July 18, 2025 • 30 mins
Colin reacts to the Steelers making TJ Watt the highest paid non-QB in the entire NFL and while he likes Watt as a player he has major questions about the direction of the franchise as whole. He believes LeBron James is seriously considering retirement and this being his final season in the NBA for 2 major reasons. Plus, he talks to UFC President & CEO Dana White about Halloway vs Poirier 3 and what Conor McGregor has in common with Caitlin Clark.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, here we go. It is a Friday news breaking.
It is great to be here. We are live and
it is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. Always appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Jack.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know what, after some time off, you and I
got back in the saddle and there there is actually
been a lot going on this week. And we got
a little story that broke yesterday, which is good for us,
and it's something we've been banging on. I've been banging
on the show for about six months. They hate me
in Pittsburgh and once again they're not gonna like I'm
going to say here, but good Friday to you. You
(01:02):
ready to go?
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, let's rock and roll?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, So TJ Watt after our show yesterday who's a
great player. He's an absolutely great player. There's no disputing
that deserves the money. Happy for him three year deal,
a one hundred and twenty three million dollar extension. So this
goes back to great player, deserves the money. I don't
question the player. I question the direction of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(01:28):
It's like I don't question the power and the brilliance
and the influence of Meta. I question the direction of metaverse.
Are we all so miserable with our lives we're going
to be wearing headsets around all day. It's not the technology,
it's the application of the technology with Meta. And that's
how I feel about Pittsburgh. It's not the talent of
(01:48):
JJ Watt, it's how they prioritize defense. And frankly, their
defense isn't that good. It's four straight years it's been
out of the top ten in total defense. If you
go to the talk playoffs, because that's all that matters
in this sport. January, if you go look at the
last five playoff games from the Pittsburgh Steelers, they've given
up twenty eight to thirty one, forty two, forty eight
(02:09):
and forty five. They give up forty points a game.
So like, they're spending all this money on the wrong
side of the ball and they're not dominant. Well, they've
gotten better on defense and they've gotten worse on offense
because the league's changed. They are completely disfunctional on offense.
Last year, this is hard to do. With the talent
they had, it was hard to do. They were twenty
(02:30):
ninth in the red zone. How they good play Rogie
Harris Pickens, Russell Wilson, one of the best young centers
in the league. They were twenty ninth in the red zone.
They were twenty seventh best offensive line. It's almost impossible.
So when I look at Pittsburgh, my tickets don't hate
(02:51):
the player, hate the direction, hate what they prioritized. Why
can't they watch the Rams and the Niners and the
Lions and the Chiefs and the Eagles and the Bills.
Keep your defense cheap and young. Pay one great defensive player.
I'd be all for paying JJ Watt this if the
(03:13):
rest of your cap was on offense and you had
an elite quarterback, an elite left tackle, and an elite
running back. The Steelers need a more balanced football diet.
The league went into protein and they're all carbs, and
what is their answer. I keep hearing, well, they're all
in and their answer to their offensive woes forty year
(03:35):
old Aaron Rodgers, who is like sort of committed in
the offseason. He's their ozempic. He's going to solve everything.
He's going to solve their unbalanced diet. So again, it's
not TJ. Watt. Look around at the winning his teams here,
Detroit's on fire, Buffalo, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Rams,
they're key, They're giving up defensive players. And again I've
(04:00):
talked to multiple gms on this. Pay for a TJ Watt,
pay for a Chris Jones, pay eventually for a Jaredverse,
pay for the Max Crosby. But then you got to
just stay young and stay cheap at safety and corner
and linebacker.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So you can.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Pay a left tackle top of the market, quarterback top
of the market, center top of the market, two weapons
top of the market. But it's not the player. Eric
Man Jenny talked about it this week. It's not that
the player is not worth the money.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I'm not sure if I would take the tjwat calls
or not, especially if I'm Pittsburgh and I'm Pittsburgh this season.
It's not like they're loaded up offensively and that's going
to be able to carry the day. When you look
at TJ. Watt, he said a little over thirty sacks
between the last two seasons. Every single game you have
(04:52):
to accountform every single game. He's the guy that offensively
you go into the room and say, look, this player
can ruin the game for us.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's not the player, it's the prioritization of the defensive
side of the ball as the league has moved to
offense all the rules. It's not anti TJ.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Watt.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
He is worth the money. I think he leaves the
NFL in sacks last five years. So, and how does
this play to the next story The Dallas Cowboys. Next
up is Michaeh Parsons. So the Cowboys tend to wait
and wait and wait. So now Dallas is trapped and
so TJ. Watt. If you go look at the last
two years of TJ. Wat's production, he is better than
(05:38):
Micah Parson's last two years of production. But it's kind
of close. If I was Michaeh Parsons and I was
Michah Parsons agent, I'd want eighty five percent. I mean
of Tjatt. Tj Wat's got thirty sacks. I got twenty six,
he got sixty three. Quarterback kits So I got fifty six.
Mike has got more pressures. So again he and his
(06:01):
agent have an argument. If tj Wat's getting forty one million,
Mike has got to get thirty seven thirty seven and
a half thirty eight. He's also four years younger. So
to me, and I've said this before, there's only one
or two players per roster that you know very early
their stars. And it's usually like quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher,
(06:23):
maybe a great weapon. And then there's players like Josh
Allen of Buffalo, Patrick Surtan of Denver, Jalen Carter of Philadelphia.
I would call them all pro plus players. Those are
generational players. You pay them early. You pay Jalen Carter early.
Rams are going to have this with Jared Verse. Pay
him a year early. You may have one a roster
(06:45):
on that. Well, the Cowboys are going to pay Dak
top of the market, Ceedee Lamb top of the market.
They already are. Now they're going to have Mike at
top of the market. And so do I think Michaeh
Parsons is worth that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
But Dallas is trapped because Jerry has too much influence
on the draft. They haven't drafted particularly well. And the
Cowboys roster is so top heavy and so ordinary that
whereas Philadelphia can move off stars and the Rams can
move off stars, Dallas can't. Rams can move off Jalen
Ramsey in his prime, Aaron Donald can retire two years later.
(07:19):
The defensive line is better. So when you draft like
Kansas City or like a Baltimore or like a Philadelphia,
you can move off players, you don't get trapped. I mean,
Dallas almost can't afford not to can't afford Michel Parsons.
I mean that's where they're at. So it's and this
(07:40):
is every business, including the one I work for, is
that you know, the better job you do at paying
the right people the right money, you have more flexibility.
