MMA Fighting - 2024 UFC Champions Predictions: Who Will Hold UFC Gold By Year's End?

Episode Date: January 1, 2024

Who will be our 11 UFC champions by the end of 2024? The gang is BACK to predict the upcoming championship slate and debate the biggest winners and biggest upsets of the next 12 months. Follow Shaun Al-Shatti @ShaunAlShatti Follow Damon Martin @DamonMartin Follow Jed Meshew @JedKMeshew Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer,

but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose

to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now, only from Audible. Podcast Network. What is up, my friends? I hope you all out there. Having a wonderful week

and a happy new year. We are coming at you. It's January 1st. I am Sean Alshadhi. We've got the whole crew here. Jed Mishu, Damon Martin. 2024. And we're kicking off the year, fellas, with a little competition today.

We're calling our shots. We're running it back. We are peering into those old crystal balls to predict the UFC champions at the end of this year. At the end of 2024, it is still weird that I am saying, 24. It does not feel like 2024, but somehow it is. And fellas, we have done this before. We've done this offline, just informally amongst ourselves.

And then last year, we sort of made it official. We did it for real, for real. And I said it last year, I'll say it again, whatever you're thinking out there listening to this in podcast land, whatever's running through your mind, trust me, if you've never done this, you should give it a shot because it is so much damn harder than you think it is. Case in point.

Last year we had 11 people on staff who participated in this. 11 people whose lives are literally 24-7 revolving around MMA, all of us who spend an unhealthy amount of time and brain power, just thinking about this dumb sport. and only one of us got even half of the answers right. Only one got half. Gierre McCruz, the Brazilian Beast, one last year's picks competition.

He got six out of 12 divisions right for the UFC champion predictions. The rest of us just got five or less. And poor A.K. He's not here to defend himself. But he got one out of 12. That seems impossible. I don't know how you do that, but he pulled it off. Again, though, this is a very hard.

Impressive. It's a very hard. exercise. And also I will say, Jed, you maybe nailed the most impressive picks of anybody, just in terms of you nailed women's bantam weight and women's featherweight. We'll just not have champs. Perfect. I felt great about that bet at the time too. And the whole year played out. I was like, oh, this is, this is just ideal. As soon as Amanda retires, both of the, I was like, featherweight, she's going to be gone. And then they won't do bantam weight because I thought she'd fight near the end of the year and then retire at that point. But then she followed.

you know early in the year but then they just gave up so it worked out well they just threw their hands up and they're like this division isn't worth it and uh we're left with no champ so just for you guys out there among us on this podcast jed you you got first among us uh you got five out of 12 right you were second place on the whole website tied with new york rick eric jackman uh i got four out of 12 so i was one back behind you and then damon you edged out AK you beat AK you got two out of 12 I got the do. So we're going to get into it. We're going to rip through these.

But before we start, I just want to open the floor here. Was this easier or harder for you guys than last year? Because I will say it feels like we're in a weird, very nebulous gray area with several of these divisions. Does it not? Oh, yeah. So I think it's both, right? So when I was doing my list this year, I remember last year, I felt pretty good about my list. because, I mean, one, there were so many obvious options that we're going to, like,

all right, we know Brandon Royval and Brandon Marino are about, Alexander Pantoja and Brandon Marino, sorry, are about to fight. The winner of that probably going to be the dude who holds the belt because we know that Brandon Royval is next in line and both men have already beaten him. That seems like an easy one. I just got to predict that fight and feel good about it. I ended up getting that fight wrong, but it was pretty clear. It's like, all right, I know Yuri Prajka is going to come.

back this year and it's probably near the end of the year and he is going to get a title shot. If year he wins, then I'm going to get this one right. That happened except for the yeary winning parts was wrong. Like I felt that my process was so much easier last year of like A to B to C. And there were a couple obviously, Sean Strickland, then no one could have seen coming. But I remember feeling really good about my process last year. This year, it is straight up shots in the dark. like when we go through our list every one of my lists but for like maybe one or two is just explicitly

i'm going to pick who i think the best fighter in the weight class is and hopefully they get a title shot somewhere in this calendar year because otherwise i i am throwing darts in the dark at this point i think i think last year i overestimated the amount of people who were going to lose their titles and so i think i just started like really just being like oh i think like i think at the time I think I picked Henry Sehudo to be Bantamway champion because I was like I think he probably can beat Al Jermaine and then he was very close and then you know I just I just because there's always those fights that you think you know what's going to happen and then there's always upsets like no one saw Sean Strickland coming but I just I think I overcompensated thinking there was going to be so many

title changes and there were but just in the weird ways they happen with like Sean Strickland beating Israel Adasanya and Pantosha beating Brandon Marino things like that like I just didn't necessarily see those coming. I tried to go a little bit outside the park a little bit with my picks. And this year I tried to get a little bit more in bounds. But that probably means I'm going to end up with like one right out of the 11 divisions we're picking. So I don't know. I'm just I'm just, I'm like, I'm like, Jen. I'm throwing darts and I'm going to throw darts and just hoping I hit the bullseye. Look, David, it's only up for you. Right. It's only up. Two out of 12. Come on, you can beat that. I have faith in you. I will say this year looking at the slate and

And then sort of looking at last year and the years before to just sort of the trends that we have seen over the past couple years, it does feel like more so than ever. It's just availability at this point. Like it's not merit for a lot of this. It's the Sean Strickland stuff. It's just who they're going to do this on this specific date and who's going to be available for it, which makes it so much weirder and so much more difficult to pick some of these picks because you, again, I feel like people would pick it Mago Medan Kalayev and Hamzaat Shemayev to be

champions in these divisions for several years in a row. They're just not getting the shots in like real ways. When you say you feel like that, I think what you mean is that is definitely happening because when we do our pre-year pick three new champions article, we have both picked those two men the last like three years and it is still just, they've never fought for the belt. We're going to do it again this year, she. I know that I am going to pick Hamza Chmai of in the.

draft in the future fantasy draft and he's probably not going to fight for a title because this sport doesn't make any got him sense and there you go manga bad ankle i actually did fight for a title and yet we all forgot about it because it was so dumb of a situation and that speaks to exactly yeah i probably should don't want it and then this whole thing happened and that's why i didn't win that year's competition against you and then this year was just we went oh for six in our fantasy draft jean like it's such a silly sport it's it's again you Air May Cruz nail in six out of 12 is incredibly impressive for last year. And I need him to hit me with some lottery numbers so I can just quit my job and never

have to do this again because that man's good at this. One little last plot twist, we're going to throw in this before we start. You get two locks. Locks count for double. Good. Neither of us, though, none of us, I should say, are allowed to use those locks for Islam Makachev, who everyone on the team voted for for the lightweight division, except for Mike, who state tig's flag in armand sarukian but outside of that everyone was at islam that was the

consensus more or less for the website so respect that from mike it's not going to happen for him but i respect it the man stays on brand the man stays on brand i mean armand's just not going to get his chance to fight so that's why that's net has no chance to happen but good for mike so no islam on the locks outside of that you are free to pick anyone you'd like all right let's do this We're going to move through these quickly and you out there listening again, send us your picks as well. Who do you think is going to end the year with UFC goal? Let's have some fun with this. And so we're going to start.

If you send us your picks and go 12 or 11 for 11, we'll give you something. What are you going to give them? It's not possible. I don't know. We'll give them something. Jedmishu will give you something. 12 months to determine what it will be. But these pigs have to come in, you know, before the year starts.

But yeah, ship them our way. You heard it. Jemishu will allow you into his house and you can rummage around and pick something of value and leave with it. That is what we agreed on. You know, let's workshop that part of it, but yeah. All right. Well, we're going to start with the big fellas, the big boys, the heavyweights. And, you know, this division enters 2024 as a total miss.

I think that's the proper word for it. John Jones holds the belt, ostensibly. Tom Aspinall holds the interim belt. Steepamiochich is for some reason the forever number one contender, despite for not fighting for going on three years at this point. Jed's going to try to gaslight the hell out of John Jones, pretty much the entire year, and it's entirely possible that 2024 may be the final year of John Jones career,

and he might not fight anyone of actual note. So is he scared. That is the setup we are left with. Jed, start us off. Who is your champion at the end of 2024? We were talking about this beforehand, and I was trying to figure out who, my locks are going to be. This will be one of my locks. I was shocked when you were like,

yeah, nobody's, I don't, I don't think people are kind of unanimously in this. I mean, I'm going for the one true champion of the heavyweight division. It's Tommy Aspinall, Aspinall, Tommy Aspenol. Exactly. Thank you. John Jones is a scared little girl and is not going to fight anybody real. he is focused on this vanity fight against an old firefighter that I guess will happen. But when that's over, he's going to retire. He probably won't say he retires, but he's just going to take an exit from the sport

and then, you know, do the Henry Sehudo thing where he's kind of always in the background. And our boy, our true champion, Tommy Aspenol will elevate. And I got to tell you, even if there's some weird and crazy world where John decides he's not a scared little girl and wants to actually fight a real heavyweight contender instead of an old man who can't walk,

I still think I'd pick Tom Aspinall to beat him. And I'd pick Tom Aspinall to beat every heavyweight because I just don't think there's a dude out there right now competing who is going to defeat this man. So Tommy Aspinall is my choice and using one of my locks on it because as we get to more of my list, I don't feel great about many of the rest of my choices. Bang, there it is.

