MMA Fighting - BTL | Conor McGregor's Disastrous Return, UFC 329 Fallout, Busy Weekend Ahead

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

Conor McGregor's return to the UFC octagon could not have gone worse this past Saturday as his main event matchup with Max Holloway ended abruptly after McGregor suffered an injury. Is this the end for McGregor, or will he return for one more walk — and if he does, will anybody buy into it? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the UFC 329 main event, the buzzkill of it all, and where both McGregor and Holloway go from their closing act in Las Vegas. Additionally, they talk Paddy Pimblett's big win and quick submission in the co-main event, other standout moments from UFC 329, a busy weekend ahead in the combat sports world, Dricus du Plessis facing Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, Arman Tsarukyan taking on Colby Covington at RAF 11, Ben Askren's return, PFL heads to Austin, and more. Join MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew as they answer your questions all show long. Follow Mike Heck: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@m_heckjr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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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Enjoy responsibly. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. The MMA Fighting Studios, this is between the links. Your host, my... The iconic voice of Esther Lynn, welcomes you. to a brand new edition of BTL. Happy Thursday to us all. Oddly enough, and coincidentally enough,

I got to see the iconic voice last week in Las Vegas, along with our good friend E. Casey Leiden. It was a great week in Las Vegas for most of us, except for Connor McGregor. And I'm sure we'll talk about that and much more on today's program. And joining me is a man who he got to watch UFC 329, but he got to do so as a fan, got some well-deserved time off last week.

And he is here back to deliver some takes like never before. The one and only, Mr. No Grayery himself, dancing away. Mr. Jedmishu. Jed, how we doing? How we feeling? Are you feeling refreshed after some time off? That's a tricky question, Mike. You know, career-wise, yes.

Got some time off. It was super nice to not be in the MMA grind. I did watch the event. I didn't see everything. happened because i headed up on the phone we were watching the world cup doing things physically i am a wreck uh i'm not a young man anymore mike and to engage in the sorts of activities that i did for four days that that takes a toll takes a toll on you i shot very well in the golf section so we at least had that going for us but uh i only just today started feeling like

oh i'm good like i'm back i'm back to even I'm a little sore still, but, uh, you know, I'm not meant to do fireball shots in a way I used to be, Mike. I don't know. That's weird. Your, your audio changed dramatically. What the hell? There we go. Oh, it's back.

There we go. Back, Mama. The old focus, right, starting to be real dumb right now. But yeah, I, such a weird, such a great week. Like, I forgot how wild it is to be on the ground for an event like that. It was the first time I'd ever covered a Connor McGregor card. in person. So that was pretty crazy. I got to sort of feel the anticipation. It just seemed like another fight week during Media Day. And then I went and then I had to leave a little early after

Connor's Media Day. And even Connor's Media Day was just like, okay, not really feeling it. And then the press conference happened. I'm like, okay, now I'm feeling it. Now I'm starting to feel. The crowd was electric. They were into everything. Patty, the Patty stuff, they were super into that. And then, uh, yeah, once the ceremonials happened on Friday, it was like, all right, this is This is peak UFC. This is everybody's on fire. Everybody is ready for this. And then the event happens, Jed.

And it is fun as hell. The first, what, about, 13 fights? I mean, we're just, it's heater after heater, moment after moment. All sorts of good stuff. Golly. Yeah, it's drive me crazy. I think you have to replace by XLR, but we'll battle through. Patty has the big win.

You talk, Jed. I don't know either. I mean, it was, I had a great time watching it. I didn't realize it until you just were talking, Mike. I didn't see the presser. Like I was on vacation for the thing, so I didn't see. I knew, I saw some clips out of Media Day, nothing major. But I have no idea what happened at the press conference.

I saw the ceremony of Wayans like they, got like in each other's faces but that's all I saw and honestly that's sort of like the exact perfect way for me to experience fight week of just like I don't care about the pressers anymore like they they are just an opportunity for people to be the worst versions of themselves to try and sell a fight so I didn't see any of that I just got to watch the fights and uh I had a great time like you know watched I had a great time watching Patty watching Max watching Connor like the whole thing So it was a wonderful weekend for me to not have to be like locked in and engaged. I agree.

Wonderful experience. Yeah. The presser was wild because. Oh, you loud now. I'm super loud. You're super loud now. You're crisp. Well, you're crisp and loud?

Better? Worse? That's better. Okay. Yeah, the presser was, see what they've been doing lately is they just put the top four fighters up. So it's just Connor and Max. and then was Patty and BSD and Benoit just kind of sat there

and got booed out of the building. Connor was being Connor. Wasn't a complete prick in an asshole, but he wasn't lame either. Max was, Max was kind of weird because Max is like, I hope he talks a bunch of shit because I love talking shit

and he had nothing in that department, which was kind of fun. And Patty, I think, had more fun than any single human being on planet or cheering the stage with Connor McGregor. Every time Connor spoke, He just laughed his ass off and had a great time. And then Connor sang Wonderwall and Patty was like losing his mind.

So living vicariously through Patty Pimble was probably the way to go during the press conference. And then everything started to ramp up. And the card was electric. I think, I mean, we were pacing towards one of the best UFC fight cards of all time until that main event started. And it was such a bummer. Just seeing everyone go home so disappointed. And it was, it's just what happened sometimes. Such a memorable card.

and to end that way, it was one of the biggest buzz kills in UFC history. And it was just pretty crazy. But you know what, Jen? We persevere. We move on and we have a super busy combat sport. You laughed a lot. I mean,

I wrote this in our post fight right up, but I was like, we got the full MMA experience in that card. Connor McGreg hasn't fought in five years. So if you were like an MMA fan who was a Connor fan or you, you know, maybe you didn't come back for the White House because I was too political for you,

but you're like, oh, I'll check this out, right? Like, there could be some people who did that. You got the full gamut. You got, like, a submission of the year contender. You got a couple of terrific fights, some good knockouts, some squash matches. So here's the next big thing. And then you got something real weird and stupid happening in a main event. That is the full of MMA experience at one fight card.

And I personally laughed a tremendous amount. I was sitting there on my phone watching this fight because the World Cup had gone long at that point. The Switzerland game was still going on. And I was sitting there and I started cackling. My friend's like, what are you laughing? I was like, this was before I knew he blew his knee out. I was like, well, he threw a jumping kick and fell down immediately and now he was getting rocked in the head. Oh, he fell down again. I actually think he's hurt himself. Oh, this is hilarious. The fight's over in less than a minute. This is incredible. Like, I don't anticipate everybody enjoyed it and I totally get it.

I'm not telling you you should have found it funny. I found it amusing. I also, I also, found an amusing that if you're the type of person who dropped 20 grand to attend a Connor McGregor fight, I'm going to deserve that to happen to you, in my humble opinion. So, super fun to me. I had a wonderful time. There you go. Shout Scott McCraight. For 44 months.

Look at you, Scotty. Scotty leading the way. Let's go to the Peef's what this is all about today. RS 40. Why are we talking about a criminal who deserved what we got? Let's talk about DDP versus Kamar Usman. and two of the greatest to ever compete. I'm taking Usma by decision.

Jed, your guy is back, Drickus Duplice, his first fight since losing the middleweight title to Hamzaa Chimayef. Kwar Russo returns 13 months after beating Joaquin Buckley and campaigning for a welterweight title shot. And now he's back in middleweight. He's back in the octagon fighting Drickus duplicacy. I don't know if you saw the first face off outside in Oklahoma City. Drickus duplice looks like he is a heavyweight compared to Kamar Usman being a

Welter Wade. He looks so much bigger than Kamar Usman. It's not even funny. I knew he would look bigger. I was stunned when I saw this face off how much bigger he was. So thoughts on DDP Usman, UFC OkC, and boy, that card's rough. So this main event needs to deliver. Does it not?

I think there's some charm to the card, but if the main event rolls apart or doesn't deliver, everyone's going to have really bad time for sure in the OKC thing. But like, it's fine because the main event will happen. Whether it deliver, I think that's an open question. I think that fight's going to be good. The RS 40, love you. I would not call Jurykis duplice,

one of the greatest of all time. And I love him. He's my son. He's my job. But he's not all the greatest all time. Usman got a better case for that, right? Like probably a top 25 or 30 fighter all time for Usman. Well past his prime.

