November 28, 2024 • 45 mins
What if I told you that the some stories behind MMA fights are stranger than any fiction? From weight cutting to motivated acquisitions, this episode of The Clinch Podcast promises a whirlwind of speculation and entertainment. I'll kick things off with a recap of UFC Macau, where Petr Yan's precision gave him the upper hand over Davidson Figueiredo's unpredictable style, sparking a discussion on how fighters must continually evolve to maintain their edge in the octagon. Then I'll make you imagine Dana White and Joe Rogan as the masterminds behind a series of outlandish schemes. We'll also plunge into the murky waters of fight fixing. This episode is guaranteed to keep MMA fans on their toes!
As we wrap up we'll dissect the origins of the PFL and the strategic maneuvers that could result in a monopoly. Listeners are encouraged to weigh in with their thoughts, theories, and even their own conspiracies! Get ready for a rollercoaster of theories, laughs, and thought-provoking discussions in this episode of The Clinch Podcast!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
what's up guys?
Welcome back to the clinchpodcast.
I'm your host, shay, and Idon't think I've ever been more
excited for an episode than Ihave been for this one.
I mean, I was.
I was super excited for myConor McGregor episode.
That one was really fun to puttogether, which, by the way, let
(00:53):
me know if you guys want a parttwo of that.
I'm so down to do it.
If you guys want to hear a parttwo, so hit me up on any of my
socials.
I'm on Twitter at Shaolin Shay,and Instagram as ShayMyName,
with two Y's and Shay.
So go ahead and let me knowthere what you guys think if you
guys want to do that.
But for this week, we areputting our tinfoil gloves on.
(01:17):
I know it's kind of corny, justbear with me, I'm like that.
If you know me, you know me,and if you don't know me, now
you do.
I come up with things sometimesand I love conspiracy stuff and
I love MMA, so what a betterthing to say than tinfoil gloves
(01:37):
?
So first, of course, we'regoing to go over the outcome of
UFC Macau, but just superbriefly, because I do want to
get into the meat of thisepisode.
Oh, it's so good, I'm soexcited and we're going to start
by talking about some just kindof skeptical situations.
(02:00):
One of them is even just alittle funny silly conspiracy,
but then there's one inparticular that just sent me
deep, deep down into the rabbithole.
So I'm really excited.
But before we get into it, Ijust want to say don't forget to
subscribe and leave a review ifyou enjoy this episode, maybe
(02:22):
even share it with a friend,because I really do want to grow
this community.
I've got some fun plans for theshow.
So don't be a gatekeeper, don'tdo it.
No, I'm just kidding, butseriously, let's get into it.
So first let's talk Macau.
I had some right picks.
I had some wrong picks, but Ido just want to focus on one
(02:47):
fight, and that was DavidsonFigueiredo versus Pieter Jan.
So this fight went verydifferently than I expected Not
very differently Depending onhow you look at it, but I did
have a lot of fun watching it.
I actually liked seeing how Iwas wrong.
Doesn't happen a lot that Iactually like it, but in this
(03:09):
situation I do.
I definitely did.
I definitely did.
I was super happy to see VintageJan back in action.
He showed up with technicality,with the speed, accuracy,
rhythm, all of that, and he justlooked really sharp in the
fight and against Figueredo'sunpredictable and what I would
(03:31):
call unorthodox style.
Jan's precision made thedifference there, but I still
think that Davison did his thing, no doubt, in my opinion.
I just think his pacing workedagainst him in this fight, with
Jan's sharp tactics and moremethodical approach just being
(03:52):
too much against such anirregular rhythm, which I, of
course, of course I, of courseI'm just kidding I definitely
had the idea that Jan's stylewould have the opposite effect
on Figueredo, that he justwouldn't be able to find a way
(04:12):
to play in that rhythm.
But he definitely did, and thatirregular rhythm, like I said,
just kind of worked againstFigueredo.
So that sucks, fiorito, so thatsucks.
My dog is playing with the ballin the background.
Hold on, okay, back, anyways.
(04:35):
So I do think that this fightchallenged Davidson to think
about evolving his style alittle bit.
I think he enjoyed abouthimself the fact that he was
able to catch opponents offguard for the most part with
such a irregular style.
So I think now he willhopefully see this as an
opportunity to evolve that andmake it work with him instead of
(04:56):
now working against him.
That's just how the fight gameworks.
That's what I personally sawwhen ron Rousey came back, when
Giuliana Pena came back thatthere were just adjustments oh
my goodness adjustments thatneeded to be made so that these
(05:18):
fighters were able to adapt tothe new level of competition
that their opponents were comingin at.
So I think it was good learning.
It was a good learning exercisefor Figueiredo.
He just needs to add sometechnical refinement so that he
can elevate his unpredictability, because I love unpredictable
(05:38):
fighters.
I love fighters that fight wild, and you know they're just wild
cards.
So I I hope he doesn't losethat.
I don't think he ever will.
That's just his, the essence ofhow he moves.
So I just think if he sharpensthat tool, he'll keep improving.
But hey, big props to Peter Janfor such a fantastic win.
I was enjoyed watching it, thatis 100% sure.
(06:05):
So now let's dive into the funstuff, the MMA conspiracy
theories.
I've got a few wild ones foryou today and I'm just so
excited to share them, becausesome are just hilarious or have
hilarious aspects to them, whileothers just make you go no,
(06:26):
unless, unless they did.
At least they did for me.
So I hope that you guys havethe same reactions.
I'm pretty sure you will,because this stuff is just so
good, it's so wild, so I'm goingto go ahead and start with a
few chill ones.
So my first theory or not evenmy theory I was just looking on
(06:51):
different platforms for whatpeople were talking about, and
the first one that I found thatwas super interesting was that
Dana White told Hamza Chumaev tocome in overweight against this
fight against Nate Diaz, onpurpose.
Now hear me out on this one.
The idea here is that DanaWhite wanted Hamzat to come in
(07:16):
over the weight limit so thatthey could switch the card
around.
Why Some people think that itwas to avoid a potential lawsuit
and bad press was what I'mseeing.
And also that Nate Diaz hadbeen saying all week that he
didn't want the fight withHamzat, but he only signed the
contract to get out of his UFCdeal.
(07:36):
And I can see.
I can see that completely,because Nate Diaz is also a
businessman, a very goodbusinessman, and he knew exactly
what the UFC was trying to doto him.
There's other fighters who havebeen in the game a long time
that they don't recognize thatthis is what's happening to them
(07:59):
, like guys such as TonyFerguson.
I think we'll use him as anexample.
I think he might know, causehe's definitely not dumb, but I
think he just gets lost in thosedecisions, whereas nate diaz
was some is someone that will belike no, like, I'm not doing
(08:20):
this, I'll play yourentertainment game, but you're
not going to jerk me around on alegal level Like.
I have a whole team, I've builta few successful businesses, so
I'm not just going to sit hereand let you jerk me around on
this contract Like you do otherpeople you know.
So it's just kind of a knownthing that happens to fighters
(08:42):
when they've been in the UFC fora long time.
They they just get stuck inthese fights that create I don't
even know how to how toeffectively describe it, but it
essentially is just a big deal,because part of the UFC's class
action antitrust lawsuit whichis also super interesting is
(09:07):
that essentially they holdfighters to their contracts as
like hostage and force them totake tough fights while keeping
them locked in.
