MMA Fighting - BTL | Gaethje vs. Pimblett, UFC 324; Plus, Who Will Conor McGregor Fight At the White House?

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

The UFC is officially back this Saturday for UFC 324 — the first event for the promotion under the new Paramount deal. In the main event, Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett battle for interim lightweight title, while Sean O'Malley looks to get on track against Song Yadong. What's the excitement level for the numbered event? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the hype levels for UFC 324, the main event between Gaethje and Pimblett, what other fights stand out, and other big storylines. Additionally, topics may include Dana White shutting down Conor McGregor bouts at the White House with Michael Chandler and now Jorge Masvidal, Donn Davis stepping down from his role for the PFL, other news and notes in and around the sport of MMA, and much more. Join MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew as they answer your questions all show long. Follow Mike Heck: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@m_heckjr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Jed Meshew: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@JedKMeshew⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://goo.gl/dYpsgH⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Check out our full video catalog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://goo.gl/u8VvLi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Visit our playlists:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://goo.gl/eFhsvM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Like MMAF on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://goo.gl/nOATUI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read More: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Live from MMA Fighting Studios, this is Between the Links. And now, your host, my... The iconic voice of Esther Lynn welcomes you to a brand new edition of BTL. We are so, so back. Happy Thursday to us all. And ladies and gentlemen, we are 48 hours away, a little more than 48 hours away from the Rural.

Return of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the kickoff of the UFC on Paramount Era. UFC 324 goes down this Saturday, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the main event. For the interim UFC lightweight championship, Justin Gachie, the former interim champion takes on Patty, the Badi Pimblet. We have Shot O'Malley versus Song Yudong, big fight between Rosemunas and Natalia Siam. Silva. I'm pretty damn excited for UFC 324, of course. If you're a hardcore mixed martial arts fan, there has not really been a break from MMA action,

but the UFC has been off for quite some time, and people are pretty fired up about this. I know I am, and I know the man who will be joining us right now, who will be joining me to answer your questions on today's episode of BTL. He is excited about this as well. He is Mr. No Gray area, the Hot Take Kid, the co-host for the watch party, which is back this Saturday.

More info to come on that, the one and only. Jed Bishu from Mammat Fighting.com. I was trying to get auto. I was trying to get auto on camera. I forgot that I had to go get auto. And so it was running a little behind as I remembered.

I needed to go get him about three minutes before we went air. So I sprinted to my neighbor's place and got him. And here we are. But excited. 324 is here. The Paramount Air is here.

I don't have to pay $80 in two days. That's nice. And theoretically, I will be seeing you very, very soon, Mr. Heck. Yes. You know what? Let's break the fourth wall here, Jed. By the way, just to update the folks, obviously, the UFC start times are a little bit earlier now. Everything starts an hour earlier than usual, which is great.

Couldn't be more excited about that, frankly. The bank card starts at 9 p.m. Eastern. Jed and I are going to be going live on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern, all right? Not just right before the featured prelim. We're going live for the entire middle prelim slate and for the entire main card. So you get us early and often on Saturday. And Jed and I are introducing a new gimmick to the festivities. And we'll discuss that later on in the program, Jed, because we've learned some things over the past six weeks going back and watching old watch parties.

We have a fun, exciting new gimmick that I think you guys will enjoy and will reveal and get after it. Perhaps choose some teams. A little spoiler for you. And, uh, yeah, Jed is saying stuff, but I can't hear him. I forgot I muted myself because I was doing something over here. We love teams. I'm very excited about it. Uh, I think everyone will have a lot more fun with it.

And we certainly will. If nobody else does, I don't really care what you guys think. I'm going to have fun with it. And that's what matters to me. Yes. And if Jed's not happy, then nobody's happy. And that's really what it comes down to. I can throw a tantrum with the best of them.

All right. Well, let's get into this because not only do have UFC 324 to talk about, but there's some news and notes that people are asking about already. So let's just get right to this. This is some big news from yesterday, Jed, from Joseph Boza. Jed is known as Mr. PFL. Can we get his thoughts on Don Davis stepping down as, Well, he stepped on as chairman of PFL.

And the follow-up question is PFL in a mess. Jed, our good pal, Don Davis, is no longer part of PFL. Not just in the chairman role. He is, I was told he is, he's gone, gone. Like, he is completely gone from the promotion in all capacities. And some people were like, good, this needed to happen. But Don is obviously a, he's a personality to, to, say the least he's he's done a couple of town halls here at m mayfiting dot com which people

brought up quite a bit over the last 24 hours or so but jed your guy don davis pfl changing some things up what was your reaction to this look it was a power struggle between me and don and as we can see much like with with the bills a fine franchise where uh billy bhawn and uh jean mcdermic clearly had a power struggle we at PFL, me and Don had a bit of an issue and I was victorious as we all could have imagined. I look forward to

advancing from Minister of Fund to just being in charge of everything and I think we'll do really well. I don't know, man, it was weird because like this is objectively it's not bad like on the face but with everything

that's going on it it seems like PFL is in very dire straights right now, which is not good. That's not something we want. I mean, you and I have been very clear about this, Mike. When we are negative towards the PFL, it is always with the interest of we want you to be better. And I think they took some steps last year. They advanced the ball, but it is such an uphill struggle for them that they are a little

bit Sisyphian. And yeah, okay, you're advancing the ball. but eventually that ball is going to roll back downhill and the next person will have to start it all over again. And it is looking, you know, they're not dead yet. And maybe this is a good advancement for them. But, you know, that happening, Jake Paul, no longer even pretending to be associated with them.

These are things that don't seem good holistically. And I am genuinely very concerned about the long-term future not even the long term, the short-term future of the PFL. Because if this is about to be a fire sale, man, there's just, this is one game in town in a way that has never been the case in the sport. I've been a fan of this sport for like 25 years, something like that. I guess not quite 25 years. Over 20 years. And never has there been less options for fighters than right.

right now. And if PFL keeps this up and goes under, the circle shrinks even smaller. So tough scenes yesterday, even though like objectively it's, you know, Don Davis isn't doing that much for the organization in like sustainability metrics. But it just, it all feels like it's adding up to something bad. Well, I mean, this announcement came as part of a big capital raise for PFL, which a release was put out yesterday. A new board of director, so to speak, looks like John Martin will be the guy running with the football, so to speak, for the foreseeable future. So he will be sort of the talking head promoter face. And I mean, just look at what's happened over the past few weeks. Peter Murray, I mean, had a different role before John Martin came along.

Now he's gone all together. Ray Cepho, gone all together. Don Davis, gone all together. And it looks like John and this new board of directors are going to take PFL in this different direction. And obviously there's been a ton of hiccups along the way between, you know, the season formats and then, you know, the tournament structure trying to figure out who they are, trying to have an identity, I guess. There's just so many weird things along the way and everything they sort of position themselves to be in. Everything's kind of backfired, like the Bellator thing, even though they didn't spend millions of dollars acquiring Bellas. They did have to spend that money to make some of the contracts right. They did let some fighters go. But their goal was like, we want to keep everybody on the payroll, so to speak.

