MMA Fighting - BTL | Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry for MVP: Plus; Colby Covington's Gripes, UFC London, More

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Blockbuster news in the MMA world as MVP's entry into the space added a matchup between Nate Diaz and Mike Perry to the lineup headlined by Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. While the May 16 event hasn't ...happened yet, MVP has stolen the headlines. With the card on paper as is so far, are they positioned to be the No. 2 MMA promotion right now? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the impact of the Rousey vs. Carano card, the addition of Diaz vs. Perry, what it means for the space, and how the UFC will react — if at all. Additionally, topics include a massive performance for Kevin Vallejos this past Saturday at UFC Vegas 114, Saturday's UFC London event headlined by a huge featherweight matchup between Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy, Colby Covington's public gripes with the UFC, and much more. Join MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Jed Meshew as they answer your questions about those topics, and more 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

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:04 Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything, like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember, 988 Canada's Suicide Crisis Hubline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline is funded by the government in Canada. The iconic voice of Esther Lidd welcomes you to a brand new edition. of BTL.
Starting point is 00:00:56 Happy Thursday to us all. Hope you're all having a wonderful week. We are getting ready for UFC London. We had some big news this week. PFL is back this week. So much happening in the world of MMA and combat sports. And we appreciate you joining us once again. And joining me to discuss all the goings-on in the combat sports world.
Starting point is 00:01:17 He is the one and only Mr. No Gray area, the hot take kid himself. Jed Mishu. Hi, Jed. How we doing? Hi, guys. feeling fine. You know, we've got London this week. I mean, we can hop right into it.
Starting point is 00:01:32 As you can see right here, it's a four fight above blank, but I think we're going to change the name. I've been thinking about this a lot, and let's all be honest, the fart scale was a funny joke when it first happened, but certainly a little infantile. And maybe we need to not be talking about
Starting point is 00:01:50 fights above replacement tussles. So it's going to be fights above something. And I'm not sure. I'm considering several names, fights above contender series. The FACS is sort of the front runner. But, you know, if you guys have good ideas for what it should be, because I just, I feel like we can't do the Farts scale anymore.
Starting point is 00:02:09 We need to elevate. You can't live in the past. We've got to move forward. But the same core concepts exist. And we got four of them this weekend. Well, I mean, it is 2026. We've seen the modern day UFC's fight operations. fight operations.
Starting point is 00:02:25 We can call it the fan score. Fights above normal. Let's keep workshopping. That doesn't jump out to me. All right. Fair enough. We got time. There's no time limit on this.
Starting point is 00:02:37 Just something to put it out there. So fights above contender series is sort of the immediate thing because like contender series has sort of become synonymous with eh, which is the purpose of the system in general. And then, you know, facts is fun. It's a fun thing to say.
Starting point is 00:02:57 But, you know, it's not a bad card. It's a pretty bad London card. But I think some of these matchups this week are going to be fun. There's a PFL tomorrow that has some big stuff happening on it. And I doubt anybody in the chat wants to talk about either of those things, frankly. I mean, I got to tell you, man, this might be the, this is probably the most important. important event ever for the PFL. Like this,
Starting point is 00:03:26 they are not getting any headlines heading into this event. Whatever headlines they might have gotten were stolen by MVP and the Nate Diaz, Mike Perry announcement. And as you mentioned, the UFC London card is okay, but not spectacular compared to other London cards. Obviously, a high level main event that has big stakes. Luke Riley is a guy they're trying to make happen and he's damn good and he's fun as hell and he could become like the next sort of patty that they build up, like,
Starting point is 00:03:53 If they're going to London, Luke Rouse is going to be a part of the card. But man, PFL needs this card to not only, like, produce headlines. This card needs to rock. Like, you can't just be, like, a good card with, like, a fun co-main event. Like, every fight on this card needs to deliver. They got to do something here, Jen. Like, they have an opportunity here. They have an opportunity to win the weekend with this UFC London card.
Starting point is 00:04:19 It's possible. But, boy, like, this cannot be a. PFLE event where it's like we're only talking about it for three hours afterwards and then it's on to the to the next UFC event because next week like no one's going to be talking about it because we have the UFC Seattle and Izzy we got RAF with Armin and Georgio and Colby and Danis so like that's going to steal a bunch of headlines too to me like it is so important for PFL in this Madrid card those the title fight and AJ McKee and Adam Borch like this card needs to deliver for them in a massive way do you agree with that I don't know what to make a PFL anymore. And the truth is, like, I don't even know how it can deliver. And I want to be really clear. I actually support this card tomorrow a good deal. I think this, the PFL is doing things that we say we wish they would do, right?
Starting point is 00:05:09 They're taking their new champion, Castell von Sienis, the Spaniard to Spain. The UFC has arguably the biggest, second, third, biggest star who actively competes in MMA is from Spain. And they're still not freaking going to Spain like this. that is an unequivocally good thing to do. But so 1 p.m. on a Friday. Again, I can't stress this enough. The bouncing around of times is so devastating to the fandom
Starting point is 00:05:36 because half the people in our comment section, like I didn't even know there was a PFL on Friday. Yeah, they don't advertise well in general. And it's not like, oh, it's Thursday night. That's PFL night. It's you never know when, where, what is happening with the card. So that's a step in the wrong direction for them. And Mike, I don't know if you know this.
Starting point is 00:05:58 Something's happening. Starts today. Just a couple of hours. It's March Madness. And so tomorrow at one, most people on ESPN are not going to stop in at the PFL fights on their ESPN app. They're going to watch Villanova versus whoever Villanova is playing. You know, like that's just, again, it,
Starting point is 00:06:21 This is the story of PFL. There are real positives that I support and think that are good choices overshadowed by what appear to be a bunch of negatives that are much worse. Like, I don't know what a victory for them looks tomorrow. I can't imagine they're going to get to it. Because, again, it is good that you can watch this, right? Like, that has not always been the case when PFL goes abroad. This will be on ESPN.
Starting point is 00:06:49 The problem is, so will five NCAA tournament games. And people are going to watch those over this. That is simply how the world works. And so I think there are a couple of good fights. There's a little Bellator action here where it's like a ton of Spanish dudes filling up the undercard. But like, I will have it on. Tomorrow's my day off. I will still have this on and be watching it, especially because I'm climbing with the co-main event tomorrow.
Starting point is 00:07:18 and the top two fights, I think, are very good fights, frankly. I just don't, I don't know to put to your question, I don't know how this can kill it. I don't know what a win looks like for them tomorrow, but it seems deeply unlikely that they're going to get it. Yeah, I'm just getting a lot of the same vibes where it's like we're not promoting the card, but we're on Bloomberg talking about, oh, we're the glorified number two promotion.
Starting point is 00:07:44 Like, the strategy heading into these events, just has to be better. It has to be different. It has to get on people's radars. And I know this is an ESPN decision, but man, like, I know, I think they're on, I think the main card's on big ESPN. But on top of that, like, I mean, for those who cut the cord, like, you have to spend, like, 30 bucks a month to watch their product.
Starting point is 00:08:07 Like, it's so hard to do. And not a lot of people are going to do it. Hand up. I was incorrect. Apparently, March Madness is not on ESPN. Apparently they're going to get, I guess, I guess, CBS. CBS and. So they're not getting, but I just assume that because like,
Starting point is 00:08:20 fucking true TV gets March Maddenance games. I assumed ESPN also got it. But no. Okay. So hand up. I am dead wrong on that one. Hand up. Right.
Starting point is 00:08:28 But still, the timing is not great. People are still going to be choosing to watch that over the BFL event that they don't know is happening. But I mean, I guess that's at least a positive. If you were just on the ESPN app, it's this or I don't know what the schedule is, the NIT or whatever they have tomorrow instead.
Starting point is 00:08:47 Yeah. Big one. I think it's actually a big one. Dave, thank you. Dave's always the Santa Claus of MMA fighting memberships. Just giving them out. Snag him all you can. The wonderful Jose Young's is back from his well-deserved vacation. Spoke with him this morning about a couple of things to come to the YouTube channel members as well. So I think we're going to get the belts done pretty soon.
