MMA Fighting - BTL | UFC 292 Roundtable, Sterling vs. O'Malley, Weidman Return, More

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

The UFC's return to Boston is just a couple of days away, and with it comes a lot of interesting storylines — including in the bantamweight championship main event of UFC 292 between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley. On an all-new edition of Between the Links, the panel discusses the demeanors of both Sterling and O'Malley from the UFC 292 media day, where both guys could go after Saturday, and what result would give us the most interesting divisional storylines. Additionally, they discuss the co-main event for the strawweight title between Zhang Weili and Amanda Lemos, Marlon Vera vs. Pedro Munhoz, the overwhelming confidence of Ian Machado Garry ahead of his matchup with Neil Magny, and much more. This week, host Mike Heck is joined by MMA Fighting's José Youngs and The Mac Life's Oscar Willis from Boston for a special roundtable edition of the show. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Follow Oscar Willis: @oscarswillis Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian 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 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. The Vox Media Podcast Network. From M.MA Fighting Studios, this is Between the Links. And now, your host, my... Hi, everybody. The iconic voice of Esther Lynn welcomes you to a...

brand new and very special edition of Between the Links here on MMA Fighting.com. Audio only this week because it's just too damn complicated to do video right now with everything that is going on. We are here in Boston, Massachusetts, and it's nice to be in person with multiple people joining the program. This will not be your typical show. We're just going to hang out, relax, and have a conversation. So joining me, the one and only Jose Young's here in Boston, and there's really only two

people from MAAFying.com who should be on the ground. here as you and I that the New England is. Fucking boss. And as you could hear, the sound of Oscar Willis, who I've seen a lot of you Oscar. Of the last three weeks, I've seen you more in the last three weeks than I've seen you in the last three years. I can't have to be much of a good thing, Mike. Yes, absolutely. So let's get into us. The reason why we're here, UFC 292.

We just wrapped up Media Day. We heard from all the taste bakers. We heard from Al Jameen Sterling. We heard from Sean O'Malley, Zhang Wei Lee, Amanda Lemos, and the list goes on and on. I'll start with you, Oscar, since you're the special guest here from the Mac Life. Biggest takeaway from Media Day today,

whether it's from Sterling, O'Malley, or anybody else on the card. I had a couple of interesting takeaways. First of all, I thought, I'm basing my takeaways on the reaction of the fans' comments to the content we've put up, right? For some reason, they've responded

well to Al Jermaine today, and that's been a hard sort of target for him to land every so often. Sometimes he says some stuff rubs people out the wrong way. I thought today he just came off like, hey, the confident champion. You know, sometimes when guys are already telling you their future plans are to basically leave and try new waters at a different division. Some people kind of, that rubs them out the wrong way.

I feel like everyone's just kind of like, okay, Al Jermaine is the champion. You know, he's never had that until the Suhudo fight. It felt like he never had that signature win, right? The TJ came in like a limp-armed gimp. And, you know, before that, he had the controversial win over Piedian. I think the Suhudo fight seemed to really cement him as championed a lot of people's minds. And so for me, Al Jemann carried championship air around him. And then on the flip side, I thought, Sean O'Malley, not overawed at all by the scenario.

Again, like he didn't want to say it quite so bluntly, but basically he expected this to happen. He's not surprised it's happened, and he's here to sort of tick off the last step in what he is perceived as his championship journey. what I took away Jose the most was Sean O'Malley's honesty and even Al Jermaine's as well like Al Jamein like like Oscar said very confident champion what he says he believes but even the way Sean views this fight very confident that one that this is meant to be and two even if his vibe check is wrong he feels like he even if he loses Al Jermaine Sterling everyone feels like he's supposed to lose anyways so he doesn't really lose a whole lot here especially with Al Jamein potentially moving up to 145 so What was your biggest takeaway from the media day?

What O'Malley or Sterling had to say today? Well, the two of them, I think the big thing is, when we get dominant champions, they're either one of two things. They're hyper-confident like John Jones, where they're just like it's a formality that they're going to win, whatever they say and what the media says. Then you get guys that are like George that are just like martial artists or Anderson where they're just, you know, we're going to go out there

and compete in this and that. But like Al Jermaine, since he won, has been, I might lose my next fight. He's the biggest realist, I think, in this sport. I wanted to ask him that. Like, out of every champion I've covered over the last 10 years, you're really the only one? Like, today at Media Day, he goes,

if I lose, Sean O'Malley becomes a superstar, but if I win, then the funk era begins. It's a win-win for the UFC. And it's very bizarre. You don't hear that a lot from the champion. Even this week I saw on social media, he had this list from 2019 of his goals and stuff like that. And even if you're really like this is not the mind of a fighter,

for mind of a fighter you're seeing words just like kill written over and over again in frantically dark and darker ring but he had like i want this much money in my bank by this much this date and stuff like he's always been a very like sort of his feet of firmly on the ground yeah i think that gets lost in translation a lot with what he does but actually he's a pretty like i don't think aljimate has ever said like let's take him we'll get on to him for sure we will but i and gary right he just said ian garee talk and it's an al jemaine sterling talk couldn't be fucking further apart because Ian basically thinks he could