We want to keep everybody on the roster. So there's been a lot of promotional changes. And then obviously the Francis and Gano deal, it doesn't appear like this is, you know, a big reason as to why this is happening. But at the same time, that deal has not got as swimmingly as they would have hoped and his fans would have would have hoped and yeah this is boys 2026 is everything for pfl is it not jed it just seems like the way they're they are positioning themselves this new capital they've raised this new direction they're trying to go i know they're trying to position themselves to have like

long-term growth over time just continue to grow and grow and grow but i don't think they have time I don't think time is their friend right now. So I think they just have to go all in this year and just put their best foot forward at this point. And I don't know how they do that, Jed. Like how what can they do to like end this year or like, all right, PFL has really put themselves in a position to be, I guess the number two promotion. They're back. We're feeling better about things. It seems like it's going to take an awful lot.

I know if I had the answer to that, I'd be making a lot more money than I'm making right now. That's sort of what I mean is like on its face, Don Davis and Race F.O. and et cetera, leaving are not necessarily negative things. That is a transition of power. And perhaps John Martin has a clearer vision and he can effectuate that vision and this will be good. You know, like that is always a thing that can happen. But in general, transitions don't occur when things are going great, right? Like you don't change horse midstream unless that stream is really kicking that horse's ass. And it feels like that's what's happened.

And I, again, I hope tremendously for the success of PFO. We throw out ideas constantly about how they can better themselves. And perhaps John Martin is going to, you know, listen and be like, ah, let's finally have a minister of fun or whatever. Or he has a totally different idea. And it works. Like these are things that can be done or are at least possible. I don't know if can be done is actually realistic given the market situation. But it is, you know, it is a tumultuous time.

I think going all in is just just means they'll fold next year. So they shouldn't go all in because like, you know, it's that if we're carrying on the poker analogy, it's your pot committed to going all in but you still have the losing hand. It's like, well, you're still going to bust here if you do it. They don't have great cards right now and they've got to figure out a way to

get it going better. I think last year really felt transitional. They were moving from, you know, the series tournament season format to something less and now this year is the first year of kind of their new efforts forward.

And my advice to them is the you know broadly be fun that's the most important thing try and stand out from your competitor in in so far as the UFC you know like is a flea truly a competitor to the dog that it's on no but like you got to stand out if you're going to be in this marketplace and mostly i you know to everybody's still working at the pfl put your best foot forward every time it's the best you can do right now is every card may get the best card you possibly can until you can get some sort of momentum and some sort of you know bedrock of operations because it feels you feel list list right now and that's a tough place to be in a very competitive marketplace we'll see we'll see they're back

i believe what february 7th i believe is there their return with the usminder maga made off alfi davis fight and some other stuff going on as well. So let's see if they can create some stars. I did talk to Luke Trainer, who is getting ready to compete on that card against Rob Wilkinson. And I think they have something with this guy. He's got some personality. He's got some pizzazz.

And he's a damn good fighter too. So hopefully we could position some new stars. We could do some stuff. But yeah, I don't know, man. It's going to be an interesting year for the BNL. Just as a very, and PFL does not want to hear this or acknowledge this, and I understand, and in their position, they should not. The facts on the ground, the truth of this situation, the U.S.C. is a monopoly, and you cannot fight monopolies. So they are going to go under or have to do a full structural rechange, right?

Like to be a regional promotion that, you know, is PFL may not and just does that. and become something more akin to a KSW or KH Warriors because you cannot fight the UFC and definitionally that's what they are like their organization is attempting to do and so I want them to keep that noble battle up because it matters for the health of the sport but it is a losing battle they cannot win it

so they can stay alive as long as they can get capital investment at some point that will run up and things get different talk to one about that you know yeah i mean they are going to some different places uh they'll be in pittsburg they're going to boston in april which i think is good i don't know if it's good i'm told it's going to be boston boston but normally when events happen under like a smaller scale when they say they're in boston they're usually like an amherst where umass like plays basketball so i don't know what they're going to do Hopefully they're actually in Boston, even if it's a smaller venue, because they're not obviously going to TD Garden would be like a horrendous idea.

But, you know, go to like MGM or something. Go to the casino, like either in Springfield or the one in Everett. Like do some fun stuff. Be in different spots. Like look damn good on TV. And just have some fun with some stuff. You know, it doesn't have to be capacity crowds. You don't have to compare yourself to the UFC.

You can do like 700 people events with hardcore MMA fans. that's okay too that is okay speaking of outside of the UFC lazy bed Jed Mike tonight a tough enough 151 from the Pearl in Las Vegas

Smilla Sundell the youngest boy tie champ in the history of one makes her pro-MMA debut is women's MMA about to experience a renaissance Jed do you care to

wonder who she is fighting she is fighting Miranda Barber who is two and six as an MMA fighter Her last MMA win happened in November of 2024. She got a submission win for Anthony Pettus FC. But not only that, she has competed in many boxing matches, many bare-knuckle matches,

losing almost all of those, getting a couple of wins here and there. But yeah, this is a setup fight for sure. And it's a good place to be with probably the UFC brass maybe being in attendance. Kai Kamakas fighting Michelle Lima on this card as well. Kai Kamak is trying to make a move, trying to get himself back into the UFC. So any thoughts on Smilla Sundell, making her pro-MMA debut against a fighter?

She should absolutely wreck. Straight up did not know this person existed until this comment. I won't pretend like I did. Taking a brief look at her resume. Hey, look, she's 21 and is competent at one of the martial arts that is involved when you mix them. I'm not even competent. Exceptional maybe.

I can't really say. She's obviously at least pretty good, if not very good, at one of the key aspects of MMA. And we will take that. She is a women's bannam weight who can fight to some degree. That is super helpful because there are like six of those in the world. But I don't know enough to have any confidence. What I can say is if she is talented and young,

that goes incredibly far away in this sport in general and certainly in the women's band and weight division because it doesn't take that much to learn how, you know, she could spend her whole life and not be able to stop Kayla Harrison taking her down. But how long is Kayla Harrison going to be around? You know, like the rest of this is fine. So it is good that more people are rolling in. Like, I think, I do believe that women's MMA will,

is in a real Nadir right now and is set to rebound to some extent. I strongly doubt it will be to the heights of Ronda Rousey, right? But it is so low. There's basically nowhere to go but up or to kill all the divisions. And I don't think the UFC has any interest in doing that. I have some, I have wondered why women's MMA is in such a bad place right now. And I don't have a lot of good answers, frankly. but it just can't be much worse than it is.

And so if we can finally start getting some young talent in, that will help. And, you know, this is one person, but there are a couple of other names coming in. But like right now the best women's banaway prospect is be a mosquito who's 36. So give me a 21 year old who can kind of fight and I'm in because she might just be the only one in six years. Yeah, women's band away needs. needs people badly and nice to see a star like if i'm surprised daddy ice is not more popular right now i'm surprised the ufc hasn't pushed her more getting her out there in like a promotional capacity like i know she she speaks a little bit of english not like spectacularly but i think that's something

she's she's working on and i know she did her her scrum yesterday uh and mostly english i know in like some of the interviews she does. She needs translator and stuff, stuff of that nature too. So she just seems like she kind of has it. She's got the look. She's got the personality. She's,

you know, people just kind of feed off of her energy. And I think that's a good thing. She goes out there, just thumbs up Rose Namayunis and does it an impressive fashion on Saturday. Like, I think the UFC really needs to put her out there.