Starting point is 00:09:15 And a couple more emotes. So yeah. Join up. We're going to have fun. Oh, yeah. There's lots of stuff. We could do, uh,
Starting point is 00:09:23 this is cinema for the members. We could do all sorts of difference. If we watch, we're going to have to bring back this is cinema for beast, the one championship movie. Like there's just no way we don't. I need to talk to A.K. about that.
Starting point is 00:09:35 I'm actually, I'm actually working on speaking to the star of that film, uh, before it releases on April 10th. So St. Chachry sit, you don't, no.
Starting point is 00:09:44 No, no, he's not the star. Uh, Steve Matthews. Thank you. Will the full fight cards ever get uploaded to Fight Pass? Catching up on Paramount sucks. Individual vids reveal the length of fights and you miss out on other aspects of the broadcast.
Starting point is 00:09:58 Yeah, I see that as a people having an issue with the Paramount deal is you're not getting like entire fight cards. You're just getting like individual fights, but not getting like the full. Dude, the, the paramount experience has been stone trash. Like it's impossible to find fights. You're only getting certain fights. Like, it is, I, you just, it's garbage, but I don't know if they're going to fix it. Honestly, a lot of the Paramount to ESPN or ESPN to Paramount Shift has felt like they weren't ready for it because it's, it is not gone over as smoothly as you would hope in a transition like this to occur. But I don't know.
Starting point is 00:10:38 Like, you would think that if they are the sole broadcast partner of the UFC here, they everything would be easy. Like, I can go find episodes of Landman very easily, you know? Like, why can't I just type into the search bar Connor McGregor versus Joseo? And that is like it is, it is not a simple thing to navigate. And that is frustrating. Yeah. Be bad or Paramount. I know they don't really care.
Starting point is 00:11:05 It doesn't seem like they care at all. They do have Paramount's got March badness to worry about. So that's probably like way down on the list of things to do. so yeah this is the relationship right now Joseph Laurel Murphy and Mobsar of Loy ever fighting this week bobsar said winner lose he believes the winner will fight Volcanovsky john sylva said in interviews otherwise thoughts you've said this before that you feel that if movzar wins john sylva's fighting for the belt
Starting point is 00:11:31 and if lorone murphy wins murphy probably gets the shot right that's i don't want to the words in your mouth but it will depend like if he wins real boring then i think they're just going to let john sylva do it but i don't i don't I simply do not believe there's anything Momsarov can do on Saturday that will get him a title shot. I think the UFC actively hates him. And outside of them actively disliking him individually for reasons that are fair or not, like I'm not judging if it's fair for them to dislike him. It just seems very apparent that they do not have his interest in mind whatsoever.
Starting point is 00:12:08 Even setting that aside, like their personal issues with him, which I do feel it exists, they are promotionally not remotely interested in that sort of fight anymore. That has been made extremely clear in 2026. So unless he hits the most viral knockout of all time, like unless he Joaquin Bucky Ninja kicks Lerone Murphy, I simply don't think there's a world where he gets to, fight Volkanowski. I hope I am wrong. I hope that like I just did a moment ago, I get to put my hand up and say, I was wrong. I'm stupid. You're smart. I don't believe that that is the case. John Silva is a dude. They would be much more interested in having fight for a belt, hold the belt, etc. And to the, I think Moffsar only has two fights left on his deal, this being one of them. So I could be wrong about that. I am not saying that as absolutely true.
Starting point is 00:13:08 but assuming that is right, they'll let him fight this one, they'll give him one more, and they'll let him walk like they did Mahamahev. They're like, okay, man, go wherever you want to go. We don't care. We don't want to be in business with you.
Starting point is 00:13:20 And Lorone is not in the same boat because there was a push. He's coming off the very exciting, one of the knockouts of the year last year. I still don't understand why he didn't get a title fight. That felt weird to me, but if he can do something exciting, I think he'll get one.
Starting point is 00:13:38 if he ekes out of decision or wins a splitie, John Silva, come on down, buddy. You are the next contestant for Alexander Volcanovsky's featherweight championship. That's such Garbo, though. It really is. It's the worst, but this is just the world we live in, man. Yeah. I'm going to try to be on the more positive side of things.
Starting point is 00:13:58 I think if Movesar wins, he's going to get it because they want to, they just signed Volk to this big extension and all this stuff and, like, game a good deal like they're trying to lock up like some of their more important tooled players I guess because of everything that's going on and this new deal and they're trying to make like their their guys happy so to speak so I think of Volkovsky I think Volkovsky I think Volkovsky is just going to straight up be like no I'm fighting this dude and I know they gave Diego Lopez last time they can't do this again they just can't like they just can't so they sure can Yeah, they can't.
Starting point is 00:14:35 God. I would love that to be the case. But dude, they might straight up just sign it, like, during the fight. You might see the camera cut to Dana and John Silva in a room, like, middle of the fourth round of Mavsar's sitting on, on Murphy and just be like, and breaking news. Can you imagine? John Silver signs the contract. Can you imagine if Dana, like, after the fight, Mobsar is doing his post. if I didn't read.
Starting point is 00:15:04 They call a Volkovsky and Mosa are so happy they're going to do the face. So he's like, now it's calling John Silva. Yeah. They do the face up right in front of him. Like, you might as well just do that if we're going to do this. Like,
Starting point is 00:15:15 let's just watch his heart shatter in, on live television in that moment. Like, it's crazy. I think he's going to dominate on Saturday. He's going to kill him. He's going to, he's going to mops on the shit out of him.
Starting point is 00:15:26 And there's the thing, too, about this fight, like, and everybody is part of this, right? And not that it is not our job to promote. I want to be super, clear we say all the time it's not our job to promote but like until this week i didn't even and i like started looking i didn't it didn't strike me that this is a 19 and oh fighter versus a 18 and
Starting point is 00:15:47 oh fighter or whatever 18 and 1 whatever it is like i think this is the the most like the most undefeated matchup in ufc history you know like the two guys who have been undefeated for the longest. Like, this is unequivocally. I don't frankly think it's like, the only other argument is the BMF belt. But like if you're talking about like peak of their powers, because we, everybody understood that the BMF belt, those guys are much more accomplished, better fighters. But both Max Hollow and Charles Oliver are really not at the prime of their careers anymore.
Starting point is 00:16:28 You're talking about the best fight that the UFC has put together this weekend, headline Saturday. And they haven't done really anything to promote it. Nothing. Because they don't care in general and they super don't care if Evela wins because they're not trying to put this dude in a title fight, man. Yeah. They're basing most of their promotion on like what BT Sports doing, which is interviewing
Starting point is 00:16:52 all the UK fighters. So like Luke Riley's been like the biggest pushed star, even more than Lorraine Murphy. Like Luke Riley is like the most promoted person. They know Laurel Murphy is about to get sat on. everyone knows Laurel Murphy is about to get sad on. Matt, how long will it take MVP to turn into a top three MMA promotion?
Starting point is 00:17:13 They probably will never because they're not really going to be an MVP promotion. And I think that would be stupid of them to try and be an MMA, not an MNP promotion. An MMA promotion. What about perceptually? I mean,
Starting point is 00:17:25 perceptually, they're top number two right now. Perceptionally, they're number two right now. But like, I think somebody, I was talking about this a lot the last couple of days. And I forget who it was on, and if I remember, but was just like, yeah, they are, they shouldn't. And I'm fully on board. They shouldn't try to be an MMA promotion. They should just continue to be what they are.
Starting point is 00:17:50 It's like MVP's not really a boxing promoter. They promote events. And that has resulted in promoting several boxing events, right? But like, they are not trying to get a TV rights deal. put on 20 cards a year, they are promoting as they have fights that makes sense to promote. And especially in the current landscape, I think that's really the only outcome because, like,
Starting point is 00:18:16 it's not like PFL's doing great with their TV deal, right? And certainly not perceptionally, trying to sign a bunch of fights, fighters to a roster, put out a consistent product. Instead, I think MVP should just sort of do this. Like,
Starting point is 00:18:30 all right, we'll maybe put together, two, three, four MMA fights a year, fight cards a year, but they'll just be big special spectacles that people will tune in for.
