MMA Fighting - BTL | Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz, UFC 279, UFC Paris Fallout, More

Episode Date: September 8, 2022

This Saturday, Nate Diaz will make the walk to the UFC octagon for the final time on his current contract. Does the popular Stockton-based fighter have another iconic moment in store? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel will discuss the UFC 279 main event between Diaz and the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, what would be next for Chimaev with a win, and what a massive upset win could do for Diaz as he enters free agency. Additionally, the panel will talk Tony Ferguson's return to welterweight against Li Jingliang on Saturday, where Ciryl Gane and Robert Whittaker go following their impressive #UFCParis wins, plus, a game of 'What Would You Rather Watch?' Host Mike Heck moderates the matchup between MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew and pro fighter Pearl Gonzalez. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Jed K. Meshew: @JedKMeshew Follow Pearl Gonzalez: @PearlGonzalez 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

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-by journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Boating for Flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. Ugh, what? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo? Great idea. Feel the fun with all the latest slots in live casino games and with no wagering requirements. What you win is yours to keep groovy.

Hey, I won! Feel the fun! The meeting will begin when Passenger Fisher is done celebrating. 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close, you, call 186653310 or visitcommitzontario.ca. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. From M.MA Fighting Studios, this is Between the Links.

And now, your host, my... Always fired up when the iconic voice of Esther Lynn introduces this program. Welcome to a brand new edition of Between the Links. It is a big week in combat sports. Apologies for the delay. But we are here. We are live, but we are on the eve. Of the eve of UFC 279,

Hamzaa Shemaya versus Nate Diaz in the main event. We're coming off of a fun UFC Paris event over this past weekend. And there's a lot to discuss. So we're going to get right into it. But real quick, as you can see, it's once again around 1 p.m. Eastern. This will be the new start time moving forward on the show. So no longer 3 Eastern. We're shifting back a couple of hours.

So mark your calendars accordingly. 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific, the new start time for BTL moving forward. Now that that is out of the way, let us introduce the panel for this week, the combatants, if you will. First, he's coming off of a victory over New York Rick last week at a very positive. positive yet spirited affair. He's from No Bet's Baird. He's from Damn They Were Good. He's Mr. No Gray area himself.

He's bringing takes so hot and spicy. You need to have a gallon of milk sitting right next to you. Jed Beshew. How are you, buddy? I am so glad I beat Rick last week just because he's coming out and on the MMA hour. Great program, Parlay. Throwing out Kevin Holland as a parlay piece. Come on, my guy.

D. Rod, we're going to get into it. Danny Rodriguez. is going to do the damn thing, and Rick's going to blow up the whole MMA hour parlay on his own. So I'm glad the fans knew the right choice to pick me the correct decision as always. There you go. And joining us for the first time on this show, let us welcome in a pro fighter that wears a lot of hats.

She's fought in the UFC and Victa, BKFC. She was successful in her pro boxing debut last month for game bread boxing. Does color commentary for events such as Jorge Mazadol's Icon, and from the many conversations we've had over the years, one of the very sharp minds in the combat sports space. She just does it all as we say hello to Pearl Gonzalez, Pearl. How are you? How are you feeling for this program here?

Hello, good morning. I am ready to kick his ass. That's what I'm ready to do. Yes. We are off to the race this way off the bat. Well, let's see. Let's see how this all plays out. Let's get into it.

we're going to go backwards to start here because, you know, in a sandwich, the bread is an important part of the sandwich. You need good bread to make it pop, but it's the meat, stuff in the middle that really makes it delicious. So at the top of the proverbial sandwich that is BTL, we're going to start with UFC Paris. It was a fun event. The local fighters showed out 5 and 0 for the French athletes, which was capped off by the former interim heavyweight champion of the world, Cyril Gahn, stopping Taitoivasa in a super fun main event. And it looked a little bit hairy for Mr. Gahn when he got caught with the big right hand and floored in the second round,

but he got back up and eventually went out there and finished the fight. So Jed will begin with you. This could be from the Ghan side. It could be from the Thai side. What was your biggest takeaway from this fight? This is that both of those dudes are shoe leather tough, man. Like, honestly, I came into that.

And we talked about it a lot, Mike. I came into that. I gave Taitoibasa a very, very little chance just because Seorgon's the best strong. striker and heavyweight MMA, like pretty cleanly. And I still think that is true. But the fact that Ty was able to find the shot hurt him, we learned a lot about Cyril because Cyril was able to power through, you know, the dim mock death touch right there.

He got through, fought it out, and came back. And conversely, Taito Ivasa, there was just zero quitting that man. We knew he was tough, but I don't think I ever knew he was that tough. Because even when he fought Derek Lewis, he maybe got hurt at times. he didn't get that hurt that frequently. I don't know that I've ever seen a man get hurt that many times in a fight and just continue to battle through it. I mean, the head kick that gone land that put a jolt through him for a minute. The numerous body shots that kept having Tye doubled over.

Like he, I just don't understand what stitches tied to Yvasa together because I don't even want to say a lesser man. And like just any other man alive would have crumbled far sooner than he finally did after so much punishment. So, I mean, yeah, we can talk about, you know, what's next and where these guys rank, et cetera. But for me, easily, the biggest takeaway the whole weekend was both those dudes are just so frigging tough. Pearl, what do you think? What did you, what was your biggest takeaway from Cyril Ghan's win over Taito Ivasa? Oh my goodness. First and foremost, let's talk about the body shots and how good was his game plan going into that fight knowing

I think that Cyrilgan gave a lot of respect to Tai Tui Vasa. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy, you know, get him out of here. He knew that he was going to have to fight. And so what a beautiful game plan to attack the body. And he attacked it with his long, his long legs, you know, and that's the longest strike on our bodies. Cyril knowing that he's the longer, lengthier opponent, really utilize that to the best of his ability. So I thought that was just an absolute amazing game plan.

Secondly, from Cyril Ghan, I saw his lateral movement and the way that he was moving, he was moving side to side, not in and out. I mean, he did do a little bit of in and out, but more so laterally, side to side, looking and finding and searching for these angles. You don't see heavyweights move like that.

