MMA Fighting - BTL | Ryan Garcia, Jose Aldo's Return At UFC 301, Mike Perry Shines Again, Paul vs. Tyson Sanctioned

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Another UFC pay-per-view event is upon us with UFC 301, and with the incredible UFC 300 event preceding it, the card is in an unfair position. But Alexandre Pantoja defends his lightweight title against Steve Erceg in the main event. Can Erceg pull off the upset, and if he does, what does that mean for the 125-pound division? On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel previews Saturday's championship contest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with Jose Aldo's return to the octagon in his final promotional contracted bout against Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event, and other notable storylines. Additionally, they'll discuss Ryan Garcia reportedly failing a pair of VADA drug tests in relation to his upset win over Devin Haney, Mike Perry's quick knockout of Thiago Alves at BKFC KnuckleMania 4, what could be next for him, Conor McGregor becoming a part owner of the promotion, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match being sanctioned as a pro bout, and more. Host Mike Heck and MMA Fighting's José Youngs answer your questions about those topics and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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-fi 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. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2, 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 reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian

in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi 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 two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. MMA Fighting Studios, this is Between the Links. And now, your host, my...

The iconic voice, Sylvester Lynn, welcomes you to a brand new edition. of BTL here on another Thursday as we're getting ready for another UFC pay-per-view event. Not the greatest UFC pay-per-view of all time for being honest in terms of star power, but I still think it's going to be a fun watch. Plus, a whole bunch of other stuff going on.

No Jedmishu this week, which I found out late last night. So I had to tag in my fellow East Coaster, my fellow Red Sox fan to jump on here and answer your questions. A special Q&A edition of the program. It's Mr. Jose Youngs joining us from New York City. How are you, sir?

I'm great, man. I had a killer back day today at the gym. First one in a long time. I'm dreading tomorrow's leg day. But we persevere. Here for some UFC 301, Tom. Yes, we do. I, uh, look,

UFC 301 is happening, but there's a lot of other stuff happening right now. So I might as well, I know, right? Let's, um, we're going to, answer obviously all of your questions for the next hour or so, but something dropped last night, Jose, that I'm sure you are well aware of. The story of Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney just continues to get weirder and weirder and weirder. The build, everything Ryan Garcia did in the buildup to the fight was very weird. The fight itself was very weird, but still good. And now the aftermath has gotten even

weirder because Ryan Garcia according to our article here at M.AFindon.com, test it positive for the ban substance, osterine, and two drug tests with VADA in relation to the April 20th bout against Evan Haney. Dan Raphael first

to report the news on Wednesday. Garcia tests positive for a pre-fight urine test, on a pre-fight urine test April 19th, as well as a post-fight urine test April 20th. Ryan Garcia ever since has been on Twitter tirade just denying this left and right.

Oscar Delahoya and Golden Boy Promotions has also come through and done the sand. So your reaction to all of this. And how would you rate your surprise levels on a scale of 1 to 10? Hmm. Surprise level 1 to 10. Probably like 8.4. That makes sense. I'm surprised just because, like, Ryan is, like, he was big, but, like, Austrian is used.

to like you come in three pounds overweight after using austrian that's a little weird um if he was going to test positive or something i didn't think it would be that because that's a really good uh banned substance you know for losing like fat and gaining muscle so like it you basically you can lose weight but get stronger type situation so i was surprised it was that i am surprised you know i guess i was my reaction was it was weird timing because like earlier in the day oscar del went on that tirade against Canello at the press conference, and he brought up his failed drug test. And then, like, a couple hours later, his fighter, Ryan Garcia tested positive for Bansompsis.

So I was like, I mean, it's something is, something weird's going on. So I have no idea if Ryan had a tainted supplement or not. I went to his Twitter to see if, like, he was saying stuff, and he just doesn't stop saying stuff. So it's like, I don't know how, you have to weed through the weeds to get to the actual truth. then I feel like that's going to be a bit before someone actually gets to the bottom of this because Ryan is going to deny, deny, deny, deny.

And he's going to say it in very aggressive, vulgar, like, words. And Devin Haney put out his statement saying, like, oh, you know, Ryan cheated the fans and this and that, blah, blah, blah. So, you know, he handled it, I guess, professionally. Ryan is, you know, doing Ryan Garcia things. But I was, A, I was surprised, I guess I was surprised that it was Austrian because he did drop Devin Haney three times or like three, four times in that. fight. So the strength was clearly there, but he did come in overweight. So I don't know.

So I was shocked it was I was shocked he tested positive for what he tested positive for based on what we saw in Brooklyn if that makes sense. Yeah, and you obviously brought up a really good point. Austrian has, you know, even though

it's a banned substance, it's been commonly linked to a lot of tainted supplement cases in the past when it comes to this stuff. So, you know, we don't know if there is, quote, unquote, cheating or anything of that nature. But this just, it just screams this story, though. That's something weird to happen. Everyone jumps down Ryan Garcia.

And then it wouldn't shock me if Vada clears him or something strange happens. And they're just like, yeah, we went through everything. He turned in the supplements. He provided all the proven documentation. Like, he's good. Win stands. And for all those people, because I've seen a lot of comments saying, like, oh, because like you said, it was like a pre-fight drug test too, like, oh, if they knew it was a positive test,

why they allow the fight to happen. I'm like, and it's not that, like, people think like, oh, you pull blood or you pull like saliva or whatever and then you like drop it into a beaker and then it changes color and then all, oh, Austrians there. It's not how it works. It's not just like an overnight process. It's not like a let's shake this thing and see if it changes to color blue and then it's a positive test.

It takes time. You've got to run actual test. So yeah, he could have taken this like two days before, the test two days before and the results would have come out. when they came out. So for everyone saying, why did they allow him to fight if they knew it was a positive test? They probably didn't know who's a positive test till yesterday or whatever they found out. It's not that, it's not as simple as people think.

It's, it's, that's the point of random testing. They don't want you to take, they want you have to have this fear of, oh, if I, I could take this whenever I want, but I could also get tested whenever they want. So yeah, I don't know. Like, so let's put that to bed. Well, I don't think Vod. or any of the governing bodies knew. Like Ryan Garcia wasn't walking to the ring.

And the commission was like, oh, he's tested positive. It's not how it works. Just let him go. Just let him go. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. Let's make this money. Yeah.

I think Caleb Platt actually tweeted this out. It's not a pregnancy test. It needs like at least 72 hours to form like an official results. And then usually when you get a pot. When you get results or something, they usually run more tests. So it's not like they got a, oh, this tested positive cut and dry. Like let's run some more tests so we can get confirmation and, you know, scientific formula, scientific formula.

Yeah, he can run B samples. I think he has like a 10-day period to exercise that option. So stick with us. We'll let you know what happens. But super weird day in boxing. And a lot of it tied to Oscar Delahoe in some way. For all we know, by the end of the week, Devin Haney is once again an undefeated fighter.

Yeah, it could happen. Crazy. The O did not have to go. It didn't. I mean, it just, like I said, this is just another chapter on their tail. It's going to be one hell of a 30 for 30 someday on the rivalry between these. Oh, one more thing about this, because I saw some people tweet me about this. Does this situation as of right now, if it stands and, you know, it becomes like a no contest or whatever, the O goes back for Devin Haney?

Does this make the rematch any bigger with this part of the story? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think so. Like, anytime you add another layer of drama to anything, it becomes interesting, like the John Jones rematch with, like, D.C. Or when John Jones fought again, like, that was a conversation. That was a talking point, you know, when John Jones fought Alexander Guffington. Overnight, the story became bigger because they had to move it to L.A.

So anytime you can add a, you know, I don't remember. I don't remember what the reference was like a drop in a pool, Olympic-sized pool. Was that what John Jones said? Whenever you add a drop. It's like an eye-dropper at Olympic-sized pool. Whenever you add an eye-drop of drama into an Olympic-sized pool of a story, then yeah, it's going to be more.

If they do rematch, especially if it's in New York or wherever, like, regardless of where it is, it's going to be a much bigger deal. That's for sure. And I bet more media turns out, and that's going to be the whole topic, conversation. Bill Hayne, he's going to go on the mic and bring it up, and Oscar's going to defend him, and it's going to look weird with Oscar Delahoya going after Canelo

and then having to turn right around and defend his fighter also had a positive test. What a year it'll be for Golden Boy. Yeah. I know, and it's crazy because, like, Golden Boy was like, had never been, in like the last, what, seven, eight years? Has it ever been as red hot as it was until last night? Like, Golden Boy was on fire. And all of a sudden, like, Ryan Garcia just might have, might have ruined it all.

Oh, man. Unbelievable. Speaking of unbelievable, let's bring in E. Casey line on the ones and twos. He'll bring up your questions. Hi, Casey. Hey. Great job in that smoker, by the way. I saw, I forgot to bring this up to you.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. You were punching away. Overhand, just spamming overhands. Yeah. Yeah. He was a little, he was taller than me. So I was like, all right.

