MMA Fighting - BTL | Edwards vs. Muhammad, Jake Paul Stops Mike Perry, UFC 304 Press Conference Reaction

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

This Saturday, Leon Edwards defends the UFC welterweight title against Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304, while Tom Aspinall puts his interim heavyweight championship on the line for the first time when he meets Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event. What is at stake for the four competitors, and is it do-or-die for the challengers? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discuses the two championship bouts for this weekend's pay-per-view event in Manchester, if there's any more chances at UFC gold for Muhammad and Blaydes if they aren't victorious, and the impact of championship losses for Edwards and Aspinall. Additionally, topics include King Green vs. Paddy Pimblett, Manel Kape vs. Muhammad Mokaev getting the early prelim treatment, Jake Paul stopping Mike Perry this past Saturday in Tampa, Conor McGregor's reaction, Paul calling out Alex Pereira, and more. Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew and Morning Kombat's Brian Campbell. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew Follow Brian Campbell: @BCampbell Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When I got a great deal on a great gift at Winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $39.99, how could I resist? This luxurious will throw for my sister. This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss?

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We are back on another Thursday. It is UFC 304 Fight Week, and it's been a weird one to say the least. Now we had the pre-fight press conference that just went down into the a lot to talk about on this week's program. Appreciate your patience with a little bit of a later start time, but let's get into it first. Let's introduce a man who just continues to add nicknames every single week. The Baron of Boop, he's Mr. No Gray Area, the hot tag kid, the cannibal kid,

and now the flying belly flopper? Mr. Jedmishu from MMAfighting.com going viral with bellyflops. How are you, buddy? I'm good. I'm back home, so there will be no belly flopping today. There's no body of water around to do it into. But, you know, back from Tampa, things happen. Things are happening.

And I've got a wonderful compatriot here with me today. So it's always a great day in BTL world. Yes. And back on the show. And it's always a treat. And we always appreciate when the award-winning co-host and morning combat graces us with his presence. And now I have to confirm this. Is he doing so on his 29th birthday?

Get right out of town, Brian Campbell. Is it really your birthday? It is, folks. So thanks for having me. There's no place I'd rather be than here below the links or whatever the hell this is called. But I did want to say, I'm 46 today. And, you know, like a lot of middle-aged men who are skating closer to senior citizendom, I've lost more of my filter today than I had yesterday.

So I vowed to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Damn the torpedoes. I don't care who I, you know, get upset today. Hey, Jed, put that here back in a ponytail. Do something with it. All right, let's go. Let's go, brother. I love this mentality.

Casey, just go ahead and give him the win. There's no way I'm beating BC on his birthday. I did not know this. I would not have agreed to these terms. You could have had someone else coming here and get smash. But yeah, we're just playing for fun today. The outcome is preordained. Just for funzies.

Well, you know, it's always nice when we have things to talk about immediately. So let's get right into something that just happened because in Manchester, UK, England, at the co-op live, the brand new arena, which will host UFC 304 on Saturday. We just had the UFC 304 pre-fight press conference. Six fighters were on the stage. We had Leon Edwards Blah Muhammad. We had Tommy Aspinall and Curtis Blades.

We had Patty Pimblit and King, don't call me Bobby Green. So we had six fighters up there. this is a weird press conference. I don't really know how to feel about it. So, Jed, I'll start with you. Your reaction to this press conference, if someone called you right now and said, Jed, describe the UFC 304 press conference on Thursday

in one word and explain your answer. How would you do it? In one word, explain my answer. Mike, it's pretty tough to explain an answer with one word. One word and then explain your answer. And then explain your answer. tedious. Is that a good enough answer? And my explanation is pretty simple. I think it's self-explanatory. This was not a good press conference. Press conferences in general, they're not my bag. I don't care that much. But objectively, sometimes something, you know, headline grabbing or exciting happened. We talked internally afterwards because that's why we were a little late today. Obviously, the press was going on at the same time we normally would be. So we're like, I'll bump it back. When we're talking afterwards, what do we even do with this? Like, What is the headline from this?

And the headline from that presser is Leon Edwards tries and fails to punk Balah Muhammad into flinching. Like, just nothing happened in part because the headliners are just deeply uninteresting people. Sorry, if you are the Leon Edwards or the Belal Muhammad fan, they are not captivating interesting people in that way. And the co-main event is two dudes who are just super nice to each other. And so there's no friction between Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blades. And even the one thing we thought maybe would have friction, Bobby, or King Green, sorry not Bobby, King Green and Patty Pimbled was pretty respectful, you know, both being like, hey, well, you know, we're just kind of at odds because of where we are in our careers,

not because we actually personally dislike each other. We'll probably have a beverage afterwards, et cetera. King was very complimentary of the crowd. And in the UFC's infinite wisdom, they did not put. Muhammad Mahayev and Manel Kopp on the stage. So any chance of something super interesting or wild happening just wasn't there at all. So instead, we got 20 minutes of time and some final face-offs, I guess not final face-offs, but whatever these face-offs are constituted as.

And we all move on with their lives as we get ever closer to the leafy vegetables of MMA. B.C., what did you think of it? Because there's really no middle ground. They're either just a whole bunch of all. awful trash talk and line crossing and bad questions. Or we have this where it's just, again, from like an editorial perspective, I think the one,

the biggest storyline out of UFC 304 was Dana White being put on the spot sort of of saying is the Tom Asmanel Curtis Blades winner fighting the John Jones versus Steepa winner. And he just said, absolutely. That was literally the one story we were writing from this press conference. What did you think? It was a lie.

Well, it was easy for Dana to say that when both guys are going to retops. after the MSG fight later this year. So, you know, so nobody loses on that one. Look, the bar is so low on these press conferences in recent years that it's tough to ever gather what we do take from them at all. Obviously, I want the same type of this over the top back-and-forth trash talk that Jed was sort of saying was lacking here. I don't really know who was the winner of this press conference outside of maybe just UK

MMA in general because I think that share was split across the board. I thought Aspinall, I thought Leon acquitted themselves well and back in home territory. And you mentioned Patty and King. I mean, I would have liked a little fire there. But I definitely know who lost this press conference. So at least I take something from it that I may be able to apply to how I'm looking at Saturday's fights. And the loser here is Bilal Mohammed. Remember the name.

How about remember who you were and the idea of dance who brung you to the table? I always had a lot of respect for Bilal Mohammed because of how often we sort of picked against him. or look down on his true title chances. And what has he been, in my opinion? A workhorse, a good dude. He tries to do good deeds in life. He cares about Palestine and his connections there and charity. And to me, he's this overachiever,

some of his parts type of guy who maybe doesn't have that one dominant skill we can look at and say, oh, he's definitely the next champion, but kind of just brings all these intangibles and one to the table. Yet I think this entire press week plus this press conference, conference, God, it really made him look corny, out of touch. And in a lot of ways, trying to tell himself that he belongs here and that he's got a shot to win. And what am I referencing?

Not just the elevator incident, which he tried to portray an M.M.A. junkie immediately after as Leon being scared. And then we watched the video. And it's like, bro, if anyone was scared, maybe it was you, but I'm not against ball. I'm not trying to come at that angle. But some of the other stuff, he said, if I beat Leon, I'll be number two behind GSP and the greatest welter weights of all time to see his team when they're sparring in the garage

be like, man, Bilal's got hands like Canelo and Marquez, Mexican style, and you're just like, good Lord. And look, it's just not been a good look, in my opinion, for old Balal. And while I'm not against a guy trying to fire himself up in the biggest moment, I just think it was fairly quickly he should have seen that whatever brand of humor or counter-trash talk he thought he was going to bring in, man, it just wasn't. wasn't going to work on enemy territory. No one really believed the true intention because I think that's not who he is.

He's a hardworking, battle-tested dude. But if you want me at age 46 to speak real truth here, I'll also tell you this. He's actually lucky he got poked in the eye by Leon a few years ago because he was going to lose that fight and never would have been here. And he's had a couple other breaks go his way, including getting Gilbert Burns just not ready for the moment on last minute notice. He's gotten the wins. I don't take anything away from him knocking out Sean Brady.

But I think he's already using Bowered money. Don't work yourself into a shoot here. Don't talk so much trash and try to overcompensate to try to. I don't know. Again, prove to yourself that you belong here, that it's really turning us all down in your chances coming into Saturday. I know a lot of people say, B.C., that's BS. Who cares what people say in a microphone to each other? But the psychologist in me is always watching, always listening, and always being a freaking weirdo.

But, you know, it's neither here nor there, as Luke Thomas would say. Yeah, it's tough to play like armchair psychologist with this stuff with the elevator incidents and then with the press conference, Jed. So winners and losers are the press conference, Jed. Do you feel like Ballal is the loser? But we did have that moment at the end where, you know, Leon, Bilal was kind of cooked after this press conference. Nothing was sticking. He looked nervous as hell. The spotlight was not very bright upon him or was too bright.

He just didn't like it. There's just something about him this week. This is just a spot that he is not comfortable and as hard as he tries. But then you mentioned it, the spot at doing the faceoff, Leon goes for the punk. Ballal just kind of stands there and goes, no, no, nah. And then that's it. So who actually won this press conference? Who actually lost this press conference?