Obviously, and I do agree with John here, he said that he is one of the best strikers or if not the best striker. I agree 100% he is. But man, the game plan, the composure of Cyril Gahn in that fight, the ability to come back from that big shot that he took and stay composed and remain calm and still find these shots, find that body shot. And for Ty, geez, how many of those do you think was he ready to just crumble and lay down to you?

Those body shots were nasty. He was getting poked. right in the sternum. And if you don't understand what that feels like, especially like when you're breathing, if you get hit with one of those, it shuts down your breathing. And so to constantly take those

and, you know, bite down on his mouthpiece and still try to find shots was incredible. I knew that Ty, I agree, I thought that Cyril was the better of the two in striking, but I also knew that Ty just needed one good shot. And if he could land that one good shot,

it could be lights out. So it was a fantastic, performance. All I have to say is what an exciting time right now for heavyweights, for the male heavyweight division in all combat sports. But yeah, what an incredible, overall incredible game plan by Cyril to attack the body first to break the body down and then find the closing the show shot. Yeah, the composure isn't something that's really talked about all that much because he's coming off the loss to Francis. He's fighting in front of his home crowd. First UFC event in the area. Cool as a cucumber. The entire

entire time. So, Pearl, things are now very interesting. You talked about the state of the heavyweight division. It's in a decent spot, but it's also a little, little bit in shambles right now, because there's so many unknowns, right? What's Francis going to do? Is he going to resign? What's going on with the belt? What's going on with John Jones and Steepay? There's a lot of questions. And the UFC has pretty much set up this sort of mini contendership Grand Prix with Gahn and Tuivasa and Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blades and Blades beat Tom Aspidol. Not what anyone want to to see with Asmodal's injury, but it is a win. So naturally, the direction should probably be Cyril Ghan versus Curtis Blades next, but Gond has been no selling it saying he wants a title

shot. He doesn't seem at all interested in any way, shape, or form with fighting Curtis Blades next. Do you think Cyril really has a leg to stand on here? Do you think it's definitely Curtis Blades and he doesn't really have a choice here? Or do you think the UFC might go in a different direction. I think that it makes a lot of sense for Curtis Blades and Cyril gone to fight, especially due to Cyril's last, last fight against Ingano and Ingano out grappled him and won the fight via grappling. And we know that Curtis Blades is one of, if not the best wrestlers slash grapplers in this division. So it makes a lot of sense to find, to give not only Curtis Blades that opportunity because he's deserving, he's been winning, you know, he's been putting

on great performances, but to see if Cyril learned from that last test that he had in which he didn't win that test, he didn't pass the test, so to speak. But at the same time, you have John Jones that is really teasing here. I love that fight of Cyril and John. I mean, I think that those are two incredibly talented, very knowledgeable strikers, and to see those two would be a striking clinic for the world to kind of watch and see how that plays out. But, you know, But, you know, it is. The division is in a lot of, there's a lot of questions, but that's what I think makes this so exciting

because there's so many different matchups that you can make. And then when Aspinall comes back, you know, seeing him, I think that I would like to see him fight Curtis plays and see how that fight plays out. We didn't get to see anything in that fight. So there's a lot of questions that need to be answered, which makes this so exciting. Jed, I just don't see how this goes any other way

unless just multiple dominoes fall in Ghan's favor. You know, John Jones would be interesting. That's a fight that obviously interests Gahn, but man, a lot needs to happen, at least for that to be the next fight, doesn't it? Oh, yeah. I mean, well, not a lot. Two things have to happen.

One, France Sangano has to not resign with the UFC, which I don't think he's going to do. I think he's going to leave and try and pursue other interests, more lucrative options. But if he resigns, honestly, at this point in time, if he resigns, they're probably just going to do

Inganu Jones, and Steepa gets left out in the cold, at which point, then maybe, then that's up to Stepe, whether Stepe decides he wants to fight. You know, he loves to not fight.

He's a huge fan of sitting and not fighting. He's done it for the last five years. He's incredibly good at the not fighting people, part of MMA. So maybe he does that, and then Gaon is left really with only Curtis's blades. maybe steepe says hey i'd like to fight again because i would love to fight john jones or engano one last time for the belt so i'll fight uh zero gone and maybe so maybe then he avoids the curtis blades train again i don't think that's going to happen i think engun is going to leave and so when he leaves stepey and jones is the thing that the ufc is targeting it seems the most likely outcome that will happen by you know at the end of this year so they'll make that fight and then yeah gonz just left with

the only guy to fight being unless like something crazy happens in the next month or so, or Steep A decides to not fight John Jones, then maybe Gan can step in there as an interim title fight. But I think he's just going to be forced to fight Blades. And I hate that. I hate that so, so much. It's a great fight to top five heavyweights, et cetera. That's fine.

But it's among the least interesting ways you could match up all of these different action figures. You know, like if I, had my druthers, I would say let's do steepa gone. That fight is far more compelling to me. And let's do Blades Jones or Blades and Gone. Any other way that you want to match up those four to five people, I would prefer it. But I don't think that's what's going to happen. And then Curtis Blades is going to wrestle the crap out of zero gone. And then Gone's going to have to get two more wins to get back in the title conversation. And Curtis will still be five wins away from a title shop because the UFC has no interest.

in getting him the belt, despite the fact that he may well be the best heavy weight in the world. So I hate that this is how it's going to happen, but it really feels like this is how it's going to happen. Last thing for you move on, I do want to spotlight the incredible performance from Robert Whitaker against Marvin Vittory. Masterclass is a word that was thrown on a lot, and I actually think that's the right word to use here. This guy is just so, so good. He is the second best middleweight on the planet right now. It is unarguable. I know Alex Pereira could shift the conversation at MSG if he beats Adasania,

but right the second, Robert Whitaker is the second best middleweight in the world. But what we do know, Jed, is that Adasania has two wins over Robert Whitaker. One was a very competitive fight. One was an absolute blowout. But we saw what a great performance from a former champion can do following a second loss to the champion, i.e. Max Holloway. So how in the hell do we matchmake Robert Whitaker now? because obviously if Pereira wins, that changes things.

