Major UFC Announcements | Bivol - Beterbiev 2 | UFC Seattle | FULL EPISODE | MORNING KOMBAT - MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Reveale.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Look at us.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Now, Jesus will be luck. It's time down.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
We'll put the ratchet to the side of your face
like a cell phone. What's up, everybody? It is Friday,
the twenty first of twenty twenty five, and it's time
for morning combat. Hello, over the one. I am merely
one half of your hosting duo. I join you from
the capital of the status of Nedos right here in Washington,
d C. Joined by this gentleman over there. Look at

(01:01):
look at Look at this pale, pasty bastard. He's the
king of Connecticut though. It's Brian Campbell. What's up, BC ah.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Look, Wow, what a time to be alive. Great to
be back on this show for this Friday Morning True
or False. Our rundown because of the headlines this week
and the events going on, was so loaded that we
couldn't even fit in room for a segment on Steve
Bennon's Nazi salute yesterday.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
I mean, wow, you know what, Hey, it turns out
a lot of people in the Trump administration have autism.
I didn't know this, you know, apparently that's what it is.
Kind of funny.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Wow, Anyway, what a time to be what for Anyway, uh,
did you see, by the way, breaking news from Boxing
scene dot com just before we start here. We're all excited,
of course for the biggest fight card of all time,
the Last Crescendo on his own on Saturday, but they're
moving the event from a twenty five thousand seed arena
to a six thousand seat one.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
That that is, we're going to break down the cart
in detail NBC. Even with the changes, the card is
still pretty great.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh, I don't know if it's still an A minus dude,
anyone that's trying to downgrade it more than that. It's
like it's still a dream.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
But yeah, I don't know if it's like the best
card ever, but it's obviously still very very good. However,
it just goes to show. Listen, he who pays the
piper calls the tune. If Saudi's footing the bill, they
get to put the fights wherever they want, and that's
just I guess the way that this goes. But it's
just hard to deny that the atmosphere there and continuously
is just really never all that great. Even at the Emirates,

(02:29):
whether it's Dubai or Abu Dhabi, it just feels like
UFC or even PFL. It feels like it's just a
lot better. So I guess it's better that they it'll
be a little bit more intimate in the sense that
it'll be a livelier crowd. Sure, but dude, like you know,
these fights deserve a gigantic audience. Putting them in Saudi
just sometimes mostly if they're alive event anyway, it just

(02:51):
doesn't get that.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah. I mean, you could put that fight on the
moon and we'd still be watching and getting excited about it.
But yeah, wow, indeed.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
All right, let's set the table here if we can.
As you indicated, there is so much to do today.
First on the dock and we had that slate of
insane UFC announcements related to the featherweight division, UFC three fourteen,
UFC three fifteen, UFC London. We're gonna get to all
of that. Plus, as we just indicated, how about the
boxing card this weekend, Just a phenomenal card, even with

(03:21):
all the changes and all the craziness, there's still a
lot to like on that one. And then how can
we forget BC You still got the what do you
want to say? The Tira Massou, the flon thatres Letty
is to the rest of the meal, which of course
is going to be Henry Shudo taking on song You
Dong at UFC Seattle, and then it'll be some other
little gems on that card. We'll get to all of that.

(03:41):
So thumbs up. If you're watching HIT subscribe if you
have it. Here are our socials and you can follow
us on all the different ones, including but unlimited to,
also our YouTube channels, the Brian Campbell Experience for that gentleman,
and then just Luke Thomas for me BC. Before we
go any further, I know I have to ask, and
I'm prying, so I do apologize in advance. Can we

(04:01):
get an update on mister October Reggie Jackson.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Yes, thank you for everyone that has shown love and
support and care, including everybody in the live ramble on
the BCX yesterday. But my favorite cat and yours, is
hanging in there. He's fighting the good fight. He had
a doctor's appointment two days ago that has cleared him
for a possibility of surgery next Wednesday. He has to

(04:25):
go get a chest X ray. As long as he
passes that and that pneumonia has cleared all the way,
he can immediately get put under for the much needed
dental surgery. He may have permanent floppy tongue hanging out
of his mouth, but I'll take that over the opposite,
and my guy's fighting. There's been some rough days in
the process, Luke. You know the ups and downs that
the animals produce when they are very ill. But this

(04:48):
guy is driven, is driven by selfishness and spite, and
he's going to be back in our lives quickly. I
know it.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
I know it. I'm very happy to hear that, really
happy to hear that. Obviously, having a sick pet is
a little more difficult than people who don't have pets realize.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, like, it's not a pet, it's a family member
in my house, all five of them. I'm sure it's
the same in yours too, Luke.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Well it was they all died.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
So okay, I'm really sorry to bring that back up.
But by the way, I have to shout out.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
You're all gone.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Friend of the program, Animal Lover, Average Joe Art has
been a daily rock in a lot of ways reaching
out to me. I appreciate that guy a lot.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
So b C. I need your expertise here. Okay, So
we have ten calories with the whole can. Nevertheless, though,
I need you to grade and rate the energy drink
I'm about to consume. Give me, give me the Brian Campbell,
I got watermelon, Jolly Rancher C four. What do you think?
Give me a rating?

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Ring. I just saw a study on Instagram yesterday that
every can of coke you drink takes twelve minutes off
the end of your life, and they can scientifically prove this.
I'm sure you're going to lose at least three months
with that four can of Starburst Explosives, but I'd be
intrigued to try the flavor despite what it would do
to my intet.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
Let's see, let me give you a taste here.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Ready, there's gotta be better than that pink monster you've
been rolling around with.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Wow, it actually does taste like Jolly Rancher. Wow. Yeah,
b See, if I may please Monday Show, my audio
was not the best and my connection was not the best.
So let me just first apologize to I already told
you how regretful I feel, and long I'll look at
everybody else so the audience, I apologize for that as well.

(06:27):
Didn't go as a planned But BC, do you remember
how I had to take a dump in the middle
of the show, which also just added more insult to
injury at that point, Yes, I do. Can I just
tell you there's actually a bit of a funny story
of that, which is I that whole weekend I hadn't
really taken a dump at all, and then that morning
before the show, I took three of them, all three

(06:50):
of them. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
There is there is a point to this. There is
a point. I promise I'll keep it as brief as
I can, all three of them gigant, and I thought, okay, great,
I'm I feel great for the show. This will go great.
Thirty minutes in I got hit with the shit attack.
I mean thirty minutes in, and I thought, well, the

(07:10):
audio sucks. I can't fuck this up anymore. I just
got to push through. And then an hour passed and
I'm like, okay, I'm about to ship my pants. OK
it's not, it's not it's not. I'm not gonna make it.
I'm not going to make it to the end of
the run. So then I had to message you when
DMS from Donks was on, like if I could go,
let me just tell you that number four that day.
Number four that day was a Joseph A Bank size

(07:34):
nuclear bomb I had.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
I think she just took a year off of the
end of her life being in the same dude, I'm.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Telling you it was. I almost wanted to laugh about it,
but I couldn't in the moment because I had fucked
up the show. But wow, brother, Wow, it was an
absolute cleansing from top to bottom. And I do mean
that literally.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
Well, do you have to under drinking that energy drinks
mixed with lighter fluid that it probably just slowly chips
away at all your inner organs and that's what you're
actually crapping out at the end of the day, Luke.
But that's fine.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Listen, listen, we're all gonna die, and mine might be
sooner than others, but yeah, you might as.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Well die on camera like a real man, and you know,
document this for the rest of us.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
And listen. I didn't die taking a dump into joseph
A Bank, which is right up there. I mean, that's
one of the worst ways to die. If they found
you in the commode and then joseph A Bank, that
would be truly up there. So I didn't die there
and so I feel like that's a good thing. So
apologies to you, apologies to the production staff, and apologies
to the audience. Just wasn't my day that day. But
today's going to be great.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
I've put us through some interesting episodes on the road,
including in Puerto Rico. Look a few times with bags
of eggs and barely any wi fi who knew how
good we had it when I had all those bags
of eggs. You remember back in the day in Porto Rico.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
You're sick. You're a sick person, and I hope.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
I could have been selling them on the street right now,
I could have been flipping them for a.

Speaker 1 (09:00):
Lot, like like Elvis. I also hope you die on
the toilet. You know what I'm saying. I really all right,
very quickly, Long Island, Luke. How are you doing, my friend?

Speaker 4 (09:10):
I'm doing good, guys.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
I got Ruby here showing solidarity for Reggie Jackson.

Speaker 4 (09:16):
Being extra annoying this morning.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
But no, buttholes Ruby, Okay, yeah, no, buttholes On.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
I'm loving the Lloyd Christmas haircut. You understand that.

Speaker 4 (09:24):
Yeah, of course, I mean, big dumb and dumber fan myself.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
You know, hey, are you taking that lady? Out this weekend,
or you're like, sorry, baby, it's fight night you f C.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
I mean, we're missing the boxing card because we got
a party to go to, but we will be doing
the watch along nine PM main card.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
Minutes Saturday's for the boys. Baby jes got she's.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Got the patience of job. It's unbelievable. All right. See,
unless there's anything else, let's get this party started. Yeah, yeah,
let's rock all right here, let's bang two me let's
get to it. I mean, there is so much to
talk about. Let's start with topic number one. UFC President
Dana White made a series. I mean, we'll get to
all all of them, but let's start where they are
most important. With all of the major announcements that he made,

(10:04):
I think leading off as the most important, Ilia Tuporia
has given up his one forty five pound title to
move to one hundred and fifty five BC. We will
talk about the one forty five title fight that's going
to take place at USC three to fourteen. We'll talk
about all of the other fights that have been added
to that card. Let's start here. Is the time right now,

(10:25):
given the lay of the land, for the UFC to
pull the trigger on Iliya Taporia versus Islam Makatschev. That's
question one. Question two, do you like that he gave
up the one forty five pound title?

Speaker 2 (10:38):
I love that he gave up the one forty five
pound title. Let me explain myself. When we turned the
calendar for the new year and did the type of
previewing content ahead of twenty five that many podcasts do,
and we ranked which fights would we want to see
the most in our personal fandom as much as we
all need Jones aspinall, among many others. My number one

(10:59):
pick was this versus Ilia. Why well, first and foremost
because they're number one and two pound for pound, But
I think even more than that, if you look at it,
if you listen to their words, they're both moving up. Anyway,
this weight cut has become tough for Toporia, mixed with
the idea that he feels like, look, can I do
any better than knocking out two of the greatest champions
while they are in the top ten pound for pound

(11:21):
As viciously and thoroughly as I did, he couldn't. So
the reason why I love that the that he gave
up the belt or was stripped either or in this
case whichever way it worked out, I'm not sure is
ultimately because that removes the type of thing, the asterisk,
that makes people like Jed Meshu the Second lose his
mind in a poor man's Luke Thomas rant On below

(11:43):
the links beneath the bell a couple weeks ago. Because
people don't want to go in this direction of every
time somebody gets hot, they win a championship, their next
statement is either let me box Canelo or let me
go and become a two division champion. In this case,
I think to Poria is a special ten. He rocketed
it up the charts, number two pound for pound of
my list, the reigning fighter of the year. He wants

(12:05):
to prove himself in terms of how great he can be,
and because we know that he wants to move up anyway,
and because we know that Mahachev is headed for welterweight
or middleweight sooner than later, to capitalize on what's left
of his own prime and maybe to make room for
Usman nor Maga Madoff. Luke, this is absolutely perfect. Whether
the UFC ultimately decides that you make Islam versus Ilia

(12:29):
later this year and truly make it a super fight,
which it is an active super fight between two guys
on the top of the world in this sport. Or
if they make to Poria feel himself out first at
one fifty five, whether that's Dustin Poorier or insert Connor McGregor,
insert any name you want. I'm here for it because

(12:50):
at the end of the day, Luke, it is about entertainment.
But I think even more than that, when you have
a window to make number one versus two pound for pound,
the two biggest, the two best fighters right now, you
make that, I don't think it's gonna screw up the
other divisions. I don't love that Volkanosk you get a
title shot off of two knockout losses and three defeats
in four fights. But that is a separate topic. My

(13:12):
what your boy to Poria is doing. You had to
remove the belt to do this, Okay, let's see what
he's got at one fifty five. How could you not
be excited or potentially entertained at this fight taking place?

Speaker 1 (13:24):
I mean, I would say, I mean, I generally agree
with the broad strokes, but I don't share your emotional
state about it, which is I agree certainly better that
he dropped the belt to if you're gonna move up
and we're not going to do this back and forth nonsense,
because obviously, in order to hold two belts, you'd have
to compete probably at a bare minimum four times a
year changing weight classes. It's simply not doable. So if

(13:46):
you're gonna make the move, it has to be complete
and that doesn't leave the division in limbo. Whereas John
Jones has just absolutely held the entire thing hostage for
as long as he's been up at heavyweight essentially right,
very very different scenario. So in that sense, I appreciate it,
and I also share your enthusiasm BC that I went
fifty five. Is iligatuporier really gonna be in bad fights?

Speaker 4 (14:06):
Like?

Speaker 1 (14:06):
What are we even talking about here? It's a silly
thing to say. Whether it's Dustin, whether it's Charles, whether
it's Islam, whether it's who knows, it doesn't really matter.
All of them are going to be bangers, and for
that reason, I'm pretty excited about it. On the other hand, BC,
this is where I think we part ways a little bit.
I hate that he that he gave it the title.
I mean again, I get it that it makes sense,

(14:27):
and at the end of the day. If the guy
says he can't make weight, I mean, I don't know
what else there is to say. But am I allowed
to say he doesn't look that big. He doesn't look
Do I think his power carries at fifty five? I do?
Do I think he can win fights at fifty five?
Of course he already has. And do I think he
can even beat Islam? I mean, I don't know if

(14:48):
I would favor him to beat Islam, but I certainly
think he's a worthy adversary no matter what. But BC,
there were so many good fights available for him, a
second Vulk fight again, your mileage may vary. I wanted
to see him fight Moltstar. I wanted to see him
fight Diego. I wanted him to see him fight you
name it, whoever could move their way up through what

(15:08):
I think is a still very interesting and kind of
red hot one hundred and forty five pound division. The
fact that he gave it up again. If the guy
can't do it medically, who are we to say keep
doing it? It doesn't make any sense. But he doesn't
look that big to me, And well, I don't knowategic.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
It might just be career strategic in the sense of
how do you navigate stardom and pull a you know,
poor man's Connor path to becoming the face of the sport.
If that's what it is, I'm okay with it, But
I want to spin it right back to you, Luke.
Do we want to live in a world where fighters
can ultimately declare which division they want to fight in.
I'd rather live in that world. So if the penalty

(15:45):
for wanting to move up faster than you or the
UFC would want is to strip him to the title,
the extended penalty, maybe you got to fight somebody else
first before fighting for the title. He's willing to do
both of those. So I don't really understand the issue.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
The broad strokes. There is no issue the broad strokes.
There isn't There is just a little part of me,
if I'm just being honest, there's a little part of
me that again, if he's trying to do what you
mentioned is the Connor thing, which I think he would
do more like the Habib thing. I think that's probably
closer to the model. But what he's trying to do
now it follows Connor because it's a forty five to

(16:21):
fifty five leaps. So that's the natural antecedent. But in
terms of like making a name of the fight game
then calling it quits and doing something else, it's probably
more along the Habib model. And again, if that's in play,
he actually has trouble making the weight, and this is
what he wants for himself. There's really nothing else to say, like,
you just are where you are. But there is a
part of me that feels like he's kind of an

(16:42):
undersized fifty five and these bigger fifty five vers, these
are dudes who walk around close to or even sometimes
above two hundred pounds. He does not look like that
kind I think he gets up to the low one eighties.
It just seems I don't know, it seems a little hasty.
I should say, let me correct that. It feels at
times a little hasty, and it feels like we're being

(17:03):
robbed of what could have been one of the more
special campaigns at one hundred and forty five for a
UFC title holder in a division that has already had
many such campaigns. Nevertheless, I do grant that fifty five
there's a lot of opportunity, and I'll be honest, I'm
totally okay if they gave him a title shot, and
I'd also be totally okay if they made him fight

(17:25):
his way up. I think it's kind of a function
of what the schedule's going to demand and where his
head is at and all of this. It doesn't sound
like Taporia is against the idea of earning a title
shot against Islam. But at the same time, BC, we'll
talk about this a little bit later. The John Jones
factor looms large because they're just gonna need something for
international fightwek they're gonna need something for some of these

(17:47):
bigger cards if it doesn't take place then a little
bit down the road, the New York cards, you name it.
They're gonna need some kind of ammunition for the bigger
guns here. And if that's the one that's laying in wait, dude,
they're gonna use it. That's just what it is. So
I guess we'll have to see what really can I
jump in in a top for UFCS.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
One conspiracy related thing, because a prominent fighter named Dan
Hooker did come public in a recent interview in the
past two days and said, in his opinion, he felt
like the UFC did not want the UFC was on
your side, did not want to Pouria to exit the
division at this time and leave it behind, but when
he stood fast, that that's what he wanted to do.

