MMA Fighting - BTL | Francis Ngannou Leaves UFC, Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane, UFC 283, More

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

UFC president Dana White revealed this past Saturday that Francis Ngannou is no longer heavyweight champion, is out of the promotion, and is an unrestricted free agent — which Ngannou also confirmed on The MMA Hour earlier this week. After hearing both sides, what are the biggest takeaways from this big news? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the fallout of Ngannou moving on from the UFC, along with how White laid it all out following UFC Vegas 67. Additionally, topics include the UFC 285 main event between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title, along with the rumored Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso title fights for the March 4 card, this Saturday's UFC 283 card headlined by Glover Teixeira vs. Jamahal Hill for the light heavyweight title, Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno 4 for flyweight gold, the best of the rest of the UFC's first pay-per-view of the year, and more. Host Mike Heck will be joined by MMA Fighting's José Youngs to discuss the biggest stories in MMA, plus answer some of your questions on the tail end of the program. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs 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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And now, your host, my... The iconic voice of Esther Lynn welcomes you to a brand new edition of Between the Links. And yes, we are two days away from the first UFC pay-per-view of 2023. We have two title fights, including a historic fourth fight for the flyway title. And oddly enough, UFC 283 is like the fifth or sixth most important thing going on in the UFC right now. A lot to talk about at the end of the show. We'll take some of your questions as well.

But joining me this week, no Jed Mishol. and we have a treat for you because we typically don't get the time with this man during a pay-per-view week because he's in the thick of it all. This time he's here with all of us because the Brazilian Beast Guillem-Cruz is on site in Rio for UFC 283. Let us say hello. Let us welcome back.

The great Jose Youngs. How are you, sir? It feels weird now being on-site for a UFC pay-per-view. I was trying to think of the last one I missed completely. And it's, I think it was the first fighter. Island because there were obviously a lot of Brazilians on that card. It was originally going to be Gilbert Burns versus Usman, Figuerado fought for the title. It was a lot.

I think Jessica And Josh fought Rose, Shogun fought Lil Nog. So we sent gear made of that because of the Brazilian connection. So that was July 2020 was the last pay-per-view I missed. Feels weird, but I'm happy to be here. Well, we're happy to have you here. We're going to break some news right here, too. Jose is going to be on the watch party with us. He's going to join us for the Davis and Figurato, Brandon Moreno four fight for the flyway title.

You've been there for the other three, so I figured it's fitting. Let's just get you on for this fourth one. So it's going to be a lot of fun on Saturday. There's a lot to talk about this week on the show. But let's start with the biggest story of the mall, Jose, Francis and Gano, no longer in the UFC, not the heavyweight champion anymore. It's not on the roster anymore. Dana White said on Saturday after UFC Vegas 67, he is first.

free and clear. And there was a lot said during that press conference by Dana White about Francis and Ghanu on the way out. There's another big announcement as well, and we will get to that later on in the show. But you are in the room during Dana's press conference where he said, and Gano was an unrestricted free agent amongst many other things. What was your reaction to all of it being in the room? What did you take away the most from Dana's press conference in regards to Francis and Gano parting ways with the company? It was, I don't, I want to say surprised because when, obviously, when Francis fought Cyril gone a year ago this month, and then he did the interview with Aere Hawani on the MMA hour,

that special one that everyone talks about. At that point in time, I would have been, I would have guaranteed Francis was never going to fight in the UFC after that. He was going to ride off into the sunset, do his boxing thing, make a bigger paycheck, and everything he said. And then we started here rumblings of, you know, Francis maybe fighting John or Steepa in December. And then we keep seeing Francis in the in the PI. We saw him throwing kicks.

And then there were rumblings that maybe they wanted to do John versus Francis in March. John Jones was ready. It was only a matter of time if Francis was ready. So in this, in that, in this 12 months, it just felt like there was a glimmer of hope that maybe we would get to see Francis and Ghanu versus John Jones. or Francis versus steep 83 or someone else or whatever. So I want to say surprise, but my, I remember when he announced it, I was like shocked, but then I, like, when like five minutes later, I was like, well, why am I surprised? Francis a year ago basically laid out this blueprint of what he wanted and the UFC wasn't

going to do it. And then he walked away. So I was surprised for about five minutes only because there was that glimmer of hope. and the way Dana announced it was, again, I was like caught off guard, but at the same time, I'm like, this is what he does. Like, he buried the lead in that press guy. So he walked in, he goes, I know the first question is going to be about the poster, right? And I'm like, no, that's not what the first question is going to be.

And then so he announced Cyril Ghanorne versus John Jones. And then he announced Francis Ngano had been released and he was a free agent. So initial thoughts were. surprise, but then five minutes later, this is just what the OEC does. As you know, Jose, and you've been in this space long enough, and you talked about Dana, that's what he does, kind of buries people on the way out a little bit. And there's two sides to every story with situations like this. And people often will choose one side of the other.

And typically, the truth will lie somewhere in the middle. And on Tuesday, on a very special edition of the MAA with Ari Hawani, Francis Ghanu joined the show, told his side of the story. And to me, I think the biggest takeaway from me is not just a lot of what he said. I thought he could have gone a little bit more on the dark side if he wanted to, but he chose not to while still sharing his truth. So I thought that was pretty impressive on his end. And he talked about what he wanted for this new contract with the UFC, three fights.

He wanted a lot of other things to advocate for fighters, moving forward, which I thought was really interesting, but arguably unrealistic. So in some people's minds, just presenting those options to the UFC meant he kind of had to foot out the door anyway, and they weren't going to come to a deal. But that's what he said he wanted. And in the end, he leaves the UFC with no regrets. So we got your biggest takeaway from Dana's press conference. What was your biggest takeaway from Francis's side of the equation speaking with Ariel?

That he didn't burn the bridge because we see a lot of fighters on their way out, maybe. burn that bridge with Dana because obviously like we all know we've seen this a million times he did with Nate in September he's done it with the fighters that leave you kind of bury the guy leaving you know because you want him like well Nate obviously they match him up with Hamza up because he wanted

not to ride off it in the sunsets it would be carried off in a stretcher and then Francis he buried him at the press conference saying you know he just didn't want to fight John he wants to fight lesser competition for more money and this and that so it's just not really a surprise I think for people that cover this sport I don't think they

really looked into that and took that too seriously. I think he was more speaking to the masses that kind of watch this sport on an auxiliary level, like kind of on the outskirts and aren't embedded. But for Francis's side, what I took away is he didn't burn the bridge with the UFC. So like that's why I still think there is a small chance he might come back in the future. Maybe he does his boxing matches. Maybe he makes all this money. Maybe he plants the seeds for all of these things.

He wants to happen in the UFC. someone takes the rain and runs with it. But I don't think this will be the last time we've seen France and Ghana in the UFC. I think he wants to do his thing right now. But if I was a betting man, I wouldn't bet that he'd be back. But I think there is a small chance. But like you said, I think everything he laid out is just hyper commendable. We've long said this for a long time.

What it would take to make major changes in the UFC is a few things. And one of them, it's not there's not one. answer. One of the things that we need is someone like on France and Ghana's level to step up and speak up. And we've seen people like, you know, remember there was that weird MMA athletes association thing where it was like George St. Pierre and King Velasquez and Cowboy Soroni. We all assumed that those would be the big, big enough names, but then just kind of disappeared when everyone kind of got what they wanted out of it in terms of those individual fighters. It would take someone like Francis or John or Daniel Cormier or Connor to step up and really be this big advocate

get for the UFC and this was one of them. Francis just happens to be leaving now. Hyper commendable, but like you said, maybe when you heard him, I'll ask you, when you heard him say what he wanted, did you think any of that was going to happen ever in the UFC? It just wasn't going to be realistic, right? No. And I thought, I thought the way he presented it was even more interesting because he was

like, you know, just meet me halfway on something. Like, let's negotiate these things. Like, give me something. Like, let's meet somewhere. He did the negotiating tactic. It's what Robinson Canoe did when he went to the Mariners. He asked for like $400 million. And the Mariners are like, no, we'll just give you $300 million.

You'll still be the highest paid player in baseball. But we're not giving you $400 million. You know, he asked for the moon. And then they still gave him less, but it was still more than what he would have made anywhere else. So the meeting halfway thing was very much like a negotiating tactic. the UFC just was like, no, that's not happening. Yeah, and I'm with you. I do think the door is not shut on a return down the line.