But if he doesn't, what do we do? I think Max Holloway is the really interesting thing here because a lot of people, my recently defeated foe, New York, Rick, on the, I'll watch this guy, I will watch Izzy and Whitaker fight a million times. I said the same with Max and Volcanovsky. That fight just happened. Do we forget the world-class ass kicking Volcanowski handed Max? like I was one of the guys coming in that fight was like that's fine you want to do it sure but

like folks won twice he's the better fighter he's going to win a vast majority of these fights I don't care if max high rolls won if we give him 10 he'll probably win one because he's damn good fighter but like that's just how that's this is how the cookie crumbles exact same scenario like is identical if otisania and whittaker fought 10 times is he's going to win nine of them it's and that's not a knock on whittaker it's it's a bad thing style matchup for him and Izzy is just a better fighter than him and there's nothing wrong with being the second best guy in the world at something it's genuinely incredible you are better than seven billion other people that's okay I if they run that fight again fine I'll watch it because it's high level

m-m-a they're both very compelling fighters I don't care at all like I would be content if we never got a third one. I don't feel we need it. I know how that story goes. Fortunately, I think we won't have to get one because as much as Robert really seems to want that fight, Izzy, I think, has zero interest in it for a lot of obvious reasons. And I don't think things break out because if Pereira beats out of Sanya, I don't think they run an immediate rematch back. Just because part of the selling process for that fight is Pereira already has two wins over him. So sure, different sport, it's a tougher promotional thing to be like, I know we sold this as this guy's beat him twice,

and now he's beat him in MMA. So he's actually 3 and O in a very, very similar discipline to this dude. Let's run it a fourth time. I think they'll just give Whitaker the middleweight title shot up at a wins. And I've been saying it for a long time. I think if Izzy wins, I think he's done. He has nothing left to prove at middleweight. He's beaten all of the guys.

This would be the clear and perfect capstone for his middle weight career saying, all right, I've beaten everybody in the top five. I beat the guy that people thought could beat me that had beat me before. I'm done. I'm moving up to 205 because he has said when he wants to go up, he's going to do it right this time. He's going to add on the weight and truly leave 185. So in either of those scenarios, I think Whitaker gets to fight for the title, you know, summer of next year and without having to, without us having to do Izzy Whitaker three. So hopefully that's what happens because I'll be way less excited if it's just like all right well is he's going to tune up Whitaker again for a third time what do you think pearl if you had the

magic pencil here how are you booking robert whittaker next i don't you know what i think that just excites me a little bit is what about costa paolo costa versus whittaker you know paula looked amazing in his last performance and then we have robert whittaker who looked fantastic you see that he's improving every single fight. I agree. I don't think the Izzy fight makes a lot of sense right now, although I'll watch. I'm going to tune in if they do decide to fight. Perea's here. We really do need to figure out what happens between Izzy and Porea. That's an exciting fight, yes. But I ask, where does Paolo play in this role? I mean, he's on a role right now, if you ask me as far as just his marketing, he looked fantastic in his last performance. You know that he's

got his weight, weight under control, and he just seems like he's really dialed in. So I like that fight. I think that's an exciting one, and it's a fan-friendly fight. So I wouldn't mind seeing Whitaker versus Costa. Yeah, that'd be a good one. I suggested an interesting option on onto the next one where if things are held up for a little bit of time at welterweight and middleweight after, depending on what happens this weekend, Whitaker versus Hamzat Shamaia would be a lot of fun because Whitaker would

clearly get a title shot with the win against whoever is this. champion, whether it's Adasanya or Pereira or whoever, and Hamzat would be the number one contender in two divisions. And that's just too much fun in my eyes. But we'll see what happens. Let's move on to Mr. Shemai F a little more, shall we? He's one half of Saturday's main event, UFC 279. The point for round one goes to Jedbyshu. It's one to nothing. Oh, geez. Pearl obviously hasn't watched the program before because, as most of you who are regular watchers and viewers of the program know, that my points don't mean anything.

It all comes down to the end. And this is just for pomp and circumstance for being honest. Just the excuse to play the sound bites. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Pellicle.

A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at OnePeloton.ca. All right, so we are almost here, everybody. This Thursday as we're doing this, Hamzjat Shemaya versus Nate Diaz,

this Saturday scheduled for the five-round, Walterweight main event, UFC 279 in Las Vegas. A lot to unpack here because, obviously, it's Nate's final fight in this deal. Shemaya's the 11-0 killer. He's a massive favorite. I just looked, the betting line was back up to minus 1150, the last I checked.

So, Pearl, I talked about this this morning. there's a difference between intrigue and excitement because with the storylines involved here, there's a lot of intrigue, a lot of intrigue. From most, not a lot of excitement because as the betting line suggests, the majority of people feel that Nate is just going to go in there, he's going to get trucked by Hamzaa Tchamayev,

and that the UFC is just essentially putting him out to pasture. But this is MMA. As we've seen in the sport many times, crazy, out of the blue things can happen. So I'll ask you, I'm sure you're intrigued by all of this, but are you excited for it as a fight fan? Are you counting down the seconds to Hamzaa Shamaa versus Nate Diaz? I am. I'm excited because I want to see how Nate Diaz plays this out, right?

Is he going to come in? Is he going to be super gangster? Is he going to sit back? Is he going to put a lot of pressure on Hamzaat? Is he going to get knocked out immediately? Is he going to find some way to get to some leg or limb or back? and potentially create a submission attempt for himself. It's a very interesting place.