No one won the press conference. And like, Balal was losing the press conference. I love armchair psychology. I think it's quite fun. I don't think it should be like the only thing that you interpret. But, you know, sometimes it feels like you can you can sort of gauge where someone is at. And Ballal did not seem great out there. To what extent he's like that that's a manifestation of the fight versus where he is in his career and knowing that, hey, I'm trying to get over and I can't find a way to connect with the public in any fashion.

and I'm just doing whatever I can to mimic something and maybe it'll stick. I don't know, but he was, he was real rough. But then at the end, Leon tried to punk him and fail. And so like, it does, it kind of didn't matter that for the 10 minutes before that Balaw came off looking awful, he ends the night looking solid, like looking, okay, whatever happened on the mic has no real bearing to me fist fighting this human being in front of me and the human being in front of me, you know, got upset when I did the headshot dead to him and then tried to punk me and couldn't do it.

So it's a wash. If someone won the press conference, it's not King Green, I guess it's Patty, just because the crowd was very live for him. But no one won, really. Like, this was just a nothing of a press conference, which is fine. But, you know, this is kind of the last opportunity for everyone on that day. Dias to get up there and be like, hey, tune in Saturday, buy this pay-per-view, et cetera, et et cetera. And nobody really pushed any additional action towards this paper view.

Yeah. I think Dana White was so excited when it was over. Nobody has a question. We're done. Okay, goodbye, everybody. He could not wait to get those tables cleared out and end this thing. But real quick, B.C., I kind of feel like the man of those six who has had the best week so far in terms of how it started and where he is now, kind of feel like it's

Curtis Blades, B.C. The man's making headlines, calling out Alex Pereira say it's a big mistake. Do you agree with that? Is Curtis Blades the guy who has made the most strides? I mean, he didn't come in with a lot of buzz and hype from that department, but it seems like he's made a lot of correct decisions this week so far. I agree. I think the best part is he didn't let us down.

He's not known for a guy who's great on the microphone in any way. But look, there's a lot of ways to ultimately embarrass yourself when you come up for the light in the big bright lights of the stage. And we've seen a lot of people just look not ready for prime time. Again, that doesn't always lead to a defeat. But I think with him, even when he was teed up by Oscar Willis, the whole idea of, you know, they call Aspinall the fastest heavy way. Did it feel like that in the 15 seconds you had with him?

That could have been an easy setup to put down Aspinall, and yet I kind of like the respect he showed and the understanding of this situation. Yeah, it did endear me to Curtis Blades overall in general. I'm a big tie-dye guy, so I like to shirt. But mostly here, if we're going to talk about him or this fight, I think it's fairly obvious when he does put his head up above, auditor looking for title contention the three times he has he gets knocked the freak out so he's really going to have to avoid that this time around again it's not these a lot of these guys are not talkers we know

that that's why this press conference was lame but to me it's always about just be who you are at the end of the day and carry that forward because i think that's going to give you the best chance to go in there and do the impossible or pull the upset or what have you in this case all right well that was the press conference which obviously is part of the build to this card on saturday we're going to talk about the two title fights coming up in a matter of seconds. But we're going to give away the first point. And that first point goes to birthday salutations for Brian Campbell. One to nothing.

Nicely done. Jed's surprise face is everything I expected. But let's continue on. Yes, golf clap. Because Saturday, two titles on the line. Like we talked about Leon Edwards, Blah, Muhammad, 2, Tom Aspedal, Curtis Blades, too. This is time for the interim heavyweight title. BC, I'll begin with you here.

If you could only watch one of these fights, which one is it? It's a great question. I think I'm going to go with Tom Asperon. I think I've been feeling all week that, you know, he doesn't have to be a jerk there in UK culture against his countrymen or adopted countrymen and Leon Edwards. But I feel like he kind of should have been in the main event here.

And I think we all kind of have that general working theory that this not only kind of really is an undisputed heavyweight championship fight, but it may kind of be looked back as one, especially with the likelihood that Jones and Miochich retire later this year. And I hate saying that's likely because I was the guy fighting that before the injury that I thought John Jones would hang around a while and have sort of this second life. But I think ultimately of the four fighters in the main and Co-Main, the guy that I want to see the most in terms of what story he's going to tell about where his career arc is going,

is Aspinall, who did bounce back so beautifully from that serious knee injury that took him out for one day, less than a full year. And now, yeah, it gets the rematch against Blades. It's more just top contender ready in line. But both of these guys are coming in on a lot of momentum. And if you look at what Aspinall has done separate from that Blades fight, it's win all seven of his trips to the octagon. And he's got that 100% finishing percentage that I really want to see if he can

full bloom and become, I think, what a lot of us wrongly thought Cyril Gahn was. And that's the whole idea of heavyweight 2.0, this next level. a new breed of heavyweights who are quick, have a much more well-rounded game than typically. And I think that even though both the Maine and co-main have a lot of potential to be competitive, of these four guys, I think the guy most likely to come through with a big finish

and make the biggest statement is exactly that. Tom Aspinall, he is the best heavyweight in the world. And again, I say that with full confidence, not just because I'm 46 and inching closer to the end. But John Jones pulling a Canelo right now is really, really, making me upset. Yeah, it won't necessarily change ultimately, you know, the stock of who we beat and where we put him there. But it will change the way we talk about him to some degree and respect him if he beats old man Steppe and then just walks as this not very good. This guy who looks like a great

heavyweight has come up behind him producing his own reign of terror. Put that circle around Tom Asper, I want to continue to see, fellow, what you're made of, despite those weird tattoos that are all like shaded in, but like, what do I know? Right? I'm 46. Do you agree with that, Jed? If you could only choose one, you're picking Tommy Aspenall

versus Curtis Blades or you're going the main event? Of course I'm not picking that because when Tom Aspinall fights, the fight is over in like four minutes maximum. Like, there's a very real chance that that fight is over in like 29 seconds. So if I only get to watch one,

why am I only going to get 29 seconds? That's just a bad use of your time. You got to gamble these things better. I know beyond all doubt that the main event is going 25 minutes. So I get to you, I get to enjoy 25 more minutes of watching a fist fight. Sure, Tom Aspinall might go out here and clock Curtis blades immediately in the K-O of the year. Or I can get 25 minutes of tepid kickboxing from two dudes who go to decision 86% of the time they fist fight. which one would you rather?

So like honestly, obviously, of course, the actual answer is Tom Aspinall. Just because like one of these fights is going to be interesting, one of them is not going to be interesting. That's the one you would pick. Also because I actually think Curtis Blades is a very good chance to make this fight far more competitive than most people are going to, going to give him credit for. And if not, then that just speaks to Tom Aspinall's greatness. But Curtis Blades is a damn good fighter. And I think that that is a very good matchup. That being said, and for all the piss I have taken out of the main event and,

We'll continue to do so until it is Sunday morning. We can move on with our lives because we have effectively eaten our vegetables and now we can head on to the dessert of welterweight. It's an exceptional fight. They're not interesting fighters in the cage. They just frankly are not that interesting unless you are really into the like nitty gritty of technical acumen. They're not that compelling on the microphone. But what Bala Muhammad and Leon Edwards are is two of the 20 best fighters in the world pound for pound. we don't get matchups of this quality this often.

And so if you're somebody like Jose Young's who is just in it for high-level mixed martial arts, it doesn't get too much better than this. Will the fight blow your doors off? Is it going to be the fight of the year? Extremely unlikely. But you're getting two guys at the peak of their powers who are among the best fighters in the world. And that is worth something. That is meaningful content to consume on Saturday night.

Just as long as you're not in England, because I got to tell you, If you're asking me to watch that fight at 5.30 a.m., I will be asleep in the middle of it. So that's a pretty poor timing for them. But if you're in America, that's fine. You know, you put that on and maybe you fall asleep, but it's okay. It's already two in the morning anyway. So it's perfect. You just doze right off.

You're good. And the thing about these fights, there are stakes attached to them outside of just the titles, right? Because you look at the main event. You think about the road Leon Edwards has had to take to even get to a title fight. What do you had to do to actually win it? and know where he is now, the UFC sort of going back to the UK and making that sort of a home away from home a couple times a year. Blal Mohammed has had to sort of scratch and claw

go unbeaten for 10 fights in order to get his opportunity, but you have to imagine this is literally his only shot at this. And then in the co-made event, you have Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blades. Curtis Blades, while he's having a great week, in my opinion, he's in a similar spot to Belaw Mohamed. He's been in situations where he could have fought for the belt many times. UFC passed him over, gave him a tough fight he would lose. Finally, he gets his crack at gold, interm or not, probably his only shot.

