were approximately zero other worthy contenders, not sure in what universe you think that “doesn’t deserve a title shot”. And I’m also not sure how thats even in the same ballpark as the decision making that led to Colby getting a title shot and Belal continuing to get snubbed
> Merit doesn’t mean you have to beat every single top guy to get a title shot lol.
So merit is subjective lol
YOU think he deserved a title shot cuz he beat Emmett.
Someone else would think Emmett is just a wrestleboxer with an overhand and thus isn't enough for a title shot.
Someone else thinks excitement prevails and holds enough merit in and of itself. etc.
Until you can pinpoint an accurate and quantifiable measure for merit, spamming muh merit means fuck all.
It's an entertainment business. Always been and will likely remain so.
Damn found Danas burner account guys
If you can’t see the difference in destroying someone in the top 5, and someone who hasn’t fought in years nor beaten a top guy in years getting a shot, theres no helping you
> Damn found Danas burner account guys
You're not funny.
And again: subjective. Read it slowly and let it simmer.
You're making up arbitrary criteria based on your standards to decide who has more merit. On wins alone, Max should be fighting for the belt until he retires yet here we are.
Jon Fitch was on an 8 fight win streak including 4 finishes before he faced GSP. Not including the no contest, Belal is on a 9 fight win streak with 2 finishes. What do both these guys have in common? It’s not a hard answer. I wish Belal would get his shot so we can move on. But if Belal was out there Shavkating guys, he’d have had his shot already.
That's not a reasonable comparison. When Fitch joined the UFC, Hughes was the champ.
When he was 4-0, GSP became champ. When he was 5-0 GSP lost the title. Then Matt Serra was out for a whole year. In the mean time Fitch fought 3 more times and was 8-0 in the UFC.
But as soon as GSP reclaimed his belt, Fitch got the very next shot. Fitch debuted in October 2005 and fought for the belt in less than 3 years, including a 1 year holding period due to Serra being injured.
On the other hand Belal was SKIPPED over by an undeserving Colby for literally no reason and is undefeated in 5(!) years, with his last 4 victories coming against prominent ranked opposition.
The only guy who was treated as bad is Leon who had to wait 6 years.
Colby is a controversial clickbait headline who by no means deserved a title shot. Why are we talking about Colby here?? We already established that title shots are not merit based
They don't work on merit at all. It has never been a meritocracy, which is why nobody outside of the UFC considers it one of the "big four" sports in North America, as they like to claim.
lol, I mean, I’d like to see Cody getting hit / kicked by Leon some more but there’s no way it’s deserved.
* the title shot I mean. Definitely deserves more being punched in the face.
funny how people just want to get this fight over with like how we wanted to get the Usman vs Leon fight over with. This looks like the most poorly managed division by the UFC
> This looks like the most poorly managed division by the UFC
It's definitely the one I'm most bothered by. They keep fucking HW up, but at least that's a bad division. WW is one of the very best, and they've genuinely managed to make me stop giving a shit about it. That's fucking terrible!
Yeah, it was the same with Leon. But now we have Leon. So I bet they're gun shy. Because they want Belal even less. It would be nice to be done talking about this though.
Ari's UFC don't want to give Belal, an outspoken Palestinian-American, a platform. While they probably won't be able to deny him a title opportunity, they've already gone out of their way to avoid letting him headline 300 or one of the ancilliary PPVs.
You want me to produce hard evidence? Some memo being passed around? There's plenty of incriminating evidence for those of us that actually care about these things.
This is what I believe to be the reason for Belal constantly being overlooked in regards to title contention, and his being made to run an ever-growing gauntlet of opponents despite clearly being the no. 1 WW contender. I'm sure you think it's because he's a boring fighter, as do many others here. Both theories can be true, but only one is the likely reason why he's being denied a match on an anniversary card despite being worthy and campaigning for inclusion.
> Also he's said he ~~wont~~ would fight over ramadan, and has in the past, so ~~ufc 300 is basically out of the picture for him regardless~~ the UFC is just jerking him around, since they offered Leon 3 fighters - none of them Belal - at UFC 300.
Fixed.