(18:24):
According to Dan Hooker, the UFC just stripped him of
the title and announced the next fight, and Hooker does
not believe that Ilia will be close to an immediate
title shot as sort of payback because of that. I
wanted to get you to weigh in on that, because
you tend to be more sober minded than me when
it comes to MMA conspiracies.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
The UFC forcing the hand of its fighters is a
continuous and ever present way that they simply do business.
I don't know why folks have such a hard time.
This is how they've always done business. And listen, Sometimes
they twist the arm a little bit. Sometimes they twist
the arm a little bit, but they all also make
it worth your while financially. Sometimes they just twist and
that's it. Like, there's a range of ways in which

(19:05):
they handle this. But putting pressure on the fighters to
act in a way that is in accordance with their
interests is simply a way that that that that is
how that that organization governs itself. I mean, I don't
know what else to say. About it. It's just what happens,
so that wouldn't surprise me. Every whole wining reported something
a little bit different, which is that they don't want
champ champs anymore, or to a bare minimum, They're you know,
they're not seeking it out. So if you're going to

(19:27):
jump up to the next weight class to you know,
you want a title shot, you want to make a
run for whatever they've got up with the next one,
you got to drop the last one. And by the way,
that's also something that we've been told has applied to
Jean way Lee, who I'm sure is in good standing
with the UFCBC, but they're telling her, if you want
to go to twenty five, the one to fifteen title
has got to be let go. And to be honest,
I mean, I wouldn't say I have mixed opinions. I

(19:48):
think it's hilarious that here's another way in which the
UFC is exerting control over these guys. I mean, could
you imagine telling Canelo that he would have to do
drop these titles in order to go pursue another one.
They would be you know, this would there would be
riding in the streets essentially from his team on the
other hand, just from a how do we operate this product?

(20:09):
If you've got a guy who has to go back
and forth between weight classes, one of which he says
is very, very difficult for him to make, it's just
not realistic that they're going to defend this shit. It's
just not so. For that reason. If you're gonna move
to fifty five, well then you're gonna move to fifty five.
I am not convinced, however, that they would be. They
would penalize him. Maybe they don't give him the Islam

(20:31):
fight right away. I could certainly see that, especially if
they've got the John Jones fight in the chamber ready
to go, or if Poeton, let's say, just runs through
on Caliev. Could they offer him a quick rebound? Would
he take it? He probably would, right, there's some other
way to make that work. But in the event that
they've got options, they may not pull the trigger. I
don't have any problem I have In fact, not only

(20:52):
do I have no problem with him not getting a
title shot, I actually would prefer it if he didn't.
I kind of preferred if he earned his way up.
I am people have said, oh, he's trying to speed
run the Connor thing. But the Connor thing to me
was a little bit different. Yeah, okay, he won at
forty five and then moved up and then that was it.
He never went back and defended, although you know Max
was a title defense. But the point being is at

(21:12):
fifty five he kind of kept escalating and escalating and escalating,
or very quickly anyway, he kind of escalated from there.
But remember I actually showed peak people on my live
chat yesterday on the last way in that Connor did
at one forty five for the albow fight at UFC
one ninety four. BC, you already know this, but for
folks who may not have gone back and look, please

(21:33):
don't take my word for it.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Go look.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Connor looked unbearably awful. I mean, I cannot believe he
made one forty five as long as he did before
jumping to fifty five. Once again, BC, I'm not saying
the cut two forty five for Tupori is not hard.
But he's never looked like that. He's never looked as gaunt,
he's never looked as drained. He's never looked as just
unhealthy on the scale as Connor did. And maybe that's

(21:57):
a good thing.

Speaker 3 (21:58):
Overall.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
But it goes back to my other point, the reason
why I like him getting a number one contender fight.
If they made the Islam fight, fine, But if they
give him a number one contender fight, I want to
see what he's gonna look like at fifty five. I
think his power carries and I think he's good, but
I do think he is undersized and how he handles
that is actually a pretty critical question. If the guy
you want is freaking Islam MAKACHEVBC damn right.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
And to be fair, look, I don't want this for
the IFW main event, but if it had to be
to Poria debuting in this weight class in Dustin Poorier's
retirement fight, you wouldn't hate that, right, Or if that's
the Koman like, you wouldn't hate that, just like Ili
against any of these aging legends that are action stars
or Charles Olavera or whoever you can come up with.

(22:42):
They can certainly use his debut as a very big
fight in their pay per view schedule.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Rolling forward, Ilia put out something on social media. Let's
quickly take a look at it here. It's a reference
to the Kendrick Lamar song not like us. I don't
know if you put the graphic up this is from
ESPN MMA, you can see in the Laura right quadrant
there where you know, he's sort of referencing that. I
guess he's unlike the other UFC champions, see he appears

(23:09):
to want the smoke. I don't know what do you
make of all this? U.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
I make that he's trying to be in the driver's
seat of his career, and most stars at the level
he has achieved this quickly want to be like that.
You know, we can argue a guy like Kendry Suhudo,
who's coming back and fighting this weekend, you know, taking
three years off at the peak of his absolute prime,
maybe in an effort to try to gain some of

(23:39):
this leverage and control failed him. But I think Ilia
is a smooth operator and really knows what he's doing,
and this is really all strategic regarding his career and
the type of matchups he can escalate to. Because while
I mean, I don't fully disagree with what you said
that that there's matchups you still want to see, Like
if they made him against Diego Lopez tomorrow, would I
be upset?

Speaker 4 (23:59):
No?

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Hell yeah, But Luke, I do have to agree if
you were going to make this argument that there's not
big business left for him at one forty five in
terms of being a monster draw on a huge fight
and being something that he can prove himself with a
rematch with Volkanovsky, especially on this recent knockout. Losing streak
just doesn't do that for me. Even with volkstar power,

(24:22):
there's much bigger names and stars at fifty five. I mean,
what if he ends up fighting Patty in some huge
pay per view or something like you know what I mean, Luke.
I just feel like he is very smart and ahead
of the game on figuring out a path that is
going to lead him to the most money, the most

(24:44):
critical reception, in the biggest level of stardom. And this
is all part of that. And it's up to the
UFC to either partner with him and assist in that
or even if they force him into some corners, I
think he's good enough to fight his way out of
these corners and win these test fights. He will need
getting in there with Islam if that's the way they go.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
I'll also say this, I mean this. I don't think
this is in any way controversial, but it's worth saying
out loud. You know, obviously Connor or John Jones are
going to be the most popular fighters on the roster, right.
I mean, Connor's not really active, Jones is semi active,
but you know they're they've got big names and okay fair,
but among like actually active fighters, probably Poeton is your

(25:26):
biggest star right now. I think that's the case. And listen,
we're we're talking about a snapshot in time. If he
beats on Calive, this will only raises. If he gets
to John Jones fight, that only raises. But if you
lose the On Calive fight, you know, that's a whole thing.
It's very very context dependent. But b C, I'm not
gonna say if obviously these are big ifs, but if
Iliotaporia gets the Islam Market chef fight, and if he

(25:46):
wins it, particularly if it's authoritative, he's going to be
the biggest star in the sport. You can just like
you beat them now. And that's why that's really Again,
this is why the broad strokes about your understanding of
the situation, I basically agree with.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
I don't even know how you can argue with it,
aside from just having some feelings of it. I really
wanted something that I guess is just not available anymore.
But if he beats this is this is why fifty
five is so attractive to him. Not only is in
another weight class and it's another title. The guy holding
it is the number one pound four pound guy on
the sport who is low key also kind of a

(26:18):
big star for the organization as well if you move
up a weight class, and like you say, again it's
a big if, but if you ice him as well
to Porio's on top of the game period at that point,
like the big game hunting that is available at fifty
five at this point is just far beyond what forty
five has. Even if I recognize if he stayed at

(26:38):
forty five, he could have a long campaign there beating
some really quality fighters and doing some really quality work.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
And let me just add a final thing. It's like,
you know, if you're a coach, do you coach everybody
the same way? No stars get handled different ways. If
you're at a job and somebody's really talented but they're lazy,
well they get more chances than others. Yes, I would
not be this into this movie, in this idea if
Japoria didn't have the breakout face of the franchise star

(27:04):
potential that he's building, mixed with the fact that he's
number two pound for pound and could end up being
the best fighter in the world. If it was a
champion in a different division with less marketability, I wouldn't
support this as much. But if the year of the UFC,
how could you not support it when this guy could
literally be the reason that you do massive events in Spain,

(27:25):
Italy and other parts of Europe and moving forward, this
is that ticket for that expansion. So just like Way
Lee in China and DDP in South Africa, they're building
these You know, we always say we don't have stars,
they're not probably ready to reload for the next generation.
This guy's ready give them the chance to be that star,

(27:45):
all right.

Speaker 1 (27:46):
So with that, let's move to the next part of
this BC, which is of course the UFC three to
fourteen announcement. It will be headlined a Miami show. But
by the way, Miami turning into a real fight capital here?

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Can you hit that? Why though?

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Why?

Speaker 2 (27:57):
Because some people have said it's politically in motivated, meaning
that we know when they go to Abu Dhabi there
we're gonna get their best matchmaking. It used to be MSG,
there used to be majors. Why is Miami suddenly getting
this treatment? I love it?

Speaker 1 (28:10):
But why well? I mean, there could be something to
be said for the fact that Governor's Greg Abbott and
Governor Ron DeSantis, respectively of Texas and Florida were open
during COVID or even you know, pandemic era events that
they wanted to hold in particular Florida obviously Florida was
the first at Jacksonville that that unfortunate beating that Tony
Ferguson took with Justin Gatchee. Yes, I do think there

(28:33):
is something to be said for that, certainly that you know,
we're gonna put our business in a place that was
accommodating to us at a time of need. Okay, at
the same time, like there is BC you know this too,
there is out fucking rageous money in Miami. And Miami
is a very showy culture anyway. If you've ever been
to Miami, you cannot believe the number of luxury cars

(28:56):
on the street, like ninety percent of which are just
rented for show. But there there, it's it's a place
that's like designed to be able to pull huge gate
numbers at least currently right, So as long as like
they're not doing a favor to Florida, they're making money,
you know what I mean, and Miami has a ton
of it. I think it's more really just the ladder

(29:18):
than the former, to be honest with you, But okay, okay.
UFC three fourteen Volkanovski Alexander Volkowski is back. He'll be
taking on Diego Lopez for the vacant one hundred and
forty five title. Bab see how good are volks chances
at recapturing the belt.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
I mean, I'm certainly not feeling that they're high, given
that he's thirty six years old, he's lost three or four,
and he's coming off back to back knockout losses. Obviously
there's some level of wiggle room and asterisk play in that.
When you consider the head kick loss to Islam was
him moving up in weigh on short notice. We've been
through this a middle a million times, and then maybe
he rushed back and took the Toporio fight too soon,

(29:57):
or maybe Toporia is just a next gen, you know,
next level phenom for the future. I get why he's
in this fight. I'm not going to pick it outside
my street. He's the star power in this matchup that
allows this division losing to Poria, to keep going and
keep putting their best face forward. And if Diego Lopez
is the real deal, then nobody better to stamp that

(30:20):
approval on him critically than have him go through Volkanovski,
one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.
He's so great, Luke Volkanowski historically his body of work
that if you knew the future and you told me
he does a Chevchenko right from the third Grosso fight
and turns it back and wins a close fight and
re established him himself a two time champion this division.

(30:43):
He's of that ILK. But I do have some serious doubts.
I think Diego Lopez is red hot. This is the
right time for him to get in this title fight,
and I know what's happened before where people get title
shots coming off of even consecutive losses. Remember Holly Holm
at featherweight when Cyborg wasn't ready, but it's elf was
a weird scenario. Josee Aldo coming off of one loss
but it was close. I don't know, Luke, I don't

(31:06):
love this, but if the alternative was Ev Looev versus
Diego Lopez. You're not putting that in the main event,
so I get it. But I'm cautious and skeptical that
Vulk's gonna be able to dial it back one more time.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
I think this is a great fight. I think this
is a great fight. I think it was the right
fight to make. We'll talk about some of the alternatives
here in just a second, but I personally think it's
the right fight to make. I think Diego Lopez certainly
had a case for being number one contender, but b C,
I'm gonna say this. I feel like, I mean long
Islan Luke. Let me pull a long on Luke in here,
Long is of Luke. Let me pitch something to you.

(31:44):
I saw the early odds. I don't know what our
friends of DraftKings have on this one, but I saw
in most places Vulk was a very modest favorite, which
I feel like is very fair. Listen skill for skill,
Long Island Luke. There's no question in my mind. Volkanovski
has been better and is better, but he's had his
chin tapped badly in the last two fights. He's been
dropped in multiple fights before that, and while not as

(32:07):
technically proficient, and I think strategically you know, complex as
what Volkanovsky can do. He flurries, he's quick, he's got
offense everywhere he takes risks, and against a guy this
kind of old and battered, that's a that's as legit
a threat as they come. Right now.

Speaker 5 (32:26):
True, honestly, I think those odds should be flip flopped.
I feel like Vulk should be a slight dog plus
one ten plus one fifteen something like that, because I
honestly want to jump on diego a plus money right
now on that that that sounds like a good bet,
and I love Vulk, so it'd be hard for me
to take that bet. So I hope they flip flop.
But I think that's about accurate should be. No one
should be bigger than like a minus one fifty in

(32:48):
that fight.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, and I thank you, I appreciate it. And then
also b C just getting back to, like we know,
the sort of standard themes of the show. If Volkanovsky
ends up winning this title, not on he become a
two time champ. With itself, it's quite important. He'd be
the first person fifty five and down to win a
UFC title over the age of thirty five, that's not
been done before. So like, this is a great headlining fight,

(33:09):
it's a huge test, and there's simply no question in
my mind Volkanovsky has the skills to pass it. But
I'm sorry, I think people overlooking now that you're this
old and that you've been through this much damage, and
you've in previous fights even before you incurred this damage.
You got dropped against Chad Mendez, you got dropped against

(33:29):
Brian Ortega. I can go on down the list. I
actually think that this one, for being five rounds is
extra dangerous against a guy like Diego Lopez. Not a
question in my mind.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
Did you weigh in on specifically, like outside of the
star factor, like are you okay with him being in
this fight? And I say that because when Connor McGregor
knocked out Joseialdo but then never returned to the division,
I wasn't against Josealdo then fighting for the interim belt
against Frankie Edgar in a rematch, and then continuing honest champion.
I justified it by saying, look, although deserved an immediate

(34:04):
rematch if anyone ever did after the title reign he had,
and the way in which he lost that in thirteen
seconds on the first big punch. This is different. This
is three losses and four fights, two consecutive knockouts, just
getting KOed cold in the last fight against the former champion.
I don't feel good about that.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
Meritocracally, what's he supposed to do?

Speaker 2 (34:30):
Have to have fought somebody else? He lost the title
eleven months ago, he.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Would fight for the title.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
I get my inability to answer that question. Is the
reason why he's in this fight? But is that I'm
asking you if that's a good enough reason to justify
it in your eyes as a fan and journalist.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
Under normal considerations of meritocracy, he would not be deserving
of this right. However, you're talking about arguably, arguably I
don't think he is my personal book, but arguably the
best featherweight ever. That's who you're talking about here. He's
certainly the most talented featherweight I've ever seen.

Speaker 6 (35:08):
And.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
I think guys like that play by different rules. That's
just just the reality. Also, at least to the other
question which a lot of folks asked me be see,
which was okay, like the fight, fine fight, fine headlining fight,
great for Miami, great for us. Why didn't Mosar get
the nod? Mosar has a win over Diego Lopez, Mosar
is undefeated. Mosar is a super tough challenge for anybody

(35:34):
in that division. Why was he snubbed here.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
Because they needed a main event? In my opinion, if
they already had a main event aligned for this card
and this wasn't, if this didn't happen as abruptly as
it appeared that it did, I think they could have
made Mozar Versus Diego as a co main event vacant
title excuse me on the line after Taporia moved up.
I think the quick nature and the fact that over

(35:58):
the past year and a half, as we have complained
about the matchmaking card qualities going down a bit, it
seems more often than not they're scrambling a month or
two out from a big pay per view rather than
having the matchups locked in well ahead of time. We
did see that with UFC three hundred. I mean, why
would Poeton become as valuable as he did because he
was ready waiting by the phone every time they knew

(36:18):
the new main event and he come in there injured
or not on short notice three times in one hundred
and seventy six days and deliver it. So I think
it plays completely in that that they had to kind
of scramble Vulks the biggest name close enough to the
top of it. I mean, could you have some holloway in.
I guess you could have, although it would have been
the same thing. You just got knocked out by the
guy that just had the belt. I mean, Luke, you

(36:40):
also could have done this and it would have driven
people fricking crazy.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
Let's hear it.

Speaker 2 (36:45):
You could have done Max versus Vulk four. Oh oh no, okay.

Speaker 1 (36:52):
No, no balls done.