And then Tom Aspinall, who wants to be the undisputed champion, I don't think he's going to fight Jones. Even he says it's like a 10 to 20 percent chance that fight happens. It's a 0% chance that fight happens if he loses on Saturday. So, Jed, I'll ask you, of these four title fighters, who has the most to lose? And in your opinion, are the stakes for one fight higher than the other? Ballal has the most to lose, but it's pretty close, right? Because if Tom loses, he does lose the John Jones fight, like even being a possibility,

but it's really never going to happen. Like, I just sincerely doubt that that will occur. So John's really, or Tom's really not losing that much because he's also young. He'll get back. He'll probably get multiple title fights, et cetera, et cetera. Ball is the only person fighting on Saturday who has a zero percent chance to get back to a title shot if they lose. Curtis Blades is young enough, heavy weights, garbage-ass enough division that he can get there

with the loss. It might not be easy, but he can get there with the loss. A law is old in a substantially better way class, and if he lose to Leon Edwards, that's it, which is all she wrote, there is no circumstance or outcome where he, as unfiller as he is, climbs his way back up. So he has got to be the guy with the most to lose Saturday. And honestly, he is in the exact same position Leon Edwards was heading into Ousman. Edwards was a little bit younger, I guess.

So, you know, maybe there could have been a long path back to the belt if he had lost the Usman fight. But for four minutes or four rounds and four minutes, Leon Edwards was who Belaw Muhammad is now. Okay, he's a great fighter, fell short, never going to get there. And then the most miraculous KEO comeback in UFC history happens. And that will live forever. Belal has to do that because if he doesn't, he will be the bizarreo Leon Edwards. He'll be the guy who just never got there and then we forget. We do not remember his name if he loses on Saturday, which would be a cruel irony for him.

Do you agree with that, B.C., is Balaal the guy with the most to lose here? No. Well, I do understand the math that Jed is convincing himself that might be my work here. This is just the wrong answer, and it's really a continuation and a string of weird answers from Jed. Belal's not a top 20 fighter. God, good Lord, wow. I mean, really? This fight, I mean, it's a good fight.

Well, clearly a top 20 pound for pound fighter. Yeah, well, I think it's more competitive than a lot of people think it will be, but I don't think the outcome is in doubt. And while, again, I've got to respect, I have to respect Ballal's journey and how he did it and who he was on the way there, of course. But even with the 10-fight unbeaten streak, Bilal has conveniently avoided having to go through a super-elite guy under super-elite circumstances, right?

That's why I don't shade Gilbert Burns, but they both took that fight last. minute and it wasn't the best version of him. I think, again, he avoided having to go through Leon because of that no contest. And I think in some ways, he also benefited from the log jam atop the division when Usman Covington and Edwards were, you know, incestably fighting each other and not the next top contenders in line, Mazved al, thrown that group, too, who had that unnecessary second title shot. So it allowed Balal to linger as a contender, but also because of his lack of markability, it forced

him down and he never got the true shot. Again, I'm glad he's getting the shot, but he's 36 years old, and I've never seen the proof yet that he's on the A level, and the A level is where Leon Edwards is at. So I think that you were right in saying Aspinall is not the answer for who has the most to lose because he's young and heavyweight. You're just afforded opportunities to bounce back due to lack of depth. To me, it's clearly Leon Edwards, because what he has built, the 13 fight on beaten streak, the fact that he's in the top three of most people's pound for pound, and the fact

that he just went through Usman twice and Covington. So it's no joke. It's not like he upset a bad champion and has only been fighting nobody's. He's established himself as an absolutely legit, critically acclaimed fighter who's slowly building his commercial appeal slowly for a guy who, like Bilal, seemed to be behind the eight ball on his initial rise from the standpoint that he wasn't company handpicked. The fans weren't asking for him to be in these title spots.

But what has Edwards done every time the lights shine, the brightest? He stepped up, right? It was not a fun job. journey to get here, the near misstep against Nate Diaz, everything. I mean, I think we even looked at the no contest that Bala against Balaal is sort of like, man, another time Leon can't get out of his own way. But he ultimately did. And I think what he proved is he's a class above Bilal. So let's pull it down a bit. I like this matchup, right? But it's not like it's two of the very best in the world. We see matchups like this all the time. I think Leon is among the very

best in the world. And that's why I think he is rightfully favored in the way he is and the expectations that I have for him to perform at age 32. He's coming to his own. He's in England for the second time in three fights. Headlining his fourth straight pay-per-view. It's Leon Edwards' time. Bilal's just kind of playing with house money, so that's less pressure.

That's why I'm saying, don't pull more pressure on yourself by putting a target around you and being cringinges shit during fight week. Go about your business, Bilal, like you've always done. And, hey, maybe you pull another upset. Mike, you know I love BC. He is rarely as wrong as he just was. like just comprehensively incorrect top to bottom like clearly as honest as i am today wow right

leon like leon has stuff to lose but he will forever be champ if he loses this and he'll get like he's young enough and was a former champ he's not far off getting another title fight and this look like we don't have to like belal mahomet and i'm not here to say belal mahomet is going to beat leon edwards that is not a claim i made but like we don't have to disrespect belal mahomet's accomplishments 10 fights unbeaten and four wins over guys currently ranked the same number of wins Leon has. Like, I'm here to tell you, Leon Edwards, one of the best fighters in the world. I was very clear about that. But if you're being like he has established himself a tier above, he's got two wins over

Usman, one of them was a clear cut miracle of a win. And then his other wins are Colby Covington, who hasn't fought anyone of relevance in like 20 years is old and was awful in that fight. And then Nate Diaz, like, is that, are those wins more meaningful than Sean Brady? I'd sure as hell don't think so. Or Gilbert Burns, like, you don't have to think that Bala Muhammad is going to win or is like the best fighter of all time or like, as he erroneously put it, thus about to be the second greatest welterweight ever.

All of that's nonsense. But like, this dude is pretty clearly one of the 20 to 25 best pound for pound fighters in the world based on accomplishment, their current accomplishment. Not John Jones is, I won 100 fights 12 years ago, but like what they are currently doing in the last five years of competing. Like, all he is doing is not losing and beating the people in front of him, many of whom are legitimate contenders. Like, I don't know what else you want from someone's career if you can dismiss Bilal because it's not like Bilal turned down Shavkat. He didn't get those opportunities. He didn't get to fight Nate Diaz and people suddenly think that's meaningful.

Like, it is, I don't know where this comes. from, but like, I'm not, I didn't come here to defend Blal. And now look at you, B.C. You've got me defending Blah mob. Michael, can we move the goalpost back? Now we're talking top 25 fighters. We might, we're getting closer. We're getting closer to the actual number here.

Don't paint me either as a hater. I'm just a seller of truth on his birthday, all right? That's what this is. So, Jed, I've gotten a lot of truth to talk about your search is three. If the public is willing, so don't push me too far. Okay. Bro, incognito mode. Come on.

What do you think I'm a rookie? he's a professional folks so i mean you guys mentioned belal and like from a meritocracy standpoint you can certainly make the case that ball has the most to lose here but in the case of sort of the internet never being wrong and always remembering things many believe the toughest year for a fighter at the top of any division thus far as jamal hill he talked a lot of trash heading into ufc 300 he called alex perere an easy fight all that as jed likes to say he got booped then he used the I just dared to be great thing. Plus, he's now still taking shots at Pereira and talking about that fight

months and months later. And it's been awful. Like, it's just been a really bad year for Jamal Hill. B.C., if Balaamahmah loses, either gets dominated over five rounds or gets stopped by Leon Edwards, the internet never forgets. He's made some bold claims. He's going to torture Leon Edwards. He's going to talk to his coaches while he's torturing Leon Edwards.

he's going to let Leon survive so he continue the torturing. He's called Leon an easy fight. He said some just ridiculous stuff here. Is he in a worse spot than Jamal Hill if he gets run over on Saturday? I don't think so because I think he has a longer track record of being that blue-collar guy who's just going to keep pushing forward. Again, the company was never for him. I can't argue against that, just like they weren't for Leon for a long time.

But, you know, I mean, I don't know how I can act like he has more to lose because I consider this the pinnacle of his career to get to this point, to not have lost, to have extended the streak to this point, to have beaten who we had the opportunity to fight, and now finally the sea's aligned and he's going to get his moment. I do get what you're ultimately saying that he's dipped in the wrong direction, in my opinion on just going so heavy on the trash talk. Again, I don't know if he thinks that's who he's supposed to be,

or maybe he believes that's the best way to fire himself up. Look, there's a little Billy Hoyle sometimes in people. I'm like that in the basketball court. You've got to be careful. Don't talk trash and light. my fire because I'll say five levels better than I should have any reason to, right? But if you're going to be a menace on the floor and I am, you got to know which buttons not to press, who not to, which bears not to poke.

I think this is just a weird turn for Bilal, but I think he's going to go back to who he's always been, a hardworking fighter. I think this is his Super Bowl. I'd like to see him go in there without any nerves, not talking a lot of trash, believing that he's playing with house money, but knowing that he is tough enough and well-rounded enough to be in this fight and have a shot of winning that. I'm never going to debate that for you right there. But I think it's Leon Edwards, who it's funny that we're ripping Bilal for saying

where he might be with a win. I'm not saying a win here for Leon Edwards, you know, he's on track to get to GSP, but I get that's his goal. He's still relatively young enough at 32. We know people fall off the cliff, Welterweight and below, beginning with 33 and then 35 sometimes becomes a death sentence. Belal's already kind of playing outside of that at age 36. it just took this long to get here.