What about you, David? So I'm going to shoot down Jets pick for one reason because heavyweight is so volatile. If you would have told me like four, five, six years ago, I would have said, man, Kane Velasquez is going to stay champion. That guy's the guy's the most dominant guy. When he's not healthy, he's out and he's not fighting. That's another way to hold on to your title. But weird things happen in the sport. And so as good as Tom Aspinall might be, he could also be the heavyweight Darren Till where he gets one fight.

It looks great. And his next fight, he gets somehow knocked out by Jelton Almeida. that's just how weird the sport is. So it's hard. So my pick for heavy weight is John Jones. And here's why. It's not because I don't think Tom Aspinall will be champion. I think Tom Aspinall will probably still be interim champion.

Here's the problem. I think John Jones will fight Steve Miochich, July or August, depending on when they can get that fight made. And then I don't think he's going to retire right away. I think he's going to sit and say, I'm going to decide what I'm going to do. And he's going to end the year's champion because that's just how the sport works. So I'm going with John Jones based solely.

on the fact that I think he fights and beats Stepe and then doesn't make a decision about his career until after 2024 is over. And then maybe in 2025 he pulls the GSP where he just says, I'm not coming back. Tom, you're the champion, have fun at it. And that's it. And also, and with Tom, the problem with Tom is he's going to have to fight other people this year. He's not going to get to fight John Jones. He's not going to fight Stepe. He's going to have to fight Charlton on Maine. He's going to have to maybe do the rematch. Maybe somehow down the road he finally gets Curtis Blades again. I don't know. But this is a heavy way to do. is where weird things happen. It's hard to pick anyone outside of the one lock I know that I believe

was going to win, and that's John Jones. I'd like to file an HR violation against Damon. This is the darkest timeline, and I don't know why you're suggesting it happens. I hate everything you just said, Damon. Every word, every word that just came out of your mouth was poison to me. Tell me, tell me I don't have a point, though. Come on now. Be honest. You know I have a I'm not saying it can't happen. I'm saying we shouldn't speak about it at risk of it manifesting the real world. I believe in manifestation. I manifested Drickus Duplessi to be our future middleweight champion, as you all remember.

This is just, why would we put this out there into the ether? The heavyweight title will have not been defended for two years functionally because beating Steve is the title defense. It's a joke. It's a farce. It's nonsense. It's like, oh, I hope so badly that you were incorrect. The world you just painted out means that Tom Aspinall is an interim champion for more than a year.

Hello, Heenan Burrell. Where are you at, Heenan? I hate everything. I don't. Yeah, this is so dumb. What I hate the most is that everything you said could actually happen. Like, this is not a far-fetched scenario, and it pains me that you have brought it into my world. It's awful.

It's awful and it's doubly awful because like at light heavyweight, they have just been passing the belt around like a hot potato because as soon as one dude stubs a toe, the UFC's like, no, that's our belt. We got put on somebody else. John Jones are like,

I don't care. Sit out for seven years as long as people forget that Francis left us. That's all that matters. It's ridiculous. Oh, I'm all right. Well, I'm going to counteract the awful.

awful, awful things that you just put on our plate. The worst thing I've ever heard. I'm going Tom Aspinall as well, and that's a lot. Yeah. I agree with you, Jed. I think that this, here's the scenario. Here's how this is going to play out next year. It's going to be dumb.

Tom Aspinall is going to have to sit on the sidelines for no reason in the prime of his career for way too long. John Jones is steep air going to eventually fight at some point in either the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter of 2024. John's going to win because steep. is old and hasn't fought in a really long time. And then John's going to eventually retire. Maybe he doesn't that night, but he will drag it on for a bit, let people celebrate

him, and then he will retire. And then Tom Aspinall, around the end of the third quarter next year, will finally be brought into the actual place he should be already and be made the actual champion, and he'll start fighting real guys. And maybe he gets a title defense in at that point, but maybe not. But it's going to be the Robert Whitaker situation. It's going to be the Michael Bisbing Robert Whitaker thing all over again. That's how I see it.

so I'm going Tom Aspinall as well. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I forgot to throw that out there. My John Jones is a lock. That's one of my two locks. Because I'm telling you. Wow. I'm that confident in being Stepe,

but I'm also that confident in him not immediately announcing his retirement. Steepay, I think will retire win, lose, or draw. I think his career is done July, whatever, next year when he fights John Jones. He's done. But he's not going to win. So John Jones is going to be champion. and I think John Jones is going to take time to decide what he's going to do. And we're talking July, maybe August.

And then at that point, do you really truly believe he's going to fight again in December at this point in his career? No. So I think he's going to leave 2024 as champion. Dueling locks. Yeah. So I'm just, again, I know this is not a scenario any of you want to hear. There's a great pain in my chest. It is 100% a scenario that can and could actually happen.

You have brought a great pain. into my chest right now and we need to move on. Shame. Shame on you, Damon, Martin. All right. We go now to the 205ers, light heavyweight. Alex Pereira, Poeton, your champion

coming into the new year. Damon, let's start with you. Where is this division headed? Who you got? This division is, this is just a, this is like, it's a, it's a, like, it's a dumpster fire, but not because there's not good fighters.

It's just because every bad thing that could happen to the champions keeps happening. You know, we get, we get, we get, uh, we get, uh, Yeri, he gets a shoulder injury. We get Jamal Hill has a great performance against Glover to share. He tears his Achilles playing pickup basketball. Uh, then Alex Pereira comes out of nowhere and knocks out Yeri at the end of the it's just I, this is a wild division.

Um, so I'm going with for my pick for light heavyweight champion at the end of the year. I'm going with my guy, the guy still have ranked number one in the division. I'm going with my guy, Jamal Hill. I think he will get the title shot when he comes back from the Achilles. I know he's talking about, you know, probably May, June, somewhere around there. I think Pereira might defend the title before then. Maybe they do a super fight with Israel at 205. Maybe they do something else.

Maybe he gets Ankaaev or Johnny Walker of all people. They fight in January. I have no idea. Alex Pereer is good, but he's susceptible. And I think Jamal Hill has got size, he's got power. And I think he's able to get the job done. So I'm going to go with Jamal Hill when he comes back to get the title. There you go.

And in the year's champion. It makes sense. It's opportunity. You're picking on an opportunity. We know Jamal Hill will fight for a title in 2024. The Achilles scares me, though. I got to say the Achilles scares me off. So I'm going to default to my same pick that I have made several years in a row because eventually

this man will hold gold in the UFC. And maybe this is the year. Who knows? I think the era of him holding gold will be a very boring, uninteresting era, but it is destined to happen. Magelman Enka Live is my pick. I just think he's the best 205 are in the world. He's going to get that fight with Johnny Walker at the beginning of the year.

That's what kicks us off, kicks off our schedule. And eventually you think that he's got to be there. Whether it's at the end of the year, middle of the year, something, the opportunity will come. He will get that shot. And I think he will win against whoever is still holding the belt at that point. So Ankelyev is my pick. How about you, Jed? I'm also on Enka-Live.

I think Jamal Hill is maybe the smart choice, because of what Damon outlined and I considered him for a long time. Just because we know he's going to get a title fight, whereas we don't know that with Uncle I've, obviously. And we know it's probably going to be a title fight a little later in the year. So, you know, he gets it in June or whatever wins and then just doesn't fight again. They're, you know, Bob's your uncle is your champ. That being said, I don't, I still don't know what to make a Jamal Hill.

He wasn't very good until he won the title. That was obviously sensational performance. but, you know, we saw Cody Garbrandt put on a performance for the ages and then immediately suck shit for the next like five years. So I tell, I can absolutely believe that happened with Jamal Hill. Also, I think if he like ends up fighting Alex Pereira for the belt, Pereira probably just balks him. And oh, by the way, I'm just not super into picking him given the personal things have happened with him on the back end of the year.

So I was like, nah, screw it. Magamund's fighting in January. If he beats that, if he beats Johnny Walker, then maybe he says, maybe he's, still has to fight one more time, like the winner of the year he, uh, prohash, Alexander Rackich fight that's coming up next year as well. But if fighting in January means he's going to get three fights in or certainly has the opportunity to get three fights in next year. And if you win two of them, there's just no world where the third isn't for a belt. I do think he's probably the best light heavyweight in the

world. I'm, I'm banking on him finally doing the thing I have thought he would do for the last three years. Uh, don't feel great about it. Straight up, don't feel. Don't feel great about it because the UFC is not interested in him being champion pretty clearly. And I can't blame him, but that's what I'm going with Angolaive as well. See, here's the thing. I wanted, I think I've picked Angolaia before, too. And here's the problem. I agree with you, Jed.

He probably is the best light heavy way in the world. But weird stuff just keeps happening. The Yanbollahovych fight and then the Johnny Walker fight. And who could have even, who. The Kutalaba fights before that. Don't forget those, like the weird Kudalaba things. He's cursed. It's absolutely cursed.

Yeah. So, like, I just, I'm betting the odds. And also what you said, the UFC doesn't want him to be champion. After that whole Blohovic, like, wildness, I don't think they want him to be champion. I think they're going to continue to throw him in there and hope anyone else gets the belt. It remains the weirdest thing of the past year. Honestly, maybe even more weird than Sean Strickland being champion, though probably not. That's still pretty odd.

Like, why they got, why Dana got so mad at a fight that was, like, pretty decent and just ended in a dream. draw and that's not the fault of either of the fighters in there. Like, they are not to blame for a draw being rendered, but Dana is like clearly hates him for it. And I don't get it. You just, you have to ostensibly think that this Johnny Walker rematches a number one contender fight because there's no one else right now. Maybe.

