MMA Fighting - BTL | Dustin Poirier's Last Dance, UFC 318, Jon Jones Wants Champ At White House

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

Dustin Poirier's final UFC fight is just days away as he faces Max Holloway for the BMF title in the main event of UFC 318. With so much accomplished, and with so many memories made, what is Poirier's... best moment as a professional mixed martial artist, and what will his legacy be? On an all-new edition of BTL, the panel discusses Poirier's incredible career, and what he leaves behind in the sport of MMA. Additionally, they'll answer questions about the rest of the UFC 318 lineup and grade the card as a whole, Jon Jones saying he wants to fight whoever is the heavyweight champ at the White House next July, Conor McGregor saying he's back in the testing pool to fight on the White House card, and much more. Join MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew as they discuss these topics, and much more. 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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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, I'm Sophia Loper Caro, host of the Before the Chorus podcast. We dive into the life experiences behind the music we love. Artists of all genres are welcome, and I've been joined by some pretty amazing folks, like glass animals. I guess that was the idea, was to try something personal and see what happened. And Japanese breakfast. I thought that the most surprising thing I could offer was an album about joy.
Starting point is 00:00:23 You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and remember, so much happens before the chorus. Welcome aboard Air Canada. Rocky's vacation, here we come. Whoa, is this economy? Free beer, wine, and snacks. Sweet! Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Starting point is 00:00:59 See Air Canada.com. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm muted, but that is the iconic voice of Esther Lynn, welcoming you to a brand new edition of Between the Links. Happy Thursday to us all. We are a little over 48 hours away from UFC 318, the final fight of Dustin Porrier's incredible career. He will challenge Max Holloway for the BMF title.
Starting point is 00:01:50 Rest of UFC 318, it is what it is. I believe we will have some takes about UFC 318. The news headlines have been pretty awful this week, if we're being honest, with a lot of John Jones and Connor McGregor stuff. Some headlines worse than others. Perhaps we'll get into that, hopefully not too much. But joining me to discuss these topics and to answer your questions this week,
Starting point is 00:02:16 the hot take kid, Mr. No Gray area himself, the one and only, Jed Bishu, fresh off the plane. After joining our friends at morning combat yesterday for a different UFC 318 preview. Jed, how are you, my friend? Good. I got to sleep last night, which was nice. I did not really get to sleep all that much Tuesday night because I got that Jose Young's in me and my flight got delayed four hours.
Starting point is 00:02:45 And so that was tough. But we powered through. And now here we are to talk about, I hope not Connor McGregor. frankly and whatever else people want to talk about yes uh yeah too much connor uh and and that's way too much connor way too much in every interpretation of that sentence that has a number of different meetings but yeah kind of a different week this week we were going to try to do you know a classic btl sort of episode and do the the matchups and everything but uh we had some stuff going on with the staff.
Starting point is 00:03:25 Jose could not make it to New Orleans. And if he wants to explain why, he can explain why. It's, you know, nothing from a business sentence, but totally understandable reason as to why he is not in New Orleans. So we had to send our fearless producer, the baddestash in all of MMA. E. Casey lied into New Orleans. He wasn't able to make it for Media Day. He will be there for the press conference later on today.
Starting point is 00:03:49 He'll be there for Wayans tomorrow and all the festivities throughout the week. So how to scramble a little bit in terms of producing these programs. There'll be no Casey for the watch party. We will still have a watch party. So no worries there. Jed will be in living room 4.0 to watch Dustin Porre's final fight. And we want to get to as many questions as possible. But I think Jed, the most important question we can ask.
Starting point is 00:04:13 And I know we'll probably get into UFC 318. I'm sure we're going to have different opinions on UFC 318 and the lineup and what it all means and such. but Dustin Porre is about to do the damn thing one last time. He's fighting Max Holloway for the third time. He's got two wins over Max Holloway. This is for the BMF title. But Dustin Porier, by all accounts, is done. This will be his last fight.
Starting point is 00:04:38 There are some people who believe that this will absolutely be his final fight. There are others, including fighters on the UFC roster. We actually have a video we dropped of fighters and different people within the UFC organization. and throughout MMA reacting to Dustin Poria retiring. There are some who feel, hey, this guy's going to leave behind a tremendous legacy. And there are others, Al Jemaine Sterling in particular said, this dude ain't retiring. He's just not. Like, there's going to be other opportunities going to come back.
Starting point is 00:05:06 So let's play the game, Jed. This is Dustin Porey's final fight. Let's just say that this is it. He's just not doing the typical M.M.A retirement. How will you remember Dustin Poreen? What is his legacy in your opinion? He is one of the most beloved fight. of this generation, right?
Starting point is 00:05:23 Like in that video, I haven't watched that video, but I find it hard to believe anyone has a bad thing to say about him. He is one of the very few fighters that is almost unanimously respected and loved, maybe not revered in the same way that like true all time greats are revered. But people really respect Dustin Poy, his journey, who he is as a person, because he did everything right, Mike. like this is what you hope professional athletes are. He came from not the greatest circumstances,
Starting point is 00:05:58 but has lived a clean life, like has not gotten into trouble since he has become a professional fighter, has made a ton of money, has become very famous and successful, maybe not as successful as you, everyone hopes they can be. You know, he's never going to be an undisputed champion,
Starting point is 00:06:14 though he did hold a belt. But he parlayed that influence into building a, a nonprofit. Like he, he, he's built a charitable organization to help out his community. He is beloved by his teammates who all say glow, like he is always there to help everybody at ATT prepare as best they can for whoever. And the only kind of,
Starting point is 00:06:37 there are only a couple of individuals who have ever really said a bad thing about him. And like, if Connor McGregor and Colby Covington are talking shit about you, who cares? Like, they are not, they're not good people.
Starting point is 00:06:51 And like, so it's fine if those are the people who speak ill of you. And nobody else does. And it's a very unique career in that. There are so few people in this sport who are just like genuinely good people. And on top of that, he has had that sort of Michael Bisping-esque career of a guy who has continued to get better. Maybe isn't the most gifted fighter of all time, but worked really hard and became somebody close to undeniable. I think like all of that is great and impressive and should be remembered. But I do ultimately think that the way we're going to remember him most, because all of that will fade a little bit.
Starting point is 00:07:30 And there is still just the piece of him that's like, okay, he's, he's a top, he's not a top 20 fighter all time. He's just not, right? Maybe he's top 50s in that sort of mix. But what he is, is he's one of the five most exciting fighters to ever lace him up, right? Like, we talk about this all the time, Mike. It's Justin Gage and it's Robbie Lawler. Those two, that's one A and one B. However you want to piece those two together, that's fine.
Starting point is 00:07:55 But that those are, that's the top of the mountain. And then after that, there's still a whole bunch of exciting, world beating awesome dudes. But Dustin Poirier is right in that mix of the, like, every time he has fought,
Starting point is 00:08:08 almost without exception, it's a banger. He's got two fight of the years on his resume. And another like five that finished in the top five, that finished second that year. like the fight that he is maybe best known for at this point is that Max Holloway rematch and that in almost any other year is a fight of the year but for the fact that Kelvin Gaslam israel dissonant happened literally 30 minutes before it did and one fight of the
Starting point is 00:08:35 year honors that year like this is a guy who's guaranteed good times and one of the few fighters who you don't have to feel bad about in any respect you don't have to be like I like him but I just try to not listen to him on social media or whatever like he He's just great. And I am happy that his career is coming to an end on his terms, but I will be sad to see him leave. Is this actually his final fight in your opinion? 100%.