Is Hamzat going to kind of sit back and not grapple and just let them to bang it out a little bit? It's an exciting, it is an exciting place. And I'm a big Nate Diaz fan. So in this fight, like, I want to believe that Nate can pull something off because as you said, anything can happen in MMA. It really can. And what I think makes it interesting,

is what Nate said yesterday when he said, fuck it, let him beat me, right? Or whatever his words were. He's accepted that he, there's nothing, like, he can't lose because he's already the underdog. He's already being looked at as going to lose. And for me, that makes a very dangerous opponent because you remove all of the fear of losing

when you're like, all right, let him beat me, let him win. And so I just would like to see how he plays out this last performance. I'm excited for it. I am. I'm excited for Nate Diaz. Jed, for those who have been paying attention to our programs since this fight was announced, we've heard your thoughts. And typically with fights like these, the tastes can be a little sour at first, and then we get to the card, and then the fight week comes. And solely but surely, the anticipation builds, right? We had the media day yesterday with both guys. We're going to have a press conference later on. Both guys are scheduled to be.

be there. We're two days away. Are you feeling the energy? Are you getting that good juju the closer we get to Saturday? Or not so much? No, this fight never had a chance to get me excited. I'm honestly not even really morbidly curious. And on No Bet's Bard, great program. My podcast co-host, Connor Birx, he's pumped. And so I recognize that other people are excited. They're interested. They You know, everyone feels like we mostly know it's going to happen, but there is some intrigue for, certainly for a lot of people out there. It's just not for me.

I think this is, I have one question about this fight, and it's a question that I don't need to watch to be answered. I could comfortably get the news the next day and be okay with it, because the only question is, does Nate try? Like if Nate goes out, I've been saying, for months, honestly for about a year now, that the funniest and best possible way for this situation to resolve itself is for Nate to walk out and tap immediately. As soon as the phone starts, just look at Dana White Caged side and tap the map three times and give up. And then he

has fulfilled his contractual obligation. This entire farce of a pony show is done. He's free to do the things he wants to do. And we can all move on with our lives. And he's firing. a big metaphorical two-finger salute to Dane on his way out. It's an incredibly Dias way to end things. It would be hilarious. A lot of fans would hate the hell out of it. It would give me more joy than probably anything this sport has ever done. I think that's probably not likely to happen, though.

He's probably just going to go out. He's going to fight. He's going to lose. And it's going to be sad. And it's all going to be very dumb. This is all entirely needless. And this fight isn't for anyone. Like, who is this fight?

This fight is for Dana. white. The only person this fight is for is for him to send Nate Diaz out with a loss because that's the kind of petty individual that he is. And maybe it's good business. I frankly don't think it has any relevance to his business, but certainly some people are going to come gunned up for and be like, oh, this is just smart promoting or whatever. This is just, all this does is made me feel bad. It makes me not want to buy this pay-per-view. I, and I don't care. I know how this fight is going to go. Hamzot decides to stand up, he's still probably going to win the damn thing. And he's probably not going to.

He's just going to tackle Nate Diaz and beat the hell out of him from on top. And I'm going to be sad that we watch this guy that we all respect so much and his beloved have to do this because of the structures of MMA, because of the way fight promotion works and the iniquities between the UFC thing, the entity of the, UFC and the fighters that that generate profit for it. And so I there's no way for me to be amped about this fight. Like it's it's not an interesting fight. It is mostly a terrible sad fight and the only way that I will ever be like oh shit I was all the way wrong is if Nate Diaz pulls out a miracle and he's not going to so it doesn't like that that's the only good outcome here is Nate Diaz pulling out a miracle. Everything else is going to make me

feel like a worse person for being involved in this. All right. So you both have some interesting things that I want to jump on. I'll start with you, Jed, because Nate talked to the media day. He's got big plans moving forward. I think we've been talking about it for a while. This seems very obvious. Seems like Jake Paul will be an option at some point down the line.

Of course, Jake is fighting Anderson Silva next month. He's got this new promotion that he just announced. And he's a freaking megastar. He wants to be a bird, Jed. He wants to spread those wings. And a win, like you said, would be freaking incredible from a storyline perspective. But if he does that, maybe the UFC tries to keep him run. They back up the Brink's truck.

I don't think that's going to happen. But I guess my question is, after hearing what both you just said, Jed, can Nate really lose here? Like, he can lose the fight. He can get dominated. But very few expect him to win. He's already got a foot out the door. Most people understand what is happening here. Can he lose at all stockwise outside of just.

getting a red mark on his topology page? I can't lose stockwise, which is part of why this is so stupid. Like there's the idea of I'm going to send Nate out on a loss or we're going to try and boost Hamzot up with a win over Nate. Both of those are fanciful. Like it's not, no one's going to give a shit if Nate loses and this isn't going to build Hamzot up. Honestly, Hamzot is probably taken a bit of an L because everybody coming out and being

And like your whole nonsense with Paula Costa makes you look like a punk. So like this just isn't, it's bad promotion. So no. But he can absolutely lose because it's in fistfight. And he is going to a thing that is literally jeopardizing his life. Not because he's fighting Hamzat or whatever, because he's fighting a person. A professional fistfighter is going to try and physically harm him. He can absolutely lose in this.

And that's what sucks about this is yes, if he wins the fight, unbelievable one of the best things ever happen in sport when he loses it will probably be in a violent and terrible way because Nate Diaz is incredibly tough like that is whatever his flaws are as a fighter and he has plenty toughness ain't one of them like this dude will go through a wood chipper and still keep trying to fight and that's what's about to happen and that isn't good for your long term or short-term health. And so it's not going to be a situation where Hamza, you know, Gerald Mircharts him and then the fight's over and even recover and rebound.

He is going to probably take a prolonged beating, which is incredibly bad for him. And it's, as I said, it's entirely unnecessary. This fight, Nate doesn't want to do this fight. Nate just wants to leave. This is the price he has to pay to get out of the organization. And the fact that that that's like common knowledge and everybody's just sort of, yeah, okay. Like, I guess that's what we're doing.

It feels really, really shitty to me, man, like really shitty. Pearl, what do you think? As far as Nate goes, I mean, obviously, you don't want to get beat up and injured. We don't want to see that happen. But in terms of, like, his star power, like, what does this fight do to him? I mean, we saw in the Leon Edwards fight. He got dominated for 24 minutes. He landed one shot, had Leon on wobbly legs.

And everyone's like, hey, in the streets, Nate Diaz just beat the hell out of Leon Edwards, even though he lost the fight in, you know, pretty dominant fashion. So what do you think Nate Stock looks like after this fight? And then Jed made an interesting point about Shamiya, because if you're going to book a fight like this, typically it's to get like a new star over off of the name of another star is leaving the company. But how much more over can Hamzat Shamiov get right now?