probably fight Jesus and knock him out and Al Jermaine is very like I could lose every fight every fight I could probably lose and if I lose this is what will happen it's very interesting to have a champion who's like Jose said been very dominant but is also aware

of the realities of man that it's the flip with O'Malley you see fighters like my biggest thing is like I want to be UFC champ, I want to be this. Sean O'Malley's like, I always knew I would be a superstar. Yeah, and he even said, I want to be rich and famous. They're similar in the sense that they know what they want, but they're also realistic that it might not happen or they're realistic in their

trajectories. Like, I remember Sean O'Malley did an interview. It might have been on the MMA where where I might have been Ariel. They're like, oh, Ariel or Alerman says he has like a torn bicep or something. He's like, yeah, that sucks for him. Like, I'm not going to lie. Like, that sucks. like that sucks. So like he's very realistic. He's looking at dollar signs. Alzerman's looking at dollar signs. And I kind of like it.

It's contrasting, but both avenues are kind of refreshing in the sense of challenger and contender. Yeah, I feel like this is almost a repeat of the Sohudo fight in terms of the quote unquote vibes. But Omanly's just a lot less, he's a lot less annoying than Henry was,

especially because Henry had those fucking goons following him everywhere. So the fact they're not there. But so I get the same sort of vibe from both guys. like Al Jermaine where he's like he says this, he says that, that annoys me, and then he pauses and goes, but I also can kind of find the comedy in it. One thing that I found interesting, I like both of your takes, was I asked Al Jermaine, a very fantastic question actually.

I asked him, you know, does he feel Sean O'Manley has the it factor? Because as I was flying to Boston on the decade-long flight yesterday, I was thinking like, it's kind of weird, right? you know, this guy's got the it factor, this guy's got the it factor, and you never really stop to think about what it's like to be the guy fighting him. Because basically what you're saying is like, hey, you're fighting a guy with the it factor. You're basically saying, hey, you're a boring bastard. This guy's really cool.

So I was kind of curious to see if Al Jemate felt this aura, and he just doesn't, I don't think. There are a lot of interesting things that were said. Al Jermaine, like you mentioned, that either Sean's going to become a superstar or it's going to be the start of the funk era. But at the same token, he's already said when he was asked what the reaction of the MMA community is going to be if he beat Sean O'Malley, because he doesn't get credit for any of his wins anyway. It's just going to be, eh, Sean shouldn't be here in the first place. And on the flip side, I feel like Sean is really taking, and Jose, you could probably speak on this, a very smart, like, pro wrestling-esque approach. You say Sean?

Yeah, because Sean is putting over Al Jameen is the greatest man of all time. I felt the exact same thing. But at the same way, but at the same token, when Al Jamein is the greatest man, I was a great way. is kind of talking about Sean. Sean even said, like, well, what's that going to mean when I beat him? He lost to the dude who shouldn't be here in the first place. So this fight has become really interesting. So I guess, like, the big question, and I'll get to you with the same thing, Oscar, is,

is this the biggest Bannway title fight of all time? Because it's a main event. It's in Boston. There have been, like, bigger named more interesting matches. Of course, T.J. Dodd in Boston as well. Yeah, it was a fight. This is a second biggest bandway fight they've had in Boston. So you feel like that fight is bigger than this one?

No, I think the biggest. Bandonway fight and the one I was in attendance for and I know M.M.A. fighting doesn't like to talk about the event, but Dom, Uriah 3 at UFC 199. That felt really big because that was like Dom had beaten T.J. And then he turned around quick to fight Uri. Uriah was saying all the right things. He's like, I remember that narrative of Uriah was like, I was going to retire. The only reason I'm fighting still is because I wanted the trilogy with you. For me, I still think it's Dom versus TJ because actually Dom's return to championship level from the ridiculous shit he had to deal with. It's probably one of the most underrated sports returns of all sports. That's the most underrated fight in the history of America.

But you know, it's like the master versus the pupil, the buildup. To me, that was the biggest band and wait fight all the time. Now that said, if you wait five minutes and then you get Cody Garberant going out and kicking the fuck out of Dom, That's something the big. You know, it's like it's always about the aftermath of what happens. For me, that one was, I think this fight is one thing that came up a lot because everyone was asking fighters for their main event predictions. And one reoccurring theme was, we still don't know how good Chorneaule is, right?

Because he beat Pied Ian, yes, by maybe. And then, you know, before that he stopped Pedro Munoz, sort of. You know, there's a lot of like question marks about all the shit he does. So no one really knows how good he is. And it reminds me of Connor. And I know Sean probably loves that comparison. But if you think of Connor when he came up, he beat, you know, this guy. Oh, but he has to put a wrestler.