And so like the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Rams, the
Ravens have incredible flexibility. They move off great regularly. The
(08:01):
Chiefs move off Tyreek Hill Snead, the corner. Rams move
off Jalen Ramsey. They can move off probably a year
later than they wanted to Cooper Cup, Ernest Jones, the
inside linebacker, was a great player. They can move off
guys because they draft well. Dallas doesn't draft exceptionally well
and they get trapped. So the deeper the roster, the
more flexibility the company has. And let me just throw
(08:24):
this out there. Go look at the last five general
managers to win Super Bowls. Do you think it's a coincidence?
Howie Roseman considered the best, Brett Veach argument second best,
Less need Rams, Jason light who I've talked about for years. Bucks,
You're looking right there at four of the top probably
(08:44):
six general managers in the sport. John Snyder or the
Seahawks is way up there. So the better GM, the
better the scouting department, the better you draft, the more
flexibility you have to move off players. Think there's about
thirty guys in the league tops that you just pay
for him, Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, seven quarterbacks, six left tackle,
(09:09):
you just pay for him. I don't think Mike is
one of those. But you get to a point now,
because they've drafted so with such mediocrity, did you have
to over pavor Dack, Ceedee Lamb and Micah You're kind
of trapped. Here's Micah this week on his contract talks.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
I was gonna get mine no matter what, you know
what I mean, Like the markets change every year. Their
sallyar Cat went up like another eighteen percent this year.
They numbers got nothing to do with mine, and my
numbers ain't nine.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Gotta do it.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I'm like, I'm younger Henderson. I mean, Hutchington is coming
off with injury. Like, everyone's circumstances is completely different. Hutch
is coming off this third year. Usually guys week four years,
so it just all depends why. I mean, he's up
there with Myles, so you know, it's different. Everyone's circumstances different.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
If TJ.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Watt gets four, I'm the agent for Micah Parsons, I
want thirty seven and a half. I want thirty eight,
and that gives the Cowboys three players at the top
of the market. Not great, but I kind of think
they're trapped, all right. J Mac Football Talk ready to roll.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Wait, it sounded like you think Michah Parsons will be
okay with thirty eight when TJ. Watt got forty one.
There's no world where Michael Parsons is it demanding to
be the highest paid. He's gonna want all the money,
and I think Dallas is gonna have to give it
to him.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Call they don't have a choice. They mess this up. Yeah,
I mean, you look at the highest paid non quarterbacks
in the league. I don't have a lot of trouble.
I mean, again, take out the teams. I don't. TJ.
Watt leads the NFL in sacks last five years, Jamar
Chase arguably first second best receiver. Miles Garrett is a
(10:54):
generational all time talent. Max Crosby I think's unbelievable, Justin
Jefferson's why the best weapon in the league. I don't
have a problem with these. I don't think. In my opinion,
Micah is not in TJ. Watt, Jamar Chase, Miles Garrett,
Max Crosby, Justin Jefferson's class, and I think he's more
of a splash player.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
I think he probably is. But Colin, I'm just curious.
Let's look at those six names. Let's tally up the
playoff wins last year.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
TJ.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Watt zero, Jamar Chase did not make it, Garrett did
not make it. Hunter they got the win over the Chargers,
Max Crosby and the Raiders did not make the playoffs,
and Justin Jefferson, you know, yeah, it did not work
out great for them in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So I don't know if it translates.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
And I know it sounds too cold world to just
say I'm not doing that, But I keep going back
to that Devin Booker deal in the NBA, Like I
thought it was a horrible deal. I think this TJ.
Watt deals horrible. It just doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You're not well. I do think. I do think you
can't have a league where you just play the quarter
You just pay a quarterback, right, we all know you
pay the top quarterback. I do think they're are positions
that are important. For instance, I would never pay a corner.
I mean, if you look at the positions, it's linebacker,
edge receiver, edge edge, edge receiver. Those are the right
(12:12):
positions to pay. I think there's six positions in the
NFL I'm going to pay. We all know this. First
of all, coach doesn't work against my cap. I'll coach.
I'll pay Jim Harball whatever he wants. But I think quarterback,
left tackle, one weapon, one to two players defensively in
the box. So if I had Jalen Carter and an
edge rusher. I'd probably pay both. In the secondary. I
(12:35):
am a huge believer linebackers and secondary. You should draft
a corner every year. I want them cheap. I want
my safeties. My corner's young, because remember, defensive players you
know this, get hurt statistically more than offensive players. When
players get hurt, you want them back on the field
fast as possible. Well, who recuperates and recovers faster? Players
(12:58):
under twenty seven, Not players he's twenty eight and older.
I want my defense, which gets hurt a lot, young, rotational, twitchy,
and recovering quickly from injury.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
So my point on the wide receiver bubble, Colin, tell
me the best wide receiver in the AFC Championship game
last year between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
It just wasn't.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
One's Don Greklin.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Eagles have two good ones. I'll give them that.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
Washington Terry McLaurin like, you could pay your receivers, that's fine,
but just know that they're not the guy that's gonna
get you over the top.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You need a balanced deep.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
Roster, which is, as you said earlier, what the great
gms are doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think that's the.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Smart way to build a team as opposed to just hey,
let's make it the highest Peyton Don quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
All right, Huge UFC weekend, Dana White's gonna be joining
us at the top and next hour.
Speaker 7 (13:43):
Hey, it's me Rock Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast,
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(14:04):
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Speaker 2 (14:13):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in newone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
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Speaker 1 (14:24):
Dana I top of Next hour. A huge, huge fight
this weekend of the UFC arguably one of the biggest
of the year. It's going to be a great Saturday
night for UFC. I can't wait so all week long,
off Vaca, I've been saying, don't listen to this. Lebron
James stuff. He's got a no trade clause. You're not
going anywhere, at least not now. Bread crumbs becomes headlines.
(14:47):
It's all nonsense. Here's something, though, I do believe, and
I believe it strongly, clutch sports or clutch points. There's
an article today that says people are on the NBA
believe Lebron is going to announce he's retiring after the
twenty twenty five season, and that may not be a
(15:07):
year away, that he may announce this is his last season.
And I do buy that for two reasons. Primarily Number one, Clearly,
the Lakers feel Luca is the future. Lebron knows it.