So this just generates a lot ofmoney for the UFC because they
are picking these guys that arenewer and taking less money and
(09:32):
pinning them against guys whohave been in the UFC for a very
long time and have built their.
I don't think they are able toset.
Maybe they are able to setrates themselves, or their
lawyers are able to set rates,but they've basically added
zeros to their name.
So when they pit these twodifferent kinds of contracts
(09:56):
against each other becausethat's how the UFC is looking at
it right they're notnecessarily looking at it as
Nate Diaz or Hamza Chimaev.
They're looking at it as thisDiaz or Hamzat Shumayev.
They're looking at it as thischeck versus this check.
And how can we maximize theprofits for these cards?
So by doing this, they're justable to save a buck, because
(10:20):
they know that they're settingup these fights that people are
going to see Because we lovevets and we love big names and
we also love new fighters.
So they essentially are justbeing held hostage to these
contracts so that they can getlocked in at certain prices or
certain payouts.
So I just thought that maybethis is possibly true.
(10:42):
It could be a great thing Alsoto keep the pool of challengers
challenged, like, if you want tolook at it that way.
But when Tomfoolery like askingsomeone to come in overweight
is just floating things likethat are floating under the
surface we start to get intomurky water.
So I'm a little on the fenceabout this one.
(11:03):
On one hand, dana isn't exactlyabove pulling strings like that
if it suits the UFC's interests, but on the other hand too,
what I thought about is Hamzahas missed is difficult.
None of it is particularly easy, but it might be just extra
(11:30):
difficult for Hamza to make 170.
I mean, he's a big dude, so Iwouldn't be surprised at all.
So essentially, I believe theessence of this theory, but I
just don't think this particularsituation itself has enough
evidence to back up the claim,just based on what I found.
(11:51):
Let me know if you have somemore solid proof.
I would love to see it, but wecan circle back to this once the
details and documents in theantitrust lawsuit are released,
if they aren't already.
I didn't see any courtdocuments regarding the
antitrust lawsuit are releasedIf they aren't already.
I didn't see any document orcourt documents regarding the
antitrust lawsuit the new onethat, um, I guess was approved
(12:13):
or whatever.
So we can definitely dive backin if you guys want to do
another conspiracy episode.
But it's an interesting theorythough.
Right, I thought it was.
So let's go ahead and jump intotheory two, and that is that
the UFC will never get rid ofweight cutting because it
results in more knockouts.
Now I think this one's a bitmore plausible, like theory two,
(12:39):
level two kind of thing.
We all know that the weightcutting process can be
especially brutal.
We've seen documented footageof many fighters shivering all
toweled up.
When I used to train, my MuayThai instructor was training for
(13:01):
a fight and I was just you knowin training, was training for a
fight and I was just you knowin training, wasn't training for
anything specifically, but hehad me spar with him while he
was wearing a sauna suit and itwas so gross, it was so
efficient, but it was so gross.
Like, shout out, kit Ruddock.
I am not sure what he's doingnow, but he was part of Killer
(13:23):
Bee MMA.
Uh, I mean, that was just.
That was just such anexperience.
I was like huh, like you, okay,and he's the type of person.
He doesn't really explainthings, you just you know, if
you train under him, you just doit, which I like.
I like that a lot.
I usually am someone who asks alot of questions, but when I'm
(13:47):
training or when I was training,that was a zone where I had a
lot of peace, so I didn't reallyfeel the need to know things,
if that makes sense.
So I think a lot of people whotrain will know exactly what I
mean.
But just slipping all around inhis sweat while trying not to
(14:09):
get smacked while sparring withhim which is crazy because, mind
you, like he's good, I'm, I'mjust his, his student, you know
so, and I and I had just startedtraining, maybe like a few
months before that.
So it was just a coolexperience now that I look back
on it.
But we know that weight cuttingjust bleeds into all aspects of
(14:34):
the fight game.
It's a huge part of preparation, insane part of preparation.
So we all know that.
You know fighters will take,will cut, extreme amounts of
weight if they are naturallywalking around at a much higher
weight than they compete at.
So when a fighter is trying tocut 20 pounds, 15 or even more,
(15:03):
it kind of does play into theknockout factor, even even
though fighters do rehydrate andreplenish before the fight.
If you don't know, usually, ifyou're, if you're listening to
this podcast, you are familiarwith the uh, the structure of
how the UFC does its pre-fightmedia.
(15:23):
You've got a ceremonialweigh-in, but in that morning
you have like your actualweigh-ins where they're at like
a hotel or the arena or whatever.
However, wherever it takesplace, they weigh in and then
they have their ceremonialweigh-ins and this all takes
place the day before the fight.
Um, it's pretty fun to watch it.
They get super animated andit's pretty fun, you know.
(15:47):
So, you know, ceremonially,ceremonially, I think it's a fun
aspect of the UFC, but it alsojust kind of creates like a
perfect storm for these wildmoments in the cage.
But do I think that the UFC isintentionally keeping weight
cutting for that particularreason?
(16:08):
I don't think so.
I personally don't think so.
It could be a possibility, butI think I just don't think the
UFC really necessarily needs tokeep weight cutting to generate
excitement.
It's more of just like atradition.
It across any discipline really.
You've you have weight cutting,you have weigh-ins, you have,
(16:31):
um, you know just all that stuffthat that has to do with weight
cutting.
It's you see it, you see itacross wrestling, you see it
across jiu-jitsu, you see itacross judo, karate and all of
those.
So it would only make sense tokeep it in the one organization
(16:53):
that encompasses all of thosedisciplines.
So I think that this one's justkind of far-fetched, I don't
know, let me know what you think.
But Theory 3.
This one's just kind offar-fetched, I don't know, let
me know what you think.
But theory three Now this isthe.
No, it's, it's not the one, butit's a funny one.
It's a funny one.
(17:14):
So the this theory is that JoeRogan is Dana White, is Dana
White?
Oh no, this one just cracked meup.
So, of course, this one is justpure satire.
It just made me laugh when I,when I saw this, but basically
(17:37):
during an interview on herYouTube channel, a lady named
Sage Steele, who used to workfor ESPN, accidentally called
Dana White, named Sage Steele,who used to work for ESPN,
accidentally called Dana White,joe Rogan.
She goes what does Joe Roganwant?
When I tell you I was crackingup during that whole clip I mean
(17:58):
, it's like the way Dana Whitejust kind of is.
It is a jerk towards her about.
It is just like clowning her,like that was just so brutal.
It was so funny, though,because she, she really meant it
with her whole, entire soul.
You can just see it in the waythat she.
She relays that that sentence.
(18:21):
So what does?
joe rogan want like and he'sjust like.
Did she just call me joe rogan?
Did she just call me joe rogan?
She thinks I'm joe rogan flewthree hours and she thinks I'm
joe rogan.
Like that was so funny.
If you haven't seen the clip,please go watch it.
(18:43):
It's so great.
And I'm sorry about the loudnessin the mic.
It was just that's how theytalk.
So that's how joe rogan akadana white talk.
But no, um, I think that it's.
It was just that they're bothbald.
Bald, it's just the bald men,they're just bald men and sure
(19:07):
they have a lot of, you know,sway in the MMA world.
