I think every champion deserves one layup defense and Belal is an easy fight for Leon...

[ComfortablyNumb55]

Leon became champion and was immediately put back into the fire against Usman and Colby. Not fair, IMO. Looking back, of course, Colby wasn’t a difficult fight, but many people thought the real Colby could beat Leon. Colby fought scared and no one knew that'd happen.

I think Leon DESERVES a layup defense against Belal. Shavkat would be completely unfair to Leon. Shavkat should be after Belal.

Agree?

 

[Fengxian]

This isn't Ultimate Gimme Championship. If you want Belal to get the shot do it because he deserves it, not because the champ needs a gimme fight.

Leon already got a gimme fight too because your idol Colby underperformed.

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Feels like bait.... Belal is the deserving contender yes and should have gotten the title shot already but they couldn't remember his name.

 

[Ahem]

So champs are supposed to fight a scrub instead of the number one contender? Dana approves.

 

[KnockoutsGalore1]

No professional fighter EVER "deserves" a layup fight. Even Tony, or Cowboy, or whomever else at the end of their career. If you feel you deserve, and need, a layup fight... retire.

 

[Luckyme]

Unless Belal aged overnight like Colby, I think it's going to be a more difficult fight for Leon. Leon showed some holes in his grappling which Belal can gameplan for. He also has better cardio than Leon.

Leon should be favored but this fight is far from a layup.

 

[Koala]

Layup defense was on Saturday

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Layup or not. He’s next in line.

And champions should never call people out. Just fight the next fighter in line that makes sense. Though now it’s commonplace to call out the champion in a heavier weightclass. And obviously is a different matter.

Usman calling out Masvidal for a rematch obliterated his legacy in my eyes. There’s no coming back from that level of lame cherry picking.

 

[MaulingMyClown]

Lmfao...what was Colby??

 

[jitzmonkey]

Edwards first two defenses seemed (while not on paper) fairly easy.

While we saw him handle Belal in R1 of their NC, we never know how the next fight will play out in actuality.

Nunes/Pena 1 is a perfect example; especially considering how one sided the rematch went:

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Unless Belal aged overnight like Colby, I think it's going to be a more difficult fight for Leon. Leon showed some holes in his grappling which Belal can gameplan for. He also has better cardio than Leon.

Leon should be favored but this fight is far from a layup.

So Colby aged overnight against Leon. Same thing was said about usman after both fights? How lucky must Leon be to fight these killers at just the moment they fall off??
Or is it just fans coping with the fact that their fighter lost to another fighter that they’ve never rated?

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Shavkat over BoreAll

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

If I'm thinking merit: Belal deserves it.

If I'm thinking popularity: Neither is very popular, but if either of them can potentially benefit a boost in popularity from taking one more fight, it's Shavkat. You can't do Shavkat while Belal becomes a household name tomorrow, that ain't happening, but the reverse is possible

Either way, you do Belal now to cover the short term, and invest the long term in giving Shavkat whatever he needs to make him a star for next up against Leon. Maybe he can finish Colby. Maybe take Usman at WW or even MW. Or maybe any good middleweight if he's interested in taking a fight there. Maybe if a popular LW wants to jump up, like if Chandler got tired of waiting for Conor. Maybe a grappling match against Sanko. Idk, just spitballing

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

this isn't the deserve it league though, this is the how do you resonate with the fans league? how much hate can you bring? Shavkat at least has finishes, you can market the mountain man of the Arreat plateus, but you can only show Belal getting eye poked so many times.

 

[Luckyme]

So Colby aged overnight against Leon. Same thing was said about usman after both fights? How lucky must Leon be to fight these killers at just the moment they fall off??
Or is it just fans coping with the fact that their fighter lost to another fighter that they’ve never rated?

Usman looked a lot better against Leon in both fights. He was winning the first until the KO and although he fell short in the second fight, he didn't get outclassed like Colby did. And he went up a weight class on short notice and almost beat a monster like Khamzat.

For sure Usman has slowed down but his decline is nowhere near as steep as Colby's.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

They have equal chances of boring their way towards victory...

 

[MMAcolyte]

Its should be Belal next because Belal is the most deserving contender. Plus there is some unfinished business between the two.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

Usman looked a lot better against Leon in both fights. He was winning the first until the KO and although he fell short in the second fight, he didn't get outclassed like Colby did. And he went up a weight class on short notice and almost beat a monster like Khamzat.

For sure Usman has slowed down but his decline is nowhere near as steep as Colby's.

That was my point, usmsn hasn’t fallen off like everyone has been claiming after both his losses. He lost a razor close decision against a guy who many think will be champ soon. and had it been 5 rounds, he’d have likely win the fight. Add to that it was short notice and his first fight at MW

Colby just got shut down. Leon is a tough stylistic match up for him and he couldn’t get anything going. I expected it to look like Leon/usman 3 and it did. Colby is usmsn lite, similar style fighters but usmsn is just a bit better at most things. We’ll find out if he really has fallen off in his next fight, depending who he gets matchup with?

 

[Nobru]

IMHO the thing about leon x belal is not how easy it will be. Its how boring it will be. I hope Im wrong and we see an early KO.

 

[linvillegorge]

No one is buying a Leon/Belal card. That fight would have to be a co-main.