Oh, he beat Chad Mendes. But Chad Mendes came off the couch. You know, there's a lot of stuff until he gets in there with the champion. And then he's either good or he's not. And I think this Saturday, if Al Jermaine wins, it could make Sean look absolutely shit and not like he doesn't deserve to be in there with him if Al Jermain wins it could look terrible

for Sean but I kind of thought PDM was going to make that happen and Sean doesn't let it happen it's a very interesting fight because I think there's still an X factor about what Sean's actual ability now from a business sentence the UFC is never going to come out and flat out admit this but they are hoping Sean O'Malley wins

they're poisoning Al Jemaine right now 100% they want Sean O'Malley to win it flips this division upside down meritocracy be damned we can get the Cheeto fight Rameh Moraub 4-hour N-Rank from Tuesday For Marab. I mean, Corey said, like how pisses Corey saying how can it be too?

Because like Corey put the wood tomorrow. They'll give Corey it. So let me ask you this. Like, honestly, from a fans, we get some chicken wigs coming. Yeah, yeah, sweet. From how you view the sport Oscar. Yeah.

Obviously it's different than what the UFC is hopeful for. Aljo wins. He's vacating and moving up to 145, opens things up a little bit, We have probably a three, possibly a four horse race. This is he wins, yeah? If Aljo wins. And if Sean wins, then it just flips the division upside down.

So what do you kind of hope the aftermath is going to, the tail that's going to be told? Is it better if Sean wins overall? Because then we kind of throw meritocracy out the window. But if Aljo wins and moves up, then we can have a more meritocratic thing. We could see a lot of different matchups who may not get if Sean wins on Saturday. The Phantomweight is the one rare exception to this one. rule. Well, you know, obviously you see they play fuckery all the time at other

divisions and you're kind of like, ugh. But Bantamway is kind of a weird one where it's like, I don't really give a fuck about meritocracy because any fight you do in the top 10 is a banger. So it doesn't really matter. Like if you do Shorno Malley versus Cheeto, banger,

Cory, banger, marab. Could be bang. But it's one of those things that that division is so stacked so, so top, like that, amazing. It doesn't really matter. I think it's... If Al Jermaine were to lose and move up, that hurts him a lot. Because I don't think I'm telling any tales where it doesn't feel like the U.S.

He's fighting Mobsar of L'Oyev if he moves up. Well, it doesn't feel like the UFC's ever been really on the hype train for the Funkmeister. Whereas if he wins, you can't really deny him a fight against Alex at some point, right? But if he loses, that guy can't fucking sniffing gold forever. Yep. So if you're a big Aljo fan, you want him to win and move up. there and try and get their bulk fight and if he if he you know if Sean wins I think it does bring in an interesting new era but stylistically I would say it's an interesting new era until

he meets Marab you know because Marab's I think Maraub's style honestly worse guy in a division for him other than you know honestly we're just waiting for Umar to get there really we're just waiting for him yeah uh over umar over Mara yeah I think right now bantamway reminds me of what lightweight was before Habib beat Dustin, where BJ was kind of the default answer for Best Lightweight until Habib took that over. Right now, Dom kind of feels like the default answer for Best Banimate until Umar shows up. I really believe that. Even if Aljo wins on Saturday. And he has the Roger by himself. If Aljo wins, I will put him number one. But I think there's still a lot of fans that just don't view Aljo as the man. How much is that based on his personality?

Yeah, it's 100% based on his personality. have. You think, see, I'm curious. There was an argument that Benson was the best

lightweight ever, but he was just a boring guy that no one gave him credit. Which is crazy considering his WEC

run. I'm taking. You get some bangers in WEC. 100%. That's not UFC though, is it?

I mean, technically it's like in the same family, right? He beat Frankie and I love Frankie. He beat him twice.

Allegedly, because I don't think he won either. Yeah, I think a lot of people feel that. I think if you go back and we watch those, you might feel a little differently. I think the first one he won, the second one he lost.

Anyway, continue. So I know you love these questions, Jose. You love these hypotheticals, the what-ifs, what happens next? You don't mean, Mr. Hypothetical. If Al Jemaine Sterling wins and vacates the title, you've got to feel pretty confident Marab's going to be in there, but maybe not. I'm not.

Who's the fight? Who's going to be the vacant title fight in your eyes? I'll actually, no, I take that back. I wouldn't be surprised if they do Marab So who don't. Yeah. Just because it's Marab. He has the Algini He has like I think he has the second longest

Winstreet going right now Who has the longest win streak? There's like a fighter Is it Like in all weight classes In the UFC Murav's like second right now Probably Islam is it

Islam is it? Yeah I think you're right And then I think it's him and Algino might be tied So I think I think Mara John's maybe I mean John's pretty good I'm

It's pretty good He lost a dombey I think he I think Marab Sehudo is probably the would probably be the betting favorite only because Corey and Umar and everyone are hurt it just kind of becomes the default. I'll comply and I'll agree with you.