Starting point is 00:18:41 And then maybe, you know, they decide to do like, basically like Misfits did. Like, right, misfits boxing was like, we're going to occasionally do random influencer stuff. And then they just sort of
Starting point is 00:18:54 built their way into being more of a promotion. And that's my view on how MVP should carry out. Do this. Keep doing this as long as it works. And maybe as time rolls on, you start to do something like you do an MVP challenger series, not challenger series, but you get the core idea there.
Starting point is 00:19:14 But perceptually, they're already there, man. Like this is, it's going to be the most watched of a event of all time. And it's not going to be close. Jake Paul's Contender series. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:19:24 I mean, exactly. You just do that, which would be hilarious. It's so funny. Just change the word contender. And you're all. set no lawsuits none of that stuff trade market Jake Paul's Wednesday night contender series
Starting point is 00:19:38 I love this so much yeah I think perceptually they're I don't know from appointment number two yet but they're they're definitely in the discussion most there are a lot of people who would put them above pfl right now not even a single punch being thrown in an mhm a fight which I think is a little crazy, but I don't know. Perceptionally, they are crap. I mean, dude, you got, they put Nate Diaz on a fight card.
Starting point is 00:20:03 The UFC couldn't do that. They got Nate Diaz in a fight card against Mike Perry. Like, that's perfect matchmaking as we discussed. This fight puts this over the top. For all the people who are like, oh, you know,
Starting point is 00:20:14 I don't want to watch Rhonda and Gina fight. Well, now you have, now there's a fight that's going to get everybody else to watch. This is going to get people into the door. So it was, like, the more I've thought about it, and I wrote about it,
Starting point is 00:20:24 I think it's coming out today. Like this is when we were talking about like what fights they could add and I think it was Duke Mad Duck in the comments was like they should do Tony versus Danis and we're like yes that's exactly right because it adds the extra spice that this car is lacking they did that only better because Tony Danis is also kind of a bad fight right like it's old ass Tony versus a guy who's never fought whereas like Nate Diaz Mike Perry is the same core concept you're looking for but just to have. significantly better degree. It's the perfect thing. You know, I don't think we've confirmed, but it seems that they are going to put Lorenz Larkin versus Jason Jackson on this card,
Starting point is 00:21:07 which I think is fine. Like, that should be a fun fight. It's not going to add anything really for the casuals, but perfectly solid fight to mix in. Parnas, too. I say there's, again, I don't know if we've confirmed. There's reporting that Saladin Parnas is going to show up in this
Starting point is 00:21:23 card. I think that is sensational work from them. Again, I think they should get Gable Steveson. I think they should get Akamoto on here, do sort of that thing, and should not go past eight fights, and we'll be cooking with real gas here. I'll throw this in there. This is different. Mike and Jed, tell us who are some of your first celebrity crushes.
Starting point is 00:21:48 Kelly Kapowski. That's it. I mean, that's, she's the one. Yeah, that's a pretty good. I mean, Topanga, who didn't also love Topanga and Boy Meets World, especially because that's a little younger than saved by the bell. I'm a little younger than you, so that timeline works a little better. Yeah. I never, oh, when Pirates of the Caribbean came out, I was in love with Keir Knightley.
Starting point is 00:22:17 I was like, that's the most attractive human beings ever lived. So. There you go. It's Kapowski all day. she sits atop the throne. I mean, certainly for, for your band of years,
Starting point is 00:22:31 that is unequivocally the correct answer. Like she is that, that, we're like a half generation removed. And she is like, of that half generation, she's the one who owned it.
Starting point is 00:22:42 I think Topanga might be pretty up there on mine. Also, whoever played the Pink Ranger and the Power Rangers, Tiffany something, I think her name was. You know, like the,
Starting point is 00:22:53 It's just the staples. Jennifer Love Hewitt from Lord of Paz through on the thing. Like, yeah, Jennifer Love Hewitt. She's a good one. Chase, how does the UFC get Bisbing and others to glaze them the way they do? This is a company with an 80-20 split in favor of the company, and somehow they defend it with a straight face. It's their job.
Starting point is 00:23:15 They are paid to do so. I mean, you will occasionally hear Cormier or Bisping say something, a couched criticism of the UFC on their personal channels. I don't think the UFC has really ever directly been like, you can't speak ill of us. So it wouldn't shock me if that came out. These are just adults who understand, like, you, all of you have jobs. And you all understand the, like, general ways to get ahead in your job or not.
Starting point is 00:23:50 And they are not stupid people. So they know to be like, oh, I have this. I am a high ranking official or whatever in the UFC structure. I won't trash them because that won't be good for my long-term prospects in this company that continues to put food on my table. Yeah. And honestly, if I think DC can do it. I, DC. He's more critical of the UFC.
Starting point is 00:24:19 But it's always couched. It is always this, but. the U.C. still rocks or whatever. Like on the, his video last night was talking about the MVP card. And he was like, look, I think this is great. It's great to have competition. Competition is great for the sport. I love that there are other organizations that can crop up so fighters can have
Starting point is 00:24:40 opportunities to make more money and do more things. And quite frankly, all this is paraphrase. He's like, frankly, I don't think Nate Diaz or Mike Perry would be as big of stars as they are right now if they had stayed around in the UFC the past few years because they wouldn't have had the opportunities they've had. But then he finishes, he sandwiches it with the, look, they're not as good as the OC, but all of this. And then compliment sandwich as you,
Starting point is 00:25:06 or opposite of a compliment sandwich, I guess, however you want to phrase it, he goes, but this ain't as good as the White House card y'all tripping. You know, like he knows how to play the game. Yeah, and it depends on how you look at it. Like, fight by fight, White House is better. Like if we're looking for like technical mixed martial arts at its highest level,
Starting point is 00:25:27 then yes. If we're comparing that, then yes, the White House card is better. But in terms of like name value and all that, like it's not even close. And who's got how many people are going to watch it? It's going to blow every piece is going to blow the White House card out of the water. Like it's going to be wild. Now with Nate being on the card, I'm incredibly fascinated. by what the final tallies are going to be for this card.
Starting point is 00:25:53 Because Nate is a star star. He's not just, he's not, like, Justin Gachie is a, is a UFC star. But Nate Diaz is like a star star. He passed, Justin Gage doesn't pass the public's test. Nate Diaz passes the public's test. That's going to get a casual audience over way more than the White House card is going to get. The White House card is about, oh, they're doing fights at the White House. Oh, I'll check this out.
Starting point is 00:26:19 But the MVP card just, it's so different. So and DC's right. But DC also has like a future outside of the UFC. Like if he said something that was bad and the UFC's like, all right, we don't want to work with you anymore. He's like, all right, cool. Like he's fine. Daniel Cormer will always have work. He will find himself on some big morning show couch drinking coffee and interviewing celebs. He's fine. Bisbing, however, it does not have that future. So he needs he needs to hold on to this tight real tight. Plus and this is a little advice for all of you out there. You got to know. know where you're at, right? So not everybody can do this. But and the thing about Cormier and a tenant that I think is very, very important to carry to your work life is you got to be a good hang because people won't work with good hangs. And D.C. is a good hang, right? You know, like he is. So they're going to give him a little more rope to maybe be a little critical.
Starting point is 00:27:17 As long as he's not outright, you know, going full. Luke Thomas, the UFC is terrible or whatever. They're not going to have an issue with him occasionally, you know, having some issues or picking some things that they could improve or do better, as long as he's not doing it on a public broadcast, right, or not a public broadcast on a company broadcast. If he were to criticize the UFC while sitting in the booth, someone would talk to him.
Starting point is 00:27:45 But on his personal YouTube channel, he can be a little critical, as long he's not too critical, because he's earned the capital to do that. That's how it works in any job. If you are a new hire, don't go into your job and be like, man, there are some parts of this that suck.