Luca knows it. Everybody in the organization knows it. Even
when AD was dominant and in his prime, it was
still Lebron's team in La. It was still Lebron was
(15:31):
the playmaker. He was sort of the shoulders up leader
of the team, guiding them in timeouts, player coach. It
was Lebron's team even when AD was dominant in the
COVID year, and Lebron for twenty three years has been
the number one priority of every organization and almost oh
is the best player. I would say the best player
(15:53):
and now he's not this year, he's not going to
be the best player. Luca in shape will be the
best player. Lebron also know the new owners are not
going to get backed into a corner and bully. These
new owners moved off Cody Bellinger, Corey Seeger, Max Scherzer,
Manny Machado. They could have had many Machado to a
long deal. He goes to their arrival to Padres and
is an all star. He's an incredible player. Let him walk,
(16:16):
Zach Grinky, let him walk. They do this. They'll pay
for Otani in his prime. They'll pay for Mookie bentson
his prime or Freddie Freeman in his prime. Okay, they're not.
They're not like you're gonna hang around and pay a fortune.
Here's the other thing, the new CBA. Lebron's too expensive
(16:36):
and too old for a guy that won't and you
can't build a round the smart teams now, the smart
gms are getting four and five years ahead on this thing.
Nobody's paying the luxury tax anymore, and everything with Lebron
operates in the near term. Nobody operates like that now
that knows what they're doing. So Lebron's just the latest
(16:57):
casualty of the new CBA are not going to blow
through the luxury tax like Joe lacub did for years
in the Warriors dynasty. That is over and it's not
his play. He's a top ten twelve guy on any night.
His play is remarkable, but he is now hard to sign.
He's an old, expensive guy who doesn't want to give you.
I mean he's I mean, I'm sure he'd take a
(17:18):
four or five year deal. Now he shouldn't pay him that.
So the best gms are not going to want a
part of what Lebron's become.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It's like Lebron's a little bit like those tight fitting
skinny jeans. They can still look good on people, but
it's not the current fashion right, little out of style,
a little out of fashion. So it's not his play.
But I can see Lebron looking at it thinking, if
you've been the number one priority and had control for
twenty three years, Michael Jordan didn't have control for twenty
(17:49):
three years. They told him is the last dance. Okay,
Lebron's arguably be the only player in NBA history control
beginning to end the minute he was drafted. That point
forward he had a lot of control, and the minute
he didn't get it in Miami or didn't feel like
he was going to get it with pat Riley, he
took it back and went to Cleveland. And so now
(18:10):
two things are happening. He's not going to be the
best player this year because Luca's in shape and will
probably average thirty a game. Still won't play defense, but
all average thirty a game, and lucas the priority. So
Lebron's always been the best player on any given night,
and Lebron's always been the priority. He's not. Dan Woiki
yesterday talked about Lebron the Lakers in the future.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
The order of operations here would have to be a
request from Lebron James. I don't believe the Lakers are
going to come to Lebron James with a trade and
say this is what we want, Will you accept it?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Right?
Speaker 8 (18:47):
I think it would have to be.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
The other way around.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
I mean, I think the Lakers are very comfortable, you know,
being in this stage of the Lebron James business, despite
sort of the inherent uncomfortabilities of it, particularly the win
now pressure that his presence has put on the organization.
Since really today he signed for this last chapter of
his career.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I honestly believe they went and got DeAndre Ayton because
deep down they know it's the last year Lebron's going
to be a Laker and they wanted to give him
a shot. DeAndre Ayton's not a perfect fit. Powdy Moody
won't defend, but Luca reeves DeAndre Ayton Lebron James at
least to the trading deadline. It feels big, it sounds interesting,
(19:28):
it sounds offensively elite, and it will be. It's not
gonna be as good as Houston or Denver or Oklahoma
City or I think Dallas potentially, but it'll be good.
And I think the owners are saying, listen, let's keep
it to ourselves. Let's give him one last great run
his last year in LA. Let's get because he's still
(19:49):
a great player. Let's get everything out of it. And
at the trade deadline, if it's not working and Ayden's
moody and you know, and Lebron you can.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
See his age.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I doubt it that you could see his age, then
we'll make a move. But for the time being, I
do think it's on the table for Lebron before the
end of next season to announce, Yeah, this is it,
this is gonna be it.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noon Easter non a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
All right, Ower three, we finally had Dana White. He's busy,
he's in New Orleans. UFC three eighteen. That's gonna be
a great card, highlighted by one of those classic fights.
Conmemberwhen McGregor and Nate Diaz would meet two and three
times and you're like, Saturday, you knew what you were
gonna be doing. And I think we got Dustin Fourier,
who's one of the all time most likable fighters', most interesting,
(20:40):
most entertaining against Max Holloway. They're meeting for a third time.
I don't want to waste Jana White's time. He's the
CEO in the UFC President He is joining us live
from New Orleans, and we appreciate his busy guy. So
what's interesting in the history of UFC. The best fighters
I've ever seen are John Jones, who was unbelievable in
his prime, and I think Kabebe who made even Connor
(21:03):
McGregor look completely upmatched. But Dustin Pourrier, who fights Holloway
tomorrow is one of the more entertaining, likable, interesting guys.
He's on that second tier of guys that when he fights,
I have to watch. Did you envision him when you
found him being this great, this captivating for this long Dana.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
Who Max and Dustin? I mean, yeah, yeah, Well you
never know. You never know. Obviously, you know when he
first faced Connor, they were really uh early in their careers,
and and Connor won that fight, and you never know
how a guy is going to bounce back from a loss.
(21:46):
But if you look at Poorier's last eleven fights, I mean,
it's it's all been straight killers, and seven of them
are former world champions.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
So he's absolutely.
Speaker 9 (21:57):
A very special fighter, as is Holloway, which is what
makes this fight so intriguing.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
And the history of the UF seen nobody's landed more
strikes than Holloway and the poree will sit in the
middle of the ring and throw blows. Is you know
what's interesting about your sport? And I was talking to
a member of the staff when Caitlin Clark came to
the WNBA. They weren't prepared for it. They weren't well run,
they weren't well organized, she's overwhelmed them. The officiating's bad.
(22:26):
You got you and the Fertita's run a great sport.
So when Connor McGregor arrived, you were prepared for it.
But like Caitlin Clark, he was so damn popular, so fast,
and I want you to talk about that. You have
not only been on the ground floor, but you had
your Caitlin Clark. You had a superstar emerged that was
literally the most viral human being in American sports. So
(22:48):
as the WNBA is struggling with Caitlin, go back to
the Connor days of what it's like to run a
sport and here comes a superstar, a Taylor Swift into
your lap. Do you remember? Was it great? Did it
create anxiety? Take us back to that time?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (23:06):
No, I mean the first time that I ever sat
down and had dinner with Connor McGregor in Las Vegas.