It's not going to happen anytime soon. And I think John Jones is the catalyst to all of this. Because if John goes out there and just melts Cyril Ghana, we'll talk more about that fight in a moment. And then he goes on and fight Steepay in July or whatever, and he just melts Steepa. I mean, John could just get on the microphone and be like, all right, Francis, get your ass back here, let's go.

And then Francis has a little bit of power in that situation. But I truly think it all depends on John just going out there and being the John Jones of old. Having this new impact of this new division, he's hungry, he's ready. I think that's the biggest thing that's going to get him back there. But I feel like the relationship with Dana. And it seems like the UFC did come correct money-wise from all accounts. But it just wasn't enough. That we've been told, you know, none of us.

were in the because like even what for the big thing that really stuck out to me is what france said he's like oh i was told i would be the highest paid or like heavyweight he's like that i know of like i don't know like that's what they're telling me but you could be make you could be making that up so i don't again if there if that's true even more respect to frances for walking away and asking for all of these things and you know playing his cards and not folding yeah and and we can commend and Francis is all we want. And one of the big things about this in my eyes is this is a very risky move for Frantzangano because he does have options.

He's going to get paid very well. He will have opportunities in this sport. He wants to box. And, you know, if this is four years ago, we'd be like, eh, this is probably not going to happen. But the landscape of the boxing scene has changed so dramatically with MVP and misfits boxing and all these big events that happen. France is getting a boxing fight.

is not out of the realm of possibility and people are going to watch the hell out of it. So he's going to have opportunities there, but he said he still wants to compete in MMA. So let me just ask you this. The UFC could be in the equation down the line, but if you're Bellator, PFL1, Risen, whoever, everyone's going to shoot their shot and they should.

But if you had to guess, like, which promotion do you think has the best ability to give Francis what he truly wants. Like who would you say of those promotions that I mentioned or maybe something that I did mention, who do you think the frontrunner is here to sign this guy? I mean, the seeds were already planted for PFL giving, I think what does he say?

It was his mom or his grandmother, something was wearing that shirt. I know he kind of no sold it, but they seem to have a lot of money. Now, the thing that would be, the thing that would throw a wrench into that is him signing with the PFL is they obviously signed Jake Paul. They obviously want to sign,

Nate Diaz. Everyone wants to sign Nate Diaz too. They're going to want to sign Francis. Jake Paul has that like revenue split, right, where it's like 50-50 type thing. If they do that with Nate and then they do that with Francis, I don't, they're not going to make money. Like you basically want to have them, you want to stack a card, put like, especially on a pay-per-view, how many pay-per-views did that first paper-view sell? And then you put Francis, Nate and Jake Paul on a card maybe and you stack it. And that would do a lot of buys, but then you have to split the 50-50 revenue three ways. So you're essentially making what, like 12.5 percent of sales or ticket sales or pay for you buys. I think that's going to be a big thing.

I saw a lot of people say Nate and Francis should team up and go somewhere. That would be fantastic. I would love that. I just don't know how realistic it would be if you give three fighters a 50-50 split on revenue, including Jake Paul, because it's going to demand a lot of money. Now, maybe they have a lot of money to spend and they can afford it. If that's the case, If Nate, and again, I don't think Francis and Nate are going to go into the PFL tournament. It's going to be one of those super fight things. But then who's he going to fight? I have no idea.

Selfishly, I would love if Francis fought in like a Bellator or Horizon type thing where you could fight in a ring and do one of those crazy fights. Because here's what's who's out there? Who's the biggest draw for Francis to fight in MMA right now? It's probably Fador. And if Fadour somehow beats Ryan Bader and it takes one more fight. and Francis and Ghanu and Fadour and they have Francis sitting Cadeside with his UFC belt

and then he comes in and squares off with Fadour who has the Bellator belt that would be big business that's probably not going to happen realistically who's another heavyweight in MMA it's probably and this is going to sound weird Marius Puginooski is like the only other draw

the only other draw and that's bizarre to say because he's not an incredibly high you're not going to have Francis go in there beat Mario's Puginooski and be like, yeah, baddest man on the planet. We already know he's the bestest man on the planet. Mario Puginooski is not even a top 25 UFC heavyweight.

That's not fair. He might be. The UFC heavyweight division, is it that great? But he's clearly not top 10. So those are the two big names. So if he wants a big draw to like bring eyeballs, he's going to have to go to boxing unless a boxer comes into the MMA world.

That's why I think Bellator is like a very interesting option because of the relationship with Showtime and Paramount and they could just chucking. And they could just chuck, be like, hey, we'll just chuck you on some of these cards. Like, he gets to scratch the boxing it. He gets to do some stuff for them. And then Bellator could just be smart and give him a three-fight deal, not lock them up long term. And go from there.

Did you see that fight circus tweet? Yeah. Yeah. We'll pay you $50,000 to throw some midgets around. I'm like, hey, man, take the money, man. I'll do that. Yeah. And even if he signs with Bellator, then, you know, they could do the rise and thing.

go fight in the ring or whatever. And they want to co-promote with other promotions. So maybe we could still do the Inganu Pugianowski fight, which, by the way, would be the greatest build to a fight ever. It would be epic stuff up until the bell rings. And then I think Francis just kills them. But everything else before that would be tremendous. Right. And like Casey and I, before the pandemic happens, like we interviewed Marlon Lewandowski.

I think that I might have been butchering his name, who's the, the, the, the, the KSW president. He's like the Dana White at KSW. And he's like, we want to co-promote. Like they even talked about like doing a KSW event in like Chicago with Bellator because there's that huge Polish population. Then a global pandemic happens and kind of threw a wrench into things. But if they want to co-promote with KSW, Bellator and though rising into the mix,

I'm here for it. Yeah. So Francis, as of right now, his final UFC fight will be beating Cyril Gun on one leg at UFC 270, gambling on himself. It paid off once. Let's see if it pays off again. We will see what happens. This is a very fascinating story to start off 2023,

and we're barely at the halfway point of January. So, buckle up, everybody, buckle up. But speaking of Cyril gone, and we mentioned this a little bit in passing here. Boating for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. Ugh, what? Sounds like Ojo time.

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you call 186653310 or visit Comexontera.ca. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first? There, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes. The aftermath of all of this is he is going to get his second opportunity to fight for the UFC heavyweight title. He will do so March 4th, UFC 285, and he will fight the returning John Jones, which was first reported.

I can't believe I'm saying this into a live microphone by an exterior billboard outside of the T-Mobile arena by accident. This is a very interesting fight, Jose, on paper, and when those pictures and those. videos started circulating, we're all like, what the hell, man? This is crazy. But now that it's booked, now that we've seen the UFC poster and everything, your reaction to this fight for the heavyweight title, March 4th, John Jones coming back to fight Zero Gone. I'm very excited. But I would be excited for John Jones versus anybody, because I've said this a million times on a million shows on this side. I think John Jones is the most talented fighter the UFC has ever had. George St. Pierre just happens to be the greatest. If John Jones wins,

wins a heavyweight title against Cyril. If you want to argue with me that that's enough to put him over the top for greatest of all time, I won't argue against it. If he beats Cyril and then beats Steepa, there's no denying John Jones is the greatest of all time. Obviously, the PED stuff, if that's why you don't put him at the top, fine. Same as Anderson, fine. I'm not going to argue that either, but I think in my mind, John would be the greatest ever.

So anytime you see the best at anything do anything, I'm going to be very excited. I'm very excited specifically for the Cyril Ghan fight because I am in the camp that Cyril was clearly not prepared for the game plan that Francis Gano implemented against him, especially with one leg. I think if Cyril and coach Fernand Lopez knew that Francis Gano was compromised and he was hobbling around and they had been prepared for a wrestling heavy or stylist, like that style of fight. I think that fight, I'm not saying he would have won, but it wouldn't have been at, it wouldn't have played out like that because a lot of people think Cyril obviously won the first two rounds and the Francis came back in one.

