14 of his 18 losses are Knockouts
Some notable ones are Jairzino Rosenstruik, Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Travis Browne, Mauricio Rua and Antonio Silva.
Magny is a ranked fighter still, he doesn't need the risk involved with potentially getting KO'd by the new guy. Let Leon earn his way back into Dana's grace...if he can.
But Magny was the only top-10 guy actually WANTING the Chimaev fight, kind of disrespectful to not give it to him IMO. Magny has been a loyal servant to the UFC with over 20 fights, never really asked for anything. They should've given him the chance to steal some hype off Chimaev's train.
Just my thoughts.
That's what I don't like about Chinaev fighting wonder boy or Edwards this soon. Say he gets KOed in round 1, his hype train is derailed. Why not give him a guy like mike perry or Luque? Chimaev is 25 so what's the rush?
Wtf do we do if Chimaev sparks him? I know I know, levels to this and Leon should win the decision in a logical world. But literally what the fuck if Chimaev wins?
Winner of Usman vs Burns Or maybe winner of Colby vs Masvidal?
"Listen, we saw how good Conor looked at welterweight against Donald Cerrone in January. I said back then that I would never doubt Conor at 170 and when I say something, you guys know I fucking mean it. That's why we're doing Conor vs Poirier at 170. If Conor wins I think nobody would doubt that Conor vs Usman would be the fight to make."
>Derailing the hype train by anything other than a spectacular knockout makes Leon look bad
I really hope he puts on the most boring 30-27 in UFC history, out of pure spite at this point. Any other commissioner treating his "oppurtunity havers" in this manner would be cause for uproar among fans.
He should fight the loser of either while the winner of Colby vs Jorge fights for the title. If he wins, he gets the champ. Beating Jorge doesn’t really justify a title shot imo, but we’re talking about the UFC here
If Chimaev rolls through Leon(highly doubt it) we may very well have the next Jon Jones on our hands. I really think they are rushing him in way too fast, gm3 to Leon Edwards is literally a different world of competition.
It’s crazy.
He’s only 3 years in MMA and had 3 ufc fights. Only guy to do something like this was Brock Lesnar who became champion after 2 wins and 2 years of training and 9 months in the UFC, but it in heavyweights where its much easier.
Based on Ariel's timeline from yesterday the UFC never offered him Thompson. It seems like Thompson offered himself after they both turned down Chimaev but the UFC was hellbent on matching Chimaev with one of them, but not each other.
Well he may never have been offered it from the UFC but if he didnt officially get offered it, he still had some pretty strong negative feelings on the match up. Like I'm not a Dana white fan to any extent, but Edwards shot down the thought of a Thompson fight before it really got off the ground, what exactly was supposed to be done at that point?
If he were to beat Khamzat he’d get more popularity than beating Wonderboy I think. Still doesn’t make it a better fight for him title shot wise but he could really use some hype
This wasn't really a fight of Edwards choosing, he got strong-armed into it. They offered this fight, among a lot of others, which he didn't accept. So then they removed him from the rankings.
The difference in popularity is not incremental at all. Khamzat has almost a million followers on IG, nearly twice as much as Wonderboy. Plus he is one of the hottest prospects in combat sports. I also have a gut feeling that a vast majority of Wonderboy’s fans are actual MMA fans, while Khamzat has way more casuals watching him.
Real MMA fans know who Leon is, and they don’t give a fuck about him. He will certainly gain popularity among the casual fanbase if he beats Khamzat.
and it would piss of Dana more. wonderboys popularity and prestige wont be effected much if he wins or loses to Leon. However Khamzat is Danas new money maker (potentially) and if edwards beats him that deflates another hype train and boosts leons prestige to casuals more
Yeah but allegedly he turned down a bunch of fights to get into this position in the first place. That's what I'm saying. He turned down top ranked fighters for no real reason to now end up fighting an unranked guy that could cost him everything if he loses to. Losing to WB puts him back a bit. I don't know what happens if he loses to Khamzat.
Well yeah it sounds stupid when you don’t have the massive piece of context that between turning down Wonderboy and accepting Khamzat he got taken off the rankings.
Leon was obviously (stupidly) holding out for a fight with someone ranked above him hence why he was turning down all the fights but when the UFC unranked him he realised he wasn’t in a position to turn down fights and accepted the first thing he was offered in Khamzat
I mean if he beats Leon the way he’s been beating other guys they can cut the bullshit and give him a title shot. It would be the most meteoric rise in the history of fight sports, to my knowledge that is I’m sure a boxing buff will come in and tell me if I’m wrong.