Because he's already super over already. Beating Nate Diaz, like how much more over can he get? You know, first let me say Jed, Jed, I called you John earlier, I'm sorry. It's tough. You're tough. I disagree, though. I think that there's a lot to win in this.

First and foremost, anytime you're the main event for the largest organization in the world, that's huge. The amount of traffic you get, the amount of eyes you get on you, the features that they're putting out there, all the embedded. It's huge for Nate. Then you have Hamza and Hamzat's, his people and his people. you know, following that are tuning in, that are, obviously everyone thinks, oh, yeah, he's going to win, but Nate's taking this fight because he's a fighter and he likes to fight. Yes, there's the whole thing of getting out of the contract. But like, if not too long ago, Nate was talking about fighting Francis Ingano, and he was

calling out Hamzaa and saying how he wanted any fight, I just want to fight. So this is the fight. And I think that, you know, the whole Hamza, I'm a gangster, which he, I've never seen someone sit on top of a cage waiting for their opponent to enter the octagon. You know, there's a lot of fun things that make this fight exciting and also make it for both of these gentlemen to win. Both of them are exposing each of their followings and their, what's the word? What's the word? Let me think of the word.

I can't think of it. But their followings, right? So they're exposing that to each other. And then Nate announces his real fight promotion. That's huge for this fight me. That's going to help him build. So absolutely. And yes, he gets out of his contract, whatever that may be.

He said he might come back. I mean, for as much as he said yesterday, he also said he doesn't know if he's coming back. So there is that that he might come back. And if you really think about Nate Diaz's whole entire career, he hasn't really been the easiest to get along with and to do business with. And he's always kind of been fuck you to everyone. And so a lot of this makes some sense. to me. And I think it is. If Nate can pull out, pull a freaking rabbit out of his hat and do the impossible this weekend, which is very, very possible. Because I mean, look at Juliana Peña and the

Amanda Nunes. It could very well happen because this is the fight game. This is what makes the fight game so exciting. If he can do that, now he's the goat. Now he's this, you know, now he's immortal in a sense. And he's that gangster that we all hope and wish to see this weekend. And if Hamza wins and he wins in a fashion where he makes this fight very fun and it makes it exciting, then yes, his stock rises as well. So I think for both of these gentlemen, it is a win-win situation. For either of them, it also puts them both in a main event spotlight, which helps their platforms grow.

So, yeah, that's my take on this. That's a lot of positivity. It's a lot of positivity. And we may need that positivity because... Say, I'm not bringing any to this to 279 talks. Yeah, I was going to say, we're about to discuss the rest of the card. So the point for round two goes to, I'm anointing her the queen of positivity. Pearl Gonzalez, it's one-to-one, trying to get people fired up.

I think she sold a couple of paper views with that little speech right there. I respect the positivity. Yes. Pets positive. Yeah. So, all right, let's head to the rest of the card. And I hope you have that positivity handy, Pearl, because Jed, we'll start with you. We'll have to start off in a different way because you have been very critical of this card from Jump Street.

And you have not been alone on this, and understandably so. We do have the addition of Tony Ferguson, who's fighting Li Jing Liang in his welterweight return. It's a head scratcher, but Tony's on the card. people like Tony Ferguson. Kevin Holland, Daniel Rodriguez matchup, super duper fun. Love that fight. Arrini Aldana, Macy Chia'son, fun fight. There are stakes involved.

The rest of the card, yes, there's some fun fights. But comparatively speaking, as far as past UFC pay-per-view cards, this is certainly not the best on paper that we have seen this year. Now, having said that, that doesn't mean that this won't be a good watch. I'm not saying this card's going to stink. Don't watch it. there's a very good chance we come out of the saying, see, this was fun after all.

But Jed, the closer we get to Saturday, has your stance change at all? Are you viewing this? At least a decimal point for your grade, has it gone up at all? It's gone up very, very slightly over the past couple of months. I mean, the Kevin Holland, Daniel Rodriguez fight is awesome.

So that just helps the fight card a lot because that fight is, I mean, I would love that to be the main event. That would rule. I would watch the hell out of 25 minutes of those two dudes going at it. The Tony Ferguson leech fight is awful, and I don't want to talk about it because it's bad. But there are some other things like Hakeem Dawdo, Julina Rosa should be pretty fun. Love Me some Jelton Almeida.

That dude appears to be a very, very, very legitimate prospect. Chris Barnett, Huggy Bear, you know, that could be fun because he tends to be at least an interesting individual. There's also just a lot of bad on this, so I can't, I've been saying this is the worst pay-per-view in recent memory, and I think that that's still true, but there are at least some things that are better. The Kevin Holland, Daniel Rodriguez fight is doing a lot of heavy lifting to make me not like actively be like, you shouldn't buy and watch this fight. card because that fight is incredibly fun. But I still think it probably is the worst paper view in the past year or two. Pearl, what do you think of this lineup as a whole? Start to finish.

I mean, we're paying for the main card, right? Fans are going to be powning up 75 bucks for it. The main card is not all that bad. But when we look at start to finish 6 p.m. Eastern on, what do you think of the full lineup? Yeah, I think it's an interesting time and a great opportunity. for some of these athletes to really shine and put on a big performance. There aren't the biggest names. There aren't the most exciting fights on that undercard.

But like he said, I really, I loved Chris Barnett. I'm a big fan of him. He's a fan friendly. He comes out and he's dancing and doing all these crazy flips and dances and stuff. So he's going to make that exciting. But it gives an opportunity for these up-and-comers, for these names that aren't as big, to really put on an exciting performance and shine.

I agree. The Holland fight is incredible. I think that's going to be a fun one. Those two are savages. They're probably going to stand and go toe to toe to. I kind of like this Ferguson fight and this and and lean. I can't even say his name. I can't even say his name.