If Cyril had won one of those rounds in the end, then he would have been the heavyweight champion of the world. I think Cyril is very, very good at formulating a game plan for specific fighters and implementing that. Now, it is not always exciting as we saw with like the Volkov fights. And so I think it was the Volkov fight. I might remember. Like there was that stretch of time in the apex

where there was like a ton of heavyweights fighting in main events like Giorzino and Volkov and Curtis Blainez and Derek Lewis. It all kind of gets mixed in together. But Cyril is not like everyone remembers the tides who we've ossified just being this end that Derek Lewis fight being these epic performances. He didn't always have the most,

like they were extremely technical. And if you like high level martial arts and Chris striking, it was fun to watch. But it wasn't aesthetically pleasing to watch. to watch a heavyweight do that. Now, could that happen against John Jones? A thousand percent.

Like, if this fight plays out with John Jones and Cyril Gaon just kind of like pitter-pattering and not wanting to take giant risks at heavyweight, wouldn't be surprised at all, especially considering the last few fights that John Jones has had, will his chin translate to the heavyweight division? Maybe he even, he doesn't know that, and he doesn't want to test Cyril's power.

So if we have two master game planners going in there against each other. I am personally excited for it. I like high-level violent chess or checkers, whatever your game of preference is. I love this fight. I obviously want Francis versus John. I think Francis and Donald versus John Jones

in Madison Square Garden could be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC. Obviously, Connor Habib's tough to pass, but I think that could rival it because that's the heavyweight champion in the world in Madison Square Garden where that's synonymous with each other. We've never had, obviously, Daniel Cormay fought Derek Lewis in that,

but I don't think many people consider those two the best at the time. Daniel, maybe. But Francis John Jones checks all the boxes for just blockbuster fight. Cyril versus John, I think, is a perfect fight to see where both of them are at right now in this heavyweight division. I'm very excited for it. I'm glad you brought up some of the potential things that could happen in this fight, because there's a lot of questions about John Jones.

There always is. and ever since John was back in the books and it seemed like this fight between him and Ghana could happen in March, the questions come up like, when can we take this seriously?

Because even if you put John in a fight, it's not always guaranteed that he gets there because, I mean, history tells us that John Jones things could happen. So until he, he's at that level right now where like Jed was at with Nate,

with Nick Diaz. Like until he's actually in the cage, people just aren't buying it all together. But outside of all that, there are a ton of questions about this guy new division he's obviously a giant man with a whole bunch of extra muscle he's he's a mystery right now because by the time he fights cyril gone he's been out for over three years and his last couple light heavyweight title offenses were not all that spectacular so what's the biggest question you have about him right now less than two months from ufc 285 just how the time off in general uh i think johnny walker even said like maybe his timing will be off uh i'm he's also John his one of I'm not calling it a knock because that's an unfair word to use one of his big things is that people wanted to see him fight guys that were his size with his length with his physical advantages obviously that first fight against gustason that was really the first time we got

to see John Jones face off with someone where they could look at each other directly in the eyes John also say didn't really take that fight camps overly seriously folks a lot on boxing and partied a lot and then that's obviously one of the greatest fights in u.c history and It's in the UFC Hall of Fame. They went in the week that John got in a lot of trouble the last time. So take that for what you will. He's also fighting in Vegas again, so I'm right there with you. I don't know if this fight happens until he's in the octagon,

considering all of his history in the state of Nevada. I am curious how his speed, his chin, everything, all the advantages he had in light heavyweight. I am curious to see how they translate over to the heavyweight division. He's had a lot of time to prepare, which is even more, questions because like when Israel went up to fight Jan Bolhovis, it just looked like Jan was the bigger fighter. Israel was just a middleweight that didn't cut weight and showed up to fight Jan

Blahovic and Jan was just the bigger, heavier, more dominant grappler and that showed. John has had, what, three something years to bulk up and just to be massive. I think he obviously did it right. He's not one of these guys. He said for a long time, if he was ever going to go up, he's not just going to show up. he's going to do it the right way and stay there, I'm curious how if everything he has translates over to the heavyweight division, especially against a guy like Cyril,

who is very fast, very accurate, very powerful, very strong, and just an incredible athlete. Obviously, the meme that we heard a million times about the Dominic Reyes fight was, oh, this is the first athlete you ever fought, which obviously was not true, but it was kind of became a joke. Serial is a serious athlete in there in terms of mixed martial arts. I'm very, very excited. And like I said, we're going to get a lot of questions,

a lot of answers to a lot of questions from both men in that fight. Yeah, and Cyril is a freaking giant because, like, the pictures that he was taking in the way of him at Pax. Oh, my God, man. He's so big. He's huge. He's a big boy. He's a big boy.

He's a massive individual. So can't wait for that fight. And speaking of this card, the rumor mill, Jose, as you have seen, has been rampant when it comes to this card because yesterday we had reports surfaced that Amanda Nunes versus Arrini Aldana for the Bannamway title could happen on this card. Other reports surface that Valentina Schochenko versus Alexa Grasso for the flyway title could also happen on this card. So if these fights are for real, Jose, and we have not confirmed either of these yet, well, I'll explain one in a moment, but should they both be on this card? Should it be one? And

are these the right matchups for both of these champions? Well, if you listen to MMA Fighting's Championship prediction podcast that me, Shaheen El Shadi, Jed Mishu, and Damon Martin did, someone named Jose Youngs predicted that Ida N. A. Aldana and Alexa Grosso would probably get the next title shots

and no one else said their names whatsoever. In fact, people were talking about the bandweight division top five and I was the only one to bring up Irani. Yes, I am Mexican. round. That's not why. I just think the UFC is looking for fresh matchups and they've been trying to get I René into a title fight for a long time. I heard rummlings

that they were looking at Mexico City specifically for like maybe early summer, late spring. Don't know how realistic that is or how real those were, but I heard they were rummings. I assumed they were going to try to get brand, they were going to wait to see if Brennan Moreno won and then obviously I think Valentina Alexa Grasso would have been

a perfect co-made event for that. If we, if Brennano defended his title in Mexico, Lexa Grasso, obviously Mexican, Valentina Ziovchenko, speak Spanish perfectly. I think that would have been a great main event, co-main event, both flyweight titles. If that's not the thing, I've also heard, obviously, the Brooklyn thing. We've heard in April. That's a strong possibility.

I've also heard they've been looking at Florida too. So I would imagine if a man, they're not going to put all three titles in March because I think John versus Cyril is enough to sell a pay-per-view. I don't think that's a card you specifically need to stack, especially if you're having two pages. Papers in March and then all of a sudden you have one and like throughout the months. I think they may even have two more in July, two pay reviews in July. If they do go to Florida at some point maybe in April, mayor or whatever, Amanda lives there, Amanda trains there. Obviously would make a lot of all the sense in the world for man in a fight in Florida.

Maybe have Valentina fight in the co-main event of the John Jones fight. She's done that John Jones last fight against Simon McGrath. She was the co-main event in Houston. Casey and I covered that fight. They seem to have a lot of respect for each other. She could get the rub from the John Jones. Cyril gone, eyes. I hope both fights happen.

I'd like both. Obviously, the Giuliana Payne and Maniuna's fight, that's the fight that should be happening. But if they're going with Plan B, I do like the Adenei fight. It's a fresh matchup. She hasn't won a Ban to me in a while. She said she's lost to Holly,

and then had two catchweight fights. One, she missed weight. One was obviously Macy's decision because she was struggling with the weight cup, but the United has some serious power. She's long. She's powerful. Obviously, I would favor Amanda heavily,

and I would favor Valentina heavily Alex Grasso. But me, I like both of these fights. I just don't think they both need to be on the same card. Yeah, and it seemed like Ernie Aldana, I mean, she went on her Instagram stories and put a picture of a lion, so I assume something spoke to that fire. Here's what I know and what we know about the Valentina versus Lex deGrasso fight. The fight is happening.

It's going to happen. Both sides have agreed this fight is going to happen. just a matter of, is it going to happen March 4th? Some people are telling me they believe it will, but it's on 100%. And just like Jose just said, it could happen March 4th, could happen April 8th. It's probably going to happen on one of those two cards. But we'll let you know, like we say all the time, it's on MAAfighting.com. It's not done yet.

But that fight is going to happen. It's just a matter of what. And there's probably a good reason why they want both fighters around the same timeline. touche, Jose, tushay. So that's UFC 285. And it's crazy that UFC 283 is like the third topic of discussion

with everything going on. It's almost like the fourth with everything. This Saturday. It could be the fifth with all of this betting news and still the Dana White fallout. Like UFC 283 might not even be in the top five most interesting talking points this week. Yeah.