Jab high, jab low. jab low overhand and kept kept repeating it and then occasionally threw some left hooks yeah it was fun it was fun yeah that remind like a couple like was it I think last week was the 11 year anniversary of my last amateur of May fight and every time I see Foise

I'm like that was a painful day because I don't remember half of it it was a it was a it was stressful like setting getting it getting there and all the kind of the pre-fight pre-whatever stuff yeah once it was Once it was done, though, it was like, man, that was about to get in a fist fight.

Yeah. A fist fight in like kind of enemy territory. I was, I was visiting a gym. So I was kind of fighting one of their dudes. So it was a, it was a good stress. I don't know. I kind of missed it. I kind of hated it too the whole time.

But it's a, it's a, the fielding afterwards when you're done and like, you kind of win. And you're like, oh, man, I could just relax now. It's good. But thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the compliments. Of course. All right.

Of course. Do the questions. All right. We've got a couple of super chats. Get those in first. Chat out of super chatters. Joey, any sliver of a chance of no Bickles stepping in against the leads A. Also for co-main event, Kayo, what does he need to become a mainstream contender just a win?

So obviously a couple of questions there. So Jose, some heartbreaking news. This one bummed me out so much last week. earlier this week. Anthony Hernandez injured. I believe it's a hand injury. He's going to be out at least to later on this summer. And man,

every time he gets momentum, he books a big fight and then he gets hurt. And then we see him later on the air. And then that momentum comes right back. He might even get like a nose up on where he was before. But he just can't like consistently stay healthy enough for him to really go on a run. Big fight against Roman DeLidezzi.

And now Roman DeLie doesn't have an opponent. What would you rate the chance? chances of the UFC giving Bo-Nickel a call and saying, hey, man, you want to jump in with the sharks? Here's your chance. Roman DeLieze might be a bit of a jump. That he is very good at mixed martial arts. Like, he's only lost to really high-level fighters.

I mean, but there's always, like, maybe they do one. Like, I mean, but I say that. But then, like, Alex Pereira fought Sean Strickland in, like, his third UFC fight. So, I don't know. maybe they just Roman Deleu also just might be a bad matchup for Bo Nicol Roman DeLizze is a very good grappler he's a strong dude, he's Georgian

I'd say the chances are low for him to fill in now I think there's a if he does fill in against Roman Delizzi I bet they just push that fight to the Conrad Greger card and give Bo Nicol like on that Connor Chandler card on June 29th rather than June 1st and give Bo Nicol the rub

when all the eyes are on that pay-per-view I bet that could happen. But in terms of filling in on June 1st, I think that might be a little low. But you never seen that with Booneckle. He's not the biggest middleweight too, so it doesn't seem like he cuts a ton of weight. You like this idea, Casey, or do you think it's a little too soon for Bo? I don't think it's too soon for Bo. I want Bo to fight a legit top 15 guy.

I'm kind of tired of it. I'm kind of tired for the Bo Nickel buildup, but I think June 1st will be too soon. I can see this fight being booked. and maybe putting it on a pay-per-view, maybe July-ish. June 29th. I think, well, because the July pay-per-view is in Manchester, and June 29th is the international fight weeks. And they seem to like putting Bo on these big pay-per-views,

like 300 international fight week, the December card. So it wouldn't make sense. Yeah, delete. And if Bo Nichols on a pay-per-view, I mean, on a paper-view, we expect them to be on the pay-per-view card. Yeah. I, they can't do a Cody Brundage-type fighter

for another pay-per-view. you. Maybe they will. Of course, they can do it. I just hope they don't. If it is Bo Nicol versus Delise, that fight does make sense, I think. But June will be too soon. International Fight Week is perfect, though. Yeah. I mean, if it's not

Gerald Mearshard, then I mean... I also didn't hate the idea of because Bo Nichols said he wanted to fight sometime in August. Because I think he's a new dad, if I remember correctly. But he said maybe August is when he would want to fight, and that's in the Australia

a pay-per-view and I brought that up he's like I'll fight in Australia I said go fight Jacob Malcolm L'Conin in Australia then yeah Jacob malcoon wants that fight so it's been kind of trolling away on social media so and I do like that fight not not like Roman Vliz it would be a more interesting fight but I think Jacob Malkun will sell that fight more if that makes sense like if that would be a bet that would could be Jacob Alcun is already kind of trolling bone-nickel a whole lot I've been more people would be interested in that fight for the buildup rather than the actual fight. Yeah, the Perth crowd would be like...

Very, very anti-Boneckle, which I would also like to see. I like see Bo-Nichael fight where he's not, you know, this all-American guy in America fighting. Yeah. And then for Kyle Barallio, of course, he's fighting now blonde Paul Craig, who had a great media day scrum yesterday filmed by our own Guillermo Cruz, telling stories about how he would get drunk and do backflips and land on his face. But he says if he knocks out Kyo Barallo,

he's going to do a backflip and land it. So there's a part of me just because I want to see if he can actually land a backflip. I would just like to see that happen. But Kyle Browler is really good. He's a massive favorite. He was a co-main Avenger coming off the Contender Series, Jose, in his first two UFC fights.

That has just been kind of like dwindling on the main card. Like, yeah, he's on the main card of a pay-per-view right now. But I don't know. I feel like he's got something there and I feel like the UFC sort of tried to give him the rub but for some reason it just hasn't caught on just yet. So what can Kyo do on Saturday in this fight with Paul Craig to help get him there or does he need more than just a win over Paul Craig?

I mean, winning solves everything. You get half your paycheck and you remain undefeated in the UFC. What would that be like six in a row? Six and a row. Six and oh. winning in the UFC is already a very hard thing. Winning six fights in a row where your level of competition gets slightly higher every single time and especially on the main card is also very hard to do.

He needs one of those performances where like we say it all the time, you need to win in front of your home crowd spectacularly so you can get that like Darren Tilling Liverpool, Steep Bay and Cleveland, what was Dumbay in France. You need something like that. He can't go out there and just pull off like 30, 26. Like, I mean, winning solds everything. But if he goes out there and like head kicks Paul Craig,

knocks him out or chokes him out or submits him in Rio, that would be best case scenario for him. But winning solves everything, six wins in a row, in a very active middleweight division right now. Because the middleweight division since January has had, the most like main event type against guys in the top 15 just keep winning and you all just keep getting there i think what do you think he's a he's been a victim of the apex that's it you just it's really hard become a star to break out in the apex um and since he doesn't and he doesn't

really have like a big rivalry if anybody because people love rivalries people have storylines there's no real storyline of him other than he's winning and he has no rivalry and he's fighting the I think, so he's fought for Endeavour or whatever, five times the UFC, two times contender series. So six of a seven walkouts in the UFC, under the UFC umbrella, consider series, too, have been at the apex. So, uh, well, he's had two. Two, one of them was at USC 280 in Abu Dhabi, and then he fought in Brazil on the Jailton

Almeida, Derek Lewis card. So that was a, that was a fight. Oh, okay, okay. I think it was in Sao Paulo, but that was also an. incredibly forgettable card. Okay. Like that was not a good card. And unfortunately he's, I mean, yeah, I think he's on a kind of a forgettable pay-per-view.

But Paul Craig is a, he isn't a type of opponent. When Paul Craig loses, he kind of loses big. So that's, I guess he wins big, he loses big. So you kind of remember his. So if, if, uh, uh, cow wins, uh, it should be member. He's the main event on the main pre-le main event, correct? No, he's on the main card. Oh, he's on the main card.

I know. Okay. He's not even a co-main. Oh, all right. Oh, it's just kind of on the main card. Yeah. Yeah. Well.

It's got to be Jose, but I mean, look, no, but like 301 is like he's, well, I think he's kicking off the pay-per-view, right? He's the first fight on the paper. Okay. That's not even like outside of the main event. Like, that's probably the best one to have. that's like the best spots I have first fight of the pay for you yeah having to follow josie al though is like not fair to pan to have to having a fight lead into josie al those not that for it

it's yeah 100% people are just going to be kind of antsy to see josialdo i'll tell you what else is going to help cairo and i know josei loves when i say things like this uh he's got to be better on the mic man especially after wins his call out of drickus du plus e just i mean any air that was in his tires just afflated in everybody's eyes. They're like, oh, good performance. I'm going to fight Drickus Duplice, who is about to go fight Sean Strickland for the middleweight title. And everyone's like, ooh, that wasn't good.

So just be a little realistic. Throw a bullseye, land it. And let's go. Plus have a good performance. I think that's going to help them. All right. Thank you much. Thank you, Joey.

Joey. All right. Do, too. Boarding 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.

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means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Fahim, who do you want to see end the year as featherweight champion? I mean, I don't...

