"Colby is the clear number 2"

[Fedora Millionankles]

hilarious take. why not just say "I fucking hate Colby because his contrived character rustles my jimmies" and get on with your life. Colby is the clear #2.

Based on what? 0 top 10 wins and coming off a decision win over journeyman Masvidal a year ago? Yea, clearly #2.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

It's actually 4 straight wins over top 10 fighters: Maia (#9), Wonderboy (#5), Luque (#5), and Brady (#8).



With all due respect, everything you said is clearly untrue. Belal has 4 straight wins over top 10 fighters, with 2 of those being over top 5 fighters. Luque was on a 4-fight win streak and was considered by many to be next for the title (he was even the backup for Usman-Colby at 268). And Brady was 15-0. Meanwhile, the last time Colby beat someone coming off a win was RDA in 2018...5 years ago!

Also, Belal wasn't supposed to beat Brady. Brady was the betting favorite in that fight, and the vast majority of people expected Brady to run through Belal. The general consensus was that the UFC was simultaneously trying to push Brady while knocking the "boring" Belal out of the title picture.

I stand corrected. I was refering to current top 10. I didn't account for maia ( great win) I wasn't sure if he was top 10 at that time.

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Apparently having two fights against the WW king where you're completely on par, skill for skill, close as can be, account for nothing whatsoever because there isn't a W next to their record on Wikipedia.

That's not how it works. The proof is in your record of wins over ranked opponents. It counts for something. Colby is a very good fighter but he needs to cement that with more wins

 

[ninja boot]

He loses to Usman, Shavkat, Khamzat, and Burns. So at best you'd be fighting to say he is top 5.

perhaps so but in order to take his spot those fighters can't lean on hypothetically beating him, they have to physically do it. As it currently stands Colby is the one looking lined up to do the deed.
Also... just so we're clear, I think it's bullshit that Khamzat came from 11th to beat Burns and is off the list via weight miss. They seemingly pick and choose who they penalize with this and in my eyes he's the best of everyone mentioned.

 

[jitzmonkey]

How can shavkat be number 1 with only one top ten win, belal has 3 in a row.
We can't base this off of potential.

Dude did say "IMO;" so completely subjective.
Agreed, though

What you call "top tier fighters" I call "cherry picking big names on the down side of their careers".

Hey. Props to the man. He has reverse engineered Dana's game. And fans fall for it.

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I won't be surprised if he gets it. And if he gets it, I understand why UFC operates that way. Acknowledging it doesn't mean we have to defend it.

Bingo!
It never pays not ignore existing conditions/facts/etc...

Debatable. But Belal has fought 10x in the time Colby fought 5. And has less losses. As far as I'm concerned, that has lots of weight.

I guess we all get the issues. Belal likely loses, Colby is probably a better fighter. Colby hasn't "earned" anything, Belal has.

But the precedent of fighters fighting less and holding out for title shots is getting REALLY fucking old. I include Stipe in that, and IMO it all went downhill when Woodley held out for Lawler...and succeeded. So, I gripe online about it.

Fair points all around!
I'm in the "you gotta win at least 2-3 in a row against other legitimate title contenders to get a shot" camp.

A 2-2 "streak" shouldn't be sufficient unless the wins are against guys coming off massive win streaks.

If I were running the show, Belel would get the title shot based on how many he's won, the quality of competition, and the fact that they've given him shit fights that no one else wanted and he's said yes every time. He's just earned a shot IMO.

Then I'd book Shavkat vs Colby for #1 contender to face the winner of Belal and Leon.

At some point, regardless of competition, consistency needs to be rewarded.
Any fighter might have an off night and still be in the title conversation with a few more good wins.
**So a fighter that can go on a 7-10 fight lossless streak should be given consideration.**
It's the same reason that Islam got his shot at Oliveira.

That'd be a good 4-man tournament, though.
I would be betting on Colby; but Shavkat is young enough to make big gains in his abilities.
It'd be interesting.