And when we get to news and notes, just looking at the website and everything that's going on. We'll talk about some of that stuff, and you might be right about that. But this Saturday, UFC back in Brazil, first card in Brazil in almost three years.

The last time they were in Brazil, it was right when the pandemic started, and they did the card in an empty arena. That was the start of it all. These fans are going to be insane. They're going to be electric. They're going to be ready to go. And they're going to be ready to watch Glover Tashira

fight Jamal Hill for the vacant, light heavyweight title because we all remember what happened at UFC 282. Jamal Hill getting this opportunity, he's supposed to fight Anthony Smith and Glover to share at the end of the day, gets what he wants, gets to fight in Brazil and fight for the belt. So a little over 48 hours away from this one happening. The more closer we get to this one, Jose,

what are your thoughts on the boat, the styles involved here? What are we thinking? I mean, I really like the fight for both men. Obviously, I wanted, like we all agree it should have been Glover in that title. fight in December anyway, either against Yon or if they had moved the Ancolaia fight to

to here in Rio or fighting Yeri in Rio. Obviously, I understand and respect Uri's decision not to fight in the initial fight in in Rio, considering he was the reigning champion. So I'm happy Glover gets the fight. I think Jamal Hill, as Johnny Walker said, has the touch of death. I like this fight, but it just feels like the last light heavyweight title fight where everyone is kind of focusing on the co-main event and then when that fight ends it just felt like everyone exhaled and not a ton of people were paying attention to this the main event and obviously because in

December you had yonbelhoevich and magam and ankelai was the main event but then the co-main event was the patty pimlet jared goren show and then how that fight ended i feel like all the media were writing about patty pimble like basically getting gifted a win and then not a lot of people were were paying attention to the main event. Even the fans kind of just, it just felt like the energy just got sucked clean out. It was like when Sean Michaels fought Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 in the co-man event,

and then all of a sudden we had to watch Triple H. Randy Orton. It just didn't, like, no one cared. No one cared after that match because it was so bananas in the co-main event. Everyone's obviously hyped for the co-man event, rightfully so. I'm very excited for the main event. I just feel like it's the second, maybe even third most intriguing fight on this card,

but I'm happy it's happening. I'm bummed for Anthony Smith. Andy Smith is obviously the backup, but I don't expect this to go five rounds whatsoever, considering how both of these men have fought and shown lately. Excited, but it's not the most talked about fight on this card. Weird the hell does this light heavyweight division go from Saturday, Jose,

because there's a lot of chaos right now. I don't think Magamannan, or Janbovich are in the great graces of the UFC right now. Like, is the winner just going to wait for Yuri? Like, what do we do? Like, does it matter who wins before you could even make a determination here? Like, is there a difference between if Glover wins and Jamal wins? Like, I have no idea what the hell they're going to do here.

I guess it would depend on how healthy both fighters are coming out because obviously you can always get hurt in a fight. Jamal Hill and Media Day if you go to MMAFighting.com's YouTube page obviously Guillermo is down there. He shot Media Day and Jamal Hill did not rule out waiting for Yeri if he wins because he wants that fight. Glover also said he wants that rematch eventually based solely

on the fan interest. I haven't seen an update from Yeri if he did put something out there on his timeline but if and I know this we don't always have to take Dana White's word as his word but if it is really the word

injury in the history of the UFC has ever seen for shoulders and he's out till 2024 I don't want I obviously I don't want the division to just kind of be put on ice for that long especially glover he's not getting any younger but who do you fight next I don't know I do not know because we obviously saw glover and anthony smith play out um Johnny Walker obviously has a big fight but go over like i don't know there's no teago santos anymore um i think it's going to depend here it will depend on where these fights take place if that makes sense because glover really wants to fight in new york if glover goes out there and just melts jamal hill in the first round and he wants to do a quick turnaround to i don't know april in brooklyn or whatever so be it i'd like

all power to him i think it's really going to depend on two things location of pay-per-views coming up and whether he or he's healthy or not because there's really not a next man up for this light heavyweight division unless they want to give it to Magelman or Yon or they make Yon Magelman, the co-man of the title fight. I don't know. Like your guess is as good as mine.

Or they just give it to freaking Anthony Smith because he's already the backup anyway. That's true. I just, I think it would again, it would depend because Glover already beat him. Remember he knocked his teeth out in Jacksonville. I was there. Like his teeth were literally on the camera.

Enthew Smith obviously has gotten much better since then and then Jamal Hill was training with Anthony Smith Like are they gonna want to turn around and immediately fight each other? I don't know that's up to them and then Alexander Ratchik is probably on his way back soon Nikita Krilov has who's in the key to krillov fight is he have a fight Is he fighting Ryan's fan? Is it? Yeah, I think so Yeah, I think that's true That would be a scrap. That would be a scrap. I mean I would not hit the winner of that fighting for a title of especially Ryan Span. Ryan Span did say he wanted Anthony Smith or Glover to share it next.

Obviously he didn't get either. But if you want to, you know, push Ryan Span who just hits like a Mack truck into one of those guys, I wouldn't hate that either. Yep. Main event, February 25th, that one's going down. So we'll see what happens. Figgie Moreno 4. I mean, the fight is going to rule.

It's the intercontinental title fight of the card. The whole rivalry has been incredible, the whole story. this could be the last one maybe it isn't I don't know but obviously a lot of the line here for the rivalry a lot on the line here for the division because there's a ton of options at 125 this is going to be a really interesting division

division to watch throughout the year for both guys' legacies you name it this one has it all from a storyline perspective does it not yes everything you said this is this fight rules so much these are

like if these like Demetrius Johnson is the greatest flyweight ever, arguably the greatest fighter ever in terms of talent, clearly a topsend fighter and the annals of time, regardless of promotion. If you want to make an argument that the winner of this, the second greatest flyweight ever, I'm not going to argue with you. Obviously, Joe B is there too. He's had a very decorated and storied career, and he's one of those, he's in that Robert Whitaker, Daniel Cormier group where if, like, John Jones and Israel Alessania didn't exist, they would be the best in their division. Joe B was that with Demetrius Johnson I and obviously Kioji Jorge is out there too Not taking nothing away from him

But this could also be the last time we see Davis and Figurato at flyweight Because he's been talking about moving up to Bannonweight quite a bit And this is one of those rare fights where yes These four fights Kind of locked up the division for a while But I don't think anyone complained You know it's not like when DC and Stepe

fought once a year for three years for the heavyweight title and the division got kind of stagnant for a bit these guys have been active and every fight they've had has made sense when it happens and it just made the rest of the division that much more interesting because everyone kind of caught up like everyone has fought everyone and now there is some sort of path like pantos is there matthas nicholas there emerald baza's there we've had the arrival of mahometh mahaev is coming up Alex Perez is obviously still doing his thing. Max Schnell had a bunch of exciting fights. I am very, very, very beyond excited for this co-main event.

There's no need for bad blood. These are literally just two of the best at what they do, fist fighting. I can't wait. I am beyond excited. The only thing that sucks is I don't get to see alive because the first three were bananas and the first three all happened in different. there was like a different like the first fight was in an empty apex and it was a draw the second fight was in uh Arizona where figure where figurato barely made weight has started his new gym still had waleed uh davison obviously brand

marano was the like outside of nade diaz brandon morano was could basically walked on water that entire fight week he could do no wrong with those fans it is i've never you remember that press conference conference with like Israel and Marvin and Nate and Leon and everything. Brandon Randall was the biggest star. That dude, you couldn't hear him talk. Like he lifted his hands up and the people went bananas. And then the second, the third fight with Brandon defending his title, every Mexican in the world was in Anaheim that fight weekend.

They just kind of took over a city block. Obviously he lost and we're going to Brazil. It's just another wrinkle to this. It's such, this is obviously one of the best, this is the greatest rivalry in the flyaway history. got to be up there for best rivalries in UFC history, considering no one has ever had a fourth fight. I'm not getting into the quadrology, quadrology argument that G.C. A.K. are having. I don't care about the terminology because this fight effing rules. And I am so excited for it. Another wrinkle here. And I don't know if you've seen, I'm sure you've seen this by now,

but there's a video that is kind of the surface of Davis of Figurato. It looks ripped, looks shredded, but he looks... He also looks a little not great. You know, he looks good physically. Like, but if you look at his face, he looks a little, a little drained. Are you concerned? Were you concerned watching that video? And do you think win-lose or draw, this is, this is the last weight cut to 125?