Starting point is 00:28:01 Just put your head down. But you've got tenure, you have established rapport and relationships, you can have a little more flexibility like he has. Agreed. And yeah, I mean, comparing the two is,
Starting point is 00:28:17 it's just, I mean, it's not really fair to compare the two. honestly, because of the positions they are in outside of the sport. So a lot of people chiming in on the celebrity crush, Kelly Bundy all day. That's like, who is Kelly Bundy? Christina Applegate on married with children. So I know I've watched some married with children, but that is not one that hits for me.
Starting point is 00:28:38 But Christina Applegate, obviously a stone cold assassin. Yeah, like, so the way. I get it. I get it. Yeah, the way that like Topanga, like Kelly Kapowski was like a senior. when Topango was a freshman and then you were coming in that class. Kelly Bundy was the senior and Kelly Kapowski was the freshman in my in my world. I've seen some married with children, but I haven't seen like all of that show.
Starting point is 00:29:03 I've seen all of Save by the Bell. Oh, yeah. I've seen all of Boy Meets World like seven times probably. Yeah. You could now you can, but you couldn't put married with children on on TBS from one to four in the 1990s. You just couldn't do it. People would have a problem with that. Nicely done.
Starting point is 00:29:23 My mega mango. Which fighter consistently proved you wrong, win or lose? From 2023, I got every Aljo fight wrong. I was so confident in him beating Sean. I went to sleep before the main, knowing my five-leger was safe. That's a tough. I respect that level of honesty. That's a great question.
Starting point is 00:29:43 Let me think. I mean, so there are definitely a few, right? Like, there are absolutely a few. I'm trying to think of there's, because the first one that jumped out at me and is entirely possible is the correct answer is Amin's a hobby. Yeah, I mean, come on. And so we're clear, I'm going to continue to pick against him because he's not good. But he has, especially the last few fights, I want to pull up my Amin's a hobby pick history on Tapology and see like, how have I done? because I think it's pretty
Starting point is 00:30:19 oh wow he is definitely the right answer holy I have only successfully picked him one time and that was against E Richie Lang
Starting point is 00:30:33 I have I have picked against him every other time he's fought and oh no I did pick him to beat Vince Morales and he lost Vince Morales but So that's part of the question, though, right or wrong.
Starting point is 00:30:49 On his current seven-fight win streak, I picked against him six times. Wow. I think he's the correct answer for me looking at that. I knew it was bad. I didn't know it was that bad. I mean, it's probably Patty for me. Although I feel like I still should have got the Jared Gordon pick correct. Yes.
Starting point is 00:31:10 After the Jared Gordon, when I stopped betting against Patty, because I was like, okay, maybe I'm just wrong. And that has been a good. And also it was even more transparent what they were doing with some of those fights. Yeah. I mean, I picked Patty to beat Bobby Green and I picked him to be Michael Chandler. But I picked Tony Ferguson to beat Patty Fimbled. I picked, you know, like I said, Jared Gordon and others. So I believe I picked Justin Gageby, Patty.
Starting point is 00:31:34 So I was correct on that one. But yeah. Plus, I just had a terrible read on Patty from Jump Street. And you proved me wrong. So good for Patty Pimble. And I've had some horrific like one fight takes. Oh, I mean, we all have some bad ones that John Willie was just going to kill Valentina. That might be that is never.
Starting point is 00:31:57 That's the most recent one that was pretty tough. That was the tough one. But at least like that is, you know, you go back and you weren't the only person who felt that way, you know, like so you got that going for you. But everybody gets one wrong. Yeah. I now have a lot more confidence in Amosahe is a hobby to beat Sean O'Malley because I don't think. he has a chance to beat him. And I've been the most wrong about him.
Starting point is 00:32:20 It's a hobby. I think Gage is bigger than Nate, but Nate got free from the UFC. Justin won't bigger, like a bigger star than Nate? Not a chance. If you think he's a bigger star than Nate, that is absolutely. Not a chance.
Starting point is 00:32:33 Like, no, no, no, no. No, no. Gagy's getting more popular because he's branching out and he's doing the golf stuff. Like, he's getting more popular. But like, Nate. He's just been around for a while. His most exciting fighters ever lived. but like Nate B. Connor, that's the biggest thing you can do.
Starting point is 00:32:49 Yeah. I've, trust me, I've covered, I've covered Nate fights. I've been to events where Nate just walks in as a fan and a spectator. The world stops when Nate Diaz walks into a building. Like, I'm not just saying that as,
Starting point is 00:33:02 this is not even like me exaggerating. Like, when I covered Jake Paul Tyron Woodley, the rematch in Tampa, no one cared about what was happening in the ring. But when Nate Diaz showed up, 15,000 people stopped what they were doing
Starting point is 00:33:17 and they all pointed like, oh my God, that's Nate Diaz. And the whole night became about, we got to get close to Nate. We got to get near that guy. It's. Nate's one of the biggest stars in the history of the sport.
Starting point is 00:33:29 For sure. And he's a star outside of it. NFL, like everyone knows who Nate Diaz is. Gaechie is, I'm not even certain this is true, but I would say that Gachie is more popular than Nate was before Nate beat Connor. but the beating Connor thing like people I think people just do not remember that Dustin
Starting point is 00:33:51 boy wasn't that famous like he was famous and and beloved in MMA circles and he beat Connor twice and he got real famous like that's it you beat Connor and you get real famous whoever was that once called Connor McGregor a pinata was like correct you hit him and if you break him it's great and that's it like it's if you don't then you look stupid that's just sort of it like maybe gachi is probably more famous than Nate was before he beat Connor he's not remotely more famous than Nate is now it's a great question uh lazy bed mike if you're picking a WWE manager pastor present to be beau Nichols mouthpiece who would it be boy boy that's that's tough I mean there's there's three you go to immediately I wouldn't
Starting point is 00:34:37 do jimmy heart Bobby it's Bobby hean and paul hamit or jim cordet it's one of those three because they're they're just the best they're the best sure i have nothing to contribute you know heyman is though i know who paul hayman is i i i have i know the name bobby hean is he an older wrestler or like not he's not alive anymore he no he like a mouthpiece like way back in the day oh yeah and like yeah the best one of the best and he became a color commentator and was jim cornet i think was like the oldest of the three because didn't he have a wrestling promotion the Vince McMahon bought out? Uh,
Starting point is 00:35:17 Smokey Mountain. I don't think he bought it out, but, um, they bought the library to put on like the network and stuff like that. So, but I couldn't pick Jim Cornett or Bobby Heenan out of a crowd of two. Yeah. Heenan came before Cornett and then Cornett and then Heyman. They all kind of like, again, the Kelly Kapowski, Topanga. They all were just like one after the other, like a half a generation before one another.
Starting point is 00:35:39 So yeah, but Bo needs that so badly. golly does he need somebody find anybody though i don't care who it is just get anybody to speak for you and i think you're going to be fine you'll get over you'll be great speak speak very very rarely well if you're watching uh i could talk so um weird lore drop uh one of my neighbors is the voice actor who uh plays creaker and archer um his name is lucky yates he's great guy. And I was talking with him this past weekend and he is apparently a pro wrestling fan and he is like, the thing I want to do most in life is to be a mouthpiece for AEW wrestling. And I was like, lucky, I don't know. I don't really, like I could, I could probably get connected
Starting point is 00:36:28 somehow to AEW if I had to, right? But like, I can find you an MMA guy who'd let you do it. And so, uh, bro, if you would like Krieger to be your mouthpiece, let me know. Yeah, you need some tryouts, man. Get it done. Get it done. I'll tell you what, man. The more I talk about Bo Nicol in this Kyle Dacus fight, the more I'm, I love this. I actually love this fight.
Starting point is 00:36:53 This might be my favorite fight on the entire card because of what it all means. Like if Kyle Dacus beats Bo Nickel, Kyle becomes like a superstar, not a superstar, but he becomes a star. He becomes like the talked about guy coming up the rankings at 185 pounds. And then Bo's done. Like, Bo is just done done, if he loses. loses this fight. So I'm fascinated by it all. And I think Kyle Dachs is a really good chance to win. And then Bo putting out that whole, hey, Colby, we could still fight at the White House. Let's call Hunter Campbell together. It was just like, oh, why would you do that? Like, that's just the dumbest thing to say.