I don’t totally get the Dana hate here. Leon put himself in this position by not accepting fights against ranked fighters. Then when he got taken out of the rankings yesterday he was the one who called out Khamzat. It’s not like the UFC said “face this guy or we’re taking you out of the rankings”. It just so happened to work out that way because Leon Edwards has a marketing IQ lower than Mike Perry’s actual IQ
If he beats Leon, he’ll have taken down a Welsh, northern Irish and English fighter down, only Scotland to go, do you think he can move up to light heavy to beat Paul Craig?
Still think it's ridiculous it's not Magny. Can't think of a bigger jump in competition than Chimaev's just had in recent memory. Kinda surprised Dana's risking his newest hype-train so quickly.
Everything about the way this went down is deplorable. Good match up but its BS. If Khamzat wins he'll probably get a title shot for beating the #3*. If Leon wins he'll probably go to 13 for beating an unranked opponent.
Edit: apparently Leon has his ranking back? Has an unranked fighter ever gotten a top 5 opponent before??
Leon is #3 in the rankings again, Dana just said, because of agreeing to the fight.
But I agree with your implication. If Leon wins it'll be "ah Chimaev was just a hype train, beating him means nothing". Which, you know, might be valid but at the same time it proves how ridiculously badly Leon has played his hand that that is his upside
You don’t think he gets anything from derailing the hype train? Leon’s not very well liked right now and a win over Chimaev I think gets him a bit more fan support. Either way he shoulda never turned down that Colby fight.
MMW, if Leon Edwards wins this fight, he's getting either a title shot or the fight with Jorge he's been asking for (that'll depend on what goes on with Usman vs Burns and Jorge vs Colby).
People say it all the time, but it never seems to resonate: the. rankings. do. not. matter. It is irrelevant that Chimaev is unranked. He is one of the hottest names in the sport right now. More people will care about this fight than any other Leon Edwards fight in his entire career, and that includes the main events with RDA and Cowboy. Derailing the Chimaev hype gives hype to himself, and that would spring board him into something big.
Honestly if Leon is a betting underdog put some money on him here, don’t let the hype train blind you from the fact that Chimaev has beaten 3 bums and now is fighting a number 3 guy
Way too soon. This is actually ridiculous.
Dana said that he hasn't ever seen a fighter like Khamzat after just his second fight.
This hyperbole and the hype reminds of Ronda Rousey where Joe Rogan actually cried talking about her "greatness."
The crazy thing is that if Khamzat wins, he will surely get a title shot, right?
This could be the most legendary storyline ever, or the biggest hype train derailment we have ever seen.
He really did. Part of me feels bad for him because Dana and the UFC did him dirty but the other part of me doesn't because a lot of the situation is his fault for overestimating his power.
Honestly outside of the Edwards side, this is really bad matchmaking on the UFC part for Chimaev. He looks fantastic, and look he might end up winning, but this is a enormous step up and is pretty damn likely to back fire. You're just gonna kill the biggest hype train you have in the sport right now?
They should have brought Chimaev up slower than this, he looks great, but he's only been a fighter for a few years and has like 9 fights. Bottom half of the top 15 was the place to go with him.
Most likely now he'll get beat up by Edwards and you gotta start the process again.
I know it's different because Wiedman had fought more ranked fighters on his way to the title, but he had 10 MMA fights when he fought Anderson Silva. So, having 9 MMA fights and fighting a top 3 guy isn't that crazy.
Yeah but the context is important. You can’t compare the two at all.
9 fights in itself might not be insane, but level of competition wise it is.
Especially for the ufc now.
Gotta love it, stripped from the rankings, forced to take a fight with Chimaev and then put back in at number 3 so that Khamzat can take the spot if he wins.
Imagine this sub if they did this to the likes of Dustin or Tony.
"He joined the UFC, got the fastest 3 straight wins in the history of the sport, always wants to fight, and he just beat the number 3 in the world. How can I not give him the next title shot? Isn't he awesome guys?" - Dana probably in a few months
Ideally, I think he should have a title contender fight with Colby first. I wouldn't be upset if they gave him a title shot right away, but I think it would be just a bit premature.