But I think Leon actually legitimately has a chance to climb the ladder here in Walter Wade history and put together some big wins. Obviously, he's going to have to go through Shavkat to do that. But this is just another step, not a step that I want to say is bigger than it needs to be, Jed. Okay? We have to, we have top 30 now? Top 30, right? I stand by top 20 because he is a top 20 pound for pound fighter in the world.

He didn't have to beat an A guy to get to this point. All right, and that happens sometimes, Jed, all right? But, but, you know, it's going to find out. I think he's going to find out. I mean, what if, did Leon beat a guy to get his shot at Kumar Usman? Is beating Nate Diaz, beating an A guy to get... Here's the thing, Jed. I was wrong about Leon.

But I don't think I'm making that same mistake twice here. I don't think you are either. I don't believe Ball is going to win this fight. I want to be extremely clear on that point. I am just respecting what the man has accomplished because if you go unbeaten for 10 years in a weight class like welterweight that's fucking impressive

that's just a really hard thing to do man so uh i think you got lucky that you myev couldn't make weight I think he got lucky that Chamoyev couldn't make weight anymore as well I think the seas parted perfectly he's going to take his shot so hey brother swing big that's all I got for you on this okay

Jed what if what's the court of public opinion going to say about Bala Muhammad if he gets rinsed on Saturday. I mean, I'll catch it on the teeth for like a minute, but the truth is no one cares about him. And like that might be harsh, but it's like no one is, this is not something that will follow him around

because he's not going to tweet through it like Jamal Hill is. And so it won't just keep coming up where Jamal Hill like unprompted is like, Alex Pereer cheated by waving off the referee when I kicked him in the jibbles. You know, like that's, if he hadn't done that, they would have won. Like, he's not going to do insane shit like that. He'll just go by, like BC said, he'll go back to being the hardworking dude.

And so, like, maybe occasionally somebody will come at him with it. But he will be in the news cycle for 24 hours max. If that, because I strongly doubt that Leon Edwards beating Bilal Muhammad in a whatever 49-46 decision is not going to be the headline grabber of this weekend. So, like, he'll just, this will be his moment. and he will fade sort of into the background of good but never, you know, never champion level of fighter. So it'll suck for a little bit because of what he's done lately,

but it's ultimately not going to be that big a deal because no one cares. Damn, that was harsher than anything I said. Damn. I mean, that's harsh, but that's true. He's like Luke Thomas.

I don't care if he lives or dies. All right. All right. Yeah, great. You know what I mean? That's harsh, but it's true. Like who are the belongings?

all fans out there. There's some. There's some. I mean, what his coaches certainly are, the Canello thing was incredible theater.

I mean, just the embedded, everything that's being said in the lead up to this fight. Pretty unbelievable stuff. The Canella thing's not even the most ridiculous thing.

I will be right behind George St. Pierre is one of the most ludicrous statements in the history of mixed martial arts. Like a truly unhinged delusion. unreal well some truly unreal things i mean well it's m a may so it's really not that unreal

happened last night in the fighter hotel between two of the fighters competing on saturday plus just some other storylines going on we'll touch on point for round two goes to i mean jett well done well done my friend i mean just state in the case i don't know what the judge will in the jury will side with you overall but uh you believed in your sense and I believe in you. And so does the BTL panel of judges there. You dared to be great and you came through in a big way. So let's talk about the big news.

I guess the biggest news of Fight Week. It happens last night, at least that's when we found out about it. We see some footage, some grainy footage shot from a cell phone from far, far away. It is Manal Kopp and Mohamed McAyev. And their teams getting into a skirmish,

just getting themselves into a bra, looks pretty bad. talk to somebody who was there, heard some reports of what happened. Doesn't seem like it's very good. But I don't know, just a lot going on there. Hopefully one day we could confirm like the entire story, but based on what I was told last night, this is like shit straight out of a movie. It's just very, very strange.

But I'll start with you, Jed. When you saw this footage and you found out it was these two gentlemen who are buried on the prelims, by the way, supposed to be on the main. card, then they were the featured prelim. Now they're on the fight pass prelim, super early in the card. What was your reaction to this? Man, this is a bummer. Because, you know, it's always just not that fun when a fighter that you want to be supporting just turns out to be a, I'm not going to say that because people might click that. Not cool. Turns out to not be cool. Because Mike, you and I, we've been very high, Mohamahev. And we've been like, yeah, this dude, he's going to be a champ. He might even be a two-division

champion. He's young. He's unbelievably talented, super athletic, yada, yada, yada. It's going to be great. I've been banging the drum. Like, I think he's got a really good shot to be the first ever UFC champion born in the 2000s. And that's still the case. Like that none of that part of this is different. But if the stories coming from this are to be believed. And based on some reporting here, I am willing to believe that this is true. Man, just what a piece of crap to, to, to, to, to come up to Menel Cop when they are, you know, they had an incident at the PI that has been reported and kind of walk back. It seems like something did actually happen there and that the two of them were basically told to, hey, chill out. You're going to fist fight each other for money in front of fans.

Stop doing this nonsense. And then by the accounts given, it appears that Minel Cop was asked to take a photo. The Mikeye was like, let's take a photo. We'll do it. and then just got straight up sucker punched. And assuming that is true, which I believe based on the best information is, what a dirtbag move. Like what an unbelievably dirtbag move to do some shit like that,

like three days before you're going to fistfight this dude. And frankly, where you're not going to punch him. Because I like Mohamed Maka Jav as a prospect a lot. That man does not believe in hurting people in the cage. I have said that it is easily his biggest flaw. he is an unbelievable positional grappler and controlled grappler and athlete but he will not hurt people he will not punch them like to do some dirty shit like that when you are offering hey let's take a photo is just peak level cowardice and just like unimpeachably gross like just true garbage nonsense

and like how how anyone could be a fan of that dude after that is I couldn't be me and so like I I still will watch him fighting the cage because I believe he's uber talented. But I grow up kid Like that is just such soft shit When you're not gonna punch him like at all on Saturday Would you think BC when you saw this this footage And read the reports and all that?

Yeah, you put me in a really bad spot Because you know, you know where I sit today As a 46 year old man father of two And you know, try to be a pretty moral man myself So to see the treachery behind the fake photo attempt and the sort of, you know, the way that was set up, it was a little decrepit for sure. Everything Jets is right.

You know, the dad and me is like, man, what the half? These kids these days. But you know what's as stronger than that inside me? The decrepit Dirk-Durpack fight fan who's like, yeah, baby, we got some fire on this bout. Look, I love this fight. I've said all along it was one of the best in this entire card. No one on this call disagrees.

with me for sure or watching. And I've always loved the fact that I don't, not that I think he had it coming. But Mel Cops, a wild card in this game, man. It will say ridiculous for me from Hokkaev. But I do have to admit to you guys, unless I have McDonald's Wi-Fi, can you still see me? I do have to admit to you guys that I'm kind of into it. I want to see what goes on with this fight now that the Jews. that is in it. But my bigger

question and concern is this fight keeps dropping from the main card to the prelims to the early prelims. I heard now it's going to open up a power slap card the night before. Is that only because the 23 year old Mokai is in the final fight of his deal and they can't come to terms on that? I mean,

these guys are going to fight outside in the alley soon enough under the way that UFC's working this. It's just weird, right, for a fight this good that matters so much to the future of its own division. Am I alone here? Do anyone hear anything I just said, my screen was freezing. I don't know. We heard it all. Don't you worry. We're battling through it. But I'm glad you brought up

where this fight is positioned. And I know there's certain members on the MA fighting staff who are just like, who gives a shit? But this outside of the two title fights, this fight has the most stakes attached to it by far than any other fight on this card. The winner of this fight is probably fighting Alexander Pantosia by the end of the year, if not early 2025. Like, The title shot is on the line for whoever wins this fight. Jed, you promise the people, and I know you're a man of the people, because I tweeted about this, and you said, I have a theory, I have a scenario that I want to tell everybody on BTL.

So why does this fight keep dropping down the card? Why is this happening on UFC Fight Pass at like 6.45 p.m. Eastern time instead of leading us into the pay-per-view. The theory is pretty straightforward. It's that I think that Melkopp is struggling to make weight. I think that the UFC had some inkling that maybe it's Mahi, but at least that this fight is potentially in jeopardy. And so they did not want it to be in anywhere where they would have to adjust if something

went wrong. They didn't want it to be in any of the media, in any of the stuff. Hey, this is going to be your main card opener if we're doing stuff. Nope, we're going to bury this thing right here. totally fine place for it and that way if the fight falls through no harm no foul and if the fight doesn't who gives a shit they're only fly weights we don't care anyway we just had a hundred pentojo fight steve urseg who was not in the ufc last year so it doesn't matter so that my kind of thought is it's just like yeah this fight is potentially not going to happen that there's something rotten in denmark

and they have decided to take the path of least resistance make this the the the easiest possible less risk thing. And that sucks because this should probably be like the feature fight of the evening. If at least the feature prelim belt out, right? Like if not just main card, you know, prime time viewing slot. Give it the headline of the prelims. Yeah, I don't hate that idea. And I don't hate CLD Robocop being on the main card either because that fight's got to be pretty damn fun.