I think it's probably Marab Sehudo. I'm gonna say it from the behind the scenes angle. I bet they do that because they think Suhudo is the best chance of beating Marab. Oh yeah. And they'd rather Suhudo's champ than Mara. And then I bet if depending on how long Corey is how like, I think no matter what happens on Saturday,

Cheeto fights O'Malley in December. Regardless of who wins and who loses, that's the fight in December. And if Algebra wins, vacates, and we get Sohudo Marab in December, I bet they do Cheeto versus O'Malley for the number one in 10. Love it. And then Corey's just, Corey's hurt and Omar's hurt. He's going to fight Umar. They're still going to fight each other.

Unfortunately. They're still going to fight each other. 100%. Because, like, I want to see Corey saying, Corey Sanhagen fight Sean O'Malley so bad just as a high-level martial arts fight but like we're so far away from that happen unfortunately this this division just is gonna look very much different second best division in MMA yes but you're absolutely right about that the co-main event Oscar Willis do you have anything more you want

to add about this this main event first she's a curiosity how do we feel Alchman does it 1.45 I think it's tough because you got like I think I don't because Volcanowski's the best fighter in the world I think he's a perfect fighter Like But I got Brian Ortega is big He is

He's a big guy Like Ilya Like Ilii's a big guy Yeah Like I think But then I could see Aljo doing damage Against Jaya

Oh for sure You know You know I think it'll be Very similar Like Connor Like Eddie was a very good matchup For Connor

But Habib is not a good matchup For Bray You can't comment on this Eddie Halberts was the hardest fight in the division Coners smoking, that's the fact But I think it's going to be match-up-wise I don't like Algerna, I favor Algini against over everyone abandon weight

Outside of Umar would be tough And Marab would be tough Obviously he's never going to fight Marov But Oh, I don't know if I can say that on record Anyway Karen I heard that trading partner's spa And sometimes it's actually not as close as you think

Apparently one dude just smokes I'm sure I'm very sure I'm sure that happens a lot Yeah, well anyway I mean Islam's on record saying Usman in the Magamain I've beat him every time Yeah well but I think I think Aljima being the realist that he was

He told me and I can't remember if it was off record or on record But it was age ago so I'm gonna say it He never wanted to move up to featherweight because the beat knocked him out And inspiring and so he was always shook about that But I think as he's filled out And you know I don't know if this is true I'd like to ask him actually but surely if you look up at the featherweight champion and you're like, I think I might be bigger than that guy.

Yeah. That's probably got to give you some inspiration too. Now, I would be in line with Jose, like, Volkinovsky is special. But Al Jemaine is also at the point of his career where it's like, well, try it. Yeah. He said it perfectly. He's like, I feel bad for people who don't want to, like, test themselves. Yeah, as well.

Right. Dude, Al Jermaine is kind of the man. He's a good guy. Everyone hates on him. I hate that people hate him. Which is so... They hate vulgaros and Israel. Is there any fighter that just beloved?

Conover McGregor? Right, right. That's fair. Frankie Edgar probably was back in his heyday. I mean, Robbie Lawler. Yeah. Lawler's a good one. Justin Gatchy's probably...

No, I bet there's one fighter out there. Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of fighters. Look, Connor probably has a problem with everybody. He can dig down deep in five months. Yeah, that's true. He can dig down the guy that says hello to him, like, walking down the street. Well, how do you say hello to him? have the wrong tone you don't even know Josea did you look him in the eye if you didn't look

them in the eye then no the problem is you did look them in the eye oh okay not all of us are the same just like uh in the women's strawweight division we have Jean Wally great transition getting ready to take on Amanda Lamosh and Oscar I want to start with you because perfect I uh perfect start I thought I enjoyed Amanda like Amanda Lameauh brought a quiet confidence to her she really truly feels like she is better than Zhang Wei across the board, yet not a lot of people are giving her a chance. This fight is flying under the radar. She is flying under the radar in this one.

This is a pretty good, an interesting matchup on paper, is it not? Listen, you know, every time you get to the big leagues, we've got to see how good you are. And Amanda's been there and she's been proven and tested at this point, all right? She's fighting for the world title, and that means something special. Now, Zhang, would you argue if she's more well-rounded? Of course you would. But Amanda has that ex-fight, that power, that can equalize anything. It's a little bit like Sean and Aljimae we're just talking about.

So I think there's nothing like fighting for the... Listen, you get some people who fight for the title. I don't want to say any names because that would be shitty, but you get some people who fight for the title and they walk to the cage like they're going to die. I don't think you'll get that from Amanda on Saturday. I also think there's something in it that Zhang's not the most intimidating woman alive. You know, she's a killer in the cage,

but outside she's very nice and sweet and stuff. I actually think that helps. You know, it's not like a man who's laughing at you. Like, a man who knows laughs at you when you're trying to be mean. I think there's something about Zhang being quite nice that gives her challenges a little bit of confidence. Do I think a man is going to put it off? No.