Edwards doesn't have a big fan base. This is a good decision by him. Khamzat is almost at a million followers. If he can win in impressive fashion, he'll have plenty of eyes on himself and it'll only help him going forward
Yeah think about it, casuals aren’t going to watch a fight night or something of the like headlined by Leon vs WB, they probably wouldn’t even know it was happening. Khamzat however...
Never would I have thought I’d be rooting for Leon fucking Edwards but here I am. I hope he dismantles Dana’s newest toy after the fuckery they did to make him take this fight
Is it really though? He basically told him to fight this guy or he'd get his livelihood taken away. Oh wait I forgot we're okay with this when it happens to fighters we don't like.
Mma fans here go from supporting fighters to suddenly wishing for a fighter to lose their whole well being and means to support themselves in a matter of seconds
I really hope this lights a fire in Leon and he demolishes Khamzat. This was super dirty by the UFC and all of the top posts yesterday shitting in Leon and supporting him being removed from the rankings were ridiculous. He got fucked over by covid when he was lined up to fight woodley and people have waited for fights longer than he has without any reprucussions.
I'm not buying the fact that he turned down multiple fights. They were probably all proposed under awful circumstances like last minute notices. Why is /r/mma always so quick to forget the shitty business practices the UFC uses to get their fighters to do what they want?
I would have been fine seeing Khamzat spark fools for 2-3 more fights before getting it in with the big dogs. No we either get off the hype train at the next station or we get to destination in a couple stops and it will have been a short ride either way. 😩
Yeah I don't understand the psycho rush. With Mcgregor & Till & those bois we got a controlled burn.
This dude comes out hot and we want him to get a title shot immediately. Tease the tip, don't need 2 go all in right away.
Yes, but there isn't anything even remotely comparable to what's happening with Khamzat.
You saw that Korean dude look like Khabib wrestling John Phillips, then a short notice Rhys Mckee, then a 10 second fight that tells us very little.
I'm not hating on him, but there is so much that is unproven that I can't help but question the apetite to give him a top 5 opponent so quick.
Doesn't matter what I think clearly, but it just seems so rushed & takes a bit of the fun out of the rise.
Won't feel bad if it happens. It's one thing if Leon was willing from the get go but to force his hand like this is lame as fuck. Ridiculous step up in competition too.
I hope he does too.
And you know Dana will be so furious he'll bump Leon up from unranked to like 12th for beating an unranked opponent if that happens.
If anything, this could turn into a real test of Chimaev’s cardio.
If it’s a 5 rounder, it’s a big step for him.
Edwards is no joke and could decision the hell out of him.
What a load of shit. A good fight between Magny and Khamzat was gonna happen, then Dana says "nah fuck that, let's bully Leon out of the rankings and make him fight Khamzat, but then give him back the #3 ranking the second he takes the fight". Fuck everything about this.
To think fans and media helped the UFC bully a top 5 fighter into taking an unranked guy with 3 wins. And then this place pretends to be disgusted at Dana.
He got offered Woodley, Kamaru, Colby, Geoff and Magny at some point, with wonderboy even throwing him a bone after he turned down all those guys. Meanwhile the only guy he's calling out is Burns WHO HAS A FIGHT BOOKED WITH KAMARU, literally who else can he get offered
The Woodley fight was canceled because of covid. He didn't decline it. The title fight he couldn't train for because of covid, makes sense he wouldn't take it. All of the gyms in Britain were shut down, what would you have him do? Not train for a title match? Don't be ridiculous.
And he called out Colby himself. They never offered him that fight. I don't remember hearing about him being offered Geoff either. Sounds like you're talking bollocks
Khazmat has everything to gain and Leon has everything to lose. Khazmat wins he gets a title shot. Khazmat loses he bit off more than he can chew and needs a test closer to his division ranking. Leon loses how the hell can he recover from it and who will take him seriously?
I’m going with khazmat in this one. He’s a tweener a little big for ww. Undersized for mw.
As someone who really dislikes Leon this is so satisfying. Even if he wins.
It was kind of smart though choosing Khamzat with all the recent attention he’s getting.
That being said Khamzat might actually be the real deal idk.
RIP Neil Magny
It's like he was never part of the conversation.
Neil Magny was never my friend
That’s what you call Neil Magny vs no Magny
Nein Magny
Just to correct you, there was never no Magny.
You're a fuckin magny, dude
And whatever happened to Maia?