But like, this fight doesn't really make sense, but it's kind of fun. So I'm sort of okay with it, you know? Because it's like really, I'm not sure why DDP is doing this. I'm like, he got the fight. That's why he's doing it. Like they gave him the fight. He said, yes, he's going to fight whoever they give him. but like he should be

I mean the guy he has two wins over his champion again like he should be in the mix now he's fighting a blown up welterweight like it's a weird fight from his perspective for Usman I think it's smart is a good business right like he can be a viable potential title contender in two divisions

should he beat DDP here but it's a weird one but it's one that I'm kind of looking forward to I think that like I'm gonna pick DDP to win obviously but we just saw DDP get out wrestled and sat on for 25 minutes. It's not impossible. Usman can replicate that to some extent. So weird fight I sort of never thought about, but I'm not opposed to it.

It is just a little strange. Yeah. It's, I mean, it doesn't even feel that strange because we knew this is the fight for so long. And it took them forever to announce it. So, yeah, we were mentally and physically ready for this one well before they announced it. So we shall see what happens. but yeah, I think DDP's going to win as well, but it'll be interesting to see where both guys go.

Because DDP, shout out to DDP. Very realistic with the expectations. He's like, yeah, if I win, it doesn't guarantee me anything. If I go out and kill Kamar Usman, I probably get a title shot, but if I just go out and beat him, it's probably not enough. He put Nasdaen Emov off over at Media Day saying, like, this dude deserves it. What are we doing here?

But he fully understands the position he's in. And Kamar Rusman's like, if I win, then I'm fighting either Islam or Sean Strickle next. And yeah, it's probably right. I think that's probably true for Kamar Usman. I don't think DDP gets a title fight with a win. It's a little unfortunate, right? Again, he's got two wins over the current champion.

He probably should. But the way he lost to Hamzaat was so terrible, and they're just other dudes in the mix. I think it's not entirely unreasonable to be like, you don't get to beat a welterway and then immediately get a title fight. You got to win. Another one. And if that means he has to fight Imov, that sucks for Imov, right?

Like, but it does feel like there may be some energy towards the Hamzot-Chimai of rematch. I certainly hope not. I hope himov gets his day in court. But if that happens, then where does Chameh go? Like, it all gets real weird. Middleweight's got messy when Shickland won. And I don't, this doesn't feel like it adds clarity to middleweight at all. Yeah.

Because what I, I mean, it's, it seems pretty clear. And this is not being, you know, there's no insight. I do this, it just seems like the vibes and where it's trending and just having some conversations and no one knows for sure, but it seems like Comzat's going to get the rematch and it's, I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of it.

But I understand it. I think Kamsat won that fight and it's terrible. Yeah. I'mov's in a weird position. Now, they are going back to Paris. Should he even ifoff fight on that card? Should he fight like Joe Pfehr or someone

like that, maybe in the main event? Should he do it? Or should he sit and wait? I think he should sit and wait. Because if he does it, I don't think he should sit and wait forever. But if he fights in September, that's when Paris is, right?

September. Yeah. So that's been, that would be exactly a year. Yeah. But if he fights in September, and we don't even currently have a middleweight title if I booked,

then he's, that feels like that's a bad timeline for him to get on, right? Because maybe a middleweight title fight gets. booked in October, you know, when they go back to Abu Dhabi traditionally, right? Like, maybe that's what happens. And so then that's too quick a turnaround for him realistically to make. And it's just, I feel like you just wait, you wait until they book the middleweight title fight. And once they do, then you can take a fight. Because you shouldn't wait for two years, right? But hold out every last hope that you get your day. And then if you don't, then you fight.

And maybe who you fight is, is Drickus 2 plus C, right? Like, that timeline, feels like that might end up working out. If they book a middleweight title fight in October, DDP gets Emovove, you know, on the undercard of that, the co-made event or whatever. Yeah. Love Quinn 8. Thank you.

Should be a no contest and all bets returned. Cool, return. Yeah, cool. Return the 30 million since the fight never happened. It's actually a very interesting take right there. So you wrote up, I believe, the morning report. That was Conner's most recent social media post. he's going to have the results on his leg or knee today and wants it overturned or no contest

and all bets return to people. So what are your thoughts on this reaction? I think of Quinnate, thank you for your donation. I think this is a very stupid take. Fighters don't return paychecks for no contests anyway, right? So that's not how that works. I am of two minds because this will never happen. right like we know this this is a it's counter just saying stuff right like it didn't happen with

pantosha uh when he broke his arm and i think that there's a pretty good argument for why it shouldn't but i'm also sort of open to the idea of like that wasn't a fight like we didn't we didn't have a contest in that or in the pantosia van fight i think that it's probably too difficult to align to parse right like you set too poor precedent by over returning fights that end within under a minute due to injury. But there is a kernel of that that tracks. Like nobody thinks that Josh Van is better than Pantosia because of that fight. And nobody thinks that, you know, Max Holloway is better than Connor McGregor because of that

fight. They didn't fight. Outcomes happen and they're valid outcomes per the rules. But I am at least sympathetic to the idea that that is a no contest, but I just don't think structurally you can make it be one. And Connor knows this. He didn't even say appeal. He wouldn't even like, we're going to appeal this.

Because that would be a huge waste of his time and some money. It won't happen. But I am, like I said, I understand the point, even if I think that it's probably not correct. Yeah. Kail is Drickis and CLD are committing elder abuse, right? I am less confident in Drickis, though still relatively confident. If Jared Canaaner continues to defy age,

than credit to him. And this has been the year of the unc. So maybe. But I think the most likely outcome is, yes, both of them put their old dogs down. Yeah. Let's go back here to some more questions. When is mustache coming back for a guest spot?

We miss him. I would love to do that. We'll see. Don't know. But if he wants to come back on, of course. interesting uh conan zina does kamar retire with the loss or does he fight belal he might retire um feels like he should just be fighting below like i'm not i just don't understand why this fight isn't happening um both men at various stages want it and then don't want it um

this is a bigger fight for him than belal so i mean credit to him i guess he held out and got something bigger but like he and below should just fight They should have fallen two years ago. They should really fight right now. But if he loses, like I think maybe he can sell himself that, okay, a loss of middleweight is not a loss of Walterweight. I'm still in the mix there, especially if it's competitive loss. But it wouldn't stun me if he retired. That feels actually possible for him.

Could happen. Joseph, M.A. fighting reporting that R.F. 11, Colby v. Armand is now for the R.F. crossover title. What is the crossover title? I mean, it's basically just what you're seeing. Like crossover athletes coming over from where they made their names in other sports, coming over in wrestling. You know, Colby's obviously UFC fighter that came back to wrestling, but was a wrestler. And Armin is a UFC fighter who's back in the freestyle wrestling world. So I get it.

You know, add a little panache to it. It doesn't matter to me. it's just why not throw a little belt on there and you know kind of it kind of separates what we're trying to do here which is kind of good right like because the wrestling purists hate this hates this shit and the MMA fan like loves this because it gives us a reason to watch and we're learning more about wrestling as we watch these events and the armands and such are going to do that

we'll see what happens like I wonder how we parlay Saturday because obviously I'll be going to Milwaukee tomorrow. I wonder how we parlay Saturday into the one-year anniversary show next month because I got to tell you, my socks are fully on with R.A.F.12 right now. My socks have not been blown off. Jordan Burroughs competing is big,

but he's wrestling Sean Brady, and I like Sean Brady, but Sean's just not the dude who's going to sort of move the needle, so to speak. And we got Buckley and Woodley, but we're missing that big one. So I wonder how that parley is over. If there's something in the works that might get announced on Saturday,

depending on who wins this match. So, yeah, we'll see. I'm fine with it. Yeah, it's fun. You know, belts are relatively meaningless in general. Honestly, it adds a little bit of structure to their cards because it's like, it has been, it doesn't matter,

but it has been a little weird for like non-title fights to take precedence over, like, legitimately world-class wrestling matches when it's like, being resudo versus Mara. Whatever, it's just like, what are we doing here? That seems that it's a strange thing.

So, fine. Who cares? Have more fun in your lives. Yeah. All right. You know what? Let's just go ahead and do this. Jamir.

I didn't see this. This is interesting. Helwani called Jal Coward yesterday for not giving him credit when asking questions on events and when writing articles. Cosmo. Thoughts at Ariel calling on M.A. fighting for not citing his show during UFC 329 Fight Week.

Let me just say this. I have no idea what he's talking about. I truly have no idea. I know some things are tagged like Yahoo and Yahoo Sports, and I know one of the things he complained about is like, you need a magnifying glass to see everything when it comes to the credit. Which, by the way, if you look at our graphics, when we do stuff, via Mike Heck is just as small as view Yahoo Sports or via uncrowned

or via the Ariel Hawani show, all that stuff. What I will say is I did laugh a lot when I heard this because I woke up to a bunch of DMs about this. And I was like, the first DM I read Jed was Ariel called Mike, you and Jed cowards. And I was like, oh, really? He called, he singled us out and called this cowards. I have to listen to this because I was livid.