Speaker 2 (36:54):
Mostart got screwed. I mean, he beat the guy, but
if he was more exciting, he wouldn't be in the
situation he has. That's just the reality, and I'm not
blaming him for that. But it's the old John Fish
thing like eventually, it's exactly what he kept winning. Eventually,
he had to get his shot right. And that's dude.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
When when I covered John Fitch's whole UFC career, when
John fought GSP, he was by a million miles the
consensus number two in the world. It wasn't even close.
For a time. It was cost check because they were
both at AKA at the same time, they didn't want
to fight each other. Blah blah blah, and in the end,
John Fitch, by the time he fought for a UFC title,

(37:32):
there was no question who the number two guy in
the world was. It was him and that fight was actually,
at least on paper, really exciting because you were got, Wow,
it's number one versus number two in the world. Haw off,
and do you get that? That's pretty great? And then
he got scrubbed and never got a title shot again.
That is that is Mosar's future. He is probably gonna
barely ever get a title shot, and if he doesn't
win the first time, it'll be the last title shot
he gets in the UFC. His style is not appreciated

(37:54):
by the matchmakers. You can like that factor, you can
hate that fact. We've been over these debates a million times,
but it's simply where he is also BC. Another reason
why Volkanowski got this nod among every other one is
you mentioned, well, they could have done Mosar versus Diego Lopez,
and I know you indicated that would have been a comain,
But who they would have put on the main there,
It wouldn't have been a great choice. What I'm trying
to make is Vulk is a guy you can slot

(38:15):
into headlining roles and not Tank on pay per view.
I don't know how well it's gonna do, but it's
not gonna take. Certainly, we all probably think Mosar versus
Diego two is a quality fight, but it's not a
pay per view headliner. It's not the thing you can
sell very expensive tickets to in Miami and then reap
huge dividends at the box office, so to speak, on

(38:36):
pay per view either.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
All right, with that in MINDBC, let's get to some
of these other parts of the same UFC three fourteen card. BC.
Michael Chandler versus Patty Pemblet will comane this card in
a five rounder at lightweight. Is this good matchmaking from
the UFC to Well, let me ask you grade the
matchmaking here, both for Patty as well as for Chandler,

(39:03):
and give me your early inkling about which way you're leaning.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
I think it's a matchmaking for both. And I realize
for other people that they don't love this because they
see something that I predicted was available over the UFC
after Patty's last win. There is a path to the
title for Patty without having to be an elite contemporary
because there are so many lingering, all time great action

(39:27):
names still here, the Gay Cheese, the Poitiers, the Chandlers,
and he's getting one of them. I love this for Chandler,
despite him having so many more losses than wins in
this fantastically fun UFC run, because it really gives him
the chance to revive himself against a guy who's good
good to very good in Patty. But I think any
opponent is going to look at him and go okay.

(39:48):
I think I could do some things against him, So
I think it's perfect. It's a younger fighter with a
big brand for Chandler to go against make a lot
of money. And I think for Patty Luke, this is
the path and it is based upon on marketability and
commercial liking and all that. I mean, of course it
is right. We don't know if Patty's for real. There's
been a few stumbles along the way on this path

(40:09):
to get to this point. He looks good lately, but
I mean, like I said, imagine if it ends up
being Ilia versus Patty for the title fight, it's very possible.
I actually really love this fight. First and foremost, Luke,
and you can respond because I don't know who's gonna win,
and it's a creative one in that regard. It's similar

(40:31):
to two fights ago when I thought Connor should have
been fighting Patty Pimblet straight up, because it was just like,
you actually don't really know what's gonna happen, and we
do have odds from DraftKings that Long Island. Luke just
sent us plus one hundred Chandler minus one twenty Pimblet. Luke,
I love this. Tell me what you feel.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
I love it, But I want to play some audio
if we can, from Michael Chandler to tell you how
he is feeling about this matchup in Patty.

Speaker 7 (40:56):
In particular, after the last fight, one of the most
disappointing losses of my career, I wanted to get right
back on the horse, get right back in the octagon.
So here we go. I like the matchup, love the matchup.
Actually I respect Patty. I think Patty's a skilled fighter.
I think he's still got a bright future. But I

(41:17):
think he's gonna run into a buzz saw named Michael
Chandler on April twelfth. And as always, I will be
the most entertaining guy that steps inside the octagon that night,
I will have everybody on their feet. I will have
everybody on the edge of their seat, and typical Chandler fashion,
We're going out there with one goal in mind, and

(41:39):
that's to separate our opponent from consciousness.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
So you can't wait.

Speaker 7 (41:45):
We headed into training camp today and for the next
eight weeks we're gonna.

Speaker 1 (41:51):
Be getting after it.

Speaker 7 (41:52):
Thank you guys for being with me on this journey.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
God bless I'll see you at the top, See.

Speaker 1 (41:58):
You at the top, be see I have to say
a friends at DK. As you mentioned, I believe Chandler
plus one hundred Pimblet minus one twenty. I think the
odds are right on the money. Dude, I freaking love
this matchup because here's the reality. Patty Pimblet is definitely
better than I thought he would be. I still don't
think he's all that great necessarily, but he's I'd just
be lying if I said he didn't exceed my expectations.

(42:21):
He did. He absolutely has. And his work from the
back is especially good, Like he's really actually very very
deadly there, So that part is interesting. Dude, Michael Chandler,
we have seen him give up his back multiple times.
It has caused him problems multiple times. At the same time,
Patty is very hittable. Michael Chandler fucking throws the absolute
dogs when he's out there. This is this is fantastic matchmaking,

(42:46):
a phenomenal addition to the card. The only part for me,
BC is the guy sat out basically two years of
his career to get a Charles O Laveri rematch that
he lost, and now he's fighting Patti Pimblet in non
title comains. These are not small figures necessarily, but oh Jesus,
this guy gave up a lot for not much in return.
I do feel bad for him in that regard.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
I do. I do feel bad in that regard, and
he's been everything the UFC would have wanted them to
be and more, even with a lot of these losses
in very close fights where he had moments he could win.
But I'm glad that the very least, and he's a
very positive person of course, that he's embracing the road
he took and where he's at and is just trying
to go for it. And what could be better than

(43:26):
a younger fighter who's unproven with a huge name it's
it's perfect for him. I would like him to keep
his eyes on the road more when he's driving. And
also I would like to wish him a happy Black
History Month as well, which is you know, perfect timing.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
So you know, yeah, remember the first time UFC tried
to do a Black History Month thing and they're like,
the first guy we're going to talk to is a uh,
well it's a white guy. It's gonna be great. But
you see, in the interest of time, there's more I'd
like to get into in this one. I think by
the way Pimblet beats Michael Chandler, he's it's gonna be
great for his career. I mean, there's simply no Obviously,

(44:00):
the winner here gets a lot. I mean, the matchmaking
here is perfect. The one that's kind of interesting to
me is the third fight down on this card, BC,
which is holy crap. Patricio Pitbull, the best fighter in
Bellator history. We did a full resume review of him
on Morning Combat. Has had one of the most remarkable
MMA careers outside of the UFC. Well that is now finished.

(44:21):
He will be on this card and he's taking on
Yaya Rodriguez. Now what's interesting, BC, is you sent me
something earlier today, suggesting that the UFC kind of twisted
Yayer's arm to take it. What did you send me?

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Yeah, it was an interview that Patricio Pipple did with
an MMA junkie immediately after the fight was announced by Dana,
you know, two nights ago, late night, and he ultimately
said that he gave his history of being called by
the UFC. He's been talking to the UFC going back
to like the beginning of last year. He claims he
accepted a fight with Al Joe. Al Joe pulled out.
He claimed he accepted a fight against Ya Year. Yah

(44:54):
Year said no, but he said ultimately UFC called him back,
asked him one more time about Ya Year he and
according to Pipple, Ya Year said no. So then Dana
called Pipple and said, I'm gonna announce the fight anyway
and you can fill in the blanks to pressure Ya
Year into accepting it. And according to Pitple, that's the
reason why Ya Year ultimately accepted this absolutely badass all

(45:19):
action fight. That is like the gift from above, the
special icing on top of this cake. But Luke, that's
some heavy handed bullshit, man, I mean, that's that's like
that's the kind of stuff we hate. Heren of how
they actually operate.

Speaker 1 (45:33):
Uh, this is once I'm gonna say it again, this
is I'm not defending it as such, In fact, far
from it. What I am trying to get folks to
wrap their mind around is this is how the sausage
is made. This is how fights get made. That's not
a thing I think is awesome, But like, what are
the mechanisms in place to deliver to the fans the
cars that look like this? It's it's this. It's this

(45:57):
kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
Because if you're yeah, yeah, right now, and you come
out on a podcast today and go, I never accepted
this fight. This is UFC pull in things. He's not
going to get an offer for a while, and it's
gonna be a Fightdea dosn't want. And that's the truth, Luke,
That's the damn truth.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Yeah, yeah, that is the truth. But BC as it stands, however,
the fight itself is freaking awesome. Here's my concern. Tell
me what I'm missing. I love that they have different
body types. I love that they are from different like
obviously places in the MMA world. They're coming together. They're
both action fighters. The problem is Pitbull is thirty seven,

(46:37):
and you're getting him what I think is post prime,
and I do think his last win BC. You'll recall
the Jeremy Kennedy fight. He looked much better than he
had more recently, but he's also lost his last two
out of three. What am I missing about all of this?

Speaker 2 (46:51):
You're not missing anything. We're lucky being fans of him
and realizing that he is, in some in his own form,
a historically great fighter, right like the face of one
of the sneaky great Brazilian champions of all time, who's
lingered throughout and fought everybody he could. But you do
need that stop in the UFC at the end of
the journey, even if it's just for one fight, it

(47:11):
does matter and mean something. We're getting him with still
something left in the tank. So here's what I'm really
trying to say. I don't think he's gonna end up
fighting for a world title, but I do think this
is brilliant matchmaking to not only give us the iEAR
fight first, although to be fair, you could have picked
any number of action opponents over multiple weight classes and
you're gonna get what you're gonna get. Instinct combustibility. This

(47:35):
is brilliant in my opinion. Putting this on the same
card as Chandler. It's gonna get Chandler and Pitbull talking
about each other again, that they hate each other. There's
been a great, long time rivalry with Chandler and the
members of the pit Bull Jim, including Patricky who he
knocked out and pissed off Pitbull Patricio, which led to
them fighting and Patricio getting the early knockout. I think
if they both lose on this card, the next fight

(47:58):
is Chandler versus Pitbull. If one of them wins and
one of them loses, the next fighters Chandler versus Pitbull.
Those are the type of fights I think we're gonna
get from Pitpull. Let's say we get four or five
of them Luke and he wins one of them. It's
kind of the Michael Chandler thing all over again, even
though Chandler was on the title level and maybe had
a little bit more in the tank. I'm just happy

(48:18):
we're getting this. I'm happy he's not in PFL jail anymore.
I think, like a late career Kung Lee going to
the UFC, we're gonna get what's less of him, but
it's gonna be really fun against other equal legends.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Remember this is a guy who dusted off Michael Chandler
and he was asked about that, even though he signed
with the UFC, how he feels about Michael Chandler and
my man is still holding on to old grudges. Play
the Cliff Long Island, Luke.

Speaker 8 (48:43):
You and Michael Chandler ending up on the same card
after all these years for your USC debut him fighting
in the comain event?

Speaker 1 (48:50):
Was it kind of.

Speaker 8 (48:50):
Crazy funny for you to see that full circle moment
where you guys are both kind of on the poster
for UFC event.

Speaker 6 (49:01):
Before I started the interview, I saw a guy on
Twitter saying that UFC three one four is gonna be
great because it's gonna be the first time father and
son are fighting on the same card in the UFC.
So that give me a big love And I found
it really funny that that people said that, I don't
know how it's gonna be, but I think it's gonna be.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
It's gonna be great.

Speaker 8 (49:24):
Is there STI rivalry there at all with you guys,
like if you see him on fight week or are
things going to be cool and cordial or is there
still a little bit of heat between you and Michael.

Speaker 6 (49:33):
I don't like him personally, but I don't have any issues.
I mean, a professional where both sportsmen, we have to
respect each other. So I'm not gonna be trying to
do anything. But if they want to give me as
many opportunities as they can to beat him up until
the end of my career, I'm gonna be taking all
of them.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Old habits, die hard, old habits, die hard.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
Right, that's it's gonna be awesome. If it's the next fight,
I guarantee you it's perfect. I mean, look, we're not
being unfair to him. I don't think he's going to
contend for a title, but he's going to get knocked
out cold and knock people the f out. We know
what we're getting with him.

Speaker 1 (50:12):
I think a title at this weight, at this age
seems deeply unrealistic. However, you're talking about the best guy
Bellator's ever produced. Even if he is post prime. It
makes no sense not to sign him. It makes no sense.
It only makes sense to see. Listen, whatever he's got,
let's fire him in there and let's see what it is.
Maybe it's not the best of what he has anymore,

(50:34):
It's hardly gonna be bad and it's definitely not worth
ignoring him. It's all the right call. I'm sorry that
the fight got made under the terms that appeared to
be strong arming, but again it's how the sausage is made,
all right, PC. But we're not done with these topics
related to UFC announcements. Let's go to topic number two,
which is well, basically the rest of them, which include

(50:54):
UFC three for fifteen, which will take place in Canada
as well as the main event around UFC London. Let's
start with the biggest part of that, BC, which is
that balal Mohammed is now going to fight Jack Dala
Madalena at UFC three fifteen excuse me, while Leon Edwards
is going to fight Sean Brady. We'll talk about the
latter of those in a minute, but here's my question. BC.

(51:16):
First of all, give me your reaction to that main
event in Canada, and also why didn't they just leave
Jack dalea Medealana on the London card and then call
up Joaquin Buckley to fight balal Mohammed, who's basically right there,
fresh matchup and he didn't have to move anything around.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
It's a great question. I think you could have actually,
even though he's coming off of a defeat, I think
you could have called Ian Gary too. I really think
you could have. Right, Oh, there's and that shows the
depth of this division. It may not have top end
pay per view stars, but one through fifteen this division's fire.
So I guess it probably came down to who was available,
who was in camp. All of that, we know that
they got to call a bunch of hunter Campbell's got

(51:56):
to go in the front seat, luke outside and call,
put a bunch of people on speakerphone and get it done.
I love the fight ultimately, and I think this is
actually really good news for balal Mohammed because we were
I was, I was. We crept on him. I crapped
on him for a long time. Thought he was a
transitional champion, thought he was overachieving to get to this point,
took advantage of a short camp. Gilbert Burns blah blah blah.

(52:18):
I was wrong. I now remember the name, and yet
we still were like, yeah, but he's gonna fight Shavcott next,
and Edward Scissorhand's gonna slice through him. Only Shavka look
kind of human against Gary, and he's hurt and unavailable,
and now you're giving him a JDM who we all love.
Great fighter, fun fighter year layoff did not look great

(52:40):
against uh Gilbert until he needed to look great in
the final minute with that knee, but up until then
was out crappled. And what does Blal do great? So
suddenly Blal's in a spot where he's finally healthy to
get the title defense here, and I think he's gonna
fight that he can win. So it's definitely a hardcore
fight in my opinion, right, Like it's not gonna move
paper blocks, but it's in a division that just needs

(53:02):
to keep moving forward no matter who steps up, and
this fight, yeah, this is more than good enough for me.
So is Leon and Sean Brady. By the way, great
substitution there as well. Could this have been Leon? But
then you're doing an immediate rematch, So I don't hate it, Luke,
tell me what's wrong about this?

Speaker 1 (53:18):
There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing wrong with it.
It's just kind of interesting. So let's break it down
here a little bit. First of all, throw up on
the screen if you can, bung Island, Luke. The statement
from shof cut rock Monoff. Well, I did not mention
if the top was injured. Here's what he says, quote
big thanks to the UFC for offering me the shot
at the belt first. Unfortunately, due to injury, I won't
be ready for May. I'll be facing the winner later
this year. Okay, fair enough, And by the way, put

(53:41):
up the balal Muhammad message about taking Leon's opponent. Let's
see that very quickly. Dang, he says, I stole Leon's
belt and his opponent.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
Dude, I'll be PAULI and I've got his girl.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
Oh Adrian Brunner thing. Yeah, dude, like he does that,
he does that, you know what I mean. It's interesting.
Here's what I think. I love both fights. We'll talk
about the Sean Brady and Leon one in just a second.
But on the side, for Bala Mohammed, I think very
highly of Jack Dela Madalena. I would rather have seen
him fight Leon first, if I can be honest. But

(54:15):
I get that they're just trying to, you know, patch
up an unfortunate situation with Schafcott being out. So it's
interesting for Blahal because I think that's stylistically something of
an advantageous matchup. It's kind of striker versus grappler. Obviously.
The thing that's interesting to me about Leon is, on
the one hand, BC, he's now going from a guy

(54:35):
who is almost entirely a striker to a guy who
is almost entirely a grappler, so that has to be frustrating. However,
he's been fighting nothing but wrestlers all this time, all
the Kamara Usman rematches and trilogies, the Colby Covington fight,
Balal Mohammed, and now this one like this is like
the fifth time, and have almost as many fights as

(54:57):
he's had to find or fight. Excuse me, BC a
wrestling based kind of guy, so there's got to be
some comfort there. And by the way, I like that
matchup too. It's just I don't know, Buckley seemed right
there usable you didn't have to move anything else around.
But it is what it is. We're happy for, uh,
you know, former Room Service Diaries against Sean Brady. I
think to get a title shot just the same. But

(55:18):
that's kind of how I feel about it all.

Speaker 2 (55:20):
Well, is this telling us something.

Speaker 4 (55:21):
That we getting a title shot? Sean's fighting?