Starting point is 00:09:03 You know, like, he has been so crystal clear about it. He's been crystal clear about it for years at this point. He doesn't want to fight just to fight. He's made enough money. He has other things going on. He wants to leave the game. You know, nobody, nobody leaves the game without losing some piece of themselves right that's just the nature of
Starting point is 00:09:24 combat sports but he wants to leave with as much of his faculties intact as as he possibly can uh i don't see unless he loses to max like if he wins i think there's a zero percent chance like he just would not come come back for that for anything because that's the fairy tale ending maybe if he loses to max in like five years he thinks well let's do one more but i i don't think so i think that this is one of the very few times that I feel confident in saying, yeah, he is, he knows the score. There are no illusions about what's happening. And this is such a perfect opportunity to walk away. How could he ever hope for better?
Starting point is 00:10:04 Right. Like, I've been trying to get into pro wrestling recently, Mike. We've talked about this, except for I'm not in, I don't actually care to watch pro wrestling because it's not entertaining to me, but the lore, everything around it. And on my TikTok, I get a bunch of wrestling videos get fed to me for various reasons now. And one of them was a video of Dave Batista answering questions and like, you know, he's doing some media press for a movie release. And somebody's like, would you ever go back to pro wrestling? And he's like, no.
Starting point is 00:10:38 Oh, my ending was what I wanted it to be. I don't know how, like what his final. I would guess that you do. I have no concept for that. but he's like I would never tarnish that ending like it that is how I wanted and so yeah I think about it and it's intoxicated to go back out in front of the crowds but I would never ruin what was so special and perfect for me and I feel very similar for Dustin Poyer here this is it's New Orleans he's not the last guy out Max is walking last which is stupid but he'll be the last guy to say
Starting point is 00:11:10 something in the arena that evening for sure he'll get the full video package that place is going to lose its mind for him what more can you ask for i don't i don't think he's coming back after that yeah i just i just don't know what his motivation would be you know like if he fights for a belt again like it is the ufc and could they put that in dustin's lap sure they could do that could they offer him the fight for at least in his eyes that got away nate dyes who is another guy who doesn't say terrific things about dustin in fact tweeted about him last night with a not so kind tweet. Maybe, but it's not like he needs the money.
Starting point is 00:11:53 It's not like he's never won any sort of UFC belt because he has. The guy's accomplished a ton. So I just don't know what the motivation is. And it seems like his motivation at this point is spend as much time with his family as he can, watch his daughter grow up. He's got a second child on the way. And I think he's going to be focused and very busy with that. So really looking forward to this fight, really looking.
Starting point is 00:12:15 forward to see Dustin's final walkout. He confirmed Little Wayne will be, we'll be walking him out for his final fight, and it should be pretty special. So, looking forward to that on Saturday night. Let's go to the peeps. Of course, Super Chatters get to the front. Our friend Lazybed says this. It's
Starting point is 00:12:33 been 10 years since the UFC last visit in New Orleans. That card, headlined by Boch versus Hendo, tied the record for first round finishes with seven on Saturday. Wow. Do we get similar? fireworks in the bayou. So before we answer this,
Starting point is 00:12:52 before we make this prediction, Jed, how do you grade UFC 318 as a whole? Oh, terrific question. So I did, I talked about this, but they wanted a letter grade yesterday on morning combat. And so I didn't give, you know, this is, it's a pay-per-view, so it must be held to the Mashul and Star System.
Starting point is 00:13:14 and I think, like, for me, this is, I'd give it a two, Musulun Stars. And I know that that is a controversial opinion. I know that people are down on this card. And I totally understand it, right? And I'll even stipulate to most of the backlash to the card, right? Because if you look at it on paper, the core problem with this fight card, the big issue, there just aren't stories going on here.
Starting point is 00:13:42 The main event has a story, but it's not even, like the most compelling story, right? Because the story is just the the end of this man's career, which is exciting and interesting, but that that's the end of the road. There aren't branching paths afterwards to consider and kind of wonder and figure out where we're going. Either Porre wins and he retires on a win or Porre loses and he retires on a loss, but his, branch of the tree is done. And Max is kind of is irrelevant, right? Like if Max wins, that's better. and then he's got wins over Gaci and Poria, and that's great. But he's not fighting Ilya in the immediate future because he just lost him.
Starting point is 00:14:22 And that Ilya is now the lightweight champion. So Max still has to fight again, somebody. And that somebody, frankly, is probably going to be Charles Oliver, win or lose. And so there's just, there's not our traditional stories. It is the culmination of a story. It is the final chapter. And so that is less compelling, broadly speaking, even if that is the thing that is compelling about this this Saturday.
Starting point is 00:14:46 And then the rest of it, there's nothing. Like Paulo Costa Romacopoulov, there's no story there. Kevin Hollandana Rodriguez, there's what are we learning? What are we taking away? Nothing real.
Starting point is 00:14:57 Pitbull, Ige has a little bit of a narrative because it's like, Pitbull needs to win or the day is done for him. Like he's completely out of it. And Zell Hubert, Michael Johnson, like that's not,
Starting point is 00:15:08 like, where's the narratives happening here? But if you just go back to every one of those fights, they're all fucking bangers, man. They are all absolute rippers. And that's the thing. Like, I don't know if we're going to get to lazy beds question, you know, seven first
Starting point is 00:15:24 round finishes. But I would be stone surprised if this main card wasn't five heaters. Like 97 miles an hour right. There's painting corners with this shit, man. These are going to be incredibly fun fights to watch all. Like, I can't really see how any of them. isn't. And then at the end, we're going to get the capstone of what's probably going to be fight of the year. Like when these two dudes fight, it's always fireworks. And the last time the two of them fought, it was one of the 15 best fights that's ever happened.
Starting point is 00:15:56 Maybe things change. Maybe we don't get the fight of the year. But the last time Max was fighting and I was like, this is probably going to be fight of the year. It was UC 300. And I'm doing that again. And I think that that's it. And so I get looking at this car and be like, that's a little weak. Do I want to drop 80 on it? I am so, so confident that if you are in the New Orleans area, you should go. It would be lit. It would be incredibly fun to be there for Dustin's last ride and all the things that surround that. And I'm just really confident if you drop 80 bucks on Saturday, you will not be sad about it. At the end of the night, you'll be like, I had a damn good night.
Starting point is 00:16:34 You know, me and the boys got together, ordered the pay-per-view, ordered some wings or whatever it is. you know, maybe you're, you're doing New Orleans shit. You're going for bignets and fucking crawfish. And that would be great. And you're going to have a wonderful time. So I'm higher on this card than just about everybody stipulating that we're not going to have anything to talk about like next week, really. There's not going to be like, where do we go from here?
Starting point is 00:17:00 But sometimes you don't need it, man. Sometimes you can just lock in on the night. And I think that Saturday nights can be really fun. I'm actually completely with you on this. But more so because of what this card actually is. This is the Dustin Porreier sendoff card, where in my eyes, the rest of this card does not matter. It truly does not matter. We are here for one reason and one reason only.
Starting point is 00:17:26 And normally, yes, I agree with you. I think these fights will be fun. There will be some finishes, no doubt about it. I think there will be a bunch of finishes on this card, and there's some competitive fights on this card. So I think if you watch this one from the first prelim all the way to the end, I think you're going to have a good time. The stakes aren't truly as high, I guess, as most cards.