And then obviously Bia and Mesquita is another one. And Bia is not a real prospect. She's 34. Yeah. So she's only got, We don't know how much time she has. So we'll see. It's definitely in a weird spot.

Yeah, I mean, I think the theory, the operative theory was that NIL would actually increase women's MMA because women's wrestling is a massively growing sport here in America. And that tends to be a pipeline for women's athletics, right? I mean, for athletics in general, you're a wrestling, you can go to M.A. but actually NIL has seemingly dried up the wrestling to MMA pipeline in a way that I would not have foreseen, certainly for men, and we just haven't seen it take that effect for women yet. But like, you know, Bellamere, we assume we'll eventually move to MMA, but maybe not because like she makes a really good amount of money at NIL and now it's going to be like, do you want to take a major pay cut to go fight for LFA until maybe you go to the UFC and you're still making 20 and 20? I don't know where the talent is going to come from because the UFC has not invested in that sort of area that much, and they have deeply, to your point,

not invested in the star building of women's MMA at all. Like Natalia Silva should be somebody that you're trying to get behind in a major way, just purely from a numbers standpoint, everyone holding belts in the women's weight classes is old as dirt. You know, like Zhang Wei Li and Valentina Shibchenko are all-time greats. Eventually, they will retire or lose because they're old. And they have not done anything to build prospects to put juice behind upcoming stars. And, you know, in the men's divisions, they haven't really done that either.

But there's just so much more talent that it's still working out. But like last year, this is off the top of my head. So I could be wrong. I think there were only like five, like four or five women's fights on the contender series in general. And I think four women got signed from two fights. He just signed all of them because the fights were good. But like they are, they are not, there's not an influx of talent.

And broadly speaking, that's, there's not talent out there. So it's a real tough place for women's MMA right now. It can only go up, I would think. yeah let's find we'll see how it how it uh goes down he's been saying the coachman is gone too i'm trying to figure out that's actually true or not i mean that's fine yeah let's see uh we mentioned the jake paul thing amanda serrano is also part of that no longer with pfl stuff so not i mean if anybody cared about that so that's that's part of the conversation as well

uh that makes sense but sure yes uh josh emitt versus kevin vahejos for jahos i don't i forget how it's all different pronunciations uh it's the main event for barge 14th from the world's most famous meta apex thoughts on that fight um yeah this is this fight makes a ton of sense that's just sort of where josh emit is in his career now is hey try and turn back up incomers because you're never fighting for the belt again and featherway doesn't really even have like legends fights, not that Josh Emmett is a legend, but Anthony Smith was called the legend.

So Josh Emmett can be a legend, why not? This is just it. Like, Kevin Villas is the new young hotness. He's 23, and I'll bet you all the money that at one point he'll fight for a belt, if not outright, win one. And this is, hey, you know,

things are a little taken up at Featherweight. We're not trying to shoot you to the top, but we want to progress you up and just like Josh Emmett still got some juice in him. Maybe this is a little too soon for him. I doubt it. I assume Kevin Beos is going to win.

But this is just sort of classic prospect-building matchmaking. He wins this. He's in the top 10. Or I think Emmett's in the top 10. Maybe he's just outside. But, you know, he wins this. He's in the top 10. His next fight is against, you know, Arnold Allen,

if Arnold Allen loses or, you know, somebody like that. So this classic prospect building, great fight, looking forward to it. Yeah, it's the right fight. It's the right fight right now. I don't see like, these are, this is how you need to book him right now. You beat Giga, then you go to Josh Emmett and then kind of go from there. I think the Josh Emmett win puts him on some more radars higher up in the division as opposed to beating Giga. And then, you know, you offer him to the Yaya Rodriguez's of the world.

They're going to be like, nah, man, a little too soon for that. who goes out there and has a great performance over Josh Emmett. Some doors may open here. So trippy space monkey asks, did the UFC get lucky with the Armand Sarukian headbut? Are they playing into it? So obviously, Armine is wanting to be a part of this. Most of the fan base agrees that Armine may be the best lightweight in the world

and certainly deserves to be a part of this interim title fight. The UFC went a different direction. We kind of understand why they did that. But kind of the reasoning is, is, yeah, Armin headbutted Dan Hooker at the Wayans. Can we trust him in big spots kind of thing? And the UFC's taking that stance and digging their heels in. And Armand's Roogie is just kind of going out there and grappling people and

tech falling Lance Palmer at RAF. And he's jumping on with like every streamer known to man and just keep it his name out there. And it feels like Armand is getting more popular by the day. And he's not even booked for a fight right now. So do you feel like the UFC got lucky with this? Armin Sarukian headbut situation in order to

perhaps book the fights that they want, keep Armin out of the conversation. How do you feel the UFC is viewing the headbutt and did they get lucky with it? They don't care about it at all. This is just a happy excuse. Had he not headbutted him, the answer Dana would have just been like,

yeah, you know, he's still got to make up for previous things or this isn't the turner. He would just said some other lie. This is just a very, explicable thing. Like, oh, yeah, sure, that's why. He gave us a reason, but we don't need a reason because they don't.

Dana could come out and just say outright, I don't give a shit. And honestly, I'm kind of expecting him to do that very soon because he has, you know, when he came out for 3,25 and was like, if you don't like it, don't watch it. Like, okay, man, that's literally negative promotion. He doesn't care.

And he doesn't have to when you hold all the cards, you do not have to care. He could look dead into a camera and say, you will eat the slop I feed you, Piggy's, or you won't have any slop at all, because I own this shit. Half of the MMA fan base would go to a dark room

and spend 15 minutes alone in happiness. And the other half would be like, I mean, he's right. Am I just not going to watch the sport? So he doesn't need an excuse, but Armand gave one blade so they could just say it. And it's, This is just where we are.

And that's okay. You know, the sport is, we got a great event coming up this weekend, so everything isn't like terrible. But they don't give a shit that he had butted that dude. Like, if you think so, you don't, you just haven't been here long enough for you the most naive person alive. I remember when Dana White said John Jones will never headline an event again. And he headline like 10 more pay-per-views because he's John Jones.

They don't care about these things. As far as Armin, he's doing. honestly like the best thing you can do what he can't fight the superpower he is just at the whims of dana white and and the brass and so he is keeping his name out he is staying active doing things that people are noticing also this is entirely speculation um i think that he has paid some of the aggregators um and i i hope that he has because it's actually incredibly smart because that dude, I know he's like out more in general, but that dude was like never on my timeline for shit ever

because his Armand's through key. He's not like the most interesting person. And now the aggregators are like, Armine's hidden a bag. Look at Armin eating this food. Armand went to the bathroom day. Like I genuinely think he struck, like he or his management struck a deal with some of the aggregators

to just do an Armin post every day. So he feels ever present, which is legitimately super smart. That's incredibly smart to stay relevant because he's got more heat on him than he's ever had. He's been one of the very best lightweights in the world for several years now, and nobody really cared about it. And now he's got some popularity, some juice.