I was pissed, dude. Yeah, I was so pissed when I read this. And I was like, all right. But before I lose my stack, I'm going to go and watch this and make sure I have it right before I lose it. It's important. Have the facts. Always important. So I listened to it.

And it was basically like, hey, you guys didn't cite correctly or you guys say Yahoo or Yahoo Sports instead of uncrowning the area of Juani show and all that stuff. The cowards thing, what I found very interesting, Jed, you want to know why? Because I saw him face to face Wednesday night and he didn't say a word about this. No. Now I would have respected this take a lot more if he did. I would have been thrilled to have a conversation about it. Absolutely thrilled about it. And I know what he may say in response to this,

because I'm not going to go deep into this. Because I don't really care. But I knew this is going to get brought up and I had a giggle of it, especially the word coward when we were literally face-to-face. He said nothing. The answer is going to be, well, we're at the MMA Award show. I didn't want to cause a scene. totally understandable take

I would have taken a friggin private jet to anywhere he was to having this conversation I would have gone anywhere to do this to have this face to face anywhere I would have got there as quickly as possible

to do it so if you have a problem with me or the website and you want to talk to me about it hit me up and let's do it okay don't go on your show and call us cowards don't do that

Jose and I were both there we could have easily squashed this. We could have easily had this conversation. You don't think I would have been there and done this? Of course I would have. I would have loved it. I saw all those guys on Wednesday. I saw Connor and gave him a big old hug and Rick and gave him a big old hug and Frank and all those guys.

And I saw Ariel, I congratulated him for winning journalists of the year when I got into the awards thing. But like you had a chance to address this in person and you didn't. So what am I going to say? You know, that's it. That's it. So I didn't hear the quote, so I won't speak. I don't know exactly what he said.

He says that his cowardly thing was we were asking questions. This is what I'm trying to remember exactly what it was. We were asking questions, but we didn't say like, oh, you said on the area Holwani show this and this and this. Okay. First of all, I don't even mention that when like I talk about my interviews. I don't even say like, hey, remember when you told me this? Like maybe once in a while I do that. but for the most part, I didn't even do that.

Or be like, oh, you talk to Damon Martin about this. Just like, hey, you did a recent interview, boom, and I asked the question. His issue was, oh, in the articles, instead of writing, he said on the Ariel Hawani show, sometimes we write via Yahoo Sports or via Yahoo or not even uncrowned. And even on the social graphics, it doesn't say, like, via the area Hawaii show, it says this, it says Yahoo or Yahoo Sports, which, by the way, if you look at their social channels, I'm not going to, it's not all original content, I will say. And I'll just leave it at that.

But I was stunned by this. And to use that word when you couldn't have just said that when we're right next to each other, kind of weird, but that's just me. My sort of general stance on this, again, having not heard them for myself, I like the people over there, right? I do too. We worked with that team for a long time. I got nothing really bad to say about them.

I don't personally, I have certainly written via Ariel Hawani and stuff before. I've also done Yahoo Sports. I don't personally see an issue with that. I am citing the appropriate thing, right? Like I'm like it's under, yeah, Where do you go? There's not an uncrown.com.

There's a yahusports.com slash combat. So I personally think that's okay. But if you have an issue with that, I'm totally open for you to speak to me about things. Yeah. It is not like you cannot get in contact with us or don't have all of our numbers. I won't speak to our social graphics team.

Like I don't do that. So that's not me. That's more y'all. You can, you know, if my opinion on all things is if you've got an issue with somebody, call them and talk it out before you aired out in public. And maybe he has. And I, you know, I wouldn't privy to this conversation.

I haven't gotten anything. Not a single thing. I'm just saying maybe that happened. But, you know, as far as cowardly activity, that feels a non-cowardly thing to do is to approach somebody if you have an issue with them and talk about it. And be like, hey, man. And if, look, if we're doing something that offends you, let me know.

Yeah. I'm open to the discussion. Right. Like, hey, let's have a, grab a cup of coffee. I want to talk to you about something. Okay. I will come. You just send me a mean DM.

I don't really give a shit. Yeah. Like, call me up. Call me an asshole. I don't care. Just do it better than that. I, like, this is honestly like news to me that anybody felt that way. And you do it on your show.

Like, come on, man. It's crazy. but it is what it does it seems pretty weak sauce to uh again and i didn't hear it but to put people on blast when you could just be like hey man yeah what is right there like um because i mean like honestly this is years and years ago like before i even knew dennis and the submission radio team like they hit me up about some stuff and we're like hey can you do this when you're citing us like yeah it's no problem common courtesy These are fine things to ask.

You know, treat people with respect. I don't believe I've said anything negative towards aerial or uncrowned. I would have hoped to get the same level of respect back. It appears that that has not been the case. That's unfortunate. There you go. And that's really all I needed to see. So there you have it.

Shout out to those guys. Keep doing your thing. But if you got an issue, pick up the phone, text me, let's meet. Just do it face to face. We're in the same freaking city.

That was my only issue with it. Say what you want. I don't care. But I thought we had a better relationship than that. That's all. So there you have it. I'm not going to feel more aggral on this. No.

I'm just not going to. It's not important to me. It's not. I knew we were going to have to talk about it. I genuinely, this is the first ever. Yeah. I knew we were going to have to talk about it after I saw it this morning and the whole world hit me up about it. But there you have it.

Again, saw all those guys, saw Casey and Esther and Pete even Pete C. Chuck Mindenhall sat next to Chuck Mendenhall at the press conference. We were having a great time talking about, hey, what time do you think this thing's going to start? I'm like, I actually think it's going to start like on time. And he was like, no way. I'm like, I have a feeling. And then we were having a great time. So there you go.

I've said my piece, and that's it. Hermann, bit off topic in honor of the Odyssey releasing worldwide today. What is either your favorite Greek god or literature work done by William Shakespeare? I mean, I don't have a favorite Greek god. I mean, I guess I'd probably do if I thought about it for like a minute. Yeah. I mean, based on my personality, I've always just generally liked Hermes. my favorite Shakespeare, which is not related to The Odyssey at all, so not clear how we got here, Harmon.

I studied a lot of Shakespeare in college. I almost pursued a master's in it. I really like old Bill Shakes. I think it's midsummer night's dream. That just continues to have juice to me. And I like a lot of his works. Some of his works I'm not like as big on others. but I think if I'm picking one, I'll go midsummer.

Yeah. I don't really know. I don't really know. All good answers. I just say whatever you did. I love it. I'm balancing here. And Tangible says,

how about an area of grievances, a festivist? I don't have any. I don't have a grievance. I don't have any grievances. So I don't know. I'm playing catch up. It's a one-sided grievance.

I will occasionally. I usually poke at Shaheen because she and I are friends. Oh, yeah. Of course. That's done in jest. We did that when he was here to his face a million times and he laughed. I have no issue. Like the ungrown team has done nothing that I'm like, okay, about it's whatever.

So this just came out of nowhere. I was like, oh, okay. I'll write your name on the thing, man. That's fine. You can just ask. You don't have to make it a thing. Yeah. Joseph, how was the atmosphere

Mike in the media room after Connor versus Max happened? I don't know. Like it was weird, right? Because the way that card ended and it was just such a bummer. But when you're on site doing stuff, like your brain is in 5 billion different places. So like where I was sitting,

so I was in the media room most of the time, I left the media room after Brandon Royval Lonnie Kavanaugh, because I wanted to go up to the media row and shoot some video like the walkouts and the celebrations of the main and co-main event and stuff like that. So as I'm watching the main event, I had no idea what happened. I just saw Connor hurt his leg. He fell down to the floor. Max punched him a couple of times.

Connor tried to get up. Max's like, come on, bro. He can't fight anymore. And then they stopped it. And it was just crazy. So for me, it was I got to get back to the media room. So it was a whole journey down. I was like, I'm out waiting for the elevator.

So me and one other guy who I don't know just ran down the stairs. And when we got outside T-Mobile, we both had no idea where we were. I was like, I don't know where I am. So I hope you're not following me because I won't be able to get you where we're going. And we're running back, trying to find the media tent. And we end up in an area where I get screamed at for being in. and the guy is like, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm trying to find the media tent.

We just left down the stairs. I don't know where I am. And he goes, follow me. And as we're following him, Connor McGregor limps by me. Leaves the building. He is limping right past me. And I'm just like, I'm not filming this. I'm not doing shit because I don't want to go back to the media room and just get immediately

booted from the building. Plus, I'm like, already got yelled at by the security guy. and then he shows us where we are, we go back in there. And by the time I go back in there, Mario Batista is sitting down, is sitting down ready to talk about his Corey Sanhagen, which I know the world was waiting for, Jed. That's all people wanted to see at that moment was Mario, who was great.