Who do I want to answer? Well, I'll rephrase this for you, Jose. who is who would be the most interesting person as champion at featherweight at the end of the year going into 25 most interesting yeah ilia will sell illia will draw more eyes for sure max would be very interesting because then you'd have that fourth fight against vulcanowski i think max being the champion open max oh max winning there would be a would be interesting because I don't think that was really on the table until February no one thought Max was going to be

a featherweight champion again if Max fought I'd probably after saying what Max did to Justin Gagee I'd probably pick Max Holland to be Iliate's court like that Max was unbelievable I mean probably Max because then he could become a double champ right after like he could essentially be

he could essentially be the normal contest of two divisions right now knocking out the rightful number one contender of just like gachi and then if you you know ilia and him or john back and forth so max or ilia for two completely different reasons competitive wise and martial arts wise i think max would be far more interesting in terms of eyeballs around the world the answer is in yeah 100% what do you think casey oh uh max max max i just i just want to see max get a i want to see max's champion i want to see max go for two belts i want to see everything for max holloway that's all well if max wins he already said his first title defense is going to be against volkinovsky like he said that at the post and that's awesome and i'm

awesome and that's why i love max holloway because i get it it is great but like the whole i'm not finding this guy i'm not finding this guy yeah that was kill me kill me like yeah that was that sucked so much yeah i mean clearly i don't maybe i don't know if he's posturing is this contract stuff you know you're just going to say this but i don't know but um i said i don't like it But obviously, Aaliyah is an incredible fight. He may be the future featherweight goat. We don't know. He's that good.

But he's got to get in there and fight the top guys, even top guys who have lost before. Whatever. It's just, it's a really, I don't like that line of thinking he's going with. Yeah, but Max, Max, Max. Because we know if Max wins that belt, he will fight a lot. He'll fight as much as possible. And he'll fight the craziest fights. The UFC will throw at him.

And we'll be like, yeah. Max Holloway like if that happens Max Holloway is the fighter of the year who had Max Holloway is the fighter of the year on the Bingo Guard 100%.

Max Hollow is the fighter of the year right now. If Dustin goes out there and beats Islam he's right there I mean he's in the next. That's not right now. I would also like

Dustin Max 3 like I'm still here for that too. Hell yeah. I think Islam would be a tough Islam would be a tough fight for Max. I want to see it, though. I would like to be a tough fight for everyone on the universe, but I still want to see it. Yeah.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Max winning would open a lot, an avenue for a lot of doors. Yeah. But then like if Ilya wins. If Ilya wins and the UFC finally goes to Spain and they do Ilya versus whoever in a stadium, I mean, that would be electric as well. But I just don't want to, like, my biggest fear is like, oh, he beats Max and he's like,

I'm fighting Connor next. I'm not fighting anyone else. I'm like, oh, move on, bro. Very well could happen. That's so annoying. It's like one time, it's like what like I was never a tiring Woodley hater by any means. I thought he was a good champion. But like when he beat Robbie Lawler and then immediately is like, Nick Diaz, George St. Pierre,

I'm going to fight you guys. I'm like, you've been the champion. be in for 30 seconds. Oh, do you remember that? Do you remember that moment? And I was a little bummed down. Even Thompson in the studio doing the talk back with Woodley, like, Wonderboy was coming off of just starching Johnny Hendricks in the first round in February.

And he's like, hey, Tyron, great performance, my man, be an honor and an absolute privilege to share the Octagon with you, my man, for the title. And then Tyrant Woodley's like, nah, I'm going to fight George Xavier in defense. He's like, ah, dude, come on. I don't have issues with it because these guys are prize fighters And Tyra really still fought the next the next guy in line Yeah, it was annoying He did every time

He didn't turn down bites He requested fights Requested fights that were going to make him a lot of money So I'm not going to hate on the bat I don't have problems with asking I have problems with people saying I Because obviously at the end of the Tyron fought the guy

Like he fought Damien Maya He fought the two Wonderboy fights He fought the guys that he was supposed to fight I am pretty confident Ilya will fight I'm not confident I'm hoping I'll do the same thing I'm hoping he does the same thing

I have a problem when people saying like I won't fight guys I want to fight retired people like Nick and George were essentially retired and he's calling them out

like don't call out retired fighters it's silly how do you think how do you think the UFC is viewing this right now because you know I mean you got too bad right I don't know either because Hunter is

You could get at in Perth, which would be massive. Never going to. Or you just wait and do max. Because if you do max, like that fight's probably not happening until the fall at the earliest, September, October, November. It definitely shouldn't happen in the sphere because a Spaniard should not headline a Mexican independent state against a non-Mexican. That's stupid. October's Abu Dhabi. October.

Potentially. Didn't they already announce that? They announced one pay-per-view in October. Oh. I can't say more because it's all TBD at this point. MSG? MSG? I mean, there are so many Spanish people.

There are so many Spanish people in New York. Like, that would be an electric. I think New York would be a good fight for that. The thing, too, is, like, Hunter is really tight with Ilya and his team. Hunter flew to Spain for it. Every time I see Ilya around the UFC Apex, the UFCPI, he's always with Hunter. He's always sitting with Hunter, talking with him or whoever. Obviously, a good friend to have, especially if you want to make a lot of money.

Runs the company right now. Dana, obviously, is a big Max fan. Hunter's. The fight to make is Max. Let Volcanowski heal up, and then the winner of them can fight Volcanowski. I think that's, it's a no-brainer. Like, I'm tired of all the tweeting. Just make the fight.

I know. I'm with you there. I'm with you there. So we just do Izzy DDP in Perth. For money, I don't love that. If I'm DDP, I'm like, give me more money if I'm going to go down there. And basically, like, that's closer to obviously, I actually, I don't even know if Israel would be a huge favorite in Perth. He's, no. Because we fought shot straight. We fought shot straight. Perth is so far away from New Zealand, by the way. Perth is so far away. is obnoxious. It's far from everything in the world.

Yeah. It's the most remote major city on planet Earth. Yeah. No, no, maybe he'd do okay. I mean, it would be about, that would be, what, 11 months between fights? I think that's like a good amount of time for him to just kind of chill out. And then, you know what?

Because we just saw him so much. And then I think I had no issue with it, but there are a lot of people who were just kind of like... John Strickland God was the fan favorite. in Sydney by far. Yeah. 100%. That's fine.

Before the fight. It's fine. I don't care about like. Perth is, regardless of where the, the fight could be in Salt Lake City in August. It could be in Boston. It could be in like the form.

It could be anywhere. And it's just a date. That should be DDP Izzy. I just don't really care where it is. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Just make it. I don't care.

A guy from New Zealand, a guy from South Africa. Put it anywhere in the world. They're the two best middleweights. now that exist it doesn't matter you remember when like didn't cane fight bignog in Australia as like a main event for

a fight night yeah this is true and like I miss those things like when you just have two random like this is just a like Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisbing fighting in Australia love it like I want that again Michael Bisbing and Tim Kennedy fought in Quebec City Canada

oh yeah do remember that Mr. America versus Mr. Britain, put him in French Canada. At least Mike Bisbing, at least Mike, at least Mike Bisbing and the Quebecers, Quebecs, I don't remember what. Quebecers, yeah, whatever. Whatever the kid, at least Mike Bisbing and the rest of Canada had the same queen at the time. There's that connection.

But like, yeah. All right. So we saw like Leon Edwards and Kamara Usman in Salt Lake City had an electric finish. It doesn't matter where it's finish. It doesn't matter where the fights on. I mean, I think when it fights that big, especially like a main event title fight, I really don't think the city matters as much as we want to say. It's cool if it was in New Zealand.

It was cool if it was in South Africa. But it's just not happening. So I think what's holding that fight from being made is I bet Drake is asking for a little bit more money, fair on him. And Dana White himself said at the UFC 3, one of the press conferences or one of the media days or whatever at USC 300 that there's a potential that UFC goes to Africa this year. So I'm Drikis, if that's on the table, I'm like, there's no way I'm fighting Perth. I'll just wait for you to make the Africa card. Like Data White might have played his hands a little too soon in that one.

Sorry, I know we're jumping to UFC Africa. Africa is a freaking, like we're talking about gigantic. It's a very big continent. What does UFC Africa mean? We're talking like Morocco? We're talking South Africa. I think you would have to be South Africa. I think the person would have to be South Africa.

When you say U.S. Africa, we're always talking. fucking South Africa right now. Yeah. Is that correct? Okay. I'm just checking. I'm just checking.

Because obviously they have the infrastructure. So much difference. Yeah. All right, cool. I mean, they hosted a World Cup. So like they have the infrastructure and the layouts and set up and everything. Cool.

Okay. Where are my super chats go? All right. All right. Super chat from lazy bag. Kind of a negative super chat. We'll go with it. Oh.

which Brazilian fighter lets down Rio most at UFC 301? Who's the biggest? So look, I, as you know, draft kings is a big supporter of the watch party, so I do place bets during pay-per-views. I'm going to go ahead and say it. Jed has sold me on the Vinny Sigs nickname for Steve Urseg. I do have a bet on Steve Erseg. Why is it Vinny Siggs? I keep seeing this, but why?