Starting point is 00:37:29 Ah, come on, man. It's so frustrating. It's just so frustrating. Like, think about where we were at with Bo Nicol when he came off Contender Series to where we're at now. It's just, it's wild. It's wild. And most of it is just self he did it by himself there's no screw jobs there was no this or that this is all like decisions he has made in order to just i don't know what he did i just don't at no point do i feel like yeah he just sat there and like role played this stuff and rolled this all out and was like yeah this is a great idea this is going to work i i don't think he thought that deep and the issue is like and now i genuinely kind of feel every fight is make a break now because he's getting older and because he just hasn't fought enough that like losses are
Starting point is 00:38:17 really bad setbacks whereas if he was just a dude who would fight six times a year you know be way better served be way better to at least have one year where he just threw five down and was like okay we're in but now what's happening uh what else we got what else we got uh Kyle Doc is a cool likable guy hilarious social media page yeah he's one of those like loki real funny dudes yeah he's he's got a little Arnold Allen to him just kind of like yeah seems like he'd be fine to have a beer with yes uh masters mike and jed three things this is just smart just laying out three uh how do you rate the uk card on a whole two is this an important fight for shem considering he didn't impress a lot of people in his debut three does bobsar
Starting point is 00:39:03 of loev have Lego hair well the card on a whole is my vana white right here it's a four that is the card on a whole four fights above whatever the remaining parts of that are going to be and I do think the main event is awesome like I'm really even though I think that that fight could be boring
Starting point is 00:39:28 there are levels of intrigue I have about that fight because I don't think monster is an idiot and so maybe he does a pulls of Curtis blades and just tries to be exciting and if he does that fight could get real bad real fast for him We don't know.
Starting point is 00:39:44 So I am, it's a nooner, love a nooner, you know, and there's some fun fights. I think we'll have fun. Too many fights, several of them are relatively meaningless. So it only has the options. Or the other parts of that question? Is this an important fight for Shem Rock who let people down? I mean, that's a hard way to phrase it because yes. I mean, he came in to the.
Starting point is 00:40:12 UFC, he didn't really have, like he was hyped, but he wasn't good. So it was real weird for me to be like, I don't think he's that good, but he's a, you know, he's an next gen guy. So they're always going to have a little bit of extra juice to him. This is a, what are the odds? It's pretty close. It's like a coin flip. Al-Sauai is the favorite. Because it's not a set up fight, but Al-Sawadi hasn't fought in two years.
Starting point is 00:40:37 So they're giving him a very winnable matchup in that regard. So yeah, he has as much as most people on offer on this card. Yeah. I mean, there's a couple things. There's a couple of things you can defend here. There's really actually really only one. He fought in a rule Aliaf who's really good. I mean, that dude, that dude's a problem.
Starting point is 00:41:02 So it's not a shame that he went out there and just got dusted up. The problem is he has not fun. anybody. I thought anybody good and he's like 30. I think the best record of the guys he's beat is 32. Sorry. 7 and 1. A lot of O and O's, 2 and twos, 3 and 3s, 5 and 4s,
Starting point is 00:41:27 16 and 11s. Like this is, this is where we're at. So yeah, I think it's a big one. I think if he loses, he's out of the UFC. Like I feel pretty confident in that. Like I don't think the line is, unless you're unless you do the harry hardwick thing and you get your jaw broken and don't go down
Starting point is 00:41:46 and just have an absolute banger that'll keep you on but if he just goes out and it just loses a 3027 like he's done he's done and then mozar does he have lego hair a little bit honestly i've never considered it because in my in my mind that's always just like the beetles haircut kind of thing but yeah i mean like it's it's lego hair Yeah. Bo is the Lance Storm of M. I don't. At least,
Starting point is 00:42:17 I was the Canadian guy who had like no personality. But then they were, all the wrestling companies were like, you know what? Just get on the mic and just have no personality. And then there was a gimmick. Kind of a gimmick. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:31 And then the. Also, his name is Lance Storm, which is the most pro wrestling name or like dime store novel name of all time. Then WW was like they kept trying to pair him with different people to like make his personality shine a little bit and it was just incredibly awkward, but it was just him being him. So that's pretty. Oh, I miss this. Shab calling him Dukakis as in former presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
Starting point is 00:42:59 That's spectacular. Hell yeah, he should he never. That's like nobody, like no fan even knows who Michael Dukakis is at this point. But man, that's, that rocks. I remember being a youngster. It was probably like seven or eight walking around Boston, maybe a little older. I was a little older than that.
Starting point is 00:43:19 And I was like with my parents and like some family members. And we, they spotted Michael Dukakis like just walking in the city of Boston. So I guess Michael Dukakis over there. And I was like, oh, shit. There we go. It's Michael Dukakis still alive. I haven't heard from him lately. Yes.
Starting point is 00:43:38 Seems like he is still alive. good for him all right uh he is 92 who that is an old person no wonder i haven't heard a lot from him lately he's 92 more bow nickel stuff uh does bo nickel have ex-pock heat at the moment do you know what i know what x-pac heat is you guys have explained this to me i don't think that he has ex-bock heat i don't think he's there i think there's a general malaise towards him but nobody's like actively upset him. Yeah. Boy, if there's,
Starting point is 00:44:16 if there's anybody who has been close, it's him. I think at one point Patty had Xbox Heat. I thought the Jared Gordon fight, he absolutely had Xbox Heat. I mean, I don't think it's justified, but I'm pretty sure Aljo had Xbox Heat
Starting point is 00:44:30 after winning the belt via DQ. Yeah, that's true. To me, that was like the first time it was really explained to me of like, I was like, oh yeah,
Starting point is 00:44:40 people genuinely do hate him. Not his fault at all, but man, they hate him. Yeah, at least with Bo, like, at least with Bo, they want to see Kyle Dawkes just like beat the hell out of him. So they at least care to a point that they want to see him lose. So Xbox Heat is like, we just don't want to see you at all. Yeah, go away. I don't think we're quite there at Boe yet. No, I don't think we're there.
Starting point is 00:45:07 I mean, I'm kind of there, but not quite there. I don't, I never don't want to see you compete. I would just want you to stop speaking. This is actually a great question. Build your perfect three-man commentary booth for the MVP Netflix MMA card. Mara's going to be there. I would be stunned if he's not. You know Maro is going to be there.
Starting point is 00:45:27 And I think I'm probably okay with that. I'm not in love with it, but I'm okay with it because he's sort of just like a staple, you know, he's going to have some real silly lines. But maybe that's okay. It's okay to have silliness. Um, Marr, you and me, we'd have a great time.
Starting point is 00:45:47 Me, you and Mara? Yeah, me and Mara. Let's, let's have some fun. Mara would never be able to speak. It'd be incredible. Yeah, we rock. If they put Mike Goldberg on this card, I'm going to lose my shit. If they do or don't.
Starting point is 00:46:01 If they do, I'm going, somebody put Mike Goldberg in the chat. Like, they put Michael Bergen, like, what are we doing here, boys? Boy, that would be, that'd be a great, that'd be a funny decision, though. Dude, put Bain. I mean, Bain is basically the young Morrow, right? Like, Bain's entire thing is just being who Morrow would be if he were born 30 years later or whatever. That's, I want to be clear, that's a compliment because I love Bain and you know I love you, Bain. So put the two of them together and then, I mean, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:46:34 I was trying to think, like, give him like a real fighter who won't suck at it. I don't know if Frank Mears still is good, but once upon a time he was quite good in a booth. that like like Frank Mere with Morrow and Bain might kind of work but I just have no idea what Frank has to offer in this regard anymore it's been so long since he's done this or at least since I know he's done it I put like Bain's not the lead guy I don't know if I'd put him in there but if there's like it's a bit of a hat on a hat with Morrow I just kind of want to see how that looks yeah like bane should be trying out ridiculous each other will be great bane should do like Bain should be a part of it though. like let marr the floating reporter that's aerial though they're not going to be the floating reporter oh how dare you um bane can do the call ban can do play by play for the prelim fights give him a shot and and uh we lead into netflix and if there's a big moment we got ben saying something awesome they're going to do morris i'm just going to put him in there i like they're going to do morrow they're going to do like jimmy smith oh i like that's fine i like i like jimmy
Starting point is 00:47:42 Did Morrow Jimmy and Frank Mere? I'd be interested in seeing how that worked. I bet it'll be like Morrow, Jimmy, and Randy. But Jimmy's, I think Jimmy works for PFL now. Does he? I know he's done some cars this year, but I don't know, like, what his status is. I bet they put Randy in this booth. I bet Randy gets in the booth.