There's no one else. Like, Jamal Hill, I get it, but we don't know when that's going to be. This, like, this has to be the number of them. That's incorrect, sir. I'm, I'm sorry. Have you forgotten a young man out there who is the tail. of former glory kickboxers, Cleo Roundtree Jr.

That man deserves a title fight. I hope Alex Breyer defends against him next year. He's won away. It's won away. Well, speaking of doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same results, and yet we're still doing it over and over again. Let's move to middle weight,

and I'll just get it out of the way first. I'm picking Hamzaat Shemayev because I've picked Hamzaat Shemayev to be a UFC champion for like four years in row now, and eventually I'm going to be right. And I think this is the year and this is the division where I'll finally be right what about you fellas i'm doing the same for almost exactly the same place and jean because i can't

get off the train now because if this is the time the train actually comes into the station then i'd be so furious i'm dug in like i think it's going to happen and here's why i i was between two people it was between homza and dd i am predicting ddp to beat sean strickland when they do fight in january obviously if i'm wrong there i'm wrong there uh and i think ddp ends up fighting Hamzaa Chamaev later in the year. That fight is like one of my most anticipated fights of 2024. And it's not even like on deck. But that's just a car crash.

Like the way those two dudes get after it. I think DDP, Sean Strickland is a fascinating fight for the how opposed they are in their styles and the way they get down. DDP and Hamzad are just going to, it's going to be Godzilla versus King Kong in there. just at middleway and it's going to be sick. So I'm hoping. I'm manifesting that to happen because I love that fight. And I just assume that Hamzot will win because that's like the sort of fight he can really thrive in.

But I don't know. Like I wouldn't be shocked. DDP's been been beat a lot of people in the weirdest fashion for the last like three years. So I just, I'm defaulting. Hamzot's supposed to have been champion. Maybe he'll finally do it this year. I really, I really hate that this is the route we're going down because my pick is also Hamza, Chimajana.

So this is cursed because. At least you've been different. Me and Cheyenne are three for three right now. Yeah. So I, I went Hamzat for a couple of reasons. One, I think DDP will be Strickland, but I'm not completely sold on that because until, until DDP beat the brakes on Robert Whitaker, which I think we all would admit was kind of a shocking result, he had kind of.

He kind of fought from behind in a lot of fights. Like he always had that question with cardio and he kind of pulled fights out. He didn't always dominate. He dominated Robert Whitaker. He could do that to Sean Strickland or I could see Sean Strickland pulling a rabbit out of the hat and getting like a 48, 47 decision. I can absolutely see that happening in an ugly title fight because that's just what happens when Sean Strickland fights.

Sean Strickland stays champion. Then it's just a matter of who gets to him first. And I think UFC 300, I think they are setting us up, in my opinion. They're setting us up for Hamzod versus Israel. to Sonia at U.OC 300, and I think Hamzot wins that fight, and then he gets the title shot. So I'm gambling on Hamzot getting a big fight to start the year and then getting the title shot against the winner of DDP and Strickland, and I think Hamzot beats either one of them, in my opinion.

So that's why I'm going with Hamzot. Don't feel great about it because the guy just seems to, he wants to fight every weekend, but then fights once a year, but hopefully maybe something will happen. Can't they not do Hamzot at 300? Like, because that's going to be in Vegas and Hamzat and his like the Vista stuff. The deep associations with Kadeirov kind of make him not like viable to fight in the U.S. It's murky. It definitely seems like he will usually, if only fight in the Middle East.

So I'm not sure how it will be able to work if they wanted to do that. I think the other the other caveat to that is that Ramadan runs in March to April. That's also a major block. It ends on April 10th and the fights April 13th. Yeah. That's also a major blocker. I don't know his philosophy of fighting. Like I know Bilal Muhammad has fought and will fight around Ramadan,

but I know Islam Akashav won't. Like he doesn't want to fight around Ramadan. So I think it depends. I don't know what Hamza stands on that is. Like maybe he doesn't want to do it. And that is the 10th is when Ramadan ends. That's literally three days before UFC 300. So I don't know if he'd want to do that.

But I'm just, again, I'm just gambling on the fact that he's going to win one more and then get the title shot. And I feel pretty good. I don't even think he needs to win the one more, Damon. He might not. Give him a title shot. Like when they go. When they go back to Abu Dhabi next summer, he just fights the winner of DDP Strickland.

Could be. Could absolutely be. That's what I said. I'm playing the odds here that he's going to get a title shot and beat whoever is the champion at that time. It seems really likely he's going to fight for a belt this year. Like, right? Like that, it would be crazy for him to not fight for a belt this year. As you said, Jed, I've been holding on to this lottery ticket for like four years.

I can't throw it away now the year it might finally actually cash out. But because we should have. happened last year, but since it didn't, it really has to happen this year. It should have happened every year. But because we are all in unanimous decision here, let me throw out a devil's advocate argument. No, let me throw out a devil's argument of why we could be wrong. Because we're stupid and don't get anything right? Is there a very real world where DDP or Strickland, whoever wins that, has that fight to start us off, first pay-per-view of the year, and then Israel of Sonia comes back and gets thrown into an immediate title shot and potentially beats either

those guys or just whatever fights those guys. And then that's the year. That's the entire year. You had one at the beginning of the title fight at the beginning of the year and then you had a title fight towards the middle of the year. I think that's possible. I would still think unlikely just because if Izzy comes back and fights whoever, well, one, if you've watched Sean Strickland, I would just pick Sean Shickland to beat him again.

And you don't, I don't know what he's going to change to subvert a five round. Either way, that's another year of Hamza Shmai of sitting out here without it. But if that happens in the middle of the year, I think we get one more. Maybe. Maybe. Sean Strickland Wolf, if he somehow is still champ at this point, well, a thousand percent. And DDP tends to want to be a little more active than he has been. So I think we, I think we're in line for three middleweight title shots this year.

three in one year's rare i mean we're getting the january one so i think we'll get a summer one and then an end of year but it is rare yeah i think that's the the one gamble to make is the either featherweight or middleweight probably because they fight january february february there's a chance those champions could potentially do three in a year because that's again that's why i went my john jones pick he's probably going to fight in july or august and then i don't think he fights the rest of the i'm just playing the odds of like timing that's true stuff that's stuff that's what you got to think about with this competition though. All right, let's move on.

We'll move to 170. The division that I've picked Homs out to be champion of multiple years in a row. And that's just obviously never going to happen. So now he can no longer be picked. So at least that saves me. Damon, let's start with you on this one. Where did you land for your welterweight champion? So last year I was completely wrong.

Because I'm pretty sure I picked Kamar Usman and he didn't be Leon Edwards. And then he didn't fight a welterweight again. And that's also how Homsla's going to get a title fight is being Kamar Usman of all things. Okay, so I do believe Bilal Muhammad will get his title shot. I think at this point it is clearly going to happen. I think probably, you know, if it's not UFC 300, it's probably going to be May, maybe in England. I think Bilau has a great chance of winning that fight. I do not doubt Bilal Muhammad.

I think he's gotten so much better from when he fought Leon the first time. But I got to have a couple of champions that I think are going to somehow make it through the year. And with Shavkat having ankle surgery or likely having ankle surgery, it's going to put him out on the shelf for a while. I'm again playing timing here. I think Leon Edwards can beat. I know Leon Edwards can beat Bilau. Will he beat him? I don't know, but I'm going to lean towards Leon.

I don't feel good about this pick at all because it's an incumbent champion holding onto their belt. But I'm going to go with Leon Edwards just based on timing and opportunity, fighting Bilal, a fight he can win, and then Shavkat being injured and maybe not fighting much, if at all, because an ankle surgery could be pretty nasty. And depending on timing, he may come back and have to be. fight somebody else and then maybe we get you know Leon versus I don't know like Ian Gary or something stupid happens by the end of the year I have no idea I hate that fight for Leon I'm leaning I'm leaning

I'm leaning Leon Edwards so I'm going to go with Leon Edwards but I do not feel good about this pick whatsoever so as we're doing this I'm looking at my list and I'm realizing that I have only picked new champions so far and I'm starting to doubt myself and feel a little feel a little worried about my picks because it feels like at some point I need to pick somebody to retain the belt. It's not... All of mine are new champions except for lightweight. Yeah, this is getting, this is getting hairy for me.

But it's not going to happen on this one because Shavkat's the guy. Shafkats the man. Shavkat is the champion of this division, whether or not Leon Edwards has that belt. He is going to be the king of this division by the end of this year. I agree that the ankle, the surgery and all that will hold him off, but he'll be back by third quarter, fourth quarter, and he will get that opportunity because he is pretty much undeniable at this point. and there is no longer a Kobe Covington-esque dumb fight standing in his way.

I think Shamkat, I thought Shevkat Ragmanov was going to be champions. As a moment I first laid eyes on him, I have not wavered from that one second. And his last fight was incredible and only swayed me even further towards that argument. Shavkat Raghmanov, 2024 is the year. And that's a lock. Jed. Man, Shaheen, we're really not being interesting because Shavkat Rikmanov, I'm not going to take him as my lock. he was my number three on the lock train,

but I'm taking him for sure. He's the best fight on this way class, and I frankly do not think it is close. Defaulting to that for all my picks, but I also think the timeline is perfect for him here. I think Leon will fight Ballol, as Damon said. I think Ball has a decent shot. That fight is 50-50 in my eyes,

and whoever wins, if Leon loses, I'm sorry, he's not getting an immediate title fight unless there is controversy or something like that. the UFC is deeply not going to be interested in doing Leon versus Bilal 3 deadline of pay-per-view. So the winner of that fight is going to have to defend later back into the year. And Chavkat will be coming off of ankle surgery. He'll have had some time to recuperate.