But I think that's just wherethe similarities end.
I had to just give my opinion,even though this is a completely
satirical theory, but reallyjust the bald head, I think, is
where their similarities, kindof their, their bald head and
(19:28):
their enthusiasm for the fightbusiness I would say fight gay,
but I think business is the moreappropriate term, especially
with Dana White.
Um, and plus, dana's always gotthat serious look, or if he
doesn't have like a serious look, he has like this weird grin he
does.
(19:48):
It's just his smile, is it'sinteresting?
And then joe has that vibegoing on where it's like he's
always tripping on something.
He just always looks like he'stripping on something.
I mean I can't wait for mypodcast to be up on YouTube so
you guys can see my imitation of, or impersonation of, joe Rogan
(20:12):
.
But he just always has thosewide eyes Like he's staring deep
into, like the back of yourhead, your soul, and he's just
like, yeah man, yeah man, yeahman, the fights were awesome.
Yeah, mushrooms, you know.
So it's like I don't know, thatone was very funny.
(20:34):
But you know, hey, imagine ifthey were the same person
pulling the strings behind thescenes.
That I mean, hey, any, anythingcould, anything can happen in
this crazy world, anything.
So anyways, theory four is thatDonald Cerrone, cowboy, took a
(20:54):
dive against Conor McGregor.
So this one, I think, is alittle more spicy.
And look, I'm not saying thatit's 100% true.
I'm not saying that it's 100%true.
I'm not saying I know all thisstuff I'm saying is alleged,
including my next and lasttheory, but I just wanted to
throw that out there.
(21:15):
But I've always thought it wasweird how quickly Cerrone seemed
to crumble in that fight.
I mean, it's not like he wassuper stellar in the era he was
in at that at that time, youknow, he definitely was on a bit
of a decline already.
But the shoulder strikes fromConnor were just really weird
(21:36):
and almost like too perfect inlike an entertainment standpoint
.
Like I remember how he lookedwhen he was throwing those
shoulder strikes and I mean itlooked like showboaty kind of I
don't know.
It was just weird.
It was bizarre.
They just didn't seem like alegit way to take someone out so
(21:56):
quick or to cause as muchdamage as it was being portrayed
as it did.
Plus, the thing that really mademe believe other than you know,
because anything can happen inthe Octagon, like anything can
happen in there I saw I forgotwho Nico Price fought when this
(22:18):
happened, but I know it wasn'tTampa I saw Nico Price on his
back knock out his opponent bykicking him while he was on his
back and that was pretty crazy.
Like it looked like he mighthave been about to get beat and
then, nope, legs straight upknocked out.
Crazy, you know.
So anything can happen, ofcourse, but what really made me
(22:43):
think this was a conspiracy wasthat Cerrone only made $200,000
for that fight.
$200,000.
That's it Fighting ConorMcGregor.
Conor made $3 million, Ibelieve.
I believe that was the numberthat he went home with was $3
(23:04):
million compared to $200,000.
That's crazy, like that'sactually really crazy.
That's a huge discrepancy, ahuge pay gap.
Could that have been anincentive for Cowboy to take a
dive, had it been offered it tohim?
I'm, I think.
(23:25):
So.
I think that it's a theory I'mnot totally opposed to.
I'd believe it if it came outone day.
Um, because I mean you'repaying a guy $200,000 who isn't
bad.
Cowboy Cerrone definitely hadhis run.
I met his grandma one time.
She's super proud of him.
Um, but 3 million to a little200,000, like I'm not happily
(23:51):
taking that check unless you'readding more zeros to it.
Like I'm not, I'm not, I'm notleaving happy.
No, absolutely not.
So that's just me, connor.
I mean, donald Cerrone alsobecame a bit of a businessman as
well, having a couplesuccessful endeavors, especially
, I think, now, or notespecially, but I think I heard
(24:15):
last that he was trying to dosome acting.
So that was probably his firstgig.
So great stuff there.
But now I want to get intotheory five.
So this one, oh, this one, thisone.
(24:35):
Okay, let me just say it thePFL was created by the UFC to
destroy Bellator.
Now this one went deep.
The idea here is that the UFCquietly created the PFL in order
(24:55):
to eliminate its biggestcompetition, which is Bellator.
Was Bellator?
Now, if you don't believe thistheory, don't click off.
Just listen to me here, becauseyou'll want to hear what I have
to say.
The UFC has been sued twice, Ithink before for using its
(25:18):
market advantage to eitherrequire organizations or block
them from progressing, in wayslike blocking fighters in
contrast, which you talked aboutearlier, with capped wages.
So this seems like it would bea derivative of that kind of
scheme.
Now, I don't.
I don't believe PFO was createdby the UFC.
(25:41):
I do not believe that.
I think that they were theirown organization, created
independently.
However, however, I do believethat they may have conspired
together to absorb Bellator.
I definitely think that couldbe possible.
I mean, it's not like the PFLexactly is like thriving right
(26:02):
now.
Fighters are complainingbecause they can't get fights,
which makes no sense to me.
They are complaining about thelack of competition and the UFC
seems to just be cornering themarket on MMA.
The PFL was initially formed, ofcourse, by the restructuring of
the World Series of Fighting,and a lot of people think it was
(26:25):
designed to eventually absorbBellator and give UFC a monopoly
on the MMA market, which Ithink, of course, is likely.
I do think that's likely.
I don't think that the UFCitself created PFL, but I think
something along the lines of itbeing as designed as a step to
(26:45):
begin acquisitions is likely.
And another interesting thingis that Don Davis, one of the
PFL's founders, has heavyinvestments in companies that do
have ties to the UFC, like, ofcourse, draftkings.
That one is utilized by many,many, many different
organizations.
(27:06):
The UFC especially heavilypromotes.
It, has advertisers withfighters in it, and they even
have Don Davis in the PFLFoundation.
Don Davis in the PFL foundationor organization has ties to
esports through a company calledTeam Liquid, and it may or not
(27:35):
be true that UFC wore a PFL maskand swallowed up Bellator.
I think that Bellator itself ispretty respectable as an
organization by itself and nowit's just kind of being slowly
squeezed dry because of Bellator, pfl's acquisition of it.
And like, as far as the fighterscomplaining about there not
being enough fights, how can younot have enough fights when you
(27:58):
acquire an entire establishedorganization and adding it to
your already established rosters?
How do you not have fightersfor your fighters?
That that's a non-starter forme.
I know I call, I call it rightthere, and I'm not sure if this
(28:20):
scheme was like a plan in 2018or whenever the PFL started, or
if the UFC I think it's morelikely the UFC if, if this is
true, we're just we're justtalking hypotheticals here If
the UFC approached them morerecently to execute this kind of
plan.
So I'm not sure which of thetwo scenarios this was rooted in
(28:44):
, or even if it was rooted in anentirely different scenario,
but I feel like the UFC and PFLis like the WWE's evil twin,
where the fighting is real, butthe bosses are the wrestlers,
they're the ones acting.
So that, oh, that one just threwme makes me feel so bad.
(29:09):
Um, especially just because thefighters are suffering, they're
not getting paid.
They were probably told duringthe acquisition process very
early on that this was a goodthing.
You know you'll have moreopportunities and then you have
less opportunities.