I like that fight. He's an excited. Say it again. You can just say Lee. That's fine. Lee. Lee. Yes, Lee,

Lee, Lee. I'm going to say the last name. But Lee, you know, he's he's tied for some of the most. knockouts. He's got a nasty right hand. He's an exciting fighter. He's in his losses. He's had, he has three. In those three, two of those were by submission and rear naked. And so that gives to me Tony this opportunity who hasn't been performing as well as we've all wanted him to. It gives him an opportunity to kind of to bring back some of that Tony Ferguson. And he is creative on

the ground. He is creative in his grappling. So to see if he can get past the hands and kind of and close that distance and get his hands on Lee and potentially get some sort of fun submission, I think that would be huge for him. And I think that it's very much needed. So that fight excites me as well. But yes, the undercard isn't the biggest names, but it gives these younger athletes, these up-and-comers, the opportunity to shine. I want to bring this question to you because you are a pro fighter.

You have been in the ring. You've been in the cage. This was brought to me this morning on our Twitter space to show. show talking about Tony Ferguson because he's had a rough go of it at 155, bad knockout loss to Michael Chandler in May, and he's coming back up four months later after that knockout to fight Li Jing Liang. So from a fighter's perspective, and you can interpret this question in whatever way you'd like, what is Tony Ferguson fighting for on Saturday? What is that stake for him at this point in his career? I think it's ending on that note. As a fighter, as an athlete, you believe that

you are the best and you never want to go out on a losing streak like he has on some of these performances. I mean, not too long ago, very shortly ago, a couple years ago, he was, you know, deemed one of the greatest ever and he was on this huge, lengthy, long win streak. And the other thing with Tony is he's an athlete. That is, he's a real elite athlete. He just wants to compete. He wants to test himself and he wants to improve every single time. And for these fights, he's had these last fights that were tough, man. That last one was nasty. He's just looking for redemption. And I think if anybody, he's proving to himself that he still is, you know, that he is that fighter that he's always believed him to be. And also not to go out on a note. No one wants to go out. No fighter wants to go out

on a note like he did in his last performance. So you need to come back and prove to yourself and also leave the game on a high note. So I think most importantly, this is to prove to himself what his abilities are. Jed, same question. What is El Kakuwee fighting for on Saturday? A paycheck.

I think he is fighting for something. He is grasping at straws to reinvigorate his career. I don't think it's going to happen for him. He's 38. He is starting to look quite old. I have always thought that his particular style would not age all that gracefully. And I think he's just he just doesn't have it anymore. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Like time comes for us all. We all lose our fastball. He was the second best dude in the world for a good stretch of years. It's incredible achievement, especially when you're just behind. one of the 10 best fighters ever. Like that's a hell of a run. I think he is, like I said, I think he is trying to find a way

to get back, to chase the magic to get it back. We've heard a bunch of fighters talk about, like retire recently. Donald Serney said this in his post-fight thing. You know, I knew that I was done a long time ago, but, you know, I talked

to these people and they said their biggest regrets were leaving their sports too soon or feeling like they had something left to give. And so he stayed in longer than he needed to. And he admits this that because I was trying to get it back. I was trying to chase it down and see if there was anything left, any juice left to squeeze out of this.

You heard Luke Rockhold say something very, very similar when he retired. I gave this my everything and I just don't have it anymore. That's Tony. Like Tony just doesn't have it anymore. He is still a good fighter. And if you gave him worse fighters to fight, he could excel and succeed, but that's not how he's been booked, and I don't think that's how he wants to fight.

That's why he's fighting a top 15 welterweight in his first time in the division. So I think he hasn't come to grips with it. And so he is fighting to either prove to himself that I am done or to recapture the magic and hope to do something. I just don't think he's going to be able to do it, and it's going to be five in a row. And that's a really, really tough hang. you see why this you see why i hate this event this event is bad vibes man like it's just really bad vibes

your top two fights are the end of cool people that are beloved and i'm not even a big tony guy i was a habib dude the whole time but it's still like this sucks like this is just bad vibes well the ufc is not the only game in town on saturday and maybe some of these other cards will give us some good vibes. So we will head to the final round of regulation. The point for round three goes to we got to stick with the good vibes. Pearl, it's two to one. Speaking the truth. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. It's just $39.99. How could I resist? This luxurious will throw for my

This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss? Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard? At these prices, could I find something for everyone at Winners? Stop wondering, start gifting. Winners find Fabulous for less. It's the matcha or the three ensemble Cadocephora of the FACs that I've been

to denishy who energize all the time? Hmm, it's the ensemble. The format standard and mini, regrouped, well, ben. And the embellage, too beau, who is practically pre to donate. And I know that I'd have to offer you.

these offer but I guard the Summer Fridays and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez. I'm sure. The most

best ensemble the gift is atop Shephora. Summer Fridays Rare Beauty, Way, Cephora Collection and

other parts of quick. Procurre you these formats and mini regrouped for a better quality price,

on link on C4. or in magazine. So we're going to play a fun game, a game within a

game. We're going to play a game of what would you rather watch because there are other events going

down on Saturday besides UFC 279. Let me just look at it here. We have which will be fun, not in the discussion here,

because KSW events are always fun, but it won't get that much play and interest here, which is unfortunate, because I freaking love KSW events. There's a big, it's a big weekend for women's boxing. So hopefully, and we'll see what happens

because we just found out that Queen Elizabeth passed away. So for those affected by that, apologies to all of you, so we'll see what happens with that event. But I do want to focus on two very different combat sport events that are going to get a lot of play here, as far as interest levels go for the website. We have BKFC 29 going down to Montana.

Main event, Britain Hart. She was supposed to fight Fannie Pallumpe for the inaugural BKFC Strawway title. We found out yesterday. Fannie has visa issues. So Teresa Sagala is stepping in on three days notice to fight Britain. Joe Riggs is on the card,

former UFC title challenger. He's fighting Josh Dyer in the co-main event and BKFC cards are always interesting to watch. Also, for those who are into this, and I know you tune into BTL just so we can talk about this stuff. More celebrity and influencer boxing. Social gloves. Main event, we have Austin Broom versus Aniston Gibb. Two people I've never heard of.