And I think Leon is in an awful style matchup. I think Chavcott would absolutely run over Leon. Belal is, I would say, more interesting. but I would still, dude, he's, he is an undeniable force. I think he's the best fighter in this weight class. I think he's going to finally get his opportunity. And this is the year I am manifesting. This is the year where all the best fighters in their weight classes

actually get to fight for belts instead of whatever reality we've been doing for the last two years. So Shavkaa Rakhmanov is my choice. Is there a world where, because I like Shabkat, I think he's obviously got future champion written all over him. But is there a world where Shabkat has to come back? and fight somebody else first because meeting wonder boy is good but is it really like i i think there is a world where he could end up having to fight kamar usman coming back to welterweight or you know maybe the winner of gilbert burns jackdella madalena or and i also to be clear i think if below beats

leon which it kind of breaks my heart not to pick him because i you know i've been banging the drum for a very long time that below deserves that title shot if below beats him i think below is a far worst matchup for Shavkat than Leon is. Much worse. His gas tank and his and his wrestling and his pace could give Shavkat problems. And he fights whereas Leon doesn't fight. Leon just touches you four times over the course of 25 minutes. But is there a World War Shabkat?

But is there a world where Shabkat has to fight someone else and it's just timing once again? That's what I'm betting on because the ankle sort of real timing. Like that's kind of where I'm at. I think that the injury helps him in that regard because he has an excuse to sit out essentially, right? because you're right. Ankle stuff is touch and go. Like it'll be a while before he's ready to go.

And really there's no one else ahead of him except for Belal. And that to me is the thing. Like I keep coming back to like, okay, who would jump Shavkat? And I just can't come up with a name outside of the obvious one, which is Belal who deserves that shot already. But once that fight happens, who's the next person who's going to steal that spot? That's my thought on it. Like it could always happen because the UFC is going to put timing over everything.

and like maybe the timing works out where they just need a title fight and chavkat can't for one reason or not he's still recovering but i don't think they go back to the oosman well just because of i mean he's lost three in a row giving him a title fight for losing three in a row is a little weird but it could happen i just think it's unlikely well not even a title fight i just think like shavkat having to fight somebody else before he gets the title fight like i think that's a possibility Like if Leon and Bilal fight in May and then Shabkat's ready to go by July and they need another fight for international fight week, they could book Shabkat against Ousma. Now, I think Shavkat, you know, obviously I think Shafk would say no. Yeah.

I don't know. Why would he choose to accept a fight that's not for a title right now? One aspect to this that we maybe haven't mentioned yet, but it's always important when you're weighing these things for this sort of exercises. Like the UFC gets behind Shepcott, I think. It feels like the UFC has fully gotten behind him. and there's, they know what's up. Yeah, they know they have something there with the 18 fights, 18 wins, 18 stoppage. It's like, that is a very easy thing to put up on the poster.

His fights are very exciting for the most part. You can miss me with the he's a boring fighter because he had one boring round while he was injured against Wonder Boy. Like go back and rewatch Jeff Neal fight. I mean, Jeff Neal fight was not even just that dude. Like he's a star. He might not be a star here, but dude, he has like a million Instagram followers or whatever. Like the country of Kazakhstan is behind him in a very,

real way. He has a Kabin type of aura in that regard. Yeah. You know, and that's not like, oh, he's got the billion people from China, but it is still, like, that is being able to galvanize that many people that vociferously in the way he already has, you can market that. And like, that is a way to make money with him. And I think that he's just, I think the UFC sees this.

I think that that also speaks to like when Dana White refuses to say that below the next in line, I feel like Shavcott was a big part of that. At least at that press conference before the UFC knows, hey, Shepkot's injured and this is not an option. I feel like they were still leaving that door open up. Hey, maybe we just have Shafkat run in here rather than Belal. That was what that read to me. I think the problem here's where I get scared picking guys like Shavkat to become champion is because you're won away. Like, I'm pretty confident Jamal Hill's going to get a title shot in 2024.

So I can feel a little bit more confident about picking him to become a champion. We know John Jones is already champion. He's going to defend his bell at some point next year. You know, I'm gambling on Hamzot because, again, he's not technically, and we know he's not getting the next title five, Dracus Duplice is. But again, that's in January. This one that scares me, though, because Shabkat is still not the next guy. We're all pretty confident Bilal's going to get the shot.

When that happens and how that happens, and then Shabkat coming back from the injury, that's just what scares me is the timing because Shabkat comes back. Yeah, you say, why would he take that fight? We know how the UFC operates. If they say, hey, fight, Oosp, in the International Fight Week, he says, no, I'm going to wait. And then they bury him. That's what the UFC does.

They don't care at that. But unless you're Connor McGregor, they will bury you for turning down fights and not doing what they want. The only guy, the only person who seems to get just sit out and wait and do whatever they want is Colby Covington. Outside of that, they're pretty on point with like, if you turn down a fight, they're like, okay, well, you're going to sit out until 2024. That's what scares me about it.

I don't think they're thrilled with the Leon Edwards era. And I feel like they don't want to throw away what they would potentially have with a Shavkat type of era. Because they've seen it hit with the Habib era of like have the ultra-dominate guy who has this country behind him who finishes people. Like they've seen this work. And I feel like they're trying to lead that lead us towards that direction. At least that's my read on it. Shavkat just, Shavkat just needs a personality. He needs a personality.

That's what he has a hat. That's all the personality. He's got a great hat. Shabkat. Like, that's a great name. They need a, they need a Kabebeb, they need a Kabeb personality transplant for Shafkak.

Because like, that's the one thing he's missing is he has like, he has no personality. He's just like, give him, give him a mouthpiece like they do in pro wrestling and let him wear his hat and let him keep just absolutely demolishing folk. And it's going to be fine.

There it is. I like that. I like that. We're going to take a quick break and then we'll continue on the other side. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is late 50 minutes. Ugh, what? Sounds like Ojo time.

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or visit comexonterio.ca. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. All right, y'all, we are back, and we're jumping right back into it lightweight up next. And I mean, I don't even know if we need to talk about this. Is anyone here not have Islam Makachef as their pick? Well, as you already revealed earlier on the show, we unanimously as a website

has him as the pick. So no, none of us don't have him. Can anyone make a case for why we would, like, what's the case for all of us to be wrong? I think the case is Mike Heck is the only like viable argument here. And that is I believe Islam is going to fight

Justin Gaci next. I know that that is, I think Charles Oliva is maybe like the betting favorite for that. But my sort of read on this is going to fight Gachi's going to fight Oliver this year because he's going to fight twice a year and that's going to be the end of his year. He's going to be both of those people pretty handily. There is a world where he fights, you know, either Gachy or Oliver, however that ends up working out. And then Armand Serokee and does sort of sneak in a title fight at the end of the year. And while I would still pick Islam to win that

fight, and Srucian, I think at this point is clearly the most difficult possible matchup for him among the current kind of crop of lightweight contenders. Even more so than Gage. super young. Yeah, I think Gaiji is uniquely poorly situated to beat Islamakshv. I thought Gaiji had, like, was an interesting matchup for Habib in a way that other people weren't. And that, that fight went almost exactly like I thought it would go. Like, either Gagchi can win because of the tools he has, or he is going to lose

emphatically in the worst way possible. But that's better than just, like, the way Dustin Poyer lost, where he never really. really had a chance to be to be, but no, people are, like, pumped about the guillotine, but it was just like, no, he was just going to lose less badly than Gitchie was, but I thought he had zero chance to really win that fight. I think Makhchiev gives Gae just no room to succeed. Like, there's just, Gagchi is not a good defensive grappler, just, like, straight up. And Magachev is one of the most effective defensive strikers in the history of MMA.

So there's just no window for Gigi to have security. in this fight. Like it is purely a puncher's chance that I don't think really exist for him. So I want him to get his title shot. I think he deserves it. But I think Islam is, it's going to be bad for him. I think Gaichi presents more problems to Islam than Charles does, which is why part of the reason I want them, I want to see that fight because Gaichi, the new Gaichi, the new Justin Gaichie, the new patient Justin Gauchy was just not going out there and winging bombs and stepping in and just absolutely plowing his way through every fight. Like you fought, Piziv like he fought Porre.

I think that guy has a much better chance to damage and hurt Islam on the feet and stifle the wrestling a little bit to get a win. I don't pick him to win. I think Islam wins. I think Islam just steamrolls Charles again. I think that's just always going to be a terrible matchup for Charles Oliva. And I think, again, I'm picking Islam, but I think Gajji is the harder fight. I like Siruki.

And I think Siru-I like see Surukian and Charles. That's the fight I want to see. I think that's a really interesting matchup, given what Saruki and did Derrush. But I'm not all in on Surukian just yet because, you know, a couple of fights ago, he did lose. It was a great fight, but he did lose Matush Gamrod. So I'm not all the way there on Surukin just yet, but I think he's going to be there maybe 2025. But next year, I think it's going to be Gaichi, Olivera. And, or again, if they put Olivera and Sarukin, maybe Sarukin wins and they put him in there.