I think it's going to depend on who's there because David's Vigorado is 35. The weight cuts don't get easier as you get older, especially to fly weight. Like, the reason Demetrius Johnson is fighting at one third. Like, yes, it's the flyweight championship, but he's fighting a 135 in one championship because of how their weight divisions were. And I'm sure you guys remember when he weighed in in Arizona, went before the second fight against Davidson Figuerreto, he weighed in at like 10, 59 and 30 seconds, and basically, and then burst into tears when he made weight. That's how rough these weight cuts are. I don't know who's left

that is big enough name to keep him there because obviously remember there was that there was that weird fever dream when like Cody Garbrand was going to fight for the flyaway title and then it just kind of fell apart

Davidson Figurato Cody Garbrand that obviously would have been enough to keep Figurato down and then when Kai Kar-Franz knocked out Cody Gar-Brant he took that shine and then Figurato wanted to fight

Kai Car-France and Instead, but then ended up being Brandon Moreno. I don't know if there's a big enough name to keep Figurato down there. So I wouldn't, I'm leaning towards him moving up to Bannon Waite after this solely because I just, unless Muhammad Mahi, I just talks himself into it because he's popular. I just don't, I don't see anyone big a big enough draw to keep him there. Because that Pantosia fight is a low key banger. That's one of the best fights I've seen live.

That was like buried on the prelims of like UFC 240 in Edmonton, me, Casey. Esther and AK were there and that one fight of the night I just been there done that you're not going to top that performance I just don't know if there's enough to keep them at flyweight especially if these weight cuts are getting rougher and rougher and I would selfishly there's a lot of guys at Bannamway I would not hate to see Figueroa fight because a lot of people on the site I am not one of them think the Bannamweight division is the best

won't argue against you but like I'm not going to say no to like Figueroero versus like Adrienne Yanez or Figueroa versus Cheeto Verre or Figurato versus any of these cats. Like, sign me up. But obviously, do what you feel is best for your body. Yes. The rest of the main card, Gilbert Burns versus Neil Magny, Jessica Androge versus Lauren Murphy.

And Johnny Walker versus Paul Craig, which, I mean, if we're talking about fights where I literally have no idea what the hell is going to happen, that one checks off all the mystery boxes. But outside of the two title fights, which of those other main card bouts? is the most intriguing to you? Probably the Gilbert Burns-Neil Magni fight solely because Gilbert Burns has been trying to fight for so long.

The last time we saw him fight was against Hamzaa Shamaev, and for some reason, two people on our website picked that as their fight of the year when we live in a world where Yir Pahasca fought Glover to share. But that just goes to show you how good that fight is that there was an inkling of conversation that that was a fight of the year. Gilbert Burns is obviously he is that dude's down a clown against anybody. I'm happy that

it's Neil Magnin. Neil Magny's interview on the MMA was just super fascinating to watch. He's like fighting Shaftat, you know, fought Damien Maya back in Brazil, he's fought in the RDAs in Brazil. He is just so talented and I think obviously underappreciated the most wins in the World's Way Division Gilbert Burns is just lightning

in a bottle. The size difference is super interesting to watch too. We're going to get a lot of questions answers for how this division can move forward after this because obviously people want Gilbert Burns to fight Jorge. Dio Magni has been calling out everyone under the sun down to fight anyone under the sun. So when we get this Jeff Neal Shafkap fight out of the way,

Neil Magne, Gilbert Burns out of the way, we'll have a more clear. Blah Mohamed is still there. I'm very excited for this fight because I feel like, as much as we talk all these great things about Neil Magne and all these impressive wins like the Carl's Condits and the lead Jilliann fights and just how great he, the Robbie Lawler wins, the Kelvin Gasolam fights.

Like, he's just never, he gets in, like, that top three range, and then he falls, like, against RDA. And I think it was Damien Maya, and now he's fighting Gilbert Burns. Has Neil Magley done enough to get over that hump? And is Gilbert Burns the one that, like, halt his momentum again? Very curious about this fight. Also, there's no trash talk.

I just want to see a good fight. These are the kind of, this is the buildup I like. There's two guys that want a fist fight. Yeah, and that's what we're going to get. I am very intrigued by the Jessica and Drudge Lauren Murphy fight. Yeah, that's why I'm a second for me. Yeah, I mean, most people just think like, you look at the match of, oh, Jessica's just going to kill Lauren.

I don't think so. Like, I think Jessica's going to have a lot of success in this fight, but Lauren is a, she's a dog, man. She's not going to go away easily. And the longer that fight goes, the better it goes for Lauren Murphy. So I think that fight could be the fight of the night Maybe not a popular opinion amongst the community But I think that fight is just going to be ridiculous

Where Jessica gets some success early And then Lauren dogs it out and makes it really interesting Yeah, we'll see what happens What's the low-key banger? What's the low-key storyline? Non-main card. Oh, I mean, come on. No, it's not Jailton Al-Mada.

Like, I love Jailton Al-Mada. Go back to light heavyweight. That's my answer to that. There's only one thing in the world that matters in the prelim card. And this is, it's the fact that this is the last time we're going to watch Shogun Whoa Fight. Like this is, he is, he's a man that when he walks in a room filled with fighters. Like, imagine all of your favorite fighters in the world. And they're all in a room and they're all talking.

Shogun Hua walks in and walks through the room, everyone gets. out of the way. There are very few fighters that are just kind of universally respected and Shogun is one of them. He is your favorite fighters, favorite fighter. I am willing to bet there are dozens of fighters on the roster that are fighting because of him. For his 2005 run and pride, it's between him and John Jones is 2011 for greatest single calendar year in MMA history. I lean towards John Jones. I think it's absolutely fantastic that Shogun is kind of embracing that and saying, like, no, mine was better, like, kind of tongue and cheek. It's, I don't remember, like, I got into MMA during the Pride heyday.

I've not watched MMA. I've not followed MMA when Shogun hasn't been fighting. And he's really like, I know Casey and Eric and I were talking about this kind of in a group chat yesterday, how I'm like, obviously Nick Diaz and Robbie Law are, fought in pride, but they fought when pride came to America. Shogun is really the last, is, is the last superstar from the pride era where, you know, they had the big entrances in pride, they had the big open-weight Grand Prix, like Fadour still, obviously Fadour is about to retire. So the fact that we're losing Fador and Shogun within like a month of each other is, it's,

it's jarring that, like, I don't, I haven't been watching the MMA where these two haven't fought and shogun like i said there are a few people that ever that are just universally loved and respected he comes from a different era where he's just down to fight anybody like we see a lot of these guys hold out for fights and super fights and oh i want this to be my last match and so on and so forth and i don't blame them for that because it's prize fighting after all shogun is a cat that just wants to fight like he's fighting a guy young up-and-comic guy i i'm not i'm going to butcher his name. It doesn't have to take that fight. He could have held out for a bigger name.

He did it for Little Knock. Little Knox. Little Knock's last fight was a trilogy fight against Shogun. Shogun's like, I already beat you twice. I'll fight you a third time. It's your laugh card. Shogun could have done that. He didn't. The U.S. He goes, he wanted you to fight this guy. Shoggan's like, yep, let's do it. I remember when he fought Paul Craig to a draw,

and he goes, I'll rematch Paul Craig in Scotland. Like, sure. I'll fight a Hamburg and I'll fight Anthony Smith in Germany. I'll do all of these things. There was a reason. that when Daniel Cormey was the light heavyweight was the double champ and they're like oh who would you go down for

and this and that he said it because at the time Shogun was on some sort of like he had won like two three in a row he goes if Shogun asked me to fight for the title I will go to light heavyweight and I will fight Shogun because that's how much respects people have for Shogun

didn't you think he had to fight John Jones in 2011 on short notice no this young monster of a of a prospect. He was show going supposed to fight Rashad Evans. Rashad Evans gets hurt. And then this, what do you do with this guy in John Jones? Doesn't have to take that fight. Still took the fight. Got absolutely Maliwopped, but still took the fight. The only fight on the pre-laws, obviously every fight matters. The only story for your question is what is important on the prelims is Shogun who was last

fight. Because people need to care. And if they're, they're obviously fight fans that got into the sport because of Connor, go watch Shogun's highlight reel because there are a few fighters that have a better highlight reel than Shogun Hula. I'm going to be sad when we see him put his gloves in the octagon. Just go watch Shogun's fights from late 2013 through 2005. And that's everything you need to know about the man. The dude is that was one of the most like underrated legendary runs in the history of this sport. He's so good, man. It's so crazy.