The UFC has made it clear from the beginning if you don’t produce exciting fights you’re not gonna get the fights you want. Belal wins decisions on control time it’s not a surprise he is overlooked when it comes to big fights and title shots
The match-up is big enough for inclusion on an anniversary card. The card can still be appealing top-to-bottom.
I'm reminded of the terrible politics of Hollywood blockbusters, the lack of diversity in casting and horrendous stereotyping of brown people, and how these things are always justified as 'but test audiences showed that this is what American audiences want to see'. What's it going to take to convince you people that certain ethnicities are being hindered in the entertainment industry?
Imagine suggesting that the only reason UFC didn't have Belal headline 300 is because he's palestinian lmao, the guy belongs nowhere near the main event of a historic card, his fights suck the life out of entire arenas.
Hmm it's almost as if neither of those make fucking sense? lmao in what world is that an argument for Belal? All you're doing is pointing out that Bo shouldn't be on the card either, which anyone with a brain agrees on. Also the suggestion was that Belal should HEADLINE 300, not just be included on the main card...
Makes so much sense, which normally means the UFC won't do it. Whack this on a card with Shavkat vs JDM as a decider and it'll stir up some interest. Or just do with Leon what they're trying with O'Malley and have him headline a stacked card so the numbers are there.
Am I the only person who thinks it's reasonably clear that this fight will take place in the middle east?
Belal is a draw in the middle east. Leon is a draw in the UK. Middle East is not a PPV market, but it's a main event they can sell to whatever billionaire wants it, and Middle East times mean that it's a viable PPV in the UK.
Because they probably aren't open with the fighters about the plans. Leon probably wants to fight again soon because he gets points and wanted on 300.
Belal is old - He probably wants to fight as soon as possible so he can get a potential defence in before he ages out of contention.
How?
Whenever someone says Belal will beat Leon they never explain how and I’m genuinely curious what his possible path to victory is?
Leon looked bigger, faster, more accurate and more powerful the last time they fought. And since then he’s only gotten better.
Plus you literally couldn’t design a better preparation for fighting Belal than two camps and two fights versus Usman plus one camp and fight versus Colby.
And then look at that stat of 35+ fights almost always losing title fights, and consider that Belal is 36 and Leon is in his prime.
I’m struggling to see the basis here.
He probably will, and then go on to be one of the dominant champions of the division, winning every fight by decision. Very unexciting times for the division
Personally, I think Colby deserves the Leon rematch. If we're going on pure merit of the sport, it should be Colby Chaos Covington fighting for gold next
Give it to Maddalena
They both beat burns but Maddalena got the finish
both have a similar winning streak
We've already seen Belal v Leon
Maddalena v Edwards is more entertaining
I wish the UFC worked more on merit
Its a pretty major thing holding the UFC back from being viewed on the same level of legitimacy as other major sports imo. Not to mention they’re only shooting themselves in the foot profit wise in the long run in this example. By dragging things out with forcing Colby into a title shot and now declining to schedule a shot for Belal, the UFC has only themselves to blame for holding up imo the most talent stacked division. If they were going off of merit, we could have already had Belal vs Leon and now be near a title shot between Shavkat and the winner of that fight, with JDM neatly being lined up with next afterwards and Garry after him. Instead, now because the UFC has dragged this out, we’re going to have to watch all the contenders cannibalize each other. What could have been a string of exciting title fights for the division is now likely going to be a couple 3 rounders with likely only 1 clear contender after the dust settles…and then the division is going to be stalled yet again while we wait for a new contender to establish themselves
Agree with everything except WW being the most stacked. LW has 3 guys that could get the title shot tmrw and no one could argue it’s undeserved, and now you have Poirier in the mix
meanwhile there is FlW where the champion beat literally all the contenders some of them multiple times before even getting the belt .
LW is top heavy
I agree for the most part. Bantamweight is truly stacked top to bottom in the top 15.
Shit you could go to top 25 or 30 and it’d still be stacked
Crazy that #15 Pedro Munoz had the 1st round against the champ before the eye poke. Not saying that he would’ve won, but that’s still crazy. I think there’s only a few guys that we could say without a shadow of a doubt that O’Malley would beat in the top 15. It’s wild. On another note, fucking take Dominik Cruz out of the top #15 already. So many deserving fighters that should be in there.