I don't know, but I'm still going to stick with Islam. Yeah. I fundamentally disagree with you, Damon, by the way. I think Charles is a better, is it more difficult matchup because of the, like, I think he will, I think he's a more interesting match up than Gagy because of the rematch. Charles is really smart and won't. He came into that fight doing all the things I thought he would come into that fight doing, which is like, oh, I'm confident playing my guard game because like, like, it's fine.

And I was like, that's like the worst idea you can have. It's a really bad plan. It's super not going to work out for you. and he kind of figured that out after the first round. And so, like, in the second round, he approached it differently, and then he got thumped. I still think, like, obviously, I still think Mockchip beats him. But there is a part of me that is interested to see the changes Charles brings to the rematch

because he does have so many tools. Whereas I know what Gates he's going to try and do, and he deserves his day in court. I just really don't think he has any chance to pull it off. Ultimately, there's a reason Islam is the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, right? He's 32 years old. He's in his prime. It doesn't feel like the year. He's legitimately one of the best fighters I've ever seen. This feels like one of the years of him building his legacy rather than the year it all comes to it. And let's move on. And let's talk about

the division that was sort of linked with lightweight the entire year for 2023, right? Like the entire for 10 out of the 12 months, we talked about lightweight and featherweight together because of what Islam and Alexander Volcanowski had together. Now that is separate. Now that is over and it is the Alexander Volcanovsky story of whether he can continue what is already a historic run of him basically being the oldest person at his weight class to ever hold this belt and continuing to do that as he marches towards 40 years old. Damon, let's start with you. Where did you go at Featherweight? Is this the year the Volcanowski reign ends or do you have him retaining all throughout? So I know Ilya Tuporia is going to be a popular pick because

he has looked incredible and he is a phenom. I think we all agree. on that. He's a vicious, vicious fighter, and we all love him what he brings to the table. But I'm not ready to give up on Wolkenovsky just yet. It's almost like, obviously, Tepore is getting the shot. He deserves the shot. But it's almost like I almost wish he had one more fight to kind of submit his position and prove he's there. And I'm not quite ready to pull the trigger on the end of the Volcanovsky ring. What scares me most about Volcanowski is fighting and getting knocked out in October and then turning around in February. I don't love that timeline. That scares me a little bit. But

Vulcan obviously lost that heartbreaker to Islam last February in the fight of the year. M.MA fighting's fight of the year for 2023. And I was like, man, if there's a time somebody could try to take advantage of like a little bit of a downtrod in Alexander Volcan, now I didn't have a lot of faith in Yari Rodriguez, but you remember a lot of people were picking Yaya to win that fight. Like a lot of people were turning on that Yaha Hiya Rodriguez train. And it was a one way just one way ass kicking it wasn't even close the iyer did nothing in that fight bulk just ran over him so i don't think it's going to be that but i'm still not ready to give up on bolkanowski yet and if he beats ilia i mean who else is out there that's really going to challenge him is he going to

fight or tagga or rodriguez again is he going to fight max for the 18th time who's another baby huh onward allen baby he also fight you know yeah yeah featherway featherway dare until i'm going to get it done uh Uh, that is deeply disrespectful. That is incredibly incorrect. Who's a substantially better fight. Um, no,

I'm going, I'm personally. No, I can't gloss him. I am personally offended at that remark. I did that would get you. You guys were such Arnold Allen fans. I'm not on the Arnold Allen train.

Although I think he could be most. I'm not, I'm an Arnold Allen fan. Darren Till wasn't good. Like, he was bad. He was bad, but he talked.

That's not Arnold at all. Everyone. Everyone was on the Arnold Allen train when he fought Max. And Max, Max went out there and proved he's still the best guy in the world, not named Alexander Volcanowski. I'm going to stick with Volcanovsky as champion, and I'm going to make him my other lock.

Because I'm just not ready to give up on him yet. If he beats Iliah, if he beats I, and that's the big way. If he beats I don't do anyone else that's going to beat him. Like, that's the problem. Like, that's what I'm gambling on. If he beat I, I'm the toughest challenge for him in Featherway right now. If he beats Ilya, there's nobody else I see touching Volcanowski in his division.

So I'm going to stick with Volcanovsky's my pick, and he's my other lock. Interesting. Interesting. All right. Jed, how about you? First, I'd just like to say, wouldn't this be a much more interesting conversation for both this and the previous weight class? If instead of just shoehorning Volk into that rematch with Mokachev after the quote-unquote injury to Charles, if we had just let back of fighter Matush Gamrot do his job, then we'd be talking this year like,

well, we know Volk's going to defend against Tupuria, but if he wins that, then like, what's going on here? Is he the guy, he fought Islam so well. They run a rematch, maybe he gets it done, but have been a way more interesting conversation for Lightweight. Instead, we're here, and I say all that to say this. Alexander Volcano's going to get got. I'm on the Elliott-Tuporia bandwagon.

I'm on the train. The man's 35 years old. He, I know it was short notice, so you got to take a whole lot off that, but he did not look particularly good in the rematch with this is Lamakachev the things he said afterwards i know that he has since kind of made other statements about that i'm not willing to totally disregard the things he said after that fight about you know needing to fight to stay sane and paraphrasing a little bit but like

needing that sort of regiment all of that is deeply concerning the fact that he's turning around on very quick from getting knocked out to cut weight now and fight an absolute hammer in Ilya Tupuria is very concerning. Tepuri's most recent fight the Josh Himit fight was the fight I needed to see to really get behind him as a fighter because prior to that, you know, Bryce Mitchell, Jai Herbert, you're seeing a dude who obviously has a world of talent behind him, but I wasn't sure he had the discipline to not fight like an absolute man on fire the whole time. Josh Emmett, he much more disciplined performance, much more mature performance.

This is how the sport works. you get old and you die. And that is what is going to happen to Ilya, to Alexander Volcanoz against Ilya Tupuria. They will rematch later in the year. Once you lose the first one, you almost never win the second one. Tuporia gets two and O'O over Volk.

Suddenly Alexander Volkanowski is on a four-fight losing streak. All the conversations around him being the greatest fighter of all time have taken a nosedive. Oh, I'm sorry, it's only three because he did beat Yaiyir in between that. So he's lost four of his last five. And everyone starts to reevaluate his career because that's how things work. And it'll be a good year for our hero, Jed Meshou, I'll be a good year, your featherweight champion.

I like the year to throw that in there at the end. I hate to agree with you once again, Jed, but I have to because I have been saying since the moment, I saw him that Elliott Tuporia was going to be the champion. Six for six, you and I said he was going to be the championist division. And I am certainly not off the train now. That is a 26-year-old man who is full of pissed vinegar, who is a. going up against the 35-year-old man who's already the oldest champion in featherweight history. At some time, at some point, the Reaper comes for everyone, especially in these lighter-weight

divisions. It's the step. It feels like it's common, man. Two out of like 43, 35-year-olds in title fights have lost or won. Alexander Volcanovsky just got brutally, brutally knocked out. That is not bode well for the rest of his career at this stage of his career. It just feels like it's a moment. every time with these dominant champions, they are dominant for so long and we can never see them

actually losing until the moment they actually do. And then all of a sudden, everyone's like, I told you so. I'm calling it beforehand. This is the year it ends for Alexander Volcanowski, which is not an indictment on Alexander Volcanowski. He's one of the greatest featherweights I've ever seen. He's one of the greatest fighters I've ever seen. But again, it's just some point it ends. In 2024, it feels like the year it's going to end for him. If he can make it through this year, I'm going to have like real conversations within myself of where this man stands on the all-time list because if he can make it through this year as featherweight champions still with the with the tests that will get thrown his way we're talking about a different level of fighter at this point

i mean he's already the greatest featherweight of all times so i mean you know he's already got that cemented for wolkenovsky so you're not going to bait us you are not going to bait us damon i see that as the bait that it is i will say that if he beats deporia um i am getting closer to even engaging in that conversation. But if he beats DePuri and then fights Max for a fourth time, back out of here, man. Like, fight. I just fight another dude. Like, I don't need to see you fight Max again.

Yeah. Well, let's move on. Let's move on. We got five left, I believe. Yes, five left, because women's featherweight does not exist. Jed, you nailed that. We don't even need to talk about that. But let's go, let's move on. Let's finish out the men's division. We're not talking about the co-leader here. This woman's

featherweight does exist in the PFL, but whatever. Men's bantam weight. maybe the most difficult division to pick right now for so many factors. This one, at least in polling the 11 people we do for this website, had the most diversity on our website, most different number of picks and people thrown out there. Because who knows what this year is going to look like, right? Sean O'Malley is, whether you like him or hate him,

whether you're looking forward to his reign or not, he is in the mold of a Connor McGregor type of figure where he may, may, not going to say he will, but he may pick and choose his matchups a little bit more than like a guy like a Leon Edwards or a Tyron Woodley or somebody who just takes on all-comers. Sean O'Malley feels like the guy who might lean back and try to just fight once a year,

maybe fight twice, but pick certain matchups. He's already starting it with this Marlon Verifite that makes very little sense other than the fact that he wants it and there's a story there. So I don't know. I don't really know what this year's going to look like at Bansomweight. Where did you guys end up with on this? I went, I think what I assume is the least popular choice here.