Speaker 1 (55:23):
Sorry sorry, not a title shot. Number one contender fight apologia,
but presumably a number one contender fight.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
Because the two missing pieces here are Joaquin Buckley and
Ian Gary. Is that the next fight? Should that be
the next fight? Because my loins are jumping thinking about
that fight.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
Wow, that's a great question, Ian Gary, and I love
that fight, Joaquin Buckley versus Ian Gary. That's a really, really,
really good fight.

Speaker 4 (55:49):
They were booked too before they That's.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
Right, they were booked for that for that was it
Tampa card? Yes, and then everything they had changed and
they had to bring in Colby whatever. But yeah, that's
a great fight. That's a phenomenal fight. I really really
like it. Now if I may be se going through
this list here a little bit in addition to all
of this, but actually, do you like the JDM? Which

(56:13):
one do you like more? Edwards Brady or Edwards JDM.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Edwards JDM I would have enjoyed more. But I think
this is a more than fine substitution. I think. Look,
the real intrigue for me is Leon Edwards was like
pound top four at the time that he lost to
Ballala and kind of lost soundly. So this is a
big no matter who the opponent is, as long as
it is an elite one is a big opportunity considering

(56:40):
Leon's age in his mid thirties. Here where if he
comes back and completely re establishes himself, he's very much
still in this very deep title picture and we got
to take him very seriously. Or if he's just a
step below that, he could be given someone like Sean
Brady the rub on his own push toward the title
or JDM if it had happened. So the intrigue is

(57:00):
still surrounding Leon. I love that it's in London, like
there's gonna be a fun event.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
Yeah, I agree with the broad Strokes there now the
co main event PC.

Speaker 2 (57:09):
Volenta Stroking going out here. Look, I always Jroke to
Broad's always always.

Speaker 1 (57:14):
I bet, I bet in public and at the bus stop,
Valentina Schevchenko was gonna face Manan Fiero in the Comain.
This will be a one to twenty five title fight BC.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
Of all of.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Chevchenko's fights at one twenty five, is Manan Fioro the toughest, We.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
Don't know yet. We don't know yet because I think
Wayley's the tougher fight. But we knew it probably came
down to a quick turnaround against Wayley to just capitalize
on the stardom and the pound for pound potential or
give Mine Farrow what she has already earned and did deserve.
So ultimately, Luke, maybe they can still have their cake
and eat it too. In terms of when Wayley does

(57:52):
move up to one twenty five, it's going to be
a big deal trying seeing her go, trying to become
a champ champ with the stardom she's built in China.
Would it be bigger against chef Chenko? Yes, But I
like that Farah who has been unbeaten and it's passed
every test and really showed us her true talent and
backbone against Blansfield in that fight. Let's go here, Luke,

(58:13):
no reason, no reason to to nitpick this at all.
This is the fight, and I don't know yet if
it will be more dangerous. I mean, Walley's a more
row rounded fighter for sure, and maybe a more no
more not maybe a more dangerous finisher for sure. But
that's at ten pounds south. So let's see what Mannal has, Luke,
I mean, what what do you think top of your

(58:35):
head feeling? Can Farau win this?

Speaker 1 (58:39):
I think Farou does win this? Yeah, I think she
does win this. Listen, I mentioned again not her. She's
fought Newnas twice, so that doesn't count. We're talking about
one twenty five fights. Here are her one twenty five
fights b see and one twenty five she fought Priscilla
Catchuera forget about it. That was a mismatch. Now in
twenty eighteen she fought jj Yo Wanni and Jcheck. But

(59:00):
remember she's not really a natural twenty.

Speaker 2 (59:01):
Five Her kind of a mismatch a mismatch.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
Then it's Jessica I, Liz Carmuch, Caitlin Chukegan. That's who
it was when she fought it. Obviously she's changed her
name since Jennifer Maya, Jessica Androge, Lauren Murphy, Tyler Santos,
and now Alexa Grosso BCE. Yeah, Manon Fiera is better
than all of them. There's no question in my mind.
She's not as well rounded as some of those.

Speaker 2 (59:24):
I don't know if she's better than Grosso. I know
Grosso's not only coming off for bad performance in a
title fight. She's the underdog coming up. I get all
of that, but I don't know if you know that
Parouh is better than Grosso I don't know if you
actually know that, Luke.

Speaker 1 (59:36):
She's a better athlete and a tougher fight. I can
tell you that, because.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
Won't you say if there's anything we still don't know
about Farrow. I just gave her a ton of credit
for the Blanchfield fight because we thought Blanchfield was a
runaway train. But didn't Blanchfield look one dimensional in that
fight too, and still kind of rallied with Takedowns.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Yeah, because Faro Fiora made her look one dimensionally.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
No, I get what you're saying, but I think Grosco's
more of a proven comodity at this level. But we'll
find out. Let's see, let's see.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
Yeah. Anyways, the point being is this debate is important
and that's a phenomenal addition to that card. But let
me just say this. I have seen people complain, They're like, Wow,
UFC is going back to Canada and we're getting a
Balo Mohammed main event with a women's title co main event.
Now again, I think that's a little unfair. Blaloh Mohammed
versus JDM is an absolutely worthwhile fight, and Schevchenko versus ferrooh,

(01:00:24):
I don't think he's going to be a Barnburger BC.
But these are quality fighters who are deserving of respect.
But these are not necessarily the most entertaining fighters, and
certainly BC, certainly these are not the biggest stars. Do
Canadian UFC fans have a right to complain?

Speaker 2 (01:00:38):
They do? They do? Which really is now? You know,
because I read enough MMA draw in the email and
they do have a lot of insight into the business
decisions government contracts. So I'm now looking at the sport
through a different lens. I'm now wondering It's like, what
is the site fee that Montreal pays out compared to
some of these other cities that you know, TKO have

(01:00:59):
done these groups packages of where you get the UFC
pay per view, you know, sandwich between the ww events
and all that. Maybe you get some bull riding in
between if you're lucky. We know that Dubai seems to
pay the most, they get the best cards. Saudi get
some special treatment of course, but you know, it seems
we can debate which which cities they tend, you know,

(01:01:21):
in recent memory, to match better than others. I think
that's ultimately telling you who's paying the most for Canada
or especially specifically Montreal to be out of the loop
based on COVID in the aftermath for this long despite
having that history of being amazing bloodthirsty fans, you know,
this is either they got screwed or the UFC going well.

(01:01:44):
That fan base is so great and so hungry that
they'll take literally anything we'll give them. So here's two
title fights, no matter the value. I'm not crapping on
these two title fights, like I'm here for it. But
I get your point, and one of those things are true,
if not all, I don't even know anymore.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
I mean, which card is better? I mean they're not
filled out yet, we can't fully say, but which card
is better than Miami card at three three fourteen.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
Or Miami is deep as shit.

Speaker 1 (01:02:12):
It's it's not even a question which one is better,
it's very, very obviously better. While recognizing I personally don't
have a problem at all with three fifteen, I just
recognize there are some pretty big goddamn differences in the
entertainment and star power quotient between the two of them.
Something to keep in mind is.

Speaker 2 (01:02:30):
Related to take advantage of my people. Luke the Quebec Qua.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Oh you mean having a French speaking person there. Yes,
I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure it helps. I'm told
that their accents are very different, so you know, it's
a little bit like English and Scottish or something.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
I don't know, but they still speak the same language at.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
The end, they speak the same language. And they're also,
you know, equally very well. You think the DC serving
class doesn't like your jokes, the Montre, the cub At Cua.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
Oh no, but but you know that coming in. I
will say this about the Quebec claw because I vacationed
there with my family a year and a half ago.
There were definitely deep pockets of French that I was in,
some of these back towns at like supermarkets and stuff
where not only does nobody speak in English, like one
employee in the building can speak English, but they were
like really nice where I expected them to be as

(01:03:19):
rude to me as the Montreal service workers were when
I would go there at like age nineteen, looking to
just get drunk and hang out on Saint Catharine Street
and look at the nudes. Luke right, I mean, let's
be and then eat French fries with mayo on them.
That's the life cycle of going there back in the
day was tremendous.

Speaker 1 (01:03:35):
BC's like, I'm gonna go I'm gonna drink I'm gonna
drink bush Light, I'm gonna eat some poutine and I'm
gonna look at some titties and it's gonna be a
great day in my life.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
I love pork over there and putting extra sauce on everything.
I don't hate these people, Luke, they are my people.

Speaker 4 (01:03:48):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
If I'm oh, you know what, before we move on,
I just wanted to put this in here. After Ballal
spoke out on Twitter, Darren Hill took a sh out
at him, so Ballall responded, he goes, dang, of course,
the one I showed you before, I stole Leon's belt
and his opponent, to which Darren Till quote tweets and writes,
try and steal a personality while you're at it, to

(01:04:11):
which Ballall responds, why don't you try and steal some
ozempics so you stop looking like a fat sauce. I
have to tell you, Balah Muhammad has grown on me, dude.
He's grown on me a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
He has been just consistently him, which is good, and
then you wake up and go, oh, he's actually like
a good dude, and he works really hard, and people
like me just don't believe in him, you know what
I mean?

Speaker 1 (01:04:34):
Yeah, all right, with that in mind, BC, let's move.
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Speaker 1 (01:05:58):
There it is all right. At the bottom Bong Island,
Luke has put up a crawl. We're going to start
putting up the weights for UFCC at Seattle. They have
done the official where the official way ends are currently happening.

Speaker 2 (01:06:12):
Dan Rayfield has reported on his Twitter account for boxing
that both Better BV and BV all have come in
under the one hundred and seventy five pound limit, So
Saturday's boxing main event is also is also there.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
All right, speaking of which BC. Oh, by the way,
let me just before we move on. Gambling problem call
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(01:07:08):
Out all right if we can, BC, excuse me, see
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at pick six dot DraftKings dot com slash promos. That's
promos with an S. All right, BC, let's turn our attention.
We'll get to the UFC card at the end here,

(01:07:28):
but we got to talk about this Monster Monster Mega
boxing car taking place tomorrow in Riotside, Arabia. Now we
let off the show BC by telling the folks they're
moving this from a twenty five thousand seater to just
a six thousand seedter for the rematch between Archer BETTERBEV
and Dmitri Bilval BC. Before we even get to actually
what I put on the rundown, let me just call

(01:07:50):
it audible here to talk about this. Someone asked me,
is there less hype for this one than there was
for the original one, the first fight between these two,
and the answer appears to be least state side. Yeah, yeah,
there is. Now that's not me saying that the quality
isn't high or that I'm not excited. That's really irrelevant.

(01:08:11):
But they're moving this from a twenty five thousand seat
venue for one of the biggest rematches of the year
for again a unification the whole nine. It's already a unification.
But you know, for all the marbles they're putting in
a six thousand seedar, there hasn't been a ton of
buzz for this. What's happening here.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
A couple things, I mean, one of it is that
Saudi effect. When you take really big fights out of
the US market, you're naturally gonna get less of a buzz,
less of casuals having the opportunity to hear about it,
run into it on Sports Center on TV. We've been
up and down the road talking about that. Also, let's
be honest, Beval and Betterbev are future Hall of famers
and living legends at all time greats. I mean, check

(01:08:50):
the resumes, check the first fight. But this fight kind
of always needed Saudi to be able to pay for it.
They were with opposite promoter. It was always looked at
as the kind of fight that would die on pay
per view. If you know, if originally Bob Aaron and
Eddie Herne had gotten together and tried it. So we're
lucky that Saudi is involved right now on the level

(01:09:12):
that they are, so that this thing gets the pop
in circumstance it does that it gets put on top
of what, at its original incarnation was, you know, the
deepest boxing pay per view card we ever saw, and
they brought the prices down. There's certainly a lot to
like here. But as much as this card has tremendous
depth and probably is even with the changes, it's still
up there. Right it might be the greatest pay per

(01:09:34):
view card of all time. You don't have great individual
stars on it, and I don't think anyone's quippling with that, right.
Dubon Parker not household names. Neither are better bv and Bvall.
I think that all plays into this. It does feel
damning that the day before they would move it to
such a downsize arena because it plays into that narrative,

(01:09:55):
even though neither Bevall or Better be ever from the US,
but it plays into that narrative that it's pushing this
sport away from the vaunted, loving US market here. But
it kind of is what it is, and if this
is a more intimate experience and looks better on TV
and gives the fight more of a big fight punch
and feel. Then we're all gonna win out in the
end of it. But it's unfortunate because this fight on

(01:10:19):
paper was great. I like the replacements. We're going to
talk about it, but they got hit hard twice this
week and now they're downsizing arenas. If you just take
that information alone, I get the optics, it doesn't look great.

Speaker 1 (01:10:29):
All right, BC, Let's talk about the fight itself, because
it is an intriguing fight. It really is an important
one and I'm again whatever the buzz for it. It's
a phenomenal contest between two of the best boxers currently alive,
certainly in that division. By the way, David Benavidez will
be in attendance for this one to see if you
can get the winner at a later date. But let's
just talk about it, BC. Very simple question as a refresher,

(01:10:50):
what was the story of the first fight? And I
guess the second part of that question is what's one
change either one should make to improve their chances of
victory in a rematch?

Speaker 2 (01:11:00):
Yeah. I love this line of questioning because I think
unequivocally for as great as the first fight was a
Fight of the Year contender, a BC special technical thriller.
The second fight's going to be way better. It just is.
Listen to the way they speak. They only tell the truth.
The story of the first fight was that these two
unbeaten champions came together to crown the first four belt

(01:11:21):
champion in light heavyweight history in this modern era. Oh
by the way, they also happened to already be two
Hall of famers coming together, so it was perfect. You
love the style contrast coming in, Yet surprisingly it was Bevall,
the guy who in theory is the smaller puncher, more
closer to being the more traditional boxer, really came out
and put on a pace, landed the more significant shots

(01:11:43):
for the most part, including hurting Better Bev in round seven.
But ever since bev All going in for the knockout,
pressuring Better bev and then getting hurt in return, he
did show a different posture of the rest of the way.
Better bev did rally to outwork him the final rounds,
and there is that damning to a degree. Even though

(01:12:03):
I scored it for Bevall seventy five, like a lot
of people did, did bev All go in the other
direction in the final in the championship rounds with the
fight on the line. Yes, not as shamelessly egregious as
Oscar de la Hoya listening to his corner against Felix
Trendidad and really that being the turning point of his
entire career. But like I said, it's still I thought
bev All had done enough to win. But Luke, the

(01:12:25):
real story of the first fight to me was I
think certainly for Beevall, but I think for both of them.
And I'm not trying to outwardly say these two aren't
as great as we thought. That's not what I'm trying
to get at, but I think both had such high
esteem and respect for the other one coming into the fight,
and if you listen to their quotes this week during
fight we talking about that first fight, they both kind

(01:12:47):
of found out halfway through that the other one was
more hitable, or maybe that they were just better dance
partners than they even thought. So I think that has
left a feeling where better bev feels like he has
to come out and do more because everybody said he lost,
even though they asked him about it this week, and
he's like, I don't give a damn. I don't care.
I don't listen to those people. And on the flip side,
Beval knows he probably won that fight in his heart.

(01:13:10):
Most of the media scored it for him, but knows
the thing that was missing was more pressure and maybe
to really believe in his power more. But when you
believe in your power and you pressure better, v who
never gets tired and is always the fresher fighter, late
a real key by the way to his unbeaten success.
I know it's usually about that knockout streak, but we

(01:13:31):
know he can box. The stamina is so underrated. Both
feel like, hey, that first fight was close. That guy
was really good, but he wasn't a superhero. I'm the
superhero and I'm gonna come in there and show you.
I really think they are both going to be wired
to not leave anything behind, not leave it to chance.
That doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a knockout,
but I think this is going to be an even

(01:13:52):
faster pace in a more action packed fight. Yes, with
strategical adjustments. I am very looking forward to what happens here,
knowing that if bev All wins, Turkey already said we're
getting immediate trilogy and if better be of wins. David
Benaviez is sitting in the front row. Interesting times right now, Luke,

(01:14:12):
But I really believe this fight is going to be
even more special, all right, so.

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
Let me play Devil's advocate. I actually agree with all
of that, but I want to ask the question this way.
And granted it's a very different kind of circumstance, but
we saw the rematch between DDP and Strickland, and the
second fight was kind of just like the first one.
I mean, there were some differences, obviously, but it wasn't
really much different, you know, it was they kind of
just matched up how they matched up. Won't this fight
just be how the first one was, which, by the way,

(01:14:37):
I'm not calling a bad fight. It wasn't necessarily thrilling,
but it wasn't a bad fight. But I guess see,
you really don't think it was thrilling.

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
I thought it was like the fourth or fifth best
fight of the year.

Speaker 1 (01:14:51):
Light buzz thrilling, light buzz thrilling. It never had like
a big crescendo. I think is the thing that's missing.

Speaker 2 (01:14:57):
They both left a little bit left they could have.

Speaker 1 (01:15:00):
That's that's right. So how much of your analysis I'm
just trying to ask you to like, like reflect on
a little bit here. How much of it is this
fight is likely to look just like the first one?
And how much of your assessment, which I agree with
about the changes that they could make, but how much
of that's just wishful thinking? Like they just fought, they
went twelve rounds. Their styles are what they are. There's

(01:15:21):
only minor things they can adjust. Why is that perspective wrong?

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
No, I don't think. I think ultimately we're saying the
same thing, but I get your differentiation different in different tentation.

Speaker 1 (01:15:32):
It's exactly right.

