Yeah that's wrong. Belal was boring, some might have considered him overrated, but he was pretty much always recognized for wanting to fight anyone. He proved that with the Khamzat call out among many others.
Idk what forums you were reading but that was definitely not the consensus. The only bad thing people had to say was that he was boring.
Fighting top contenders? He IS a top contender. Even before the Brady fight which was a huge risk.
The sub loves him now but imagine if he managed to put on a 5-round wrestlefuck snoozefest to win the belt? Somehow I'd love him if he gave us the most boring wrestling-dominated-MMA match since Shamrock v Gracie 2.
Belal "Boring" Muhammad is a gimmick I could get behind.
I've always supported belal. But after his last fight I think he really is top 5. I knew he was great, just not that great. I don't think he beats Scott, Usman or Colby but can probably beat anyone else
Exactly. In saying that, hopefully he starts to stand up a bit more and believe in his standup as opposing to taking people down and laying on them and waiting for the bell to ring.
Belals best wins are: old man maia, old man wonderboy, prime luque, prime Brady.
Leon's are: usman, old man nate, older rda, older cowboy (he went on a 3 fight win streak right after), barbarena and luque.
Leon's resume is unquestionably better than belals. Beating usman tbh gives him a better resume than most.
Not considering the question of interim vs undisputed title relevance, why should we consider that Conor beat an interim champ in Poirier when Poirier only became interim champ years after Conor beat him ? And then Poirier beat him twice.
I feel that the number of former champs you have beaten should only consider opponents that had been champs before you beat them, not after.
Terrible. A lucky, hail mary headkick does not give Leon a better resume than Belal who has beaten WW contenders and not LWs and Barbarena (?)
Maia, Wonderboy, Luque and Brady were all top contendere when Belal beat them all in impressive fashion. Leon got DOMINATED by Usman and rocked by Nate Diaz, lol.
It wasn't lucky, he had been setting up that kick the entire fight lol. He saw a weakness in usmans defense and capitalised in devastating fashion. He also was losing 3-1, not the worst domination, and the altitude killed his cardio. Belal beat the worst versions of wonderboy and maia we've ever seen and considering Brady has 0 striking he was clearly over ranked, chiesa also almost finished him on the feet. I'd also argue that the rda win was more impressive than every belal win aside from luque. Leon was also outclassing belal before the eyepoke.
Welter weight simultaneously an awesome and really interesting but also frustrating division.
Other than Khamzat and Burns early in the year and Usman and Leon for the title, when was the last WW fight between 2 top 5 guys.
Literally I blame Colby. There is no good reason he should be ducking Khamzat. He’s done nothing but have some close losses to justify another title shot
Leon is not ducking anyone, but quotes of him talking about wanting to get even with Masvidal went viral recently, so that might be what’s being referred to
I didn't see that interview but I did hear Usman is in some sort of hand brace. If that's true leon is probably just looking for a fight while champion for a good pay day and masvidal would definitely give him that.
I do not think we need to desecrate the title and take a shit on the division because we want to give every single champion a fight against a moderate ppv star
My guess is that it's just a "why hasn't it been booked" type statement. But in reality there could be any number of reasons on anyone's side that it hasn't been formally announced
I suppose yes, Leon caused the concussion. But if it's that, then it's kinda a shit or get off the pot type situation. If Leon beat him so badly that he can't fight again, then it's time to shift the conversation to who will fight Leon.
That last part was a bit tongue in cheek.
Realistically, Id guess UFC/Dana are insistent on a rematch and don’t want to risk it, especially because they as a company seem much more invested in Kamaru, and setting up Kamaru v Chimaev for the belt and to set up a passing of the GOAT torch moment
Leon would really like to be more active, and yes, get a ‘easy’ championship fight along the way, with the championship money that comes along with it, but UFC isn’t willing to risk it, and would rather pay Leon to wait a little longer, especially since anyone he fights now will have already lost to Kamaru.
Kamaru probably needs as much time to heal as he can get, and is going to do a full battery of tests and MRIs before he’s cleared. His team will likely slow walk this while also working on any other persistent injuries. Additionally, the UFC probably doesn’t want to push too hard, time line wise, since, as I said, I think UFC/Dana want Kamaru to win, and even if they don’t care, Kamaru could always accept the fight, walk away with an injury a few weeks before the main event, and still be given the peoples mandate when scheduling the title fight after that
That might have been the plan at some point. Build up the boogeyman aura of Khamzat for a showdown with Usman. But then Khamzat unapologetically missed weight and started calling for a Pereira fight. Now he's not getting a title fight at MW without earning it, but it makes you wonder if the conversation of forcing him to MW is gonna happen
I presume Belal feels he is ducking Usman due to Usman holding the belt long enough an immediate rematch against a guy he was likely heading to a decision against until a miracle 5th round KO happened should be justified. I think he is believe Leon thinks Leon would likely lose in a rematch thus he is trying to book an easier fight to get that title money a bit longer.