And it's a good win. Yeah, and then Dana came up, and everyone was just kind of like, yeah, it sucks, man. Like the whole thing was just kind of sad. It just kind of took the wind out of people's sales. And then Patty showed up, and Patty was just like, Yo, Conner's not going to be the face of this card. I sure will be.

And he carried that moniker proudly. So shout out to Patty Pimble, man. I mean, people are throwing receipts at me left and right. And rightfully so, man. I was wrong. Yeah. The accountability hand has been sky high right now. And if I wasn't wearing deodorant,

you could smell me from a mile away from how wrong I was about Patty Pimble. And now look at where he's at. He is, he's at a great spot. I don't know where he's going to go. from here, but he's, that dude is either going to fight, he's going to fight Max Holloway, Charles Olivaara, Armin Sarukian, or Iliotiporia next. Like that is, maybe even Justin Gaci.

Like, those are his options right now. It's crazy. What a, what a scene. Goes out and loses to Gachi, fights Benwasantadi. I had no idea how this matchup was going to go. And then BSD did the thing that no one should do against Patty Pimblit.

Loser like hell. It's great. That's my beautiful. And Patty's I slept him. And Patty freaking slept them. Ah, what a,

what a time. Crazy. I mean, Patty was obviously the big winner this weekend. I mean, Patty is over in general. Patty's known.

Patty's the best thing going to the UFC right now. Straight up, right? Like, the story of Justin Gachey is obviously terrific, but like that doesn't really resonate

more broadly. I don't think. Maybe it has gained some traction. He's been all of Maccuffee and stuff like that. So maybe it has. And you know I love Justin Gachie, but Alex Pereira has been the guy, right? Like he has been the shoulders on which the promotion has stood for the last couple of years.

And he's crashing out pretty hard right now. He's, he's not like good vibes, Poetan. Whereas Patty, like, he was good vibes heading into the Gaichi fight after losing the Gaichi. No excuses. Still good vibes. Coming into this, good vibes, you know, dance and part. Like, he is, he is the best vibes in the sport right now, and he's good. He is like, there's no more equivocating, right? Like, we, we equivocated

for some time with him of like, I don't know, maybe he's good. He keeps beating old people. I have no idea how good he is or whatever. He's just good. He's good. Is he the best of the world? I don't know. Probably not. I don't think so, right? Like, I would pick Ilya Tuporia and Armist Rukin to beat him. Wouldn't blow me away if I was wrong in those picks at this stage of the proceedings. But, like, he's undeniably very good fighter he's a very popular fighter his ability has caught up to his fame which was always the knock against him he is far more famous than he was capable now those things he has continued to get better he obviously studies tape and is a student of the sport um they just aren't like if you're if you're criticizing patty outside of like specific instances you're just

hating at this point and so good on him man like he's he's in as good as spot as as anybody is in the promotion right now. 100%. And I even asked Patty about this. I don't know if it was at, I think it was at the post-eye press conference. I was like, just seeing the reaction to you

and where you were like years ago. I was like, do you remember where you were after the Jared Gordon fight and how you were reacting and how the fan base was reacting to you to where we are now? Like even just the way he just acts during fight week.

And I remember it was the Tony Ferguson fight. I was like, man, like, how does he handle this? Does he just go flat out F this dude? Or does he go flat out Tony's a legend? You know, it's going to be a hard fight. Does he put Tony over? And he did. He put Tony over. And I was like, all right, maybe he's, maybe he's learning a little bit. And he just said, like, hey, once I had kids, I realized, like, I was a boy back then. I was an immature boy back then. But now, like, once I became a dad, I realized, like, no more being a boy, you got to be a man. and looks in the mirror and realizing a lot about himself. And it's just, what a story, man. What a story. This guy has just gone out and accomplished a lot. And a lot of the fan base heaviness on his side had to do with just him going out there and getting punched in the face a whole bunch by Justin Gagie

and the respect people gained for him in that fight, a fight of the year contender and a loss gets BSD and has this and just right back in. and you're right. He is one of the more pivotal, like one of the better golden spots in the company right now. Like you could do him versus Ilya that's a main event.

Like that is a numbered event headliner. Him versus all of air for the BMF belt. Like that is a headliner. That's a big ass fight. Him and Armin, big ass fight. They're all big.

They're all big. He doesn't even need a belt to be a headliner on a major event. Good on him, man. Where do you go with him? I haven't listened on to the next one yet. I think Ili's for you.

I think I'll is the obvious fight. See, I think I don't do that. I think you have to. I think now I feel confident that you can do that for a belt. Like you'll have to wait a little bit to get it there. But like I think you can get that to a belt now. Maybe. Ilya is stuck in lightweight.

He's not going back to 145 and there's no longer. in Ilya at Walter White. That conversation is over. So, I think he's stuck at lightweight. And I think he'll get the belt back. Maybe it won't. Armands there. But, like, I think that that's on offer.

And I would at least wait one to see if Ilya gets a belt back because it's better to do that for the title. I think I'd go Charles Oliver for him. I think he beat Charles Oliver. He can lose. Don't even wrong. He can lose. But I think he can beat Charles Oliver.

And if he beats Charles Oliver, as next fights for the belt, be it, Ilya or Armin or whoever. So I think I'd go Charles, but also there's just really no wrong way to go with Patty right now. He's, he's killing it. Good on him. So if, so I didn't love this idea at first, but now I'm sort of buying into it. And if this is what they do in September, I'm totally fine with it. I love the idea right now, Diego Lopez versus Charles Olivera.

Like, I actually really like this idea. If you want to go ahead and do that, headline Noche, do a BMF title fight on a fight night. I sort of hate that. Why? Because I don't want Diego Lopez to be a top five guy and in another title conversation.

Would you pick him to be Charles? No, but if he does, like he could. And if he does, then it's like, well, he's fighting for another belt. It's like, no, he's not trying to make fetch happen. Make him fight a top 10 dude, not a top five dude. That's my belief. Yeah, but this is just kind of fun. Charles really isn't in the title picture at the moment.

but if he beats Diego, like, it helps him a little bit. I would do Diego and Ruffy. I mean, that's fun. Diego Max is fun. I mean, there's lots of fun. Also, I think Diego Max, I pitched before 329. Diego Fisiv is fun. Making sense.

But yeah. Diego's fun fighter. It's hard to match him up poorly. He's a very fun fighter, but I think they go Paddyalia, and I just, I choose to live in a world where Arm and Sarucan is, is given what he deserves. and as they shot at the undisputed lightweight belt. But we'll probably have some answers to some of these questions soon, I hope, especially when it comes to like no-cha and everything going on.

We are halfway through the UFC calendar in 2026. What are your early predictions for Fighter of the Year? I'm going to say Gaichi with the wins over Patty and I'm going to say Gaichy's category to lose right now. I think if anybody gets it, is it Strickland? Like, is Strickland, like, the only one who could do it? I wrote about this in the mailbag a couple of weeks ago.

I think right now it should be one to Gae Strickland. If Strickland gets another title defense, he'll have a case. I will still be putting Gaei unless Gagey fights and loses. Strickland, three wins is more than two, but Gagis are just bigger, right? Like, it doesn't, unless Strickland just, like, murders whoever he fights, right? Like, then maybe I have to reconsider. but beating fluffy and then beating Hamzad is just not the same as beating Patty, which is aged even better now, and then beating Ilya.

There's a, they're in a similar boat, right? But when I look back on this year, right, like this will be the year of Justin Gagy. And that is one of the primary drivers for my vote, a fighter of the year is like, in five years, what will we look back and be like, that year belonged to X? Belonged to Justin Gagee. This was, this is his year. So unless he fights again and loses, then it gets very wonky. But, like, Strickland is the obvious next guy in the mix.

I think, like, if Josh Van gets really busy, he can make a case, right? Like, he's got one. If he beats Pantosia convincingly, and, fights cop or whatever and beats him like that's a really strong resume um but like islam's not going to fight again he's going to fight once this year so that's over um none of the i mean none of the women's fights are really going to do it to get them over the line there um tom aspinall will fight once like if zero gone beats perera and aspinall he'll be in the top five but he's not better it's not better than gaichi no right so it's the there really aren't

a lot of options at this point. You know, maybe if Volk puts a run together, like if Volt beats Mobsar and adds one more, maybe he's in the mix, but like... What about Mozart beating Volk and maybe getting one more? He's there. That'd be three wins. He'll win in the title defense. He'll be in the mix, but like none of what I've said

will surpass a Gaichi vote for me. It is Gauchy's to lose unless he fights again and loses it. Like Marob's last year, there's Marob's to lose. I think if Marob hadn't fought a fourth time, he would have been fired of the year and then he did and that hurt him. Actually, still not because it still probably would have been, Islam 2B3, but Islam's were more significant, right? It should have been Valencien of Schifchenko, let's be honest.