Speaker 2 (01:15:33):
That's this amazing grammar, wow and speech right there. I'm
not having a seizure, folks. Sorry. So ultimately, Luke, I
think it'll be better than the first, But to your point,
it'll look like the first. They'll just be taking what
was left of the jug that they left behind, maybe
giving their opponent a little bit too much respect, maybe
Beevall gassing out a little bit more than he thought,

(01:15:56):
not having the engine to push down the stretch. What
is Beevall said all week when he said when people
asked him, why did you lose the first one according
to the judges in your opinion, and what can you
do differently? He said two things. Staminaus so I can
go twelve hard rounds on like the first one, and
more output, which is still him doing the same thing.
He's got a great job his quick combinations. I mean,

(01:16:18):
bev All, I think has always been greater than he realized.
There was a long stretch in Beevall's career where he
was that safe European fighter from the outside. But I
think we learned a lot about him, and he learned
a lot about himself in the Canelo fight because to
win that, to get the benefit of the doubt on
the scorecards against that legend, he had to almost dominate
and overwhelm him. And I know the narrative as has

(01:16:40):
become that that fight was one sided, it really wasn't.
It's just I think that we were shocked at how
much better Bevall was against an equal great I think
Bevall learned the same lesson in this better Via fight
that he's actually better than he thought and has more
of a chance to implement his offense and maybe even
hurt better be off who can be hurt, maybe not finished,
but can be knocked down that I think he's going

(01:17:03):
to be more offensive and then on the better b
F side, don't forget this, he had knee surgery. This
fight was supposed to be in June of last year.
They pushed it to October, but that shortened the training
camp for better be of recovering from that knee, he admits.
Even though he's a man of very few words and
gives you almost no substance in interviews and never makes excuses,
he admits that it affected what he was able to

(01:17:24):
do in the ring in the first fight. He says,
now the neils knee's fully healthy, so I think he's
going to have even a deeper tank to be able
to throw more punches. I think they're going to be
constantly adjusting off of each other, just like the first fight.
So everything you're saying is true. I just think it's
going to be faster paced and even more tense, and
it's going to be a classic. I really cannot see

(01:17:45):
an area in a way that this fight doesn't shine
very quickly.

Speaker 1 (01:17:48):
I'm looking at the weights below here. I started interrupt
Long Island. Luke did Rob fought Misswaight? Why is that fight?

Speaker 5 (01:17:55):
John Matsimoto took it on like a week's notice. It's
one hundred and forty pound catchwright. And then also Austin
Vanderford versus with Elsie fighting Verrettnakov that's also a one
seventy five catch Wait.

Speaker 1 (01:18:07):
Got it? Okay? Getting back to this along. Look, in fact,
I want to see this better. We have actually told
us what he learned from the first fight. Let's play
that clip.

Speaker 9 (01:18:17):
You know, there is many things it's belonged to telling you.
Let's talk after, Like, can we do.

Speaker 10 (01:18:24):
Some talking now at the press conference?

Speaker 9 (01:18:27):
So please no, I like you know anything like that
we said with my team, see you fight like you know,
it's always different. Like when you see a fight, we
make something different. Try to be correct something you know
we're working on it.

Speaker 10 (01:18:48):
In that first fight, for the first time in your career,
three men ringside got to decide whether or not you
had one would you prefer on Saturday? We do not
need to speak to those three men and you just
saw it for yourself.

Speaker 9 (01:19:03):
We'll see, well, we'll see.

Speaker 1 (01:19:09):
Yeah. Not a man of many words, but you certainly
get some idea there. Let's take a look at their
face off. If we can be seen get some reactions
just two dead eyed motherfuckers.

Speaker 2 (01:19:19):
Huh luke. Here's what. Here's what. The term woudn't be
scares me. But here's what's blinking in my brain when
I think about who's going to win this fight. Okay,
because I I I had bev All win in the
first fight. I thought he fought better all things considered,

(01:19:40):
I thought he was the better man that night. But
I think the better fighter between the two of them
all time is better Viev. I think he has stronger
skills in the areas that he needs to be And
if he's coming in and the knee is not a
problem and he's in even better shape, And if bev
All is who's always honest, is straight up telling us
his playbook, like I'm obviously there's other elements to the

(01:20:02):
attack he's gonna bring this time, But he's saying, I'm
gonna be more offensive and I'm gonna have the stamina
to go harder. He might get what he's asking for
from better bev in that regard.

Speaker 3 (01:20:13):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:20:14):
If he comes in with the mindset that I'm gonna
be a sportsman and leave it all in the ring
and risk getting knocked out and go for it. Even
with better Viv's slight decline now at age forty, and
even with the fact that you can't hurt him, you
can wobble him like you can bet bev All showed
us briefly. I'm still a little bit worried that Bevall

(01:20:34):
is going to turn it up too much and f
around and find out here against this absolute monster. What
do you feel about that?

Speaker 1 (01:20:41):
I think I thought Bivall won the first I can't remember.
I felt like Bivll was the better boxer, but he
wasn't the better punisher, and the better punisher won out,
and that probably is what's gonna happen the second time,
but it's just really hard to tell. Still, I love
seeing little glimpses of better Bev's personality. We have this

(01:21:01):
exchange with Eddie Hearn that I thought was really funny.

Speaker 11 (01:21:04):
Let's take a look, you know, Arter Betyev said, who
is Eddie Hearn?

Speaker 1 (01:21:08):
Look?

Speaker 2 (01:21:08):
You don't know what to believe these days.

Speaker 11 (01:21:10):
But there are unconfirmed reports that back in Canada, Arter
Betty Beev does own a copy of my book. He
bought the latest Men's Health magazine with me on the cover,
and has pre ordered the Eddie Hearn pajamas that drop
in twenty twenty five. So we don't know what to believe,
but in all seriousness we try and have a little

(01:21:31):
bit of fun after Betsy beev is.

Speaker 1 (01:21:32):
One of the great fighters of our generation?

Speaker 3 (01:21:34):
Is this true? Arthur?

Speaker 10 (01:21:36):
Have you pre ordered Eddie's book? Have you got some
pajamas Eddie Hearn? Anything to say?

Speaker 9 (01:21:43):
If I'd understand it, would see.

Speaker 1 (01:21:49):
I was just saying, we're friends.

Speaker 9 (01:21:50):
I can't say anything like you say, Oh, it's anything
like you know, I know what do you want?

Speaker 1 (01:21:54):
Do you say all of this like this?

Speaker 11 (01:21:56):
I was just saying that, deep down we're very good friends.

Speaker 9 (01:22:00):
Yeah, of course you'll. You'll give me up on and
I beat them.

Speaker 1 (01:22:06):
Yeah, there you go. So we're friendly with the good business.

Speaker 4 (01:22:10):
Yeah, continue, you'll been planning that one.

Speaker 1 (01:22:16):
Yeah, not bad, not bad, decent sing I thought.

Speaker 2 (01:22:19):
He's quietly hilarious. I gotta give him credit. But look,
imagine if everything he's accomplished in his career, right, he
just broke his knockout streak after knocking out his first
twenty opponents. Could you imagine if he has two wins
against Bevall, one of them by finish, the future will
be very interesting because we know he's not gonna fight forever.
But whatever he ends up choosing with those two three

(01:22:39):
four fights, whatever however he would have left. You've got
everybody from Opataya at cruiserweight to Usik given their amateur history,
even though even though you always see better be of
going eh, he's a little too big. From bena Vedez
to Canelo. I mean, like there's a lot going on
right now. This could get very interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:22:56):
So let me ask this last question on this topic.
The winner is likely likely to face David Benavidez, who,
as I mentioned, accepted the invitation from Turkey Ala Chik
to be in attendance. Who is a tougher matchup for
David Benavidez BC better Beev or Beval.

Speaker 2 (01:23:14):
Better Beev And I think what adds to that is
better is Benevite is sharing that he's sparred Bevall multiple
times and you know quote I heard him and not
bragging but just being like, yeah, I thought that guy
and I had success in there. So I think that
confidence level, even though Bivoll is incredibly skilled and quick
and all you know, powerful too, Better Beev's just different.

(01:23:35):
I think Better Beev has a deeper well to pull from,
to battle back from being hurt, or to survive and
push through a potential high level war. Better Beev is
that dude. He's just that dude. I mean, he's a
freak of nature. You know, his his strange workouts and
his insane strength, and I mean, look, he's taking these

(01:23:55):
giant one hundred pound dumbbells and throwing them up in
the air and catching them, and I mean, like just
on the guys out of control in that regard. But
I want to add one thing, and I want to
get your quick reaction. Okay, there are a lot of
people in the both the boxing and MMA Twitter space
these days who are making reporting harder because there's a
lot of fake accounts. You know, there's Mick Coppinger, there's

(01:24:16):
always fake aerial ones floating around. And then there's people
that aren't even journalists that are becoming newsbreakers and we
don't know if we can take them seriously. But I
will say I've liked what brunch Boxing has done. They've
come on the scene lately, they've been breaking stories. They're
doing constant live podcast on Twitter there and they have
a report yesterday that they claim Canelo has not signed

(01:24:38):
the Crawford contract yet even though the fight was announced,
and that the Benavidez fight could still be in play
for the fall. And they are reporting that Benavidez is
going to meet with Turkey and that team Benavetez was
told that if you come here, we have a contract
for you, and that they asked is Canelo on that?
If Canelo's on that contract, will sign it. That's a
quote from brunch Boxing reporting that cons.

Speaker 1 (01:25:01):
There's no doubt in my mind Turkey wants it. There's
no doubt in my mind brunch when I give the
thumbs down. I like brunchboxing too. I'm sure the report
is accurate. I have no reason to doubt it whatsoever.
Turkey wants it. Brunch Boxing, I'm sure is accurate. David
Benavidez wants it. Canelo doesn't want it, and if he
doesn't want it, it's simply not going to happen. That's
just what the reality is. So okay.

Speaker 2 (01:25:21):
Canello's a businessman though at the end of the day,
which means maybe precise maybe in his heart he knows
I'm going to take it eventually, but I'm going to
maneuver myself into the best possible position, which might be
forcing Benavitaz to come back down to sixty eight, you
know what I mean, Maybe that was the strategy. Let
him go up to seventy five, get used to the weight.

(01:25:42):
Maybe that was it. I know that Canelo doesn't deserve
me potentially sticking up for him and trying to present
this scenario because he's shamelessly duck this guy. Let's be
outright with That's.

Speaker 1 (01:25:52):
Like undeniable at this point.

Speaker 2 (01:25:54):
But I'm optimistic. I am optimistic, Luke. This undercard still
bangs with the chain and you know it.

Speaker 1 (01:26:00):
So let's talk about it. Topic number four, which is
basically the rest of this card. Now, we don't have
time to really go into each of these fights, but
I think just kind of hitting the high notes on
the rest of these is important. Now, BC, there have
been some changes to the card. First, let me read
through what the card now today looks like. Martin Bucoli
is going to take on Joseph Parker. Martin Bucoli is
replacing obviously Daniel Dubois. Shaker Stevenson is fighting Josh Padley.

(01:26:25):
Of course that was supposed to be. How do you
pronounce the kid's last name, Schoolfield, Showfield Field, Schofield.

Speaker 2 (01:26:30):
He got at debacle and a soap opera onto itself.

Speaker 1 (01:26:33):
We'll talk about it. That'll be for Stevenson's WBC lightweight title.
Carlos Adamis taken on Hamsa Shiraz for the WBC middleweight title.
Virgil Ortiz taken on Israel Madramal. That's a hell of
a fight, Uh, big Bangjang taking on how do you
pronounce this guy's name, Ajitabel. That'll be for the vacant
WBC Interim heavyweightotter, for whatever that is worth. And then

(01:26:54):
the card opens the main card anyway with Joshua Blatzi
taken on Callum Smith. Let's start at the top. BC
Martin McCoy comes in on late notice. I want to
point out something obviously BC, these changes to the card
where they had to patch it up very quickly. They
this is all made possible by the extraordinary wealth that
Saudi Arabia and Turkey Ala Chik has like this obviously right,

(01:27:15):
But the model of like quickly replacing everything and then
putting it together and then the fans just don't have
to worry about whether an event is going to take place.
This is quite obviously Turkey borrowing the UFC model, and
this is not a model that doesn't have its downsides.
In fact, I don't know that I like it per se,
But the fans don't seem to mind. And I have

(01:27:37):
to say, BC, I'm looking around, I don't really see
any boxing fans complaining too too much. I mean some,
but they always complain and don't I don't think that
represents necessarily the majority of fans. Is that a fair assessment?

Speaker 2 (01:27:50):
Yeah? Like, I really feel like Baccoley was such a
best case scenario in terms of replacement that all anything
short of this would have felt like this card took
two legitimate hits with the Schofield fallen off and then Dubois.
But this has like inflated that flat tire back up
because of Bacoley's personality his style. But look, he looks

(01:28:12):
like he's like three bills right now, and yet he
jumped on this plane and took this opportunity to go
in there against Parker. It's not a better matchup than
Dubois Parker would have been, but it still really matters.
And bet your ass if Bacoley can continue his dominance
as unlikely as it might be, giving the scenario, he
could be fighting usick next.

Speaker 1 (01:28:32):
For all we know, Martin mccoley is fat as hell.

Speaker 2 (01:28:37):
See what it is, and maybe it doesn't matter. It's
got to matter in some form here.

Speaker 1 (01:28:42):
It probably will if it goes late. If you're Joseph Parker,
you know you got to be wary of his power,
but you're probably gonna want to put a pace on
him because God only knows what shape he's in. Right,
That's just the reality. BC. I love this fight. I
don't love it as much as I would have loved
Dubla versus Parker, and I think that would have been
a much more interesting fight. Obviously, dubi getting sick and
I want to say this, Dubois getting sick BC saved

(01:29:03):
Schofield's career. Can I just say that, like, where'd he go?
Where did he go?

Speaker 2 (01:29:08):
Sorry? I had cat issues? Okay, I had to let
the cat out.

Speaker 1 (01:29:11):
Sorry, all right, no worries, I get it. I was
gonna say, didn't Dubah getting sick kind of save Schoofield's
career a little bit. He was looking terrible early in
the week, and then Duboa gets sick and you're like,
all right, maybe there's something happening here.

Speaker 2 (01:29:26):
I don't know about career, but at least reputation. And
if Floyd Schofield, I want to say pulling out of
the fight, but technically the British Board of Boxing Control
medically withdrew him like the soap opera attached to that.
If that irritated Turkey and we don't really know the
behind the scenes mechanisms there, it could have been a
disaster for meaning the reports were that he was getting

(01:29:48):
as high as four million for this fight to fight
schakor so if you if he had pulled out because
he was afraid or didn't want the fight anymore, then
that that could have been disastrous for the future of him.
But Luke, it is star to like people are believing
because his father took the video of him in the
hospital bed, you know, looking not great at all, and
now Dubois coming off, You're starting to wonder is it

(01:30:09):
something in the food or you know, the climate and
trying to cut weight or what have you. But what
did not help Schofield is the aggressiveness of his dad
on social media, his trainer and manager, and almost the
insinuation or the outright insinuations that first shaker Stephenson's massuse had,

(01:30:32):
you know, drugged him with some cream, you know what
I'm saying. And then and then then suddenly the same account,
the Schofield account that the dad and sons share, is
like putting out there. They just want to say we're sorry.
It's definitely not Shakurse kurkura, no pard in it. So
it's like where they threatened to get sued. It's just
been kind of like wild and all over the place.
And Scofield's dad is talking in a manner of which

(01:30:53):
he's almost saying, I know something happened, but I don't
want to get sued, so I've got to do this
the safest way. And we're just happy thanks to Sarry
for the care, and we're just happy to get home safe.
I don't really know what happened, Luke, but I think
you're right. Reputationally the Dubois thing corroborated with that. Either way,
it's disappointing to see. I hope Schofield didn't pull out.
He looked pretty sick in that photo. I just do

(01:31:15):
remember that time that Oscar de la Hooya put a
false hospital videout when he pulled out of that Vito
Belfort trailer fight. Luke, you remember that, right, And now
he's just sort of like, oh yeah, I pulled out
of that because you know, because yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:31:26):
Yeah, yeah, very quickly. Martin mccully's manager explained how quickly
this fight got made. Let's take a look at the clip.

Speaker 12 (01:31:33):
I was up there on the press conference. I come concentrate,
I'm not talking, I'm not even looking up, and I
apologize if that looked rude. I was trying to make
the fight and we're trying to get it over the line,
and came off out the press conference, spoke to his
excellency a couple of times. Deal was done in about
fifteen minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:31:50):
Yeah, well, talk to.

Speaker 3 (01:31:51):
Me about that.

Speaker 2 (01:31:52):
When did you know the what was putting out?

Speaker 1 (01:31:54):
When did you know what mccoley was in? When did I?

Speaker 3 (01:31:59):
I knew?

Speaker 12 (01:32:00):
Look, to be honest, I just saw the news that
you saw around Daniel. I wasn't absolutely sure whether it
was it was one hundred percent or not. Obviously at
that point everyone's putting the names forward. We felt like
the only fifty fifth. You know, this card is about
a historic card. This is about a fifty to fifty
card and for me, that was the only fight to
make if you're trying to do this, But for me,
everyone deserves a lot of credit. Everyone's taking a lot

(01:32:21):
of risk. But I hope Miran mccoley gets the appreciation
of every boxing fan because to do this on two
day's notice, a top five heavyweight like that with a
final eliminator around the corner for our entertainments to add
to the greatest card I believe of all time, he
deserves absolutely every credit.