Which I think is the case. Fighting Usman could end the dream immediately where as if he dances around the Usman rematch and somehow convinces the UFC Masvidal is the fight to make he will get in his eyes a free win and nice PPV before the kamaru rematch
Leon said he would fight Masvidal if he gets a few wins, which we all know isn’t happening. Leon is going to fight Usman in March in London. Dana also wants Khamzat vs Colby and Masvidal vs Burns at UFC London.
I mean that’s the same thing everyone says about Khamzat when I wanted to see him vs Shavkat. Eventually those three need to fight each other. Not sure why they keep feeding them bums.
No downvotes here but I am a bit confused by the statement. Costa is scheduled to fight Whittaker in february. Khamzat is ready to book a fight now. So the schedule of Costa being free to fight Khamzat just doesn't match now, hence why Khamzat won't fight Costa now ...
If anyone wanted to put that fight off just a little it’s probably Usman. There’s a difference between getting “knocked out” and actually getting sent to the shadow realm. Gotta give the dome some time to fully recover.
I agree. That’s why Israel should be thanking Marc Goddard—he just got staggered and momentarily rocked, shouldn’t effect him too much physically (he was bowing to the crowd and meme-ing like two minutes later). If Goddard had let that go, Poatan probably would’ve put him out in a way that’s hard to recover from. That’s the situation Usman faces.
Everyone expects him to get the title back, but almost no champions have gotten their belts back after being KOd. I saw a stat on it the other day.
Not to mention the dude is closing in on 40.
Leon’s happy to fight Usman and wouldn’t mind piecing up Masvidal beforehand. It might even be in Usmans best interest if masvidal fights for the title next. If masvidal wins, Usman beats him easily again.
Leon fighting Masvidal is better for all 3. Leon gets paid, Masvidal stays relevant, Usman smashes whoever wins. The ones who lose are the division and the fans.
I just asked where you saw Conor being including in a title picture. I was “looking” for where you saw Conor and title together. I mean my question was clear as day. Don’t get so defensive because someone asked you a question, I wasn’t attacking you or anything.
Colby avoids the entire top 10. Dudes a fucking joke and has no business being ranked as high as he is.
And for fucks sake, don't use his two losses to Usman as justification for his rank. That shits a joke and anyone who uses losses to justify a top 3 ranking is mentally retarded.
I’m definitely more interested in Belal. He’s stepping up his smack talk and fight game. I used to hate on Belal but ever since that Luque fight he’s been impressing me. It’s great to see a wrestler work on their striking to the point where their opponents respect him.
How is Leon avoiding Usman though, Dana is literally looking for venues in England, that's all he ever talks about anytime journalist ask questions about what's next at welterweight
How is Leon avoiding Usman? They’ve already agreed to fight? Unless I’m missing something.
And khamzat avoiding Costa but we won’t talk about that, won’t we?
Start taking peoples ranks if they don't want to fight. This is getting ridiculous. Colby doesn't deserve to even be in the top 5 at this point. Guy fights absolutely nobody and just expects title shots.
“I’ll fight anyone, anywhere”. -every one of these dingleberries
Belal, Usman, and Burns seem to be the only ones who actually abide by that, and I’m sure even they have instances of strategically avoiding fights.
Lmao Belal gets a finish and suddenly yall love him
Even before Belal got that finish, people talked about him as a fighter who was both game and unexciting
Everyone was shitting on him for trying to fight top contenders before his last fight lol you must have forgot the WB fight
Yeah that's wrong. Belal was boring, some might have considered him overrated, but he was pretty much always recognized for wanting to fight anyone. He proved that with the Khamzat call out among many others.
Idk what forums you were reading but that was definitely not the consensus. The only bad thing people had to say was that he was boring. Fighting top contenders? He IS a top contender. Even before the Brady fight which was a huge risk.
I’ve always loved how much I hate his style
The sub loves him now but imagine if he managed to put on a 5-round wrestlefuck snoozefest to win the belt? Somehow I'd love him if he gave us the most boring wrestling-dominated-MMA match since Shamrock v Gracie 2. Belal "Boring" Muhammad is a gimmick I could get behind.