His middle name, because Steve Urseg's middle name is Vich is Vincenzo. Vichensu. And once that was, once that was identified, it just, it just rolled downhill. The snowball became a snowman and now he's Vinny Sigs. I got to tell you, I have enjoyed Vinny Sigs all week. just plain Jane in it, just vanilla ice cream all week, or in the blue Walmart polo to the freaking first face off. Like, I love everything about it.

I love everything about it. He even said it himself in like an interview this week. I'm the most boring UFC fighter on the roster. I love it. I love everything about it. Love everything about it. I'll say Steve Ersig. If Steve Irseg wins, there's your, at least May,

or coman event on the Perth pay-per-view is Steve Ursaq versus fill in the blank I'm pretty sure he's from Perth yeah so I mean Totoja is that is that excuse me Patoja is my answer but it's because of Steve Versaig could be John could be Joseo Jonathan Martinez is very good at mixed martial arts there will be some angry angry ass people if that's the case I do have bet on Josealdo too it's tough to like not bet on him as an underdog I think I think

Adrian Yanez. I think Adrian Yannes is, because he has a little Enye over the end now, is so good. And John T. Martinez beat the soul out of him. And then anytime a Bannamway has a win over someone whose last name is Nirmiga Madoff, that's like four wins, if that makes sense. Like a win over someone with OV by a decision is like four regular Bannamways. And that's what Jontan has. And Cobb Swanson.

Cubsons is a bad dude as well. So it could be John T. Martinez. He is very good at M.A. I think the fans would be much more okay if the answer is Pantosia. As long as Jose wins, they'll all go home happy. Oh, interesting.

What do you think, Casey? Which fighter lets Rio down? It better not be Michelle Pereira. I could tell you that right now. Can't let Ehor get two up on them. I'm actually going to go auto. I think I'm going to go auto.

Yeah. It's not, it's not auto's fault. I mean, Otto's just, you know, he is, he is who he is at this age and the wear and tear

and he's going against a high level quality bantam weight. So. How does Jonathan beat him though? Like, how do you, I'm not saying it can't happen, but how do you see it happening? Does he knock him out?

No, he does knock him out. He's just trying to try and compare it to one of all those other losses. It won't be like Marab. It won't be like... I think what the difference is... I'm sorry, going. Maris, the Marlon fight.

It's a split decision that everyone thinks he won. I think what it helps Jose Aldo is this is three-round fight because if it's a five-round fight and Josealdo, like, historically, it's kind of faded in the fourth, fifth round. Like, he did that against Peter Yon and Peter Yon, which in that fight ruled. Peter Yon and Jose Al-a was an incredibly underrated fight. But, like, Jose-Aldo very clearly started a fade,

and Peter Rion doesn't fade, and he just kept going 100% and then just ran through Aldo. Three-round fight is out, Joseo, thank God for Jose Aldo, but it could be, it could be like the Marlon fight, just like two high-level strikers, just striking, and then one of them just has to be a winner.

I mean, I think Otto's going to put, I think Otto's going to put a respectable fight up, but I just think, you know, just, the game moves on. And Otto is to me, like Volk said, I believe he is the featherweight goat still. Yeah. But, you know, that was then, now we're now. You also, you see, he's had two boxing matches since his last UFC fight.

We've seen like, like when Connor had boxing matches and was preparing to fight Mani Pacchio and then jumped into fight against Dustin Poir, he looks like a completely different fighter. Like preparing for boxing and preparing for MMA are so different. I'm very curious if the same Jose Alito shows up. Now we talk about Josie Otto. Let's talk about this, another one from Lazy Bed. Do we ever see the King of Rio compete in M.A. again after Saturday night, or is this truly the last hurrah for Aldo outside of boxing? What do you think, Jose?

I hope he comes back to M.A. Or if he leaves him, if he does go to boxing after this, because it's his last final in his contract, correct? If he does go off and do boxing, I hope he comes back. because I can't live in a world with Jose Aldo and Dominic Cruz have never fought. I just really... I was about to say that.

That's the fight. I need to see the two greatest or two of, what, two of the three greatest WEC fighters ever. Like, your eye of favor obviously has to be on that list. But you think WEC, you think of that blue cage,

those are the three favor Cruz and Aldo, and Aldo is already beat up favor enough. Dominic Cruz is, and those two are like, oh, it's Aldo and Cruz. Like, they're the best at it, the best WC. best featherway versus the best band.

Is Cruz the best band-in-weight? I think so. I know that's up for debate. So do I. So do I. It's a-in-out, on my opinion. I view dominant Cruz is the greatest band-a-weight. Just like I used, for a long time, I thought BJ was the greatest lightweight.

Like, just because no one could really string together, like, that dominant run. And then eventually when Habib showed up, that became the answer. Like, Umar could be the greatest ever for all we know. Marab could be the greatest band-of-way forever on. But right now, by defaults, cruising. And so I'm going to answer, we see him in MMA because Jose Aldo is very clearly listening to this show and he's going to listen to us and fight Dominic Cruz next. But if he gets that bag to fight Madi Pachia, go do that. I'll tell you what, man.

Like Paul Hughes signing with PFL is like a pretty big deal. Like Paul's like a really good. Those who know who Paul Hughes is understand the impact. But the problem is most, at least especially. the newer fans of the last three years, they have no friggin idea who Paul Hughes is. Everybody knows who Joseo Alto is. So if I'm PFL, I'm going hammering tongs at Josealdo, especially if you're trying to sell pay pay pay $50 to $75 to watch one of your cards.

Jose Al does a pretty damn good name to have on there. So if I'm PFL, I'm signing him and I'm throwing the bank at him and I'm letting him box or go to karate combat or even go to bare knuckle if you want. But if I'm a lot of sphinck at him. Jose Aldo versus Patricio Pitbull and PFL. Oh my God. Hell yeah.

Jose Aldo versus Anthony Patterson karate combat. Oh, man. What a world. That would be unreal. What a world. Done. We could live in a world where Josea Alafights Aaron Pico too.

Like, what a world. Oh, my God. That's good stuff. Yeah, it's good stuff. Just the body hook's thrown in that. fight. I'll say it competes in MMA again.

I do believe this will be his last UFC fight though. I've never thought of a world of Josealdo fighting Aaron Pico but now I want

that so bad me. That's the fight that might actually be the fight. It could have. That could positive would be a

fight. Oh my God. That's great. That would be a violent fight. It better not be on the main card. It better be a

pay-per-view and a better view and a better view to have it. Yep. All right. Yeah, I guess we'll just see how he looks Saturday night. If he looks...

Well, what is Casey? You know those people. What is Aaron Fico's status in terms of contracts? He's... I think he gets... He's happy with the paycheck. He gets a PFL Elator right now. Yeah.

Yeah. Good honor. I think that's pretty much it. Aaron Pico is... He's a prize fight. He may, obviously he wants to fight the best guys, but he's also like, hey, I got a house, I have horses, I have a kid. That's my priority first. And so as long as PFOA tour is paying him well, then we'll see him over there for a while.

I mean, and trust me, like, Aaron, he, yeah, he, yeah, those guys would love to fight in the UFC. They get it. They get it, you know, but they're also like, we're adults and we have bills to pay too. Yes. Isn't he a dad? Yeah. He's a dad, his kids, I think kids like two or something, two or two and a half maybe. And he has a couple horses and a little ranch outside Albuquerque.

So it's nice. I mean, he lives a nice little life out there. He lives like, that's kind of like how he likes it, you know. But yeah, he's very happy of his Brandon Gibson, Greg Jackson and the camp out there. So I would love a world where he's like the MVP or Kayla Harrison or Michael Chandler. It just gets like the star treatment and comes over to the UFC. I pretty much

I feel that's going to happen eventually Yeah Me too Yeah Like when he when he eventually does come to the UFC When he kind of maybe runs out of Big Name opponents outside of the UFC When he comes over he'll come over

Like uh Like kind of like here he did And since that He'll come at the very top And just one two wins away One win away possibly From depending on the landscape at the time And featherweight

But like when he comes over He'll be like right there Like Chandler, like Chandler, basically. Who is the Dan Hooker, Holly, Holman, Kevin Hollins of the Featherweight Division? Oh, as you were saying. Cater? I think so.

I think so. I think Al Jameen just kind of, I think. Dan Igey. I think it's Cater. I think Cater. Aljo got, you know, he introed Aljo. And that's not a knock on cater. That's like all three of those guys I said are very tenured

and very high-level mixed martial arts who put on good fights that fans know and a win over them is a big deal. Like that was, Cater was Max Hollowey's first fight post-Valk. He was Al Jermaine's first fight when he went up. He was Arnold Allen's first real test. So maybe Cater.

But right now, I'm not saying if Aaron Peekle ever comes. Don't just make Aaron Pico versus Kevin Keego versus Dan Ege. It would be incredible. That'd be a good fight too. I really like that fight as well. But that's, I mean, look at what when, look at Mobsar of Loy have gained from that. I mean, he went up and fought Aram Allen and somehow Dana White thought he was somebody else.

That's crazy. But, but yeah, he gives a great test. But, yeah. That's a Maboza. Edson Barbosa is not a bad question. That's a good one too. That's a good answer too. Yeah.