He flew out from Ireland and I left the dinner
and I called Lorenzo.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
For Tita and I said, let me tell you what.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
I don't know if this guy can fight or not,
but if you can even throw a punch, he's gonna
be a huge superstar.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Fro Us and.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
Obviously you know, we leaned into that, and you're right. Listen,
Caitlin Clark is a massive superstar. I'm a fan, so
all the stuff that I got going on right now.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
I actually had my assistant.
Speaker 9 (23:35):
Look to see when I have season tickets to the Aces,
so I had them find out, you know, when she
was coming to town, and I'm clear on my schedule
so I can go to that game and watch her
play live. I agree with what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, so you are apparently I just read this the
other day and this made news. Are going to have
a card at the White House. So you've gone to
an island, travel around the country, now you're going to
have something at the White House. Obviously, I mean they're
security and all these things. Were you shocked when that
was offered to you or did you know that was coming?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I did not know was coming.
Speaker 9 (24:11):
Yeah, but when he offered it up, I was like,
oh yeah, I'm all in on this. So we've already
sent a logistics team out there that have walked the
White House. There's calls going back and forth every day
between Craig We're sorry, and my head of production and
the White House. And then we will have all these
renderings done within the next ten days, and where to
fly out and sit down and walk them through it
(24:33):
and see what he wants and what he doesn't want.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
So you're also going getting involved in boxing with Canelo
and Crawford. So you and I have talked about this.
We both grew up boxing fans. I grew up with
mommad Alian Fraser. I grew up with Sugar Anne Hearns
and Hagler. You did too as a Boston guy, and
then you're part of UFC. I prefer UFC. I think
it's more consistent. I think the quality the women's division,
(24:59):
but I still have a soft spot for a great
boxing match. I saw Pacquiao fight six times. So as
you go into boxing, why did you choose to do it?
Speaker 9 (25:11):
You know, I've been talking about it for a long time.
You know, I've had a lot of criticism of boxing
over the years, and now here I am. It's time
to put my money where my mouth is and tickets
go on sale today, actually for Canelo Crawford Legion Stadium
September thirteenth, Tickets on sale today. You know, for me
(25:32):
to be able to my first boxing match that I'm
going to promote other than McGregor Mayweather is Canelo versus Crawford,
you know, two of the greatest fighters of our era
and in a big, massive fight in a stadium in
Las Vegas. I mean, this whole thing just sort of
fell in my lap. I have other plans in twenty
(25:53):
six and what I'm going to do with boxing, but
this fight here, yeah, this, this just sort of happens,
shake Turkey and I ended up doing this deal for
me to promote this fight.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So Max Holloway and Dustin Poorier tomorrow. One of the
hard things for you, even a Nick Connitt WWE, although
USC is different obviously, is finding your next star. Now,
in the NFL, you have a draft, you have seven
rounds of draft. They come to you. But in your world,
where do you find Take me behind the scenes on
the standard, Where do you find your next Dustin Poier?
(26:28):
Where do you find your stars? Are you flying around
the globe to find Do you have a team of
people that do that?
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 9 (26:35):
I have matchmakers that are always looking for up and
coming talent.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
But where it really comes from? Right now?
Speaker 9 (26:41):
We do a show called Data White's Contender Series. Yes,
starts in August and the best unsigned fighters in the
world fight each other on this show to see who
warns a contract, and it's been unbelievable for creating talent.
We've already had three world champions come off that show.
(27:01):
So yeah, that's that's really where it is right now.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Okay, UFC three to eighteen, Halloway Pooria tomorrow. The Smoothie
King Center in New Orleans is great, by the way,
it's a great, great venue. It's going to be wild
because Potier is actually from there. Holloway's from the Hawaii.
Before I let you go forever, there was this stupid
stigma about you can't have pro teams in Vegas, and
you know, it was ridiculous. I mean, it just apps.
(27:27):
I mean, nobody monitors sports gambling like Vegas. They don't
want games thrown. So now you've got hockey, UFC, You've
got a baseball coming, You've got the Raiders For people
that haven't been to Vegas in a while. Are you
surprised how willing over the last five years pro sports
(27:47):
have been. I mean, you were the first in that,
really you you because boxing was all over the place.
Are you surprised that people have finally embraced Vegas over
the last half decade.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Well, I think it was the gambling issue.
Speaker 9 (27:59):
I think you know, they were so stuck on the
gambling issue and one stack it over.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
You could tell if you grew up in Vegas.
Speaker 9 (28:07):
When you think about the un LV running Rebels, they
were like the pro team when I was a kid,
and they were so well supported and uh, you know,
financially and people buying tickets and the list goes on
and on. I knew that. Listen, if you're going to
go to an away game for your team anytime during
the year, which one are you gonna pick? You're definitely
(28:29):
going to Vegas. It's it's a no brainer. You go
in there. You have an unbelievable weekend, tons of hotels,
the greatest restaurants in the world, the best shopping, There's
always something to do, and it's just a noble I mean,
there are so many sports you There's gonna be a
ping pong league there pretty soon. Vegas is the sports
(28:50):
capital of the world right.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Now, dustin Porri before we go. But a boxer gets older,
and do they say to you, hey, Dana, this is
gonna be my last fight. Do you approach them sometimes
and go, you know what, man, we care about your health,
we care about you as a guy. When you get
a poorier who's still very good, how who makes the decision,
(29:12):
Dana is it? Do you ever lead that and say, hey, guy,
I think he had about two fights left.
Speaker 9 (29:17):
Well, poorier in Holloway are ranked number four and number
five in the world and the nastiest division in the sport.
So you know, it's not like they're they're on this
huge decline or anything like that. And you know, Fourier
was the one that said I think I'm ready to retire,
and he wanted to do it here, you know, in
(29:38):
his home state. And think about this highest grossing event
in arena history tonight over seven or Saturday night and
over seventeen thousand in attendance. So still a huge superstar still,
you know, on top of his game, and a legitimate
badass fight for his last fight, you know, his retirement fight.
(29:59):
So now there's stuff I would never go to a
guy like POORI and say, hey, you should think about,
you know, retiring. There have been guys, but it's usually
guys that are on a skid and don't want to
retire it. Those are usually the ones that I say,
you know, you should probably hang it up.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
So I'm buying it tomorrow. Max Holloway, Dustin Poorier, UFC
three eighteen. Danny, you're a busy guy. I always appreciate
you stopping buying giving the herd ten minutes
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noone Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Well, here we go. It is a Friday news breaking.