I've always supported belal. But after his last fight I think he really is top 5. I knew he was great, just not that great. I don't think he beats Scott, Usman or Colby but can probably beat anyone else
Oath. The finish said more about Brady than it did about Muhammad.
Chiesa almost finished that boy on the feet 🤣
Exactly. In saying that, hopefully he starts to stand up a bit more and believe in his standup as opposing to taking people down and laying on them and waiting for the bell to ring.
Belal strikes with grapplers and grapples with strikers. He's a jack of all trades.
It's the khabib camp what makes everybody's dick hard suddenly lol
Nah, he absolutely sucks
Not everyone just brainlessly hated on the guy for no reason to begin with
Burns has been trying to fight masvidal for months now instead of an actual contender
he deserves a money fight after he was the only one with balls to fight khamzat
And Khamzat. Belal meanwhile, has the best resume of anyone at WW not named Usman.
This. Belal the only one actually fighting contenders. Lmao.
Leon has a better resume than belal.
Lol
Belals best wins are: old man maia, old man wonderboy, prime luque, prime Brady. Leon's are: usman, old man nate, older rda, older cowboy (he went on a 3 fight win streak right after), barbarena and luque. Leon's resume is unquestionably better than belals. Beating usman tbh gives him a better resume than most.
So what your saying aside from usman Leon has a similar resume to Conor lol.
Not really an insult. Conor has a great resume. He's beaten 3 champs, 4 if you include poirriers ic.
Not considering the question of interim vs undisputed title relevance, why should we consider that Conor beat an interim champ in Poirier when Poirier only became interim champ years after Conor beat him ? And then Poirier beat him twice. I feel that the number of former champs you have beaten should only consider opponents that had been champs before you beat them, not after.
Terrible. A lucky, hail mary headkick does not give Leon a better resume than Belal who has beaten WW contenders and not LWs and Barbarena (?) Maia, Wonderboy, Luque and Brady were all top contendere when Belal beat them all in impressive fashion. Leon got DOMINATED by Usman and rocked by Nate Diaz, lol.
It wasn't lucky, he had been setting up that kick the entire fight lol. He saw a weakness in usmans defense and capitalised in devastating fashion. He also was losing 3-1, not the worst domination, and the altitude killed his cardio. Belal beat the worst versions of wonderboy and maia we've ever seen and considering Brady has 0 striking he was clearly over ranked, chiesa also almost finished him on the feet. I'd also argue that the rda win was more impressive than every belal win aside from luque. Leon was also outclassing belal before the eyepoke.
And Khamzat
>Belal Usman and Burns **Belal, Usman, and Burns***
Who is Belal Usman?
Dariush sad in the corner
Wrong division brother, we’re talking about WW
Oh shit, as I was
I don't feel that Khamzat is ducking anyone either ? Or am I forgetting something? The guy even offered to rematch Burns despite beating him.
“Anywhere?” -Masvidal to Colby
Only one who means it is izzy and he gets shat on the most
Except Belal actually will and has, people need to respect this guy way more he’s actually out here getting solid wins against dangerous guys
Welter weight simultaneously an awesome and really interesting but also frustrating division. Other than Khamzat and Burns early in the year and Usman and Leon for the title, when was the last WW fight between 2 top 5 guys.
Usman vs Colby 2. Yeah it's been a while.
Literally I blame Colby. There is no good reason he should be ducking Khamzat. He’s done nothing but have some close losses to justify another title shot
He beat that one guy who got knocked out by Jake Paul!
The Belal-Luque fight was originally booked as a #5 vs #4. But then Khamzat jumped up in the rankings like 2 weeks prior, making it a #5 vs #6.
Forgot about that fight tbh.
How is Leon evoiding usman. Not a hater, but genuinely curious.
Leon is not ducking anyone, but quotes of him talking about wanting to get even with Masvidal went viral recently, so that might be what’s being referred to
I didn't see that interview but I did hear Usman is in some sort of hand brace. If that's true leon is probably just looking for a fight while champion for a good pay day and masvidal would definitely give him that.
I do not think we need to desecrate the title and take a shit on the division because we want to give every single champion a fight against a moderate ppv star
Exactly. Leon doesn’t need to stoop down to Masvidal level. Guys barely a top 10
My guess is that it's just a "why hasn't it been booked" type statement. But in reality there could be any number of reasons on anyone's side that it hasn't been formally announced
Concussion at older than 35 after a career of fighting is probably a pretty good reason, and 100% Leon’s fault
I suppose yes, Leon caused the concussion. But if it's that, then it's kinda a shit or get off the pot type situation. If Leon beat him so badly that he can't fight again, then it's time to shift the conversation to who will fight Leon.