Anyway. We're matchmaking stuff. That's not. Yeah. Yeah, I know. It's fun though. this one might be for Jose in particular for Michael

how bad how down bad is Drake right now it's not a 10-7 it's not a 10-7 it was a murder it was an absolute murder like like that was Mark Munoz doing okay and then Matt Hamill kicking him in the head and like that's the scary that is the scariest knock that I've ever seen I thought Mark Munoz was I thought he died in the octagon

I thought we saw the first dead body. It was not, it's not a competition. It was Drake put him in a body bag and buried him himself. It was unbelievable. It's for those of you unaware what we're talking about. Drake set the hip-hop world on fire a couple weeks ago with one sentence in a guest spot on a Metro Boom and Future song. And the entire hip-hop community just caught fire all of a sudden. And he has beef with everyone.

specifically with two people, Jay Cole and Drake. Jay Cole put out a very lackluster disc track, apologized and took it down. Drake put out a discrack, a very bad disc track. He also had to take down because he used AI to make Tupac's voice.

And Tupac's estate was like, can't do that. Also, we're friends with Kendrick, so he had to take it down again. And then Kendrick Lamar went absolutely scorched earth with euphoria. It's not 10-7. It's a first-reli-old.

knockout. Like he lost before the fight happened. And I'm here for it because I've long said Drake is a culture vulture idiot who doesn't know what he's talking about and is a bad musician. I know Ariel is a big fan of him. I think Drake sucks.

I've long said Drake sucks. Kendrick, you could argue Kendrick is the greatest rapper of all time. I think there's a legitimate argument. And people, like, I saw a poll. Someone said like who won and it was like 43% thought Drake won.

You're wrong. Like you can't, even Drake fans are like, yeah, it was a, that's not, it's not competitive. It is not competitive.

He knocked up, this is, he knocks about in four seconds in broke Hory Mazurals record. That's what happened. Ding, ding, ding fights over. All right.

Thank you much, Mr. Harris. All right, next super chat. I hope that's answer your question. Frozen like Elsa If Izzy finds that ungodly K.O. power again

against Drickus, how do we match make going forward? So they do what we think they're going to do, Jose and Izzy wins the belt again. What do we do? Do we run it back? I kind of feel like they're going to go back to Sean Strickland if he meets Paula Costa.

I'm sure Izzy wants to get that one back. Well, I'm if Hamza off beats Robert Whitaker, it's Hobbs out all day. That's actually that. That's the answer. Because I think Robert Whitaker is, I think if Robert Whitaker wins, he could also beat Israel, like, the third time. Robert Whitaker has looked awesome against Paulo Costa. I think if Sean Strickland and Whitaker win, it's obviously Sean Strickland.

If Palo Costa, if Hamza wins, it doesn't matter what else happens. It's the Hamzot show. But if Robert Whitaker somehow beats Hamzaat, which I'm probably picking him to do, and Sean Strickland wins, it's the Sean Strickland fight. It's one of those two. I think those are the two fights that the UFC wants. I think those is he wants the Drieke's fight, he wants the Strickland fight, but Hamza is going to be a, it's going to be a big

deal. The problem is where do you put that fight? Especially with all these rumors of Hamzaa not being able to enter the country and stuff. Can't imagine a lot of fighters are going to want to go to Abu Dhabi or Saudi Arabia to fight Hamzaa. Yeah. Does it matter how Hamzot wins? No. Or does he just get to get

W no matter what? Win in tile shot. I think that's it. I think they're title messing around and waiting. They were trying to do that with Leon when he, they kept matching him when Leon, beat Leon fight Uzman right away. I think if he could, remember, because he got a little sick after the Usman fight, and then if there were these

visa issues that we keep hearing, if those two things didn't happen, he probably would have already fought for the middle-wide title. Yeah, he broke his hand in the U.S.man fight. Yeah, and like the first round, yeah. That's part of fighting.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. That's true. But if I'm just, I, I, I, if Strickland wins big and drops a hell of a promo, which he possibly could, you don't think Strickland could leapfrog. No. Hobbs that victory, even if it's a lackluster, you know, whatever victory. No way. No.

Okay. Not with Abu Dhabi and Saudi paying a lot of money. Ah, okay. Money is the answer. That's the answer. That's the answer. In a meritocracy where, you know, wins and losses matter and everything, if Sean Strickland wins beats Paulo Costa, he should be next in line.

If Robert Whitaker beats Hamzat, there's an argument he should be next in line. Hamzot is the one that people, that people, also like, as a guy who posts a lot on the NBA fighting social page, Hamzot prints engagement. Everywhere. Anything you post about him, people talk about it. Cool, cool. All right. I know I'm on an island, but I want to see Robert Woodaker fight, Izzy again. So do I. I would love that fight.

I don't mind. I don't mind. I think I don't care how many times they fight. If they are the two best middleweights in the world, I'll watch them fight a thousand times. Yeah, I'm on board of that too. Yep. That second fight was a lot closer than people remember. Yes, it was. Yes, it was. There are a lot of people who scored that fight for good old Bobby Nucks. That is a fight.

I actually did go back because that was in Houston. In the arena, I thought Israel cruised watching on TV. I absolutely can understand why people scored that for Whitaker. Because Whitaker was more active, but he was not. Because Casey, you were saying, like, when you're at BKFC, you can just hear the punches more. When you're like 10 feet away from the octagon, you can hear the punches more. Robert Whitaker was throwing a lot and not connecting because Israel was, like, moving a lot. So you didn't hear the punches.

watching on TV, Robert Whitaker just looked like he was doing way more. So neither man dominated. I could absolutely see a world where Robert Whitaker pulled that off. All right. Thank you much. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice?

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Corrects form and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at one peloton.ca. Another super chat, more of a comment. Bahim, cop is the only, is only best thing in flyweight beside Moreno. Maybe. Is he a flyweight? Is he a flyweight?

Yeah, he just, that's a great point. Said a little bad run, but yeah, I think he's a very good 100, 127 pound fighter. He's got a fight man. Like he's fall, but it's weird. I don't know. I don't know if he's falling back in the rankings or if he's moved up in the rankings with all of this, with how this flyway picture has sort of built itself. I don't know.

I don't know if like he could just return to a title fight. If pants wins the belt. Nothing makes... When they gave the title fight, a pay-per-view main event to Steve Ersag off a knockout over, you know, borderline top 15 match now. I think anything is on the table, honestly,

for the UFC. Especially at flyweight. Yeah. It's all by availability, honestly. I don't think the UFC really cares. Because nothing's still like a blow you... No matter who they put in for a title fight, it's still for the hardcores.

there's nothing that that crosses over yet is there is match now a better win over anyone manel's beat in the ufc though because manela's had some spectacular finishes but like oday osborne is not a great question five flyweight um i think it's how manel wins that's the issue yeah yeah i know i know you're saying though i know you're saying i get you and i thought he beat nicolow but, you know, that's, that's, that's, um, the Felipe dosano, do Santos fight in Sydney, that was incredibly last minute was so much fun. That was such a, but like that was so last minute that Manel didn't have any camp for him. He just went in there and just fought.

Um, I think the fight to make, if, if both sides are healthy and ready to go is Manel, Kaikar, France, and Perth. That's, yeah. That's, yeah, that is the fight. Um, is there any chance, could that happen? I mean, some of me, because, I don't know, I've no idea. You don't want to mess around with concussions. Yeah.

Manel's the one that pulled out against Alex Perez. So if both are 100%, then that's the fight. I like that one. Oh, is this true? Jimmy. Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Go on.

Sorry. I thought I put a different one up. Sorry. Okay. How bad would it be for Martinez if he wins by controversial decision? and is Carolina fighting for the belt with a win on Saturday? God, gosh, darn it, Jedmishu, putting this out into the universe. So I have thoughts about the Martinez thing.

Let's start at the Carolina thing, Casey. If she beats Yasmin Lucindo, if she beats her, she will be tied with Zhang Wei Li for the longest win streak in the division right now. And Tatiana Swarze is hurt. Yes, Verna Janderoa is right there. But if for some reason, I'm just going to lay this picture out the way that Jed did, if they book Zhang Wei v. Verna, and they say like three months from now, this is the fight that's going to happen.

And Verna gets hurt and Tatiana's not available. And they need to make a phone call to get somebody in there to fight Zhang Wei. Do you think one of the first calls would be to the fighter who has equally as long of a wind streak as she does? and has fought for a belt before and will have 17 octagon appearances. Is this out of the question altogether that Carolina Colfriken Jose? Casey, I'm asking you this question.

Is it out of the question that Carolina Kolopovicic could find herself in a title fight if she pulls up a big upset on Saturday? It's not out of the question, but it would definitely not be the original booking. It will have to be some sort of late notice, maybe two weeks out type of booking where you could kind of justify it. Yes, the win streak is nice, but level of competition is different.