It is great to be here. We are live and
it is the Herd. Wherever you may be and however
you may be listening. Always appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Jack.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
You know what, after some time off, you and I
got back in the saddle and there there is actually
been a lot going on this week. And we got
a little story that broke yesterday, which is good for us,
and it's something we've been banging on. I've been banging
on the show for about six months. They hate me
in Pittsburgh and once again they're not gonna like I'm
going to say here, but good Friday to you. You
(01:02):
ready to go?
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, let's rock and roll?
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, So TJ Watt after our show yesterday who's a
great player. He's an absolutely great player. There's no disputing
that deserves the money. Happy for him three year deal,
a one hundred and twenty three million dollar extension. So this
goes back to great player, deserves the money. I don't
question the player. I question the direction of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
(01:28):
It's like I don't question the power and the brilliance
and the influence of Meta. I question the direction of metaverse.
Are we all so miserable with our lives we're going
to be wearing headsets around all day. It's not the technology,
it's the application of the technology with Meta. And that's
how I feel about Pittsburgh. It's not the talent of
(01:48):
JJ Watt, it's how they prioritize defense. And frankly, their
defense isn't that good. It's four straight years it's been
out of the top ten in total defense. If you
go to the talk playoffs, because that's all that matters
in this sport. January, if you go look at the
last five playoff games from the Pittsburgh Steelers, they've given
up twenty eight to thirty one, forty two, forty eight
(02:09):
and forty five. They give up forty points a game.
So like, they're spending all this money on the wrong
side of the ball and they're not dominant. Well, they've
gotten better on defense and they've gotten worse on offense
because the league's changed. They are completely disfunctional on offense.
Last year, this is hard to do. With the talent
they had, it was hard to do. They were twenty
(02:30):
ninth in the red zone. How they good play Rogie
Harris Pickens, Russell Wilson, one of the best young centers
in the league. They were twenty ninth in the red zone.
They were twenty seventh best offensive line. It's almost impossible.
So when I look at Pittsburgh, my tickets don't hate
(02:51):
the player, hate the direction, hate what they prioritized. Why
can't they watch the Rams and the Niners and the
Lions and the Chiefs and the Eagles and the Bills.
Keep your defense cheap and young. Pay one great defensive player.
I'd be all for paying JJ Watt this if the
(03:13):
rest of your cap was on offense and you had
an elite quarterback, an elite left tackle, and an elite
running back. The Steelers need a more balanced football diet.
The league went into protein and they're all carbs, and
what is their answer. I keep hearing, well, they're all
in and their answer to their offensive woes forty year
(03:35):
old Aaron Rodgers, who is like sort of committed in
the offseason. He's their ozempic. He's going to solve everything.
He's going to solve their unbalanced diet. So again, it's
not TJ. Watt. Look around at the winning his teams here,
Detroit's on fire, Buffalo, Kansas City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Rams,
they're key, They're giving up defensive players. And again I've
(04:00):
talked to multiple gms on this. Pay for a TJ Watt,
pay for a Chris Jones, pay eventually for a Jaredverse,
pay for the Max Crosby. But then you got to
just stay young and stay cheap at safety and corner
and linebacker.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So you can.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Pay a left tackle top of the market, quarterback top
of the market, center top of the market, two weapons
top of the market. But it's not the player. Eric
Man Jenny talked about it this week. It's not that
the player is not worth the money.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I'm not sure if I would take the tjwat calls
or not, especially if I'm Pittsburgh and I'm Pittsburgh this season.
It's not like they're loaded up offensively and that's going
to be able to carry the day. When you look
at TJ. Watt, he said a little over thirty sacks
between the last two seasons. Every single game you have
(04:52):
to accountform every single game. He's the guy that offensively
you go into the room and say, look, this player
can ruin the game for us.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's not the player, it's the prioritization of the defensive
side of the ball as the league has moved to
offense all the rules. It's not anti TJ.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Watt.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
He is worth the money. I think he leaves the
NFL in sacks last five years. So, and how does
this play to the next story The Dallas Cowboys. Next
up is Michaeh Parsons. So the Cowboys tend to wait
and wait and wait. So now Dallas is trapped and
so TJ. Watt. If you go look at the last
two years of TJ. Wat's production, he is better than
(05:38):
Micah Parson's last two years of production. But it's kind
of close. If I was Michaeh Parsons and I was
Michah Parsons agent, I'd want eighty five percent. I mean
of Tjatt. Tj Wat's got thirty sacks. I got twenty six,
he got sixty three. Quarterback kits So I got fifty six.
Mike has got more pressures. So again he and his
(06:01):
agent have an argument. If tj Wat's getting forty one million,
Mike has got to get thirty seven thirty seven and
a half thirty eight. He's also four years younger. So
to me, and I've said this before, there's only one
or two players per roster that you know very early
their stars. And it's usually like quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher,
(06:23):
maybe a great weapon. And then there's players like Josh
Allen of Buffalo, Patrick Surtan of Denver, Jalen Carter of Philadelphia.
I would call them all pro plus players. Those are
generational players. You pay them early. You pay Jalen Carter early.
Rams are going to have this with Jared Verse. Pay
him a year early. You may have one a roster
(06:45):
on that. Well, the Cowboys are going to pay Dak
top of the market, Ceedee Lamb top of the market.
They already are. Now they're going to have Mike at
top of the market. And so do I think Michaeh
Parsons is worth that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
But Dallas is trapped because Jerry has too much influence
on the draft. They haven't drafted particularly well. And the
Cowboys roster is so top heavy and so ordinary that
whereas Philadelphia can move off stars and the Rams can
move off stars, Dallas can't. Rams can move off Jalen
Ramsey in his prime, Aaron Donald can retire two years later.
(07:19):
The defensive line is better. So when you draft like
Kansas City or like a Baltimore or like a Philadelphia,
you can move off players, you don't get trapped. I mean,
Dallas almost can't afford not to can't afford Michel Parsons.
I mean that's where they're at. So it's and this
(07:40):
is every business, including the one I work for, is
that you know, the better job you do at paying
the right people the right money, you have more flexibility.
And so like the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Rams, the
Ravens have incredible flexibility. They move off great regularly. The
(08:01):
Chiefs move off Tyreek Hill Snead, the corner. Rams move
off Jalen Ramsey. They can move off probably a year
later than they wanted to Cooper Cup, Ernest Jones, the
inside linebacker, was a great player. They can move off
guys because they draft well. Dallas doesn't draft exceptionally well
and they get trapped. So the deeper the roster, the
more flexibility the company has. And let me just throw
(08:24):
this out there. Go look at the last five general
managers to win Super Bowls. Do you think it's a coincidence?