Fight banks. What do you think of Jed's theory, B.C. You like this theory? I mean, Hobocop bang, so I'm all into that for sure. I don't usually like most of Jed's theories. I think he's playing this way too naive. Maybe. Maybe it's just that I've become known as this UFC Dana Hater.

But guys, let's see through the lines and see what's really going on here. I'm 46. I'm purposely losing this filter because I've got to tell you guys the truth. And I think there's enough reason to believe that this is contract related, knowing that this is the final fight on Mokaiov's deal. He obviously appears to not have successfully. renegotiated and signed, this feels to me when you consider his age at 23, the UFC basically saying to him, hey, you want us to feature you as a future star in this division and, you know,

really set this fight up against cop to be your last hurdle potentially to crash that title picture, then sign on the dotted line for whatever total we're disagreeing about. But if not, and you want to walk that way and fight out your contract, then you can do that at, you know, whatever, 5.28 p.m. Eastern time before anyone's even in the arena. I don't know where that equates for Manchester time there, or Meridian Greenwich. I don't understand any of that. But I will tell you that I don't think I'm being extra-American and conspiratorial here to try to just be like, what the frick's going on here, guys?

This is a great fight, right? What are we doing here, right? I don't think it's as easy as, you know, it's flyways, who cares, right? No, come on, Jed. Get it together. Jed, you're a man. You've gone further apparently in this world than me. You graduated college.

You got a law degree. I mean, you know what I'm saying? I mean, you can't. It's like you can't tell me you don't want to take a whiff or a puff of this fat conspiratorial joint that I've rolled for you, brother. In the name of peace, except the pipe, the pipe. I'm passing the duchy to the left side. No, they're just going to re-sign him because it. he's not going to cost any money.

Like there's who is clamoring from on Mugayaev right now. Like that's the benefits of having a monopoly is like the dude's going to resign and probably a favorable deal. So I, you know, I don't think he is high enough profile to be getting buried like they tried to do to Leon or Nate Diaz, etc. This is just we don't care about fly weights and this is fine. You guys, you guys have annoyed us with your activities. I'm not even confident this fight happens.

We're just going to get rid of you, push you aside, and we'll pull you up later if need be. One last fight I want to talk about before we move on because there's still some more things that happened this past weekend that we have not touched on. B.C. I'll start with you. We have, speaking of fighters who are fighting out their deals, Patty Pimbled entering the final fight of his deal.

Don't expect him to go anywhere as well. He's fighting King Green. And there's a lot going on here. Like King Green, I feel we've been talking about this forever. If there's anybody who is on the cusp of going on this Mazadol-esque 2019 run, it could be Bobby Green. And every time he seems to get cooking, he loses and that just sort of goes away. And then he gets a great performance like he had a UFC 300.

We're like, oh, maybe it'll happen now. Now he's fighting Patty Pimblit who gets to fight at home. He was super over at the press conference. And I am super interested in this fight for, multiple reasons, but one to ten, where are you at with your excitement levels, your intrigue levels with Patty Pimlet versus King, don't call me Bobby Green. I'm going to go as high as about an 8.2 on here, and I don't know if that surprises you, but I love the way that the storylines have intersected to improve my interest in this match of, not just what you mentioned with Pimbleau

in the last fight of his deal, but this is the first UFC fight that Pimbleau appears close to closing as the betting underdog. Now, it's a virtual pick-um. They're both. in the negative, so there's not much to scrape at there. But I guess what I mean by that is Patty Pimbleau 5 and O in the UFC. His stock seems to be as low as it ever has, despite the fact that he keeps winning. Obviously, it's because we've had fights like Jared Gordon where we didn't think he won at all. And even becoming the first not to finish old man Tony Ferguson on like a five-fight stretch

didn't look great, although there was certainly some good things to look at in there. Now you add in the idea that Patty Pimbleau was heavily overweight, not that. long ago yet is in insane shape right now. He had the big reveal that his coaches were actually going to shut this fight camp down a couple months ago due to the depression that Patty had fallen into. All of that is certainly warning signs to where his stock is truly at, especially when you compare that he's fighting a guy across from him who doesn't seem to have anything to lose ever. That's the king green in style to roll the dice, put his hands down, force you to make a move, and then hope that he can gun sling fast enough. He's done that in his last fours,

fights winning three of them. But I just don't think that Bobby Green is is on the same path as a similarly aged Mazvedal was with that big epiphany in the jungles of Central America and the whole idea that he was going to baptize everybody. I kind of think this is the peak. And I'm not trying to be a hater here who just told you Bilal's ceiling has already been met. I think this is the peak of where the Bobby King or King Green experienced late in his career in the rejuvenation will get to. And it's not nothing, by the way. He's in a featured fight on a paper view card on foreign soil. against a guy from that country. But with all these sort of negatives or questions pointed out at Pimblit,

and no, I don't really know if he's ever going to fully, fully maximize this potential and become a champion in a true, true, true global star. But I do think there are certain intangibles within him that would make it naive to bet against him entering this fight. I do think Patty has an ability to raise himself to a higher level when he needs to, when the lights shine bright. No, he has not been fighting even the same level of competition

that King Green has. And yes, there still seems to be a lot of questions about his overall game. But given what he's been through mentally in this camp alone, and to see the shape he's in and to listen to him speaking, you know, he seems to be in a good spot overall. I think what's brewing here is a big moment for Patty Pimbley to legitimize himself to a much larger degree than, you know,

than even his slightest critics have admitted up to this point. Again, I don't know if he is that dude, but I think he's better than this level. I really like the demeanor he's come in with. It's been a lot less about the, you know, the wig and the funning games and Molly Meatball jumping on his back and where's my barstow money. And it's been more about the job at hand. He's not like disrespecting King Green, but he's been very honest about where he sees his game against his. And I think Patty's going to be one of the big winners, if not the biggest, on this night.

And I think he's going to stop King Green because he is facing a guy who takes big chances and leaves that opening available. And I think it's going to be Patty's night. So take that, Jed. How are you going to spin it now, log degree, dude? spin away jed spin away i wasn't paying attention so it's pretty hard to spend is ever going there uh bc was talking about something uh unclear you know uh i believe the original prompt

was about king green and patty pimblit and can patty pimblit get ranked and can king green finally get over the hump and i've said for literal years that he's going to be the next toy Mazfadol and he's never got there and this is a good opportunity like the Nate Diaz fight to get him over. I was deeply disappointed by his press conference. King Green is usually like pretty live on the mic. It can be an adventure. Like he can ramble, not unlike BC and it's kind of go off on real tangents.

But if you stay on the train long enough, eventually get to your station and somewhere in there, there's usually a gym. Like in the media day, he had the line, which I'll be paris. paraphrasing because I don't have the exact quote, but, you know, I was forged in fire. You, the UFC made you. Like, that's a cold ass line to be delivered to somebody like Patty Pimble. And I kind of expect a little more from him in this presser. And instead, it was like, hey, shout out fans.

Love your energy. I came here for you guys. I don't even hate this dude that much. Good on him. We'll have a beer afterwards. Like, it just wasn't the kind of dynamic, exciting person he can be with the microphone in his hands. And so I don't even know, like if he goes out here and wins on Saturday, I don't know if this is the one that gets him over.

It certainly boosts him, but I'm not sure that Bobby Green is ever going to be the Jorge Mastrol star. I just don't really know how he would get to that point at this juncture. Conversely, Patty Pimbled, this is his opportunity to silence the doubters, right? Like, there will always be some when you are someone as popular as he is without commiserate results. but if he beats King Green, like, that's just a damn good win. Like, that is a highly respectable win. He'll be ranked and then he'll go on to fight and not to come to McConnell. And that'll be awesome.

And people will have to give him his due. The people, frankly, like me, who are just like, yeah, this kid's okay, but he's not great. We'll have to be like, hey, maybe he continues developing is legitimately like probably not a future champion, but a guy who is a big star and a very, very good, successful fighter. So I love the matchup. I'm a little disappointed that there's not been a bit more built here because certainly a couple, when this was announced, seemed like there was more friction than there actually is.

But it's still a good matchup with interesting stakes. And, you know, outside of the belts, pretty clearly to me the fight that I'm the most interested in this Saturday. Yeah, it's a great fight. We're going to get some questions answered. And Patty goes out there and does finish. Please, please. Did you feel like King Green showing you accidentally?

at the press conference that he's a little too happy to be there like he's very very happy that he got to this level come on let's be at mike it's truth time it's you know like it's you know i can show you my id i'm 46 it was very as a as a fellow 40 pluser bc uh i i i'm picking up what you're putting down it was just so weird the interactions because it seemed like we're about to head in that direction and then all of a sudden patty pimble's like look it's not personal we're gonna have a beer after and Bobby's like, yeah, we are going to have a beer after. And then they became like best friends in the middle of the press conference. Like it was super strange. And then Bobby's just like, all right, cool, we'll just be friends. And like didn't battle back. There was none of that.

