It's weird that people continually blame Leon for his inactivity and not his opponents or the UFC.
"He sat out for 2 years during covid and waited for a title shot"
Reality- He accepted a fight with Woodley, a fight with Masvidal and 3 separate fights with Khamzat. All of them pulled out, and the only person that stepped up during that period was Nate Diaz.
"He won't defend his title, he only wants to fight once a year".
Reality- Won the belt in August 2022. Defended March 2023, 7 months later. This was to give Usman time to recover from a nasty KO and to make sure the event could take place in the UK. Since Dana announced on the night Leon win that they would do an immediate rematch in the UK.
Leon then said he wanted to defend in the summer, but they made him fight Colby, who dragged it out all the way until December. 9 months later.
Leon then said he wanted to get on the UFC 300 card in April and hopefully defend 3 times in 2024. The UFC tried to make this happen offering him 3 opponents for 300. Islam, Khamzat and Shavkat. Leon said yes to all of them, all 3 of them said no.
So now they are putting on a PPV in the UK they obviously want to hold Leon back for that. And it will be 7 months since he last fought.
Its kind of amazing and shows just how much of a popularity contest Sherdog is when Leon is hated and mocked for not fighting despite him saying yes to everybody. Yet guys like Shavkat and Khamzat are beloved here when they are the ones saying no when they are offered Leon.
"He sat out for 2 years during covid and waited for a title shot"
Reality- He accepted a fight with Woodley, a fight with Masvidal and 3 separate fights with Khamzat. All of them pulled out, and the only person that stepped up during that period was Nate Diaz.
"He won't defend his title, he only wants to fight once a year".
Reality- Won the belt in August 2022. Defended March 2023, 7 months later. This was to give Usman time to recover from a nasty KO and to make sure the event could take place in the UK. Since Dana announced on the night Leon win that they would do an immediate rematch in the UK.
Leon then said he wanted to defend in the summer, but they made him fight Colby, who dragged it out all the way until December. 9 months later.
Leon then said he wanted to get on the UFC 300 card in April and hopefully defend 3 times in 2024. The UFC tried to make this happen offering him 3 opponents for 300. Islam, Khamzat and Shavkat. Leon said yes to all of them, all 3 of them said no.
So now they are putting on a PPV in the UK they obviously want to hold Leon back for that. And it will be 7 months since he last fought.
Its kind of amazing and shows just how much of a popularity contest Sherdog is when Leon is hated and mocked for not fighting despite him saying yes to everybody. Yet guys like Shavkat and Khamzat are beloved here when they are the ones saying no when they are offered Leon.