Howie Roseman considered the best, Brett Veach argument second best,
Less need Rams, Jason light who I've talked about for years. Bucks,
You're looking right there at four of the top probably
(08:44):
six general managers in the sport. John Snyder or the
Seahawks is way up there. So the better GM, the
better the scouting department, the better you draft, the more
flexibility you have to move off players. Think there's about
thirty guys in the league tops that you just pay
for him, Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, seven quarterbacks, six left tackle,
(09:09):
you just pay for him. I don't think Mike is
one of those. But you get to a point now,
because they've drafted so with such mediocrity, did you have
to over pavor Dack, Ceedee Lamb and Micah You're kind
of trapped. Here's Micah this week on his contract talks.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
I was gonna get mine no matter what, you know
what I mean, Like the markets change every year. Their
sallyar Cat went up like another eighteen percent this year.
They numbers got nothing to do with mine, and my
numbers ain't nine.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Gotta do it.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
I'm like, I'm younger Henderson. I mean, Hutchington is coming
off with injury. Like, everyone's circumstances is completely different. Hutch
is coming off this third year. Usually guys week four years,
so it just all depends why. I mean, he's up
there with Myles, so you know, it's different. Everyone's circumstances different.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
If TJ.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Watt gets four, I'm the agent for Micah Parsons, I
want thirty seven and a half. I want thirty eight,
and that gives the Cowboys three players at the top
of the market. Not great, but I kind of think
they're trapped, all right. J Mac Football Talk ready to roll.
Speaker 6 (10:19):
Wait, it sounded like you think Michah Parsons will be
okay with thirty eight when TJ. Watt got forty one.
There's no world where Michael Parsons is it demanding to
be the highest paid. He's gonna want all the money,
and I think Dallas is gonna have to give it
to him.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Call they don't have a choice. They mess this up. Yeah,
I mean, you look at the highest paid non quarterbacks
in the league. I don't have a lot of trouble.
I mean, again, take out the teams. I don't. TJ.
Watt leads the NFL in sacks last five years, Jamar
Chase arguably first second best receiver. Miles Garrett is a
(10:54):
generational all time talent. Max Crosby I think's unbelievable, Justin
Jefferson's why the best weapon in the league. I don't
have a problem with these. I don't think. In my opinion,
Micah is not in TJ. Watt, Jamar Chase, Miles Garrett,
Max Crosby, Justin Jefferson's class, and I think he's more
of a splash player.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
I think he probably is. But Colin, I'm just curious.
Let's look at those six names. Let's tally up the
playoff wins last year.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
TJ.
Speaker 6 (11:19):
Watt zero, Jamar Chase did not make it, Garrett did
not make it. Hunter they got the win over the Chargers,
Max Crosby and the Raiders did not make the playoffs,
and Justin Jefferson, you know, yeah, it did not work
out great for them in the postseason.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So I don't know if it translates.
Speaker 6 (11:36):
And I know it sounds too cold world to just
say I'm not doing that, But I keep going back
to that Devin Booker deal in the NBA, Like I
thought it was a horrible deal. I think this TJ.
Watt deals horrible. It just doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
You're not well. I do think. I do think you
can't have a league where you just play the quarter
You just pay a quarterback, right, we all know you
pay the top quarterback. I do think they're are positions
that are important. For instance, I would never pay a corner.
I mean, if you look at the positions, it's linebacker,
edge receiver, edge edge, edge receiver. Those are the right
(12:12):
positions to pay. I think there's six positions in the
NFL I'm going to pay. We all know this. First
of all, coach doesn't work against my cap. I'll coach.
I'll pay Jim Harball whatever he wants. But I think quarterback,
left tackle, one weapon, one to two players defensively in
the box. So if I had Jalen Carter and an
edge rusher. I'd probably pay both. In the secondary. I
(12:35):
am a huge believer linebackers and secondary. You should draft
a corner every year. I want them cheap. I want
my safeties. My corner's young, because remember, defensive players you
know this, get hurt statistically more than offensive players. When
players get hurt, you want them back on the field
fast as possible. Well, who recuperates and recovers faster? Players
(12:58):
under twenty seven, Not players he's twenty eight and older.
I want my defense, which gets hurt a lot, young, rotational, twitchy,
and recovering quickly from injury.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
So my point on the wide receiver bubble, Colin, tell
me the best wide receiver in the AFC Championship game
last year between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
It just wasn't.
Speaker 4 (13:17):
One's Don Greklin.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Eagles have two good ones. I'll give them that.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
Washington Terry McLaurin like, you could pay your receivers, that's fine,
but just know that they're not the guy that's gonna
get you over the top.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You need a balanced deep.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
Roster, which is, as you said earlier, what the great
gms are doing.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I think that's the.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Smart way to build a team as opposed to just hey,
let's make it the highest Peyton Don quarterback.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
All right, Huge UFC weekend, Dana White's gonna be joining
us at the top and next hour.
Speaker 7 (13:43):
Hey, it's me Rock Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast,
Inside the Parker for twenty two minutes of piping hot
baseball talk, featuring the biggest names the newsmakers in the sport.
Whether you believe in analytics or the I test out
all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, so
(14:04):
do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker
with Rob Parker on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcast.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
in newone Eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Dana I top of Next hour. A huge, huge fight
this weekend of the UFC arguably one of the biggest
of the year. It's going to be a great Saturday
night for UFC. I can't wait so all week long,
off Vaca, I've been saying, don't listen to this. Lebron
James stuff. He's got a no trade clause. You're not
going anywhere, at least not now. Bread crumbs becomes headlines.
(14:47):
It's all nonsense. Here's something, though, I do believe, and
I believe it strongly, clutch sports or clutch points. There's
an article today that says people are on the NBA
believe Lebron is going to announce he's retiring after the
twenty twenty five season, and that may not be a
(15:07):
year away, that he may announce this is his last season.
And I do buy that for two reasons. Primarily Number one, Clearly,
the Lakers feel Luca is the future. Lebron knows it.