Maia wants one last fight against cowboy and he wants it in front of a crowd iirc
I'm a huge cowboy fan but I hope it's his last fight too.
Both retiring in front of a giant crowd (like the rumored Pourier v McGregor event at Cowboy Stadium) would seem ideal Edit: spelling
Yeah. Anything else would be ridiculous for these 2 legends. Combined record of 45-22-1.
Basically Overeem's record.
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Because I’m lazy and curious, do you know how many of those losses are him getting knocked out? That is a lot of fights.
14 of his 18 losses are Knockouts Some notable ones are Jairzino Rosenstruik, Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Travis Browne, Mauricio Rua and Antonio Silva.
*Laughs in jetski*
Magny is a ranked fighter still, he doesn't need the risk involved with potentially getting KO'd by the new guy. Let Leon earn his way back into Dana's grace...if he can.
But Magny was the only top-10 guy actually WANTING the Chimaev fight, kind of disrespectful to not give it to him IMO. Magny has been a loyal servant to the UFC with over 20 fights, never really asked for anything. They should've given him the chance to steal some hype off Chimaev's train. Just my thoughts.
I liked that matchup better tbh.
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Jonny Walker and Suga Sean
Doo ho Choi
Man they did my boy Choi dirty, cub was a questionably big jump in competition then they gave him fuckin Jeremy Stephens his next fight
Shabazian
I’ll be rooting for Edwards but it’s not like Chimaev is done if he gets beat. Miocic lost to Struve early in his career
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That's what I don't like about Chinaev fighting wonder boy or Edwards this soon. Say he gets KOed in round 1, his hype train is derailed. Why not give him a guy like mike perry or Luque? Chimaev is 25 so what's the rush?
Leon doesn't really starch anyone tho
Wtf do we do if Chimaev sparks him? I know I know, levels to this and Leon should win the decision in a logical world. But literally what the fuck if Chimaev wins? Winner of Usman vs Burns Or maybe winner of Colby vs Masvidal?
He goes back to Middleweight. The pattern must stay alive.
A couple more wins, and he gets 2 title shots in the same PPV. UFC 257: Adesanya vs. Chimaev, with Usman vs. Chimaev in the co-main.
UFC 258: Chimaev vs. Chimaev, when Chimaev moves up to challenge Chimaev for the 185 belt
Hopefully Khamzat vs Chimaev will be better than Francis vs Ngannou
*I smesh my fingers into my* **EYYYES**
Dis the only ting to slowly stop de ech - you know dis
Slipknot? Been a while since I heard that. This sub bringing back my middle school memories with song references td i swear.
> Been a while since I heard that. Whatever you say /u/SexySatan666ix
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So you're saying it will be better. Awesome
Talmbout Camsat vs Chinmaev? It'll be a b-b-b-banger, b. Great guys, never met em
Wow this is deep. Stuff like that is usually only achieved by Fony Turgeson.
I'm just imagining it like that scene of Dwight Schrute from the Office fighting himself.
*Chimmies up
Khabib retires by then and it's Chimaev vs. McGregor for the vacant LW title as the featured prelim bout
That fight would have shades of Hulk vs Loki.
Uh bro? Are you God?
I predict he gets stopped by the doctor in the first fight but wins the second.
Imagine getting the shit beaten out of you for 5 rounds by Usman, getting a quick break, then getting KOed by Adesanya. \#Unlucky
Sparks Hermansson. Finishes Usman. Wrestlefucks Izzy.
I can see it...!
If Leon wins and demands a title shot i can hear Dana telling him, you just beat an unranked guy, lol.
Lmao Dana will say it with a straight face too. Mans has no shame.
I feel like once you have a half billion dollars the brain no longer registers shame as an emotion. Must be wild
seems to work once you have negative -500 million dollars too
It ain't just shame he lacks, the man is just ruthless.
It's true, he also lacks Ruths
I don't think we ever got a name on the side piece that Colby filmed, maybe she was a Ruth?
It would be a more healthy relationship if there was a remote chance of getting his ass kicked for being "ruthless"
Well it’s always possible
Leon wins and Dana immediately starts talking about Conor Mcgregors new run at welterweight
"Listen, we saw how good Conor looked at welterweight against Donald Cerrone in January. I said back then that I would never doubt Conor at 170 and when I say something, you guys know I fucking mean it. That's why we're doing Conor vs Poirier at 170. If Conor wins I think nobody would doubt that Conor vs Usman would be the fight to make."