But, you know, like, these are, but like, yeah, it's just, what Justin Gage has accomplished this year, even though he will be sitting on a lead for the back half of the year. and if he fights again and somehow and wins, it's right at Carvertonstone, it's done. Yeah, it's like the second, it's one of the more obvious fighter of the air selections ever. It will require,

if Strickland gets two more in, right? Like if he does be a Hamza in October and then fights in December and beats him ofov, then you got to give it to him. But if he only has one more win over Gaichi, I'm giving it to Gaichi. So he's he's in the catbird seat right now. The only other name that could get real weird.

And he won't be Gagie, but I think could get real interesting is if the UFC is just tired of waiting from Rob and they go with Sean O'Malley and he wins the belt, he'd be three and I would win over Pieterian, including a knockout of the White House. Again, that'll be top five for sure. But won't be beating.

Won't be beating. Yeah, for sure. That's sort of the thing. There are a lot of people I can make. argument to get into that top five, there ain't many that are, I can make, like, I can make the argument for Strickland. Even if that's not what I would do, I can understand if other people do choose Strickland over G.

Should he add a title defense? But like, there are only a handful of people that can even have that argument and none of them at this point feel compelling to me. I actually really like, I really like this question because I feel like this is a question we ask each other in Slack and just in articles and stuff all the time. How good is BSD, Jed? Hard to forget the Moikano loss and now the Patty loss. But then he just goes out there and, like, beats us so lot of people and he was on a nice run.

He's got the win over Ruffy. Like, he's slaughtered Ruffie, who is quite good. Yeah. And he just snagleted him. Yeah. How good is he? Like, is he good? Like, where do you put him?

I think he is incredibly talented and very bozo. These are all good things for you most of the time. I love him. That's why I love him. I don't care that he just tapped himself out functionally with how stupid he was. He genuinely, and this is not just because they're my children, but because it's like he is Yeri Phrashka, but Yeri fights in a significantly worse weight class.

And so because he's in a way worse weight class, Yeri got to be a champion and is like a top five guy. but like in a better weight class year he's defensive liabilities and sort of bozones. Will he'll win more than he loses but occasionally against somebody who's well prepared. You'll just be like, oops. Like, oh, there's the banana peel you slipped on. And so that's it. Like I don't think BSD's ever putting together a 10 fight win streak.

You know, that's just not, that's not in the cards for this man. He's going to win three or four and then he's going to lose in cartoonish fashion. and so maybe he'll fight for a belt one day if he gets the right run at the right time but like he's just going to be a super exciting top 10 guy for the next six years which would you prefer super exciting top 10 bozo guy

or guy who what did you think of Luke's take obviously the donk Mount Rushmore I thought was kind of funny but his take was this guy seems to have a very easy time in the gym which kind of leads to these performances. So maybe I think that's probably true.

If you threw Ben-Wa-Santiniere, like Extreme Couture or one of these types of gyms. Well, like, he had so much success with, like, barely training. And then it's like, oh, I lost a couple because I was just coaching myself. Like, yeah, that's not, that's not how fighting works guy. And it was like, oh, I got with like a coach and I'm good again.

I was like, yeah. But like, I don't know the coach. Like, I don't know how good. It was coached fine. I just, I can't speak to his ability. Getting with certainly a more tactically approached gym would be better because like Patty said it infinitely after the fight. It was just like, yeah, I knew he was going to throw that combination and shoot in because he does it in every fight. So as soon as he did, I wrapped up the power guillotine and then I went for it.

I was like, yeah, I mean, if you're that predictable on paper, good fighters are going to take advantage of you. You've got to be a little more tactically aware than that. So I think getting with a better gym probably helps us long term. But like, I've said this many times. I think people either don't believe me or they think it's very stupid. And I totally get it. It's like, it's not your way. I've been, I've been in this sport 25 years now.

Like, I've been watching the sport for 25 years now. I see great fighters all the time. I love to see great fighters. I am happy to see great fighters. They are commonplace. There are always great fighters. I would way rather see. a real fun weirdo

because those are much more rare like real fun weirdos are just a much more delightfully peculiar thing and BSD is like has no no semblance of defense and I love that I find that charming as hell so I don't need him to get better

if he does I'll still support him but like if he's just this like an increasingly better version of Bozo that's perfectly fine with me I still love Yuri Perashka to death and that has never learned a single thing. That dude has learned nothing.

Hey, he learned a little bit of footwork in the Kulilu Roundtree fight. Look, he's, Yeree can't help it. Yeri, if you bring indigenous spirits to the cage with you, you're going to beat the shit out of Yeri. That's what I learned. That's what I know about your project. Because the only two dudes who have Etherdom are Alex Pere and Carlos Oberg. And both of them were repping their indigenous heritage beforehand.

Coincidence, I think not. BSD's issues are a little less. spiritual and more just like I'm kind of dumb but that's okay because we love him in spite yes Paul Verazer thank you

just catching up on show now funny area I'll cause you guys cards I paid a $17 super chat during their show about being face to face with that in studio and the super chat didn't make the air

yeah sorry about that that's unfortunate do they do so I didn't know that they their show did super chats So I can't speak whether that's out, then okay. I mean, yeah, that's not surprising that that didn't make the air. Yeah. But again, I don't want to try this with anybody.

Me neither. It's just a very strange thing to happen. Me neither. A strange thing to happen. Even like when the whole Jason House thing was happening. Like we got on the phone and talked and we were fine. Like, that's all it takes. If you have a problem, pick up the phone.

I'm just talking about with Michael Chandler. That's the only perfect. Yeah. And you are who you are. Either way, I feel like Michael Chandler is a big winner on Saturday. Maybe. I feel like he didn't hurt him.

He's going to fight Anna McGregor. It's possible. He's going to get the fight. Well, how are you, like on the reaction. Max, really. Yeah, on the react, like when we react to the news of this fight, will you salute Chandler for his go-getiveness? If he gets to get on him, like, I'm genuinely pulling for him to get it.

It's because it's sad otherwise, but like, good on him if he gets it. I don't know. We'll see. But because it could just be Max now because of this. But he could still beat Connor. He could also still lose to Connor. I think that fight just makes sense. It's the most competitive fight for both guys.

It does. It makes less sense from the UFC standpoint of trying to damage Conner's brand on his way out. I don't think he could also be loses to Michael Chandler that would really damage his brand. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Chainslaise. Tribal witchcraft best based.

Oh, please. I want to pause this. I did just want to say there's a, because I just thought of this. And it will sum up my situation, my entire feelings on the feud or whatever that I don't share. There's, I saw a Tom Holland quote in the relatively recently. And it's a quote from somewhere. And it's like, if you have a problem with me, call me and talk to me about it.

And if you don't have my number, then you don't know me well enough to have a problem with me. That's sort of my feelings. If you've got an issue, just give me a call. And you have my number, so you can call it. And I'll be happy to chat. Yeah. I'll credit however you want to credit. It does not matter to me.

This is not a thing that matters to me. Yeah. Yeah, that's my feelings. Yeah. Does Connor need to do gym? I mean, that depends on a lot. Yes. He's needed one for a long time.

No, because what are Connor's ambitions? He's not going to be good again. So no, he doesn't really need a gym to do that. Like, he's not trying to maximize his ability, trying to maximize his paycheck. And so going to a gym that I got a lot of problems with SBG Ireland, it's at least, like it is a competent gym, right? Like, it is not a gym that is just, like, horrendous or whatever.

Like, he can get, he has fair sparring partners and can get work in. He runs his own camps as far as I'm aware. So, like, he gets to kind of do the things he wants to do. For this stage of his career, I think that's totally reasonable thing. Like, if he was trying to make a real title run, absolutely need a new gym. But that's not on offer. So, no. RS 40, Super Chat, is Mario the most underrated Bannamweight?

Let me pull up the list of Bannamweight. he's right up there. He's good, man. He's not going to win the belt. He's just not going to, but he's a top five Bannamway. I didn't say no, because I think he's at one point probably, but now the pendulum is shifted. So it's just like now everybody who knows Ball knows that Mario Batista is very, very good, right?