Nick Young, former NBA player, supposed to box Blueface. But apparently Andy Foster in the California State Athletic Commission was like, nah, we ain't given Blueface a license. So not sure what's happening there. Adrian Peterson versus Levion Bell is. on this card. So some little running back collision actions, some former running back greats. And what I just found out earlier, even Corey Wharton, who if you watched MTV's The Challenge, he's been on that show a lot of times. He is apparently also fighting on this card. So

Pearl, I'm going to start with you. If you could not leave your house and a magic genie came in and said, hey, I'm going to let you turn this television on, but you can only pick one of these events and you have to watch this event and you can't find out what's happening at the other. Are you watching BKFC? Are you watching social gloves? What do you pick it? She's stoic. Stoic with the question. All right, Jed, we'll go to you. Yeah, frozen by my downerisms. I'm really glad I get to go first because I don't think it matters. I think she's going to pick BKFC, but if she didn't, that would suck. The answer is social gloves. I don't think it's particularly close. I'm not. One, When half of, look, Britainheart's cool, but I'm a lot less interested in Britain Hart versus somebody on two days notice.

And when this next bestselling point you have is Joe Diesel-Rig, is the fight master himself. That's just continuing the bad vibes train because Joe Riggs still fighting in the year of our Lord 2020. I'm good. I don't need that in my life. I am not here to tell you that social gloves is good. I will also say, Mike, you definitely know who, and I don't know if I'm pronouncing this right, but Aniston Gibb is just because he is responsible. He is the first man Jake Paul defeated in professional boxing.

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. So he's responsible for all of that magic that has happened. I don't know who the hell Austin McBroom is. I don't really care about it. But I said this last, I think it was last weekend that I was covering whatever the other dumb boxing thing that was. And I'm not here. It's bad fighting.

It's obviously bad fighting. People, some people are very interested in it. I am not in general, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have some kind of morbid curiosity and interest because you have to think about it like this, right? When we watch M. We're watching elite fighters do elite things. The best, best of the best. Hi, you know, as Jose Young's likes to say, world class competition.

And that's great. and I respect the hell out of that. But I will also be just as happy to watch my two buddies when we're out drinking just start fighting each other. You know, we're in the backyard, we're knocking back a few. One guy oversteps a little bit. Other dude pops in the mouth. Now my two friends are wrestling around.

They don't know shit about fighting. I'll watch the hell out of that and laugh. And that's what this is, because I don't know who the main event of that. I don't know either of those guys, so that's less. But I damn sure know who Adrian Peterson Levy on Bell. is. And so then it just feels like I'm watching my two buddies who don't really know how to fight, but I at least have a history with. I know some things about him. I'm watching those guys' fist fight. Swaggy P. Nick Young is hilarious, just as an individual person. I only know about

Thadiana from Blueface, and I know that he's no longer even fighting. So I don't know who they're going to get for Swaggy P to swing on. But you get, if they can immediately find some random NBA player to beef up with Swaggy P, that was. will also be interesting and fun, at least in like the stupidest, lowest hanging fruit possible. And then, you know, reality stars, Cody Warren, baby, the challenge. Let's go. Like this is, these are people that I at least have some tacit understanding about, as opposed to the randos who are fighting BKFC undercards. And I don't have to appreciate quality fighting.

I can just laugh at the absurdity of it all. So give me social gloves all day long. That is going to be a hot take and no one's going to respect it. But I don't care. Influencer boxing is a thing now, and y'all just better get on board. All right. You heard the social glove side of the argument, Pearl. Are you on team social gloves as well, or are you tuning into BKFC if you can only pick one? I definitely would rather watch social gloves than BKFC.

I think that the main event is there's a little interest in the BKFC. I fought both of them. And I think that Sharisa taking this fight on three days notice, yes, she's a gangster for that. And she's done well. She has done well since I fought her, and she has improved her skills. She had a fantastic camp. She was supposed to fight Paige Van Zamp. She went out to Albuquerque and is over there at Greg Jackson's.

And so I'm sure her skills are slightly improving. This is a good weight class for her. She is a smaller 25er. and Britain obviously has been competing. She fought for the belt in her last fight and put on a decent performance against Ferreira. But this fight doesn't make any sense to me, so I would rather not watch it.

The social gloves, like he said, sounds exciting just because when you have non-fighters fight, their reactions to getting hit is kind of hilarious. Watching them trying to throw down it to me is just, it's funny, so that makes it exciting. But I also, I think what I'm most excited, for is the women's boxing man. That's a big, big night for women's boxing. You've got two big championship belts on the line. Michaela Mayer versus Alicia Baumgart. That's going to be a bomb fight.

And then obviously you've got Clarissa Shields. I don't remember the other girl's name who knocked her in her last fight. She knocks the girl out and goes running straight to Clarissa and says, I'm fighting you next. I'm knocking you out next. So those are two really big fights for boxing. This is a huge card for women's boxing, probably one of the biggest ever. That makes it really exciting. I'd rather watch that than either a social

gloves or BKFC. All right. Let's get the two shot. We heard the arguments. The point for round four goes to, I mean, look who's bringing the positive vibes now. Jed Bishu. I mean,

you might have just sold you might just sold the pay-s-s-a-view. KSW is the correct choice, but you wouldn't let me pick that one. Well, I mean, yeah, this is a low-hanging fruit show. Yeah, so I had to pick social gloves. That's right. Okay, so you know what that means. It means it's knockout round time.

And I have to say, especially with these two personalities here, I am very excited for this particular knockout round. One minute will be on the clock. They will each have the same amount of time to answer the question or maybe answer the question isn't enough here, but I'll go into that in a moment. But once that is over, we'll put a poll if it's not already there on the YouTube channel and you guys can cast your vote on who wins Jed or Pearl. We'll bring in Mr. 3024 himself, E. Casey Leiden on to announce the winner.

So Jed, you have the prerogative. What are we doing? I'm from the South. My mom raised me, right, ladies first. Okay. Pearl, we're going to have some fun here. The beauty of this question is that nobody understands. understands and nobody knows what we're going to do here. So you have been crowned the queen of

positivity. So I think you're going to have some fun with this. We are going to live in a really fun world. Okay. We're going to go into the future to a world that not a lot of people feel is going to exist, but we're going to put it out into the ether anyhow. You, while you're Pearl Gonzalez, for this next minute, you are going to be Nathan Diaz. Okay, you're going to be Nathan Diaz. And you just did the unthinkable. You just went in there. You took a beating from Hamza At Shemayev.