Like the same energy that we got with Bobby on the MMA hour, Patty at Media Day, some of the other stuff. It was just super weird. Bobby at Media Day. At the end of Media. Bobby too. By being like, hey, look, they gave that motherfucker shorts. He hadn't done shit. I've earned my shorts. He just gifted him. I'm going to beat his ass for being the privileged spoiled brat. And it's like, actually you don't, like his whole media day was about how Patty is the spoiled kid in school. And like, he's not going to do anything about the spoiled kid in school. Like you're not going to give the kid a swirling? What the fuck are we talking about, man?

It's lame. Yeah. I mean, it's a good fight because if Patty gets him down, he wins. And if he can't, then Bobby wins. And it's just going to be one of those type of situations. So looking forward to it, looking to see where Patty goes. I wonder if they just chuck him right to a Benny Daryouche, somebody like that in the top 10 who's coming off a couple of stoppage losses.

You think they'll do Moikano? If Patty wins, they're going to do Moikano, and they're probably going to coach tough with it because Patty threw that out, and they need people to coach tough. Win or lose against BSD? Yeah, win or lose. I don't think. I think Moikano would take that fight regardless of this.

So he loves fighting dudes coming off losses. What are you talking about Tony Ferguson? Come on. That's true. That's very, very true. All right. Well, some things happened five nights ago. I know, I don't know what's happening with the stuff,

but let's talk about it. We do have the boxing enthusiast here as well. It's a crossover type situation. Point for round three goes to BC. You can't see him, but you can hear the celebration for the point he just received. Good job, Beasel. Well, see. The Wi-Fi situation can improve for the closing moments of this program.

That would be lovely. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about Jake Paul versus Mike Perry. It went down this past Saturday. Amelie Arena, Tampa, Florida. This is one-way traffic. Jake Paul just kind of thudded up, Mike Perry. Jake looked like he was six-weight classes bigger than Mike by the time the fight started.

Drops Mike in the first round. Mike super durable, battled through it, despite multiple non-year. He just got knocked down too many times. Try to get back up, try to battle through it. It was wobbly-legged. Referee stops the fight. Jake Paul gets the victory. So BC, I'll begin with you.

What did you learn this past Saturday? Did you learn anything from Jake Paul? Did you learn anything from Mike Perry? Did you learn anything about staying on the program? Jed, I'll ask you. Because BKBC has vanished and- Forfeit. Perfect.

Oh, he's back. He's back. Damn it. Okay, he's back. He's returned. He's returned. Can you hear us? Did you guys ask a question?

I was fixing my Wi-Fi here. All right. It's all good. It's all good. Look at how crystal clear it is now. What I was asking you, B.C., is what did you learn in the Jake Paul versus B. Pairy fight, if anything? You know, I learn ultimately, and a lot of people do not like my takes in this category,

and that's fine. I don't even think they like my UFC takes either, really, so it's a pattern, you know, part for the course. But I'll tell you ultimately here, though, I learned that Jake Paul has really graduated from this level. And what I mean by this level is BMF-sized UFC fighters, ranging, you know, ex-UFC fighters, because contraction, that's the only way he's going to get it,

ranging from completely washed or to the level of Mike Perry, where we thought still in his physical prime, but how is he going to overcome this massive size difference? And let's remember, This isn't 185 pound Jake, which he competed at for a while, especially through the Woodley fights. I believe he was weighing around 189. This is heavyweight Jake who had a cut down to 200. So it's not necessarily his fault, but here's the crossroads, in my opinion, where Jake is at.

Because out of one side of his mouth, it's more about like, yeah, man, I'm going to fight for a cruiserweight title in two years. And we hear a lot of that talk, especially when he had those two early first round knockouts on non-paper-viewed his own. But I think if you also know the business, you realize he had a prospect series that owed dates, and he didn't have enough prospects to fill that. So he called his own number and jumped in. But then on the other side of his mouth, you hear him do what he normally does, which is identify the next big combat sports crossover fight he can do. I think the problem is, and while everybody wants to say that, you know,

if there were no UFC contracts, what would be the biggest fight you can make? And everybody wants to go to Connor. God, I think we just learned again, even though I expect Connor to be a much better boxer than what Mike Perry showed that Jake's just too big and now too skilled in this window to continue to take on guys who are that far smaller than him and that much less experience than him. I thought the two of these guys did an incredible job building and promoting this fight. They said the right things,

even though they both kind of really liked each other. And I think that did come out at times, but yet it didn't kill K-Fabe, so to speak. They really liked each other's nonsense and ridiculousness, but I think they still were able to play the part and get us excited. At the end of the day, it was a massive disappointment. for Mike Perry. We knew what he could do, and even in this one-sided nature,

he still took tremendous punishment and still kept trying and almost had a couple moments. It almost looked like he was going to lead Jake into gassing out, but he couldn't. And once he couldn't, you realize that he had put all this time in training camp to come out flat-footed, squared up with absolutely no defense or head movement until he got dropped twice. Then suddenly he was getting up and he was moving around a little bit. It was disappointing to see him leave.

literally not be able to bring enough to the table to produce much competitiveness despite a few moments, right? It was, it wasn't a completely boring affair, but it also wasn't competitive and you knew which direction it was going. So I certainly like, not love, but like the Alex Pereira call out, because I do think Jake's kind of got to pick a lane. If you're going to go after it and real pro boxing, then go after it. If not, if you're going to stay this route, it's going to have to have to be bigger guys who the public believes have a, you know, a chance. of taking your best shot and either outlasting you or bringing some level of hands to the game. I could give you a whole spiel and speech here how the real fight to make now that you're a heavyweight is Francis Ngano.

And by the way, I do really believe that. Only people then hate that take and get really upset. But that's sort of the direction we're going. If Jake's going to continue to compete at heavyweight, which he certainly is in the Mike Tyson fight, what's going to stop you from taking on guys who are in this bubble and actually are eligible, like a Francis Ngano for your size and ability to actually be an interesting match to see if you can out box him.

But that's where Jake Paul is at. I do think the biggest lament I have, though, Mike Heck, or Jed, if you're listening, is I came around on the Tyson fight. I didn't really want it, but I came around that it was so side of the road that we got to see it. I mean, it's just so ridiculous that we got to see it.

I almost feel like the delay is hurt it to the level that I don't want to see it anymore. and seeing him beat up on Mike Perry, which again, two different fighters, Mike Tyson's not going to be the same exact version as that, but he might get beat up the same way. And I think, again, Jake is just too big and kind of too good in this window where he's going to have to really wow us for this train to continue moving at the same level. Yeah, tough die for Mike Perry.

But again, just to kind of play devil's advocate, short notice, his fight was announced and then it happened seemed like the next day. It obviously didn't happen that way. It took three weeks, three or four weeks, but, you know, Mike just looked like a dude who's not a boxer. Like he's a bare-knuckle boxer. The upright stance was a little strange, but the amount of hate and the amount of disrespect I saw going Mike Perry's way

after this performance was pretty shocking to me. But we'll talk about the prayer call in the second. But, Jed, what did you learn from this Jake Paul versus Mike Perry fight? How did you feel about it when it was over? I learned that Mike Perry might have less regard. for defense than Brian Ortega does, which is pretty impressive because Brian Ortega hates defending himself. Not a ton.

Like learned a little bit, not a ton. I learned just kind of really firsthand how big of an experience that Jake Paul is. I was there in Tampa and let me tell you, the Emily Center was sold out and rocking. And there were a bunch of teenagers and honestly younger than teenagers there with their parents for Jake Paul to box some dude that many of them had never heard of at, you know, 1.30 in the morning or whatever. And of course, there were Mike Perry people there as well. But like my biggest takeaways are, wow, Mike Perry truly did not try to defend himself

even one small amount in there. And that was a really bad idea. And two, we did see Jake Paul have to get into a fight at one point, which heading in was kind of one of the things I wanted because he had only. been fighting dudes who were either woefully outmatched physically or also old and could it like not good at boxing and Mike Perry was not good at boxing and was pretty outmatched size wise in there but he did force Jake to fight in moment certainly in that third round it kind of seemed like Jake Paul was having some trouble adjusting to Mike Perry just being like yeah dude you could hit

me a bunch I'm going to continue to be in his face and we saw him have to work through some level of opposition, which is really a first because even the Tommy Fury fight, they just kind of tapped at each other. They never really got into a fist fight. Mike Perry made him get into a fist fight, and Jake Paul stood up and battered Mike Perry's ass around the cage. I have no idea what BC is talking about.