Starting point is 00:17:47 And there are a bunch of people who are like DMing me saying, oh, I can't wait for BTL so you could shit on this card. You're not going to get that for me because of the same reasons you just laid out. And again, I will give the UFC a pass because of what this card actually is. This is not, hey, let's load it up for Dustin. This is all about Dustin. And the rest is just cherry on top of the Sunday. So for me, I don't, I don't even know if it's necessary to really grade it.
Starting point is 00:18:14 I think you can grade it on just one fight. And then the rest of it is just, hey, if this delivers, it's pretty cool. Because no matter what happens, this entire broadcast, this entire week is about Dustin Porre, his career, his greatest moments. So hopefully the broadcast does a good job of highlighting those moments, taking us back through time, because there's a ton of newer fans. hell there's probably there's probably a bunch of fans
Starting point is 00:18:41 who are newer to the sport that the UFC is promoting towards who have never seen Dustin Porre fight they probably never seen him because his last fight was the Islamakache fight and they just hopped aboard and now they're going to watch Dustin compete and it'll be the only time
Starting point is 00:18:58 they see him compete so hopefully the broadcast a bunch of vignettes about Porre's greatest moments I think that's what this card is all about, honestly. Again, it's not the best card. It's one of the worst, honestly, if we're talking about stakes and implications and storylines and all that stuff,
Starting point is 00:19:15 but it doesn't matter. Sometimes it just does not matter. And I think this is one of those cards where it just does not matter. So, and I think it's going to be fun. I don't think we're going to get seven first round finishes, but wouldn't shock me if you got seven finishes, probably more on this card. Oh, I would definitely pick higher than seven finishes total.
Starting point is 00:19:35 first rounds that that's just a lot to ask for but like i mean go t's for sure getting a finish um right uh dulytav's probably getting a finish uh cobala or costa i i would imagine one of them is getting a finish probably cobala but i wouldn't lock into that kevin hollins going to get a finish uh danger zell huber's for sure going to get a finish like i i think we're there's 14 fights like that's the only other negative they're 14 fights and there is absolutely ludicrous um there there just shouldn't be 14 fights in this card but that's a nitpick yeah just just looking at it without really diving deep we're getting nine i think nine of these 14 fights are are getting stopped i think most of the prelims are going to be finishes i don't think brennan allen martin vatory is going to
Starting point is 00:20:24 get finished so maybe that's the only i don't think kiler philip uh lowke's gonna be a finish either But you can make a compelling case. Probably not, but I would never count out Loak Dog to not get a, like, it can always happen because Loke Dog is very dynamic. You sure. But Phillips is quite tough. So I agree. I don't think that's likely.
Starting point is 00:20:45 Yeah. Did you know that there's an independent agency in Canada available to help if you've been unable to resolve a phone, internet, or television issue directly with your service provider? It's the Commission for Complaints for Telecom Television Services, or CCTS. Their free, impartial complaint resolution services are available to anyone in Canada. As a consumer, it's important to understand your rights. Visit let's stay connected.ca. First super chat, RS40.
Starting point is 00:21:14 Thank you. Is Dustin Jed the greatest fighter to have never been undisputed champ? Also, how would Max losing a second trilogy affect his legacy? For me, it's nothing. So, yeah, one of the interesting storylines behind this fight, and I really didn't even think of it until Max started doing it. media. He could go 0 and 3 in two trilogies to Volcanovsky and Dustin Porre. So first question is Dustin the greatest fighter to have never been undisputed champ? I don't think so, but he's in the
Starting point is 00:21:45 conversation. And right? And so you got to have some, we're not talking about usually people are not saying UFC undisputed champ because if it's just that, then the answer is Fador and it's not close. But Fador was the champion of Pride a similarly regarded organization. Actually, for much of it, Pride was more well regarded than the UFC. And so, like, you write off guys like Fadour and Dan Henderson, right, who were champions. Because otherwise, those, like, those two, frankly, are just the one A and one. Like, that would be pretty inarguable, in my opinion.
Starting point is 00:22:24 guy like crow cop makes things really interesting um i think crocop was really good people don't really remember that and he won some tournaments but never really held an undisputed title in anything um again we're not going to count somebody like uh your i favor he was wc champion uh i think poise is certainly in the mix and because i've been thinking about this a little, but haven't spent enough time to really try and dive down and be like, who, who is the dude? Uh, I think Porya had a better career than Nick Diaz, but I also don't think that that's inarguable. So, and Nick Diaz was a strike force champion. I don't know if we wait strike force quite the same. I don't, I don't think we do or should as, you know,
Starting point is 00:23:14 primary pride, but I don't know, man. It's a, uh, it's a really good question. I think he is, he's got a very strong argument to being that maybe he isn't it he's got a really good argument what do you think i'm kind of it's this is one of those things you have to like really dive into like this could be like a good article for next week at some point if we all just sort of dove in and like two or three of us gave our thoughts on it i think top five seems pretty fair like i think he's definitely in the top five but i kind of have to kind of have to think about it Like, Overeem. Again, Overeem was a Strike Force champion.
Starting point is 00:23:54 I don't think we should count strike force titles. They are not the same as primary pride titles were. And Overem obviously had an absolutely incredible career. The thing where Porre gets a lot of mileage that some of others, because I think Yol Romero at his peak was probably a better fighter than Dustin Porre was at his peak, relative to his weight class. Because I think there was just a straight up period. of time where O'Olo Romero was the best
Starting point is 00:24:21 middle weight on earth and did never get to do it because that's just how time worked for him or whatever whereas Porre has never once been the best lightweight on the planet or featherweight I guess for that period of time but like Porier's career is I think better he his peak has lasted longer he has more significant wins and so like if you want to start getting into the nitty gritty there but like it's Porier it's Crow Cop I'm trying to think of some other people who pull up some names here and see what we've got.
Starting point is 00:24:59 Overeem, Benavides, like those are all really, really good fighters. And if you want to put them at the top, I don't have any issue with it. Yeah. Tony Ferguson, somebody in the chat, uh, that's a good one.
Starting point is 00:25:13 I look, Tony Ferguson, again, his career is not, going to be held in as good regard as it probably should be because of the way it ended. And that's people don't recognize how great BJ Penn was because of the way his career ended. When you do that part of the game, it naturally hurts your sort of long-term stock. Porier has avoided that.
Starting point is 00:25:35 I think Porier's career is better than than Ferguson's. Again, I'm not sure Poirier got to the same height Tony Ferguson did, but I think his career is better. Yeah, it's a good question. And, you know, it just shows you how good Dustipori is that he's actually in this conversation, because there aren't a ton of them that are in this conversation. Master of the Universe Classic, you mentioned the Pitbull fight, and if he loses, he's in big trouble. Does he retire if he loses? A loss of Danny Gay is not bad by any means, but it's more about Pitbull's performance against the Ayer, not being great,
Starting point is 00:26:09 combined with another loss. So I think you and I were both in the same page with the Iear fight. If there's just one matchup, you don't want to throw pit bull? It was just, well, probably the toughest fight stylistically. I didn't think this fight would even be competitive at all. And it wasn't. I thought Yaya was just going to run his ass over in like the first round or two. But that's Yai Yer.
Starting point is 00:26:32 And when Yayair is on, he's very, very good. And Danny Gay is a good fighter as well. He's beat some good dudes. He's pretty much thwarted almost every up and comer that he has faced for the most part, outside of maybe a couple. But if he loses to Yaya, then loses. to Danigay on Saturday. You think he's done?