The most underrated Bainer is probably David Martinez, who like nobody remembers yet. He's sort of in that, like, he's in the position where Mario was. That's just not. true. There is, there is only one answer to this question. Don't tell me it's Amon's a hobby. It's Hione Barcelos.

He is the most underrated Bannamweight. You know what, that's fair. It's not unreasonable. Shout out to the olds. Let's go. Hione Barcellos, get this man a ranked opponent. The dude beat Peyton Talbot. He's got the win over the guy that the UFC is trying to push up as fast as possible.

And he still, just beat Montel Jackson. He's going to fight he's going to fight like Adrian Yan. as next. Like, it's crazy. He should be fighting a ranked dude. That's my answer. Yeah. But Mario was, but I agree with you.

Mario was, but is no longer. People, yeah, no longer. He definitely is ascended to like, people respect. 100%. He earned his name back and people respect him. Funniest potential outcomes for UFC OKC besides the typo.

That was incredibly funny. That was pretty gas. funniest outcomes there's not that be funny outcomes on this card honestly looking at it right now um Tommy McMillan losing would be kind of funny

I mean that that's like sort of the first thought I had but that's like how funny is that even it's not really that it's not really that funny it'd be funny for like looking at it through like the UFC's lens because we know what they're trying to do with them yeah Like, because I don't think Usman upsetting DDP is particularly funny. It's just like, okay, good win.

Like, credit, credit to the man. Like, still pulling this all-time great fighter, right? But it's not like funny. I think, like, it's, again, not funny, but Canon Air just like running over Christian Leroy Duncan. It's probably the funniest outcome? Yeah. Because, like, nobody's like, nobody's out here saying,

CLD's the next champ or whatever. So you don't lose a lot there and it would be pretty amusing for Jared Candidear to still do the thing. He's been put out to pasture for years and just keeps doing it. But yeah, this is, um,

this court has several prospects I'm interested in, but it is a fairly weak offering overall. Yeah. I mean, Mr. Ramirez beating Chase Super would be funny. Because, I mean, Chase Super just,

but like, we're also, maybe kind of past, I'll say we're kind of past the Chase Huber thing though, or it's like, oh, he's probably just not going to get there. I'll tell you what. Aider, not great fighter. Alvin Hines might be in the

Gable Steveson sweepstakes right here. If you can go out there and get a win, people love him. They absolutely love him. It won't go well for him, but you can't just throw Gable Derek Lewis right now. Like you have to, let him get out there and fight three more times

against the lower level dudes. So maybe Alvin Hine goes out there, gets a win, calls out, Gable. That'd be good. Let's see. Average Joe Art. What's up? What are some of the best, maybe not the biggest fights that we never got to see? I'm still salt that we never got Aldo versus Cruz, especially because it was right there.

And Edgar versus Cruz. So a couple Dominic Cruz shouts, Jed. Both of those would have been good. The Aldo Cruz thing was insane that it didn't happen in the career. I was like, just do that. That's fine. For sure. I was less excited about it because Elda was just beating the shit out of him, but, like, you should have just done it.

The biggest one to me, the biggest, like, fight we should have gotten that we didn't ever. And people will have their own, right? Like everybody, a lot of people say Randy Fador, I didn't really care that much. They would have been fine. It would have been stoked on it, you know, like Brock Fador, like those things. The one that, if I could turn back time, I think. more than any fight ever that I would have liked to see. I think, I think would be,

now I'm debating if I actually mean this or not. I am still going to say Prime GSP versus Prime Anderson Solo. I just, I think that that was a fascinating matchup of styles. It was two of the three best fighters in the world at the time. I just think that that should have happened and I am bummed that it didn't but like for other people recently it's

I wish we got John versus Tom and that was a great fight and would have been meaningful and significant and we didn't get it so that's probably like right at the top of them for me yeah Chris Sandhagen was another one for me that I really wanted to see

Gigi Max is always the one but then it happened. So, like, I was fulfilled. I really wish we'd gotten to see Chuck versus Vandalay, not when they were both old and shot. Yeah. That's another one that was just like, I mean,

in the early 2000s, that thing was the only thing anybody wanted. And we finally got it, and it was still great. It was still fun, but it was like, they clearly just weren't their best versions of themselves anymore. So, like, that's,

I think that's the big three to me is those ones. Yeah. lazy bett us so about to been added to UFC Paris including MVP versus Rootsabayev two years and five fights into his UFC run do you think Paige is happy with this decision to join the promotion

probably but it's been a really weird run yeah I don't it's just been a really weird one I think he's got buyer's remorse for sure I mean he's got to be soon out of his contract and then he can go do

MVP with MVP or whatever. Yeah, I don't... I mean, dude, just based on how they announced his arrival, was just like... It was just sort of randomly thrown in at a press conference. Oh, yeah, by the way, MVP's signed with us. He's fighting Kevin Holland.

Next question. I'd love to know the behind the scenes of like, if his personality just doesn't work with them or what it is. But like, it does feel that they have not even really tried to use him effectively. This is a guy who's popular, right? He's not like a world-level star,

but he's a popular fighter, and it simply does not feel like they have invested in anything in him. So, yeah, I hope we got paid well. Yeah. Maybe he goes back to PFL. Who knows? Two questions that's okay from Masters. How far do you think Luke Riley will go?

Did he go up in a lot of estimations recently to name some of your favorite horror movies, that scared the crap out of you? I still don't know what to make a Luke Riley. He was a huge favorite. He did his job well. And he has some tools, right? But I need to see him against opposition

that feels compelling. But he's got some talent. Like he's not untalented, so he can make... We'll just see. He's early. It is early in his development to figure out where he goes. As far as horror movies, a huge horror fan um like my i think my favorite my favorite horror movies get out because that's

also is that a horror movie it gets technically it's a horror film yeah um i think that's just like a great film there are other like goods but like the only one that really i remember scaring the absolute piss out of me uh was the original saw that scared the shit out of me um when i went and saw that uh the original it was the only thing that really like got me um the original it was the only thing that really like got me um or like five-part series. Yeah, that clobbered me, man. That was, that was tough. Many of them would scare me.

I just don't watch them. Like, I'm, they're just not my bag. As far as Luke Riley goes, I was very impressed with him on Saturday. I actually had no issue with the stoppage. I know a lot of people did. I know Gerogen had an issue with the stoppage and a lot of fighters did too.

Like, I had the referee gave Kakamaka. It felt like it was a hair early, but not. Yeah. Within the plus minus of acceptable. Yeah, like they gave Kai a chance to recover and make something happen, and he just didn't. And then, you know, Luke landed the knee. Not all the shots were getting through, but then he landed that, like, clean right hand. And Luke's body language just looks so bad.

And the ref were just like, all right, we're good here. So I was okay with it. I get why people fell. It was early. Hair early is probably the correct answer, but we've seen way worse. No doubt about it. I like the way they're matchmaking for him right now. They're putting him in big spots and sort of introducing him to people.

He is green on the microphone, although he does have a little bit of personality. He's what, 25? 24, 25? I want to make sure I got this right. If he is that young, and I believe he is, he's got a bright future, man. He is super talented. Like the foundation is there. He's 27.

Kevin, excuse me. But even so, you got two years to build them before we start going on a run with him. So I actually, I like what I'm seeing from him. I like the performances I'm seeing from him. Michael Aswell, I actually thought it was like a really fun fight. Like he was able to shut him down. I know he was a little disappointed in that performance. I thought it was pretty fun. Two finishes. Let's see what's next. What are you laughing at? Nothing. There's a comment that I don't want to. X Duran, I think it's funny, but I'm not trying to propagate a beef that I have no interest in. All right. I'll look at it in a second. Chase, am I alone in the thought that Armand at this point doesn't deserve the next title shot?

The man literally has fought one since 300. That's not his fault, by the way. That's also not true. He fought Dan Hooker in November. Well, he said he fought one since 300. Oh, he said fought once. Oh, yeah. That's fine.

Who cares? Um, who deserves a title shot then? Tell me who. And I will tell you no. I mean, that's it. Just tell me who. Like, you could have made a compelling case to me that Benwessonde and he deserved a title shot over Armin. Um, because he had four wins.

Not anymore. So no. Yeah. It's Armin. Uh, Chase another one, uh, about 155. Justin were to retire. Would the UFC just make Ilya versus Patty for the belt? Probably.

I don't think anybody would be upset about it either. Armand would be upset, but he can be the backup fighter or whatever. I think that that is extremely likely the course they would take if Justin retired. Yeah. Wouldn't he? Sure. Although, even Armand Patty's big. Like, they're all big right now.

Conspiracy Corner. Talk of a PFL MVP-MMA merger is gaining traction amongst internet sleuths. Not asking you to verify, but if it happens, do you think it would be a business savvy decision. No. I actually think it's a terrible choice, terrible decision. I don't.