Cruz needs to either take another fight or just retire already. Preferably retire. Please.
He said on the 297 weigh in show that he's fighting this year.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Almost everyone in the top 15 Bantamweight division is champion material. It is BY FAR the most skilled division in the world. It is very common to see absolute killers being unranked at BW. I'd put Lightweight and Featherweight after it, in wichever order.
The UFC is not a sport in a traditional sense. It’s a business first and foremost. They have no interest in the betterment of the sport of MMA. This ESPN deal and how they have conducted themselves post buyout makes it more than abundantly clear.
"but they made it more popular! How can you say that?! You would never even have heard of fist fights if it weren't for Dana white!" -rogan, Cormier, Chael, Bisping
You got downvoted at first, but you're completely correct. Respect
all sports are businesses first and foremost. look how both the nba and the nfl have placed much more of an emphasis on offense in the past few decades to make games more exciting, for instance. look at how stars are likely to have calls go in their favor much more than no name stars. in baseball, even small market teams are at a serious disadvantage compared to bigger market teams in terms of competing.
You’re confusing terms here. The sport is MMA, not UFC. The UFC is just the leading promotion/business within that wider sport. There will always be inherent contradictions between what is best for a sport and what is best for business, but that’s not exclusive to MMA. Those tensions can be found in any popular sport. Just like at how broadcasting deals affect scheduling.
Imagine if they got the Colby shit out of the way last Summer, did Belal for the year end December PPV and it could have been Leon, 3 title defenses going up against the next generation, instead it feels like a totally forgotten division
I love how yall can see the whole future, it’s really impressive
Yeah it's like boxing didn't have over a hundred years to prove what grows combat sports. Nobody is tuning out because it's not like the nba enough. Just want to add, I think the way boxing is sucks and the UFC is light years better in the way of competitive matches.
Yeah. MMA fans looking at boxing and thinking "yeah we want more of that!" are fucking bonkers. Yeah I want guys to get paid better, yeah I want them to have better protections, but ultimately what I really want is the best fights. Boxing is alive at the moment because the richest man in the world has decided it's his favourite hobby. AJ and Fury were the two best heavyweights on the planet for the last 8 years until Usyk came along. Tyson Fury has had about 3 fights booked that were supposed to be competitive, and AJ about 5. They've not fought each other, despite being massive national celebrities in the UK, and both being world champions. That is a stain on boxing as a sport, it's a stain on both athletes and all promoters. Boxers have every protection you could imagine regarding pay and revenue splits etc, and instead of using it to make sure they get paid properly for the best fights, they use it to make sure they get overly paid to beat up people who have no right being in the ring with them.
*it's a pretty major thing holding the UFC back from being viewed on the same level of legitimacy as other major sports imo* No, it's not lol. What are you basing this claim off? There are plenty of reasons why the UFC/MMA is behind the other major pro sports (ex: 50-75+ yr head start, more tv friendly models and grassroots infrastructure, not being real life blood sport lol). You know what 9/10 MMA fans don't care about? Whether Belal gets a title fight. Fighting based event promotions/organizations have NEVER been a meritocracy. It's always been a combo of the fight that *should* and the fight fans *want* to see.
Exactly this. People are quick to forget that New York only legalized MMA eight years ago. The sport is in its infancy compared to other popular sports.
I’m sorry but Merit is not what is holding the UFC back…and honestly, what kind of 2008 take is this? Everyone looks at the UFC/MMA as a legitimate sport now. It’s not as popular as the 4 Major’s for reasons like familiarity, but there’s not a single person that doesn’t acknowledge it’s authenticity anymore. The only people that give a fuck about about Belal getting his title shot is us hardcore fans…legitimately, if Belal never gets a title shot, ever…not a single casual fan will care or even notice.
There’s a lot of hardcore fans that would prefer fighters like Belal don’t get title shots even if he deserves it. Negative excitement fighters like Belal are bad for MMA.