But I think it's nice that she feels like she might. Yeah, and that's always a good thing heading in this fight. Which funny is, Oscar said, like, Zhang doesn't seem like the type of fighter. She's not very intimidating when she's up at the microphone. There was one moment today where she was at, asked about Amanda's comments about being better than her everywhere, Jose. And at one point, the smirk kind of left her face, and she got very wide-eyed.

And then very quickly was like, we're just going to find out on Saturday. What did you take away from from Shang? Obviously, she loves being in Boston. That was fucking jokes, by the way. He kicked out of the, I know you love this city. I was like, she kicked out of us. And he's like, you fought here before. I was like, she did.

She's ever fought here. She was a guest fighter. Yeah. Tom Brady. She got to meet Tom Brady. Tom Brady. Best thing ever talked to you from Boston? He used to play for the Patriots.

Off with that, Neil. Any current. New England Patriots. We're in New England. Yeah, there's one word in there that matters. It ain't neat. Then you guys wore red coats and marched in a straight line. Oh, yeah, this is we had a T-Hobber thing.

The T-Hobb. Before we get into that, I want on record, the actual start of the revolution was the burning of the Gatsby in Warwick Rhode Island. A bunch of Rhode Island just got hammered and murdered a bunch Well, now you're just bringing up all the stuff. Yes. Anyway, to get back to the current battle that we are dealing with.

What was the question? John Wei, the way she carries herself but has those moments of being definitely terrible. I think Jean-Way Lee is one of those nomads that just travels around and just wants to, like, absorb MMA knowledge. Amanda Lemos, I think meritocracy-wise, is the right match up for her right now. because it was to the point where, like, she fought so long ago, I think it was the last MSG card, right? Like, I wanted... Especially when the belt, yeah?

Like, I... Like, how many odds are the next ones? We were like, oh, could she be the next one to fight Jean-Weilly? It's like, enough waiting. Whose highest ranks? Amanda, she hasn't fought. Wayley, go ahead. I've heard a nugget that they might want to do Asia again at the end of the year.

So I bet they want to stay... Yeah, but I think that's a little... It's... It is, but there might be a car. before it, like in Singapore last year. That's a big maybe. But if they do go to Asia, then I would imagine they want to do

Jean-Weili versus Jan Jan-Juan. If Amanda wins, they could just go, hey, congratulations on winning, go defend it in Asia. Yeah. Against Zhang Wei Li. And if that's the case, then Jan-Jan fights Tatyana Suarez.

But I like this fight. I think it's, of everyone that Weili has fought, like, yes, Rose had kicked her and she has power. the second fight, I think there is a legitimate argument that Whaley won the second fight. I didn't score it for her, but I won't tell you you're wrong if you scored it for her. For some reason in my head, I thought she did. I was literally about to be like, why is they done in Trinity?

She's 02 against Rose. Rose is 0 against Carla. Whaley's 1 and 0 against Carla. Well, Carla's a dominating force in that division. What are you going to do about that? Rose is now up at 125. But of all the people I've mentioned, like Whaley has never fought someone that just has thudding power.

She did. She fought Androge at Mert 3 to 30 seconds. But Androge will melt you. This is like you get hit and you feel it, like for extended periods of time. Like Rose and Jessica and Dron will turn your lights off. Wayley will punish you into victory. I think I'm not picking Lemos to win,

but I like this matchup because Lemos kind of presents stuff that Whaley hasn't faced it. I don't think she does things better than her opponents, but I think she is a complete MMA fighter. It's probably her last run of the title. I like the matchup. I really do. Wayley said,

even was like, yeah, we knew we were going to fight her. So I picked Whaley to win. I think she's not the best fight. She's not the greatest straw weight ever. She has ways to go. But I think right now she's the best straw in the world.

Well, second best, Tatsiana's out there. Yeah, it's a great division right now. I would like to see. Yes, Oscar. What are your thoughts on women's MMA,

especially 150 pound division? I think they're so talented, dude. That made it sound so sarcastic. Mike just stared at me like, what are you doing? No, I think... I'm not waiting for something. I wasn't going to be offensive. Tatian Suarez is obviously the uncrowned champion away.

I was actually, you know, my first reaction to that is I was actually really bummed that Joanna confirmed her retirement yesterday. I really was like, go on, go on, go. At www.com? Yes. Yes. She did. But yeah, I was kind of bummed by that.

I really thought she was going to come back. She spoke... In Abidabee, she came up to me and Brett, and she was just like... But how's life? And she just, like, nearly started crying. She's like, I just miss it so much. And I was, you know, I presume she wasn't just crying at the sight of Brett. But she was, like, you know, very emotionally, like she wanted to come back.

And I guess she must have found peace. But anyway, what were we talking about? Yeah, I obviously didn't think she was retired until, like, right now. Yeah. No, I'm pissed about it. Unless she's doing, never mind. Yeah. Even, like, last year in the National Flight Week, I felt like the door was not even closed.

It was still open. And she could just run through it any time she wanted to. She could have come back, fought Carla, thought for a title. Yeah. could have made a BMF belt for the women. They should have been against Andrade, the rematch. Those are the two BMS in the 15. What do you think about that?