It was hard because we know a lot of stuff that is about to happen. And so, but, and then we are predicting a lot after it. So, like, we know that Peoria is fighting Song Yidong. Like, we know that that's going to happen, that the winner of that is going to be, at least in the neighborhood of a title conversation. We know Morav's fighting Henry Suhudo and the winner of that is probably in a a title conversation, I picked Marlon Chito Vera to be your champion at the end of the year. Don't feel great about it, but I did it for really two reasons.

One, I think he's going to be Sean O'Malley. I think he is a uniquely bad style matchup for Sean O'Malley. I mean, think about how Marlon Vera fights. He doesn't win rounds. He wins fights. And Sean O'Malley is not like the world's greatest round winner. Sean O'Malley will engage with Cheeto in the world. ways that will allow Cheeto to win the fight.

And Cheeto's just super durable. So with O'Malley's trying to knock him out, it's not going to work. And instead, he's going to get clipped and tagged. It's going to be a bad time. I think for Sean to win that fight, he is going to have to fight against type. And I don't think that he is going to be able to do that. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. And then I think they're just going to run it back.

And that's why I'm picking Cheeto. I think we're only going to get two Bannamweight title fights. That's a big gamble. Like, I don't think Cheetos is the best guy in this division. but I don't know if Mara beat Sohudo straight up. Like I have no idea how that fight goes. I don't know that Sean would fight the winner of that fight. I just,

I went with the guy who is going to win this upcoming fight in my opinion. And I think they'll do a rematch and a win it again. And I'm hoping that that's going to be the end of Bannonweight for 2024 because I would not pick Cheeto to beat any other dude that might fight for the belt after Sean O'Malley. So I'm really threading a narrow, narrow needle heel here if shan o'malley gets an immediate rematch in a series where he is owing two against the other guy with zero title defenses and aljabane sterling did not get his

immediate rematch alge belgeline sterling might spontaneously combust we might lose why are you saying whatever like why are you saying if he is a thousand percent going to get it that's insane and you're you're not wrong but it i you know i'm right that you know i'm right This is the same thing Damon did with John Jones. You may not like it, but you know I'm correct. I have just never actually considered that thought. That thought has never once entered my brain until it left your mouth. And I hate every part of it.

And I hate that you 50, 50 might be right. So definitely happening if Cheeto wins. Jesus. Damon, where'd you go with this? So I hate Jed because he makes a good point. And he's not wrong. It's like my John Jones pig. Like I said, you guys may hate it,

but you know I got a point. Jed has got an absolutely point. In no universe should Sean O'Malley get a rematch against Cheetah Vera. But Sean O'Malley absolutely probably will get a rematch because that's the world we live in. I am leaning Sean O'Malley to win that fight. I don't feel good about that pick, but I'm leaning Sean O'Malley. So I'm going to pick him to win that fight. And then at that point, I think he's going to do everything in his power to avoid Corey Sanhagen.

That is the worst matchup for Sean O'Malley in that division beyond fighting the guy. who I will be picking in 2025 to be Bantamway champion. That is Umar and Magamatoff. If he was actually, if he had actually fought Corey San Hagan last year, I'd probably pick him to be champion this year, but the injury subdued so.

2025, there's my pick ahead of time, Um, Um, Banderer Magamatoff, Banderer Magamatov, by the way. He's not going to get it this year,

unfortunately. So I'm going to go with the guy who should be fighting for the title in March, and I'm going to go with Marab de Walshvili. I like Henry Suhudo. I think Henry Sudo, you know, he didn't have a bad fight against Al Jamein, but I didn't really think that fight was particularly close. Like, I know it ended in a split decision, but I had it four rounds to one for Aljo. I didn't think it was like that close of a fight. Like, maybe it was the ring rust, maybe it was whatever.

But I just didn't think it was that close of a fight. And I don't know that Suhudo is going to be able to deal with Marab's pressure and his spamming takedowns. We saw Al Jamein take Henry down. I think Marab is a better wrestler, not better grappler, better wrestler, than. an Al Jamein, so I think he can actually take Sehudo down and frustrate him that way. And in a three-round fight, Marab's just got a spam takedowns for 15 minutes and he can win that fight. Look what he did to Peartrean. So I'm going to go with that and then I think he fights O'Malley and I think Marab beats O'Malley.

So I'm going to go with the dark horse pick and say Marab de Wallis-Filly. Wow. Gets this title shot off a what is 11 wins in a row and becomes champion by the end of 2024. So I'm going to Robert de Wally-Silly. Yeah. I think this is a crazy pick. Yeah. You're not wrong.

No, not even from my, if Sean O'Malley wins his fight, I don't think he's fighting again this year. He's going to try and fight Javentza Davis. Like he's not going to, why would he fight Maraubovale? Who will beat him? I would just be an insane maneuver for him to fight. That was very topical because we just saw that Javon Davis apparently changed his name to Abdul Wahid.

It's his now Muslim name. He changed it to a Muslim name. That's not ideal branding, but, you know, if it makes you happy, good for you. Is he, so is it Abdul Waheed? Is that, like, his full name, Abdul Wahid? Breaking News, Yavonda Davis chose the Muslim name Abdulaheed, which means the slave of the one today, which we're recording this. Is he still going to be tank? On Thursday.

I don't know. Do a tank? Like, I'm just curious. I don't know. I hope this is correct. And I'm not just saying this. And it's completely incorrect. You know what you got to do when you're really becoming a global superstar that people know

is change your name. That is what they tell you in all the brand meetings I've ever been in. You have a brand that people can identify and enjoy and like know and respect.

Get rid of it. Time to change things up. It worked for Cassius. I'm looking forward to Sugar Son. Looking forward to Sugar Sean Smith fighting for the Bantamweight title. Dude. As you were explaining

your pick, Damon, I started hating my pick more and more because I agree with you. I had, I'm Devalos Chavili as well. And I really went solely on, I have no idea what the hell to do with this division. So I'm going to pick the best guy in this division.

And to me, that's Marab. But I don't think there's a real chance he's going to fight for it. And the more you talk it out and the more Jed says like, well, Sean wins. He's just going to not fight again. He's going to sit on it. I think you're right. I think you're all right. And I also think Sean's going to fight Corey St.

And again before he fights Marab. I think he actually is more open to the Corey fight because it's, he just doesn't have any interest in giving marab that little bit that little taste so i have maraugh don't you don't like it i feel really bad about that pick now and i feel like i'm going to end up being run does anyone does anyone here like in all and this i'm not trying to knock the guy i really am not but like credit to sean amalley beating algerman sterling i did not pick him to win that fight don't love that they rushed algerman back into a title fight but he took the fight that's on him but does anyone here, I mean, I know, in terms of rankings,

but I'm saying like, does anyone here, do we all believe that Sean O'Malley is actually the best Bantamweight fighter in the UFC? I don't. And that's why I'm like, he's top five. And that's why I'm like, Cheeto absolutely can beat him. Like, I have no doubt in my mind, Cheeto can win that fight. He has. Rab can beat him.

Like, it's just a hootow I think could be Sean O'Malley. So like, I don't feel good about picking Sean to say Jammings. I don't think he's legit. Like, he is the number one band's weight in the UFC. But I legitimately do not believe he's the best band to wait in the, in the UFC. Yeah, nope.

Sure don't. Right there with you. I will. Yeah, I did, well, I didn't think Connor was the best lightweight

by like any remote concept of it. And then that bore out true. Sometimes it doesn't matter. And that's why. Like, I think if you think Sean's beating Cheeto,

I think you should just pick Sean to be the champion. Because I just don't think he's going to fight anybody if it beats Cheeto, man. We'll see. We'll see.

We'll see. We will see. We will see. Like Marob deserves it. and you might get an interim title. Like maybe that's a thing they do, but it's tough. I don't like anything you said about Sean O'Malley today,

and you're absolutely going to be right by everything you said about Sean O'Malley today. I love it this Pagiaz is just the three of us bumming each other out. Taking turns, bumming each other out. That's a good table center for 2024. Let's move on. Let's finish out the men's divisions here with the last one,

the littlest of them all, the 125ers men's flyweight. I nailed this last year. I got to say, I'm pretty proud of that. I've been saying Pantosia for a while. I've been on the pants train for several years at this point. It was just a matter of him getting his opportunity. I thought this guy was always the best in this weight class.

He finally got his opportunity. He proved me right. I'm picking him again. I think he defends. I think he has a little bit left in this rain before it moves on to someone else. Where did you guys go? So last year, my pick flamed in a hard, hard way because I went with Manel caught because I thought, you know,

But Manel kept getting these matchups and I was like, man, he's just got to, he's got to get this shot. I'm super on him. Still him. But he just kept getting fights canceled. Everyone he was supposed to fight just kept dropping out every, he had like eight top five opponents dropped out last year. So he couldn't get a fight. Butel cops, just to note, Miguel Copts, 2023. He fought once.

He was against Felipe dos Santos. Exactly. And how many of the, and how many times we matched up against the top 10 opponent in 2023? Three times, in fact. Alex Perez, Davidson Figuero and Kai Caro, France, and all of those fell apart. Exactly. So every, my instincts were right. Had he actually had those fights, he might have actually become a champion.