 

[Shilajit]

That's not how it works. The proof is in your record of wins over ranked opponents. It counts for something. Colby is a very good fighter but he needs to cement that with more wins

It's actually exactly how it works. All of these factors are considered, even going back into old school boxing.

Fans apply a limited, linear hierarchy of deservedness they feel is fair but it doesn't always work like that.

Merit isn't only tied to whether someone has a W or L next to their record on Wikipedia. Context is everything.

That's why both Colby and Stipe fighting for the title is far from undeserved. They've both fully earned their stripes at the top of the division and their place in the hierarchy.

I would argue the idea of losing, suddenly puts them to the back of the line where they have to start from square one and everything they've accomplished up until that point goes away isn't how things work.

Fighters have always 'jumped the line' and it's because of accomplishments and status they've already attained in the division.

Now, you can argue that Belal deserves his shot. Just like you could for Leon before he finally got it. But at the same time, you could also argue for Colby.

Being virtually on par with peak Usman holds a lot of weight. Just as being an all time UFC HW great holds a lot of weight for Stipe.

 

[Willy Knuckles]

"Off Sean Brady" is MUCH better than "off the couch". I have exactly as many ranked UFC wins in the past year as Colby. I have almost as many in the past two years. He's just got one more than me.

Maybe you don't see how you'd give someone with a better record the shot because you missed Colby getting the beating of a lifetime twice in his last 4 fights, but Colby has been a 50/50 fighter since before the pandemic. The back 9 of his career has not been kind to him.

You phrase things so disingenuously lol. Both of those loses you mentioned were to the champion who had essentially cleaned out the division. Also, you can say he got his ass beat, but both fights were very competitive and Usman admitted himself Colby was his hardest test to date. Yes Colby has been out, but it's because he was going through a legal battle, idk why you act like he was just kickin it. If Belal gets the TS it will go down as one of the least deserving TS's outside of Conor.

 

[DOMMA]

All 4 of those recent wins are good, but are any of those even top 5 wins? I like Belal, but those aren't TS worthy wins. 3 of those guys are past their primes (Wonderboy and Vicente are still good but past prime) , and Sean Brady is a relatively inexperienced fighter. Not trying to shit on him, but none of those wins scream TS to me

Belal's wins are against top guys:
Brady - ranked 8th when they fought
Luque - ranked 5th when they fought
Thompson - ranked 5th when they fought
Lima - ranked 13th when they fought

Covington
Masvidal - ranked 10th when they fought
Usman - beat Covington
Woodley - ranked 5th when they fought
Usman - beat Covington

 

[NoSmilez]

He is in the top ten. He beat Masvidal. It’s hard to really place Colby he did fight guys who were the champion and who just fought for the belt. I don’t believe Colby is the best guy in the division but him fighting for the title is a good place holder for now. Winner of next Belal and Shavkat fight should be the next up.

 

[HHJ]

If he faced and beat Belal (very winnable) would that amend his resume?

I Would have no problem with that

 

[jx820]

You phrase things so disingenuously lol. Both of those loses you mentioned were to the champion who had essentially cleaned out the division. Also, you can say he got his ass beat, but both fights were very competitive and Usman admitted himself Colby was his hardest test to date. Yes Colby has been out, but it's because he was going through a legal battle, idk why you act like he was just kickin it. If Belal gets the TS it will go down as one of the least deserving TS's outside of Conor.

A loss to the world champion is, try to follow me here, a loss. That's what happens when you don't win the fight. That happened to Colby in two of his last four.

I also don't see how getting your face broken and tko'd is a close fight.

On the other hand you can't see how a string of wins including a few in the top 10 is a justification for a title shot so maybe we just don't see eye to eye on some things.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

All 4 of those recent wins are good, but are any of those even top 5 wins? I like Belal, but those aren't TS worthy wins. 3 of those guys are past their primes (Wonderboy and Vicente are still good but past prime) , and Sean Brady is a relatively inexperienced fighter. Not trying to shit on him, but none of those wins scream TS to me

Yeah. 2 of them

Luque wasn't past his prime, he was at the best he's ever been. He was a sneeze away from the title.