Speaker 1 (01:32:39):
Yeah, not just that, Joseph Parker deserves a lot of
credit for taking on a complete change in the end
as well. B See how different are the styles between
Dubois and Bocaulay. They're pretty different.

Speaker 2 (01:32:52):
They're pretty different. But this version is du why as
a straight ahead destroyer, especially the you know, coming off
of the most recent fight against him, the Joshua where
he was like possessed to go through aj and he did,
even getting hurt himself briefly in the same round that
he delivered the knockout. But dus better skills than McCauley,
There's no question about it. Beccoley's six foot six, strong

(01:33:15):
as hell, big, durable, gets up inside of you lingers
in the pocket with you and tries to overwhelm you
in like a raw, old school young George Foreman way,
even though Foreman was an Olympic gold medalist and certainly
could box just the same. I think dubas the better
athlete and boxer, But this is just as dangerous. Less

(01:33:36):
dangerous on the potential of Parker taking him into deep waters,
which he should try to do basically and try to
gas him out, but also dangerous because mccoley's gonna be
looking to make this a war even more, even more
than he normally would, and Parker cambang like Parker could
also knock him out. So it's gonna be fun to
watch this for as long as Bacoli has gas is

(01:33:59):
gonna be fun to watch.

Speaker 1 (01:34:00):
Bacoli looks like a modern George Foreman, not quite as
good as Foreman obviously, and you know, but he just
punches like him, he mechanically moves like him. It's just
got a lot of big George in him. But as
we mentioned, he looks fat as hell and taking this
on very short notice. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous opponent for Joseph Parker.
But there are some limits to what he can offer.

(01:34:22):
I think tomorrow we shall see you here.

Speaker 2 (01:34:24):
I don't know ultimately what Pacoli's going to get for
taking this on short notice, right, we know, a big payday.
But Eddie Hearn revealed that josh Padley, who's going to
fight Shakor and replace Schofield, that they not only gave
him a ridiculous career high payday, but that Turkey bottom
of house for accepting that fight a late notice. So like,
as much as we could kind of laugh at that,

(01:34:46):
because it's unusual, like these guys are getting their lives
turned around taking these opportunities, I'm happy for the fighters
in that regard.

Speaker 1 (01:34:52):
One of the benefits of this, again, every style of
not just matchmaking, but keeping cards together or letting them
fall up part when fights fall through. There's pluses and
minuses to either strategy. And obviously, you know, one of
the pluses for fighters who are taking on a short
notice when they do this kind of thing where they
just know they patch it up right away, is that

(01:35:14):
they need these fighters big time to keep it up,
and that's a great way to get paid. Joshua Padley
is a guy who was literally electrician. I thought Caleb
Plant had a great tweet about it. Not a goddamn
thing wrong about it that he was in this position.
It's short notice. Who the hell can they find? No
one wants to fight shir Cur Stevenson any way, much
less on short notice. You're not gonna get the cream
of the crop. There's absolutely nothing disreputable about what's happened.

(01:35:35):
But in fact, you see Joshua Padley did speak to
Ring magazine about how this fight kind of fell in
his lap. Let's hear from.

Speaker 13 (01:35:42):
Him Tuesday, doing normal until six o'clock, had to go
up and gone to Wick and Stuffs as usual, and
then my money, Jeff tell me wrang me saying you're
not gonna believe phone call the I've just stops wash
away quit jump punk Scales now. And I'm like, and
he's like, you need to jump out by and tell
me is that jump punk Scales't tell me away? So
we did any were like, I've just had a call

(01:36:02):
for Stevenson.

Speaker 1 (01:36:04):
His opponents out.

Speaker 3 (01:36:05):
They want you so obviously.

Speaker 13 (01:36:07):
Then it were a case of Ring the nutrition is
straight away, make sure we can do it safely and
obviously healthy and everything, and then went into negotiation and
after about forty thousand laps at kitchen and me pacing
up and down. If you can go to twenty five
past ten that night, we got the we got the
old well, we got the if you can get through
the next day, because they had two little A cups

(01:36:28):
to do one one thing women medical and then one
thing with the checkwit. If you can get through these tomorrow,
we'll butt you a fly. So yeah, crazy, crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:36:40):
Insane that this fell in his lap. B See course
Stephenson should beat the fuck out of him. I'm not
even trying to be mean. I'm absolutely not. I have
total respect for this guy. The balls he's showing, the
Marxie he's got. I hope he.

Speaker 2 (01:36:51):
Got's a call because he upset Turkey's boy, Mark Chamberlain,
who was a young British kid who Turkey identified as
his favorite fighter. They fought on that in God I'm sorry. Yeah,
they know the Joshua du Bacard in Wembley and uh
so to escalate from winning that kind of like the
dude that Lucas body that knocked out Ashton silv Like

(01:37:11):
he then got signed by MVP and now he's going
to main event.

Speaker 1 (01:37:14):
One of their in Canadas. Yeah, so I like.

Speaker 2 (01:37:17):
That this kid's getting this opportunity, life changing opportunities, getting
literally from the fact, from the damn factory more or
less right for wherever he's working.

Speaker 1 (01:37:24):
But in all likelihoods, Shager Stevenson should beat the living
shit out of him. There's a vast difference in ability.
Let's just hear very I want to get your take
on this, but let's just very quickly hear from Shakor
who has not had the most on what would you say,
the smoothest week I've ever seen?

Speaker 4 (01:37:39):
Do you just believe it? I believe Come.

Speaker 14 (01:37:43):
On, like I'm telling you, I think this kid was
losing my This is my assumption of a whole situation.
I think this kid was struggling to make the weight class,
and I feel like he may have tried last minute
to make the weight and he probably kind of had
weight problems, and I think that was really the issue.

(01:38:06):
But instead of saying it, you know, they like to
come up with all types of crazy stuff every day.
So it was more disappointed because of I felt as
though a lot of people did not want that fight,
Like a lot of people was like, why would you.

Speaker 2 (01:38:21):
Fight this guy? So truthfully, I just was, you know, giving.

Speaker 14 (01:38:26):
Him an opportunity because he's been calling my name out
his entire career. He's been using my name to build
himself up. So I gave him the opportunity. And now
it's like, Okay, I did this, and this guy basically
slapped me in the face at the same time too,
just because the opportunity was for you, bro, So I
was gonna beat you up in front of the public

(01:38:47):
and everybody was gonna watch. But truthfully, I wanted to,
you know, give you opportunity at making some big money too.
So truthfully it was a slapping face to me too.

Speaker 1 (01:38:57):
Yes, all right, let me ask the question this way.
We often see that late minute, let late notice opponents
can force a fighter to be sometimes sometimes a little
bit more reserved. Cha cour Stevenson has already had a
bit of a problem with that. There is no denying
Shakur is just so much better than this guy. But

(01:39:17):
could the late switch and everything else that's happened with
Shakoor kind of make him have a bit of a
ho hum performance or should we expect to stoppage.

Speaker 2 (01:39:26):
We should expect to stoppage not just because of the
huge gap and skill level, but and the situation with
the last minute, and you know, Shakur had a full camp,
Like I think Schikur really did prepare for this fight,
knowing that it was at the same time a showcase fight,
and Schofield like he brought something to the table, and
I think Shakur took that seriously, even though he expected

(01:39:48):
to beat him up, and so did the odds makers,
having at minus twelve hundred for the original fight. But
I thought there was some intrigue around that this is
about just don't get hurt, but it's also a commercial
for Shakor. And you say it was a tough week.
It's been a tough year plus for the guy. Right.
Some of it people can think is self induced because
of the performances in which he box safely and people

(01:40:10):
you know bo I mean got boot out of his
home arena and cutting ties with top rank and all that,
becoming a free agent, not getting this to pay the
fight because of the injury, like all that, he's being
avoided constantly. But the thing that I have liked that
has happened since this announcement is that Eddie Hearn has
gone out of his way on the microphone every single
time to say, oh, don't worry. Our goal, without a

(01:40:32):
ounce of a question, is to make Tank versus Shakur
later this year, and I know that would that would
mean putting al Hayman and Turkey on the same table.
And you know some people Carlos A. Damas is a
PBC guy who's going to be on this card on Saturday.
But that would be a new level since Dravante had
been the most outspoken against Turkey. But if Turkey's money

(01:40:53):
is involved here and and there's a price, and he
can meet that, then this is a commercial for Shakor
for the future, and hopefully it does lead it to
him to get the big fight, because I think even
though he probably got paid very well signing with Eddie
and Turkey, I think you can argue that it would
have been a better move for his career to sign
with PBC to get the Tank fight. Hopefully they can
still do it even with all those cooks in the kitchen.

Speaker 1 (01:41:15):
I'll say this a nice performance which he should have
obviously makes a fight with Tank easier. I don't expect
him to struggle, be see that's not what I'm saying.
But if it happens, God only knows what his options
are going to be after that, they'll still be good.
But he really needs a really strong performance here, I
think to reset expectations and get people excited about his offen.

Speaker 2 (01:41:34):
I got to get your take on if you think
Tank versus Shakhor will happen this year and your thoughts
when you and I got all excited about Shakur and
Keishon Davis first saying they'd never fight each other and
they're best friends, and now both being like, well, yeah, the.

Speaker 1 (01:41:48):
Money we send the contract, Yeah yeah, the Kishon Davis
one is interesting. I really hope that that's the one
that can be made. I don't know what to make
about Tank. I think he's got a lot of the
Canelo thing going on where he just doesn't want the
tough fights. Lamont Roach is a very skilled fighter, but
he's a little small obviously.

Speaker 2 (01:42:02):
Oh he's confident in his shit. You know that from
interviewing it.

Speaker 1 (01:42:05):
I love I love lam I love Lamont Roache.

Speaker 2 (01:42:07):
I have a lot of him yesterday. He is confident
as hell that he's not.

Speaker 8 (01:42:11):
Is he not?

Speaker 1 (01:42:12):
But what I mean is, you know, is Tank like
trying to find at his weight class the smoke and
it's like I haven't seen a lot of evidence of that.
But let's see what happens. He says he's got limited
time left in the game. I certainly hope to be
wrong about that.

Speaker 2 (01:42:25):
Yeah, he said three fights in one of the most
recent sit downs he.

Speaker 1 (01:42:28):
Did yeah, which was yeah, yeah, that's about right. All right,
b see quickly, let's go through the rest of this card.
Give me, give me the one thing that we should
know about. Carlos Adams taken on Hamsan shiras a.

Speaker 2 (01:42:39):
Really good fight. It really is, like, like you know, critically,
it's an incredible fight for the hardcorese adamis is exciting
as heck. He just hasn't had the opportunity to build
on the momentum he's got while moving up to one
sixty and becoming a force here and becoming a world
title holder. He never got the Jamal Charlo fight that
he deserved because of Charlo's outside the ring issues. So
he's an explosive, solid Paul. He can box and he

(01:43:01):
can bang, but he's fighting a guy who could be
the next big thing in middleweight needs things outside of
jannebec right, and and you know, we have Laura with
a title. But he's inactive and never seems to be
fighting top end guys. Well, Adamas wants smoke hamzas Hiraz
has been knocking everyone out. But this is a step
up in class. This is a step up here. So

(01:43:23):
this is a really good ass fight that feels very
fifty to fifty. Uh, even if the odds don't exactly
lament that, I'm looking forward to it. It's probably the
sleeper of the cart. It's you know, it definitely is
the sleeper of the card.

Speaker 1 (01:43:36):
So for me, the one that's the most interesting is
the one that's next on it, which is Virgil Ortiz
Junior taken on Israel Madromov. Madromov folks about recall was
the one that gave Bud Crawford a bit of a
tough fight in LA during the summer, and then Virgil
Ortiz BC. What can we say, just all action All
the time we thought we were gonna get a boots fight.
That's not happening. But again, how do these two match

(01:43:57):
up if and I guess the question I'm asking is
of any fight on this card that is likely to
be an action fight, you would probably pick the Comaine
And I think this one that right or wrong?

Speaker 2 (01:44:07):
Yeah, this is going to be the fight of the
night unless better BV and bevall do exactly what I
predicted they would, which is take the first one in,
you know, and add on a ton of more back
and forth in it and have all action classic. This
one will be a thrilling, tense, amazing fight, no question
about it. So Virgil Ortiz Junior had a similar knockout

(01:44:27):
streak to better BV going into his last fight, but
he was forced to move up to one fifty four
after that unbeaten run at welterweight because of all of
those health issues that really kept him out of the
ring for like two years, had to cancel so many fights.
Yet what has he done since coming to fifty four?
You know, knocked out two aging names to prove himself
and then went in there, like you said, against Boachuk,

(01:44:49):
got off of the Kansas twice in a fight that
would have been fight of the year any other year,
and is now in position to try to climb this
ladder at fifty four. Fifty four has been thrown upside down,
shaken up, Everyone got their salad tossed, if you know
what I mean, Luke, And now we're trying to figure
in theory. In theory, I mean with mustard or.

Speaker 1 (01:45:11):
I haven't heard about jelly.

Speaker 2 (01:45:12):
Yeah, yeah, there we go. Definitely the jelly. So it's
just such a perfect matchup in styles temperament. Ortiz only
knows how to come forward. Yes, he can box, but
his explosive hooks with both hands, his combinations, he gets
right inside in the pocket, and that's where he wants
to be. He's a Fight of the Year candidate waiting
to happen every single time out. He's also super skilled, undefeated,

(01:45:34):
and just went the distance for the first time in
his career. Modra Mov we were never really sure about
until his last fight, the defeat against Terrence Crawford, where
even if Crawford came in undermotivated coming off of the
Spence fight, in the big layoff, however you want to
dial it up. I personally think modra Mov's movement in
feints gave Crawford hell. But Crawford had to show his

(01:45:56):
greatness at a new division at one fifty four and
that fight out late and figure out the angles to
win more rounds than he lost, and he did that.
But Madromov's awkwardness mixed with the fact that he's constantly
coming forward, is going to meet in a perfect all
action sandwich here, but it's really gonna be Madromov that's
gonna make Virgil Ortiz have to use his brain on

(01:46:18):
a very high level. I don't know, I'm gonna lean Madromov. Well,
he's got plus money on him. It's very close on
the odds that that. What he showed against Crawford, to
me was another level of understanding in craft. Obviously, Ortiz
is going to try to get him into a war. Inevitably,
they're going to bang Luke, but Madrov's to make sure
he throws enough punches or Ortiz will win a decision

(01:46:40):
on volume alone. And I think he may approve that.

Speaker 1 (01:46:42):
In the bowchuck fight, our friends at DraftKings have, by
the way, in the previous fight, Carlos adamis at plus
two fifty five. They have Sharaz at minus three thirty
for this fight. They've got listen to this man. How
often do you see boxing fights like this? Virgil Ortiz
minus one twenty five to Madromov's plus one hundred and
absolutely razor thin fight to action fighters, That one's gonna

(01:47:03):
be the one to watch. I think very quickly, BC,
you got Big Bang Jang taken on object Kabayel. That's
a really good fight as well. Very quickly. He's still
doing Show us Long Island Luke the No Diddy bit.

Speaker 10 (01:47:14):
Chile was asked earlier in the week to give three
reasons why he beats you. His reasons were, bang bang bang, Yeah,
I heard you say.

Speaker 1 (01:47:26):
This mort time he would bang me.

Speaker 7 (01:47:28):
You know something that you would see he banged me
or I bang him.

Speaker 1 (01:47:32):
I'm bigger bad I find you.

Speaker 4 (01:47:39):
No d.

Speaker 1 (01:47:44):
Dude.

Speaker 2 (01:47:45):
Seriously, the bit's overdone, but his joy, his joy alone,
continues to make me laugh out loud until I cry
every time he does this bit, which is basically, if
you go to the Queensberry Instagram account, he does this
bit every day. There's a video on there every day
with him.

Speaker 1 (01:48:03):
Really, this is how he orders food at the restaurant.
He goes, I'm gonna bang you No Diddy and they're like,
all right, well, I'll just get you a cheeseburger. Yeah,
mbc BC, we all kind of know who Big Bangjang is.
At least most folks have some idea about him.

Speaker 2 (01:48:17):
What about Ajic Kabayel, Yeah, he kind of at least
on my radar as a non American heavyweight. Really just
kind of came up on the scene in that fight
against unbeaten Frank Sanchez and not only beat him, delivered
to Ko and you're like, oh, okay, this guy is
someone I seriously have to take into account now. This
is a step up in class for him. Yeah, I'd

(01:48:39):
say that, but he has been escalating the right way,
fighting the next level guys and showing us tough guys
got some power. Can box Zang's a tough out, Luke,
we know this. Can you outwork Zang over twelve? You
better have a chin? First of all, you better be
willing to get into a war and get up from
the canvas. But yes, there's always, always, always stamming the
issues following big bang around. But there are pockets in

(01:49:02):
this fight, usually two to three rounds at a time,
where he looks like South Paul Muhammad Ali and he's
knocking guys heads back with stiff, straight, accurate shots. So
we're gonna find out if Kabayel has the chin on
this level, he's either gonna get kot or win by it.
In my opinion, this is gonna be a wild and
fun ass fight last.