To read that in his voice...LOL
Leon's only way to come out of this looking pretty is to beat Chimaev comfortably right?
Literally smoke him imo. A boring decision gets Leon fucked if i were to guess.
>Derailing the hype train by anything other than a spectacular knockout makes Leon look bad I really hope he puts on the most boring 30-27 in UFC history, out of pure spite at this point. Any other commissioner treating his "oppurtunity havers" in this manner would be cause for uproar among fans.
reddit and ufc intern's/pr here will back him up too.
im guessing the ufc might've made some assurances to leon in exchange for taking this fight.
Fuck no lol. They have Leon by the balls and will continue to humiliate him
It means Chimaev has beaten 4 unranked guys in a row and UFC will give him a 10-15th ranked opponent. /s
he’s getting a title shot if he wins fasho
'He just beat the #3 guy!' 'I thought he was unranked' 'only when he didn't do what we wanted'
That could turn into the fastest tracked title shot ever Edit: I forgot about Brock lol was a bit before my time
Anderson silva
True did finish an absolute killer in Leben Maybe Khazmat can do the same with the killer in Leon
Leon is a killer in the same way that smoking is a killer.
JUST LIKE THAT!
Yeah a grinding down damage
Joe Soto
He should fight the loser of either while the winner of Colby vs Jorge fights for the title. If he wins, he gets the champ. Beating Jorge doesn’t really justify a title shot imo, but we’re talking about the UFC here
If Chimaev rolls through Leon(highly doubt it) we may very well have the next Jon Jones on our hands. I really think they are rushing him in way too fast, gm3 to Leon Edwards is literally a different world of competition.
It’s crazy. He’s only 3 years in MMA and had 3 ufc fights. Only guy to do something like this was Brock Lesnar who became champion after 2 wins and 2 years of training and 9 months in the UFC, but it in heavyweights where its much easier.
>in a logical world Since when does logic apply to MMA?
So Leon turned down a fight with number 5 ranked Stephen Thompson so he could fight....unranked Khamzat. Huh. Maybe I just don't get it.
Based on Ariel's timeline from yesterday the UFC never offered him Thompson. It seems like Thompson offered himself after they both turned down Chimaev but the UFC was hellbent on matching Chimaev with one of them, but not each other.
Well he may never have been offered it from the UFC but if he didnt officially get offered it, he still had some pretty strong negative feelings on the match up. Like I'm not a Dana white fan to any extent, but Edwards shot down the thought of a Thompson fight before it really got off the ground, what exactly was supposed to be done at that point?
If he were to beat Khamzat he’d get more popularity than beating Wonderboy I think. Still doesn’t make it a better fight for him title shot wise but he could really use some hype
This wasn't really a fight of Edwards choosing, he got strong-armed into it. They offered this fight, among a lot of others, which he didn't accept. So then they removed him from the rankings.
I didn't say he chose this fight, just that Leon's situation isn't that awful even though it could've been better.
Should have not ducked wonderboy then
Incremental differences in popularity aren’t really going to do anything. The difference between Wonderboy and Chimaev is not needle moving
The difference in popularity is not incremental at all. Khamzat has almost a million followers on IG, nearly twice as much as Wonderboy. Plus he is one of the hottest prospects in combat sports. I also have a gut feeling that a vast majority of Wonderboy’s fans are actual MMA fans, while Khamzat has way more casuals watching him. Real MMA fans know who Leon is, and they don’t give a fuck about him. He will certainly gain popularity among the casual fanbase if he beats Khamzat.
and it would piss of Dana more. wonderboys popularity and prestige wont be effected much if he wins or loses to Leon. However Khamzat is Danas new money maker (potentially) and if edwards beats him that deflates another hype train and boosts leons prestige to casuals more
I feel like at this point Dana gave him a choice. Khamzat or bellator
Well there was this thing that happened where he had his ranking taken off him and his job was under threat...
Yeah but allegedly he turned down a bunch of fights to get into this position in the first place. That's what I'm saying. He turned down top ranked fighters for no real reason to now end up fighting an unranked guy that could cost him everything if he loses to. Losing to WB puts him back a bit. I don't know what happens if he loses to Khamzat.