Starting point is 00:26:53 So I think he's done anyway. I thought the Yaira fight was bad because he's cooked, but I thought it was the best fight that they could make for him. Outside of giving him a title fight, because it's the only one I thought he at least had a chance to win. Like, I guess maybe Brian Ortega, because Brian Ruega is bad at fighting.
Starting point is 00:27:11 But, like, he was never going to beat Diego Lopez or Mavisorov. I have not at this stage of his career. Yair is the only sort of top. dude he had a chance to to crack and he didn't and didn't frankly like didn't look all that good because he's he's old he's washed his time has passed and that's that's a harsh thing to say but he's not going to get that michael chandler late career run it's it's just unlikely and danie gay is again like theoretically winnable but i don't actually think that this is a very good fight for him and when he loses i don't think he's going to tire because like he
Starting point is 00:27:48 just got to the UFC, right? Like, I'm sure he's getting paid fairly, fairly decently and he'll want to at least get some time here. It won't be a Ben Ascran. Remember, Ben Ascran retired before he came to the UFC. He's like, I'm out and then they did the trade and he fought three times and left because he was already done. Pipple does not strike me in the same way. I don't know that it'll hang around for years and years because he is old, but I don't think he's going to retire if he loses to EGay, then it'll just be how do we use him? How can we get him a win? It will be much more akin to Takenori Gomi
Starting point is 00:28:25 for the people who have been fans for 15 years. Like when Kid Yamamoto and Takenori Gomi came over and they were clearly past their best efforts, but they had a significant name. And they could win some fights but would lose more than they've won. Like that's just what we're in for with Pitbull here. It's a big one for him. Absolutely a big one.
Starting point is 00:28:47 is the fighter that we want to see this weekend in terms of storylines Dakota Dichiva she of course is fighting Samiko and Naba on that PFL card we know exactly what this fight is is just going to be a showcase fight for her but let's just kind of what what's the fallout of Dakota she's got to beat Smeco Namma she's going to run her over she's going to finish her there's got to be something after this, right?
Starting point is 00:29:18 Like, we have to, we have to say, hey, Dakota's fighting for a belt at the end of the year against somebody, right? Like, you have to... Is she not defending a belt here? No.
Starting point is 00:29:29 Why not? Because she won a season championship. Technically, Liz Carbush is still the organizations. Oh, then yeah, that's easy. I'm not really sure why we're doing this instead of her fighting Liz Karmouche, but she's fighting with her next.
Starting point is 00:29:44 If Liz was in the tournament. Pull Liz out of the tournament. I don't know why you be doing that. That's dumb. It's there's no... Should have been done them to start. No doubt about it.
Starting point is 00:29:53 Yeah, I didn't, I had no concept that this was happening. Yeah, this is dumb. Just pull Liz out payers. She's fighting Dakota for the belt. Is it? Or, like, you can make that a tournament structure about, like, I don't know, but like, it's incredibly dumb that Liz Karmouche would not be defending her title against Dakota Ditch of a, like, this is stupid anyway.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Like, I don't think they do. I straight up have no. I don't know, they got the new belt, so maybe, but like... Do you like them? I think it looks fine. There are very few championship belts that look good. I think it looks better than the dumbass BJJ UFC belt, which literally looks like a fucking toy.
Starting point is 00:30:33 You would get at Toys R Us. I can't, I didn't realize that Karmush's two fights this year, I just didn't... What's happening? Like, what are we... What are you doing? pfl like she's your just your champion i had no concept for that um uh just take the belt off her and give it dakota who cares like yeah you're fighting in the final for whatever or just
Starting point is 00:30:58 slot dakota i don't even know who the other person let me pull up the bracket uh do you know who she is supposed to fight in the final wait said again do you know who liz karmouche is supposed to fight in the final oh um damn it jennibis that is correct um um um um So make those two fight next week. I don't know when they're doing these dumb finals, but like, do it. Okay. Then that's fine. If Liz's going to fight in August.
Starting point is 00:31:27 Yeah, December, she's fighting the champ. And I assume Carmuch will be you a bishop. We'll see. So it's not as bad as it. I didn't realize how far we were into the PFL thing. It's still quite silly, quite silly, but it's fine. Let her kill this poor woman. And then she can fight Liz Carmush in November, December.
Starting point is 00:31:46 Yeah. See, and this is what happens when you have in. a well thought out, not even a well thought out, just an actual season slash tournament format. We don't have to wait till the day after Thanksgiving to get Champions crown. We don't even have to wait to the end of the summer. This is a beautiful thing. We'll have season winners crown. We can start making title fights before the end of the year.
Starting point is 00:32:07 And we could see what PFL could do with any momentum that they have right now. So, yeah, the whole thing with the Bellator belts being done. offended on PFL cards was was ridiculous. Don Davis's explanation of that drove me nuts. And I'm so glad like we did the town health coach because coach was like, no, we're not doing that anymore. That's so ridiculous. Like we're done with. Well, we want to pay homage to those who were champions.
Starting point is 00:32:37 And if they lose the belt, then that fighter will become the PFL champion. What? What are you talking about? It's so dumb. It's very stupid. It's all been very stupid. And this wasn't hard to figure out. and they just shot themselves in the foot a lot.
Starting point is 00:32:52 Well, you know, they're at least trying. They're doing okay now. They are. This is their best year in terms of trying. They keep working. So hope it keeps happening for them. I mean, I'll throw this up. What do we do outside of MMA job-wise?
Starting point is 00:33:09 My answer is nothing. This is my job. This is my career. I mean, I dogs. a lot, but that's just a personal thing because my friends have dogs. And I've determined that it's better to have a bunch of friends with dogs than to have your own dog because I can do whatever I want and not have to deal with my dog.
Starting point is 00:33:35 Like, oh, I want to go, I've got a morning tea time. Oh, I can just play another round. I don't have to go home to feed and let the dog out or whatever. But I can also just go to visit my friends when I need some dog. in my life. So this is the only job I have. Yeah. Once in a while, I'll like emce an event locally. Like I've done a couple like car shows and things of that nature because I've done that for the last 20 years of my life. And people like people down here like don't know that. So when they see me with a live microphone in my hand, they're just, they're stunned. I'm like, this is what I do. How many weddings I've
Starting point is 00:34:17 DJed? You know how many like event? that I've emceeed and ran. Like, it's, this is, this is what I do. I'm, I have been transparently and publicly trying very hard to get a job helping PFL be less shitty.
Starting point is 00:34:35 They have yet to accept my generous offers. And I also have been actively lobbying for literally any fight promotion in the world to let me be a total hooligan in a live commentary role. Because I can't think of a thing I'd have more fun with than live commentating, like just nonsense fights. Like a big promotion isn't going to do it, obviously. And they shouldn't.
Starting point is 00:35:01 Like you shouldn't let me live commentate a PFL or whatever. That would be silly. Well, like some random wildbills fight night or some shit that would let me be on the mic for their YouTube broadcast. Hell yeah. That's fun. That's very fun.
Starting point is 00:35:14 Lazy bed, super chat. Jimmy Kruke comes into this weekend, oh, three and two. his last five have we ever seen the stat line before and do we ever see it again and may fighting great website it's a great website uh talked about this on no bets bar this week he hasn't won a fight mike since 2020 did you know that about jimmy kruit did you know that about james krut who is still only 29 years old yes because i bet on him in his last fight uh and he fought to a draw so i
Starting point is 00:35:44 didn't lose any money that was a interesting stat then covid was still a 20 in our eyes when he last picked up a victory over Modestis Pekowskis. And now this, he and the fact that he's 29 years old and hasn't want to fight in five years is like wild to me. I will, we're never going to see someone. Oh, and five.