She murked Andrash. That wasn't close. It was 5044 on my scorecard. It was a masterclass for sure. And now she's gone. No, she's all gone. Two last fights I want to talk about. I mean, there's obviously other storylines, follow on MAfighting.com for the rest of those.

But you mentioned him earlier, Oscar Willis. Ian Matrado Gary, the man just knows how to talk. Yes. He could talk forever. He can just sell it, man. And he's putting this thing over. He's very confident. He feels like he's carrying the weight of this card on his back.

People aren't going to wake up at 5 a.m. to watch Al Jaljames Sterling versus Sean O'Malley. But they'll wake up at 5 a.m. to watch me, gosh darn it. Ian Machado-Garry versus Neil Magni, not the same fight that we're getting. I was very excited for the Jeff Neal fight. But I kind of feel like this is a very showcasey kind of a fight for Ian McChad of Gary. But Neil Magny was a little low-key spicy at this media day as well. your thoughts on both of those guys today.

Well, I tweeted out Who in the Good Fuck is waking up 5am to watch Al Jemaine and Shaw and O'Malley. They're waking up for me and the first reply was, I'm not waking up for a Neil Magny fight. So that's kind of... I think Ian...

That's such a good answer. It's good in it. I think Ian is I think Ian is the sort of generational evolution of what Connor was, right? I think all of

of us were in our prime shall we say for Connors rise up and there was a period in our lives where Connor could say or do anything that could not miss like anything he did I was like that's the funniest person I've ever seen everything oh my God he's so witty and I feel like now when Ian does his thing I'm often sat there being like my God he's still talking you know and I think I wonder if some of that is basically because I'm older than he is and he's appealing to a younger audience than I am now you know is he the generation z who are like m'louda more brash the jake pool school of thought who is now in a partnership weird that kind of i sort of i've left the jury out on if he on what i feel about it really

i just kind of curious i'm like is this guy just like the new version of something that and i'm being the old man now you know um in terms of the fight i was hired for that jeff neal fight as well as I probably wouldn't go as far as to agree with Ian that his T-shirt made Jeff Neil pull out. I think Neil, I'm going to be, try to be as polite as I can. Neil Magny has often been regarded as the gatekeeper of the division. You get that title for a reason, you get that label for a reason, and then when you get that label about eight years ago and you're still there,

I think this fight probably looks in one way, you know, one direction. Yeah, I mean, You want to call him a gatekeeper or lip-miss test. You can also call him Mr. Reliable, Jose, which is a good thing about Neil Meag. Because there ain't a lot of guys in Neil's position, guy with 30 fights in the UFC. How many people were...

We're going to take this fight. How many people were begging to fight Hamza. How many people were, like, all fight Shafkot? Yeah. Like, that dude, say what you want about his fighting style. That dude does not say no. No, but... Some might say he's the most winning fighter

in the history of the World's Way Division. Is he really? Most wins ever. Past GSP. route. Is it? Yes. Good for Neil. He has more wins and you know who that infuriates? Chale Sonner. He goes

allegedly Neil Magnus fighting. Allegedly he has the most wins in the World Toy Division. We didn't know. That makes me just think Chale and him are best friends because Chale's... I know. I love it. I love it. We're going. We do it Marlon. We got Marlon Pedro Munoz.

What's your thoughts on Ian? You know, he's up there. He's first of all, he knows. sold my call out of Derek from Bedder, which I remain upset about. I wanted to traction on that. But, you know, do you get what I mean by he's the next,

he's like the generation after us? Do you get what I mean? Or do you just think he's an annoying to my asses? I mean, being the real old man at the table, I get where you're coming from where I kind of have that like grandfather syndrome. Like, you hear a song on the radio and your kid hates it. Oh, but this is like what I

grew up. Yeah, yeah. Like, well then. And maybe I am just kind of aging up. But I also behind the scenes talk to Ian and he kind of keeps that same energy. I don't think he's putting on a character. I definitely don't think he's putting on a character. And obviously, I think he's quite a sweet guy. He is.

I think when you get on stage and say the three best talkers in the history of the UFC, O'Connor McGregor Chale, Sonny, and me? Oof. You have a lot to live up to it? Yeah. He's got...

Oof. Do you know what I'm saying? Oof. He's got work to do. He says things. I think he said he said, when he's debut, I was like, Miss guys.

Not a night, but then he's one of those fighters that every time they fight, you can actually see the improvement, but not just a little bit, like, for sure. Like, oh wow, he's like, he fucked up D-Rot. Yeah. He's super-girical. Who did he be before? That was the, um, sunk in on.

Yeah, that fight, he got dropped. He got dropped in that fight, but then he ended up in his sense, right? Third fight. He beat Gabe Green and he'd be. Jared. Ah, man. Because he beat him with the same cross that Connor did. But he, but his, he's, he's good.