Bellator was doing just finebefore I thought, obviously not
(29:30):
as successful as the UFC, butdefinitely not struggling to
create fights for their fightersto this extent.
And all of this to essentiallymonopolize to monopolize the MMA
market, of course, and becomewhat hung fit.
(29:50):
123 from Reddit says the UnitedStates version of our NBA or
NFL.
I thought that was crazy and sotrue.
It makes so much sense.
It makes so much sense they'rejust giving us a show and making
a dime while they're buildingup this national idea.
(30:11):
And also super interesting tothink about is that Team Liquid,
that esports company, was soldto a group called I believe it's
Axiomatic Gaming HoldingCompany, which is a gaming
enabling company that, of course, has a fan in gaming, but also
in other forms of tech andentertainment and of course,
(30:34):
also in investment ventures.
So maybe that is a thing.
Maybe companies who specializein one particular area also
specialize in investmentopportunities within that same
area.
So correct me if I'm wrong, ifmaybe that's not a usual thing,
(30:55):
but I'm pretty sure I've seenthat across many different
industries, where a company thatis for a specific purpose, such
as enabling uh or gaming um,also invests in other companies.
So I I'm not too knowledgeableon how all of that works.
(31:19):
I definitely think it'sinteresting and I love learning
about it.
It's one of the mostinteresting topics, but I hope
you're getting the gist of whatI'm trying to explain is going
on here.
This is a group that alsoencompasses Disney and their
gaming, which of course, disneyowns ESPN, but anywhere I see
(31:40):
the name Disney and their gaming, which of course, disney owns
ESPN.
But anywhere I see the nameDisney, I'm like, ah, corruption
.
I don't know if you guys thinkthat too, I grew up watching
Disney, you know, so I lovedwatching it growing up, and now
that I've grown up and learnedmore, I feel like anything that
Disney touches or Disney is apart of is definitely a part of
(32:03):
a monopolization scheme.
So I think that also adds fuelto this conspiracy fire.
And you know Disney owns ESPN,like I just said.
Know disney owns espn, like Ijust said.
(32:24):
And they espn has named teamliquid esports team of the year
for several years in a row,which I feel like would be a
conflict of interest.
But maybe not, maybe not, maybenot, maybe not.
Who knows.
It's a hole.
You can just go down forever,but I wanted to just throw these
connections out there so youguys can get an idea of how
everyone ties together.
(32:44):
I think, since Don Davis hassuch a heavy hand on the
investment side of things, itwould make sense that he would
only benefit from acquiringBellator to eventually partner
with the UFC on the back end toform a singular national MMA
organization.
I think that's completelypossible and Bellator may have
(33:07):
just never been on board withthat, because I find it hard to
believe that, if it's the casethat this whole situation
happened with acquisition orwith acquiring Bellator to
create a national league,bellator wasn't approached about
it.
I find that very hard tobelieve.
I feel like they may have beenapproached about it, but you
(33:28):
know, pride is the devil anddevil's going to get you one way
or another when money'sinvolved.
So I think that they may justhave never been on board with it
and insisted on itsindependence and that just
(33:54):
resulted in the need for anotherorganization to come in quench
the league and acquire thecompany just to start forming
this national league.
Like NFL and NBA, pfl also has aformer NFL executive serving as
their CEO and his name is PeterMurray, which I just thought
was super weird, you know, likejust all another puzzle piece in
this whole scheme.
I mean, it's totally normal forathletes to retire and remain
in the business, but if you aretrying to build a national
(34:19):
league league, what betterperson or what better type of
people to contribute to thatformation than someone who comes
from a similar organizationorganization themselves.
So I thought that was anotherpuzzle piece.
And something else that wasreally interesting is that bfa
and this one's not major.
I just thought it was superinteresting that it's the same
(34:42):
company, you know, all just kindof circulating around the same
money.
But pfl and ufc do partner withsome of the same investors,
such as legends holdings, whichis just like a food beverage
retail merch, um and withinstadium and arena operations.
(35:03):
So them using the sameorganization.
For that isn't really a solidpuzzle piece, but it could be
something like could this all beconnected?
For for what reason?
Like, who owns Legends Holding?
You know, maybe I think that itis.
I'm like 99% sure that the UFCis quietly, just Not even quiet
(35:29):
Well, yeah, quietly, not superdiscreetly, you know, but
quietly, just forming a monopolyon the MMA industry with PFL as
their key player, and I justthought that there were really
interesting connectionsthroughout this research.
So I hope it gave you guyssomething to think about and let
me know if you guys agree with,if you even agree with, the
(35:52):
National MMA League or if you'reopposed to a National MMA
League.
I think it would be cool.
I do, but I'm not sure how itworks, you know, because so many
of our of the fighters in theUFC are from different countries
(36:12):
.
So I'm just not sure exactlyhow that would work.
If I'm not sure, I'm not surehow all that would even work.
But I do know that it's thesame situation with NFL.
So this is why I kept going inlike a circle when I was doing
my research.
Because in the NFL you have youhave players from different
(36:34):
countries, you absolutely do,and they're all paid quite
enough to be able to movethemselves and maybe even their
whole families to America to beable to do that.
So who knows if the UFC istrying to get to that point
where they're trying to makethat money to be able to
replicate the structure of anorganization like the NFL.
(36:59):
But it would also just createsuch a huge shift.
I think it functions great.
Now I just feel like allthey're missing is that money
they want.
They want the money thatcompany or organizations like
the NFL bring in.
(37:20):
They want that level ofprestige and recognition as the
premier fight league.
They're already already thoughtof as the premier fight league,
but they it could be likelythat they want that completely
established.
So I wouldn't be surprised ifthat's what happened.
You know you have, you havelike.
(37:41):
You have like minor leagues andstuff like that, like in
baseball.
So it wouldn't.
It wouldn't be like all the MMAorganizations that existed in
the USA would be completelyeradicated.
I just think that they would beconsidered more of like a minor
league kind of thing.
You know, I feel like companiesthat are based out of, based
(38:06):
outside of the country, like onefc is based out of singapore, I
believe.
You know.
So I feel like they'll be fine.
So I it's, it's a.
It's a crazy topic.
I was going in circles about it.
Wild to think about.
I'm not sure if it's true, butI am curious about what you guys
think.
So please let me know.
But there we have it, myfriends.
(38:28):
That was a fun roller coasterto ride.
I hope you thought so too.
Those are just some of the fewwild conspiracy theories that I
read online, just a few that Ipicked out.
Please do a deep dive on yourown.
You'll find some crazyinteresting stuff, some stuff
(38:49):
that I was a little scared toeven talk about in this episode.
But you know, I'm not I'm notreally a scaredy cat, so I might
do it again, do an episode likethis again and go into those
crazier topics that I'm like isthis gonna have someone show up
(39:10):
at my door, kind of thing.
But if they do, I'll just befighting them with my tinfoil
gloves on.
I'll Um, all jokes, all jokes,and I just want to know if you
agree with any of these, ormaybe if you've got your own
theories that you can't findonline but are just kind of like
(39:50):
born out talk about, and Iwould love to continue the
conversation.
So just go ahead and follow meand leave a review.
If you liked this episode, letme know you liked it.
Um, share it with a friend.