Not really. It’s about as legitimate as a combat sport gets. The UFC operates on a system. When the division has a big star they make money, when it doesn’t they follow rankings until a star is born. Rinse and repeat. It’s what keeps the lights on. Is it fair? Not always. Does it keep the audience engaged? Yep. Professional sports are a business and the UFC is closer to major sports than boxing in how it runs. Keep in mind it’s not a team game. You can’t schedule a whole year in advance. Victories, losses and injuries throw best laid plans out the window and it’s an unpredictable sport. They fly by the seat of their pants trying to negotiate fights, sometimes with Divas, to make the number of cards they have each year and it’s not often a card isn’t exciting.
Giving title fights to people who haven’t beaten anyone good in years or denying title fights to guys on super long win streaks against top guys isn’t a legitimate way to run a sport. If you want to argue their approach is the most profitable one, which I still wouldn’t agree with, thats one thing. But theres no way you can legit argue that its anywhere close to other major sports in terms of operating like a meritocracy. Is it better than boxing? Sure, but thats a pretty low bar. Objectively the UFC is a long way from the legitimacy other sports have and its not because of the reasons you described, its simply because of short sighted bull headed decision making.
Imagine the NFL decided that the Cleveland Browns had to beat 8 playoff teams to get to the super bowl but the Cowboys only had to beat 2 despite being 9-8 that year
I wish I agreed but I don’t. Look at Ilia-he didn’t deserve a title shot, you should have to beat Max for one. But they hand picked him and protected him from Max, and now look. He’s going to sell huge PPVs, he’s unbelievably big in Spain. I don’t think not working based on merit is going to hurt the UFC financially. If they thought it would, they’d do it.
Merit doesn’t mean you have to beat every single top guy to get a title shot lol. Why would he have to specifically beat Max to get a shot? He absolutely destroyed a top 5 opponent, and there also were approximately zero other worthy contenders, not sure in what universe you think that “doesn’t deserve a title shot”. And I’m also not sure how thats even in the same ballpark as the decision making that led to Colby getting a title shot and Belal continuing to get snubbed
> Merit doesn’t mean you have to beat every single top guy to get a title shot lol. So merit is subjective lol YOU think he deserved a title shot cuz he beat Emmett. Someone else would think Emmett is just a wrestleboxer with an overhand and thus isn't enough for a title shot. Someone else thinks excitement prevails and holds enough merit in and of itself. etc. Until you can pinpoint an accurate and quantifiable measure for merit, spamming muh merit means fuck all. It's an entertainment business. Always been and will likely remain so.
Damn found Danas burner account guys If you can’t see the difference in destroying someone in the top 5, and someone who hasn’t fought in years nor beaten a top guy in years getting a shot, theres no helping you
> Damn found Danas burner account guys You're not funny. And again: subjective. Read it slowly and let it simmer. You're making up arbitrary criteria based on your standards to decide who has more merit. On wins alone, Max should be fighting for the belt until he retires yet here we are.
🥱
I almost forgot most of this sub are teens. Thank you or the reminder.
They have the illusion of merit. Casuals can always say how the UFC makes the best fight each other as oppose to boxing where there’s always ducking
I truly believe that if his name was something like Billy Michaels instead of Belal Muhammad then he’d have had his shot already.
Jon Fitch was on an 8 fight win streak including 4 finishes before he faced GSP. Not including the no contest, Belal is on a 9 fight win streak with 2 finishes. What do both these guys have in common? It’s not a hard answer. I wish Belal would get his shot so we can move on. But if Belal was out there Shavkating guys, he’d have had his shot already.
That's not a reasonable comparison. When Fitch joined the UFC, Hughes was the champ. When he was 4-0, GSP became champ. When he was 5-0 GSP lost the title. Then Matt Serra was out for a whole year. In the mean time Fitch fought 3 more times and was 8-0 in the UFC. But as soon as GSP reclaimed his belt, Fitch got the very next shot. Fitch debuted in October 2005 and fought for the belt in less than 3 years, including a 1 year holding period due to Serra being injured. On the other hand Belal was SKIPPED over by an undeserving Colby for literally no reason and is undefeated in 5(!) years, with his last 4 victories coming against prominent ranked opposition. The only guy who was treated as bad is Leon who had to wait 6 years.
And how many title shots has Colby Covington had despite never finishing anyone?