Starting point is 00:36:06 I don't think. Maybe don't say never, but like it's rare that somebody is winless in five bouts. Calvin Cater gets another crack. But like is Calvin Cater getting another crack? I bet he gets another. on. Maybe I'm not certain.
Starting point is 00:36:22 We'll see. And so to be winless in five straight bouts is unique. But even more unique, he is like a sizable betting favorite over seen Prachnio. And I'm not saying that's wrong, in fact. Let's go see what the odds are now from our friends over at Fandul. But last I looked at he was like a minus 250 or something. But let's check it out.
Starting point is 00:36:45 Let's check it out. You see prelims. Jimmy Kruh, I'm sorry, the money has come in. He's minus 340 now of Marcino. God, I might have to take a shot on Marcyne Placne. But the problem is, Jimmy Kruz is just going to tackle him. And Marcino couldn't stop a double egg from me.
Starting point is 00:37:02 So he damn sure he didn't stop one from Jimmy Kruh. So he's going to win the fight, but it's wild for a guy who has not want to fight in five years to be this big a betting favorite. It is ludicrous. There's a lot of wide lines on this card. A lot of wide lines. had a bunch of possible climbs this week.
Starting point is 00:37:22 What do we land on? We landed. So I was really confident I was doing this early and so I got it early. And then the question was whether I would do multiple. I think Daniel Zell-Huber is going to kill Michael Johnson. And I have tied my wagon to the Daniels-Elhuber horse. I got him at minus 500. The odds have already moved that down even more.
Starting point is 00:37:42 He's minus 590 VR friends at Fandul. But I would have also, I strongly considered, just double dipping with Kevin Holland, who is a minus 530 betting favorite now over Daniel Rodriguez. There are a bunch of overs, alternate overs, that I'm fairly interested in as well this week. The over one and a half for, hold on, where is it? I was looking at this earlier, but I don't see it now.
Starting point is 00:38:12 Over one and a half, over two and a half for Holloway Poire is like a pretty juicy one. So there's a lot of decent value, I think, out there. Yeah, I got to dive in for my watch party bets. Interesting. I've seen a lot of this DMs as well. Max's interviews have looked rough. His weight cut has looked rough. Do you think the Teporia, K.O.
Starting point is 00:38:34 is having some lingering effects as well as the wars. And is this a weight class above for him? So I don't see these two things related. Max never really looks good in interviews of Fight Week. He is never at featherweight, at lightweight, he's never looked like thing. So if that's just where you're drawing the conclusions of the weight cut, okay, but I don't know why else's weight cut has looked bad. I missed Media Day yesterday, so I don't, I don't know if I super missed something. But he, he in general just has looked older for a while because, again, you got to remember, Max Holloway has been doing this,
Starting point is 00:39:14 for a lifetime. Like, I know that he is 33, turning 34 this year, right? But he started professional fist fighting in 2010. This is 15 years before it. And you should also remember that his first year and a half was the only time he wasn't in the UFC. He joined the UFC in 2012.
Starting point is 00:39:36 He has spent 13 years in the world's primary best organization, fighting mostly hitters. His debut fight was Dustin Goddame Porreier. And from there, it's just like, look at his resume. Dennis Bermudas, Connor McGregor. You know, there's a wochope in there. There's a Clay Collard actually still a very goddamn good fighter. Kira Kyr Koresani, Charles Oliva, Cobb Swanson, Jeremy Stevens, Ricardo Llamas, Anthony
Starting point is 00:40:03 Pettis, Josiah. Like, he's been fighting the best fighters in the world for a decade, maybe over a decade, depending on when you really want to say his UFC run got going. there's just that just takes a toll and that doesn't include gym wars and all the other parts that come to this sport he's always going to look rough because also the thing people don't really realize about max too he is so far above everybody in strike stats that it's like cartoonish frankly but like his just sheer volume he also still gets hit a lot because that's what happens when you throw a bunch of punches you also eat a bunch of punches and you also eat a bunch of punches and you're you know, in kind. And so he's just, it's piled up on him. He's been doing this for a long time. He's always going to look a little rough.
Starting point is 00:40:52 I don't think that the Toporia, K.O. is like one specific thing, but I am, it is the biggest question I have this weekend is how is he mentally after that? Because straight up, I thought Volcanovsky looked terrified to fight Ilya, I've watched that fight several times.
Starting point is 00:41:09 And each time I look at it, I'm like, Volkanovsky is just stone cold petriya. of getting hit in the face. And to me, that is because the first time he ever got straight up, lit up, knocked out was the fight immediately before that. And so I don't know if the same thing is going to happen for Max or not, but I guess we'll find out on Saturday. And I think facial hairless Max Holloway also looks older than facial haired Max Holloway. I don't know. It's always weird.
Starting point is 00:41:37 Like when he doesn't have like a mustache or a goate or some kind of facial hair going on, he looks more weathered. it's just it's bizarre you just see more of his face that is that is weathered he's been he has been through the war he sure he sure has so yeah we'll see i mean we'll see how he looks tomorrow on the scale i mean one of the things dust and poria said at media day when he was asked about the face up he's like damn max looks big that was that was his media takeaway so and i i i'm sure that that is true because the last time they fought max was still you know split like he was still he was the featherway champion the last time they fought. Like he was taking an excursion to lightweight.
Starting point is 00:42:16 And even though he's always been a very big featherweight, like, because again, remember, he was supposed to fight Habib for the interim light or interim lightweight title. And the commission was like, you're cutting too much weight. We can't allow that. He's always been a big featherweight. But like he, if he's no longer even pretending to go down to 1.45, I'm sure he's put on 510 pounds. Like, why wouldn't you? Of course.
Starting point is 00:42:41 Live that life. When you make that decision, I'm never fighting a featherweight again. Eat that food, son. I'll throw this up there. How do you compare Justin Gagey's career to Dustin Poyers? They both seem kind of on par with each other. So I'm interested in know your thoughts. It's a really good question, frankly.
Starting point is 00:43:05 It's a really good question because there is a lot of parallels to it. They are very similar, you know. Gagy has the fact that he got to hold they both held interim title in the UFC Gachi did get to be an undisputed champion in a different organization
Starting point is 00:43:22 not an organization that you know is to the same standard or whatever WSOF but he did get to have that I think Gagy is less of a beloved figure than Porier right like people love Justin Gachi but they don't respect him in the same kind of
Starting point is 00:43:42 way that they do with Porreier. And honestly, to some extent that maybe you could just trace specifically to the Conner fights to Porier's, his journey has been a little more every man, right? Like he lost much more often than Gates you did early. And so his journey is easier to sort of attach yourself to as he has continued to improve. He's frankly branded it extremely well. And I don't know that he was necessarily trying to brand it in this way. but the Justin Gachie again these are two very similar careers in many respects
Starting point is 00:44:17 Justin Gachi didn't have the paid in full storyline ahead of the Habib fight where it's like this is the culmination of a lifelong dream I am the lightweight Michael Bisping you know that sort of thing going to him and that some of that is frankly just branding like his way to communicate who he is to fans and has been better than Justin Gachie and all the other stuff like the good fight foundation. I think people like and respect that in a way that Gachie hasn't really done with his career. The same time, Justin Gachie, while Porre is one of the five or seven most exciting fighters,
Starting point is 00:44:55 Justin Gachie is the number one most exciting fighter who's ever competed. The only real argument I can hear in opposition is Robbie Lawler, and I actually think Justin Gachie has distanced himself from Lawler in that regard. And so, like, he's got that over him. Like he is on the very short, like he is guaranteed a spot on the Mount Rushmore of action fighters. And that's something that Pori, you know, isn't guaranteed. Could be up there. But, you know, he's not, he's not Abe Lincoln if you're building the Mount Rushmore, right?