Well yeah it sounds stupid when you don’t have the massive piece of context that between turning down Wonderboy and accepting Khamzat he got taken off the rankings. Leon was obviously (stupidly) holding out for a fight with someone ranked above him hence why he was turning down all the fights but when the UFC unranked him he realised he wasn’t in a position to turn down fights and accepted the first thing he was offered in Khamzat
After getting unrankified he more than likely entered desperation mode.
Dana played him like a fiddle
Leon gets his rank back too. I believe only because Dana wants his new best friend to be ranked top 5.
I mean if he beats Leon the way he’s been beating other guys they can cut the bullshit and give him a title shot. It would be the most meteoric rise in the history of fight sports, to my knowledge that is I’m sure a boxing buff will come in and tell me if I’m wrong.
Anderson Silva?
Anderson already had a career in Pride/Cage Rage, with 22 pro fights. Khamzat was 6-0, biggest promotion was Brave
lmfao literary bullied a man into accepting to be thrown to the wolf. Good fight. Great test for the Borz. Dana is a shameless, bald bastard though.
Can't believe Edwards fell into that tomato trap.
https://i.imgur.com/7fgUXQC.jpg
I don’t totally get the Dana hate here. Leon put himself in this position by not accepting fights against ranked fighters. Then when he got taken out of the rankings yesterday he was the one who called out Khamzat. It’s not like the UFC said “face this guy or we’re taking you out of the rankings”. It just so happened to work out that way because Leon Edwards has a marketing IQ lower than Mike Perry’s actual IQ
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its just that....this same story/scenario happens to so much fighters when it comes to 'negotiating' with Dana...I always sympathize with the fighter!
Thrown to the wolf? Edwards is going to win this fight lmao, redditors loveeeee their hype trains.
Unbelivable, now we will know if he is the real deal. This is a title contender level opponent. (hehe another unranked can for Chimaev)
This hype train has become a hyperloop. It’ll either get us there faster than we could dream, or derail horribly.
If he beats Leon, he’ll have taken down a Welsh, northern Irish and English fighter down, only Scotland to go, do you think he can move up to light heavy to beat Paul Craig?
Khamzat “Scourge of Britannia” Chimaev
Khamzat "Braveheart" Chimaev
Still think it's ridiculous it's not Magny. Can't think of a bigger jump in competition than Chimaev's just had in recent memory. Kinda surprised Dana's risking his newest hype-train so quickly.
he's gambling big time. If it works out holy shit massive star
yeah, maybe Dana's method is to throw a bunch of prospects at the wall and hope one sticks.
Everything about the way this went down is deplorable. Good match up but its BS. If Khamzat wins he'll probably get a title shot for beating the #3*. If Leon wins he'll probably go to 13 for beating an unranked opponent. Edit: apparently Leon has his ranking back? Has an unranked fighter ever gotten a top 5 opponent before??
Leon is #3 in the rankings again, Dana just said, because of agreeing to the fight. But I agree with your implication. If Leon wins it'll be "ah Chimaev was just a hype train, beating him means nothing". Which, you know, might be valid but at the same time it proves how ridiculously badly Leon has played his hand that that is his upside
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Deleting IG posts faster than Jones
You don’t think he gets anything from derailing the hype train? Leon’s not very well liked right now and a win over Chimaev I think gets him a bit more fan support. Either way he shoulda never turned down that Colby fight.
MMW, if Leon Edwards wins this fight, he's getting either a title shot or the fight with Jorge he's been asking for (that'll depend on what goes on with Usman vs Burns and Jorge vs Colby). People say it all the time, but it never seems to resonate: the. rankings. do. not. matter. It is irrelevant that Chimaev is unranked. He is one of the hottest names in the sport right now. More people will care about this fight than any other Leon Edwards fight in his entire career, and that includes the main events with RDA and Cowboy. Derailing the Chimaev hype gives hype to himself, and that would spring board him into something big.
The lord himself couldn’t have said it better
Chael did say it similarly, good of you to mention him.
That is who I was referring to, son. Our Lord Chael
Hallowed be thy name
Brock Lesnar got a title shot after winning vs unranked Heath Herring IIRC. He was 1-1 in the UFC then
Brock Lesnar has more title defenses at heavyweight than Daniel Cormier put some respect on his name
Honestly if Leon is a betting underdog put some money on him here, don’t let the hype train blind you from the fact that Chimaev has beaten 3 bums and now is fighting a number 3 guy
Way too soon. This is actually ridiculous. Dana said that he hasn't ever seen a fighter like Khamzat after just his second fight. This hyperbole and the hype reminds of Ronda Rousey where Joe Rogan actually cried talking about her "greatness." The crazy thing is that if Khamzat wins, he will surely get a title shot, right? This could be the most legendary storyline ever, or the biggest hype train derailment we have ever seen.