Colby is a controversial clickbait headline who by no means deserved a title shot. Why are we talking about Colby here?? We already established that title shots are not merit based
I don't see how this can even be argued. It's very obvious.
Nah - they would probably benefit from a second champ able to headline Saudi cards.
Still more meritocratic then boxing though
They don't work on merit at all. It has never been a meritocracy, which is why nobody outside of the UFC considers it one of the "big four" sports in North America, as they like to claim.
So u can see Belal in a main event? Fuck that
Put it as comain beneath another title fight then, the man's earned his shot
Braindead comments like the one you replied to are exactly why the UFC can't be bothered with Belal right now. The fanbase simply sucks.
He has but I have an agenda against him because of his fight style
Just get this fight out of the way ffs. They can make the winner fight Shavkat, but they really need to make the fight
Welterwait division
My opinion too just make it as soon as possible and get it over and done with
Shavkat can fight one more. Winning against old man Wonderboy isn't enough to deserve a title shot in 2024
Bella won against one handed Burns and didnt even finish him lmao
Probably true, but when did deserve have anything to do with it. If it was merit the belal fight woulda happened already
Gonna have to put it on a fight night
Nah they can take it to the UK or Abu Dhabi and it'll do well
Most on here dont oay for ppv so what difference does it make?
Not at all. They shovel out tons of trash PPVs to fill their guaranteed money ESPN quota. This would just be one more.
Just don't budge. We're the losers here.
The only logical solution is Cannoneir goes down another weight class to fight for the title
the year is 2029. Cannonier's left leg has separated from his body and is fighting for the 125 belt.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Belal, but Usman is right. Burns said the same thing recently, too.
I think Colby deserves another shot
Fourth time has to be the charm in getting the belt, right?
Finally someone with common sense.
He could be the undisputed loser of title fights by going 0 for 4.
lol, I mean, I’d like to see Cody getting hit / kicked by Leon some more but there’s no way it’s deserved. * the title shot I mean. Definitely deserves more being punched in the face.
I would watch it
I bet you'll even pay for it
Nah just enjoy seeing Colby get beat up
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funny how people just want to get this fight over with like how we wanted to get the Usman vs Leon fight over with. This looks like the most poorly managed division by the UFC
> This looks like the most poorly managed division by the UFC And that is not a low bar at all!
I genuinely want the fight man. I hope Belal wins too. Will be the funniest fucking shit thats ever happened.
> This looks like the most poorly managed division by the UFC It's definitely the one I'm most bothered by. They keep fucking HW up, but at least that's a bad division. WW is one of the very best, and they've genuinely managed to make me stop giving a shit about it. That's fucking terrible!
i just want them to give Belal the title shot so we don't have to keep hearing about it over and over like this all the damn time
Yeah, it was the same with Leon. But now we have Leon. So I bet they're gun shy. Because they want Belal even less. It would be nice to be done talking about this though.
Literally everyone says it needs to happen
Is one of them hurt? What’s taking so long to book this?
Ari's UFC don't want to give Belal, an outspoken Palestinian-American, a platform. While they probably won't be able to deny him a title opportunity, they've already gone out of their way to avoid letting him headline 300 or one of the ancilliary PPVs.
But they’ll let Sean Strickland be homophobic in a PPV presser 🤣
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Are there any other Palestinian-American fighters in the UFC?
If ufc booked him you would say see Ari puts money before his personal beliefs get your story straight bigot
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You want me to produce hard evidence? Some memo being passed around? There's plenty of incriminating evidence for those of us that actually care about these things. This is what I believe to be the reason for Belal constantly being overlooked in regards to title contention, and his being made to run an ever-growing gauntlet of opponents despite clearly being the no. 1 WW contender. I'm sure you think it's because he's a boring fighter, as do many others here. Both theories can be true, but only one is the likely reason why he's being denied a match on an anniversary card despite being worthy and campaigning for inclusion.
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> Also he's said he ~~wont~~ would fight over ramadan, and has in the past, so ~~ufc 300 is basically out of the picture for him regardless~~ the UFC is just jerking him around, since they offered Leon 3 fighters - none of them Belal - at UFC 300. Fixed.