Like I said earlier, let's geta whole friend group going and
just make sure to follow.
I've got some really coolthings planned for the future.
Like I mentioned earlier, Iwould love to get this up on
(40:14):
YouTube.
So anything you guys can do,like leaving a review, sharing
the episodes, um, just helps mebe able to get to that point
where I can have the resourcesto be able to do that.
So I appreciate all the supportand I hope you all have a
wonderful Thanksgiving, eat somegood food, watch some football,
(40:39):
put up some Christmasdecorations no-transcript.
what's up guys?
Welcome back to the clinchpodcast.
I'm your host, shay, and Idon't think I've ever been more
excited for an episode than Ihave been for this one.
I mean, I was.
I was super excited for myConor McGregor episode.
That one was really fun to puttogether, which, by the way, let
(00:53):
me know if you guys want a parttwo of that.
I'm so down to do it.
If you guys want to hear a parttwo, so hit me up on any of my
socials.
I'm on Twitter at Shaolin Shay,and Instagram as ShayMyName,
with two Y's and Shay.
So go ahead and let me knowthere what you guys think if you
guys want to do that.
But for this week, we areputting our tinfoil gloves on.
(01:17):
I know it's kind of corny, justbear with me, I'm like that.
If you know me, you know me,and if you don't know me, now
you do.
I come up with things sometimesand I love conspiracy stuff and
I love MMA, so what a betterthing to say than tinfoil gloves
(01:37):
?
So first, of course, we'regoing to go over the outcome of
UFC Macau, but just superbriefly, because I do want to
get into the meat of thisepisode.
Oh, it's so good, I'm soexcited and we're going to start
by talking about some just kindof skeptical situations.
(02:00):
One of them is even just alittle funny silly conspiracy,
but then there's one inparticular that just sent me
deep, deep down into the rabbithole.
So I'm really excited.
But before we get into it, Ijust want to say don't forget to
subscribe and leave a review ifyou enjoy this episode, maybe
(02:22):
even share it with a friend,because I really do want to grow
this community.
I've got some fun plans for theshow.
So don't be a gatekeeper, don'tdo it.
No, I'm just kidding, butseriously, let's get into it.
So first let's talk Macau.
I had some right picks.
I had some wrong picks, but Ido just want to focus on one
(02:47):
fight, and that was DavidsonFigueiredo versus Pieter Jan.
So this fight went verydifferently than I expected Not
very differently Depending onhow you look at it, but I did
have a lot of fun watching it.
I actually liked seeing how Iwas wrong.
Doesn't happen a lot that Iactually like it, but in this
(03:09):
situation I do.
I definitely did.
I definitely did.
I was super happy to see VintageJan back in action.
He showed up with technicality,with the speed, accuracy,
rhythm, all of that, and he justlooked really sharp in the
fight and against Figueredo'sunpredictable and what I would
(03:31):
call unorthodox style.
Jan's precision made thedifference there, but I still
think that Davison did his thing, no doubt, in my opinion.
I just think his pacing workedagainst him in this fight, with
Jan's sharp tactics and moremethodical approach just being
(03:52):
too much against such anirregular rhythm, which I, of
course, of course I, of courseI'm just kidding I definitely
had the idea that Jan's stylewould have the opposite effect
on Figueredo, that he justwouldn't be able to find a way
(04:12):
to play in that rhythm.
But he definitely did, and thatirregular rhythm, like I said,
just kind of worked againstFigueredo.
So that sucks, fiorito, so thatsucks.
My dog is playing with the ballin the background.
Hold on, okay, back, anyways.
(04:35):
So I do think that this fightchallenged Davidson to think
about evolving his style alittle bit.
I think he enjoyed abouthimself the fact that he was
able to catch opponents offguard for the most part with
such a irregular style.
So I think now he willhopefully see this as an
opportunity to evolve that andmake it work with him instead of
(04:56):
now working against him.
That's just how the fight gameworks.
That's what I personally sawwhen ron Rousey came back, when
Giuliana Pena came back thatthere were just adjustments oh
my goodness adjustments thatneeded to be made so that these
(05:18):
fighters were able to adapt tothe new level of competition
that their opponents were comingin at.
So I think it was good learning.
It was a good learning exercisefor Figueiredo.
He just needs to add sometechnical refinement so that he
can elevate his unpredictability, because I love unpredictable
(05:38):
fighters.
I love fighters that fight wild, and you know they're just wild
cards.
So I I hope he doesn't losethat.
I don't think he ever will.
That's just his, the essence ofhow he moves.
So I just think if he sharpensthat tool, he'll keep improving.
But hey, big props to Peter Janfor such a fantastic win.
I was enjoyed watching it, thatis 100% sure.
(06:05):
So now let's dive into the funstuff, the MMA conspiracy
theories.
I've got a few wild ones foryou today and I'm just so
excited to share them, becausesome are just hilarious or have
hilarious aspects to them, whileothers just make you go no,
(06:26):
unless, unless they did.
At least they did for me.
So I hope that you guys havethe same reactions.
I'm pretty sure you will,because this stuff is just so
good, it's so wild, so I'm goingto go ahead and start with a
few chill ones.
So my first theory or not evenmy theory I was just looking on
(06:51):
different platforms for whatpeople were talking about, and
the first one that I found thatwas super interesting was that
Dana White told Hamza Chumaev tocome in overweight against this
fight against Nate Diaz, onpurpose.
Now hear me out on this one.
The idea here is that DanaWhite wanted Hamzat to come in
(07:16):
over the weight limit so thatthey could switch the card
around.
Why Some people think that itwas to avoid a potential lawsuit
and bad press was what I'mseeing.
And also that Nate Diaz hadbeen saying all week that he
didn't want the fight withHamzat, but he only signed the
contract to get out of his UFCdeal.
(07:36):
And I can see.
I can see that completely,because Nate Diaz is also a
businessman, a very goodbusinessman, and he knew exactly
what the UFC was trying to doto him.
There's other fighters who havebeen in the game a long time
that they don't recognize thatthis is what's happening to them
(07:59):
, like guys such as TonyFerguson.
I think we'll use him as anexample.
I think he might know, causehe's definitely not dumb, but I
think he just gets lost in thosedecisions, whereas nate diaz
was some is someone that will belike no, like, I'm not doing
(08:20):
this, I'll play yourentertainment game, but you're
not going to jerk me around on alegal level Like.
I have a whole team, I've builta few successful businesses, so
I'm not just going to sit hereand let you jerk me around on
this contract Like you do otherpeople you know.
So it's just kind of a knownthing that happens to fighters
(08:42):
when they've been in the UFC fora long time.
They they just get stuck inthese fights that create I don't
even know how to how toeffectively describe it, but it
essentially is just a big deal,because part of the UFC's class
action antitrust lawsuit whichis also super interesting is
(09:07):
that essentially they holdfighters to their contracts as
like hostage and force them totake tough fights while keeping
them locked in.
So this just generates a lot ofmoney for the UFC because they
are picking these guys that arenewer and taking less money and
(09:32):
pinning them against guys whohave been in the UFC for a very
long time and have built their.
I don't think they are able toset.
Maybe they are able to setrates themselves, or their
lawyers are able to set rates,but they've basically added
zeros to their name.