I don't know who it's good for. theoretically, it's beneficial to PFL, but what are you getting? Like, MVP doesn't have fighters under contract. They don't really have an infrastructure. They have a pre-existing relationship with Netflix that I guess you could

leverage. Yeah. But, like, you're not really getting anything. for a merger. And for MVP, your whole thing is you're not trying to be a traditional promotion. You're not trying to put out a standard cadence of events. You are doing events,

you know, sort of pell-mell fashion as they come as the need arises. And so partnering there doesn't feel like that fits your goals and objectives either. You know, doing something with PFL, if you could do it in the way that they got Saladin Parnas got to fight for them or whatever.

Like that would be beneficial maybe for all parties, certainly for MVP, but like a formal like merger does not seem like a good business move whatsoever to me. Shout out to Tapology for giving me Luke Riley's age. Appreciate that. Great website. It's a great website.

Yeah. What else we got here? take a few more then we're gonna roll Jose's at a fanatics fest right now so could be seen some some interviews coming soon

but as far oh I'll chime in I would like to see them co-promote one event first to see how it goes I just don't want to see PFL become like I don't want to see a PFL

fight week be exactly like we just saw for a Rousy Karano where we have press conferences that are just way too long and too brutal and just events that just seem to drag forever.

PFL has just finally gotten a grasp on how to properly paste their cards. I just don't want to see them fall into the MVP trap of, hey, let's go back to the desk for 35 minutes between each fight. Like, we don't need to do that. So I would need to see some sort of plan in place. I hope John Martin would have like a bigger role. It's more him than Nikisa and Jake. McKees and Jake have done a great job in boxing.

They've obviously been able, they were able to put together the Netflix card, and that's great. But we need, I want to see more of the PFL style of fight pacing and fight events. Yeah, sure. Netflix would obviously be good. But let's co-promote one. Let's do an MVP versus PFL card and go from there. But we don't need to jump right into a merger. I just think that's a waste of time.

I firmly agree with everything you said. Yep. If you're going to do it, at least test the waters first. Yeah, because, like, you don't want buyers more something that big. You just don't. Masters, do you think Chase Hoopers' UFC run could be close to an end if he loses this fight? He's a fan fave, and a lot of fans relate to him, but he will be on a three-fight losing streak. Probably not.

I think the promotion really likes him. Three-fight losing streaks are manageable. So, no, I think he won't get cut. But it might not actually be bad for him, too. get cut, but I don't think it will happen, no. PF, LOL for a reason, lads. They're trying. See, all we

ask is that they try. They're trying. There's only still much they can do with the roster. They have a very productive year. I agree. It has also not, which is, like, they exist in a very Schrodinger's M.A. organization sort of way

of, like, every time I see something they've done, I'm like, that's a good move. I like it. Solid. This is a decent fight card. and then it just has not they are if the two pillars of promoting are doing good things and making people care they are doing a lot of really good things and nobody's giving a shit about it they got to figure out a way to get this second pillar up um to some extent and i don't know the answer to that but i do think that they've structurally had a productive year

promotionally, it's been a challenge. Yeah, and they're going to lose one of their bigger fighters after the end of the month when Usun and Ramagamadav wins. I think they can manage that, though, because it's... I do too. I think that fighters are sort of not a necessity for them. You'd like to have them, but

is that going to make a huge dent in their viewership? They got to find a broadcast partner that's going to work with them to promote in a really serious way. And they just don't have that. And that's the biggest, I mean, there are small peccadillos. I've mentioned it every time.

The fact that you never know when they're on is a huge blocker. It's a huge blocker. One of the UFC fights, Mike, Saturday, late evening, early afternoon, maybe. That's when the fights are. It's on Saturday between the hours of five and one. That's just every week. For PFL, it's like, maybe it's a Friday or it's a Tuesday. Or it's like they got to get a little more structurally set.

in ways, but broadly they're doing good things. They've got to find somebody that's going to help them break through because they are not. They should go to Fox Nation and be fights, man. Like, do that. Go to Fox. You can't, I mean. Isn't BKFC going to Fox Nation now? They're doing a show, like some sort of, yeah, they're doing a world's baddest man.

Like, we need to find the world's baddest man. So they're doing a show on Fox Nation. but like RIF like they can't I mean they they are like blown away by the support they get from Fox like you watch an NFL game

and they don't pay for this shit you watch like a big NFL and you watch like the NFC championship game and there's RAF promos hey next week Armand Sarukians wrestling Georgio Poulos in a rematch where the infamous brawl took place less than a month ago watch on Fox Nation

like they're just throwing those things out there Like, you can't, you can't buy that type of support. ESPN ain't doing that. You don't see a banner for a PFL event anywhere. It's unbelievable. I am, I'll admit, I'm surprised by how little ESPN cared about PFL. Like, I thought they'd care about it more even with the UFC, just like, we are just the people who own MMA. That's like a good thing.

But then once you'd think that they might, and they're just like, we don't care. Okay. Just like, okay. Well, we just got to, we just got to let this thing end. They treat it like the fishing shows on Saturday mornings. It's just, you do. If you want to watch it, it's there. You just got to find it.

Mike, the thing, Halloween event, Horizon, Texas, and Sam, Masker, the Shining Alien in the Mouth of Madness, nightmare in Elm Street, Cabin in the Woods, some struggling for number 10 for his favorite horror movies. Rural Mill. Many of those. Yes. Sources are reporting Van Pantosier 2, likely for 331 in L.A.

Mike Discard also featured their turn of Armin. due to the large Armenian population in Los Angeles. The good news is I think we're going to get an answer of, we're going to have an idea by the end of Saturday night. Well, no. If they set him up to wrestle in August at the RAF one year anniversary show, then the answer is no. If they don't,

the answer is probably yes. I think no in general. I think like he's going to wait, right, until he knows he's not, because it's not going to be gaichi. That's not happening. So he's going to wait and see if, because he should get the next, he should get the next crack against you.

That's what should happen. So I think he's going to wait. I'll just say no out of hand. I hear the puppy yelping. So Jed, next time you come up for a watch party, you're going to see another dog. Oh, you got another dog? Sorry. No, you call me at a bad time.

You got another dog? Yeah. That's terrific. Good old Bailey. Five and a half months. months. Let's go. Yeah.

I love puppies. Who doesn't love puppies? While I was in Vegas, the dog was dropped off. So my wife and son had to do that. And respect to them. But Shiloh was not a fan. He's getting okay. But he was not a fan to the point of like the puppy was frightened.

Like still is. You got to set the tone. Frightened of Shiloh. Oh yeah. Shiloh, yeah. Shilohs a bad man. Look, you. That's how you, you keep, set your boundaries right here.

And now, now the puppy, now he knows, knows what's up. Yeah. Great interview with Colby. Thank you. Yeah, I talked to him yesterday. Goblinicus also says the same. Yeah, he was, he was, he was Colby all right. Golly.

We had to cut a couple things out of that interview. Yeah, it doesn't shock me. Yeah. It wasn't my call, but. Yeah, we had a cut of thing or two out of there. Yeah, some people are asking about Dana talking about the Paramount Plus deal and how you can't watch full events after the fact. Saying it's a music licensing thing, which I get, but like can't we just... Oh, I guess that actually...

I mean, sure, but can't we just do what you did before and just put like non-licensed music in the background during the walkouts? doesn't seem like that heavy of a lift, right? I mean, so I never considered that. That does at least make some sense. My counter is like, you can watch full events on FightPass, so do whatever you're doing there, right? Like, that's a doable thing. That is interesting, though.

And I not thought about that at all. You should be able to watch full events. However you've got to figure that out. That should just be like, yeah, let's sort this. Let's get her done. It can't be that difficult. You pay an intern to go through and clip walkouts, like, that have music to them or whatever. It's fine.

Yeah, dude, you get, like, you had ESPN Plus gave us a 14-day grace period to continue to watch content before the dubbed it over the music. So, I mean, that's great. But, like, if you bought a UFC DVD back in the day, like, Chuck O'Dell wasn't coming out to the DMX intro song. He was coming out to, like, some generic rocked. that you can get on YouTube to put over your videos. Like just royalty-free stuff. I don't understand why we can't do that here. I just don't get it.