So I'm going back to the well again, boys. I'm going Manel Cobb again. Here's the reason why he's stuck with Manel this year. He does have a fight in January against Mateus Nicolao. Estens a very winnable fight. We are, was it February is when they're doing Moreno and Albazzi. We have to imagine the winner of that is going to get Pantosia probably summer time and flyways tend to stay a little bit more active so i'm gonna i'm gonna bet on that i don't know who's

gonna win i think moreno will be albasi but then will marino avenge his fight with pintoz or maybe maybe not and and that's like their fourth fight too isn't it the third or third fight fourth fight fourth fight overall would be their fourth of his more yeah so i don't know how that's gonna play out but i think if manel wins in january and then he fights once more in july june july against some top ranked guy whoever that may be and then by december he gets his title shot So I'm going to ride or die with my boy, Manel Cobb, even though I feel absolutely terrible about this pick because it backfired on me spectacularly last year. Don't feel terrible, Damon, because I too am choosing Manel Cop as my final champion. Look at you.

We're not going the same route to get there. And I was very close to picking Brandon Marano. I think Minowocop is going to beat Mateus Nicolao in January. I think he's getting a title fight off of that. I don't think he has to fight again. Pantosia, you know, there's rumors the UFC's going back to Brazil. sort of, or, you know, end of Q1 next year, a Pantoja will obviously be on that card. I think Monell Cop gets that because if Ami al-Bossey beats Brandon Marino in February, he's got

the inside track for a title fight. I don't think that's going to happen. I think Brandon Maro is going to beat him. Then the U.S. He's going to look at Mano cop, this super exciting fun dude. And they're going to look at a fourth fight with Brandon Marino, who they like, but like, he's 0 in 3. We don't need to make this happen coming off one win.

Maybe he needs to get a few more to get another shot. of Pantosia and they just give Mano Coppa the shot. Manel Coppavidges his previous loss, Alejandro Pantosia. And then maybe he fights Brandon Marino at the end of the year. I don't feel great about his chances in that fight, but I decided I didn't want to go back to the Moreno well because I felt dumb because I got burned on the Moreno well last year.

So I decided to mix it up. Let's go Starboy. There we go. That's the men's divisions. Let's now move over to the women. And as I said already, women's featherweight doesn't exist and it no longer will matter to any of us for this for these i'm sorry talk pfl i'm i'm not part of these comments by she now shoddy i recognize that you are the

co-leader and you have uh whatever that don davis tweet was a hundred percent of the top eight like ten women's featherweights in the world or whatever that insane tweet from don davis was so we start with the pantom weights everyone's favorite division women's Bantamway, I know you all love it. And I'm just sad that A.K. Can't be a part of this conversation. So we're thinking of you, AK,

where did you guys end up for this vacant title that we are currently looking at? Well, this is easy. This is maybe the easiest choice I had of the whole year. And the only reason it's not a lock is because I have one coming up that I feel even better about, but it's my Buena Silva.

The only way she's not holding the belt is if she gets popped for another band substance, She's fighting Rock Al Pennington for the title. She's going to win the title. Love Rocky, but MBS actually, like, appears to be good after the last, like, year and a half, two years she's had. And Rocky's old and not going to do it. NBS is going to get the belt. I wouldn't pick Giuliana Pena to beat almost anyone because that's just not something I'm going to choose to do with my decision making.

So, yeah, MBS is going to win the belt and not hold it all year because she'll probably defend it one time or whatever. So, yeah, Myr Buena Silva, a pretty easy choice for me. What about you, David? I'm with Jed, Myra Bueno Silva. I think she beats Rocky Pennington, and I do not want to live in a world where Juliana Pena holds the title again. She has zero wins over anyone on the current EFC roster, and I don't think she will have any wins or anyone on the current EOCE roster when she loses to Meyer Boeux Silva.

So she's going to Colby Covington her way into a title shot off of not fighting for two years and losing to Amanda Nunes, but she's going to get in there, and I think Myra Buena Silva washes her. So I'm going to go in Myra Buena Silva to win and remain champion throughout 2024 in a division that still kind of doesn't exist because they haven't had a champion in six months and they're just now crowning a new one. But yeah, I'm going to go at MBS to hold on to it because I do not want to fathom a world where you get the title again. I might regret my choice now as I'm thinking this too. Shaheen, who did you have? Well, first of all, I

I resent the Kobe Covington shot right there. Juliana Pena actually won a fight of value. She beat Amanda Nunes. She beat the goat. What are we talking about? That's not the same as like your entire reputation being staked on two losses. But she's awful. But then she got the brakes beaten off her in a rematch and hasn't fought since then.

It's been two years or it's going to be two years by then she fights again. The Pena and she's awful. The Penae narrative is so funny to me. A, Jed, you were like all aboard the Pena train in the first Nunes fight. You famously predicted that she would win. You were all in on it. And now you have completely, you've completely turned your back on her. But also the way that people paint her resume is so funny to me of like, oh, she doesn't have a win over anybody currently on the UFC roster. Yeah. Because for like two years, she was in a rivalry with the greatest

female fighter of all time who chose to retire after it. Like there's a reason. She was in a rivalry with eight months. She's an array for eight months with the man to do this. She won one. It was great. she lost the other it's juliana pedia look at it like it's not the worst resume I've ever seen but it's not good yeah that's the answer it's juliana penny because she will fight for a title

her next fight will be for a title you think she's beating mbS and i think she's beaten mbs i think people are really high on the nbs train right now because she managed to to end our having to deal with holly home in a title picture which just seemingly went on forever

she finally kind of put that to an end and i think people are just all in on it because of that but I don't know, man, like Holly Holmes 40 something. That's a great win, but I would still pick Holly home to be Julianapania. That's a great win, but that does not sell me entirely on MBS yet as this supreme dominant champion in this division who can just handle everybody else. It's women's 135. Great wins are like world class all time wins in any other wake class.

You guys are forgetting about the one darker horse in this whole thing that could actually throw a monkey wrench in this whole plan. and that is the return of Jermaine Duran Damme. She's coming back this year and she has a winner of her pain you. You're joking, but you're not actually, that's not actually a bad call. I mean, I'm not saying she's going to be champion, but I'm saying she is coming back. Like there is a world where this is,

it's women's ban to way. Can you really doubt something stupid what happened like that? See, I had another dark horse that I almost went with and I kind of regret not doing it just for the brand, but is Valentina, is Valentina Schifchenko. Yeah. This is like, whatever happens with the Grosso thing, at the end of it,

win or lose, she's moving up to 135. She'll probably get an immediate title shot. And like, she's better than all of these women. So probably should have taken her, at least for the brand, but NBS,

I'm fine with it. No, it's, the UFC loves Juliana. They will give Juliana whatever she wants. And she has the best, they do. They,

yes, they do. They absolutely do. I agree she's going to get the title fight. She's just not good at fighting. She is their best chance for this division. to have a champion that people will listen to because she speaks, and very few other people in this division speak.

And ultimately she has the best win of anybody else in this division, whether you like it or not. So that's where I ended up. Let's move on now to Women's 1-25. Jed, you just said it. Alexa Grassov, Valentina Shepchenko, that's sort of still in the air. We don't really know where this is headed. It seems like they may end up fighting again because that fight was so close

and controversial in the rematch last time. But who actually knows? and of course there's some really talented folks waiting in the wings as well. I'll just spill it right off the bat. I picked Aaron Blanchfield because I picked Aaron. I think Aaron Blanchfield is inevitable. And I think at some point you have to just give her the shot. This last one that she's about to fight against Manafuro

has to be the last one before we finally get to this title shot. I think whenever she gets that title shot, she is going to beat whoever is there, whether it's Shevchenko, whether it's Grasso, whoever. And so I'm playing my flag. This is the year of Aaron Blanchfield. easy game um this one this is my other lock bang she is going to she's she's gonna run over monofuro and i like monofioreau

um she has sort of overachieve but monofuro is just like katelyn chukagian 2.0 um so yeah blancho's gonna just club the hell out of her and at that point the only fight that makes sense is a title fight she will fight the winner of grosser chivchenko three unless it chifchenko because I think if Shepchenko beats Grasso, there's no point in her sticking around. She's older. She has reclaimed the title. She can just be like,

man, I'm out. I'm going to move up to 135 and try and do this. That would be the only way is if they allow Shavchenko to move up to 135 without vacating her title. And then Blanchfield just fights Grasso for an interim belt. But she's the best woman in this way, class by a good portion. And, yeah,

she's going to hold a belt by the end of the year. I'm going to make it three for three boys. Aaron Blanchfield's my pick. Interesting. I'm going in a slight when Jed mentioned Shepchinko going up to the 135, it kind of threw a little bit of a like a little bit of a pivot in my brain because I think Chichiko should be champion right now. I think she beat Grasso.

That decision was was bad. She should be champion right now. I think if she beats Grasso again and I'll lean Shepchinko to win that fight in the next one because, you know. ostensibly she's won the majority of the rounds against election also you know so I'm going to lean chukhchenko winning that fight and then I love jed's idea that she goes up to 135 and fights there so now I'm kind of like well maybe chivchenko's the champion of bant to wait but I think they do like the dc thing where

they let her go up and hold the belt but then as soon as she becomes bantameter way champion they take the flyway title away from her kind of thing and then we see erin blanchold fight for a vacant belt against grasso or whoever else is out there at that point um or if it ends up being, you know, if Chinko sticks around, I still think Blanchold wins. And I think she washes Mendo Fiore. I'm with you on the Jed train. I think she's completely overachieved. She did, I mean, she had moments against, you know, I guess a very undersized Rose Namibunas,

but I'm still not sold on Mendovior being like a legitimate top contender. You know, when you have, when you lose striking exchanges. She's just not good. Yeah, when you lose, when you lose striking exchanges at points to Jennifer Maya, I'm not totally sold on you. And so, yeah, I think Blanchfield wins that one. and then whether it's Chubchino, Grasso, or a vacant title, I think Blanchfield's holding gold by the end of the year. So I'm going there in Blanchfield.