So when they pit these twodifferent kinds of contracts
(09:56):
against each other becausethat's how the UFC is looking at
it right they're notnecessarily looking at it as
Nate Diaz or Hamza Chimaev.
They're looking at it as thisDiaz or Hamzat Shumayev.
They're looking at it as thischeck versus this check.
And how can we maximize theprofits for these cards?
So by doing this, they're justable to save a buck, because
(10:20):
they know that they're settingup these fights that people are
going to see Because we lovevets and we love big names and
we also love new fighters.
So they essentially are justbeing held hostage to these
contracts so that they can getlocked in at certain prices or
certain payouts.
So I just thought that maybethis is possibly true.
(10:42):
It could be a great thing Alsoto keep the pool of challengers
challenged, like, if you want tolook at it that way.
But when Tomfoolery like askingsomeone to come in overweight
is just floating things likethat are floating under the
surface we start to get intomurky water.
So I'm a little on the fenceabout this one.
(11:03):
On one hand, dana isn't exactlyabove pulling strings like that
if it suits the UFC's interests, but on the other hand too,
what I thought about is Hamzahas missed is difficult.
None of it is particularly easy, but it might be just extra
(11:30):
difficult for Hamza to make 170.
I mean, he's a big dude, so Iwouldn't be surprised at all.
So essentially, I believe theessence of this theory, but I
just don't think this particularsituation itself has enough
evidence to back up the claim,just based on what I found.
(11:51):
Let me know if you have somemore solid proof.
I would love to see it, but wecan circle back to this once the
details and documents in theantitrust lawsuit are released,
if they aren't already.
I didn't see any courtdocuments regarding the
antitrust lawsuit are releasedIf they aren't already.
I didn't see any document orcourt documents regarding the
antitrust lawsuit the new onethat, um, I guess was approved
(12:13):
or whatever.
So we can definitely dive backin if you guys want to do
another conspiracy episode.
But it's an interesting theorythough.
Right, I thought it was.
So let's go ahead and jump intotheory two, and that is that
the UFC will never get rid ofweight cutting because it
results in more knockouts.
Now I think this one's a bitmore plausible, like theory two,
(12:39):
level two kind of thing.
We all know that the weightcutting process can be
especially brutal.
We've seen documented footageof many fighters shivering all
toweled up.
When I used to train, my MuayThai instructor was training for
(13:01):
a fight and I was just you knowin training, was training for a
fight and I was just you knowin training, wasn't training for
anything specifically, but hehad me spar with him while he
was wearing a sauna suit and itwas so gross, it was so
efficient, but it was so gross.
Like, shout out, kit Ruddock.
I am not sure what he's doingnow, but he was part of Killer
(13:23):
Bee MMA.
Uh, I mean, that was just.
That was just such anexperience.
I was like huh, like you, okay,and he's the type of person.
He doesn't really explainthings, you just you know, if
you train under him, you just doit, which I like.
I like that a lot.
I usually am someone who asks alot of questions, but when I'm
(13:47):
training or when I was training,that was a zone where I had a
lot of peace, so I didn't reallyfeel the need to know things,
if that makes sense.
So I think a lot of people whotrain will know exactly what I
mean.
But just slipping all around inhis sweat while trying not to
(14:09):
get smacked while sparring withhim which is crazy because, mind
you, like he's good, I'm, I'mjust his, his student, you know
so, and I and I had just startedtraining, maybe like a few
months before that.
So it was just a coolexperience now that I look back
on it.
But we know that weight cuttingjust bleeds into all aspects of
(14:34):
the fight game.
It's a huge part of preparation, insane part of preparation.
So we all know that.
You know fighters will take,will cut, extreme amounts of
weight if they are naturallywalking around at a much higher
weight than they compete at.
So when a fighter is trying tocut 20 pounds, 15 or even more,
(15:03):
it kind of does play into theknockout factor, even even
though fighters do rehydrate andreplenish before the fight.
If you don't know, usually, ifyou're, if you're listening to
this podcast, you are familiarwith the uh, the structure of
how the UFC does its pre-fightmedia.
(15:23):
You've got a ceremonialweigh-in, but in that morning
you have like your actualweigh-ins where they're at like
a hotel or the arena or whatever.
However, wherever it takesplace, they weigh in and then
they have their ceremonialweigh-ins and this all takes
place the day before the fight.
Um, it's pretty fun to watch it.
They get super animated andit's pretty fun, you know.
(15:47):
So, you know, ceremonially,ceremonially, I think it's a fun
aspect of the UFC, but it alsojust kind of creates like a
perfect storm for these wildmoments in the cage.
But do I think that the UFC isintentionally keeping weight
cutting for that particularreason?
(16:08):
I don't think so.
I personally don't think so.
It could be a possibility, butI think I just don't think the
UFC really necessarily needs tokeep weight cutting to generate
excitement.
It's more of just like atradition.
It across any discipline really.
You've you have weight cutting,you have weigh-ins, you have,
(16:31):
um, you know just all that stuffthat that has to do with weight
cutting.
It's you see it, you see itacross wrestling, you see it
across jiu-jitsu, you see itacross judo, karate and all of
those.
So it would only make sense tokeep it in the one organization
(16:53):
that encompasses all of thosedisciplines.
So I think that this one's justkind of far-fetched, I don't
know, let me know what you think.
But Theory 3.
This one's just kind offar-fetched, I don't know, let
me know what you think.
But theory three Now this isthe.
No, it's, it's not the one, butit's a funny one.
It's a funny one.
(17:14):
So the this theory is that JoeRogan is Dana White, is Dana
White?
Oh no, this one just cracked meup.
So, of course, this one is justpure satire.
It just made me laugh when I,when I saw this, but basically
(17:37):
during an interview on herYouTube channel, a lady named
Sage Steele, who used to workfor ESPN, accidentally called
Dana White, named Sage Steele,who used to work for ESPN,
accidentally called Dana White,joe Rogan.
She goes what does Joe Roganwant?
When I tell you I was crackingup during that whole clip I mean
(17:58):
, it's like the way Dana Whitejust kind of is.
It is a jerk towards her about.
It is just like clowning her,like that was just so brutal.
It was so funny, though,because she, she really meant it
with her whole, entire soul.
You can just see it in the waythat she.
She relays that that sentence.
(18:21):
So what does?
joe rogan want like and he'sjust like.
Did she just call me joe rogan?
Did she just call me joe rogan?
She thinks I'm joe rogan flewthree hours and she thinks I'm
joe rogan.
Like that was so funny.
If you haven't seen the clip,please go watch it.
(18:43):
It's so great.
And I'm sorry about the loudnessin the mic.
It was just that's how theytalk.
So that's how joe rogan akadana white talk.
But no, um, I think that it's.
It was just that they're bothbald.
Bald, it's just the bald men,they're just bald men and sure
(19:07):
they have a lot of, you know,sway in the MMA world.
But I think that's just wherethe similarities end.
I had to just give my opinion,even though this is a completely
satirical theory, but reallyjust the bald head, I think, is
where their similarities, kindof their, their bald head and
(19:28):
their enthusiasm for the fightbusiness I would say fight gay,
but I think business is the moreappropriate term, especially
with Dana White.
Um, and plus, dana's always gotthat serious look, or if he
doesn't have like a serious look, he has like this weird grin he
does.