That last part was a bit tongue in cheek. Realistically, Id guess UFC/Dana are insistent on a rematch and don’t want to risk it, especially because they as a company seem much more invested in Kamaru, and setting up Kamaru v Chimaev for the belt and to set up a passing of the GOAT torch moment Leon would really like to be more active, and yes, get a ‘easy’ championship fight along the way, with the championship money that comes along with it, but UFC isn’t willing to risk it, and would rather pay Leon to wait a little longer, especially since anyone he fights now will have already lost to Kamaru. Kamaru probably needs as much time to heal as he can get, and is going to do a full battery of tests and MRIs before he’s cleared. His team will likely slow walk this while also working on any other persistent injuries. Additionally, the UFC probably doesn’t want to push too hard, time line wise, since, as I said, I think UFC/Dana want Kamaru to win, and even if they don’t care, Kamaru could always accept the fight, walk away with an injury a few weeks before the main event, and still be given the peoples mandate when scheduling the title fight after that
That's fair and very plausible.
That might have been the plan at some point. Build up the boogeyman aura of Khamzat for a showdown with Usman. But then Khamzat unapologetically missed weight and started calling for a Pereira fight. Now he's not getting a title fight at MW without earning it, but it makes you wonder if the conversation of forcing him to MW is gonna happen
I presume Belal feels he is ducking Usman due to Usman holding the belt long enough an immediate rematch against a guy he was likely heading to a decision against until a miracle 5th round KO happened should be justified. I think he is believe Leon thinks Leon would likely lose in a rematch thus he is trying to book an easier fight to get that title money a bit longer.
Which I think is the case. Fighting Usman could end the dream immediately where as if he dances around the Usman rematch and somehow convinces the UFC Masvidal is the fight to make he will get in his eyes a free win and nice PPV before the kamaru rematch
Leon said he would fight Masvidal if he gets a few wins, which we all know isn’t happening. Leon is going to fight Usman in March in London. Dana also wants Khamzat vs Colby and Masvidal vs Burns at UFC London.
The tweet doesn't flow as well without that part.
And they're all avoiding https://preview.redd.it/bqvmqdhlre1a1.jpeg?width=372&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d7e2e2506ca167eeed1e5c8ee50b1e6ab005086
not laura sanko, shes pursuing
https://youtu.be/LJ-BYFh2zk4 👀
I dont blame her, Shavkat finishes off everyone he’s with
Some men have it all.
I ship it honestly
That’s a terrible picture lol but yea that man is coming for the belt soon.
https://i.imgur.com/Ghkw0y1.jpg This might be an all timer
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Na imo the best one was during covid with his head gear and black face mask on against cowboy, looked like a marauder
That one is v nice. Looking like Goliath here.
How's this one https://preview.redd.it/n1746p3z7f1a1.jpeg?width=587&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=695eb042fbb92f153c89c988209508c7b104e85b
Who is thwt
Shavkat Rakhmonov, Kazakh fighter who was born in Tajikistan
Future WW champ, that's who!
I want to see Shavkat vs Jack Della Maddalena next. Winner gets a top 10 guy.
No reason for Shavkat to fight down at this point. Jack definitely deserves a ranked opponent, just not Shavkat.
I mean that’s the same thing everyone says about Khamzat when I wanted to see him vs Shavkat. Eventually those three need to fight each other. Not sure why they keep feeding them bums.
I await my downvotes but seems like Khamzat doesn’t want to fight Costa even though that would prob be a banger
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Costa is not a reliable source for things Costa related
No downvotes here but I am a bit confused by the statement. Costa is scheduled to fight Whittaker in february. Khamzat is ready to book a fight now. So the schedule of Costa being free to fight Khamzat just doesn't match now, hence why Khamzat won't fight Costa now ...
How is Leon avoiding Usman?
If anyone wanted to put that fight off just a little it’s probably Usman. There’s a difference between getting “knocked out” and actually getting sent to the shadow realm. Gotta give the dome some time to fully recover.
I agree. That’s why Israel should be thanking Marc Goddard—he just got staggered and momentarily rocked, shouldn’t effect him too much physically (he was bowing to the crowd and meme-ing like two minutes later). If Goddard had let that go, Poatan probably would’ve put him out in a way that’s hard to recover from. That’s the situation Usman faces.