Starting point is 00:45:29 Like Gaichi is. And so there's a lot of similarities. I do think you probably, let me ask you this, Mike. And we could put this to the chat as well, chat. you can fire in your answers. Would you rather have Gachy's career or Porre's career? Like if you're going to Freaky Friday and swap into whose career would you rather have? I think most people are going to pick Porier.
Starting point is 00:45:53 It's definitely Porriere. Because with with the career comes the bank account. And Dustin's way richer than Justin. Setting aside the bank account because that's too, because then everyone would pick Connor. And I don't want Connor's career. But like just the resumes, just the names that you've had, the accomplishments and the fights you've put forth, whose career would you rather have?
Starting point is 00:46:18 Probably, Dustin. I think most people will pick it on that, but like it is, it's close because their careers are really, like they are, they're the same tier of fighter realistically. And they've been that tier for like a decade, which is incredibly impressive.
Starting point is 00:46:32 Yeah. And honestly, I think while, while Justin wins the award for like the most exciting fighter, I mean, there's so many parallels to their careers, Dustin will be because if we look at the sport in terms of success, as we've learned, especially in today's modern UFC, titles don't mean shit. Sometimes they do when we have like legacy conversations.
Starting point is 00:46:54 But at the end of the day, we are living in a prize fighting world. And Dustin Porre is a far better prize fighter than Justin Gaichie. I mean, he got, he won the Connor lottery and then won it again and then finished Connor both times and made so much money because of that. and he set. Like the dude is absolutely set. He didn't need to fight after the second Connor fight. We were already having these conversations. And then he was able to build his way back to a title fight.
Starting point is 00:47:21 Justin Gaichi has to go on podcast interviews that I've never heard of to say that I ain't fighting anybody unless you pay me more money or I'm fighting for a belt. Like Dustin Porre has not had to do that. Dustin Pori went backwards and fought Ben Wassantanian finished him and was immediately rewarded with a title fight right after that way. Like Justin doesn't have that luxury that Dustin has. Like Dustin doesn't have that. Justin doesn't have that favor with the UFC brass that Dustin has.
Starting point is 00:47:49 So to me, I just think Dustin's won the game in today's modern UFC. But in terms of like the hardcore fan base and what fight fans desire and what we revere and things that we remember and the, hey, I had a couple of beverages. I want to go home and watch fights. I think you're going to choose Justin Gagey fights before Dustin Porre fights. So he's got that pedigree, but I think it overall, when we look at modern MMA, dusted wins, and I don't think it's so even that close. And that's saying, I think you're right.
Starting point is 00:48:18 And it's, it's a thing I had not considered. So it makes this really good question. But it is sort of a fascinating dichotomy of the sport of like, their resumes are not different. Like, like, you can't tell me one dude's resume is substantially better than the others, right? Like, they are very similar. They got wins over a lot of the same people. they got wins over each other. But like Porier connected in a more significant way.
Starting point is 00:48:48 And again, sure there are a lot of reasons. Frankly, it made just Stone Cold B that he got to fight Connor three times. And, you know, the second Connor fight was such a coup for him. Because that is really like there was the paid and full narrative before Habib, but then he lost, so whatever. like he did not get paid in full, but he started, but that narrative felt to some extent,
Starting point is 00:49:14 like it got concluded. Like it, like there was the happy ending, that there was the, the bow on the story of, okay, you didn't be Habib, nobody beats Habib, so whatever,
Starting point is 00:49:25 but you, you got to do the thing. You, you won the big fight. You, if we had the Disney movie, we can end the Disney movie right here with this big,
Starting point is 00:49:37 significant, important, fight that you've won. You got your revenge. You showed that you were not the same man who was 20 years ago and you beat the villain. Hazaa. And Gachi has never had that. Gachi has never had that sort of a moment, right? Like he got to beat Hafeel Fazeve, which is frankly just like an incredibly impressive thing to have done twice at this stage of his career. And frankly, more impressive than any of Porre's recent wins. But like that that doesn't get over in remote the same way as the Connor thing did.
Starting point is 00:50:10 And so he, he kind of loses the, the storytelling aspect of his career. Yeah. It just, I mean, it was just lighting in a bottle for Dustin. Connor was having his issues with the UFC.
Starting point is 00:50:23 Dustin was putting over his charity. Connor sent that tweet, hey, let's do a charity boxing match. We'll raise money for both my charity and yours. And then that led to that fight being booked. And it was so respectful in and out of it. And then all of a sudden,
Starting point is 00:50:36 we got some heat on the boat. and the leg break and all that stuff. And Dustin got the last Connor payday at this point, maybe the last ever at this point. So, no, he's coming back. I'm all proud for the White House card. He's coming back for the White House. I'm so convinced that that's happening.
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Starting point is 00:51:18 And contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk. Business. Left laid, super chat. Olivera, Gautier, Dulatoff, Ceilings, top five champs. I'm sorry, repeat that for me. Olivera, Gautier, Dulatov. Where are their ceilings?
Starting point is 00:51:39 All three guys competing on Saturday. I'm sorry. Oh, Oh, Venetius. I thought I was, I was still in lightweight. I was like,
Starting point is 00:51:46 well, we know Charles Oliver's ceiling. We've seen it. He was the champion. He will never be the champion again. But no, this is loke dog. Got it.
Starting point is 00:51:55 Honestly, it would have taken me a minute to be like, Olivera, he's just lokedog. He's not Venetius Olaveri. He's loked dog. I think that, that their
Starting point is 00:52:09 uh, loke dog and Gotei, I think are higher than Doolotov. Um, not the Doolotov's bad, but I, I don't know, it's a little weird that it took him this long to fight.
Starting point is 00:52:22 His career has obviously been quite good as far as his pre-UFC run. I do think he's got a lot of talent. He's still fairly young. Um, but he hasn't really beaten anybody to get your like, get excited about. I, like, if you ask me immediately off contender series, I ranked Loke Dog and Oliver roughly analogous, or, um, sorry, Loke Dog and Doolotov around the same tier.
Starting point is 00:52:48 Loke Dog has just impressed, like his three of C fights, he has looked great against good opposition. And so I had to reevalue him, like, bumping him up. Like, he's, he's doing the damn thing. And so you got to respect the dude who is developing at the rate he is. If Doolotov comes in and starts tearing the house down like, like Loke dog, then great. and he could. Plus he'll get a little extra juice, a former male model,
Starting point is 00:53:10 you know, like he can get that sort of Luke Rockhold-esque bump just for being a handsome fella. But I think Goetia is probably the most talented of them and is in the worst division of them. So that kind of helps a lot. And I think he's going to absolutely annihilate Robert Balatine.
Starting point is 00:53:29 A member of Team Heck on fantasy. I think honestly, it's going to be one of my best picks. I got them really early. He's only 12. I just hope. Match makes, they don't Edmund Shabazi and him.