(19:48):
It's just his smile, is it'sinteresting?
And then joe has that vibegoing on where it's like he's
always tripping on something.
He just always looks like he'stripping on something.
I mean I can't wait for mypodcast to be up on YouTube so
you guys can see my imitation of, or impersonation of, joe Rogan
(20:12):
.
But he just always has thosewide eyes Like he's staring deep
into, like the back of yourhead, your soul, and he's just
like, yeah man, yeah man, yeahman, the fights were awesome.
Yeah, mushrooms, you know.
So it's like I don't know, thatone was very funny.
(20:34):
But you know, hey, imagine ifthey were the same person
pulling the strings behind thescenes.
That I mean, hey, any, anythingcould, anything can happen in
this crazy world, anything.
So anyways, theory four is thatDonald Cerrone, cowboy, took a
(20:54):
dive against Conor McGregor.
So this one, I think, is alittle more spicy.
And look, I'm not saying thatit's 100% true.
I'm not saying that it's 100%true.
I'm not saying I know all thisstuff I'm saying is alleged,
including my next and lasttheory, but I just wanted to
throw that out there.
(21:15):
But I've always thought it wasweird how quickly Cerrone seemed
to crumble in that fight.
I mean, it's not like he wassuper stellar in the era he was
in at that at that time, youknow, he definitely was on a bit
of a decline already.
But the shoulder strikes fromConnor were just really weird
(21:36):
and almost like too perfect inlike an entertainment standpoint
.
Like I remember how he lookedwhen he was throwing those
shoulder strikes and I mean itlooked like showboaty kind of I
don't know.
It was just weird.
It was bizarre.
They just didn't seem like alegit way to take someone out so
(21:56):
quick or to cause as muchdamage as it was being portrayed
as it did.
Plus, the thing that really mademe believe other than you know,
because anything can happen inthe Octagon, like anything can
happen in there I saw I forgotwho Nico Price fought when this
(22:18):
happened, but I know it wasn'tTampa I saw Nico Price on his
back knock out his opponent bykicking him while he was on his
back and that was pretty crazy.
Like it looked like he mighthave been about to get beat and
then, nope, legs straight upknocked out.
Crazy, you know.
So anything can happen, ofcourse, but what really made me
(22:43):
think this was a conspiracy wasthat Cerrone only made $200,000
for that fight.
$200,000.
That's it Fighting ConorMcGregor.
Conor made $3 million, Ibelieve.
I believe that was the numberthat he went home with was $3
(23:04):
million compared to $200,000.
That's crazy, like that'sactually really crazy.
That's a huge discrepancy, ahuge pay gap.
Could that have been anincentive for Cowboy to take a
dive, had it been offered it tohim?
I'm, I think.
(23:25):
So.
I think that it's a theory I'mnot totally opposed to.
I'd believe it if it came outone day.
Um, because I mean you'repaying a guy $200,000 who isn't
bad.
Cowboy Cerrone definitely hadhis run.
I met his grandma one time.
She's super proud of him.
Um, but 3 million to a little200,000, like I'm not happily
(23:51):
taking that check unless you'readding more zeros to it.
Like I'm not, I'm not, I'm notleaving happy.
No, absolutely not.
So that's just me, connor.
I mean, donald Cerrone alsobecame a bit of a businessman as
well, having a couplesuccessful endeavors, especially
, I think, now, or notespecially, but I think I heard
(24:15):
last that he was trying to dosome acting.
So that was probably his firstgig.
So great stuff there.
But now I want to get intotheory five.
So this one, oh, this one, thisone.
(24:35):
Okay, let me just say it thePFL was created by the UFC to
destroy Bellator.
Now this one went deep.
The idea here is that the UFCquietly created the PFL in order
(24:55):
to eliminate its biggestcompetition, which is Bellator.
Was Bellator?
Now, if you don't believe thistheory, don't click off.
Just listen to me here, becauseyou'll want to hear what I have
to say.
The UFC has been sued twice, Ithink before for using its
(25:18):
market advantage to eitherrequire organizations or block
them from progressing, in wayslike blocking fighters in
contrast, which you talked aboutearlier, with capped wages.
So this seems like it would bea derivative of that kind of
scheme.
Now, I don't.
I don't believe PFO was createdby the UFC.
(25:41):
I do not believe that.
I think that they were theirown organization, created
independently.
However, however, I do believethat they may have conspired
together to absorb Bellator.
I definitely think that couldbe possible.
I mean, it's not like the PFLexactly is like thriving right
(26:02):
now.
Fighters are complainingbecause they can't get fights,
which makes no sense to me.
They are complaining about thelack of competition and the UFC
seems to just be cornering themarket on MMA.
The PFL was initially formed, ofcourse, by the restructuring of
the World Series of Fighting,and a lot of people think it was
(26:25):
designed to eventually absorbBellator and give UFC a monopoly
on the MMA market, which Ithink, of course, is likely.
I do think that's likely.
I don't think that the UFCitself created PFL, but I think
something along the lines of itbeing as designed as a step to
(26:45):
begin acquisitions is likely.
And another interesting thingis that Don Davis, one of the
PFL's founders, has heavyinvestments in companies that do
have ties to the UFC, like, ofcourse, draftkings.
That one is utilized by many,many, many different
organizations.
(27:06):
The UFC especially heavilypromotes.
It, has advertisers withfighters in it, and they even
have Don Davis in the PFLFoundation.
Don Davis in the PFL foundationor organization has ties to
esports through a company calledTeam Liquid, and it may or not
(27:35):
be true that UFC wore a PFL maskand swallowed up Bellator.
I think that Bellator itself ispretty respectable as an
organization by itself and nowit's just kind of being slowly
squeezed dry because of Bellator, pfl's acquisition of it.
And like, as far as the fighterscomplaining about there not
being enough fights, how can younot have enough fights when you
(27:58):
acquire an entire establishedorganization and adding it to
your already established rosters?
How do you not have fightersfor your fighters?
That that's a non-starter forme.
I know I call, I call it rightthere, and I'm not sure if this
(28:20):
scheme was like a plan in 2018or whenever the PFL started, or
if the UFC I think it's morelikely the UFC if, if this is
true, we're just we're justtalking hypotheticals here If
the UFC approached them morerecently to execute this kind of
plan.
So I'm not sure which of thetwo scenarios this was rooted in
(28:44):
, or even if it was rooted in anentirely different scenario,
but I feel like the UFC and PFLis like the WWE's evil twin,
where the fighting is real, butthe bosses are the wrestlers,
they're the ones acting.
So that, oh, that one just threwme makes me feel so bad.
(29:09):
Um, especially just because thefighters are suffering, they're
not getting paid.
They were probably told duringthe acquisition process very
early on that this was a goodthing.
You know you'll have moreopportunities and then you have
less opportunities.
Bellator was doing just finebefore I thought, obviously not
(29:30):
as successful as the UFC, butdefinitely not struggling to
create fights for their fightersto this extent.
And all of this to essentiallymonopolize to monopolize the MMA
market, of course, and becomewhat hung fit.
(29:50):
123 from Reddit says the UnitedStates version of our NBA or
NFL.
I thought that was crazy and sotrue.
It makes so much sense.
It makes so much sense they'rejust giving us a show and making
a dime while they're buildingup this national idea.