Starting point is 00:47:58 And I don't want them to do that, but I bet that happens. They should put Holly Holm in the booth. I don't think. I don't think that's right either. Holly home has never been a person who's the best at speaking. So I don't think that that would be ideal. Misha Tate would be much better. Yeah, Tate's, I think Tate's called some fights before.
Starting point is 00:48:18 And she's, from what I remember, she should be better at it. But I don't know who. Hmm. Yeah, I'm curious how that all plays. I think we're going to see a lot of the same people from the boxing events. What? So y'all know, I do my, I have my little office in front of the big window in front of my house. somebody has been out in the big open space in front of my house, filming something.
Starting point is 00:48:49 It's unclear what I've been mostly doing this and not paying attention, but they're like, you know, so it's a small crew, I think really just taking like establishing shots and sort of like, this happens all the time in Atlanta. You get film crews that try to film or either scouting locations or whatever. And so they've been sort of doing stuff around. and they literally just walked up and obviously they can see that I'm doing something. They don't know what I'm doing.
Starting point is 00:49:18 And so, you know, there's a dude with a big camera and a tripod and another dude and he just looks at me and nods and then turns around and stands in front of my house while the guy with the camera sets up opposite him. I'm just like, I mean, I guess I'm not going to stop what I'm doing. but like, come on, guys, what's happening? Is this do or die for MVP? Does he have to beat Sam Patterson? Why do you think the matchmaker didn't give him a ranked welterweight for London?
Starting point is 00:49:53 Buddy, this is the fight I am the most confused about on this whole card. I don't understand it. MVP is coming off a win over a guy who is currently ranked in the top 10 at middleweight and has gone back to Welterweight to fight an unranked dude on a winning streak. Best guess the UFC wants Sam Patterson to win. Also, fighting a duty lives like five miles away from or something. Like, they could just go train together. It would be fine.
Starting point is 00:50:22 I don't get it. Obviously, the best case scenario for the UFC is that Sam Patterson wins here, but I think this is a tough fight for him to win. I don't. And then it's just like randomly tucked as the feature bout instead of letting this be the co-main. Like this my only read on this is the MVP has pissed off the UFC somehow because that's the this is the only thing that kind of makes sense to me and I don't know if he pissed him off because he doesn't want to stay at middleweight and they're like well fine then go fighting unranked well to wait you idiot but like I don't I don't get this at all. Yeah they totally like they have they have botched the whole MVP thing from Jump Street since since they announced his signing where like they didn't. make a big,
Starting point is 00:51:07 Dana just showed up, pissed off at a press conference. Like, yeah, MVP's fighting in Miami against Kevin Holland. He's assigned to the UFC. What's the first question?
Starting point is 00:51:15 Like, that was it. And there's been kind of a sour taste in his mouth ever since. Now, he's not the most active guy. He's not the most exciting guy. So I get that.
Starting point is 00:51:29 He's not the most exciting guy. But they could have done something more than especially in this region of the world. He's a star. Like, people do, he's one of the few fighters that people know outside of the UFC, not like a ton, you know, but like if, if MVP was not currently employed by the UFC,
Starting point is 00:51:45 he would make perfect sense to go on the MVP Netflix card. Like, he's that level of known commodity. And honestly, the only thing I can assume here is that they were like, okay, you, we gave you a wealth to weight run and you lost. You bumped up and you got some good wins at middleweight. Let's try and make a run here. And he was like, I don't want to do that. Because he said that he doesn't really want to take fights in middleweight. He was just doing it to stay active or whatever, which is obviously incredibly stupid, the dumbest thing possible. You have a run over a top 10 guy. Like, why wouldn't you push that? So this is not based on insider knowledge. This is just me reading the between the lines. I think they tried to give him a middleweight fight. And he was like,
Starting point is 00:52:31 I don't want to do that. And so like, fine, fight this dude on a nothing card and a nothing position, why are you stupid? Because if this feels like petty booking and not wise booking in any respect. Yeah. MVP winning would be really funny though. I think he's going to. Yeah. They're trying to get Sam Patterson over.
Starting point is 00:52:52 Like that they're definitely trying to. So it's also bad booking to get Sam Patterson over. I don't think he wins his fight. It's a very difficult fight for the skills that Sam Patterson brings to the table. I agree. How many people have worn a striking contest with MVP? Very few. like one, like one person
Starting point is 00:53:09 has actually beaten him in like a full on striking contest. But you can take him down. Logan Storley did that. That's what he and Machado Gary did to him. But you know, Kevin Holland got freaking cooked. Jared Canineer got freaking cooked. Charble.
Starting point is 00:53:23 Like Lima is like the only dude who won a striking contest and he was losing until he killed him. And kind of in a weird way that he killed him. These dudes are directly in front of my house. Now this is hilarious. So like Sam Patron is not like a great wrestler. So I just don't know what the hell is going on. I hope that whatever they're shooting is purely,
Starting point is 00:53:46 because they are filming actively right now. I hope that what they are shooting is just something for, you know, a location scout because otherwise I'm just stone in whatever this thing is that they're making. It's actually it's they're doing behind the scenes of Emma fighting. I mean, that'd be kind of sick. A little BTS. Joseph. Rhonda and Colby acting like children because they didn't get on the White House.
Starting point is 00:54:13 They're both whining about UFC pay. Rhonda told Hunter Campbell to F off. I mean, Rhonda has said literally since day one, she would never fight on the White House card. Yeah. She's been asked that for well over a year and said, no, I'm not fighting on that effing car. No effing way.
Starting point is 00:54:33 I don't. it's not about the white house it's ronda ronda is mad about how the ufc had approached her when she wanted to return yeah it was a pay-per-view she would have made a bunch of money they wanted to do it and then they went to the new streaming thing and looks like hunter came with her with a different offer at least this is what i assume and she was just like no i'm not doing that uh now colby's been out quite a bit and he's pretty pissed that he's not on the white house card it's not even he's pissed that he's just been he's not fighting at all like he's he's he's saying that he's not offered anything uh in regards to competing in the ufc's been hasn't been offered anything since
Starting point is 00:55:14 the buckley fight that was a long time ago that was like a year and a half ago we were approaching here and nothing so hopefully next week i'll i'll find out a little bit more uh from colby i think he did a stream with neon and he kind of like jumped on that a little bit more but the gimmick kind of went away with the neon thing which i kind of liked you know it's just him just speaking from the heart it looks like he's mostly himself on that which is great and hopefully when we chat next week we get more of that which should be great but is this why like do you call this uh acting like acting like acting like a child because this is just it's not a bit just a pissed off fighter like just saying she's angry and and saying it that's not acting like throwing a tantrum and colby to me is like
Starting point is 00:56:01 Colby's closer to throwing a tantrum, but it's not throwing a tantrum. It's closer than Rhonda. Rhonda said, okay, you don't want to employ me. I will go get employed elsewhere and I'll put you on blast because you suck, which is fine. Like this is, Hunter Campbell seems to not be doing the best work right now. No. It's my broad take on this. Like, because it does really feel like Rhonda wanted, they wanted to do this. the UFC and Hunter for whatever reason was like no or no only at this price and that's
Starting point is 00:56:39 dumb like just like that is maybe maybe there is a financial correctness to it where it's like okay they want to get paid this much we're a monopoly so we just don't have to pay anyone anything but like it's just dumb man it's just real like why wouldn't this be a fight under your umbrella Yeah. And now you're going to watch. So you're giving somebody else an opportunity to do this. Yeah. It's funny insane.