Would any of those wins be against anyone? No, 15. Okay. Nope. I'm going to go out. I'm going to go out on a limb and say none of them were people against wins over in the top 25. Okay. It will have to be late notice.

Apopolis I think is in the top 25. Yeah. That division is not as deep as it once was, man. It started out so hot, and for some reason, it's kind of, it's really got very stagnant. Like, I used to think, yeah, the women's strawweight division was up there with the best divisions in all of MMA, you know, men or women. But it's definitely, it's just got kind of old. And obviously, Wei Lee and Yian had a great fight. and still like the top three obviously Swar's and Swarer's just not just being there but not being there is kind of just it's it stutters a lot because of that they lost Rose and Yawanna who just kind of had a chokehold at the top for a while and then you have a lot of guys like or women like Jessica and Girard and Amanda Hebas who fight at flyweight sometimes and fight at straw weight sometimes like so it's just stuff like that and I think it also helps that like flyaway has been red hot.

lately at the top. But the answer is absolutely not. Because if they book Werna Jandaroba and Verna gets hurt and Tatia's not ready to go, Dan's going to be like, Jessica Andrade, you want to fight in 12 hours? And she's going to say, yep, and then she's going to get in there and fight. Yeah.

What about the other question? How bad would it be for Martinez if he wins by controversial decision? I may add this caveat to it as well, Jose. because I was talking to Megan Anderson about this. What does, like in reality and all actuality, if Jonathan Martinez goes out and just outworks Jose Aldo and wins at 29, 28, like clear his day, what does this do for him? Jose's out the door.

Like I understand the name is there and it's big, but he's coming in. No one expected him to fight. He's coming in. Is this, she sort of compared it. and I know it's a lot more heartbreaking to watch it on television. She compared it almost in a way

of his teammate Chris Gutierrez fighting Frankie Edgar where it's like, yeah, it's cool opportunity, big name, but do you gain like that much from this? Especially when like most of the community is chairing for the legends. What does Jonathan gain with a win here unless he just annihilate Jose Alvo? Well, didn't Chris Gutierrez annihilate Frankie? Yeah, but it was like the retirement.

retirement fight. Like this is a free agency fight as opposed to Frankie being like, yeah, this is it for me. And rather than book Frankie against a dominant cruise or some sort of legends, they booked him in with Chris Gutierrez. And we all kind of felt that that was a strong possibility would happen. It would be,

I mean, we've also seen it on the flip side, like Jared Cannon Airby Anderson in Brazil in like a weird ending. And Volcanowski ran through Joe Zialdo on that same card in Brazil. and like those ties like you know it worked out for them they've gotten these big fights um jonathan martinez also is not the guy to steer into the booze like he'll just kind of say like two three things and then off i don't so i don't know i think it would if it's a if it is a quote-unquote controversial decision it's not going to be i bet they just give him a fight night next if it's a big

k-o win they could give him a big name next marina mariaz won a controversial decision and worked out well from our eyes so I don't think it's that bad. Well, Marlon had also already fought for the title by that point. He had fought and like that Henderson, he'll fight. Absolutely rules. He had knocked out Al Jermaine. He had been a World Series of Fighting Champion. He was, you know, one of the top. He came

in with Justin Keci as this highly sought after free agent. Jonathan Martinez is none of those. Johnlin Martinez is just a guy that goes out there and wins violently. If he pulls out a lack, like if it's a lot of staring at each other and he pulls off the controversial win,

the UFC probably like I don't know UFC's not going to like that they're going to punish him by giving them a horrible matter like they're going to give him Umar next right away I like what blaming like Martinez gets punished for the judges making a bad decision.

But you get what I'm saying I know I know you mean I know I know like like John Martinez pulls off a split decision win and they're like neat you're going to go fight Umar and Amagamatov in Abu Dhabi now like I mean is that I say that someone's got a I say that and are you get are you

If I say he pulls off a controversial win and then they give him Umar and Magamatov and Abu Dhabi, do any of, is that, that sounds like a very realistic scenario that plays out for an October pay-per-view. I said Jonathan Martinez

after his last win should have called out Umar and Margar-Madavadav. I thought it would have been an absolute brilliant call. Probably wouldn't get the fight, but I think it's a good call it. But like what I'm saying is like

on the post-fight show on Saturday, are people going to be like, yeah, let's throw Jonathan Martinez in there with Corey Sanhagen next. Or are we going to be like, yeah, he's going to fight Kyler Phillips. If Jonathan Martinez wins, I would like to see him finally get that Dominic Cruz fight

because then he could just become the WEC killer with Cubs Swanson, Jose Alzo, and Dominant Cruz. Jonathan Martinez has been calling for the Dominicruz fight for a minute. And then if he beats Joseoardo, that Dominic Cruz, that might be enough of a reason for Dominic Cruz to be like, all right, this guy is on like a how long,

like eight, seven fight win streak. he's beat cubs swans knocked out cubs swanson be josialdo like i'm the final boss of the do this wec arc of his oh jonathan martinez there's your career arc right there just just keep melting wc people lean into that that'd be incredible that'd be i love it by the way shout out to jonathan martitas uh it didn't make uh the youtube channel but his bd day scrum was like three minutes and he got asked like 19 questions. It's pretty incredible. Oh, really?

19 questions in three minutes. Oh, yeah. That's one. And then it's unreal. And then even like if you watch Guillermo's like, what's your favorite Jose Aldo moment thing? He's like, uh, I liked when he ran into the crowd after he knocked out Chad Mendes. And then like everyone's like, oh, you're done talking.

And then like goes on to. What's your favorite Jose Aldermontz? WC. Oh, yeah. he says uh w so like care to elaborate no just i liked watching those fights man that's like that's the whole thing but that's what i appreciate he's the i call him the silence behind the violence for a reason and that's exactly why but their face off is pretty damn good yeah jonathan martinez that was that was unique from aldo auto doesn't usually do that right that was kind of i don't

remember although given that whole that's just no but aldo like that's like The Connor one he played up in, but Jose Aldo historic, he hasn't fought a ton of guys with a lot of like aggression towards him on face off. Yeah. Yeah. But Chris Gutierrez and Jonathan Martinez low key are, they're about that. Like, they'll go fight you. Like they are not much for mince and words. And like Chris Gutierrez is like, remember, he talked a little bit of shit to Frankie.

So they caught everyone off guard. And then Jonathan Martinez actually after the fact, remember when Kum Swanson did that media day? where his teammate answer all his questions for him. He comes to sponsored and just sat there. Jonathan Martinez, after the fact, who took issue with that, these guys that will just find these little things that just bother them,

and then they just go knock you out and then say nothing. Love it. All right. Oh, yeah. He'd punch you the face in the middle of the street. He wouldn't say a word. Or maybe he would. I don't know, but it would be like three words.

Jonathan Martinez also has, like, an entire page. of I don't know what it is, but it's like a whole page of a book tattooed on his leg. And as someone who has fine line tattoos on their leg, that is incredibly painful. So the man can endure long stretches of pain sitting still too. So that dude is a whack-up. Oh, real quick. If auto wins and auto wins big for finish, do we get the classic over the top,

Otto after a victory. I don't think we've seen that in a while, though. Of course. You know, I hope so. I hope so. Because check out a YouTube channel. We just did a movie review of the Jose Otto biopic. Stronger than, I don't know, it's got a Brazilian name.

I can't even say it. But it's on our YouTube page. And spoiler alert, everything cool in Otto's career that he did in the cage, they did not show in the movie. So I'm craving for. a big Aldo celebration. I'm picking Martinez to win, but man, I want to see an auto celebration. More than the actual fight-in film.

I'll be really impressed. I'll be super impressed if Jonathan Martinez wins this fight. I'm not saying he can't, but I'll be super impressed. Like, just watching tape on both guys, I just, like, this looks very, and I'm sure Jonathan Martinez and Mark Montoya and the crew have watched a lot of Josalda footage, but this screams, this looks eerily similar to me on paper than the Pedro Munoz fight for Jose. Sure.

You know what I mean? Like very similar to that fight. And Jose just beat the hell out of Pedro Munoz for 15 minutes. Like was ready for it. Started checking Pedro's leg kicks, fired back a few, but just found the counter for Pedro immediately. And Pedro couldn't do a damn thing about it.

So I'm curious to see what Jonathan's game plan is. And maybe it just passed. We know we talked about this all the time. Father time catches up there. everybody. Maybe it has caught up with Joe Zayl, but maybe that is actually the difference here. But if it hasn't, it's going to be a tough one. So I'm very curious to see how Jonathan

competes on Saturday. All right. I take a few more. Yeah, I'll take a few more. You got like 10 more minutes. Joseph Boza, any reaction to Jimmy Smith's video on his YouTube channel of him saying that Rhonda Rousey is the biggest witch ever. Supposedly, he said the production were doing high fives when Holly Holmone won.

I mean, it was un-Jimmy Smith-like. I mean, that was like my biggest takeaway. My takeaway is, God bless Jimmy Smith for recognizing the hard work that production puts in there, that the camera guys, the sound guys, the lighting guys, those people that put the cage together. I think it's more about that to me. I was like, hey, I just appreciate talent, the people on the other side of the camera, appreciating the people that make it happen.