Luca knows it. Everybody in the organization knows it. Even
when AD was dominant and in his prime, it was
still Lebron's team in La. It was still Lebron was
(15:31):
the playmaker. He was sort of the shoulders up leader
of the team, guiding them in timeouts, player coach. It
was Lebron's team even when AD was dominant in the
COVID year, and Lebron for twenty three years has been
the number one priority of every organization and almost oh
is the best player. I would say the best player
(15:53):
and now he's not this year, he's not going to
be the best player. Luca in shape will be the
best player. Lebron also know the new owners are not
going to get backed into a corner and bully. These
new owners moved off Cody Bellinger, Corey Seeger, Max Scherzer,
Manny Machado. They could have had many Machado to a
long deal. He goes to their arrival to Padres and
is an all star. He's an incredible player. Let him walk,
(16:16):
Zach Grinky, let him walk. They do this. They'll pay
for Otani in his prime. They'll pay for Mookie bentson
his prime or Freddie Freeman in his prime. Okay, they're not.
They're not like you're gonna hang around and pay a fortune.
Here's the other thing, the new CBA. Lebron's too expensive
(16:36):
and too old for a guy that won't and you
can't build a round the smart teams now, the smart
gms are getting four and five years ahead on this thing.
Nobody's paying the luxury tax anymore, and everything with Lebron
operates in the near term. Nobody operates like that now
that knows what they're doing. So Lebron's just the latest
(16:57):
casualty of the new CBA are not going to blow
through the luxury tax like Joe lacub did for years
in the Warriors dynasty. That is over and it's not
his play. He's a top ten twelve guy on any night.
His play is remarkable, but he is now hard to sign.
He's an old, expensive guy who doesn't want to give you.
I mean he's I mean, I'm sure he'd take a
(17:18):
four or five year deal. Now he shouldn't pay him that.
So the best gms are not going to want a
part of what Lebron's become.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
It's like Lebron's a little bit like those tight fitting
skinny jeans. They can still look good on people, but
it's not the current fashion right, little out of style,
a little out of fashion. So it's not his play.
But I can see Lebron looking at it thinking, if
you've been the number one priority and had control for
twenty three years, Michael Jordan didn't have control for twenty
(17:49):
three years. They told him is the last dance. Okay,
Lebron's arguably be the only player in NBA history control
beginning to end the minute he was drafted. That point
forward he had a lot of control, and the minute
he didn't get it in Miami or didn't feel like
he was going to get it with pat Riley, he
took it back and went to Cleveland. And so now
(18:10):
two things are happening. He's not going to be the
best player this year because Luca's in shape and will
probably average thirty a game. Still won't play defense, but
all average thirty a game, and lucas the priority. So
Lebron's always been the best player on any given night,
and Lebron's always been the priority. He's not. Dan Woiki
yesterday talked about Lebron the Lakers in the future.
Speaker 8 (18:32):
The order of operations here would have to be a
request from Lebron James. I don't believe the Lakers are
going to come to Lebron James with a trade and
say this is what we want, Will you accept it?
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Right?
Speaker 8 (18:47):
I think it would have to be.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
The other way around.
Speaker 8 (18:48):
I mean, I think the Lakers are very comfortable, you know,
being in this stage of the Lebron James business, despite
sort of the inherent uncomfortabilities of it, particularly the win
now pressure that his presence has put on the organization.
Since really today he signed for this last chapter of
his career.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I honestly believe they went and got DeAndre Ayton because
deep down they know it's the last year Lebron's going
to be a Laker and they wanted to give him
a shot. DeAndre Ayton's not a perfect fit. Powdy Moody
won't defend, but Luca reeves DeAndre Ayton Lebron James at
least to the trading deadline. It feels big, it sounds interesting,
(19:28):
it sounds offensively elite, and it will be. It's not
gonna be as good as Houston or Denver or Oklahoma
City or I think Dallas potentially, but it'll be good.
And I think the owners are saying, listen, let's keep
it to ourselves. Let's give him one last great run
his last year in LA. Let's get because he's still
(19:49):
a great player. Let's get everything out of it. And
at the trade deadline, if it's not working and Ayden's
moody and you know, and Lebron you can.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
See his age.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
I doubt it that you could see his age, then
we'll make a move. But for the time being, I
do think it's on the table for Lebron before the
end of next season to announce, Yeah, this is it,
this is gonna be it.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd Weekdays
and Noon Easter non a em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
All right, Ower three, we finally had Dana White. He's busy,
he's in New Orleans. UFC three eighteen. That's gonna be
a great card, highlighted by one of those classic fights.
Conmemberwhen McGregor and Nate Diaz would meet two and three
times and you're like, Saturday, you knew what you were
gonna be doing. And I think we got Dustin Fourier,
who's one of the all time most likable fighters', most interesting,
(20:40):
most entertaining against Max Holloway. They're meeting for a third time.
I don't want to waste Jana White's time. He's the
CEO in the UFC President He is joining us live
from New Orleans, and we appreciate his busy guy. So
what's interesting in the history of UFC. The best fighters
I've ever seen are John Jones, who was unbelievable in
his prime, and I think Kabebe who made even Connor
(21:03):
McGregor look completely upmatched. But Dustin Pourrier, who fights Holloway
tomorrow is one of the more entertaining, likable, interesting guys.
He's on that second tier of guys that when he fights,
I have to watch. Did you envision him when you
found him being this great, this captivating for this long Dana.
Speaker 9 (21:24):
Who Max and Dustin? I mean, yeah, yeah, Well you
never know. You never know. Obviously, you know when he
first faced Connor, they were really uh early in their careers,
and and Connor won that fight, and you never know
how a guy is going to bounce back from a loss.
(21:46):
But if you look at Poorier's last eleven fights, I mean,
it's it's all been straight killers, and seven of them
are former world champions.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
So he's absolutely.
Speaker 9 (21:57):
A very special fighter, as is Holloway, which is what
makes this fight so intriguing.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
And the history of the UF seen nobody's landed more
strikes than Holloway and the poree will sit in the
middle of the ring and throw blows. Is you know
what's interesting about your sport? And I was talking to
a member of the staff when Caitlin Clark came to
the WNBA. They weren't prepared for it. They weren't well run,
they weren't well organized, she's overwhelmed them. The officiating's bad.
(22:26):
You got you and the Fertita's run a great sport.
So when Connor McGregor arrived, you were prepared for it.
But like Caitlin Clark, he was so damn popular, so fast,
and I want you to talk about that. You have
not only been on the ground floor, but you had
your Caitlin Clark. You had a superstar emerged that was
literally the most viral human being in American sports. So
(22:48):
as the WNBA is struggling with Caitlin, go back to
the Connor days of what it's like to run a
sport and here comes a superstar, a Taylor Swift into
your lap. Do you remember? Was it great? Did it
create anxiety? Take us back to that time?
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (23:06):
No, I mean the first time that I ever sat
down and had dinner with Connor McGregor in Las Vegas.