But you said it well. I wish that he had gotten. I wish that he, I wish that he, I wish that he had gotten if they, because I wish they had re-saint, because Leota Machia is going to retire soon too, and he kind of hinted at it,

and I've been all calling for a while. They should have resigned Leoto for one fight. They should have completed the trilogy, and then they both should have retired in Rio. That's the old, that's the storybook ending. But then I was like thinking about it yesterday when he was on the MMR,

like how, it's just so perfect that it's, Shogun's like, who am I fighting? Okay, fine. It just sums up his career. I think it's so I talked myself into loving this fight because it's perfect Shogun. Yeah, and it's a winnable fight for Shogun if you actually look at it. So like that very much.

Go check out Jeremy Cruz. We're a great feature talking to different fighters about the legacy of Shogun. It's the top story at M.A. fighting right now. Jed hosted a Dan they were good about the legendary career of Shogun. and hooah. So those guys should have renamed it. Damn, they were the best. And they just basically, everyone just went it back and watched like the whole

catalog and reacted to it. So you can check that out on the podcast network as well. But happy Trail Shogun. We'll see you on Saturday. I will see you on Saturday as well on this year channel. Myself, GC, UFC, UFC 283 watch party. Join us. Jose will be there for the co-main event.

New York Rick will join us for the main event. And Drake Riggs from MMA mania will join us for. I believe the Jessica and Drogh Lauren Murphy fight. So we're going to have some fun, some games, some challenges along the way. The chat bet will be back in your life. So a lot to be excited about. So let's get to some news and notes, and then we will get to the peeps. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering,

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You were mentioning earlier, Jose, about certain things going on and it reminded you of like WrestleMania moments and I think the Inganu news and then the John Jones Cyril Gahn announcement this was Rock Hogan

And then Leon Edwards, Kamar Usman 3 was Triple H versus Chris Jericho because Dana White just low-key announces that this fight is done for UFC 286 and it went over like a fart in church because no one cared because of everything else going on right now. But this one got buried with all the other news, did it not? I mean, excitement levels for this one. I mean, this is the fight we knew was going to happen, but there was so much like unsurety about it because of Usman and the hand and the wrist. but it was just like, oh yeah, and Leon and Usman's official for London. Well, if you watch it, I'm the one I ask, because I didn't even ask him about that. Like, it's the way, it was Dana's delivery and everything. Because I asked him, I go, is there any update on the co-main event for UFC 285, the one in March?

Because, you know, that was also when Algerman Sterling come out about his bicep. And so who don't know, Mallory going back and forth, they go, is there any update? and he goes, uh, no, the only three fights that I made a, and he like is like thinking about it. He's like, uh, Jones gone, obviously, Fiziv, Gaech, and then I told you guys that Leon and Camaro were official. And then in my mind, I'm like, when? When did you do that? Like, did I miss? Like, it made me, it made me question. Like, did I miss that? Like, is my, because then I had followed it up. And in my mind, I'm like, am I just an idiot?

Did I just, am I going to look like an idiot asking this? I go, is Kamar Usman Leon Edwards actually official? And he's like, yeah, that's a go. I'm like, oh, okay. Like, I guess again, but then you got to go into like, oh, Dana White, slap thing and the New Year's Eve incident and Cyril Gunn and John Jones. And then, I mean, also not for nothing. Like, not even top seven most interesting news, but like, Justin Gagetchi is going to fight Raphael Fiziv. And like, no one is talking about it.

It gets everything it was buried in that press conference. Well, let's talk about it now. I mean, I'm sure I'm sure I'm going to hear in some way, shape, or form inject this fight into my veins at some point through this rant. But I mean, holy shit, dude, Justin Gage versus Raphael Viziv. Ridiculous fight. I wish it was five rounds. I get why it's not, you know. And everyone keeps, like, I was not, I did not subscribe to the notion that Justin Gaci was like, didn't want to fight Fiziv.

because if you watch his interview, he did a guest fighter scrum in Salt Lake City backstage for the Usman-Leon fight. And then he did the guest fighter scrum when they had like guest media, like that second media day in New York City. And Fizib was brought up both times and he's like, I'm down to fight him.

I just need to physically get healthy because he had surgery on his nose. He had broken his nose for the first time. He'd gotten in like a bike accident. When I say bike, like I mean bicycle, not a motorcycle. Like he got in a bicycle accident. And he's like, I just need to get healthy. And then I'll fight, I'll fight whoever.

Like, obviously, he wanted to fight like the pouriers and all the errors of the world. But he goes, I'll fight like, sure, I'll fight Fiziv. So I don't subscribe to the notion like Justin Gage was holding out for Fiziv. I think he just, you know, rightfully so needed to get healthy. So now that they're healthy, beyond excited, wish it was five rounds, understand why it's not. Yeah. And I think the problem with that was, too, is some of those like internet social media sites report things that are not happening and people get excited about it. because it was rumored that the fight was going to happen in December,

and I talked to Gagie about it, and he goes, no, I'm not fighting anybody in December. I'm not fighting anybody until March or April. I'm glad you called the internet. I'm glad you call them an MMA internet sites rather than the media, because the people that just take things in row with them will call them idiots rather than media members. Another big fight that was announced, March 11th, Las Vegas, the Virgin hotels, I believe. Not the apex, be a nice small, you know, early Monday night rush kind of a crowd.

Piotr-Yan versus Marab de Wallis-Willis willie is going to be the main event. Was this the fight to make, Jose? It is. It 100% was the fight to make because I know we saw like the, like, you know, shaking hands and hugging and play fighting in Abu Dhabi. But that's because, you know, they were both gearing up for, you know, Mara was helping Al Jman prepare for T. Jan was preparing for El Malley. There was no real issue there. But all that stuff that Al Jameen Sterling was saying,

or like when he was speaking Russian to Jan and Jacksonville, the fight that you and I were at, remember he was saying all that Russian stuff to him at the press conference and Yon was just like looking at him, like, I'm going to kill you right now. That was all stuff that Marab Davalishvili was telling him to say, because he speaks Russian, obviously.

And then there's obviously those videos of Marab and Jan jawing at each other backstage. I'm not calling this a blood feud. but there's obviously some sort of bad blood because I also asked Marab when he fought Josealdo in Salt Lake City I asked him for like oh what are your thoughts on Cruz versus Cheeto and O'Malley versus

Yon because obviously I didn't ask him about Algermaine and T.J. Because what's he going to do? Pick against Algeman and he broke down Cheeto versus Cruz and then he goes and then Yon and O'Malley I hate those guys. I don't care. I was like oh wow like seriously. issues with that. So I think Jan will win. He should win. But this is this was the fight to make considering Jan is coming off two losses. There's some sort of issue with Marab. Morab is still

highly ranked. If you beat Marab, you can still be in the top three, four. And if Marab wins, that's enough to propel him into the title picture. And then after that, if Marab beats Jan, I really think Al Jermain's time at Bannonway will be pretty close to coming to an end because he's going to get out of the way, move up to further away, let Marab fight for the Bannamweight title. I wanted to see Marab fight Umar and Amaga Madoff. That's the one I wanted to see.

It's the fight. It's still going to happen down the road. It could. And then Jan can just kind of chill and wait for the winner of Font versus Janez, because I like that idea as well. But hey, listen, Bannamweight, you can't go wrong.

This will be, there's a story here. It's a fine fight. I'm good with it. So if you want to, if you want to give me Jan versus Corey Santa in part two, the actual 2021 fight of the year,

I'm not going to complain either. It's a great choice. Billy Q versus Edson Barbosa, April 15th, Jose. Hey, I think Billy Q said it. This is a weird one in the sense, not weird that it's happening, but when's the last time you saw a fighter go, I want to fight that guy next

and the UFC actually made it. Never happens. So when that fight became official, I was like, huh, Billy Q got what he asked for. Don't see that often in the UFC, but then he put out like train until your heroes become your opponents. I'm like, damn, this is,

you just write the check now for Fight of the Night, like, honestly. Last thing, we'll go to questions. We mentioned it a little bit earlier, but some recent developments. Jeff Molina, suspended by Nevada for, quote-unquote, substantial involvement in the James Krause situation. obviously this is allegations, investigation going on. UFC put out a statement that he was not released because the roster bot said he had the big X next to him.