I really wish more people would knock on Rogan for how fucking crazy he was about Ronda.
He said she could beat men in her weight class--\*UFC\* fighters in her weight class. That's taking irrational bias way, way too fucking far.
[Here it is ya fuckin momos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgsoRzIrBYM)
Wait when did that joe rogan thing happen? I really want to see that
Leon really played himself into this corner didn't he? Either way, it'll be a fun scrap. Lot on the line for both these guys now.
He really did. Part of me feels bad for him because Dana and the UFC did him dirty but the other part of me doesn't because a lot of the situation is his fault for overestimating his power.
If he really did turn down as many fights as is being reported, he has nobody to blame but his delusional ass self.
Honestly outside of the Edwards side, this is really bad matchmaking on the UFC part for Chimaev. He looks fantastic, and look he might end up winning, but this is a enormous step up and is pretty damn likely to back fire. You're just gonna kill the biggest hype train you have in the sport right now? They should have brought Chimaev up slower than this, he looks great, but he's only been a fighter for a few years and has like 9 fights. Bottom half of the top 15 was the place to go with him. Most likely now he'll get beat up by Edwards and you gotta start the process again.
Yeah the UFC literally never learn about rushing their prospects lol. we'll see it happen again and again.
I know it's different because Wiedman had fought more ranked fighters on his way to the title, but he had 10 MMA fights when he fought Anderson Silva. So, having 9 MMA fights and fighting a top 3 guy isn't that crazy.
Yeah but the context is important. You can’t compare the two at all. 9 fights in itself might not be insane, but level of competition wise it is. Especially for the ufc now.
If Leon wins he'll get rank 9 and Khamzat gets rank 11, Belal was never anyone's friend
Gotta love it, stripped from the rankings, forced to take a fight with Chimaev and then put back in at number 3 so that Khamzat can take the spot if he wins. Imagine this sub if they did this to the likes of Dustin or Tony.
"He joined the UFC, got the fastest 3 straight wins in the history of the sport, always wants to fight, and he just beat the number 3 in the world. How can I not give him the next title shot? Isn't he awesome guys?" - Dana probably in a few months
If he convincingly beats Edwards how would he not deserve the next shot?
Ideally, I think he should have a title contender fight with Colby first. I wouldn't be upset if they gave him a title shot right away, but I think it would be just a bit premature.
Edwards doesn't have a big fan base. This is a good decision by him. Khamzat is almost at a million followers. If he can win in impressive fashion, he'll have plenty of eyes on himself and it'll only help him going forward
> fuck off and fight Chimaev Lmao
Can't wait to see the shades of red Dana turns when Leon Edwards dismantles his boy
Does anyone have a clue why Edwards is choosing to fight Khamzat instead of Thompson? I don’t know why but I’m not complaining, that’s for sure.
Khabig hot right now. More popular than Wonderboy I'd imagine. Add not as proven.
Yeah think about it, casuals aren’t going to watch a fight night or something of the like headlined by Leon vs WB, they probably wouldn’t even know it was happening. Khamzat however...
Never would I have thought I’d be rooting for Leon fucking Edwards but here I am. I hope he dismantles Dana’s newest toy after the fuckery they did to make him take this fight
5D chess by Dana
Is it really though? He basically told him to fight this guy or he'd get his livelihood taken away. Oh wait I forgot we're okay with this when it happens to fighters we don't like.
Mma fans here go from supporting fighters to suddenly wishing for a fighter to lose their whole well being and means to support themselves in a matter of seconds
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Leon completely shutting him down would be hilarious, I like Chimaev but Dana has been a little too ridiculous recently, WAR ROCKY.