Like his first couple of fights, he's getting tagged. And I was like, how are you getting tagged by this guy? And then against Eroddy, it just didn't, it was clean. Didn't break his sweat. The one before that was clean. I think, I think Madness gets all respect to Neil, but I think first round finish, probably. I don't think so. You don't think so?

I think he didn't win, but I just think Neil is, he's not been knocked out. Has he? Yeah, but it always comes. Yeah. Lorenz Larkin. No, Loren, but that was like a beat down. That wasn't like a melted. But it always comes like.

It always comes. He's been submitted. Now, if Ian submits him, because Ian's been submitted by Maya, RDA, like, Gilbert Burns, those three names are probably the best three grapplers in the history of the welterweight division. If he and Gary, Tatt, oh, and Scha. And Schofcott. If he submits Neil Magny, I'm like, okay, he's unbelievable. If he just, I don't. I don't know.

If he kicks them to do Neil Magnin, three rounds is tough. I actually think what Ian should do is do, like, what he's doing, like being Mr. positive while being Mr. Brash. I think slowly but surely he'll become the biggest heal in the company. I don't, you know, because I think everyone will be like, he'll be like, he'll be like, what was that guy who'd be WWU's to run around being like, uh, XA? Bo Dill, Bo Dallas. By Dallas.

He's like, Bo, leave. Yeah. That's Ian Gary. Could be, yes. He's the Jason Jordan of, of, uh, uh, he's the Jason Jordan of, uh, uh, I'll be some. That's a great comparison. I think you nailed it where he's kind of the product of

you saw what works for a lot of people. And like he's taking bits of jail. He's taking bits of Connor and this and that. And I know people hate it. Like people above us like in the age demographic hated Connor. Some of us that lived in Europe or had ties to Europe got tattoos of Connor McGregor's quotes on their body. forever right right you know you probably know nothing so so some of them might

have that they might have been going for a rough period and then all I pose that you don't know why do you know someone nah right listen you've got to feel some way might not feel like beautiful who said that kind of McGregory you should get that tattooed on me like shit so anyway like I get people hate so I look at it through like I'm Because I'm with I am 100% with Oscar. There was a point in time where I thought anything Conrigger did, I just like consumed. Not because I was a massive fan, but I'm like he is so, you can't miss him. I don't feel the same with Ian.

But we're talking about him. And that's the thing. Like we glazed over Cheeto Vera, who is. We haven't even got there. So exciting. We're talking about Ian Garrett. Anyway, continue. Yeah.

I mean, good for bad. He does evoke emotion. And that's very important. in the fight game whether you want to pay for him to see him win or pay to see him get his ass kicked. It's a good quality and I feel like he will become one of the beginning. She don't vary by decision.

That's my pick. But hold on. You can either be you can either be like the next corner or do I want to put this on record. Or you could be like Paddy, right? Paddy was a massive star. One slip up and now everyone seems to just fucking hate him.

If Ian like loses or gets gifted a decision, he's Paddy. That is all negative. That's a good point. That's a very good point. I'm also very, because he seems, if he beats Neil, and then he fights whoever in December, like he says, and then he goes to Ireland, I have no idea what the reception will make.

In Ireland? Yeah. I'm not, I'll chair him because he's got no one else to cheer. I feel like Ian's kind of in the middle. And even if he does lose, he's going to take a ration of shit up for it, at least real quick. But if he shows up to, like, a press conference or he does an interview right away and just takes it on the chin,

and he's like, yeah, man, dude is better than me. And he just loses really well. I think that's going to be a good thing for him. I think him losing, it stunts him a little bit, but he's so super young, man. He can just get right back into it. Also, I think he's a real talent as well. Yeah.

He's got to the actual talent. I think, and his size and sort of stat, like, physical frame for that division, it's going to be a problem. He's not like Hansa, he's a massive well-doy. He's good for the division. He's good for the division, but he's long. But then again, yeah, fuck it. Carry him.

So here you're going Maron Vera by decision. Seemed pretty confident there. Mario Garry Munoz. I like this fight a lot. I think it's going to be really good. I think Pedro is very good. I think he beat Cody at the right time. Like, Cody would have...

Like, he just knocked him out because Cody Foll like an idiot. I think Cody's better than Pedro's on a good day. The Pedro that... The Cody Garberman that fought Dom Cruz smokes Pedro. Well, the Cody Garberin that fought Dom Cruz that night beats a lot of dudes.

Correct. But the T.J. that fought Hafello Suntil, U.S. 200, beats everybody. Yeah. So it's Bannerway's great. but I don't know, man. I literally, I just think Marlon Ver is a better fighter. I just think that. Pedro Munoz is super talented, super durable, super dependable.

I can't believe they've never fought. It's wild. Like, look, he's lost four of six or something like that. Who's he lost to? Like, literally champions. So he's like the Neil Magnet of Bantleman. I love it. I feel like for me, the interesting thing about this fight is kind of Cheeto,

because I think to a degree Cheeto has, I don't want to use the words found out, been found out, but he is a guy who does, he's like Romero in a way. I don't do a lot and then I kill you. You know, that's the sort of vibe I get from Cheeto. That's been the last few couple of his fights.