Starting point is 00:53:41 Like just slow builds, just give him fights he can look sensational in, let's just build him up slowly, very, very slowly, much like Mansor Abdul Malik. Like matchmake, those two guys exactly the same. You take the lowest dude
Starting point is 00:53:58 that you could possibly do that's realistic and just chuck them in there with him, let him build his highlight reel, and just build a bunch of, bunch of wins that way. Do not chuck him in there at the Derek Brunson's of the world after like three UFC wins. That is insane talk. This kid's only 23.
Starting point is 00:54:14 Let him cook. He's going to win big. I think it's probably him mostly for all the reasons you just said. He's in middleweight, which is a week away classes and he's younger than both of them. It's a muddy division. And let's be honest, this dude's 23. He's a big hulking son of a bitch. and by the time he's 28,
Starting point is 00:54:36 he's probably going to be going up to 205. And boy, that's an even easier division to make hay in. So I'll go with him and the other guys are good too. Plus, like, I know he has like, he's 23,
Starting point is 00:54:52 but he had like, he's got some background ensemble, which has historically been a very good sort of prep point for mixed martial arts. Do you know who I comped him to in my continue series breakdown. Who? Melvin Manhoof.
Starting point is 00:55:07 I was like, this dude is just Melvin Manhoff, only better. And I got to tell you, I fucking loved Melvin Manhoff. That's a great. That's a great. So I was like,
Starting point is 00:55:17 Melvin Manhoff was a guy who was like, awesome, but super limited because of the circumstances of fighting at the time. And like he was a kickboxer and couldn't, could never grapple. Like this is just a dude who like, if Melvin May, he's Melvin Manhoof if if MMA came around before Melvin started fist fighting people and was
Starting point is 00:55:39 just like, I'm going to learn how to do all of this from the jump. And it rocks. Like I, I'm a big goddamn Melvin Manho fan. And so I, I'm a huge, huge supporter of Goetia. Yes, let's go. Uh, left hook Larry, Mike and Jed, Dustin loses. No big outcome. But if Max loses, where does his career go from here? I think Olivera, I'm with you on that. I think he's fighting Charles Olivera win or lose. Yeah, I agree. Just, just, bake that fight. It's fine. Like,
Starting point is 00:56:07 maybe if he wins, it's Dan Hooker, you know, because Dan Hooker's, the whole top of the lightweight situation is getting a little wonky and figuring out matchups is hard. But like, I just,
Starting point is 00:56:20 it just makes all the sense in the, especially if Max loses, you book that without even thinking about it. And it's, it's a banger and we're all stoked on it. Yeah, we never got it. I mean,
Starting point is 00:56:29 we got it technically, but we never got it the way we deserve. deserved it to be. I'll throw this up there. UFC 321, our own Guillermo Cruz reported earlier this week. We got Alexander Volkov versus Jailton Almeida at UFC 321. It was reported as being in the works, which was absolutely true. Jailton Almeida since has tweeted about 12 hours ago that Penn has been put to paper. This fight is happening in Abu Dhabi. Thoughts on this fight and what does... Which Abu Dhabi? 321 this is okay so not not next week sabadami you have at the page i was just confirming that i didn't miss
Starting point is 00:57:10 that they fucking bumped another fight onto that card okay my my first reaction from this was like no that means cyril gone's getting the title fight is a day my first reaction was that well it's either cyril or it's derrick lewis let's go give it to derrick lewitimately it was just like there's it now has to be one of the two of them. And I don't know which. And it's like the perfect, they're the perfect opposites, right? Like, Cyril Ghan,
Starting point is 00:57:41 who nobody wants to see get it, but on paper deserves it versus Derek Lewis, who in no way deserves it, but everybody kind of wants to see get it. And it's just which is it's the devil and the angel on the shoulder and which one will Mick Maynard choose. We will, the answer is actually whoever takes the,
Starting point is 00:58:00 the least amount of money or accepts whatever the conditions are for fighting. But it's, it's one of those two now for sure, which, you know, let's hope it's Derek Lewis for funsies. Yeah, come on.
Starting point is 00:58:12 You just got to, you just do it. Just do it. Derek won. He's got two wins in a row, two knockouts in a row. Zaragana is a super controversial win in his last fight. And the fans would just gravitate more towards Derek getting one last chance.
Starting point is 00:58:27 So, and plus I'll be right and I'll be talking about that for the rest of my career. So lazy bed. This is a big weekend, Jed. Lots happening. So outside of UFC and PFL, what events will you fellas be keeping an eye on
Starting point is 00:58:40 during this action-packed combat sports weekend? Lazy bed is going with the karate combat eight-man heavyweight tournament. I did not realize that was this weekend. Neither did I. And that is promotional malpractice from karate combat. They should not be this weekend. They got so much shit going against them. Why would they do that this weekend?
Starting point is 00:58:58 So, because I would be kind of interested. that's a silly fun thing. Should have done it next week. Yeah. I mean, yeah, that would have been fine. I won't lie to you and pretend that I'm not at least marginally interested in this PFL card because even though like Eblen Van Steen is, it's going to be a walkover, pulling up now, Ditchiva, Anaba walkover.
Starting point is 00:59:22 AJ McKeough, Akron, Magumatov, pretty fun little scrap. And then Corey Anderson going up to heavyweight. Like, there's some fun things. mainly you're a lot of one side that we care about but I want to see some of the best fighters in the world compete and they're they're going to do that Saturday morning. I will not be watching Manny Pachial the 50 year old senator box and mostly just hope he doesn't severely injure himself but I am and I'm covering it because we're covering it so that helps but I am deeply interested in Ucic Dubois.
Starting point is 00:59:57 I think Ussick's going to win because I think Ussick's going to win because I think Usick is one of the best pen fighters in the world right now. But Dubai is much younger, hits real hard. At some point, Usik will start to slow down, right? Like, you know, like that's, he can't do this forever.
Starting point is 01:00:12 And he's, how old is Alexander Usik? Is he 39? He is 38. And so, like, you just, you know that at some point, it's, it's coming.
Starting point is 01:00:21 It has to. I know he knocked out Dubois, not that long ago. But, like, every, That will be the fun with Uc's remainder of his career. How much longer can he keep doing this? Because heavy weight, the margins are small.
Starting point is 01:00:35 And so I think that's, also you get to watch one of the three best boxers on planet Earth go, like do his job against a very solid opponent to unify the belts again. Hell yeah, let's go. Yeah. I know Mandy Pachia, I was fighting too, but God, Amazon Prime. What are you doing? I don't even really fully blame Amazon, but PBC as well. how dare you have the audacity to charge 80 bucks for that fucking card are you insane really really like it's 80 bucks it's 80 dollars to watch bani pacchio fight mario bar he is 46 he is 46 years old crazy also we were talking about uh i guess actually this didn't so bc and i talked about this a lot yesterday pre show like we didn't actually end up talking about miny pack yo um on mk bc bc bc and i
Starting point is 01:01:27 is calling the fight. But like we were just talking about it. I was like, man, in the same vein that I was just talking about Max Holloway being old, right? Like an old 33. Buddy, I don't know what to tell you about Manny Pachiao is 46 going on 102 in boxing years. He is like Manny Pachial. Let me pull this up so I have the exact date. Mani Pachial started his professional.