I truly do not understand why anyone ever came around on the Mike Tyson idea. Elder abuse is a crime in this country, and we usually don't televise on Netflix, but apparently we're still going to continue with that. that's awful and I really hope that the cooler heads prevailed somehow that fight doesn't occur even though I know it will but to me this is where this is the turning point I was like okay I don't know where Mike pair or not where Mike Perry I don't know where Jake Paul goes from here

because there just aren't many other compelling matchups for him like in this space like I guess KSI is one that you kind of just do to do but like pretty clearly Jake Paul's going to win that fight. So where does he go? I don't know. I kind of am into the Francis Nganoo boxing match. Like that kind of is is something I'd like to see because Ngano was allegedly going to fight the PFL, but he wants to box again. And well, I would strongly favor Francis Ngano. I don't know. Jake Paul keeps impressing people. He keeps overcoming whatever doubters there are. and that at least would be like probably more competitive than every other fight Jake Paul's had even if ultimately he will be the one who gets sent to the land of winning ghost.

So I don't know. I don't know what I learned, but it was a damn fun time. And shout out to Tampa who turned out for frigging Mike Perry and Jake Paul. Chad B.C. said he liked but didn't love the Pereira callout. Did you love it more than you liked it? I respect it. I don't care for it because it's just it will not happen, but I respect it. I respect what it is, what it stands for what it means, because he understands that,

hey, Pereira is shining. Let me get the clout of calling this dude out. And I'll never, that bill will never come due. I will never get to box him because the UFC will never allow him to come box me. Like there's no purpose in them doing that. So I get the shine. I get to feel awesome in this way. And that's kind of an extension of his entire boxing.

career is he is somewhat playing in this space even though he's really competing and so he he gets all the benefit there is no downside with that so i respect it i don't care like i i don't really have an opinion whether i like or don't just because i know it is it will not happen that there is no opportunity for that to exist uh but look this man is whatever your criticism jake paul or belief or anything you have to acknowledge he is exceptionally good at guiding his combat sports career. He has taken every step correctly, basically thus far, and, like, really has a handle on how to promote himself in this space. Yeah. He's done a terrific job. BC, one man who had a lot to say about this fight was a name you mentioned earlier, Connor McGregor, who is allegedly a boss

of Mike Perry because not only did he dump on Jake Paul and say pretty bad things about him, he freaking fired Mike Perry on Saturday. He was like, your ass is fired. out of here. We don't need you anymore. And I thought it was like ridiculous and hilarious. Mike Perry, his response was, well, I'm an owner too, so you can't fire me. New York Rick was like, I get it. I actually don't mind it because Mike Perry showed up as the BKFC fighter representing BKFC. And it's not even the performance. It's the fact that he basically announced a brand new promotion, which will be in somewhat competition with BKFC. And, Maybe that's what is kind of cherry on top of the Sunday with all this thing.

So what did you make of Connor who is in Spain putting Mike Perry over at that press conference, signing bone thugs, lending bone thugs to Mike Perry for his walkout in Tampa, and then fire in his ass after losing to Jake Paul. It's hilarious because I feel like this Connor promoter run is going to end disastrously. And if it hasn't already worn out the welcome of Dave Feldman, right, who's obviously couldn't turn down the opportunity to get a big influx of money, a big celebrity name, and obviously the hope that eventually Connor can fight under that banner, which is, you know, depends on your stance.

Connor's trying to say publicly only has two UFC fights left, but then again, he never actually fights in the UFC. So to get to two would be a lot. But, you know, it's hard because the best fight to make next actually is exactly that, the face of BKFC Mike Perry against Connor McGregor. They've already done the face off. and now you add this sort of juicy and ridiculous side hustle slash feud over him firing him, which is ridiculous.

It doesn't seem like he has that power. And even more, I think you nailed it, Mike. The whole idea that it did seem like a middle finger, I guess, to the BKFC, unless it was talked about beforehand and there was, you know, agreed to and all that. But like, Mike Perry starting his own league that is really not that different from BKFC. I get that they have a little bit of a rinket. ankle, five-ounce gloves, we're going to throw four arms and elbows or whatever and do dirtier boxing than even normal. But like, how if you're Connor or Feldman, you wouldn't

be upset at that unless, again, somehow it was, that was the only way to keep them. Look, I don't know how these negotiations or leverage actually work, but this just felt like he showed up to a boxing match representing the BKFC just in time to announce a new rival to both. It was weird. I just kind of wish these two could fight each other now because I'm well past the idea now of believing that Connor's going to come back and win UFC fights again. I think he's going to come back.

I think it'll be disastrous, but this is the level where I think he's at, this type of carnival crossover. Again, Jake Paul's too big, but if he gets a chance, that'll probably be the first fight he goes after just for the opportunity for that, you know, challenge and the money and the attention.

But I kind of actually want to see Connor versus Perry. That's the weird side of me because this is where Mike Perry belongs. And again, back to Pereira. Like, don't love it because I agree with Jed that that fight's never going to happen. But Jake's got to wow us now. And I really hope that he does pick A lane,

and I hope that lane stays the celebrity side. Because I don't think he's good enough for as great as he is in this celebrity crossover window. He's not good enough to actually compete for a title, but boxing will bend over backwards and is already preparing the road for this spectacle to happen. to see WBA, which has the worst reputation of the four recognized sanctioning bodies in boxing, right?

They create three and four different champions per weight class of the 17, or is it 27 weight classes in boxing. I mean, it's just ridiculous how much they break the rules. They already came out and said, we would love to sanction Jake Paul versus Chavez Jr. for some form of a WBA cruiserweight title and some form because, again, they pitch some form. because, again, they pitch so many bastardized versions of their own titles. Why? To be greedy and get the sanctioning money. The fact that they are opening, spreading, you know,

that they're coming in like Moses and parting the sea for Jake Paul to walk down there. They're going to find the most, you know, unable body to fight against him. God, I hope he doesn't fight for some fifth version of a real title. You belong in this lane. Call up Tommy Fury. It's your only loss. You didn't look great in it, but you had moments. Come back and knock Tommy Fury out because that's the only time you fought a guy.

your size with your level of experience who was quote unquote a real boxer and you lost. So redeem that loss and then yes, I think it, Angano is the ultimate weirdo fight to see if Jake Paul's boxing actually is good enough to avoid the boom. I think that's the right way to go. It's going to sell, brother. Oh, definitely sell. Last thing on this and then we'll move on. Jed, we enter this spectacle of Jake Paul versus Mike Perry thinking, look, this is going

be a great thing for BKFC. It's going to get them out there. It's going to be a tremendous week for them. It's BKFC's Mike Perry and it was going to be massive. And then the dirty boxing thing happens and Connor's firing Mike Perry and we haven't heard from Dave Feldman or anybody else since. Overall, was this a, was this as good of a week for BKFC as you thought it was going to be? Better, worse? What do you think? That's a really good question. Probably a little bit worse just because of sort of what happened here. I'm not sure BQC certainly got some shine as that was sort of the primary

attachment to Perry and the build of this is he's the bare knuckle guy, you know, bare knuckle champion, king of violence, etc. But all that feels at least somewhat offset by the fact that Perry Estab announced his own league, you know? And BC's

right, like there's a lot of overlap there. I don't, and now BKF season is really weird spot where they hitch their wagon to this guy in such a substantive way that while I might agree with New York Rick that I kind of understand Connor's inclination there you can't fire him like he is your draw he is the face of your promotion so you are stuck with him but at the same time he's clearly doing other stuff and kind of trying to set himself up in a competing lane so it's just a really tough end point for this

week for them. And I don't really know where they go from this. I assume Perry will still compete at the next knuckle mania and they'll do that or maybe fight, you know, again, sometimes just later this year in bare knuckle. But even that seemed questionable. Perry seemed like he was going to take some off at his post-fight press conference. She said, yeah, you know, I'm, uh, I want to work on some things. I spend a little more time with my family, get, get healthy. So, like, it can't be a successful weekend when your biggest draw gets knocked out. in the biggest fight, you know, of his career from an eyeball, eyeball standpoint. And then also says, hey, I'm starting up my own league.

And I might be taking some time off for a while anyway. So if all of this is some, you know, galaxy brains setting up a long con of Connor versus Mike Perry in 2026, then terrific. This is a great foundation for it. But if this is more likely just sort of a reaction to how things have unfolded, kind of a tough outcome for them this past weekend. Shout out to Mike Perry. Made a bag. Success story outside of the UFC. Got to love it.

I know we would hope for a better result, but all in all, it's had a pretty damn good run. It'll continue on. We'll see how this new promotion goes. Can we also? Fighting Conno McGregor and BKFC, which is crazy.

Go ahead, Jed. Can we also shout out Lucas Batty? Because that CO. Yes. Holy smokes. One of those violent things have ever seen with Mone 2 eyeballs. That was nasty.

I don't know what it is about Tampa and Jake Paul cards and someone landing face down on the floor, but yeah, it's pretty, pretty vicious knockout by Lucas Body. Shout out to Canada, Canada's own. H2 O'Sillb will be back. I'm sure he'll learn a lot from this fight, who looked incredible up until that combination landed

and just a wild night, which got the crowd up after, God, I can't see Cesar Chavez Jr. versus Jake Paul. Don't do it to me. Don't do it to be WBA, please. After watching that, your eye-haw fight, no, no, no, no. We don't need to see that. But if I was terrible.