So keep doing what you're doing, man. Do R.A.F. If you see BJJ, if they'll let you do that, do that. But, like, he is playing his cards as best he can. and I have now come to the idea that he is likely to fight for the belt this year, which I was super not confident about earlier, because I do think Ilya will fight once, and then I'll be never going to fight that dude.

He ain't never going to fight that dude. And so will he fight? But I think by the end of the year, maybe it's an interim belt, maybe it's the real one. But he has carried his career forward very, very well in the last, like, five months. 100% agree. A lot of people are discussing some of the media scrubs yesterday. Most notably, Justin Gaichi had a lot to say.

I thought he had this incredibly cold line about shaking Patty's brain into his skull. I love that. But that's not the big talking point here. The big talking point is Justin Gaichi saying this, quote, to have 14 bonuses and not equal up to a million dollars is not right. It's not right. It should be a lot more than that. and I should have had opportunities to do smarter things with my money,

but I don't, and I haven't. I heard Daniel, I hear Daniel Cormier saying everybody is going to get paid more on this card. I'm not getting $1 more than I would have if this deal did not happen. What was your response to those comments from just, excuse me, Justin Gagee, because it seems like of all the things from Media Day that have made the rounds,

this in particular made the rounds more than anything else. I am not in the least bit surprised. My initial, my first reaction and the most true one is, sounds like you have dog shit management and you should get some new management. My second is like, yeah, Daniel Cormier probably just said stuff and that wasn't true at all. But like, yeah, man, I'm not here. I can spend hours telling you why we should care about fighter pay. That's not what this conversation needs to be about today.

this is the least surprising thing in the world because why would you think the UFC is going to pay them more? They don't have to. And if the fighters are not going to have, fighters have no leverage. The leverage has gone down and down as the years have gone on. And if the fighters have clearly shown no real agency, no interest in getting leverage,

they are content to take what is handed to them and maybe bitch a bit, like sometimes or whatever. I'm not even saying Justin was bitching, because he was more just stating a fact, right? He wasn't like, this is dog shit or whatever. He's just been like, yeah, I'm not getting any more money. People have said that that's not true, at least for me. But they don't.

Dude, when the fighters had to do nothing, when a class action suit was brought against the UFC, and they didn't have to be involved, A bunch of them were like, came out to Cape for the UFC and were like, I don't want this free money. I don't. This boot tastes delicious and I don't need 50 grand or whatever. So why would the UFC, like, somebody tell me, explain to me in all earnestness,

why Dana White and Hunter Campbell and the TKO people would get in the conference room and be like, here we're going to paramount we're getting 1.1 billion dollars a year how much money should we give the fighters because one dude is going to look like why should we give them anything they won't make us no we'll give them the same thing they're currently getting only now we don't give out pay-per-view points more money for us guys you get what you can are like you get what you can demand in this life and fighters have not demanded more than what they get it's just what it is Yep. It's a play we've been making for a long time. And who knows, Justin goes out and beats Patty and then gets a fight with Iliate Toporia or whatever. Yeah, he's going to make some more money. Like, he's just going to. So that's just how it works. I mean, managers tell me all the time, because obviously they're not overly happy with fighter pay, but they know there's some things they can do about it and they could try to be tough and do what they want. But at the same time, like, they all say, like getting to the belt is when you really start making money in the sport.

And that's why it's so important to continuously defend your belt. That's when the pay continues to go up and up and up. So we'll see what happens with Justin. Yeah, but I think that was a pretty polarizing thing that he said during the media day. And that's why it made the rounds the way that it did. It shouldn't even be polarizing. It is simply a statement of fact. Hey, man.

I'm not getting any. He didn't say I, at least I don't remember, maybe I'm wrong. But he wasn't like, I'd like to be making more or I deserve to be making more. I believe his statement was, I'm not getting a, a. one more cent than what I was getting before this new deal. I heard people say we were getting more. I'm not. My deal is the exact same.

He also said, I'm happy to achieve what I have achieved. The best thing I did was probably invest in a commercial property. I purchased a house in Arizona. That's like a mile away from my parents. My sister's renting that for me now. Really just being able to help my family, help my parents, help my brothers and sisters, give them Christmas gifts that I would have never been able to give them, take them on vacations, and I never would have been able to.

that's the smartest thing I did because you can never get that time back with your family. It's huge for me. So Justin invested his money wisely. So there you go. Scott's asking, Jed, have you decided on if the climb will be two or three steps this week? I have not. I just don't know yet. You don't know.

So what is for sure a climb bet? We've really committed to the Rose Natty Ice over two and a half. that feels very comfortable to me Rose has only gone to decisions since moving up Natty mostly goes to decisions that fight just seems like it's going 50 minutes

I'm considering the one that's on it's going to be two because it's going to be Rose and I feel really good about Waldo Cretazzo Costa and so I'm going to back him the question is a table go Tia by knockout and I think that that is likely to have happen, but that feels like the one where I might trip up if we're going to do it, just because like, I don't know, can he keep blowing people up?

Probably, but I don't. I just, you know, he's still so young to be banking on him in that way at a minus 500 point. I have to figure out what I'm betting on this week. I haven't even looked at the line. It's been so long. A lot of underdogs that are kind of live. Yeah. I mean, I think I kind of have to bet on Derek Lewis.

But for multiple reasons. One, it's a gimmick. And two, you know, either way, if Waldo wins, fantasy stock goes up. And if he loses, Waldo's going to fight more and more. So he'll probably fight two or three more times. And then, you know, either way, I'm happy and I win. And Derek Gilles might even get its freaking title fight if he goes out and knocks out Waldo Cortez-A Costa. It's entirely in play, interim title fight.

Probably not a real one. The only bet I have put in is Rose, because I got. her at plus 350 and i thought that number was coming down plus 350 is a very very big price for rose in a fight that i think she absolutely can win so yeah and it's a title eliminator so the stakes have risen quite a bit um i'm actually be speaking to rose in about 50 minutes right now which is why we went early so that's why uh i wanted to start a little early break down the fourth wall let you you guys know what is going on there uh what else we got what else we got a lot of people chiming in on uh are you going to bring back the old format for between the links i really like

the fake game show uh yes what was fake about it it was real what do you mean what do you mean game show hey listen there was a legit winner that i did not decide every single week it was great uh we will go back to that uh once we get somebody in to fill the spot left behind by E. Casey Liden, we will go back to the old format. It's hard to, it's hard to produce and, like, do that show and host. It's very difficult to do. So hopefully soon, something will happen.

And then once it does, we'll, uh, we'll go back to the old format. But I think people are kind of digging this format as well. So you guys always want to ask questions. You guys always want to be a part of this. And, uh, and we love that. And we love that. so umar minus 2000 jad what are we thinking here it's a minus 2000 that's so crazy it's a really big price um is there a part of you that is just like i mean i know

most of us yeah but still like is there a part of you that's like also where's he minus two thousand i'm looking right now i'm seeing minus 1500 that's uh you know functionally similar but I was bummed out because I wanted to climb with Umar and then he's not remotely viable. He's going to win this fight. He's going to win this fight by a lot. I think he might even finish Figgy, though that's a hard thing to do. But it is still a little surprising, like, that it's that, especially like given where they're at.