He flew out from Ireland and I left the dinner
and I called Lorenzo.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
For Tita and I said, let me tell you what.
Speaker 9 (23:17):
I don't know if this guy can fight or not,
but if you can even throw a punch, he's gonna
be a huge superstar.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
Fro Us and.
Speaker 9 (23:23):
Obviously you know, we leaned into that, and you're right. Listen,
Caitlin Clark is a massive superstar. I'm a fan, so
all the stuff that I got going on right now.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
I actually had my assistant.
Speaker 9 (23:35):
Look to see when I have season tickets to the Aces,
so I had them find out, you know, when she
was coming to town, and I'm clear on my schedule
so I can go to that game and watch her
play live. I agree with what you're saying.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, so you are apparently I just read this the
other day and this made news. Are going to have
a card at the White House. So you've gone to
an island, travel around the country, now you're going to
have something at the White House. Obviously, I mean they're
security and all these things. Were you shocked when that
was offered to you or did you know that was coming?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I did not know was coming.
Speaker 9 (24:11):
Yeah, but when he offered it up, I was like,
oh yeah, I'm all in on this. So we've already
sent a logistics team out there that have walked the
White House. There's calls going back and forth every day
between Craig We're sorry, and my head of production and
the White House. And then we will have all these
renderings done within the next ten days, and where to
fly out and sit down and walk them through it
(24:33):
and see what he wants and what he doesn't want.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
So you're also going getting involved in boxing with Canelo
and Crawford. So you and I have talked about this.
We both grew up boxing fans. I grew up with
mommad Alian Fraser. I grew up with Sugar Anne Hearns
and Hagler. You did too as a Boston guy, and
then you're part of UFC. I prefer UFC. I think
it's more consistent. I think the quality the women's division,
(24:59):
but I still have a soft spot for a great
boxing match. I saw Pacquiao fight six times. So as
you go into boxing, why did you choose to do it?
Speaker 9 (25:11):
You know, I've been talking about it for a long time.
You know, I've had a lot of criticism of boxing
over the years, and now here I am. It's time
to put my money where my mouth is and tickets
go on sale today, actually for Canelo Crawford Legion Stadium
September thirteenth, Tickets on sale today. You know, for me
(25:32):
to be able to my first boxing match that I'm
going to promote other than McGregor Mayweather is Canelo versus Crawford,
you know, two of the greatest fighters of our era
and in a big, massive fight in a stadium in
Las Vegas. I mean, this whole thing just sort of
fell in my lap. I have other plans in twenty
(25:53):
six and what I'm going to do with boxing, but
this fight here, yeah, this, this just sort of happens,
shake Turkey and I ended up doing this deal for
me to promote this fight.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
So Max Holloway and Dustin Poorier tomorrow. One of the
hard things for you, even a Nick Connitt WWE, although
USC is different obviously, is finding your next star. Now,
in the NFL, you have a draft, you have seven
rounds of draft. They come to you. But in your world,
where do you find Take me behind the scenes on
the standard, Where do you find your next Dustin Poier?
(26:28):
Where do you find your stars? Are you flying around
the globe to find Do you have a team of
people that do that?
Speaker 3 (26:34):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 9 (26:35):
I have matchmakers that are always looking for up and
coming talent.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
But where it really comes from? Right now?
Speaker 9 (26:41):
We do a show called Data White's Contender Series. Yes,
starts in August and the best unsigned fighters in the
world fight each other on this show to see who
warns a contract, and it's been unbelievable for creating talent.
We've already had three world champions come off that show.
(27:01):
So yeah, that's that's really where it is right now.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Okay, UFC three to eighteen, Halloway Pooria tomorrow. The Smoothie
King Center in New Orleans is great, by the way,
it's a great, great venue. It's going to be wild
because Potier is actually from there. Holloway's from the Hawaii.
Before I let you go forever, there was this stupid
stigma about you can't have pro teams in Vegas, and
you know, it was ridiculous. I mean, it just apps.
(27:27):
I mean, nobody monitors sports gambling like Vegas. They don't
want games thrown. So now you've got hockey, UFC, You've
got a baseball coming, You've got the Raiders For people
that haven't been to Vegas in a while. Are you
surprised how willing over the last five years pro sports
(27:47):
have been. I mean, you were the first in that,
really you you because boxing was all over the place.
Are you surprised that people have finally embraced Vegas over
the last half decade.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Well, I think it was the gambling issue.
Speaker 9 (27:59):
I think you know, they were so stuck on the
gambling issue and one stack it over.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
You could tell if you grew up in Vegas.
Speaker 9 (28:07):
When you think about the un LV running Rebels, they
were like the pro team when I was a kid,
and they were so well supported and uh, you know,
financially and people buying tickets and the list goes on
and on. I knew that. Listen, if you're going to
go to an away game for your team anytime during
the year, which one are you gonna pick? You're definitely
(28:29):
going to Vegas. It's it's a no brainer. You go
in there. You have an unbelievable weekend, tons of hotels,
the greatest restaurants in the world, the best shopping, There's
always something to do, and it's just a noble I mean,
there are so many sports you There's gonna be a
ping pong league there pretty soon. Vegas is the sports
(28:50):
capital of the world right.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Now, dustin Porri before we go. But a boxer gets older,
and do they say to you, hey, Dana, this is
gonna be my last fight. Do you approach them sometimes
and go, you know what, man, we care about your health,
we care about you as a guy. When you get
a poorier who's still very good, how who makes the decision,
(29:12):
Dana is it? Do you ever lead that and say, hey, guy,
I think he had about two fights left.
Speaker 9 (29:17):
Well, poorier in Holloway are ranked number four and number
five in the world and the nastiest division in the sport.
So you know, it's not like they're they're on this
huge decline or anything like that. And you know, Fourier
was the one that said I think I'm ready to retire,
and he wanted to do it here, you know, in
(29:38):
his home state. And think about this highest grossing event
in arena history tonight over seven or Saturday night and
over seventeen thousand in attendance. So still a huge superstar still,
you know, on top of his game, and a legitimate
badass fight for his last fight, you know, his retirement fight.
(29:59):
So now there's stuff I would never go to a
guy like POORI and say, hey, you should think about,
you know, retiring. There have been guys, but it's usually
guys that are on a skid and don't want to
retire it. Those are usually the ones that I say,
you know, you should probably hang it up.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
So I'm buying it tomorrow. Max Holloway, Dustin Poorier, UFC
three eighteen. Danny, you're a busy guy. I always appreciate
you stopping buying giving the herd ten minutes
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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