Starting point is 01:01:57 boxing career in 1995, 30 years ago when he was 16 years old, he started his professional boxing career. And before that, he was doing like the kids box each other and get CTE because they're boxing at like six years old. He has been fist fighting with real like real fists, like hidden people for almost 40 years. He should not be doing this. It is. It is. bad that he is doing this and that bill is going to come do and like there's just no way around because he also he had a hard career too
Starting point is 01:02:37 he was in wars in his career he is like the Muhammad Ali Express is coming for him and that's going to really break my heart especially the fact that he's still fucking boxing at 46 is terrible so I hate that I did this because I'm not even going to be watching the fight
Starting point is 01:02:56 but I actually just for fun I saw a line on fan duel that I jumped on, like one of those like feature parlay type things. I've been on Manny Packy out a win in round 10 to start at plus 3.30 because I do think Mani has a, has a pretty decent shot of beating Mario Barrios. Like, Mario's fun. He's good fighter. But even at 46, I think Manny can win.
Starting point is 01:03:19 He may not, but I don't think he'll get the doors blown off. What are they fighting this at? Welterweight. Let me see. Let me pull this up. I mean, that would make sense. I think Mani spent the last, like, six years at Walterway or whatever. Yep, Walterweight.
Starting point is 01:03:36 That's the other thing about Mani's career. I don't think people understand. And I'm not even like a super deep, like I'm not BC. I'm not a deep, deep boxing head. Like, many Pacquiao's career is just like ludicrous. Like he started like a goddamn flyweight. He started weighing like 100 pounds or whatever and won championships and has spent like being deeply undersized and still being wildly competitive.
Starting point is 01:04:02 This is all bad and I really wish he wasn't fighting. Do we not get enough little guy boxing with Mike Tyson? I don't think it's the same. If Manny Pacchio was like flying home and had a medical emergency, I'd feel worse about it. Plus Mike was what, 56, 57 before that fight? Yeah, that sounds right. It's a decade.
Starting point is 01:04:24 So, I mean, we'll see. So we're clear. I just, I want to put this in MMA terms. Manny Pacquillo's career started at flyweight. It's 112 pounds in boxing. Walter weight is 147. So this is if Demetrius Johnson spent the final years of his career competing at lightweight and being good. It is pretty ridiculous career.
Starting point is 01:04:53 It's like it's fucking outrageous. Apparently, Floyd's going to be there too. and if Manny wins, they're going to try to set up that rematch, which hurts by feelings. Honestly, I'm more okay with that. I'm more okay. But I have no interest in it, like none. I'm not interested in it, but I'm way more okay with that because neither of them will hurt each other that bad. That's true.
Starting point is 01:05:19 Very, very true. All right, we got a couple more minutes. So fire in those last minute questions, excuse me. And we'll wrap this baby up because. Because like we said, very busy weekend preview show tomorrow, around 1 p.m. Eastern. Jed will be back for that with AK. So that'll be exciting. And Joseph, we already answered that question, buddy.
Starting point is 01:05:42 We already answered that question. Then we got People's Free Fight Show, all the fun stuff on Saturday, watch party, all the PFL coverage. You got boxing coverage. We got it all. Plus we got on to the next one live on Sunday to get you all fired up. Although that's going to be one of the more laid-back shows, because, again, there's not like a ton of stakes here. Yeah. So you already know what the one fight from the main event that you will pick is.
Starting point is 01:06:10 And then everything else doesn't really matter. Yeah, Paula Costa Roman copuliffe. We'll see. I don't know, Paul is trying to get that Homzot fight. So you think if he wins and Hamzot wins the belt, the UFC would go right to that? No. You don't think so? I don't.
Starting point is 01:06:26 If he, if Hamzot loses, they're for sure booking that fight, though. And when I say if, I mean, when Hamzot loses, because DDP forever. My boy, RDR is going to be coming for that title, though. So after he beats Robert Whitaker, is that next week? That is next week, right? That's next week, yeah. Hell yeah. I can't wait for it.
Starting point is 01:06:49 I can't wait for it because I am on vacation and I'm doing our annual golf trip. I'm going to be so loaded watching that fight. Like you can't imagine. I'm going to have spent all day just hammering golf balls and fireball shots. And I'm going to be just losing it when RDR just does the silliest victory over Bobby Duckles. Love that so much. It's going to be fantastic. Oh, that's great, great fun.
Starting point is 01:07:18 Yes. It's a good card. It's a really good card. I wish we still had Aaron Pico and mobs are of Loy of on that card. but honestly 319 needed some help i don't know if we've confirmed that that's happening but the reports that they're trying to rebook it for 319 that card needed some juice so if that's the case if that's the case it needed some help yeah i hope that's what happens that would be actually pretty brilliant be a good way to do it i would have i mean i don't
Starting point is 01:07:49 know if they'll carry over five rounds but be fun as hell come on let it be the cover mean. But again, like 319 is so like I'm so fired up for DDP Hamzat. It's the same thing as this one where it's just like it's a one fight card and everything else is support. Yeah. And that one fight is like is so big. It's pretty mega. The problem is and I mentioned this before. That's a lot of eggs in the Hamzot basket man like because if that falls apart this isn't a paper view. Nope. Like I don't even know who like because I don't, to the best of my knowledge, nobody's like weighing in as the backup fighter.
Starting point is 01:08:33 Straight up if I'm DDP next week and I beat Robert Whitaker, I get on the mic and I say, I'm ready to weigh in as the backup fighter in three weeks for or two weeks. I think it's three weeks after that for for 319 because like they need a backup fighter. Hamzot is not a reliable dude. Well, what you end up doing is, so bad. Michael Venom Page challenges DDP for the goddamn middleweight belt. Or you pull Fluffy from the Roman DeLizze fight and give him the title shot.
Starting point is 01:09:05 I guess you could do that. You could do that because I got a boy, oh boy, I have to tell you, at some point, Fluffy and DDP are going to fight each other and I can't. I don't think if you're DDP, you accept that fight. short notice because it's just like that whole camp has to be nothing but road work just like i got to be in the best physical condition of my life just spray yeah yeah and he doesn't have to do that for hamzad he has the the hamzok camp is i have to survive eight minutes against hamzot if i can survive eight minutes i'm gonna win the fight the fluffy is i have to be able to go for 25 yeah you
Starting point is 01:09:45 have to literally just run sprints for five minutes with two dudes on you're your back. Yeah. That's all you have to do. Constantly. So, um, like, but that's the thing. Like I am nervous about 319. God willing,
Starting point is 01:09:59 Hamzot makes it. But like when people are like, he's already in the country, visas are only half the battle with Hamzot, man. Like this dude gets sick every time he cuts weight. And they don't have a, there's not a co-main event that they could bump up,
Starting point is 01:10:13 you know, even in a bad pay-per-view situation. They need something. So RDR, Whitaker. the winner of y'all needs to stand up and be like i will weigh in in three weeks well that's something we will definitely keep our eye on we'll be keeping our eye on a lot of the combat sports action this week and i think we're going to go on and get on out of here uh ufc wayans tomorrow 10 a m eastern i
Starting point is 01:10:36 believe i believe we'll be streaming those live uh k c our wonderful i think we should be yeah that is the plan as of right now uh obviously Wi-Fi dependent uh UFC Wi-Fi is an all always super reliable. But if it is reliable, gosh darn it, you're going to see the wayans happen. And we'll cover it. And it'll be great. And when you produce, Mike, when you have to produce, every time you turn the music on, your mic goes to shit for a minute.
Starting point is 01:11:12 I'm still trying to figure out like the level I have to put it at before I can talk over it. Literally every time, you start. talking and it sounds like you're talking underwater every single time and i don't i don't understand the technology behind it but it's great well join us next week where hopefully i'll be above water for jed bishu i am mike kak good night everybody love you all to the box media podcast network

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