Like, Figgy not looked great lately, but Umar arguably had a really, like one of the less good 2025. He lost the first time. And then he didn't look gangbusters against Mario Batista. So like for him to come off those two performances and still be this big a favorite, the belief is obviously that Figgy's washed. And I kind of, and I agree with that belief, but like it's still a huge number. It's huge. I'm looking at right.

This line is Vegas saying, don't bet this fucker. Just don't bet it. If you're going to bet it, give us money because you're just going to put the money on on Figgy. but don't bet it. We don't want your action unless you're handing us free dollars. There are some books where you can get Davis of Vigaredo at plus 950. I'm seeing Umar as high as minus 1667 right now. I'll be, I don't think we're going to get to minus 2000.

I think that's that's insane. Although I mean, if we get to minus 2000, I think I have to like take a shot even though I'm lighting money on fire probably. But like it just feels feels like that's just way too ridiculous to not. That is how Vegas, you ever been to Vegas, those buildings aren't small, and that's how those buildings get so big and fancy. That exact thought process, because this line is please give us free money, otherwise leave us alone.

Some people are saying, you know what? Not on their own possibility, Batista, Mara Batista dropped Umar. Perhaps Figuidu could too. Did Mara Batista win that fight? he did not win that fight okay just just wanted to clarify uh ladies a bit photos of a burge from within the new meta apex complete with enhanced seating a pricing chart has also been released with tickets beginning and $250 of the fight warehouse just become tolerable so yes i i got the you know at least the meat part of the email that everybody got uh ticket

price are as follows. This is an email sent to fighter and teams. P3, $400, upper riser rows A and B. P4, $350, upper riser row, C and D. P5, $300, upper riser, upper middle row, P6, $250, upper riser, upper row. So I think this is like the, hey, if you want, if you're a fighter on this card and you want your family and friends to come, like this is the prices you're going to get. From what I understand, the general public tickets aren't getting released for any of the apex events outside of the ZUFA boxing cards until tomorrow to the general public. So I think we'll get a better sense of like what the ticket prices are going to cost for the general public. So I don't know how to really compare and contrast these prices compared to what the general public are going

to get. But it looks like Jed, we're going to have seven, 800 seats now in the same. the apex, which gives it a little more life. That's great. Good? Yeah, it's 100%. This is, this is literally all we've ever asked about the apex is that it was an empty gymnasium, put some people in it. Venues don't have to be enormous. You know, like, in fact, intimate venues can be kind of fun and they can feel loud because

they are smaller venues. And you put 800 people in a condensed space, that can feel big. And so, you know, when Joe Martinez says, Vegas, are you ready? It's not three dudes being like, kill him. You know, it'll be almost a thousand people making noise in a small area. The Apex is, you know, it's still not going to be the same as a big arena, a big event. But this is objectively good. The only negative I'll say is not even a real negative.

This is like if I'm nitpicking. It is, and we don't know because this is the price tier four fighters, right? and their family. You would assume that that will be lower than the general admission tickets. And I'll just, you know, maybe that,

maybe these numbers will change as they sort of figure out what the market tells them about what people want to do. But like, it would be a lot cooler if the, you know, it was not expensive to go to. And so every event was a sellout because shit, people just in Vegas would be like,

I'll drop, you know, $100 to go get some seats to this. Like every, every fight would feel would be sold out with actual fans or people being interested in the sport. And this feels, again, I think Vegas, the apex should be the bait to get fans in, to draw new bodies and new things. And instead, this is just another marketing tool. Like, this is just, this is another revenue creation for them. and I'm sure they will still have plenty of people at everything,

but like it would be cooler to be able to be a UFC fan and attend an event and it not cost $300 because that's it. Like if you were buying tickets, you're buying tickets to any UFC event, your baseline starting place is going to be $300 for you and someone to go. And then, you know, parking, food stuff. Like it is, it's expensive. And I know that this is not a UFC specific problem.

This is basically the price point for all sporting events across the board, but it sucks. It'd be a lot cooler if, you know, the average person could roll up to an apex amount. Yeah. And I, like, honestly, like $100 is probably like the max. They should set up like bleachers behind the 700 seats and just charge like $75. Yeah.

Yeah, just standing room only for spots. Like that would be. Yeah. Yeah. But that's not, again, this is not a UFC problem. This is any sporting event. You can't get... There aren't cheap tickets.

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Mike, do you know Matt Damon and Ben Affleck? I know of them. I've not watched The Rip yet. Have you watched the rip yet? No, I might do it today. I got a whole lot of shit to catch up on. Yeah, I'm kind of... I'm way behind on my Oscar runs and my WGA voting, which I have to get in very soon. The one thing about Paramount Plus and getting that back is I've gotten a chance to watch some of the programming.

I just got through the third season of Tulsa King. Have you watched Tulsa King yet? No. I think that I'm not going to. Oh, you have to watch it. No, I'm in on Landman. I haven't seen the new season. I watched the first season.

And I'm in on Mayor of Kingston. I just think I can't have that many Taylor Sheridan. in my life. So I'm going to draw the line. I'm telling you, man. Also, looking at Sylvester Sloan's face makes me uncomfortable with all the plastic surgeries had. So I'm just going to skip Tulsa King. I'm telling you, man, especially as the minister of fun of PFL, like literally once a week, there should be a board meeting where everybody in the PFL brash watches one episode of Tulsa King. Because you will understand. the difference of what you need to do to separate yourself from the UFC.

This is not, this is a whole different kind of a program. It's, it's, it's so bad that it's great. And I think you would really like it. It's just, it's utterly ridiculous.

I believe that I would enjoy it. You would absolutely love it. It is incredibly low on my priority is so far so that I will not almost, almost certainly won't watch it in the next five years. It's terrific. Thank you, Chase. Connor literally took a transatlantic flight to throw a Dolly at a bus full of people, and he was rewarded with the biggest MMA payday of his career,

but Armin can't lightly headbutt a guy, L.O. Correct. I mean, so we're clear. What Armin did was super shitty. Let's not, let's not downplay that Armin assaults. He's done some dumb things. The headbutt was unequivocally super shitty. The fan thing was ridiculous.

All he did was lightly headbutt him. Like, yeah, that's bad. that's that's bad that you know what that is that's called battery it's a crime um but like yeah no this isn't they don't care if if armin was super popular and that was the best fight for business armand would be fighting um if they just didn't have other options if lightway was in a doldrum right now where there weren't other persons army would be fighting uh they don't this fight that fight's not happening because they wanted Justin Gagee and Patty Pimblet to fight and they want the winner of that to fight Ilya that's why all these things are happening armine is a bystander

yeah and look armin as popular as he's is getting is nowhere he's not even on the same map he's not even in the same atlas he's not even in the same globe as connor mcgrary conne mcgreg is the biggest star in the history of the sport he transcended the sport which is almost impossible to do right now you go go check out like red corner m m mma on Twitter and Armand might be the biggest star in the history of the sport right now. Because they are reposting every time that dude goes to the potty. Like, it is wild. It is, it is absolutely wild for sure.