I'm a wee bit surprised that I'm the only one who locked this one up. This was my first and easiest choice for lock. I mean, like, you get two. It was like, I'm going to go Blanchfield because she is definitely the best person in this weight class and is undeniably in a title eliminator fight early in the quarter. For me, it was just timeline. I do not know for a fact that this bill.

will be defended twice this year. I think we can assume that it is. Maybe. I mean, we still don't even know what's going to happen next. And let's not forget. 24 or 23 title defenses last year. Like it's,

it averages out to every ball gets defended twice. I, you know, I think they'll do Grasor, Shepchenko, when they go to Mexico sometime early next year, which has sort of been rumored. And then Plangefield gets the winner of that at the end of the year.

Well, we know, we know they're doing the Mexico card early in the year. with Moreno and Albazi headlining. And don't forget, we got September with the Noce UFC card. They're going to do the sphere. They're going to do that. They're going to want Grasso or some.

That's my worry. That's my worry is they wait on the Champchango rematch for the Noce card because it's going to be in the sphere. There's a real world. If they do that, that would be nightmares. Because the Mexico car is already booked. They already have like a main event. They're not going back to Mexico again this year.

They're going to do Mexico in February. They're going to do Nochioc at the sphere. in September. And if they're doing no GEOC at the sphere, I can 100% see a world where they put Grasso, Shepchenko, on that card. Because that was the headliner last year. It was a great main event.

It was a great car. You can't shelve that title for a full year and like the best women's division. That would, I mean, they can. God knows they'll do it. Absolutely. It's so dumb. That would be.

You have to take that. And in particular because at that point, just send Chivchenko up. At that point, just send her up to 135 and let Blanchville fight Grasso because come off this Monifiro, there's nothing to do with Blanchfield, but give her a fucking belt, man.

We saw Belal Mohammed sit the entire year after fighting very early in the year for the contendary. No one likes Belal. People like Aaron Blancher. I'm just telling you. I'm just telling you, this is what the, especially because the Noche UFC in this sphere will be bumming me out. Such a big tent

poll that the UFC puts all its assets towards similar to UFC 300 type of thing of they don't care. They're just going to reserve the date and make people sit for it. We're doing, we're doing gross obli. They're going to gamble the Grosso Beach Shevchenko, Grosso Blanchold

for the belt in the sphere. That's what's happening. UFC's been gambled a little bit more lately. They're going to gamble on that one. Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, look, when they had three Mexican-born champions to early last year.

And they didn't go to Mexico. And they ended up with Grosso. They can't, they will not risk not having at least one Mexican star headlining that Noce U.S. C garden. and Grasso is the best shot at that. So there's absolutely a world where that happens.

You nailed it. Dana has not stopped talking about the sphere thing. He's going to want to do a big card there. And I mean, Yair beats Ritega, they're not giving him another title shot right away. You know, Moreno's the other guy.

Maybe they do Moreno, but. Max again or whatever. No, they need a champion. They need a Mexican champion for that sphere card. And right now they have one. And I just,

I think there's a real world where they sit on it. We'll see. We'll see. It's a weird, it's a weird setup. That's what I'm saying. So many of these divisions. Y'all are bumming me out.

I don't like it. So many of these divisions are in weird places right now. We're on to our last one. It's the straw weights. Last year, I'm sorry to say, Damon, you were the only person on staff

to get this one wrong. We all went Zhang. You went Rose. Didn't really work out for you. I'm sorry about that. She didn't even fight in this division. That's tough. I just went,

I went Rose purely for the fact that they love giving Rose title shots. And I was like, yeah, she has a couple wins of Zhang. Fair logic. Totally fair logic. I'll just start us off on this one because for me, this has been an answer long, long in the waiting. I have been on this train.

This is this year is just you hoping all of the people you've been on for years. That's exactly what this is. And I have been on this woman's bandwagon. I'm doing the same, so it's fine. I've been driving this bandwagon since like 2017 at this point. This is the year of Tatiana Swarres. We finally saw her come back. we finally saw her fight a couple times in 2023.

She is at the precipice of taking what has been rightfully or should have been rightfully hers for a very long time at this point. I think she does it. I think this is the year Tatanas Suarez finally gets that title fight. And I think whenever that opportunity comes, she will win because she's the best straw weight in the damn world. I'm staking my flag on it. Titianus Juarez.

Yeah, I'm with you. And I honestly don't even have much to add to it. It's, I think that that is, you know, Swaraz is fighting Amanda Lohorah. Emosh in February. That is about as no doubt about it. Title Eliminator as you get, I think. I don't, you know,

hopefully they do Zhang Yan, because that is a fight that should happen. And Suarez fights the winner, and Suarez will demolish the winner of this, of that fight, I think. I'm a little bit interested. Wiley could give her some real problems, but I do think Tatiazwar's win,

so I'm with you. I've got her as my champ at the end of the year. So my gut says, make it three for three because Tatiana Suarez is the best straw weight in the world and I to me it's not going back to the Rosewell no I'm sure I'm not going back to the rose well I'm once again gambling on the timing aspect of it because I don't think the Zhang and I think they're going to find a way to put Zhang Wei Li and Yan and Jan Jan in China when that happens that's the problem I don't know when that could happen they tried to go to Shanghai in December it didn't happen maybe they go back

in June or July I don't think that fight's going to end up on like UFC 300 um So Tatyana Suarez beats Amanda Limoshe and then I think it's just a matter of timing. If Zhang Wei fights Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan, June, July, August, does she fight again this year? You know? And so I went with Zhang Wei Li only because of timing, only because I think she beat Jan Jan Jan Janan, and then she may not fight again this year. My heart says Tatiana Swartz. When Tatiana Suarez fights for the title, Tatiana Swars will become champion. I just don't know that she's going to get that shot this year because of timing.

Because it looks pretty clear they're going to give Yan Janana the title shot. And I'm fine with that. But the problem is, is timing. And so that's where I go back to like when Tatiana gets the title shot, Tatiana will become champion. But will she get the title shot this year? That's the only thing that scares me. That was my big concern. So I'm with you.

I understand it. It's a real question. It's not if it's win with Tatiana Suarez. Like she's going to be champion. one, I have zero doubts in my mind. When she gets that title shot, she will become champion. I just don't know if it's going to happen this year because we're already booked through March. We know April's going to be Yosey 300.

I don't think they're going to put Wayley and Yan on that card. That seems like a weird fight for Yos C 300 when they could easily go to China and sell that and actually have a really, really big card in China. And then we're looking at May, June, and then we're getting into that playing the timing game. I'm like, do they fight again in 2024? And so I just don't know. So my gut would say Tatiana, she gets in November, December, she becomes champion. But I just don't know.

I'm playing that gambling game. So, yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to lean Zhang Wei Li and not feel good about it. I think this just comes back to another thing of the UFC does not want to ruin this. And you cannot play with fire with Tatiana. If she is ready to fight and you book that fight, we have seen too many times where this did not work out because they waited too long with her and she got hurt again. I just feel like this is the year. It has to happen. We've been waiting for so long.

And this feels like the year. Also, Tatiana Swares, patchy mix. Is that like a top three all-time power couple and MMA of just insane talent in the same household? It's ridiculous. I mean, yeah, that's not like there's like a deep well to draw from in that particular category. But yes, I would say that's probably right at the top of the list. If not number one, it's the best, the best band's weight and the best straw weight. I would say that's pretty, that's definitely number one.

I think Patchy's the best band to win in the sport. And Tatiana, I think is the best straw wish. It doesn't have the belt yet. Too much talent. Too much talent in that household. Well, there it is. There's our 11 UFC champions. A quick review of our locks.

Jed, you have Aaron Blanchfield and Tom Aspinall, Damon. You have Alexander Volcanowski and John Jones. And me, I have Shavkat Ragnov and Tom Aspinol as well. All of us going in on the heavyweights. I think it's awesome that both of Damon's locks. I do not have it as my champions this year. It's that kind of year, man. It really feels like anything is up for grabs in 2024. I don't know how any of this is going to play out. So much of

this. I mean, I do. I just told you how it's going to play out. I gave you the list of the 11 champions. It's fair. Bulletproof. I'll be 11 for 11. If you can do that, you can come into my house and steal anything you want. Boom. That's on wax. Ladies and German, that is a legally binding verbal agreement. And we end up right where we started. I just want three out of 11. Can I get one more than I had last year? Is that possible?

Only up from here, David. At least I'm honest. At least I'm honest about it. That's a great goal. Just improvement. It's 1% better every day. You know?

Exactly. And there we have it. That is our 11 UFC champions for the year. I always love doing this. It is going to be such a weird, wacky, bizarre, 2024, it looks like let's see who's right, let's see who's wrong.

Y'all send us your picks. We want to hear your picks. Join in this game with us. See if you can beat us. It's so difficult. It's so much more difficult than you think it is. But that's the fun in it. Thanks for joining us today, as always. Kicking off 2024 in style. That man is David Martin. That man is Jedmishu. I am Shaheen Al-Shadi.

We love you guys. Rock with us for 2024. It's going to be a fun time. See ya. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first? There, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.

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