But he will not be booked until the investigation is over at the earliest. And coincidentally, we found out a little while ago, UFC is now partnering with U.S. integrity, the company who is actually investigating this scandal. The Code of Conduct was updated a little bit more with more gambling verbiage, no more third-party wagers for anyone involved with the UFC. And then we found out a little while ago. Ontario released a statement. They're reinstating, wagering on UFC fights because of the changes made to the code of conduct. So a lot happening here.

But, dude, this Krause story, it looks like we're just getting started. But where are you at with these new developments? I mean, now correct me if I'm wrong. Now, it's like all fighters and managers and coaches are like barred from banning on fights now, right? Like, yep, that's official thing. Like, I mean, that should have been the thing out of the gate anyway. I mean, James Krause shot himself on the foot. Jeff, Jeff Molina did not.

Did you see those tweets with Cody Darden? The Jeff. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my, like, when he tweeted that, I'm like, dude, what did you say? He, like, he got pulled out of a fight, and then he, like, made notions of, like, a betting investigation type thing. I'm like, Jeff. I know you're young and I know you're kind of silly right now

but like don't just shut up just shut up fighters being barred from betting on bets betting on fights I think should have been a thing to begin with I'm not saying like stop

from betting on anything like the NFL does like a lot of fighters have been like kind of barred from fighting or like suspended for like betting on other sports I don't think they need to do that but it's interesting that the UFC is now a work

working hand in hand with the people that are kind of investigating this to begin with. Kind of like when they parted with you saw it. This is kind of really the last time we've seen this. So not surprised that they've got a third party looking into it, very surprised that it's the people that got them in trouble. So I guess if you can't beat them, join them type situation. Here's the quote, Rishay T. McKnight, the EVP and general counsel of the UFC said of this in a release. We have made enhancements to our UFC athlete conduct policy. to more clearly express the prohibition against any UFC athlete

from placing any wagers directly or through a third party on any UFC match, including placing wagers on themselves. We have also expanded our discussion of so-called UFC insiders to make clear that these same prohibitions against wagering applied to an athlete's coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, and other individuals affiliated with the athletes or UFC,

and that violations by these insiders may result in discipline, action against related contract athletes. Finally, we have reiterated our expectation that our contract athletes will come to us to report any matters that might raise integrity concerns. We thank the AGCO for their cooperation, and we look forward to continuing to work with them to ensure the integrity of our sport for the benefit of our athletes and our fans. So there you go. So that's Ontario.

They're back. Great. So, yeah, good. I think probably should have been in place early on. Here we are. I always felt weird because like obviously I'm sure you've gone on it a million times

when there's a big fight how many texts do you get saying like who should I bet on? I get them at nauseam. I'm like dude I'm not telling you that like it just makes me feel gross considering like I'm around these guys I know their coaches like I'm not I'm not doing that

dude I'm not telling you who to bet on it makes my skin crawl. Yep. All right. Well there you go. There's some news and notes Casey, come on. If you need to know who to bet on, go listen to No Bet's Bard on the MMA fan podcast with G.C. and Jed.

Plug it, you know. Promote the product. Great, great podcast. Great podcast. Great show. And both are exposed on this UFC 283 card in a big way. Lots of weird parlays and stuff. It's fun stuff.

But Casey, how are you, my friend? Doing good, sir. Doing good. Good. I'll take a few questions. Casey, I haven't had time without giving me any spoiler. Don't tell me who won at all. How was Bola?

Don't tell me nothing. I have literally, I have muted so many words. I have muted so many words on my Twitter. I don't want to know who was in the Battle Royale. I don't want to know any of the machos. But how was it? The Battle Royale was fantastic. Was it better?

Was it better than when me and you went? Oh. That went when Benzito won. It was equally great, but very different. Okay. Oh, interesting. It was shocking. It was shocking.

I, I, yeah. I was taking photos, and I had to put my camera down for a moment and just go. I was just, if you could see my list of muted words on Twitter, winner they're pretty much all have to do with PWG and Bola right now. Yeah, it was PWG, oh, not a spoiler or anything, but Brian Keith was a late replacement. I think he replaced Leo Rush, blew me away. Right.

Great. That's what I love to bowl of for. Yeah, and I legit saw one of the best matches I've ever seen. Just one of those out of nowhere matches. I was just like, I was just how cool, cool matchup. And then it happened. I was like, that's up there is like one of the best things I've ever seen. Oh, my skin's, my body is ready.

Anyway, back to the show. All right, all right. Now real fighting. All right. Do do, do, do, do. Oh, quick question about the gambling thing. This is a little interesting. Is it everyone that works at the apex as well,

even the janitor can't bet? It's a great question. Is it all UFC employees, all the production crew like Dana, Dana's wife, Dana's cousins, like no one's allowed if you have any association

with the UFC or you, like, it's a great question. That's something, uh, yeah, I don't know. I would assume that there's probably like,

like their own guidelines for actual employees, perhaps. I would, I would assume, especially now. Not for nothing. I do know the people that like the janitors

and the, overnight crew are not you have seen employees. They're hired third party to clean. And I only know that because they hit my car and crashed it. That's a great question. Is there a backup for the co-main in Pantosia or something? I believe Garemey reported a while ago that Alex Pants is the backup. Alex Pants.

I can't get out of my head now after. Yeah, yeah. Pantoja should be fighting for the title if this wasn't happening. 100%. So we don't have any, we don't have reports if he's down there or not Pantosia, Mr. Pantz. Mr. Pantalonis. I can look on, like, IG. I guess the answer on sub, we're not quite sure.

A few months ago or a couple months ago, we were told it was Pantosia, but no confirmation this week. Yeah, just, yeah, he says he's there, so. Okay. He's hashtagging UFC Rio and UFC 283, so. There you go. I don't really like, I don't like if questions, but I think this is interesting, though. If Figgie wins, will the UFC allow him to move up to 35

and challenge for the belt without being stripped? Basically, are they going to allow him to be a double champ, the opportunity to be a double champ? I don't know, man. like look as Jose mentioned earlier and I'm full on in agreement with him Figgie fighting a lot of guys at 135 it scratches me right where I hitch but there is a log jam at 135 right now

with with challengers this division doesn't need him going up there in fighting champion versus champion it doesn't need to happen yeah I would say I would say if he he moves up to 35, he's probably, he's probably going to relinquish the title. That'd be my guess, if he's going to go up. Because that, it would be

tough because then if you, normally they make the, because then they would need an interim title. What are you going to do? Throw Brennan Moreno in another interim title fight and then do a fifth fight. It would be tough. Like you could do Nicolao-Vor versus Pantosia for the interim fight because that fight rules too. But then what are you going to like,

I don't know. It's tough. It's tough. And if he does win and go to 35, he would have to get a title shot. I can't imagine someone's a champion going up and wait and not as an active champion, not getting a title. 100%. It's weird.

Yeah. So, and with the log jam, you said at 35, I mean, he would be jumping in front of everyone. So, I don't know. Yeah. It's tough. Yeah, it's tough. All right.

Uh, do, did you? Like I say about everybody and I've said about Sehudo since day one since he's planned his comeback. Go fight Cheeto Vera. If you beat him, then you can go fight for the belt. Well, Figaro also said on the MMA that he'll fight anyone at Banway except Sohudo.

So Henry has that title. That's not happening. That's true. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm very curious how this, how we are going to see who the baddest man on the planet

are undisputed after a March 5th. what do you think about that how is I do like we talk in our instant reaction I was telling Shaheen that it almost feels like in this weird way with everything that has happened this year

how everything's so ironic that John Jones in a strange way is kind of like the Daniel Cormier of the situation that even if he wins there's always there's still going to be questions like well he didn't beat Francis so like he'll be recognized the champion and most people will be like

dude like he it's this was wasn't his decision. It just worked out this way. He didn't want Francis to leave the UFC. Francis just left the UFC, so this is what we had left. But do you feel like that reaction will happen on March 5th? Like if Jones goes out there and just melt Cyril,

just be like, well, he's just lucky he didn't fight Francis. That's why he's the disputed champ and not the undisputed champ. Even if Cyril wins, too. Yeah, gone to. I think that's going to be the reaction right away. for sure. I mean, that whole fight week is going to be Francis talk. The whole post fight is going to be Francis talk.