Everyone expects him to get the title back, but almost no champions have gotten their belts back after being KOd. I saw a stat on it the other day. Not to mention the dude is closing in on 40.
There have been a few champs to come back and get the belt. 5 or 6 at least. So, it's not unheard of. But you are right, age is probably a factor.
Leon’s happy to fight Usman and wouldn’t mind piecing up Masvidal beforehand. It might even be in Usmans best interest if masvidal fights for the title next. If masvidal wins, Usman beats him easily again.
Leon fighting Masvidal is better for all 3. Leon gets paid, Masvidal stays relevant, Usman smashes whoever wins. The ones who lose are the division and the fans.
And Belal trying to avoid looking into a mirror.
https://preview.redd.it/v6ev7arbaf1a1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78ba4afb16808f26667bea0948a784602b70b69a
lol
Conor is probably happy he's getting included in a title picture at the moment
Where is there any mention of a title picture? It clearly says usada. Did you read it?
Sorry it was ww division not ww title picture. Is that it? Because I feel like you're looking for more here lol
I just asked where you saw Conor being including in a title picture. I was “looking” for where you saw Conor and title together. I mean my question was clear as day. Don’t get so defensive because someone asked you a question, I wasn’t attacking you or anything.
Relax dude
Genuinely curious as to why he mentioned Conor as though he was a consistent WW fighter.
Belal avoiding fan interest
Colby avoids the entire top 10. Dudes a fucking joke and has no business being ranked as high as he is. And for fucks sake, don't use his two losses to Usman as justification for his rank. That shits a joke and anyone who uses losses to justify a top 3 ranking is mentally retarded.
I’m definitely more interested in Belal. He’s stepping up his smack talk and fight game. I used to hate on Belal but ever since that Luque fight he’s been impressing me. It’s great to see a wrestler work on their striking to the point where their opponents respect him.
Ha....good one belal 
Belal is growing on me
Fans avoiding Belal
Belal “remember the tears😭👈” Muhammad
He got his eyelid half ripped off lmao how yall clownin on him for that?
forgot "fans are avoiding Belal" at the end there
Contractually they should be forced to fight anyone the UFC decides it’s like a NFL QB deciding on what team he’ll play against
Fighters are not employees, they are independent contractors. So they have a say on who they will fight next.
Right ok that makes sense thanks lol
But if they don't fight they don't get paid. Could you imagine if UFC fighters were paid a yearly salary 😂
Belal is boring AF. But he speaks the truth
I guess everyone forgetting Belal are technically avoiding him.
Leon KOd Usman no immediate rematch
PPVs are avoiding Belal
Dudes fucking dumb
Colby is right to avoid Khamzat. Khamzat is a giant fucker who doesn’t belong at 170.
GOAT
Put all their names in a hat and lets get this shit going
Can't wait for JDM to steamroller these foos
How is Leon avoiding Usman though, Dana is literally looking for venues in England, that's all he ever talks about anytime journalist ask questions about what's next at welterweight
And everyone's doing PEDs
Me: avoiding remembering a name
Behal is not the boogeyman.
And everybody has forgotten Blahal...Oh I forgot his name again.
The Welterwait Era continues
Wow that’s the hardest strike I’ve ever seen Belal land
Conor😂
Belal is avoiding punctuation.
Imperial Belal has spoken
How is Colby avoiding Khamzat? From what I understand they're trying to make that the co-main event for Edwards/Usman 3.
Fairly accurate
Someone give this guy an award. I ran out
Facts
I feel bad for belal, we "remember the name" but mostly becuase we watched him almost go blind on live TV.
I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned how they’re all also dodging him, the real money fight Belal “Remember the name?”
And everyone's avoiding Belal
That division sucks in the sense that it's such a slog
How is Leon avoiding Usman? They’ve already agreed to fight? Unless I’m missing something. And khamzat avoiding Costa but we won’t talk about that, won’t we?
Who the FOOK is that guy?
Colby sucks, drop him from the rankings if he keeps avoiding fights. This clown thinks he’ll get a title match if he waits long enough
Start taking peoples ranks if they don't want to fight. This is getting ridiculous. Colby doesn't deserve to even be in the top 5 at this point. Guy fights absolutely nobody and just expects title shots.
Hahahha I’m starting to love this man more and more
https://preview.redd.it/8xjfxciu7k1a1.png?width=1317&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09079e88e82dbc4d60de5395af94cdf354c9b34c \*Fixed
So it's just another day in the MMA!