Starting point is 00:57:06 You're going to see the numbers come out. 20 million people are going to watch this event. And they're going to double you up for the White House card at least. So just bad decision making. And then Colby stuff like, I mean, look, I have the same position I have when it comes to John Jones at this point. If you're not going to fight them, just let him, let him go. like what do we keep it on if you if you're not offering him fights if you're not allowing him to compete why do you still have him on the roster then like just let him go fight somewhere else what's the
Starting point is 00:57:38 problem if he's not that valuable to you then what's the point of keeping him on the roster i don't get it i really don't understand what's going on here i'm stunned he's not on the card like i'm really stunned like if they weren't going to do the bow nickel thing that's fine but why wouldn't you do wonder boy like there's plenty of things that's things you could have done here. It's super weird to be, but, oh, well. Again, these, it doesn't seem that hard to book fights and just do this, but they don't. Bring back Joe Silva.
Starting point is 00:58:12 Joe Silva was, by all accounts, a terrible person and awful to work with, but he gave us good fights. Yep. Which outcome would be more surprising if MVP gets a slick submission or if Mozart gets a K. I think it's MVP by a mile. Yeah, it'd be quite shocking. Like, Balsar could get a K-O.
Starting point is 00:58:32 B'Zar get crack, man. He can. Yeah. I genuinely think there is a real potential. And the reason I didn't like climb with Mowbsar, if Mofsar wants to win this fight, he will win this fight. I think this is a walkover for him. I think there's very real
Starting point is 00:58:48 potential that he has heard the various criticisms, both overt and suggested. He understands his position in the UFC and he says, okay, if I win, what does that mean for me? Maybe I'll just, I'll do the Curtis blades and I will just go swang and bang and see if, and because I can still win that way. And if I win that way, maybe I'll curry favor. And so I think there is very much a chance that that happens on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:59:15 I hope not. But it is why I think Lorraine Murphy has a chance. Because if Moussar comes out to be full Moussar, I think Lerun is cooked. Yeah, I think he's going to 5045, Lorone, maybe a 4946, something like that. I don't think this fight's going to be all that competitive. Lerone has not been a good defensive wrestler. Like, Pico got him down twice, which I didn't even realize. He got back up and he's like pretty good.
Starting point is 00:59:42 He's not great at it, but he won't let you like sit on him forever, except for Mowstar is very good at sitting with people. And he's huge. And he's much bigger. But like he gets taken down like a lot, like a lot, a lot. this is a weird card like there could be some very weird fights here dude austin lane still has a job making he's dropped all the way to 205
Starting point is 01:00:07 how the frig is he doing this my biggest question for this is is he going to make weight because he's enormous he's like six seven dude iwo i won't get on the horn with the ufc and get on the horn with austin's people and say hey man what are we doing here you don't
Starting point is 01:00:24 don't cut to 206 let's do it at 215 Let's agree to it. I let him cut to it. If he can cut to it, the first punch will make him crumble. He's not like he's durable anyway. He will crumble like a sandcastle. But my concern is, my concern is he tries to cut and that he goes all the way to 211, misses weight, and then they just don't let him fight.
Starting point is 01:00:44 And then I mean, Ewo, who's one of my guys, I need him to do well here. I get a bonus. We don't. We're all screwed. It doesn't matter. I think AK is running away with this. And I've had a great season. and AK is running away with it.
Starting point is 01:00:59 Yeah. But all those guys have already fine. He's got a couple of coming up. Yeah, but they're all fighting again. All right. He already has like four dudes booked to fight again. He is, I think he's running away with this one.
Starting point is 01:01:10 Credit to him. Great draft. We'll see. We thought that last time. And then Waldo Cortez-A-Costa became a thing. And we still got half a, we still got half a cycle to go here. I mean, we do.
Starting point is 01:01:21 He has Pereira, Hokit, uh, van. Hokeet's probably going to lose. Do you think Hocus is going to lose? I think he should lose, but I don't know. If Hokeet wins, we're all in very big trouble. I think Pereira can win. He's got killing Saul killed, who is definitely going to hang another 200.
Starting point is 01:01:41 He's going to hang another 250 points on the board. He's got to win. He's got some dudes to play. I got Waldo coming back. I'm very excited. We got guys coming. A tape is about to fight. It's still competitive.
Starting point is 01:01:55 but I think Damon's probably dead in the water. I think he's dead in the water. He's got three who scored zero, and I don't think Islam's fighting. And it doesn't seem like Islam, Connor, or Zhang are going to fight this cycle either. So he's got a lot of stone whiffs. That's true.
Starting point is 01:02:15 What else we got? What else we got? Is the Paramount era arguably the worst era? Water down cards, lower caliber, lower calibs. UFC talent thoughts. I mean, it depends on how far you want to go back. If you want to go to
Starting point is 01:02:33 the dark ages before Zufo purchased the UFC, those last like lean years at SEG, those are, I mean, those are pretty bad.
Starting point is 01:02:44 Even in hindsight, like those cards are, I mean, there are positives to it, but, but as far as like modern MMA, modern UFC,
Starting point is 01:02:56 this has, been the worst four-month stretch I can remember. I'm not saying it's 100% maybe you could dive through the history books and I'm like you look at all these fights they were trash but this I think it's going to get better I'm pretty pumped about Miami. I'm trying to I'm trying to remain optimistic right um there is there are some bright spots on the horizon at least right. Like, I think Miami looks like a really good card.
Starting point is 01:03:31 Like, just straight up a very good card. Newark, there's enough there that's good. I'll get over the main event part of it that I'm mad about. And there's at least some good things happening in Newark. White House is a good card. It's a bad card and I hate it, but it is objectively a good card. So we've got enough on the horizon that we'll pick up a little bit. but this has been a tough start to this new era
Starting point is 01:03:59 yeah what this what what the UFC's year has been even with the bigger cards although Miami's I think Miami is the best the best thing they've got put on on the record right now which is pretty much an annual thing Miami is always a bagger that's the thing again Mike I'm gonna this is going to be my new soap box forever four majors baby we do we do Madison Square Garden International Fight Week Miami and then one other. And Noce is our waste management open, you know? We got those three and I don't know what the fourth one is.
Starting point is 01:04:35 Because Miami's usually in the early. You get IFW in July, end of June-ish. You get November for MSG. So you tuck something in September that's not Noce, because nocha is our waste management. And four majors. Let's roll. It was always like the last pay-per-view of the,
Starting point is 01:04:54 year was like a 10. I mean, for them. Yeah, because they, well, they were building off the like every year pride New Year's Eve show was awesome. And frankly, I wish that that was a thing. Like here, that would be so sick. But in the absence of that, we'll take, give,
Starting point is 01:05:12 give us a January pay-per-view and then the April Miami visit, right? Like the first pay-per-view of the year, mid-January. I don't know where that is. We need to find a consistent location. for it. Vegas. It'll be Vegas.
Starting point is 01:05:25 No, no, no, because international five weeks, Vegas. This is, in the major construction,
Starting point is 01:05:30 we got to have four locales. Frankly, if you wanted to do like February, I mean, you could do L.A. into a dome.
Starting point is 01:05:38 If you want to do like February Australia and really start pushing behind that, but they won't, though. Those cards are awful. I know they won't,
Starting point is 01:05:46 but that's it. We need the January pay-per-view, we need to find a good location for it. L.A. Something. L.A.
Starting point is 01:05:52 is not bad. But we'll put a pin in that because LA is also harder to book because people don't like to fight in LA. And the UFC probably doesn't love to go there. That's it. And Miami is one of the four majors and we're cooking. Yes. I agree. I agree with that.