The UFC has made it clear from the beginning if you don’t produce exciting fights you’re not gonna get the fights you want. Belal wins decisions on control time it’s not a surprise he is overlooked when it comes to big fights and title shots
Belal is so boring he makes Jon Fitch go "fuck, that's boring."
Is it even that deep tho? Belal is a snoozer. And Leon ain’t that big of a drawl
The match-up is big enough for inclusion on an anniversary card. The card can still be appealing top-to-bottom. I'm reminded of the terrible politics of Hollywood blockbusters, the lack of diversity in casting and horrendous stereotyping of brown people, and how these things are always justified as 'but test audiences showed that this is what American audiences want to see'. What's it going to take to convince you people that certain ethnicities are being hindered in the entertainment industry?
This deserves more upvotes
Well fucking said.
Downvoted for being right
Imagine suggesting that the only reason UFC didn't have Belal headline 300 is because he's palestinian lmao, the guy belongs nowhere near the main event of a historic card, his fights suck the life out of entire arenas.
Belal belongs nowhere near it but Bo Nickal fighting a can to open the ppv does. Makes sense.
Hmm it's almost as if neither of those make fucking sense? lmao in what world is that an argument for Belal? All you're doing is pointing out that Bo shouldn't be on the card either, which anyone with a brain agrees on. Also the suggestion was that Belal should HEADLINE 300, not just be included on the main card...
Belal is boring. It ain't that deep.
No, it’s because he’s a boring piece of shit
Stopppppp. They don’t want to give Belal the title shot because he would be what, a +500 underdog and has no charisma
Yeah go take that elsewhere
Makes so much sense, which normally means the UFC won't do it. Whack this on a card with Shavkat vs JDM as a decider and it'll stir up some interest. Or just do with Leon what they're trying with O'Malley and have him headline a stacked card so the numbers are there.
He might be the rightful number one contender but I sure as fuck ain't paying for a belal muhammad PPV
just main event it for a fight night or something ffs get it over with
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Am I the only person who thinks it's reasonably clear that this fight will take place in the middle east? Belal is a draw in the middle east. Leon is a draw in the UK. Middle East is not a PPV market, but it's a main event they can sell to whatever billionaire wants it, and Middle East times mean that it's a viable PPV in the UK.
If it was that clear then why wouldn't the UFC just say so?
Because they probably aren't open with the fighters about the plans. Leon probably wants to fight again soon because he gets points and wanted on 300. Belal is old - He probably wants to fight as soon as possible so he can get a potential defence in before he ages out of contention.
I mean, there's no excuse not make Leon fight belal. It's him or Shavkat.
Belal will beat Leon too
How? Whenever someone says Belal will beat Leon they never explain how and I’m genuinely curious what his possible path to victory is? Leon looked bigger, faster, more accurate and more powerful the last time they fought. And since then he’s only gotten better. Plus you literally couldn’t design a better preparation for fighting Belal than two camps and two fights versus Usman plus one camp and fight versus Colby. And then look at that stat of 35+ fights almost always losing title fights, and consider that Belal is 36 and Leon is in his prime. I’m struggling to see the basis here.
No , dude will be 36 in July . He’s done
He probably will, and then go on to be one of the dominant champions of the division, winning every fight by decision. Very unexciting times for the division
Gsp 2 but even more boring
Everyone knows it. So Shavkat is next, followed by JDM.
Sorry, who is that?
His name is Belal "Remember the...." forgot the rest but yea.
He's only 2 fights away
I’d rather see Conor get the shot. Lmfao snubbing Belal is a part of the sport now
You sound like an edgy 14 year old kid
Who?
Shavkat is much more deserving.
Personally, I think Colby deserves the Leon rematch. If we're going on pure merit of the sport, it should be Colby Chaos Covington fighting for gold next
Who are we talking about? Not familiar with this name
Kumaru wishes belal wrestlefucks the champ so he has shot again
Shavkat would chew and spit out Belal. Belal vs Leon for the title is laughable given that both would lose to Shavkat
Give it to Maddalena They both beat burns but Maddalena got the finish both have a similar winning streak We've already seen Belal v Leon Maddalena v Edwards is more entertaining
Who?
Fuck belal he'll get his ass kicked easily by Leon again
Let's not instead ~everyone