I mean, we'd love to hear the marching bands at the White House. We'd love to hear it. That'd be sick. But like, you have to have that event with the walkouts and stuff. Like, even if you don't have the correct music, you've got to get Gagey looking at the Constitution of the United States before he walks out. like you need that stuff so yeah it feels like you just make that if you can do it on

fight pass you can do it on paramount plus whatever you do there you just do it on there it's easy enough yeah you can do it on fight pass this is how legends are made whoa whoa whoa oh yeah this is oh yeah uh that song is but i know that fucking drop well i want to look at i forgot it but pfl does an event uh have an event on saturday as well so like is it be busy as day on Saturday. UFC, OkC, RIF and PFL Austin going on. RIF Saturday, not Friday?

RF Saturday. Okay. RIF Saturday. The press conference will be tomorrow. So I'll be there for that with Colby and Armin. I think things are going to get. There's a Ryzen tomorrow as well. A rising event.

Danny Sabs and a one. Wow, what a weekend of fighting. I thought, I forgot. I didn't even know Sergio Pettis was out of the fight. I had no idea. That was the case. Oh, I do remember that happening. Okay, so Johnny Eblen-Impicassang and I for the intro.

Really good weekend of MMA. Yeah, Eblen Impa for the interim middleweight belt. McGillin versus Huffield Donacimento. Would have been better if it was Sergio, but okay. Kyle and Lockren. RSA is probably really fun. A couple of UFC vets. Panato versus Maritigan,

Casio versus Colton England. Andrea Vasquez versus Alexandra Savichva. Biajali Walsh, really tough fight against Gamid Kizriev. That is a very tough fight for him. He's, I don't think he's going. The client prospect I'm kind of into on this card, too, so that's fun. Miagrawe's making her debut against Ashley Tiner,

Victoria Alba, Bahrena, Sertzvatsay, Brandon Davis fighting against Luciano Pereira, Jackson Glass, Zach Fleeces. I'm actually interesting that. Luciano Pereira might be a decent prospect. Yeah. So, again, as I've continued to say,

solid PFL effort. Very reasonable card. They're trying. Yeah, there's worse things you can do. It would be better if Sergio was on it, obviously. But, like, that main event's good. I'm happy to watch that main event. Joe Mazzul, look shredded.

Honestly, here's a clip. And that, I was like, man joel vizula was looks like he can crack a little bit i was super mad i was super jealous i wasn't even mad i was just jealous so i'm at the hall i'm i'm setting up for the hall of fame red carpet uh we're in the back by the way if you're if you were in vegas last week it was unbelievably hot in las vegas it's like 116 every day they did they did the red carpet outside red carpet's outside t mobile arena that's bullshit uh super, super hot. So we're setting up out there. And I see the baddest stash in all of MMA,

E. Casey Lidney, comes up to me. And he goes, hey, what did you do last night? And I was like, I was at the, I was at the MMA Awards at the red carpet. And I was like, I didn't see you at the awards last night because I saw Ariel and I saw everybody else. He goes, he goes, I was working. And I was like, well, where are you doing? He goes, I don't even know if I want to show you. And I was like, show me what? He goes, you're going to be so mad. And I'm like, I know you're going to show me and I'm going to be pissed. And there it was. He showed me, he pulled out his phone and he showed me the footage of him filming Joe

Missoula training. I'm like, you son of a bitch, you asshole. I was like, good stuff, but I'm really jealous right now. And I was at Extreme Couture literally three hours prior to that talking to Aaron Nick Zick. And I was like, oh, Joe was there. And Joe, he'd never mentioned that like they filmed Joe. He goes, oh, he's coming back at like four o'clock.

And I'm like, shit, I can't go because we got ceremonies. and I think we're talking to Shkker Stevenson too. Yeah, there's so much going on. But yeah, I was like, damn it, that is freaking cool. So good on them. And that video just went bananas. So good on Ariel, good on Casey. And it's just a really good job, man.

Really good job all around. I was like, son of a bitch. That would have been so sick to get for myself. But fortunately, that couldn't happen. A couple more. Bashi and McMill and Featherweight prospects are fighting this weekend, too. each other, but they're both competing for the push for sure. One guy's already got the push.

Yeah, the other guy is going to have to wait a little longer. Gosh, he lost his push. Yeah. Big Bill and they're putting on the O'Malley trade. He's getting old, too. What's he? 30? I think he might be 31. Let me see.

So I'd like to no, he's 24. Who am I? Oh, I'm thinking Cody Steele. Oh, yes. Bashi's just, yes, yes. Bashi did lose, but I was conflating him with Cody Steele. Bajie's 24. He's fine. Yeah.

Shout to the topology, credit to topology via topology. Big V, I see the future. Connor versus Nate DS3 to end his UFC run that he fights Jake Paul in boxing. Not a chance in hell. No, Nate ain't going back there. There's a 0% chance that happens. Yeah. Nate would be insane.

Anything you want to. Yeah. Why would Nate do that? Connor to get out of his contract. so he and Nate can make all the money instead of 20% of the money when they do fight. Yes, and they will make and I think Connor

compared to like what you normally see in the UFC, Connor made a bag on Saturday for 60 seconds of fighting an injury which sucks, but yeah, they ain't paying Nate what Nate would get fighting Connor outside of that in a way.

It would make substantially more money in the USC would pay them for. They are. The whole point is to get out of it. So Connor can box Jake Paul and fight Nate Diaz again. And make probably more in those two fights than he did in his entire UFC run combined.

Yeah. Last thing, Jed. Oh, we'll do this one. Shinya Oki's a free agent. Who should sign him? No one. He's fucking 50. Shinya actually,

it has to be old as shit. Because I've been watching him for 25 years. Like, he's got to be old as hell. He's 43. Nobody signed him. MVP should probably sign him. Just to have a name on your,

friggin roster man. I guess you could do that, but like, he's just old. Old people need to retire. That's my hot. I don't want to rock the boat. I think old people should retire. We'll end here. Extra, and we got Jed's reaction. He said he laughed quite a bit

at the comment. I left to stare at the main event. I was just chuckling. I was just, eh. That's really funny. Scott, we'll end it here. Spain or Argentina to win the final. Jed, you said, Argentina is, quote, inevitable.

Do they finish it off? Probably. They seem inevitable. They're the weirdest team. I'm not a D. Like, I'm not a huge football watcher. I have watched. I used to play or whatever.

They do not start trying until they give up a goal. And then they'll start trying real hard. And it is like, they're just kind of like going through the motions. And then if they score, they're like, ooh, whoopsie daisies was scored. And then the minute you score on them, they are just weapons-free wheels up at goal. Like the moment England scored yesterday, Argentina spent the remaining 30 minutes bombarding them, just kicking the shit out of them over. And so, like, it was inevitable.

Eventually, if you were fully on the defensive, you're going to give up one. And once the damn breaks, it's just going to be a barrage. so Spain might score first, but scoring first in Zardite is a bad idea because then that just makes them play harder. I was super impressed by Spain's win over France, though. It should be a great final.

I'm pretty excited about it Sunday. Don't score first. Don't score first. If you're going to score first, do it in the 90th minute, so they have a minimal amount of time to come back on you. Oh, you're working Sunday. Oh, I'm working the whole Sunday.

Why am I doing that? It was terrible. That's your pedants. That's fine. I'll take it, but that's tough. Scoring. That's shift. Scoring first against Argentina is like birdying the first hole.

Just don't want to do it. In theory, good idea. In practice, horrible. Yeah, birdie the second hole. Don't party the first hole. So, yeah. Just don't do that. Then they probably do it because also they have the best players ever lived on their team,

and that's helpful. Sure is. So it's like pretty helpful. Yeah. But if Spain wins, that'd be pretty cool. I think I'm probably rooting for Spain. Mostly, I'm just going to have some fun. That's a good time.

Yeah. And that's really what it's all about. Just have fun. My bull. The blue sharks, they almost upset Argentina. They were so close. Ritting this world of this. Baba Verde forever.

Respect to them. Respect to all of you for watching this week. We love you all very much. Busy weekend ahead. I will be wheels up first thing in the morning. I will be waking up around 3.30 to head to the airport. Then we got the presser in Milwaukee. So follow us along for all the fun there.

Some interviews happening afterwards. So follow along there. Jose is a fanatics fest. We got UFC, OKC. We got PFL. We get all sorts of fun. So much happening. So stick with us, MAPFiting.com.

I hear it's a terrific website, Jed. Great website. For the record, this is for anybody who watches this or is with us now. We love you and thank you. I don't give a shit if you credit me for anything. It's fine. It just does not bother me. Fair enough. But if you, if I'm doing something you dislike, please reach out to me. I will maybe change. No promises, but at least we'll hear you out. I mean, it depends on what you're asking. If you're asking that I cite you instead of the website you work for,

that's fine. I don't care about that. If you're asking me to do something different, maybe not. Love y'all. A little message for us all. See you later. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.