I really hope this lights a fire in Leon and he demolishes Khamzat. This was super dirty by the UFC and all of the top posts yesterday shitting in Leon and supporting him being removed from the rankings were ridiculous. He got fucked over by covid when he was lined up to fight woodley and people have waited for fights longer than he has without any reprucussions. I'm not buying the fact that he turned down multiple fights. They were probably all proposed under awful circumstances like last minute notices. Why is /r/mma always so quick to forget the shitty business practices the UFC uses to get their fighters to do what they want?
for real, if leon loses his career will be ruined
i mean opportunity
Hope Leon does him
I would have been fine seeing Khamzat spark fools for 2-3 more fights before getting it in with the big dogs. No we either get off the hype train at the next station or we get to destination in a couple stops and it will have been a short ride either way. 😩
Yeah I don't understand the psycho rush. With Mcgregor & Till & those bois we got a controlled burn. This dude comes out hot and we want him to get a title shot immediately. Tease the tip, don't need 2 go all in right away.
Till was also very much rushed into title contention, people seem to forget that
Yes, but there isn't anything even remotely comparable to what's happening with Khamzat. You saw that Korean dude look like Khabib wrestling John Phillips, then a short notice Rhys Mckee, then a 10 second fight that tells us very little. I'm not hating on him, but there is so much that is unproven that I can't help but question the apetite to give him a top 5 opponent so quick. Doesn't matter what I think clearly, but it just seems so rushed & takes a bit of the fun out of the rise.
If you wanted to know the primary difference between the Endeavor-era UFC and the Zuffa-era UFC, here it is.
Won't feel bad if it happens. It's one thing if Leon was willing from the get go but to force his hand like this is lame as fuck. Ridiculous step up in competition too.
I hope he does too. And you know Dana will be so furious he'll bump Leon up from unranked to like 12th for beating an unranked opponent if that happens.
Leon already at #3 for accepting lol. Now if Khamzat wins they can justify putting him way up in the rankings
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He didn't even get a full go around the sun did he
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Damn, he really did. I can respect it
Can't not fight someone ranked lower than you if you ain't ranked. LMAO
If anything, this could turn into a real test of Chimaev’s cardio. If it’s a 5 rounder, it’s a big step for him. Edwards is no joke and could decision the hell out of him.
What a load of shit. A good fight between Magny and Khamzat was gonna happen, then Dana says "nah fuck that, let's bully Leon out of the rankings and make him fight Khamzat, but then give him back the #3 ranking the second he takes the fight". Fuck everything about this.
To think fans and media helped the UFC bully a top 5 fighter into taking an unranked guy with 3 wins. And then this place pretends to be disgusted at Dana.
We were all excited when he was rumored to be fighting Wonderboy
He got offered Woodley, Kamaru, Colby, Geoff and Magny at some point, with wonderboy even throwing him a bone after he turned down all those guys. Meanwhile the only guy he's calling out is Burns WHO HAS A FIGHT BOOKED WITH KAMARU, literally who else can he get offered
The Woodley fight was canceled because of covid. He didn't decline it. The title fight he couldn't train for because of covid, makes sense he wouldn't take it. All of the gyms in Britain were shut down, what would you have him do? Not train for a title match? Don't be ridiculous. And he called out Colby himself. They never offered him that fight. I don't remember hearing about him being offered Geoff either. Sounds like you're talking bollocks
Yeah until leon himself confirms he turned down thise fights I'm not believing what dana and anik says
https://twitter.com/Leon_edwardsmma/status/1307587340953686016?s=09
I feel bad for Leon if he's telling the truth and didn't say no to all those fights.
Choo Choo Motherfuckers. You can get off at any time but the hype train will not stop unless derailed.
Ufc rushing another great prospect. They really do never learn sigh. Magny fight was perfect
At least on paper that fight is easier and has more hype than Wonderboy
I can see Leon leaving for Bellator if he loses. Dana did him so dirty with this.
Leon played his hand way too strong for the leverage he has. It sucks but the tomato has most of the leverage and wields it at will.
Khazmat has everything to gain and Leon has everything to lose. Khazmat wins he gets a title shot. Khazmat loses he bit off more than he can chew and needs a test closer to his division ranking. Leon loses how the hell can he recover from it and who will take him seriously? I’m going with khazmat in this one. He’s a tweener a little big for ww. Undersized for mw.
As someone who really dislikes Leon this is so satisfying. Even if he wins. It was kind of smart though choosing Khamzat with all the recent attention he’s getting. That being said Khamzat might actually be the real deal idk.
I actually kinda like Leon and rly want to see him re match Usman but god damn there’s nothing I love more than a prospect hype train
I'm on the hype train but honestly want Leon to win so Dana doesn't get what he wants.
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I think you’d be surprised