Colby's antics are the main reason for his terrible performance

[dipstickjimmy]

what they mean by bully is walk onto punches with his overaggression to close the distance, get hurt, dropped and then finished.

Oh well that makes sense

 

[HereticBD]

He's merely an above average fighter with a gimmick. He's gonna lose from time to time. Better than being bland, forgettable Colby Covington, and winning fights in the B-leagues.

Can't blame the guy for playing the hype game. That shit pays.

 

[TITS]

I disagree. Leon looked great and held himself together rather than getting emotional and Trying too hard to kill Colby. He outclassed Colby beating him in every area of the game. Leon made a specific decision to take Colby down and grapple with him when it would have been "Safer" to keep it standing.although he was never in any danger.

Belal won't get Leon emotional whatsoever and skill for skill he isn't there with him.

Even Leon admitted last night wasn't his best performance. Leon literally did nothing last night but sparred for 4 rounds against a guy that refused to engage and then spent the last round on his back...but I guess he did that to prove a point too?

 

[Khaosan]

tell that to sean brady

He beat up once person in like 8 years lmao keep clinging to that.

 

[Khaosan]

burns is a lw?

FW actually.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Donald Trump there to support him,

From what I've heard trump walked out during colby's post fight rant.

 

[Kuggk]

He beat up once person in like 8 years lmao keep clinging to that.

But, you made it seem like he never did it.

 

[linvillegorge]

Colby just looked like a shit fighter last night and I don't think antics had anything to do with that. I mean, he's 35 and 3-3 over his past 6 with the three wins being over the ghosts of Robbie Lawler, Tyron Woodley, and Jorge Masvidal. He hasn't beaten a top fighter in his prime since... well, has he actually ever?

He looked like a shadow of himself last night. Slow, tentative just stuck in the mud.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Even Leon admitted last night wasn't his best performance. Leon literally did nothing last night but sparred for 4 rounds against a guy that refused to engage and then spent the last round on his back...but I guess he did that to prove a point too?

I think the effect of Colby's pure vile comments caused Leon to have to control himself to prevent getting over emotional. When nothing is coming back in the way of danger and you are far ahead of your opponent it gives little reason to take any risk. Leon could have scrambled to get up and likely could have easily (he did so during the fight) but why risk it?

Either way I simply don't see a reason to believe Belal is somehow dramatically improved and Leon has regressed. Leon outclassed him for the first round by a vast margin and looked on his way to a one sided beat down.

 

[OldBoy91]

Even Leon admitted last night wasn't his best performance. Leon literally did nothing last night but sparred for 4 rounds against a guy that refused to engage and then spent the last round on his back...but I guess he did that to prove a point too?

That's how Leon fights. He won't go out of 1st gear unless you make him. Colby never put him in any danger whatsoever.

Look at the Usman fight in March. Same thing. The few times Usman did take risks and move forward Edwards immediately made him pay. He dropped him with a body kick and the next time Usman came forward pushing the action he rocked him with a big knee up the middle. Which is something he feinted over and over again against Colby.

Guys who make Leon fight get cut and beaten up. Like RDA. Belal the first time, and he was well on his way to being finished before the unfortunate eyepoke. He was wobbled multiple times in that first round.

 

[moreorless87]

That's how Leon fights. He won't go out of 1st gear unless you make him. Colby never put him in any danger whatsoever.

Look at the Usman fight in March. Same thing. The few times Usman did take risks and move forward Edwards immediately made him pay. He dropped him with a body kick and the next time Usman came forward pushing the action he rocked him with a big knee up the middle. Which is something he feinted over and over again against Colby.

Guys who make Leon fight get cut and beaten up. Like RDA. Belal the first time, and he was well on his way to being finished before the unfortunate eyepoke. He was wobbled multiple times in that first round.

I think that is a good point, Leon isnt as good a wrestler as Usman and perhaps lacks the one punch KO power he does BUT I think he's got a lot more tools, espeically tools to punish guys trying to pressure him which is so much of Colby's game.