(30:11):
And also super interesting tothink about is that Team Liquid,
that esports company, was soldto a group called I believe it's
Axiomatic Gaming HoldingCompany, which is a gaming
enabling company that, of course, has a fan in gaming, but also
in other forms of tech andentertainment and of course,
(30:34):
also in investment ventures.
So maybe that is a thing.
Maybe companies who specializein one particular area also
specialize in investmentopportunities within that same
area.
So correct me if I'm wrong, ifmaybe that's not a usual thing,
(30:55):
but I'm pretty sure I've seenthat across many different
industries, where a company thatis for a specific purpose, such
as enabling uh or gaming um,also invests in other companies.
So I I'm not too knowledgeableon how all of that works.
(31:19):
I definitely think it'sinteresting and I love learning
about it.
It's one of the mostinteresting topics, but I hope
you're getting the gist of whatI'm trying to explain is going
on here.
This is a group that alsoencompasses Disney and their
gaming, which of course, disneyowns ESPN, but anywhere I see
(31:40):
the name Disney and their gaming, which of course, disney owns
ESPN.
But anywhere I see the nameDisney, I'm like, ah, corruption
.
I don't know if you guys thinkthat too, I grew up watching
Disney, you know, so I lovedwatching it growing up, and now
that I've grown up and learnedmore, I feel like anything that
Disney touches or Disney is apart of is definitely a part of
(32:03):
a monopolization scheme.
So I think that also adds fuelto this conspiracy fire.
And you know Disney owns ESPN,like I just said.
Know disney owns espn, like Ijust said.
(32:24):
And they espn has named teamliquid esports team of the year
for several years in a row,which I feel like would be a
conflict of interest.
But maybe not, maybe not, maybenot, maybe not.
Who knows.
It's a hole.
You can just go down forever,but I wanted to just throw these
connections out there so youguys can get an idea of how
everyone ties together.
(32:44):
I think, since Don Davis hassuch a heavy hand on the
investment side of things, itwould make sense that he would
only benefit from acquiringBellator to eventually partner
with the UFC on the back end toform a singular national MMA
organization.
I think that's completelypossible and Bellator may have
(33:07):
just never been on board withthat, because I find it hard to
believe that, if it's the casethat this whole situation
happened with acquisition orwith acquiring Bellator to
create a national league,bellator wasn't approached about
it.
I find that very hard tobelieve.
I feel like they may have beenapproached about it, but you
(33:28):
know, pride is the devil anddevil's going to get you one way
or another when money'sinvolved.
So I think that they may justhave never been on board with it
and insisted on itsindependence and that just
(33:54):
resulted in the need for anotherorganization to come in quench
the league and acquire thecompany just to start forming
this national league.
Like NFL and NBA, pfl also has aformer NFL executive serving as
their CEO and his name is PeterMurray, which I just thought
was super weird, you know, likejust all another puzzle piece in
this whole scheme.
I mean, it's totally normal forathletes to retire and remain
in the business, but if you aretrying to build a national
(34:19):
league league, what betterperson or what better type of
people to contribute to thatformation than someone who comes
from a similar organizationorganization themselves.
So I thought that was anotherpuzzle piece.
And something else that wasreally interesting is that bfa
and this one's not major.
I just thought it was superinteresting that it's the same
(34:42):
company, you know, all just kindof circulating around the same
money.
But pfl and ufc do partner withsome of the same investors,
such as legends holdings, whichis just like a food beverage
retail merch, um and withinstadium and arena operations.
(35:03):
So them using the sameorganization.
For that isn't really a solidpuzzle piece, but it could be
something like could this all beconnected?
For for what reason?
Like, who owns Legends Holding?
You know, maybe I think that itis.
I'm like 99% sure that the UFCis quietly, just Not even quiet
(35:29):
Well, yeah, quietly, not superdiscreetly, you know, but
quietly, just forming a monopolyon the MMA industry with PFL as
their key player, and I justthought that there were really
interesting connectionsthroughout this research.
So I hope it gave you guyssomething to think about and let
me know if you guys agree with,if you even agree with, the
(35:52):
National MMA League or if you'reopposed to a National MMA
League.
I think it would be cool.
I do, but I'm not sure how itworks, you know, because so many
of our of the fighters in theUFC are from different countries
(36:12):
.
So I'm just not sure exactlyhow that would work.
If I'm not sure, I'm not surehow all that would even work.
But I do know that it's thesame situation with NFL.
So this is why I kept going inlike a circle when I was doing
my research.
Because in the NFL you have youhave players from different
(36:34):
countries, you absolutely do,and they're all paid quite
enough to be able to movethemselves and maybe even their
whole families to America to beable to do that.
So who knows if the UFC istrying to get to that point
where they're trying to makethat money to be able to
replicate the structure of anorganization like the NFL.
(36:59):
But it would also just createsuch a huge shift.
I think it functions great.
Now I just feel like allthey're missing is that money
they want.
They want the money thatcompany or organizations like
the NFL bring in.
(37:20):
They want that level ofprestige and recognition as the
premier fight league.
They're already already thoughtof as the premier fight league,
but they it could be likelythat they want that completely
established.
So I wouldn't be surprised ifthat's what happened.
You know you have, you havelike.
(37:41):
You have like minor leagues andstuff like that, like in
baseball.
So it wouldn't.
It wouldn't be like all the MMAorganizations that existed in
the USA would be completelyeradicated.
I just think that they would beconsidered more of like a minor
league kind of thing.
You know, I feel like companiesthat are based out of, based
(38:06):
outside of the country, like onefc is based out of singapore, I
believe.
You know.
So I feel like they'll be fine.
So I it's, it's a.
It's a crazy topic.
I was going in circles about it.
Wild to think about.
I'm not sure if it's true, butI am curious about what you guys
think.
So please let me know.
But there we have it, myfriends.
(38:28):
That was a fun roller coasterto ride.
I hope you thought so too.
Those are just some of the fewwild conspiracy theories that I
read online, just a few that Ipicked out.
Please do a deep dive on yourown.
You'll find some crazyinteresting stuff, some stuff
(38:49):
that I was a little scared toeven talk about in this episode.
But you know, I'm not I'm notreally a scaredy cat, so I might
do it again, do an episode likethis again and go into those
crazier topics that I'm like isthis gonna have someone show up
(39:10):
at my door, kind of thing.
But if they do, I'll just befighting them with my tinfoil
gloves on.
I'll Um, all jokes, all jokes,and I just want to know if you
agree with any of these, ormaybe if you've got your own
theories that you can't findonline but are just kind of like
(39:50):
born out talk about, and Iwould love to continue the
conversation.
So just go ahead and follow meand leave a review.
If you liked this episode, letme know you liked it.
Um, share it with a friend.
Like I said earlier, let's geta whole friend group going and
just make sure to follow.
I've got some really coolthings planned for the future.
Like I mentioned earlier, Iwould love to get this up on
(40:14):
YouTube.
So anything you guys can do,like leaving a review, sharing
the episodes, um, just helps mebe able to get to that point
where I can have the resourcesto be able to do that.
So I appreciate all the supportand I hope you all have a
wonderful Thanksgiving, eat somegood food, watch some football,
(40:39):
put up some Christmasdecorations no-transcript.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.