But I don't know, man. Can we talk about the Connor situation and all the Dana White stuff? Because if you're Michael Chandler, I don't know how you're feeling about this. then there's all the Jorge Mazadol stuff, which data shut down. And there are pundits out there. I know Ariel has talked about this that believe that, hey, perhaps the winner of the interim title fight between Justin Gajee and Patty Pimbled, maybe they get the Carter-Berger fight at the White House.

So like, your hands are all of your face right now. Oh, God. If you're Arm and Surukin right now, and you're hearing people mention that this is a possibility that this could happen. And by golly, it could. Just look at what we've seen so far this year. Are you concerned? I mean, you have to be a little bit, right?

I mean, no, because, like, what's the point of worrying about a thing you have no control over? I don't think that, I wrote an opinion about, like, who Connor should fight at the White House, assuming he fights, which is a really big if, I understand that. And the first one I said was the winner of Gachie Pimblit. Would that be meritocratic? Not in the slightest. It would in fact be like, I think the worst title fight ever given. It's hard to imagine one way worse than that.

And I was on sub-radio and talking about this past weekend. And, you know, I love Aaron Brons. That Aaron Bronser was like, they would never do that. That's so bad to give somebody like that. I was like, buddy, I don't know if you know this. Stepe and Mietje Chet and won't have fight in like five years and they gave him a title fight. And that's Stepe.

This is common. And he was like, honestly, you're not wrong. I was like, yeah. So Connor, I don't think it will happen, but it's not 0%. And look, if it does, Armin has, she has no agency in this. He is completely stuck waiting for his turn. And he's doing the best he can. So he shouldn't worry about it.

And he shouldn't worry about it in general because I do think it's very, very low percentage. Not zero, but very low. percentage that Connor is fighting for an interim or undisputed title. The BMF title, I think that is incredibly in play and frankly what I think should happen.

But I think it is pretty unlikely if not impossible that he fights Gap, Pemblet. I mean, if you're Gathe and you win, that's you should shout that from the damn rooftops, honestly.

Yeah. And that's, I don't know if Gathe would. He might just because, or he would take it, but I don't know if he would call for it. He does seem to have like a little more focus. But it makes too much sense to me with how like 155's got a lot happening right now. And a lot of this is contingent on Ilya. Assuming Ily it comes back, he says he's coming back in the spring. I remain wildly skeptical that the spring is the time he will come back.

But if he comes back, he unifies the titles because that makes sense, even if maybe it's not the best fight or whatever. And then you've got, like, I know Armin has asked for a BMF belt, but nobody wants to, like, nobody cares about that at all. He doesn't feel like a BMF, and that, like, BMF is really a vibes-based thing anyway. So, like, why wouldn't you just do Connor either versus Max again or versus Charles?

That seems that make all the sense of the world. And Armin is still just the last dog at the bowl waiting for his turn to maybe fight Ilya. if Ilya deigns to face him, which again, I don't think you will. Chandler is the perfect fight. Like, it's just perfect. It's just perfect. Two guys who are like, Chandler's like so far out of the lightweight title picture

that even if he beats Connor, like, it's good for him. Like, he'll obviously be thrilled and he'll get a nice chunk of money for fighting Connor McGregor and beating him. But yeah, you get that title fight after, off of beating Connor McGregor. I think Chandler's a fine fight. I think it, I actually do agree with Dana that that is an old fight and we don't. It's not a fight that even at the time, it was a fight that made sense, but it wasn't like we must see this fight.

It's like, it kind of makes sense. And to an extent, it's still fine here. But like, I think Chandler is among the least big options that they could do. And the current driving force to everything is make the biggest fight you possibly can at all points in time from a casual appealing standpoint. point and I don't think Chandler's that. So I think I'm with Dan. I'm totally fine moving on from the Chandler fight. I'm also would be fine if he walks it back and says,

oh, screw it, we'll do it. There's really, there's no wrong way to eat the Conner Reese's. He is, if he comes back, it's a win. Doesn't really matter who he fights. That's true. Max would be interesting. Charles would be interesting. Gachie would be interesting.

Gachie Connor would be so sick. I know you've talked about that fight for a long time. I'm less interested in it than I've ever been, but yes, there was very much a time in my life when that was the number one most wanted fight of all time. And I think it's passed, but you could,

Connor fans could still absolutely sell themselves on Justin Gagey gets hit a lot. And Connor just needs one very early. I think that if I would go, the problem is how delusional is Connor? And I think the answer is extremely delusional. Chandler's the only one.

one that he might win. I don't think he would, but it's the only one he might. Of any other name thrown out other than maybe Nate Diaz, who is not under U.S. contract, he's not beating any other human on roster functionally that is in a position to fight him. So for the UFC, it's how can we make a star off the back of Connor McGregor? And you have to hope Connor is delusional enough to think he can win a fight with them. And maybe he just is, but like, I don't know.

It seems hard to be like, I will beat Max Holloway. They're like, no, you won't. You're like, you're super wall. How would you line McGregor Mazadol? That is actually one that he could talk himself into, like a rational person could talk themselves into being that, not a completely diluted psychopath, which I think he is. I would favor Mosbydal minus 225.

Okay. He probably should be. That's what I'd open it at. I think the market would bet Mosbyt all up bigger. But that's a winnable, like at least theoretically winnable fight if Connor has any juice at all. But that's a huge question. Dakota McGregor-Channler-Jones-Praer. It's so simple.

Just make it happen. Buddy, I agree. But I'm also fine with doing Connor and anybody. As long as it's not Connor and Ilya, which I think is pretty close to zero percent, but I won't say it's zero percent. I don't, or Connor and Islam, which would be psychotic,

but also not zero percent. As long as not those two, I don't really care. It's fine. Lord of the Pyes. Armand had a title shot and blew it. I don't think Dana dislikes him for reasons other than that and the headbutt.

I agree with that. I don't think Dana cares about the headbutt whatsoever. Dana, I am 100% on board with Dana dislikes Armand because Armin, pulled out the day before a fight and there's almost nothing that Dana hates more than that. Yeah. But I mean, at some point it has to be like, okay, you've done enough to get back to get back in.

He weighed in as a backup, made it successfully, took a fight in a main event spot, wrecked Dan Hooker, exactly the way you needed to do it. What else is he need to do? I mean, there was a time where a guy by the name of Habibnur Magamadav pulled out of a title fight, the day before an event against Tony Ferguson, one of the most hyped up fights the UFC could have made at the time

is one of the biggest fights you could actually put together and Habib, same thing. They didn't give Habib another title shot. They threw him back in there. He beat the shit out of Edson Barbosa and then got a title fight.

And then, you know, what else is Armid need to do really? You know what I mean? He didn't need to do anything. He just has to wait. That's the thing. If you're the best guy in the world, which I think he is,

even if you F up, like you just have to, you have to wait it out and keep being the best guy in the world. And so... Should he fight? Should he just fight anybody right now? Yes, he needs to fight.