And obviously, Jimmy Smith saw something that the way Rondo was treating the workers, backstage and yeah um if i mean if that's what jimmy smith wants to put out there then that's on him i don't really have an opinion i worked with ronda but i never had i never did a solo one-on-one type interview of ronda so i don't really know what that's like i i was kind of at no open workouts and things like that and so it wasn't like she was like catering just to me or just my camera or whatever so i can't speak on it but um hey if jimmy smith wants to They, yeah, good on Jimmy. I don't see that coming.

I think it was a shock too, yeah. I have zero relation with Rhonda. I've interviewed her twice one-on-one, but it was after her UFC debut, so she was much more available back then. Like, this is when she had just started her before she burnt out when the UFC was making her do all these rounds of media. I have absolutely tremendous amount of respect for Jimmy Smith. I think he is such a good commentator, and he's only been nice to me. And he's really only been nice to everyone. Like hearing Jimmy Smith say anything negative about anyone.

Yeah, it's hard to hear a bad story about Jimmy Smith. I've never heard. It would be different if like, I don't know, if Misha Tate came out and said something negative about Ron. I'm going to be like, yeah, like history and what Jimmy Smith's saying, like we saying anything about anyone bad is that. Yeah. So I agree with Mike. It's that's what caught me off guard. If Jimmy Smith says something negative, then it catches.

I also haven't even listened to the whole thing. I just saw Jimmy Smith rips this person. I go, Jimmy Smith's probably right because he doesn't really lie and he would have no reason to lie. Remember when we're doing that heading into 300, the top 10 fights between 200 and 300, Casey?

Yeah. I got to do Yoll-O-Romero versus Robert Whitaker, too, which is just, I mean, a treat within itself. But Jimmy Smith was the third man in the boot that night. Oh, I forgot. was awesome. I was like, damn, like that trio of Annick, Smith, and Rogan was

so good. Like, they were real good. They had a good time. They were laughing. It was awesome. I was like, man, I cannot believe, like, I'm stunned that this didn't, they didn't give him more of a look. I mean, I get why. They wanted to get more like a fighter perspective in there,

but that was a good trio. That was a good trio. And then he goes off to WWE and does that thing. I thought it was great at WW2. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, I've only seen the... Now, that clip that was put out there,

did Jimmy Smith himself put that clip out, or was that they like someone grab it and put it out there? You know? I'm just kind of curious. The original posting, I don't know, but I also know Jimmy went on to his own Instagram and posted a reaction video to his words, which I haven't watched yet.

But Jimmy also goes, hey, because it was more like that. A bunch of you people probably found my social media is because I said all of this and then went into. Yeah. I only ask that because a lot of times, no, we can watch a 30 second clip. And then right after that clip, Jimmy can say, but I also want to say this, Rondo's having a bad day that day. You know, it could be a little, a little more nuanced if you just, if you take it, the entire section. But I was just wondering if you saw the whole thing. Cool

I don't know what this is about Is this You know this is about Yeah Oh yeah Any reactions to the Pereira 301 Troll job video Is there any validity to it

Or is his tongue all the way in his cheek I mean come on I think we know Oh I didn't hear about it Sorry He had They showed him So USC employee

It was on his Instagram Right It was on his It was on his Which parade? There's like 30 per. We're talking about Alex Kerr? Alex.

Oh, okay. Bullet gone. He, a UFC employee handed him like a document and then he signed it and then they handed him a fight kit for UFC 301. So the joke was that he was in Brazil to headline UFC 301. Oh, okay. Yes. And he said like breaking.

And then he wrote breaking. He was good. So he also posted a photo of him wearing black trunks, which means he would have had to have been fighting a challenger. So it would have been a light heavyweight competition, not a heavyweight competition. So it was all thing. Like he was, it was, the breadcrumbs were there for A plus trolling. Oh, why?

So, but why, though? The prayer want to be on this card and was. He was originally, he was the original main event before. The original main event was Jamal versus out. I mean, I know that. I know that, but did he, did he want, was the UFC not allow him to be on this card or did his coaches not allow him to be on this card? I don't think. heavyweight.

I think it was just too late in the marketing for the UFC because he said by a US, and he's got a broken toe. Like he, so his coaches are basically kind of like, no. I think it was like a whole combination of like, okay.

He said it after he won and the UFC like, because I can't remember if Dana said it, but he was like, like, no, like we made the posters. I don't want to make more posters type situation. He didn't actually say that,

but that's, I'm reading between the lines. I, we made, we made posters, people. You've moved events to different states in a matter of days. You can make new posters, Dana. We made a poster. Not in 2020, baby. Yeah.

It was so good. It was so good. And there was a moment you're like, dude. You wanted to fight a heavyweight. Axpert versus any, any, I missed, I missed the UFC when they did that, that small window of time when UFC was doing. doing Anderson Silva versus Forrest Griffith. Anderson Silva versus James Irvin.

If I say, we're just, didn't really make sense, but eff it. This sounds fun. When was the last time UFC did that? They should have did Alex Pereira versus Derek Lewis. Justin Gage and Max Holloway? That just sounded like a fun fight. Didn't need the BMF title. Yeah.

So that's what I mean. It's so rare. I just wish the UFC did it more. Like once every, I don't know, not every couple months, but every six months. I feel like we should just get this random fight. oh my god i never thought about that let's just see what happens it doesn't affect anyone's ranking you know or whatever like prayers not just like they were still early into their reins and they just said hey you guys want to fight can you imagine seriously i mean i can't imagine this but

like if dana jumped on instagram in like five minutes and was like hey guess what alix peria amagamette ancholaa for the light heavyweight title this saturday like that'd be freaking crazy that'd be insane or what if those just asked per se versus give me a top someone in the top 25 heavyweight I don't know a heavyweight

yeah Parker Porter but seriously if it was the first final paper view was gonna be aix Pereira versus Parker Porter Alex Pereira versus Giorsino Rosenstrike or some yeah

had been good yeah it sounds like that versus Rospellus to Spain like let's just pull him off St. Louis or put Derek yeah it's go crazy let's go crazy but yeah unrelated

what would have been a harder match up for DC. Francis at heavyweight or Alex at light heavyweight? I think he wins both, but what do you think would be more of a challenge? When would they have fought? So let's say this Alex fights DC right after the Vulcan win. Because Vulcan O'Semar was DC's last light heavyweight fight, right? So DC is like right after he beats Vulcan O'Sdemier in Boston, instead of fighting steep

in July he fights Alex Alec-Aleur in July who in God and Derek Lewis is the command of that too and then like Francis after he beat Steepay the first time that Francis fights DC

the DC who beat Stepe you know you know what I'm saying yeah yeah so basically I know we never got prime DC but like the peak of DC's powers versus DC after Vulcan or we live in a world where after the steep where Francis beat

where Francis beat Steepay or after the Steepay win in the second fight? I'd probably say Francis is not easier but that version of Francis would be the thing is the correct answer. Francis is just because Francis is just so big. Yeah.

Yeah. I agree. I would agree. And if you go back a little bit when Stepe gave that beating to Francis on the ground for four rounds, and then after the fight, Steppe still looks like the one much worse off.

Francis looked a little gassed, but as far as, that's what I'm saying. Like, D.C. trying to finish Francis on the ground will be the best version of Francis would be much tougher than I think finishing Pereira. So, yeah.

But that's fun. I would like to see both of those. Black belt, Alex Pereira. Do you see that movie where someone was like, Alex Pereira got his black belt by submitting people with his fist? I love that.

Yeah, we talk about trolling jobs. Like they were a main event for UFC 300 and they trolled everyone for a black belt or knocking out Jamal Hill. It's high-level black belt. Jamal Hill gets knocked out on the first round. Alex gets his blackboard. I mean, also like, obviously coaches, they probably saw something in the game. Yeah, it's different.

You usually do belt promotions in like big moments, though, like, I get it. Like, but if I guess it was just funny. It was like, really? But there is a difference between, like, I already brought it. There's a difference between like black belt Alex Pereira and like a black belt Damien Maya. Like it's just a different. You might be the same level, but in belt wise. There are levels to black belts still.

Also, I still think DC like after the Vulcan fight beats every light heavyweight right now in the top 15. Does that make sense what I'm saying? Oh, after a Vulcan fight, I gotcha. Like if DC never went up to heavyweight, so that DC that night beats every light heavyweight right now, I think. If you file like Magam and Goliath, would you be? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. If, take away in.

Yeah, and we never saw Prime DC. No, we never did. We never saw him. Not even close. Not even close. Not even close. Not even close. You're right.

You're right. You're right. Like, if we saw DC, Anthony Smith, or. DC, uh, Khalil Roundtree, DC Jamal Hill. Oh my God.

DC John. We could have lived in an alternate universe. We could have got prime DC against prime U.L. Romero because we didn't get the primes of either of those two dudes. No. Like what a world that would have been. Holy shit. Can you imagine that?