Could well be that the Usman fights actually flattered Colby, fighting someone with a rather narrow game it was easier for Colby to fight his own relative narrow pressure game as he didnt have as many potential threats to look out for. That typical "Colby rush" is always going to be vunerable to a body kick espeically and Colby's wrestling has always been around cage work not hinting counter shots that would make people stop kicking.

Granted the kick itself wasnt thrown much but Leon looked set up to throw it for much of the fight and Colby looked like he was afraid of it.

 

[Hotora86]

Sure, Colby had a long layoff, but a guy who is on his third title shot, with two of them being handed on a silver platter and no more in sight for the near future (especially the way he's been ducking the top guys in the division), with freaking Donald Trump there to support him, and he doesn't even seem slightly disappointed after that ridiculous performance? That's because he was happy he made it out in one piece.

When Leon tagged him, he had to laugh it off. In between rounds, he was more concerned about his looks on the camera than his corner's advice. It eventually became clear: he saw what happened to Marty, and he knew Leon wanted to kill him after that press conference. À la Dillon Danis, he was just too affraid to engage, on the risk of getting KO'd and instantly becoming a meme that would blow up ten fold in proportion to his trash talking. His attempts at wrestling were weak and got even more discouraged after Leon got his own takedown. It was only at the end, when Leon started being sloppy, making it was obvious he wasn't in kill-rage mode, that Colby decided to engage.

IMHO, this was a very winnable fight for Colby, he just gave up before it started.

I agree. With so much focus on "the art of the heel" Colby lost focus on the art of fighting.
Besides, some ppl (even friends and family) have stopped supporting him because of his antics. That's detrimental.
I know that Colby went full heel to be more "entertaining" and that has worked to a point but now he's feeling the long-term adverse effects. I doubt he will ever fight for the belt again. I can see him having a mental breakdown at some point, realizing he has sacrificed so much and did not get what he wanted.

 

[potatoReloaded]

 

[potatoReloaded]

Or and hear me out


Dude is an undersized WW aged 35 who just came off a year long layoff because his opponent sucker punched in the back of the head and caused a serious brain injury

But maybe you're right...maybe it's "the antics"

Is he really that undersized, though? And isn't that part of his strategy so he can have better cardio (which he didn't use)? Nonetheless, I agree age may have something to do with it, but don't think so for the brain injury. «Word on the street» was that he was just milking it to get a better compensation from Mas. I mean, here he says he got rocked but stood on his feet, and he seems pretty coherent (I know that doesn't mean he hasn't sustained an injury, but still...).

I just think he put too much pressure on himself with his antics, and couldn't quite deal with it.

 

[RonDante]

He was never that good, he had a long layoff, he did the same thing against usman the second time until the third round, he’s older, he didn’t want to get sparked out in front of trump (maybe), he secretly bet himself to lose (maybe). There’s plenty of reasons, I just dont know which is true

 

[chinarice]

If that's how Colby fights going forward or how he looks physically, he's getting beat by the majority of the top10 i think.

 

[Substance Abuse]

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

The both fought with timidity. They both lacked complete conviction that they were the superior fighter. I strongly disliked that fight and their efforts.

 

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

God I hate Colby. I actually gained some respect for Strickland and even Jones for calling him out, even though I still dislike both of them as well.

 

[welcometohavoc]

Is he really that undersized, though? And isn't that part of his strategy so he can have better cardio (which he didn't use)? Nonetheless, I agree age may have something to do with it, but don't think so for the brain injury. «Word on the street» was that he was just milking it to get a better compensation from Mas. I mean, here he says he got rocked but stood on his feet, and he seems pretty coherent (I know that doesn't mean he hasn't sustained an injury, but still...).

I just think he put too much pressure on himself with his antics, and couldn't quite deal with it.

I mean he's the same size as Tony Ferg who is one of the bigger LW's in UFC history

And here is an article detailing his health problems https://www.mmamania.com/2023/12/15...ufc-296-after-brain-injury-during-mma-absence