Media Seems like Belal will be denied a title shot in favor of Shavkat Rakhmonov

[KoreanZawmbie]

Very very stupid...

This is how WCW fell to WWE...

Favoritism is the enemy of all sports.. .

If im Belal im placing preliminary calls to PFL .. and starting to talk to lawyers about my contract

Bro, shut up.

 

[LoveMyMMA]

It's gonna be Islam vs. Leon March 9th.

Ya heard it here first.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Belal will get the titel shot next. Shavkat isn't even option as he is injured.

Did not realize Shavkat was injured. But I do agree that Belal deserves it, and he has unfinished business with Leon.

 

[Vampire life]

Very very stupid...

This is how WCW fell to WWE...

Favoritism is the enemy of all sports.. .

If im Belal im placing preliminary calls to PFL .. and starting to talk to lawyers about my contract

I wouldn’t call it favoritism, I’d call it smart marketing
Don’t know who “remember my name” is, besides all of the nerds like me in here

 

[Bearknuckle]

Nah. Shavkat is injured and Leon wants to fight Q1 2024. Shavkat won't be ready by then.

Besides, you don't get a title shot for struggling to beat a 41 year old who is 1-2 in his last 3 fights.

Lies.

Wonderboys is not 41 yrs old. He is 40.

And choking wonderboy who has never been submitted inside 2 rounds is not “struggling”.

Either way, i dont think shavkat deserves a title shot. But you don’t gotta lie to kick it.

 

[kenetics]

I think Belal deserves his shot, but this guy being 18-0 all finishes deserves it just as much.

Agree. I just dont like how much dude takes damage. Chin going to crack .

 

[Squarechoke]

Finishing your opponent is always more dominant than any kind of decision.

I can't agree there. It makes a very decisive winner to a fight but domination is when you shut down your opponent and make everything happen on your terms. We've had plenty of fights over the years where one fighter gets beaten up for the entire fight until he pulls out a surprise finish, and losing rounds and getting beaten up can never be seen as dominating your opponent. If anything it's the contrary.

You can finish your opponent despite being clearly inferior as it only takes one good effort and/or bad mistake. You won't dominate anyone without just being the superior fighter though, as it requires you to consistently perform much better than your opponent over time.

So a finish is usually the better win, but it won't always make you sure that the same person would win the rematch in the way that a dominating decision would.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

The dude is saying Shavkat is struggling is as dumb as the “Jones was struggling” against Machida crowd.

They both won the first round (Jones and Shavkat) and figured out how to trap and submit them in ways rarely seen against them.



Official scorecards “struggling”

Just because a round is uneventful against a tricky karate retreat striker doesn’t mean the guy pressing forward and trying to figure out timing didn’t win it. Shavkat vs WB went much like Jones Machida. They hunted them down and finished them where others either get out pointed or win meh decisions. Absolute savage performances by both that deserve zero criticism.

The Dragon won the first round against Jones. I don’t really remember anybody in the mma community giving Jones round 1.

 

[Jawth]

I'm ok with Shavkat but Belal deserves it more. He must have done something to piss off Dana.

Be like watching paint dry? This isn't new, Fitch, Maynard, etc had to go on tears because of their fighting styles.

 

[AfroBanana]

The Dragon won the first round against Jones. I don’t really remember anybody in the mma community giving Jones round 1.

How so? He officially lost round 1 to the judges. They landed the same strikes 8 each and Jon was the one coming forward 90% of the round. Everyone lost their shit in one Machida flurry he tagged Jon in that don’t do anything (Jon was backing up and he just caught him). People made a big deal over nothing in that round (because it was Jon and even landing anything on him at the time was a big deal).