Starting point is 01:06:11 Yeah. This year has been, this year has been you hit a great drive, Jed. Like you hit a great drive. I know your game's in a tough spot. I'm figuring some things out. but you're like you finally you hit that good drive right down the center of the fair we get all of it you're like 110
Starting point is 01:06:28 yards in you're like I'm going to hit a gur here and then you hit one you push it a little right you're on the green but you have like an 80 foot put you're like yeah it's good but not great that's that's that's what the UFC is right now they are they are the approach shot to like
Starting point is 01:06:46 a 70 foot birdie putt it could go in and it'd be electric but for the most part you're probably going to miss and there's a good chance you three putt from that distance. So that's kind of where they're at right now. It's a shame. I hate that like it's a bummer that the fan base is so down on the product right now. Like, because it's not going to do anything.
Starting point is 01:07:07 Like you had a chance. I remember going on a people's pre-fight show, I don't remember which card it was. They announced Derek Lewis versus Rodrigo Nassimento was the main event of UFC St. Louis. That's a tough one. And I implored people. I was like, look, if you want to make a change, if you really want to be the people who say, like,
Starting point is 01:07:27 it's because of us that the UFC decided to, like, get off their ass and try, don't buy a ticket. Just don't go. Sell, like, sell a thousand tickets. Then see what happens when they put a card like that is, but together. But now it doesn't matter because all the fans, they're catering towards everybody else but MMA fans now. With fight cards, with ticket prices, with all of it,
Starting point is 01:07:51 Like with their promotion, the way that they're trying to get eyeballs on the product, none of it has to do with us. They don't want us in the door. They want the people, they want the influencer people who make money playing some frigging gambling app, rain bet or whatever. Like that's what they want in the building to just sit there and be like, oh, he's here, he's here. Oh, we broke a gate record. But the crowds are dead and they don't really seem to care.
Starting point is 01:08:17 And it's such a bummer man. Like we're just such in a bad spot right now. now Miami. Yuri save us, Yuri. You can do it. He'll always save us. He will always save us.
Starting point is 01:08:27 We just need them to care a little, not even a lot. We need the London and the, really the London card needs to be good every year. Because then that can be our players, you know? Yeah. So we get, because we need, you need the players. You need to waste management. And then you need the four majors. And I don't, I don't know what our masters is.
Starting point is 01:08:50 I mean, I guess our master's is Miami is in April. That kind of tracks. Fives are a little different there. Vives are a little bit different there. But, you know, we just need one more major. And if anyone at the UFC would ever fucking listen to me, this would be, yeah, like, you can still have these other pay-per-views will be fine. But, you know, we need a SummerSlam, WrestleMania,
Starting point is 01:09:13 world rumble. And I know you've told me that there's a fourth big pay-per-view for pro wrestling. And I don't. Survivor Series. Survivor Series. there you go. Is that the one with the cages? Now it is.
Starting point is 01:09:23 Oh, okay. I don't know what that means than what it was before. But yeah, because that's the one that just happened, like not that long ago. Like, that's where we need to go with the UFC. And I'd be so pumped because I'd be like,
Starting point is 01:09:34 all right, we got a card this weekend, whatever. It's the same as the Val Spar or whatever the shit's happening this week. The RBC Heritage. You know, yeah,
Starting point is 01:09:43 RBC Air, exactly. But in a couple of weeks, we'll have the Masters. You know, we'll have Miami. And that'll be dope. can't wait for the masters the players electric it's just so good oh abu dhabi i mean
Starting point is 01:09:57 abu dhabi it's not right now we're not doing that right now yeah yeah in general abu dhabi has been like a historically pretty good card i don't think that this year that's going to happen um talking about going there in july at this point that's just not a thing that's going to occur they are they should reconsider those plans um just Throwing it out. Maybe we table Abu Dhabi for next year, you know? Yeah, maybe that's a 20-27 thing. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:10:27 Yeah. Survivor series used to be, it would be like four matches, and they were all the same. They put like four or five random dudes together against four or five random dudes on the other side. It was always the baby faces versus the heels. And if you pinned a dude from one team, they would be eliminated. And then whoever team had anybody left after all the pins and submissions like wins. that's kind of an interesting gimmick it was an interesting gimmick
Starting point is 01:10:52 and then they tried to do too much with it and ruin the whole thing and now then they just... But I like that gimmick because as a teams that's a little rider cup and you know we could start every couple of years do a rider cup
Starting point is 01:11:05 the White House card could be the rider cup right USA versus versus the world every two years we do a USA versus the world card be great we could have so much fun we could have so much fun if they would let me make fucking decisions for them
Starting point is 01:11:19 Yeah. And they always had like fun names. Like if Hulk Hogue was on a team, that's the Hulkabaniacs versus the perfect team led by Mr. Perfect or the million dollar team. Like they all had, oh God, the gobbledy cooker. Yeah. All of that, man. Like I only know the name the gobbledy cooker from the Jordan Breed show intro. I don't know what that is, but R.P. Jordan. The gobbledy gocker was, it was that, I believe the 1990s Survivor series, they had this egg in the middle of. They were presented. There's this giant egg and they're wondering like who is going to come out of this egg. There's all this. And it was a turkey. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:11:57 It was someone dressed in a turkey costume as the gobbled. You goker. Like the big giant egg at Survivor series was the UFC 300 main event of the pro wrestling world. What's it going to be? Who could it be? And then they're waiting. Your socks are going to get blown off. And then you get a dude dressed in a turkey costume.
Starting point is 01:12:15 And that was it. Awesome. Crazy. Way to go. Way to go pro wrestling. The Seattle Supersonics are back. Well, so they have voted to do the expansion, which makes total sense. I haven't gotten the alert yet, so.
Starting point is 01:12:27 I said purry is PIN, so I'm guessing that that is break, break news. Good. Seattle absolutely deserves that, so I am proud for them. I think I don't follow the NBA much anymore, but it seems very obvious to expand to 32 teams. 30 is such a weird number of teams for an athletic league. Um, so yeah, good on them. Oh, and Chuck Norris has been hospitalized after a medical emergency in Hawaii. Or was the hospital Chuck Norrisized?
Starting point is 01:13:01 People are saying, uh, we, we wish the best to, uh, to Chuck or should we say to the hospital? Uh, hope you, hope you're pulled through. Good luck hospital. Golly. It's awesome. Uh, do you have anything else? No, Damon, Dame, poor Damon. state's getting cooked by TCU right now. Oh. At half time. That's a shame. That's a shame.
Starting point is 01:13:27 All right. I think we're good here. I think we've hit everything we've needed to hit. Let me see if there's anything else. I think we're good. I think we're good. Dope. Stunned that nobody mentioned it,
Starting point is 01:13:41 but since I don't think I'm on the preview show tomorrow, I just want to point out that Curtis Campbell is getting specialty shorts in his U.S. debut, which is probably the only time that's ever going to happen. And deeply funny because Bryce Mitchell shows up.
Starting point is 01:13:59 Maybe, maybe Gable. But like, Bryce Mitchell had to beg, borrow steel and plead for like years to get camo shorts. And this random ass dude off contender series, his gimmick is pink shorts,
Starting point is 01:14:15 but it's not like a great gimmick. It's like, my dad bought me pink shorts. I became the pink panther. Not like, I wear this for children or my mom with breast cancer. She's like, just happened.
Starting point is 01:14:27 And they're like, yeah, sure, give the kid pink shorts. It's fine. There you go. Closed mouths don't get fed. That's how you do it.
Starting point is 01:14:36 We will have a preview show tomorrow. I just don't know when because PFL is like on in the afternoon. That's a great question. Yeah. We'll have to figure that out. We'll make it happen. Maybe it'll be early in the day. Maybe we'll do like late morning or something.
Starting point is 01:14:48 But we appreciate you guys listening. tuning in. We'll be back. I don't know what's, I think Jed is going to be in the hot seat next week and have to try to wrangle somebody in. Oh, because you're going to be in Florida.
Starting point is 01:14:59 I'll be in Tampa for R.A. I didn't even consider that, but yes, we, I can, now that I have at least some experience in this, I feel some level of confident, we'll do something.
Starting point is 01:15:09 But yeah, I guess that does mean I'll, I'll figure it out. So stay tuned for that, everybody. We'll see you next week. Good night. Love y'all.
Starting point is 01:15:16 We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Thank you.

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