I think if they keep winning, eventually it will die down. But the immediate reaction will 1,000% say disputed. Like were we, did we have the same argument when Robert Whitaker beat Romero and that didn't fight GSP? Because GSP was the, because remember Robert Whitaker was the interim champion when George St. Pierre beat Michael Bisbing. Like we didn't have and then when when GSP retired and then Robert Whitaker beat like went on this run we weren't saying like yeah but he never fought GSP I eventually it goes away but like the immediate reaction will 100% be

disputed yeah yeah it's just it's yeah it's yeah it's gonna be but like if John goes out if John goes out there and beats Cyril Steepay and then just beats Curtis Blades like I mean come At that point, you just, you beat three guys that Francis be, and then it's like, you got 1A, 1B. And then it's a, then it's a, it's not, oh, you never beat France. It's it's, I want to watch this fight. Yeah. Or Pavlovich. Because Francis never beat John, too.

Because if he, or Pavlovich, if he does 100%, that's a good point too. If he beats all those guys, eventually it could get to the point where I go, oh, well, Francis might not be the best because he never beat John Jones. John Jones never beat Francis. Who is the best? Then it's more of a question. of like an argument. I mean, there's a, there's a lot of ifs, of course, but it'll be a lot of a lot of ifs, a lot of ifs, giant ifs, but it'll be crazy if somehow within next year

we're doing the same arguments about what we used to say about Fador. No, Fador is the best way. We didn't have fought UFC. Like, you know, I wonder if we're getting that same point with Francis. We're like, well, Francis is now beating debaters or. I don't know, whoever else. Well, it's like, like, Steepay never fought Kane.

And at one point, they were the, they were both on the UFC roster. They were both arguments that they were the best heavyweights ever. Just didn't happen. It didn't happen. Also, like, Stepe is one in one with Francis. Like, if John beats Cyril and then Steepa goes out there and beat John Jones, all of a sudden, Steve A is back into the argument over who's the best,

considering you don't have that, like, like if Curtis Blades wins the championship, Francis beat him twice. That's something you can bring up. Steve and France are one in one right now. And two very different fights. Yeah, and two very different times, I think. Very different times.

Yeah, we all, yeah, we are. All right. One more question. I think this is low. I don't really agree with this question, but I let you guys throw your opinions out. What are the thoughts on fans not buying Alexa Grasso versus Valentina for the women's

flyway title, I thought she would rematch Tyler. Fans on Twitter are still demanding Val Nunes 3. Well, Tyler's booked to fight Aaron Blanchfield, so that can't happen right now. You would think if Tyler wins that they would do the rematch or

if Aaron Blanchfield wins. I don't know if they'll throw her right into a title fight or give her Bannon Fioreau or something else. Yeah, but I mean, it all depends. And obviously, we're all demanding Val Nunes three. We want to see it some point. We're hopeful that it happens this year.

But I just don't, there's just nobody else available right now. Like Alexis, Alexis, I love this fight. It makes sense. I don't, I don't. Yeah, it's a fine fight. I love it. I love this fight. The tile of fight, if they had made that fight, I get it. I get it. I get it. I, I would have

100% understand, understood the tile of fight. That makes sense. Because there's people, I would have 100, and or if, like, if Misha had beat Lauren Murphy and they made that fight, 100% get that. I mean, I want to see Amanda Nunes would get top billing, not Val Nunes. It would be Nunes versus Svchenko

3. I would love, I want to see that fight, but I, who's the last great striker that Valentina fought? It's probably Yowana. Chukagan, she beat Chukagin, Farran Square. But I think Alexa has shown a lot of good offensive grappling,

especially against the Jojo fight. I really like this fight. She's also super tough. Like but like that you know like that her fight against Carl is great. That's like the most exciting fight call has ever had and then her fight against Carolyn Colville Covell's in Chicago And then right and then the fight against Cole against Colville cave in Chicago that was also a scrap Like Alexa Grasso is one of those fighters that is even her last fighting is Viviani never in a boring fight No good striker good grappling I think I think the best that she lost to Felice Eric. Oh yeah weird that she lost to Feliz Eric. Oh yeah weird that she lost to Feliz

Herrick. I think it's just like, hey. How long ago was that? That was her first loss, if I remember correctly. I want to say I think it was on the I think it was on the Bermuda zombie card. Yeah, it was a wall back in. It was in Houston.

I was at that card, yeah. And that card's so long ago. I don't even like that's not even. Right. Right. I thought I thought for sure Alexa would have to win one more to earn the shot.

Like if they hit, I thought the fights were going to be Valentina versus Tyler, and then Alexa versus Manon would be the fight. And then the winner of Manon and Farrell versus Lexa Grosso would get the shot. But I understand if they don't want to knock off to like new opponents for Valentina. I like the fight. Love it. It's fine. I don't know who Manon fights now.

I have no idea. Probably the winner of. If Blanchfield wins. Oh, you know what? You know what? Blanchfield beat Sato. Everyone's forgetting up. We did our UFC title fight predictions

and no one brought up Tatiana Suarez. I think because we don't believe it yet. I think until it's one, she's like, she's a bit the John Jones thing. Until she walks into the cage, I'm not going to get my mind to wrap around. Swars yet. Yeah.

Plus we don't know what to go back to Strawrae. Exactly. That's the other, there's a lot of mystery behind Tatiana Suarez. but from conversations I've had with people who have either trained with her or have seen her train over the last few months, bad mamma jama, scary. Scary is a word that has been used by pretty much everybody that has watched her train

over the last few months. She is scary right now. The last time I wrote about Tatiana Suarez was the 2019 breakthrough fighters of the year. That's so crazy. And a young, undefeated middleweight name Israel Adasanya won. And a young upstart featherweight named Alex Volcanowski was five. Wow. That's wild.

I had to go back and read that. I got to go back and read a bunch of those from my pre-em-M-A fighting wins. I think it was, if I remember correctly, number one was Israel. Number two, I think was Anthony Smith. Tatiana Suarez. Volcanowski tied with somebody. I can't remember, but it was great. Because I had to write six things for that

because they had a lot. That one was very competitive that year. What a year. All right, do we have anything else? Are we good? I think we are good. All right. So, lots to come for UFC 283.

Wayans are what, 7 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning? I am waking up at 3.30 a.m. to get ready for the 4 a.m. way-ins for the Pacific Times. All right. So get your coffee early. Way-in show going down nice and early. So that'll be right here. So get excited for that. Wow. Before we go, I found Casey, pull yourself up for this one too. I found this is a crazy list now, the top five from that year. The top five of the 2018, those 2018 breakthrough fire of the year, obviously came out on 20, Israel Adasagna was number one.

And then Aaron Pico and Anthony Smith tied for number two. Tatiana Suarez was three or fourth, however you want to phrase it. And then two current champions, Janeway Lee and Alex Volcanowski were tied for fifth. That is a crazy list. That is a good list. And all of those five, like Aaron Pico and like Tatea's,

like Aaron Picos had like, I guess, didn't, to be determined. determined. It's a stupid to determine. Yeah. Yeah. My God, did anime fighting just hit the nail on the head that year? That's a crazy list right there.

So again, weigh-ins 7 a.m. tomorrow, Eastern Standard Time. What a preview show, I believe, 3 p.m. Eastern. We'll have the People's Pre-Fight Show 5.15 p.m. Eastern on Saturday. Of course, we'll have the watch party so you can watch the car along with us. Post-fight stuff, press conference, post-fight show afterwards, and then A. and I will be live on Sunday for on to the next one for some matchmaking following UFC 283 and obviously a lot's still going on in the world of MMA

with Francis and all this other stuff going on. So like I said earlier, buckle up. This is just January. We're just getting started here. So Casey, you can hit the music. We are done. Another BTL in the books, Jose. Thank you for joining us.

Again, it was a rare treat. And you stood in for Jed Bishu admirable, my man. And there you go. All right, we're out of here, everybody. So for Jose, Casey on the Lonson, I am Ike. Yes. Stay tuned to NM.A. Fighting for everything, U.S.C. 283 and beyond. We are done.

See you back next week. Between the Links. Good night, everybody. This has been Between the Length and NMA Fighting Production on the Vox Media Network. Happy birthday, AK. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.