Will we see overtime here? The point for round four goes to, it's a Michoulin star for Jed Beshu gets it's two to two. We love you, BC. We love you. Mostly I gave Jed the point because I think this is an important topic to talk about in this final round. I don't want it to be forgotten because it's very cool.

It's happened earlier this week, and we can't bury the lead here. We need to talk about it on this program with two of the very best in the game. So, Jed, I will turn it over to you, my friend. Do you want to go first? You want to pass it over to BC? This is the knockout round, by the way. They will each have 60 seconds, at least in theory, to answer this question. So, Jed, do you want to go first?

You want to pass it to BC. It wouldn't be right to go first when it's this man's birthday. You've got to defer to the birthday boy. So, Brian Campbell, please take the least. lead. BC, I'll make this real simple for it. Days before beauty. The Association of Boxing Commissions

this week? We got 12 to 6 elbows, my man. We got 12 to 6 elbows. We have a new definition for a downfighter. Things are moving up in terms of the rule sets, B.C. We're starting to make some strides, and it happened just a few days ago. So in one minute or less,

wax poetically about the 12 to 6 elbow rule, about the definition for, a downfighter rule changing and everything that happened at this ABC meeting this week. Go. Yeah, it somehow took forever for common sense to take form. Yeah, when it took form and shout out Andy Foster, it feels like they passed that in 60 seconds. Guys, what are we doing here?

We filled podcast, Tom, complaining for years about exact things like this, that this industry, mostly the scoring using a 10-9 must system, but I must show that argument for for now because we finally have some passage, right? The tubes, the bowels, they're moving. I probably could have used a different analogy there. But what I'm saying here is these just felt like archaic rules that don't really make a lot of sense. This sport is so violent and you can do so many things

with the hardest part of your body, like your knees and your elbows, which could knock any person unconscious. Yeah, we couldn't do it in that situation. The most important part, 12 to 6 was just like a weird ripple in the rules that made no sense. I do, by the way, I hope they give John Jones. that loss away. Get rid of that loss, give him what he deserves and no contest.

But ultimately, the hand on the ground thing, it's the ability to manipulate the fight. It makes it more like an actual fight. That's more exciting to everybody. It makes a ton of sense. I thought I'd get 60 minutes on my birthday. Not 60 seconds, but I don't really know if I said anything in this minute or really this whole show. But I've had a great time. So thanks for having me. Yeah, that's great. All right. You see, I'm so proud of you.

Yeah, please, please, Jed. I just, look at him. He almost kept that to 60 seconds. That's, I might be a first. Super proud of you, BC. That's like 74 seconds. What are you just wisdom with age. Oh, okay.

Well, Jed has the cans back on. I figure, so we have cans over the AirPods, which is, it's quite the look, Jed. So, yeah, talk about these new rules. I didn't want to bury this because of 304 stuff. and I don't want it to be forgotten because that's how the sport works. This is big news. Your thoughts, go. The 12 to 6 is a very silly rule.

So yeah, glad that that's done. It was just kind of always an asinine rule. The grounded fighter is the one that is substantially more significant. And I'm very, very pleased with this change. If you gave me the option of things I would like change, this would not, these two would not have been probably even in the top five of like things that I think are the biggest issues. but I am happy that, you know, took long enough.

We got here because I still don't think the ground fighter rule is perfect. You should just allow people to need the head of grounded fighters who gives a shit. But this is certainly at least a step in the right direction to get rid of the gamesmanship of the hands and stuff. So both of these are just unmitigated wins. And the last thing is, John Jones, I mean, it was illegal when you did it. And that's just sort of how the rules work. don't do the illegal thing at the time, and then you won't have that DQ,

because you didn't need to. You could have won that fight in a number of ways you chose to do the illegal way. So wear it. Take that out, baby. Okay, great job, gentlemen. Great job. Cast your votes.

It's time for the live viewing audience to do their jobs. Cast your votes. Is it the birthday boy, BC? Is it Jed Michoud who will be hosting another watch party coming up on Saturday, myself and G. in the Michoud Mansion.

Very excited to watch Leon Edwards v. Balaamah 2 and Tommy Aspinall versus Curtis Blades too and Patty Pimp versus King Green. And whatever this friggin' main card is going to look like by the time we get to Saturday, it's going to get hot in the ATL, literally and figuratively because the watch party is going to be fire. It's going to be a good time.

So join us for that. Well, preview show tomorrow, I believe at 1215, Eastern time somewhere around there, depending on when the official weigh-ins wrap up, which you can also watch on the M&M. M.A Fighting YouTube channel. It's just going to be a busy day. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

So stick with us at mathfighting.com. B.C., did I see you rapping this week on morning combat? Or is that an old clip that I saw you? That's an old clip that they repurposed. I've done almost anything in front of morning combat camera. So, you know, let's keep that away from my wife and kids, please. Whatever it takes, right? Still tipping?

Was that what it was? Yeah, that was the wheel of death. We used to do that until the UFC Wade and shows still the idea. It was great. Yeah. It was great. No, the UFC didn't steal ideas from people. No chance. No chance that happens.

Never. They would never ever do that. Watch party. My job. Yes. Casey is here. Are you really good? How are we doing, Casey?

Are you going to Jets house for this watch party? Yeah, we did the last one there too. Wow. Yeah. Jet hired. Not the nudes. Come down. I will invite you

I didn't clear this with Mike but you're invited come down come down come on I love why you have to clear it with me and it's your house incredible yeah but it's your watch party you know

you think people would be pissed if BC comes walking through that door being incredible they might be surprised people would be up later they might be deeply upset the last time I was in Atlanta by the way was

Gastilum Izzy and that's you know the greatest fight of all time. So if I come back again, I expect something big. I expect climax. I mean, maybe we need a boost for Leon versus Bilal here. So maybe you're just the guy to give it to us. Can you imagine if Leon Belal is the fight of the year?

Like, just, I can't honestly picture how that would even be the case, but just the amount of crow that I would need to eat if that fight is fun, who I need to be born. You may get your wish Casey is here I assume there is a winner to be announced here I need a few more votes It's so close

I need a few more votes It's too close I can't announce to win It's his birthday On BC's birthday I thought this is going to be like a 90-10 type situation So don't make me go vote for BC on his birthday

Come on By the way For those who are wondering This is not a gimmick the bonuses will be $100,000 confirm with the UFC as the show is going on. So that is a real thing. That is not a bunch of press conference.

Hopping cock. It's a real thing. 100K for the bonuses. Shout out to King Green and Leon Edwards for making it happen. And a reminder to all you viewers out there and any fighters who perhaps fight for the UFC, every time you get a promotion,

it means that the company could pay you that money and is choosing not to do so. PSA. The more you know, where's the... I'm just saying. Dana didn't even think about it. He's just like, yeah, sure. F it.

Because that wasn't like a fiscally important decision to him. They could easily do that. Do you see how he smiley left it to Leon? He goes, Leon says, yes. So it's a go. Very smart, very smart. It takes the on his offer. Casey, where we at?

All right, I think we got to call it. So today's... Today's winner with, wow. 51% of the votes is the Baron of Boop, Jedmishu. No, I just compete him on his birthday. Come on it, guys. 51% of you were just assholes. Wow.

That's so rude. Oh, unbelievable. He doesn't turn 46 every day. I know. I feel like Lou Gehrig's day, you know. God. Wow. Right.

I mean, best fans in the business, just best fans in the business. But I disagree. I don't think they got it right this time. Your reaction, Jed. I'm sorry, B.C. You know, you, I didn't know it was your birthday. You came here out of the goodness of your heart instead of, I assume, you would have been spending it outside of a gas station,

just hammering hot dogs, just slamming glizzies. But you came here out of the goodness of your heart, and we can't even celebrate you properly. So my deepest apologies, buddy, I didn't want this. Nobody wanted this. That's okay. I have my health.

You know, I have a loving family. I have a little bit left of self-respect. I went to the record store today, too, guys. You know what I'm saying? I got some King Crimson over here. I got some deep purple. Oh, yeah, right? All the cool.

Wow. Kids are listening to Buffalo Springfield again, right? I mean, this is great, right? Yeah. Hey, Tom Morrison, he's in the 27 club. I made it to 46, though. That's some truth right there. All right.

Thank you. I mean, if you didn't tell us how old you were, that, right, those last 15 seconds of you opening a bag of records, immediately got us guessing for it. That was, that was, that was 46. Springfield. This is a, I got some Van Morrison in there, too, guys. I got some Van Morrison, all right?

There you go. Not surprised. It's a 46-year-old collection, and we respect the hell out of it. Hit the music, Casey. Let's get the hell out of here. Appreciate you guys sticking with us. We're trying myself,

trying out a new mic for the watch party, so I don't have, we don't use the handhelds on Saturday at Casa Michue. And I think we did okay. It's going to be our wife. And busy weekend ahead. UFC 304 right around the corner, get excited.

And thank you all for watching for B-Cid for Jed. I am Mike Tech. Shout out to Casey on the ones in Tuesday. The iconic voice of Esther Lynn takes you home back next week to react to it all. Your night. Love y'all. This has been Between the Links and in my body production on the Vox Media Network.