And even past prime Wonderboy is still better than Mas

A loss to the world champion is, try to follow me here, a loss. That's what happens when you don't win the fight. That happened to Colby in two of his last four.

I also don't see how getting your face broken and tko'd is a close fight.

On the other hand you can't see how a string of wins including a few in the top 10 is a justification for a title shot so maybe we just don't see eye to eye on some things.

It's Gutafsson Syndrome on steroids

 

[forRealHuh]

Maybe he is #2 but how the hell can we tell when he didn’t find anyone but Kamaru from top 10, and he got his ass whooped twice? There is no clear evidence he even belongs in top 5, unless *I betcha he’d beat this or that guy* counts as evidnce.

 

[modulus]

It would be nice to have a challenger that has a win against a current top 10 fighter and a legitimate finish in the last 5 years...........
Snap!!! I guess Colby ain't it!!! - go figure!!!

Although, admittedly, he's the best at spouting non stop BS - so if that's your thing I can see why you'd want him to get yet another title shot.

Colby had 2 title shots - he lost them both. Time to give someone more deserving a shot (tired of the same old Colby over and over, twice is enough, time to earn it).
Shavkat has more finishes in his last 5 fights than Colby has for his entire UFC career.

 

[Willy Knuckles]

A loss to the world champion is, try to follow me here, a loss. That's what happens when you don't win the fight. That happened to Colby in two of his last four.

I also don't see how getting your face broken and tko'd is a close fight.

On the other hand you can't see how a string of wins including a few in the top 10 is a justification for a title shot so maybe we just don't see eye to eye on some things.

Yeah we don't agree lol, I don't think a few top 10 wins is better than a top 5 win. I'm really shocked you're trying to frame those 2 fights as not close lol. I'm probably one of the biggest Usman fans on here and I can even admit both fights were close

 

[Brit_Brawler]

Yeah we don't agree lol, I don't think a few top 10 wins is better than a top 5 win. I'm really shocked you're trying to frame those 2 fights as not close lol. I'm probably one of the biggest Usman fans on here and I can even admit both fights were close

So your basis is that colby beat top 5 Woodley? The same Woodley who had last twice in a row leading up to that fight and proceeded to also lose the next one. 4 straight losses then exits the ufc.
You also curiously ignore Woodleys clear decline and lack of prime but mention previously that luque isn't a good win/ he's past it. Guess who the next man to beat Woodley was ? Vincent luque.

 

[Tweak896]

What about the statistic I read the other day that 0-2 for title shot fighters never won a 3rd? Why give him a 3rd shot with a single win a year ago against Masvidal in a decision (ranked #11 now).

 

[TheAmericanGazelle]

There's certainly no positive evidence he is a *clear* number two (contender) at WW circa 2023.

It's obvious from the eye test that he's "in the mix", however.

Imagine if things like this could be settled by contenders fighting one another? That would be sweet!

 

[jx820]

Yeah we don't agree lol, I don't think a few top 10 wins is better than a top 5 win. I'm really shocked you're trying to frame those 2 fights as not close lol. I'm probably one of the biggest Usman fans on here and I can even admit both fights were close

One was a stoppage, and a pretty brutal one at that. One guy can keep going and the other is a bloody mess being saved by the ref isn't a close fight.

I'd conceed the 2nd one was a better effort, but Colby only decisively took the 4th round on all the cards; every other round at least 2 judges gave to Usman. It wasn't even a split decision.

Usman:

• threw more
  
• landed more overall and landed more in 4 out of 5 rounds
  
• landed at a higher percentage
  
• got 2 knockdowns to Colby's 0
  
• was 100% on takedowns to Colby's 0% for 11 attempts on takedowns
  
• landed the only ground strikes of the fight

I guess Colby landed some good shots, but nothing that made it "close".

Colby got the worst beating of his life in the first fight and in the second he definintely won the 4th round. That's a completely fair unbiased analysis of that fight.

 

[KungFuCow]

Leon sat out for a year after beating Nate Diaz to get his shot. Pot, kettle