Do you consider Belal's performance last night boring?

[don't ask]

I'm just curious because, to me, it looked like Belal was bringing the heat the entire time. He was roasting Leon on the feet and was constantly trying to finish on the ground.

Leon, to his credit, had some great reversals last night. I never expected him to threaten Belal on the ground, but those were also the only times I felt the fight was slow and someone was stalling (not counting the end of the fifth).

(Also, I enjoyed the fifth round where the commentators were explaining to the fans that they were idiots for booing because this isn't a kidkboxing match. Leon did great at the end of the fight, but too little too late. Can you imagine if Leon mauled Belal like that earlier?)

EDIT: unrelated, have a baby dinosaur (sound on)

 

[dmwalking]

I was half asleep, so yeah. Nothing was happening that kept me awake. I kept nodding off. But I was already sleepy by then.

 

[sdpdude9]

I like grappling and wrestling. There’s definitely more exciting things in the sport, but I don’t find it boring.

 

[HNIC215]

No... people have extremely high and unrealistic expectations if they think every main event ends in a finish.

GSP should have shown folks... you can dominate and still "feel" boring to the audience.

Belal put on a dominant performance; people can complain if they like but none of them would do better inside that cage against Leon.

 

[Carrotman23]

Not at all . Was sweating when Leon got that back take and watching Belal ragdoll Leon was wild and that head spike was sick.

Also Leon getting a little moral victory at the very end with that elbow was interesting. Overall a dominant performance from Belal , not a barn burner or anything but it was a fun watch.

 

[OldBoy91]

No, but I do think it suffered from the Paddy and Aspinall finishes that came just before.

It was also the worst fight on the maincard, but I thought the other fights were all pretty good so that isn't a knock.

Plus it takes 2 to make a good fight and Leon just didn't show up for whatever reason.

 

[Buckland]

Nothing I enjoy more than an "in your face" pressure fighter walking into the fire and breaking someone.

 

[HHJ]

No.

 

[5crew]

Not exciting but it's definitely not boring as well. It actually did better than most expected tbh.

 

[lenbiasgoat]

i enjoyed the fight

 

[Lepo Lepo]

He brought the pressure. Just made real no attempt to take the fight to a finish. Zero real ground strikes with his ground control. No real submission threats.

 

[deviake]

It wasn't boring per se but I wasn't excited outside of a few moments. That's high level competition though, they're not all going to be barn burners, especially when people can neutralize each other.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

I like grappling cuz I can recognize what I'm seeing and really respect it, but am under no illusions that it's usually as exciting as striking.

I think it can't fairly be called boring because Belal was constantly working his ass off, but it's not like the visual effects of his grappling were lighting any fires. But that's a criticism that I think can only apply to the grappling portions cuz, as you said, Belal was taking it to him in the striking. He was being very smashmouth and throwing heat.

I won't be talking about it at the water cooler tomorrow, but I don't think it was boring. It was a great effort, and most of anything that seemed like non-effort is probably just bleedover from how lethargic Leon was

 

[Marko Polo]

Not really. I was backing Leon but I wasn’t bored at any point. Working with Khabib seems to have helped Belal really weaponise his pace to a level we’ve never seen before. In fights before he would take pot shots then step back, this time he was constantly bringing the action giving his opponent no room to breathe. Belals head movement was very good as well. It was frustrating Leon to the point where he started throwing long hooks that were almost like straights. That’s how Belal got inside and was able to implement his game so well. He was slipping all of Leon’s shots and then eating whatever got through. For Leon, he knows he’s losing the fight when he can’t land those shots.

 

[ryanrandy]

Neither guy is known for bangers so I didnt expect Gil/Diego or Kongo/Barry

 

[legcramp]

I enjoyed how he executed the gameplan while moving forward the whole time. Great performance.

 

[Prex32]

fight was one sided and too easy for him
dont blame him

 

[sonhow]

I consider it Belal - It was kinda fascinating because he beat the odds. As a big fav it starts getting old quick imo.

 

[Marko Polo]

He brought the pressure. Just made real no attempt to take the fight to a finish. Zero real ground strikes with his ground control. No real submission threats.

He should have just finished the champ…

He dumped Leon a few times. That’s energy exerted inefficiently

He got reversed many times as well, he wasn’t just trying to hold position

 

[RockyLockridge]

No it was an average title fight. leon vs colby and leon vs usman 3 were more borring even leon vs usman 2 was borring only the headkick saved it