He needs to fight in general just to prevent other people from getting past him. And he is not... I believe Ilya Taborio will fight this year. I don't believe he's going to fight in April, like he said. I think that's deeply not happening.

but I believe Ilya Tuporia will fight this year and when he does he will absolutely be fighting the winner of Gagian Pibbley. If Armand can fight for an interim belt 100% do that but I don't think that'll be an on offer and so then what's he going to do

wait until next year to maybe fight Ilya again I'll just not going to fight him I will bet you so much money that Ilya will not fight Armand Zurukin he is going this was a gift to him he is going

to beat the winner of Gauchy and Pimble, and then he is going to move to welterweight. And that will be the last time he fights because he's not a welterweight. And maybe God loves him the most, and he sparks Islam. I do not think that is at all, probable or likely. But if he does, he's certainly not fighting like,

and you think he's going to fight Morales? Morales is six feet taller than him. He ain't fighting another soul if he beats Islam. He is the luckiest man of all time. and he can ride away and be great. And when he loses, is he going to go back to lightweight and do the thing? No, you know how I know that? Because Connor didn't.

Connor left and he did, you know, maybe he fought once or twice, but he's just doing Connor. He's doing Connor 2.0. And so he is going to defend the belt against a incredibly good matchup, the interim champion, and he never fight Norman. I will bet you so much money. he is never fighting Armand Saru Kien, even though he might beat him.

Like I'm not here to tell you he can't beat him. I'm here to tell you he is not interested in that risk reward ratio. And so Armand just has to wait because he will either fight for the vacant belt at the end of the year or maybe I'm wrong and he fights Ilya at the beginning of next year. But if you're waiting that long, you're the best fighter in the world. You know, sharpen your blades on somebody. Beat the hell out of a random dude. I don't care who.

Super chat from Chase. Did you see a book that has John Jones plus 300 versus Alex Pereira? That's insane and shouldn't be real. I don't know if it is real, but that's crazy. Plus 300? Really? That's crazy. If that's true, like I'm emptying the entire wallet on that. Yeah, that would be very stupid for that to be a real thing.

John is going to win that fight, if that fight does happen. I think that it is the most likely outcome is John winning. I don't think Alex is 0%. No, I don't think he's 0%. But I mostly think John is super washed. But John could just tackle him and beat him. Alex is way more difficult to tackle than people think. No, I agree with that.

But it's John Jones. Yeah, I... He's very good at tackling people. Yeah. He tackled to tackle Gable Steve said every day. He looked so bad against Steve A that I believe Alex has a chance. Again, I'd favor John. I would not line that very wide.

I'll take a couple more. And then Jed, we will reveal the gimmick for the watch party before we get out of here. This is something that people have been asking about quite a bit since the season four Fantasy Draft League special aired. How do Mike and Jed feel about their teams now? LOL, Mike had Kayla and Gee had Amanda.

I feel great about my team. I think my team is primed to repeat. Yeah, it stinks losing Kayla. but, you know, it's potential keeper fodder at the end of the day. Maybe that fight happens at the White House. Who the hell knows? If it does, I still feel really good about it. But the rest of my team, I love the rest of my team.

I really do. I may not get Kayla this round. I may not even get Gable Steven this round. But the rest of my team is all going to compete once, and that is far different than last season, where I won and half my fighters did not fight at all. including Kayla Harrison. So this is no different than last season.

So I feel real good about it. How are you feeling about your squad right now? I don't think I'm going to win, but I went into this one with the primary goal of I just wanted to draft my people. And in every weight class, but really one of them, I did it. I don't care about Talas and Tashara. I just didn't. There weren't a lot of good heavyweight options out there.

I think he is going to win. But like, I have the three best women to have. So that's dope. My women's divisions are going to carry me like they did last season. And I like all the rest of them are people that I want to believe in. Justin Gage, Shafka Rukmanov, Damian Pinas. These are just Dave Martinez. These are my people.

And so I didn't get all of my people because, you know, other people want guys like RDR. But I got a lot of my dudes. And I don't think I'm going to win. Guy won the fan vote on the piece in the column for reference, Guy has Volta Valker, Yuri Perashka, Fluffy, Hernandez, Yaroslav, Pembislav, Paddy, Jalva, Piederian, Kioj, Horgucci, Amanda Nunes,

Alexa Grasso, Alexia Tainara, and Milky Costa. I don't think I wouldn't have voted for Guy. I think on paper, even with the Kayla Harrison one, yours is the best team. So you should feel good about that. I do feel good about that. I also think Jose has a sneaky good team that people haven't realized is actually sneaky good, but I think Jose's team is sneaky good.

Yeah, Gies team is pretty solid. I'll tell you what, man, Patty Pimble goes out there and just dust up Justin Gage. He is off to an incredible start. Yeah. So, but will you get a betting favor to do so? Will you get two fights out of Patty this round? That's going to be a big part of this equation. Super chat from Dakota.

I want to see Jan Sugar 2 for 25. minutes their first fight was so good and perhaps shot o'malley i don't agree in that context but yes perhaps sean o'malley part of the team hex squad drafted him for that purpose i think he's got a i think he's got a hammer song yodong i think he's going to win pretty convincingly here i don't know if he gets a finish but i think he has a good performance and i just think this matchup's really good for him and i think they could throw him in a title fight with peyriot if he wins so probably in this cycle so I think this fight looks like not as bad aversion as the Cheeto rematch did.

Because Song-e-dong will, in fact, throw back. And that will mean Sean isn't full target practice, and it's only 15 minutes. But I do think this is just going to be a very professional win from Sean O'Malley, who I think has a lot of advantages in this fight. And I will be really, really. really surprised if he is not fighting Peoria on next. Again, this is not a meritocracy. And Marab de Valle's really deserves his third crack.

He and Peoria have unfinished business. The history of the UFC would tell you that fight is next. We ain't living in the olden days anymore. Sean Amalley beats Song Yidong, and it's not a robbery, and it's not controversial. I will be really surprised if he's not fighting Peoria on next. Maybe at the White House, maybe the event before the White House. I think that's also very possible. I mean, basically, that's the same thing they did with 300.

O'Malley was 299. So I think it's very possible that the pre-UFC White House major event pay-per-view is Sean O'Malley versus Peoria. That's a good fight. Outside of whether it is deserved it, it's a very good matchup. Yes. All right. Time to reveal the gimmick, Jed. Yay, gimmicks.

For the watch party. And why did you explain to the folks before we put an exclamation point on this? Are we going to do the gimmick now or are we going to wait until the watch party? I mean, we should probably just draft the teams, right? We do it now. That's totally fine. I just didn't know if we're going to do it now or not. Okay.

So our new gimmick, I was going back, you know, I watched the tape voice. I don't know if you guys know this. This is why I'm so good at my job. I go back. I watch the tape. and what I realized watching some of our watch parties last year is that the best stuff, like the things that were the most fun, both to be part of and I think to watch,

were when Mike and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum. So we had differing bets, the Binwasandini over-battle that we all recall, which won by a hair for me, hell yeah. Like these are the things that were the most dramatic. And frankly, the most fun to be part of. because it is fun to have a rooting interest in general and to be there with Mike and maybe we're rooting for the same thing. But it's more fun for Mike to be rooting for one thing and me rooting for the other thing.