You flipped the man, the birds. And then you went out and you stopped him in the fourth round. You are Nate Diaz. You just stopped Hamzaat Shemayev in the fourth round. Joe Rogan's about to interview you, but you just take the mic out of his hand. You have one minute to be Nate Diaz. Speak on the mic. Cut that promo on the way out.

Your time starts now. I'm not surprised motherfuckers. I told you I was going to beat this piece of shit's ass. Fuck you, Dana. Fuck you, UFC. Fuck all you guys. I'm the real fucking fighter. I'm the realest motherfucker in here.

That's why I started the real fight promotion where all the real fighters are going to fight. And fuck you, Hamza. I'm taking your money. I'm taking your fucking people. Fuck all you guys. I'm out. I mean, that's actually perfect right there.

That's actually might be enough. And I regretted the question about four seconds into it because that was fire. And luckily, I don't think we could be demonetized. I don't know if Jed could beat that, which is even better. That was tremendous stuff. All right, Jed, I mean, these are the rounds you shine. But oftentimes in this game, when you have the champion's prerogative, sometimes it's great to go first.

Sometimes it's great to go second. You pass it on. You're probably regretting it right now. So, Super. Super. You just did the unthinkable. You just beat Hamzaa Chimayev.

You have the microphone in your hand. Go. Jake Paul, you're taking everything I worked for, motherfucker. I guess that's it. Like, I don't,

uh, fake-ass gangster. Ham, Kazmat. I, I just tapped him. Like, there's,

I don't even know. I'm so rattled right now. That was such an ass kicking. Oh. There's just. just no, there's no, she literally nailed it. Like, you know the scene in, uh, in old school where they're doing the debate and Wolf Feral blacks out and then the raging cage is like, I have no rebuttal. That was perfect. That's, that's my answer. I have no rebuttal of Peril

Gonzalez. I was perfect. Wow. That was like the final battle in eight mile right there where Eminem just spit fire. Oh, just hang up. Just quit. Just quit on the stage. All right. But listen. My real name's Clarence. Clarence from Cranbrook. All right. I mean, listen, we, you did get to speak and maybe your, your, your, your, your, your, nobility might sway the peeps. Maybe it'll sway the peeps in your favor.

Uh, you did allow Pearl to go first, Southern gentlemen way. So maybe they will, they will take that into consideration. So cash your votes right now. And while you do that, I'll waste some time. I will waste some time, uh, tomorrow or we get the press conference for UFC 279, which you watch on. May fighting a little bit later on today. Great website, right, Jed?

And then we have heck of a warning, 9 a.m. Eastern tomorrow. Great show. We're going to start a little bit earlier. And then we're going to have our live weigh-in show noon Eastern time for UFC 279. Preview show, 3 p.m. Eastern. So get ready for that. And then, of course, on, we'll have the ceremonial way-ins. Jose is on site.

Saturday. We'll have the People's Pre-Fight show, 5.15 Eastern Time. We'll take all your questions, get your thoughts until the first punches are thrown. And they'll have all your post-fight coverage, of course. press conference. And we'll have the post-fight show. And then on Sunday, AK and I live back here, 11 a.m. Eastern on Sunday for the matchmaking show, on to the next one.

So much going on over the next several days. Casey, have I wasted enough time? Yes, sir. Yeah, let's just do this. We go. This is a formality. Let's handle it up. All right.

One moment, please. All right. Do do do do do all right I'm gonna go to vote in do do do the numbers do the numbers all right closing the poll to the numbers To the numbers Your winner today on between the links is Oh man, it's gonna be a I got flustered to it by the way. I'm it threw me off to

Do you the queen of positivity Progenzanois there we go I mean it was almost a forfeiture at that It was ridiculous Why am I here? Why do I get paid?

Why do I get paid for this? Any monkey can do this Clearly for a one, geez Wow, well done foro Thank you for joining us You don't get any You don't get any money for the win But we do give you 30 seconds

To take the floor and talk about whatever you want to Talk about good, bad, and different MMA, something you want to plug for yourself. The floor is yours. Oh, my goodness. I just want to say thank you. And make sure you guys tune in Jorge Mazvidal's next icon show will be in Savannah, Georgia, October 15th. Incredible show.

We have Ilya Tepora's brother saying hello to the world and coming in and making his U.S. debut, which will be absolutely huge, Alex Skoria fighting. So tune in. We've got some big fights coming. I love how you said the magic words. You said the magic words, Pearl. Savannah, Georgia, baby. I can run the Savannah, Georgia in like a half an hour right now.

So I'm very excited. There's a very good chance I'll be in the building for that. Jed, your thoughts on what just transpired. I'll go, you know, being from Savannah, got a lot of friends and family. That sounds fun. I rarely believe that I lose this show because I don't. I mostly beat the hell out of anyone put across. for me. I'll take this one. I will take this L. Well done, Pearl. Wow.

Thank you. Pearl Gonzalez just humbled Jen Bichu. I didn't think I feel a lot like Marvin Latourri right now. We're just, I pick up the mic in Italian. Hey guys, sorry, he's really good. My bad. Like that's it. I know Marvin Vittory very well right now. Wow. Well, that said, Casey, you could hit the music. You can hit the exit tunes. Try to hit the like an absolute savage. But thank you for joining us. Big weekend ahead of us. UFC 279. All the coverage from multiple events on Saturday you can find right here on MMAfighting.com. We'll be back next week. 1 p.m. Easter. We'll do it again. So for Jedbyshu, Pearl Gonzalez, our new champion, E. Casey Liden on the ones and Tuesday,

iconic voice of Esther Lynn. Maybe we'll take you home. I am Mike Keck. We'll see you back next week between the links. Good night, everybody. This has been Between the Links, an MMA fighting production on the Vox, Media Network. The Vox Media Podcast Network.