Speaker 1 (01:49:20):
But not least BC. I don't know this is the
one that the folks care most about. But what should
we know about Joshua Blazzi and Callum Smith.

Speaker 2 (01:49:26):
Yeah for being the curtain jerker here on this seven
fight feature. You know, I think there's two other fights
that all start to like ten thirty in the morning
Eastern time, But this is a really good fight and
the one that's probably getting the least amount of love.
Joshua Batzi has looked for a long time coming out
of the UK that he's like the future of this division,
but like every step up opportunity or every close up,

(01:49:47):
like he's looked good. He looked pretty good, but like
he hasn't won us over. Now he's fighting Callum Smith, who,
despite being knocked out by Better BV recently, is battle tested,
former world champion only law to Canelo and Better be It. Okay,
So that's what we're talking about here. We're gonna find
out everything we really need to know about Buwati. That's
what this fight is about. I think there's an interim

(01:50:09):
title at stake in some form, but this is about
finding that out using Callum Smith as the measuring stick.
Is he still does he still matter in this division
if he wins this fight. He does, so don't sleep
on this one fall, you know, wake up in time
for this and let's hit it hard. I mean, are
you doing an all day live stream, Luke? Are you
just based on not.

Speaker 1 (01:50:27):
Quite all day? Not quite all day. I'm probably gonna
skip the first one or two of these and then
I'm gonna get going and do all So I'll probably
do the top five. And my friend Othello is gonna
be with me as well, so that should be a
real fun.

Speaker 2 (01:50:40):
He's a great guy. He's a great guy.

Speaker 1 (01:50:41):
Othello's the man shot so who By the way, he
texted me today and he'll announce this tomorrow on the
live stream. He got laid off this morning, so.

Speaker 2 (01:50:50):
Yeah, or went out for Othello And he's a big
reddick guy, that guy. Othella love him.

Speaker 3 (01:50:55):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:50:56):
Lots of lots of those layoffs happening around this area
of these days. All right. You see very quickly the DraftKings'
odds on this one for big Bangjang and Kabayel Jang
a very slight underdog plus one thirty five Kabel minus
one sixty five. Again another well matched fight and then
in the DraftKings odds for Buwatzi minus two oh five
and then Smith plus one sixty five. You see this

(01:51:17):
part for.

Speaker 2 (01:51:17):
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(01:52:03):
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(01:52:24):
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(01:52:47):
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Speaker 1 (01:53:01):
Right, topic number five if we can, BC, let's talk
about the UFC fights that are in fact tomorrow. I mean,
there's so much going on you're almost lose sight of it,
but there are some gems on this card. And as
UFC returns to Seattle, BC, your main event is going
to feature Henry Sahudo at age I think thirty seven
thirty eight now taking on Song Yadong. Both fighters began

(01:53:21):
their pro careers in twenty thirteen, but have had very
different experiences coming into this fight. It's obviously kind of
like an old versus young thing, which we've seen continuously
with the UFC and more recently. What is one issue
each fighter has had that has held them back that
they need to fix in order to win this particular contest.

Speaker 2 (01:53:41):
Yeah. I think for Sahudo first and foremost, it's activity level.
It's not I mean, how he can't turn back time.
But what have we seen of the post retirement Suhudo,
who's stepped away at the peak of his powers, earning
prime in twenty twenty and took three years off after
a run to two championships. I don't know on hindsight
if we're going to say that was a bad decision,

(01:54:02):
that was whatever. I mean, there were some changes in
his personal life that he needed to go through, but
when he came back he's still super elite. But after
losing a split decision to al Jamaine Sterling for the
title and then losing a close but I think visually
a thorough defeat to future champion Morob Devashvilli in their
three round test. I think we learned that he's got

(01:54:25):
to get himself to a higher gear, faster and more
consistently from the standpoint of carrying out his game plan,
being active enough and obviously mixing the threat of the
takedown with his hands. He can't handle himself in action
fights or in certain situations there, but he's at his
best when he's keeping guys down on their back and
having that weapon in his pocket, but having the motor

(01:54:48):
and the tank at this age to be able to
be himself. Obviously you get older, you got to cut
corners in terms of how much you can work p
around and different aspects on there. He's almost got to
be perfect to beat these young lions. I think he
still has enough. I think he's smarter than ever and
he's in His skills are still there. But for Song
You Dong. That's why I really like the crossroads nature

(01:55:08):
of this matchup. It's like his record overall is really good,
and we've known about him a long time as mister
Faber's boy coming from was he from China right, and yes,
ultimately Luke when he has stepped up though we've seen
the limitations to his rise. So I think he's got
to really come out against the older fighter the name

(01:55:30):
and take it to Sahudo. He's got to ramp up
this pace. He's got to really force Suhudo to use
everything he has in a fight that maybe he doesn't
expect that he's going to have to to stay around
this title picture. This is probably the most advantageous opponent
of the elites for Sahudo because there's still holes. Ultimately
in What Song You, Dong's been able to show us.

(01:55:51):
But he's shown us that the materials are there. You
know what I mean. We bought everything on the recipe list.
He seems like he's getting closer to fish figuring out
the right formula for himself, but he's not there yet.
We need that statement performance where he comes out and
he owns that cage in round one and takes control
of this fight as a veteran. If he can't do that,

(01:56:11):
there's an opening here for Sahudo. I love this fight.
I know this card's been chopped up left and right.
This main event is good is you can't miss it, Luke.
I love this fight.

Speaker 1 (01:56:21):
I love this fight as well. To answer the question
on like what they have to do a little bit differently.
Song Ya Dong does not by any means have bad
takedown defense, but he doesn't have ironclad defense, at least
not historically, although I think it's gotten a lot better,
and I do think generally speaking, he's got pretty good wrestling.
But Henry s Hudo averages two takedowns per fifteen minutes.
We see. He has to stop that or at a

(01:56:43):
bare minimum, you know, eliminate control time, because if you
let a guy who's older coast with top pressure for
any amount of time to the course of a five
round bout, you're just unnecessarily giving the fight away. When
this is a thing that I think, you know, is
it easy to stop? Henry Suhudo's take Down's probably not
that inside trip. He's got one of the best if
I think he's got the best inside trip in MMA,

(01:57:05):
but you have there has to be some kind of
answer for it. Also, he's a little bit hittable. I
think that's really a thing that's kind of held him back,
even in the Corey Sanhagan fight BC. Just the cut
he absorbed on his forehead or whoever it was exactly,
I don't remember. It was the forehead or the top
of the head. Either way, it ended up being like
a defining feature of why he lost that fight. Yeah,

(01:57:26):
the defense needs to be there. On the Henry Shudo side,
BC the cardio man the cardio Like, obviously, going against
morob your cardio is not going to look the best.
But even then, he was fading in the second round
in that fight, much less the third. I think he
really really has to clean that part up, because if
you can maintain pressure, if you can maintain pace, even
if the initial takedowns don't work, you can really wear

(01:57:48):
on a guy that way. Then you can really get
in his mind, and then he goes back to being
able to get taken down, back to being a little
bit more hittable. I think on either side that's kind
of what I'm looking for.

Speaker 2 (01:57:57):
Dude, he's got to slow the aging process. Says, he's
got to pull the glover to shera and make make
make wrestling and top control his bread and butter. I
mean it already kind of is. But obviously what made
s Hudo great in his peak was his ability to
mix the entire all the arts together and carry out
a game plan and has great coaching in the corner
with the Captain Eric elbera scene or just a fashion

(01:58:18):
I mean icon would be too strong of a word.
A fashion daredevil, Luke. Is that fair?

Speaker 1 (01:58:25):
I would say a fashion Uh disaster?

Speaker 2 (01:58:31):
There it is, womp there it is sorry sorry about that, captain.

Speaker 3 (01:58:34):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:58:34):
But he dresses like a weirdo.

Speaker 2 (01:58:36):
Yeah, dude, like so Hudo had. Like it's got to
be where he is dictating the terms of the fight,
which means he's dictating the tempo and the pace, you
know what I'm saying. Like he's got to be able
to use his own gas tank, not as old weapon
like Morob did to him, but as a control mechan
like he's got. He's got to be the driver, Luke.

(01:58:57):
And that's why I think Song You Dong has to
come out and make an early statement and be physical
and show that like I'm I'm you know, I'm willing
to go deeper a five round fight, which could favor
so Huta late. If there's an inexperienced gap that's visible,
it also could be a problem for him. So I
need Song you Dong to come out quick and establish
who he is in this first round, Luke. But you know,

(01:59:19):
I'm sure Dana wants that too. That's what we all want,
but Willie, let's find out.

Speaker 1 (01:59:24):
I don't know about this. By the way, put up
this picture if you can about Song You Dong. He
shows this picture here when Henry Sehuda was competing for
the gold medal at the two thousand and eight Beijing Games.
Their Song You Dong obviously holding the pictures, but also
the one on the right there in his left hand
where he was selling souvenirs outside that very Olympic arena.

(01:59:47):
And here they find themselves. You see. Songa Dong is
an interesting guy. He's sort of been one of these
dudes who got to the UFC really early, probably much
earlier than he should have. As I mentioned, they started
their careers at the same time. He's been a work
in progress. I've been waiting for him to turn that corner,
and there's been several of these he has, but I've
not seen the big one yet, the big horror.

Speaker 7 (02:00:12):
Like.

Speaker 2 (02:00:12):
There's been little peaks. There's been little two or three
fight runs where you're like, Okay, he's maturing, he's put
it together. He's got coach mister Faber in the corner.
But what's the one performance that you're like, oh my god,
he looked like a badass and he owned that fight.
It's gonna have to be this one if he's gonna
be a true title contender, right, Like.

Speaker 1 (02:00:31):
There's that's exactly right.

Speaker 2 (02:00:33):
There is a fresh meat ele element to Sahudo. He's
gonna be better than Song. He's gonna be more technical,
He's gonna be But is he gonna be the horse
that can go the distance here? I mean, this is
a five round fight. Do you think that's gonna be
a negative for Song at all, that it's a five
round fight? Or do you think he can use that
to his advantage.

Speaker 1 (02:00:50):
I think he can use it to his advantage in
this case. I mean, Sahudo needs to make it not
a liability, but I just don't think it'll be his advantage.
I really don't that that this is the job of Sahudo,
you excuse me, the job of Song where he just
really really really needs to be the one. I don't
know if he has to put on like a critical pace,
but he's got to make Suhuto have to work as

(02:01:11):
hard as he possibly can given the way he fights,
and that is gonna be the key I think to
him getting a victory. By the way our friends at
DraftKings have Sahudo had a plus two twenty Song at
minus Song is the last name, not your Dong minus
two seventy. By the way, Sahudo, as the betting underdog,
had some thoughts about what that meant. Let's hear from him.

Speaker 15 (02:01:33):
I'm eleven years as elder. He's an explosive fighter, really
good at countering. He's a guy that could shut your
lights off with one with one punch. But I think
the same reason why his greatest gift is also his
worst enemy too. You know that that guess he could
completely go straight to e So I love the fact

(02:01:54):
that give me a younger fighter. I love the fact
that my back is against the wall, there's a chip
on my shore. I love the fact that I'm an
underdog because these are the moments where I shine, and
I appreciate.

Speaker 3 (02:02:07):
All of it.

Speaker 1 (02:02:09):
You know, he's talking about Song of Dong's gas tech,
which again I don't think is exemplary by any stretch.
But I don't if it's worse than a thirty eight
year old Henry Shudo. He's got much bigger problems than
just losing that fight potentially, right.

Speaker 2 (02:02:23):
Yeah, Yeah, there's there's a big. It's like we thought
he might be graduating to Legends fights only at this point,
but this is him getting back into the mix. It's probably,
like I said, the best opportunity for him to do that,
because your Dong still has some holes in his game
or the or the level he's reached at this point
in terms of his performances. But it's also a referendum

(02:02:43):
on does Suhudo still belong with this group, And it
was interesting in that same media day sit down, Sohuto
said he was of the mindset that because he thought
he was gonna be fighting Dominant Cruz on this card,
that he was probably gonna just take a couple more
against those legends. But he said it was I believe
you said. It was Hunter Campbe and him who had
conversations and arguments, and eventually he got talked into like,

(02:03:04):
if you're still going to fight, you might as well
be chasing the top, and they centered on song Ya
Doong as the right opponent to test that. So so
Hudo came around that he still looks at himself as
that guy. But it is interesting that he revealed that
that he thought he was kind of done and you know,
all fight Domina Cruz again. Well, you know, we'll see
who else is available. There's a lot of pressure on
him to prove he still belongs in this conversation, in

(02:03:28):
this deep, great division, Luke. I hope so, because it's fun.
But he's also still throwing out the one twenty five idea.
In fact, he said, like, if he gets a win here,
it might open the door for him against Pantosia. Do
you think he can make that way?

Speaker 1 (02:03:42):
No, I don't. I also want you to react to something.
We've got a clip here from our friend Shaq MAJORI
talking to Henry about like where Henry really is in
this point in his career win or lose. Let's react
to what he has to say.

Speaker 15 (02:03:55):
It's because of having a couple of losses, Like I'm
not I'm not accustom to gold through that.

Speaker 1 (02:04:00):
Is this fight really going to inform like where Henry's
the judo is at and what his future holds.

Speaker 15 (02:04:04):
But you're right, I mean, obviously you're you know what
I show Saturday is going to be an indication of
where I'm at, you know, because it's not like I'm
just a wrestler either, i'mk notock. People go too every
time I see my daughter, I scream.

Speaker 2 (02:04:16):
How mady?

Speaker 1 (02:04:19):
Okay, that part is whatever. But you see, if he loses,
does he retire?

Speaker 2 (02:04:25):
Yes he does? Yes he does.

Speaker 1 (02:04:27):
Does that mean close?

Speaker 2 (02:04:29):
Okay? Does no? I don't know, Like do I If.

Speaker 1 (02:04:33):
He gets if he gets if he gets like like flattened,
I think he might retire. If he gets heeaks it out,
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (02:04:39):
Or if he gets handled four rounds to one, I
think he retires. But I was gonna say, I think
because he's such a competitor, and he's a personality, and
he does love challenges and being in the spotlight. If
another fight opened up to him, whether it was a
one to twenty five title opportunity, if the UFC was
into that, or a Legends fight or something, I think
he would take it and come back. But yes, I

(02:05:00):
think that would halt him trying to climb the ladder
and be in line and be competitive. And I think
what I've heard from him this week is if there's
you know, if there's not purpose behind what he's doing,
he's not going to do it. So there's purpose in this.
He wins this fight, he's back in the conversation, so
there's a lot of pressure on him. And I've always
liked Henry's to hudo a lot Luke, even through the

(02:05:21):
cringe years, for sure, and I really wish he didn't
walk away at you know, when he was on top,
whether he needed that or not. But I do wonder sometimes,
because he won me over in the process, I thought
he wasn't as good as the achievements he was achieving,
and then I finally caught up. I wonder what we
missed in those three years? What do you think I mean,
he really wanted to fight Volkanovsky for a three division

(02:05:44):
championship offs.

Speaker 1 (02:05:45):
You could argue, you could argue that he actually had
some really tough headwinds in front of him, and he
actually saved himself some losses that were there. I don't
think that's the craziest argument. We're talking about Bansamwaite. It's
a very very very tough division, a very tough division,
and so with that, I can understand the argument that, like, hey,

(02:06:08):
you know, it's it's like Habib, if he kept going,
he probably would have lost too, and so you don't
get those and so you just get a nice, cleaner thing.
The problem for me was it also is true that
he was at the peak of his powers, right like,
however good he was gonna be, it was then and
sitting out while you have a belt when that's your
biggest opportunity to get money. I think that was a

(02:06:30):
strategic error, you know, just given the lay of the land,
there's nothing you can really do.

Speaker 4 (02:06:35):
B C.

Speaker 1 (02:06:35):
Also on this card, excuse me, give me just one
second here, I got my notes all mixed up here.
I apologize sorry. Also on this car.

Speaker 2 (02:06:44):
I would have been into Connor versus Shudo like three
years ago. I just want to put that out on
the record.

Speaker 1 (02:06:49):
Or BC the fight beyond the main event that I
really want and I'm very interested in. You're Brendan Allen
versus Anthony Hernandez Comayne. I think it's the comaane. I
absolutely love this contest. It's a rematch from their LFA days. BC,
I gotta tell you the future of the like, there's
a lot on the line here, not just rematch stakes,

(02:07:09):
but like the guy who wins this is not only
just going to ascend in the rankings. But I don't know,
is something to me like this is I don't want
to overstate the stakes, but let me just tell you
what I'm thinking it seems to me that if Brendan
Allen wins, this is true, but if Fluffy Hernandez wins,
this is especially true. He's going to be one of
these fighters that is absolutely going to be a defining

(02:07:34):
feature of the middleweight division in the next three years.
Is that too much of a take.