And so we're going to be playing a game this year for all of our watch parties. It will be a running game throughout the year, a head-to-head between me and Michael Heck. And it's going to be very simple. We're going to, as Mike said at the top of this thing, we're going to start with the prelim card. So we got eight fights that you and up, you, me and Mike will be together watching on our watch party this Saturday. And for each of those fights, Mike and I will choose a side. And because the point is to be head to head, we don't get to choose the same side. So we're going to do just a quick shot old school draft.

We got eight fights. We'll do a snake draft, you know, one, two, two, one, two, just ping back and forth. and we're basically drafting sides of the eight fights on offer. And so, theoretically, if Mike wants to take, you know, Justin Gaichy with his first pick, I, by definition, am now on Patty Pimbley's side, and then I get to pick. We can draft in any order we like.

It is purely a, you know, which one do we feel the best about? Which fight are we the most confident in the side? And we haven't figured out what we're playing for, but we're going to do a running tally for the whole. year and we'll put something something on offer here i don't know what yet but we got time to figure that out so mike do you have any questions about the concept for this game now should be a quick easy draft and then we'll do it again on the show next week for three we'll do it again should be an incredibly quick easy easy draft team mishu versus team heck not just fantasy wise because we also obviously have

our fantasies going but for this new gimmick which i haven't come up with the name yet so that will also I came up with this like two days ago and then didn't think about it afterwards. Like this is a really great idea. And then immediately didn't put any more thought process into it. So we're doing nine fights, right? Eight fights because the middle prelims is only Kralov or wait, where we're doing prelims start. Perez Johnson.

What's the first fight we're doing? Perez Johnson. Oh, we are doing Perez Johnson. Okay. That's what the watch fire is going to start. 7 p.m. Eastern. Then we are doing nine fights. My mistake, I apologize.

All right, who goes first? I was just thinking about this, you know, in a perfect world, you'd have a wheel. It's the best thing of the world. I can get a wheel right now. I can't put it on screen. But I'm going to make a wheel happen. I'm going to get rid of. All right, I'll let you figure this out.

They got it right here. Ace Boogie says, Jed took your advice, got floor seats for 324, plan on being there from the first fight. any tips or things to look out for. Ooh, one, have fun. I think that's the most important thing. I also, floor seats is interesting. At some point, it depends where you specifically are seated, seated. But I would at least for one, you know, maybe your favorite fighter of the card,

by the time that things get going, figure out where they're walk, like where you are in relation to where they're walking in from. and then just try and go be by the walkout. I think that's always cool to just like physically see them like right next to you because you're next to the entrance tunnel or whatever. Have fun, man. It's a great experience. Like for whatever qualms or issues I have with the UFC, their live product is a very, very good one.

I think it is a critical component to why they have been as successful as they have. So have a good time. Make sure you know where the bathroom is. and yeah, I mean, it'll fly by. It'll go way quicker than you think because live, like the pacing at home is very much different than the pacing when you're in the arena. But enjoy. Great time. Yep. All right.

You have the wheel ready. I have the wheel ready. I am spinning to see who has the first pick. Snake draft is what we will do. So. And I have taken the first pick. You just have to trust me on that. All right.

it. Actually, you know what, Mike? Let's let's let you take the first pick because this is my gimmick. And I'm feeling generous. And honestly, it does not matter to me. Realistically. No, you spun, you go. Okay.

Take Umar and we'll move on with our lives. Oh, yeah. I have to take Umar. That is 100% true. So I will be taking Umar and Maghamedov, which means you have Figgie Smalls on your team. I've clocked one point. Oh, already.

And I get two picks, right? You have two selections. I will take a taba, goatea. Yeah, that's the thing, because you take Umar, the other guy's getting a taba, so it's fine. And I will take, I'll take Shot-O-Malley. Yeah, I, this is,

so as I was looking at it, this was exactly how I thought the first three would go. These are certainly the ones that I think I am the most confident in. for my wheel. I know you're taking first here. I don't know if you do. I mean, I have to. I'm going to take Waldoch Ortecoco's stuff.

I knew it. I'm happy with Derek Lewis, by the way. Yeah. I just feel the best about his chances there, frankly. So WCA is going to join my squad. And then I don't think they're wrong options here. I'm going to take Modestis Pekowskis. I really think he is going.

to be, I think Nikita Kurlov is cooked. So I'm going to take Indesta Spikowskis and Waldo Kretazzo Costa, and you are back with your last two selections, Mike. I will take Natty Ice. I love that because, frankly, I wanted Rose. And I'll take John Silva. Now that one I don't love as much because I kind of, I sort of anticipated he'd be gone, but, and I don't know what to make of this Arnold Allen fight at all.

So I think, so you're going to take Charles Johnson, and then I'm super curious who you're taking in the main event. I will definitely be taking Charles Johnson, so let's go ahead and get that up. Even though I actually do think Alex Perez is a very live dog, and he's not even a huge dog, which is kind of surprising. Do I go head or heart? Michael, do I go head or heart? I have to go with my heart. I have to go with the man I've placed my belief in on fantasy. I might just be giving you a free point right now.

I'm giving you the betting favorite. I'll take Justin Gagey and you can have Patty Pimblet. All right. I'm okay with that. You know, I might look really stupid if Gagee tackles him and taps him immediately, which I think is very much a possibility. But I'm getting the humor point, so that's good. Actually, looking at it, because there's clearly three that I feel the best about,

I actually think the wheel was better. It was better to not win that spin of the dice because I only got Uber whereas you got a Taba and O'Malley and everything else I can see happening. Why do we call her Nadi Ice? I don't know. It's just the name I gave her after her debut

against Jazz and Jess and Jezibizzi. She's great. She had a big smile on her face, all weigh-ins. And I was like, oh, she's a, she looks like a fun person. And then the bell rang and she beat the living shit out of Jasmine,

jazz nevisius which is not easy to do it really isn't only her and uh and menon feura were really the only she didn't really beat the shit out of her either but i just got her yeah manon just clobbered her but natty just dominated her for over over 15 minutes uh which is not very easy to do and then from there i that post fight show i believe i started i called her natty ice and it just stuck ever since so so there you have it there's the draft uh more on that this saturday 7 p m eastern For the watch party, there will be a preview show coming up tomorrow. Jed Bishu and the great A.K. Lee will be hosting that. I'll be on Casey Leiden production duty.

Perhaps I'll scream mixed martial arts a whole bunch. I'll come in and bring up some questions and talk to you guys as well. But yeah, it's a pay-per-view week. Instead of doing mixed martial arts, just do M-M-A fighting. No holds bar. No holds bar. With that said, let's hit the music. Let's hit the music.

You've got to go talk to people. You're a fancy, important person. Yes, I have to go tell Rosamie Unis that I did not pick her in my draft for the watch party. I knew you would give me her. I honestly wasn't sure if you were just going to give me Gaichi and you correctly realized that I would pick Gaichi and you could just leave Patty to stick. I wanted you to pick Patty so I'd feel better about it. but I've done what I've done. I've committed to the place.

This is chess, not checkers. More chess coming up tomorrow. The day before UFC 324 right here at M.A. We'll back. See you next week. BTA. Love y'all. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.