Oh my God. If we had DC, a prime Daniel Kormey could have been the best fighter we've ever seen. I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. If John Jones doesn't exist, I think Daniel Carmen could be the greatest MMA fighter ever. And if DC would have came to MMA much earlier, probably five, six years earlier.

But yeah, it's right there, but that's time. It's scary. A couple more. I remember when, like, DC, when Rampage came back to the UFC for like that one random fight, Montreal, I remember with like the contract situation. People were like Who do you fight? He fought Moldonado.

Yeah, yes. I was there. I remember. Yeah. And people were like trying to match make. I'm like, just give.

Like I was on the side. I'm like, give Dan and Corme a rampage. Because rampage is so popular. Dan and Corme will destroy him. And it's like the biggest name versus like the smoothest path to victory. I'm like, I wanted that fight so bad if you're D.C. All right.

A couple more. How long guys want to stay for? We got, we're. Mike's the host. Are we done? I mean, if we got, there's one more like riveting question. Let's go. Two more riveting questions.

Two more real quick. All right. Two more rip. Let's rock. Can you ask the MMA bosses to book open weight fights between strongmen and NFL Here's a thing. Here's a thing. A high level football player,

a high level football player would crush a quote-unquote strongman. Strong men are very good at picking things up. NFL players are athletes. And if you get two untrained people at the same weight class, the athlete should always win, almost always win. Like Aaron Donald would run through the mountain or whatever. is Thor or whatever his name is. Aaron Donald is a freak and he's

gonna, he would rip, I can't pronounce last name, but the guy you played the mountain in Game of Thrones, Thor, would just be a body bag after. What about Puginowski? Doesn't, oh. Puginovsky is a train to mix martial arts though. Yeah.

I'm talking two guys that have never trained to M.MA, like, Reggie White versus like, like a prime Reggie White would pick up Brian Shaw and throw him. Brian Shaw can pick up 200 pounds, a 200 pound dumbbell with one hand. He's not running a 40 in like 4.6 seconds.

He's that explosive. He's just like, I'm like strong men are incredibly impressive. Like he, Brian Shaw has a dumbbell that's 300 pounds and he's trying to pick it up with one hand. That is unfathomable to me. but there's a difference between picking up stagnant weight and running through a human being. Yeah. All right.

And our last question. I love a glorious card. But Todd, I love this question so much. It is good. Yeah. We close with David Marshall. When do these hosts start watching MMA? What was your first, I assume, live events?

Yeah. You saw on a pay-per-view. I saw the best damn sports was a 27.5. Remember when they did it on network television? That's the first event I ever watched. Like, I sat down and watched the whole thing. But I would buy VHSs of pride a lot back in the day. And I since went back before that.

I bought a lot of VHSs or rented VHSs of old UFC. But the first UFC event I watched because my parents would let me buy pay-per-views was the 27.5 because it was on. network television. So I actually got to sit down and watch it live. Yes, I remember that. I was playing poker with some buddies and we're flipping the channels and I was like, oh,

UFC's on. So like I would watch like the Tito Ken Shamrock fight, like the first one, I watched that way after the fact. UFC 40 was the first, UFC 40 is the first paper view I ever bought. So I watched that fight when it came out on VHS. I didn't watch it live. But I watched 27.

5 alive. UFC 40, what was the date on that? UFC 40 was November 20. So, is that right? Do you know what UC 40 was? It was on a Thursday? Was it?

I don't remember that. I'm Googling right now. November 21st, 2020, 2002. Wasn't it November 22nd? No, it was on a Friday. It was on a Friday. Oh, why does, oh, weird.

Is it Google? Because Google always gets the date wrong. Oh, you know what? It's good. Yeah, the date. Okay, yeah, the Google dates wrong. Yeah, it is on a Friday. Okay.

Yeah, I don't know why. Yeah. Which is, it's just so weird to think about now. But still brilliant at the same time that you occasionally just knock out a Friday event, which is awesome. And I think everybody should do that more. I think the UFC should have a Friday night card. When they did the Boston card on a Friday night with the Chris Wyman, Dominic

Carris card. Glorious. Wasn't that because the Patriots had a, Wasn't that because the NFC championship game was happening? Or AFC championship game was happening? Yes. Was it that one? Because that was,

that was October. That was an October. Oh, yeah, you're right. I don't know why they did that. Is that on Friday? I don't remember. Dude,

when you see Vince, when you've seen Vince on Fridays, it feels like you have an eight-day week. It feels like off a sudden you have two Sundays. It's amazing. It was like Sunday happens and you wake up next morning and a Sunday again. Like, what? This is great.

Yes, that was the first time I ever appeared on an MMA fighting video. That's right. Was that? Oh, well, we almost blew away. The Thursday, we were blown away in the back of the fighter hotel by gusting winds previewing Chris Wyden versus Dominic Reyes. That was the, yeah, because then I wrote Esther in a Slack being like, hey, so the tripod you gave me that I sent her a photo of it. snapped in half because the wind

like took it away. The second I took the camera, because the heavy camera was like holding it down, the second I took it off it just went like eight feet, it just snapped at half. So then I don't remember his name, but it was like one of Esther's photography friends, her photography friends, was like shooting for us. So we have,

even though I was the only one there, we have photos of that for MMA fighting. And he gave me a tripod and then I went to find him after the facts and he just like I text him like where'd you go? He's like I just like went home after the fights. I'm like, do you want your tripod? And he goes, just give it to me the next time you see me.

Haven't seen him since. So it's still sitting here. It's sitting here. So I can't remember your name. I'm sorry, but I still have your tripod. It's literally sitting in the closet right here whenever you want. I remember meeting him in line. It went from Boston to Arizona.

Now it's in New York. Yep. The traveling tripod. I mean, what a story this tripod has, all the different places it has traveled. But yeah. The first live event you saw, Casey. The first live event I saw was the first event I ever actually worked because I'm a kind of a, I'm a rarity. Like I started working in this industry and I had no idea what MMA was.

No idea. I was strictly hired because I was the camera guy, I knew how to edit. But it was 2007, February 10th. Elite XE Destiny of the main event being Ken Shamrock versus Hensow Gracie. I was hired to work on that countdown show. So I did I shot for the countdown show. I helped edit the countdown show for Showtime. And then I was like, well, I might as well watch it.

And yeah, I got to see Gina Carrano fight for the first time. Antonio Bigfoot Silver was on it. Charles Crazy Horse. He knocked out KJ. Noon's. KJ. Nunes was brought. Dude, I edited the whole that portion of the countdown show. And it was KJNNNN's. It was supposed to be KJ Nunes versus this crazy guy from central Florida.

And, yeah, I remember just being like, what, I can't believe this guy lost. Yeah, so that was the very first event. I watched. Yeah. Wasn't Ricky Fukuda on that card? Yeah. Oh, Ricky Fukuda versus. Ricky Fukuda Joy Bissingor, I think is Ricky Piccura.

That I don't remember, but I just remember. I don't remember how he won, but I just remember Ricky Fukuda. Deep. Deep never die. Deep MMA never die. Yep, yep. No, no, it was Joey Vinsior versus David Lozzo. That's what it was. Oh, my God, David Lozza was last of the past.

Yeah, Ricky Fukuda forgot, fought someone called Chris Gates. I don't know who he is. No, I know. Mike Powell's on that card. Of course, he was. Future Kimbo opponent, Bo Cantrell was on that card. Uh, yeah, uh, uh, uh, Andre Berto's brother James, uh, Edson Birdt, Bigfoot fought cabbage. Oh, that was the flying knee. That was the flying knee knockout. Yep, yep.

What an electric card. Cabbage. That's a, that's a, that's so fun. Where was that card? And did the DeSoto Civic Center right, uh, and right at right, it's about 30 minutes south of, uh, Memphis? It's right. And years later, Bellator had. event called Bellator Memphis and it was actually in Mississippi at that same place. Close enough, close enough. Awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

All right. We got, I mean, we heard David Loazzo on this program, cabbage on today's program. You got it all today, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, you literally got it all. We've talked about potential Reggie White. Reggie White versus Bigfoot Silva and then Bigfoot Silva. Prime DC against, I mean, not even Prime DC, but DC against Alex Pereira. What that would have looked like?

DC versus Francigano, what that would look like? I mean, we went a lot of different avenues. And you can hit the music now, Casey, because we're done. We'll be back next week. And we'll, Jed will be back and we'll talk about 301. Really? I don't know. What's he doing right now?

What's he doing right now? He had a dentistry. Yeah, right. He had a dentist's equipment. In the South? He found out. Wow. Wow.

He found out of his face in Jose and he beat it. He just beat feet incredible quickly. I have to go to the one person in Georgia. Find out if Jed is back next week right here on Between Links for Casey for Jose. I am Mike Kack. The iconic voice takes you home. Good night, everybody. This has been Between the Links, an MMI fighting production on the Vox Media Network.

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