Speaker 2 (02:07:40):
No, he's marketable, and he's aggressive, and he's fun, and
absolutely in the streak he's been on has been very impressive.
He's been escalating properly, and the name value in this
fight certainly meets that. Because before Brendan Allen's last fight,
with the loss that halted a real red hot fire

(02:08:00):
momentum of you know, fight night main events in getting
his own streak together, this is a great test in
that regard. But I think as much as this is
about can Fluffy take the next level to possible knocking
on the door of you know, title contention and maybe
not start him but a run here, a run of
being someone that we take note of aggressively. Is this

(02:08:23):
more of a referendum about Brendan Allen coming off of
that defeat Luke, because it seems like MMA Twitter is
like counting this dude out and hates him off of
one loss, But was that an audit? Was that a
thorough one in your eyes? To really bring up these
question marks.

Speaker 1 (02:08:38):
Brendan Allen has a lot of ability, but at times
just seems like he can't quite get over the hump
Wherea and He got a little he got obviously a
lot of he his career got a lot of attention early.
Hernandez doesn't seem to be exactly that guy. I think
he's sort of quietly snuck up on everybody and has
all of a sudden just started to look like really good,

(02:09:00):
not the most skilled, although he's skillful, Please don't misunderstand me.
He's skillful. But what he really has BC and this
is why I kind of got my eye on him. Dude,
He's got a cardio gas tank that is just unbelievable,
and he and he has a style like Morob. It's
not the same as Morob obviously, but the idea is
these guys who've got great gas tank, it's not just

(02:09:23):
that they I can use them. They're building their styles
and their offense off of that awareness. And so it's
becoming a cohesive whole where I'm gonna weaponize my cardio
against you, specifically, with these individual tactics and these individual strategies,
and it's looking like he's ready to start making some
noise in this division. But Brendan Allen is a skillful

(02:09:44):
competitor himself. He can match some of the strengths in
if Levy Hernandez's games in the grappling, at least you
would imagine early it's down that stretch, what's gonna happen
when it's gut check time. If you're Brendan Allen and
you're coming off that he Mavolv lost. Skinny mavol is
very good, but he kind of faded, and now you're

(02:10:05):
facing a guy who only ramps it up as the
fight goes longer. That's a tough fight. So it'd be
a great win for Berendon Allen and it'd be a
very proven point for Anthony Hernandez should he emerge victorious.

Speaker 2 (02:10:17):
I fully agree on that there are questions here that
Allen's got to answer, especially if this fight goes late.
Not the same style, but like, no shame in losing
to im Evolv, but I don't know, I expected more
in that fight. Now he gets a rebuttal, he gets
a chance great fight here, Luken. You know, shout out
to mister van Zant too. I know it probably came
rather than having to go through the Contender series or

(02:10:37):
what have you, because of the location and the fact
that these fights were just falling off this undercard like
a pandemic here, Luke, or an epidemic or an EpiPen
somewhere in there at all that shit. But I'm excited
to see if mister throat tat can swim at this level.

Speaker 1 (02:10:54):
Right sure, yeah, I mean I don't have her. After
he collapsed stick his gig guard Musasi and like less
than a round. It was one of the worst picks
I ever had in my life. Yes, I've lost a
little bit of confidence, you know what I'm saying. So
we shall see, We shall see. I want to say
a couple of things if we can. Let's quickly bring
in Loong Island, Luke through a cloud of long smoke,

(02:11:16):
Long Island, Luke. I'm gonna guess that the Gene Silva
Melsic Bagdasarian fight is high on your list. What else
has captured your imagination?

Speaker 5 (02:11:25):
I mean, betting wise, that's not that high on my list.
Because Jean Silva is like a minus five hundred favorite.
But Henry Suhudo I did jump on at plus two forty.
I mean you mentioned songs been taken down in all
three of his UFC losses. Henry, former Olympic champion wrestler,
also just lost to Al Joe and Morob Really not
bad losses whatsoever. Also on Rob Font as a dog

(02:11:45):
this week again John Matsimoto. Again Matsimoto undefeated, but he's
taking the fight on short notice. Rob Font did just
upset Kyler Phillips last time out, feel like he could
do it again. And I'm fading mister Van's ant dude Verrettnikov.
He lost to Michael Morales on Contender Series and he
lost to Danny Barlow by split decision in his UFC debut.
Aren't bad losses whatsoever. I feel like Vanderford has not

(02:12:08):
looked the same. Yeah, he just got a knock out
an LFA, but what does that really mean?

Speaker 2 (02:12:12):
Also, if you're adicting a Mutino like run through the UFC,
for yes, yes, very much so, if.

Speaker 1 (02:12:17):
I may say very much, Flying under the radar, Javid
Basherot taken on Ricky Simone. Wow, that's a good fight.
That is just very quietly been added to this car
and I can't believe it. Also, b C, your friend
and compatriot and countryman, Modestus Bukowskis is back against Hafayel
Sarah Krria. I'm sure say that's.

Speaker 2 (02:12:37):
A fight, but it'll be fun. But Luke Ebo Aslan,
that Turkish slugger, he didn't do bad things to Lava.

Speaker 1 (02:12:45):
I don't think it's Aslan. I could be wrong about that.

Speaker 2 (02:12:48):
I just call him as man around my friend.

Speaker 4 (02:12:51):
Sorry, it was.

Speaker 1 (02:12:51):
The oh dick Rico is that? Remember he was?

Speaker 3 (02:12:54):
Yes, that guy?

Speaker 1 (02:12:57):
And then and then you said to al Jo's face
he was dicked down.

Speaker 2 (02:13:01):
That was a great moment in my broadcasting history. I
gotta say that. But Luke, aren't you excited about this
Turkish slugger? He was awesome last time, though.

Speaker 1 (02:13:09):
I think any life being introduced into light heavyweight is welcome.
I don't know how good he can be or will be,
or what we're gonna get, but if he ends up
being halfway decent, God knows that division needs it. So
let's see what he's got.

Speaker 2 (02:13:20):
Yeah, what a show. We really we really banged him out.

Speaker 5 (02:13:24):
I just want to say quick, everyone is officially made weight.
Besides Fluffy, Hernandez has not waited.

Speaker 1 (02:13:30):
Ye, that's how much time does he have left? Forty five?

Speaker 4 (02:13:32):
Uh yeah, forty five minutes?

Speaker 1 (02:13:33):
All right, keep us updated now, b C with this
in mind, Do you want to do dead wrongs or
should I?

Speaker 2 (02:13:40):
I love doing it, all right, Luke, you know I'll
do it well. I did represent Queen's at one point
she was raised down in Brooklyn. Hey, sometimes we get
it wrong, and then you email us at Morningcombat at
gmail dot com and you put time stamps in there,
and sometimes you try to dunk on us, and then
Luke gets all pissy and then.

Speaker 1 (02:13:57):
No, I don't. I'll let you guys do it. It's
just when they come at me with some bullshit I
don't want.

Speaker 2 (02:14:00):
Yes, well, and the show was some dead wrongs then wrong.
All right, see if Dada shows up right now, we
got Kishi on. He says, hello, Guy Kishion from Montreal, Canada.
Here at an hour and thirty minutes the February tenth episode,

(02:14:21):
Luke says Mayweather versus Guerrero was a bullshit fight.

Speaker 1 (02:14:25):
Yes it was.

Speaker 2 (02:14:26):
Robert Guerrero was ranked number ten pound for pound at
the time by Ring magazine and number three at welterweight
behind Floyd and Juan Manuel Marquez. He was also the
mandatory for the WBC title, which Floyd held at the time,
and he also included articles with the rankings and the
mandatories there.

Speaker 1 (02:14:44):
Yeah, I mean the reason why I called it a
bullshit fight was because there were better ones to make
at that time, and Mayweather was a at times a
minus eight hundred favorite. Get the fuck out of here.
No one on earth thought Guerrero had a fucking prayer.
That's why it's a bullshit fight, So I want Well, it.

Speaker 2 (02:15:00):
Didn't help that his performance was one of the worst,
you know that Floyd had to deal with across from
him in a big fight ever, And.

Speaker 1 (02:15:07):
Yeah, I mean he was a gigantic or not, I've
seen bigger.

Speaker 2 (02:15:10):
He earned it, He earned it, he'd beat burto in
that absolute slugfest.

Speaker 1 (02:15:13):
He did earn it in the sense that, like you
could justify it fine, But once it was booked, everyone
knew what the fucking score was. There was no mystery
to it whatsoever. And then he went in there and
turned in an all time stinker. Sorry, it's a bullshit fight.
I'm not you know, I'm not even going to pretend.

Speaker 2 (02:15:31):
I think you were heavy handed in your description, but
I get what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (02:15:34):
Dude, there was nobody if if IF it is the
entire lead up to a fight is just a function
of how the A side is gonna stunt on the
other guy, and then that's exactly what happens in the fight.
What are we supposed to call that? I mean, I
can understand, I understand. I can understand Guerrero. I understand

(02:15:55):
that Guerrero there there is a claim that like he
didn't arrive in that position accidentally, but Mayweather picked him
because it was a bullshit opponent. I'm sorry, Get the
fuck out of here. I lived through that whole cycle.
I remember it very distinctly and thinking it was one
of the dumbest wastes of our time that that fight
took place. You're not gonna read. You're not gonna make
me change what I lived through in that experience. Get

(02:16:18):
the fuck out of here.

Speaker 2 (02:16:19):
I lean a little closer to Kishion, but it's not
his fault, Luke that he was born in the early nineties.
As you said, many I understand that.

Speaker 1 (02:16:25):
I can appreciate that.

Speaker 2 (02:16:26):
Let's go to Frederick he says, dead wrong for Luke
again with a government source. Luke. For someone data oriented,
you tend to cherry pick what you seem to want
to look at. This took literally two minutes to find. Also,
what you read on Twitter is not an accurate representation
of the world or distribution of opinions. He brought a

(02:16:47):
what is this long isl look? He brought a webach.

Speaker 1 (02:16:50):
For each year, we showed the rank of liam and
a bar representing the popularity of that name. The longer
the bar, the more popular of the name. The more
popular of the name, and given year, the the numerically
lower the I can't read this shit. He's he's trying
to say, there's a bunch of Liams, and listen, I
know there's a lot of fake news out there, and

(02:17:10):
I'm sorry to be spreading it right at this moment,
but it's not a real thing. Sorry.

Speaker 5 (02:17:15):
According to this which I can barely read as well,
it looks like it's ranked number one in the last
seven years or something.

Speaker 1 (02:17:22):
So look, they're saying a thing that's not true.

Speaker 2 (02:17:24):
Yeah, not only are you wrong, they're saying you're dead wrong.
That's what they're That's what Frederick.

Speaker 1 (02:17:29):
They're allowed to say that. You've it's just bullshit. But okay,
I'll take earth.

Speaker 2 (02:17:35):
That flat earth debate between Rashad and Rampage and that
other guy on that Jackson podcast. Did you see that?

Speaker 1 (02:17:41):
I think that you know, have you heard about that
meteor that is like every time the NASA scientists update us,
it's like gone from like a one point four percent chance,
like a two point two percent chance of it in
the Earth, and now it's like a three point I
needed to be like a ninety nine percent chance. Please,
that's what we really need.

Speaker 2 (02:17:56):
You have the same chance of your airplane colliding with
another right now.

Speaker 1 (02:18:01):
Hey, turns out that might be pretty high. Turns out
that might be pretty high.

Speaker 2 (02:18:04):
We also our final one is from Colin. He says,
Happy Friday, Luke in BC, and Luke, you're dead wrong
about Nasardine Imovov's age. Consentence for his age is twenty
nine because he was born in March of ninety five.
I included this screen grab so Luke can't try to deflect,
deny or defenders.

Speaker 1 (02:18:24):
Guys. I have said this before, I'll say it again.
I use tapologies records, which I think are the best
records in the entire sport. I do acknowledge there are
competing numbers between where you might look. But my standard
of excellence, because I've literally never been done wrong by them,
is Tapology. They've got him at twenty eight. The backside
of my balls are available for licking. Let me know

(02:18:47):
when you want to que up.

Speaker 2 (02:18:49):
Okay, wow, look Uno for three on these dead wrongs.

Speaker 5 (02:18:52):
Although they want to say, I want to say, in
this gentleman's defense, that tapology is the only website that
has twenty eight.

Speaker 1 (02:19:00):
Every other coincidentally the one coincidentally the best.

Speaker 4 (02:19:04):
One, all right, every other source though, has twenty nine.

Speaker 5 (02:19:06):
I mean he used wiki as his source here, which
is obviously a pretty terrible source.

Speaker 4 (02:19:10):
But like sure Dog has it, ESPN has it.

Speaker 1 (02:19:13):
Let me just say, like you have to pick what
your standard of excellence is. And it could be the
case of Typology is wrong. I mean obviously right, it
could be wrong, but they're the I started using them
a few years ago. Their record keeping is by far
the best in the sport. Not perfect. They could be wrong,
but it's where I go and until someone can show
me that they're wrong, not simply by showing me just

(02:19:34):
another database, you have to explain to me why topology
is wrong, then I'll be wrong. But until then, no.

Speaker 5 (02:19:39):
I think we just got to get Nasardine on the
show and ask him straight up and ask.

Speaker 2 (02:19:45):
On the show so we can ask him yes, and
also so we can debate Riod versus three twelve all
over again or whatever it was. Yeah, there it is. Hey,
that's all we got for that. Shiit Morning Coombat at
gmail dot com is the email address. Mikey told us
there wasn't good fans sub there's only one, so the

(02:20:08):
the email is open. If you want to send in
a fan sub for next Friday, it's on you. Thank
you very much for playing. And also, this great episode
of Morning Combat was brought to you by DraftKings. Luke,
did you know that? Did you know that the crown
is yours?

Speaker 1 (02:20:22):
I certainly did the DraftKings. Excuse me, as you mentioned,
today's episode is in fact brought to you by DraftKings.
The crown is yours and we appreciate them taking such
good care of us. Go use their services if you
so choose to have fun with the fights tomorrow, including
both the boxing and MMABC. Are you gonna watch all

(02:20:43):
of them? How's this gonna go.

Speaker 2 (02:20:44):
Yeah, I'm gonna watch them all from this recliner, this
mankliner that I have in the basement with the TV.
It's gonna be great, dude, It's oh yeah, it's gonna
be a great day.

Speaker 1 (02:20:54):
It's gonna be an interesting day. I'm gonna I told
my wife, you know, I'll take care of tukes in
the morning, all the way until about one and then
I'm just gonna.

Speaker 2 (02:21:02):
It's just gonna be me, Reggie and Turkey all day.
Is gonna be great?

Speaker 1 (02:21:08):
How many times is Turkey gonna do this?

Speaker 2 (02:21:10):
Yes? Do you think that like after hours Turkey like
passes the jade of the fighters?

Speaker 1 (02:21:15):
Or is that?

Speaker 2 (02:21:16):
Is that impossible?

Speaker 4 (02:21:17):
No?

Speaker 1 (02:21:17):
I did read about this because you know, obviously Saudi
Arabi is like a dry country, but not totally there.
Apparently there are some laws in the books and in
fact they've created it was either a bar or like
a place to buy liquor for a select group of diplomats. Yes,
so I'm guessing that there are some people tomorrow and
riodd who are gonna be enjoying some uh some whiskey,

(02:21:42):
let's say, yes, And then maybe maybe in Connecticut too
with some delta eights. Someone yesterday in my chat BC
was like, what's the best gas station food that BC's
ever introduced you to? And I was like, Delta eight's,
no doubt, no question, but far like hot dogs. No,
hot dogs don't get you hot Dey'll.

Speaker 2 (02:22:01):
Get Yeah, yeah that's what I hear, Luke. But you
know there it is, Well there it is, all right.

Speaker 1 (02:22:06):
One more time. Throw up our socials on the screen
here there you see it. You can follow them one
in combat everywhere. Don't forget. I'm sure BC you'll have
some coverage tomorrow on your personal channel.

Speaker 2 (02:22:15):
Yeah, definitely late night, but yeah, it'll be.

Speaker 1 (02:22:18):
Brian Campbell experience. And then I'll join me in Othello
recently laid off Othello. We'll be doing a live stream
together for all of the boxing. Okay, well now look
you guys, thin going on tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (02:22:30):
Yeah, it'll be live for the UFC Seattle card. So
after they watch.

Speaker 4 (02:22:35):
Nine pm for the main card for the main okay,
so they.

Speaker 5 (02:22:38):
Can watch you with the boxing, they can watch BC
and rape question marks reaction to the boxing, and then
they can watch.

Speaker 4 (02:22:43):
Me on the watch long.

Speaker 1 (02:22:44):
That's awesome. There you go.

Speaker 2 (02:22:45):
Now you should catch me outside. How about in your
comment section on the main Card Minute Pod. I love
joining those donks in there, you know, yeah I will.

Speaker 1 (02:22:54):
I will not be joining those. I love you, but
I'm not. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2 (02:22:58):
Shout out to Dave sy Dean. Look you ever hear
of that MK list?

Speaker 3 (02:23:01):
Yeah he.

Speaker 2 (02:23:04):
He would have jumped on Osborne to train in a heartbeat, dude,
in a heartbeat.

Speaker 1 (02:23:10):
Many of them did, many of them did. All right,
We're out of here. That's Brian Campbell. I'm Luke Thomas.
Thank you for watching MK today in studio on Monday.
We love you, we appreciate you. Enjoy the fights this weekend.
We'll catch you on Monday. Until next time, May all
of your gains be loyal

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Major UFC Announcements | Bivol - Beterbiev 2 | UFC Seattle | FULL EPISODE | MORNING KOMBAT