And sometimes that makes you look awesome, like against Tom Cruise, where you get beaten in every round and then you kick his fucking nose across his chin. Or you look like you do against Sandhagen where you just look like you shouldn't have been there. and it was weird that you were there. Pedro Munoz is an active guy.

Now, is it a thing where the more activity you face is the more you're going to get out of Cheeto, possibly? But I don't think this is like a guaranteed win for Cheeto Vera because I think if he continues this sort of like pause, pause, pause, wait for that perfect opening and then fire, every time you do that, it's a risk because that perfect opening might not land. You know, Tyrone Woodley did it for a bit.

it didn't help him every so often. You know, if you're going to wait too long, MMA of all sports as well, sometimes it's better just close your eyes and just swing at the count, you know what I mean? So it's just, I think this fight is dictated on which Cheeto shows up. Yeah, I mean, I understand why Pedro Munoz

is a popular dog pick this week. I love the women's fights. Andrily, Natty Ice. We got Marina Morose, Carine, Silva, Gerald Mirchard, Andre Petroski. That fight is probably not going to the cards. Hell no. Two tough finale fights.

Cody Gibson, Brad Catona, Kurt Habo, Austin Hubbard, Gregor Rodriguez, Dennis Tallulian, another fight that probably ain't going to the cards. But we got to end with this. Jose, no one is talking about Chris Wyden returning after everything that he's gone through, the broken leg, coming back and fighting Brad Tavares. I mean, no one is talking about this at all. And I think it's a pretty big story. Now, the man may not be for everybody.

I understand that. This is, to the horrifying injury that this guy suffered, everything he's gone through to come back, I'm really surprised this isn't being talked about more. I'm surprised that it's, he wasn't a media day. I think Oscar was in agreement when we got the list. We're like, where's Weidman? Like, that seems like a no-brainer, but until Israel burst onto the scene, Wyman was kind of accepted as the second-greatest middleweight ever.

Now, if you want to argue that Israel has surpassed Anderson, I don't know about that yet. The fact that he won the title back is a big deal. I think that is huge for me. If he goes out there and dust, DDP, Sean Strickland-Hamsat, he's the best ever. It's not even a question. But, like, I think Wydenan retroactively is hugely underappreciated in MMA. Like, his fight against Liotto, I said, when he brought up when Oscar brought up Dom T.J. I was like that's an underrated fight.

Lyota Wydenman is a super underrated fight. The buildup for Vitor and Wydenman is an underrated buildup. Like Rockhold, Luke Rockhold versus Chris Wyden is everything Whitaker v. Zadassania won was. Like the two best fighters from parts of the world that are just natural rivals, like New Zealand, Australia, L.A. versus New York. Like, do you remember that? Like, that was Magic Johnson versus, like, Isaiah Thomas type left. It was unbelievable. Yeah.

So, losing to Rockold, fine. Losing to Romero, fine. The Gagard won, a little goofy with the knee thing. His Calvin Gassup, he got dropped. He's literally only lost to former champions, and I include Dominic Ray's in that category because he beat John Jones. And then Niroia Hall, his leg shattered.

Yeah. I think he would have beaten Nariah Hall. honestly do. Brad DeVars has been in the UFC longer. He fought my former radio co-host Aaron Simpson. That's how long he's been in the UFC. I think after Matt Brown, Brad DeVar is the longest, is the longest tenor tough contesting, right? He might be. He's up there. What a statistic. Is he longer than Lozon? Ooh. I forgot Lozzo. Is Lozun retired? No. I thought he had retired, night? The Lozons, Lozahn is over one.

Yeah? So yeah, he's retired then. Yeah, Lozon is the longest hand because he's tough five. And then I think Matt Brown was tough six, and I think Brad DeVarro's tough nine or eight, regardless. This is a good matchup.

I think it's the right opponent for Chris. I can't believe they've never fought. But yeah, it's odd that the UFC is not building them up. Yeah. What do you think, Oscar? About Wyatman Tavares. Yes. I think,

in a weird way providing he doesn't get like brutally knocked out if Wyden goes the distance and loses on decision that's still a win right what he went through I think everyone is including me

going to be have a squeaky asshole until he throws the first kick but yeah for me this fight is not about Wyden Wyden was saying he's going to mount a title offense and stuff like that okay

but I think really like all of us who respect Weidman his longevity in the sport what matters to me is after you come back from an injury like that just seeing the end of the fight is the biggest win you can have and if he were to lose but it was decision I would love to see him walk away like hey your last image was not that on the canvas it was standing up on your own two feet weird expression I know but that would be cool for me if he wins You know, then we can talk about his ceiling at this age and after this sort of injury. But for me, I just, it's one of those weird ones where Chris has done enough and he was cool and he beat Anderson twice and everything. It would just be nice if he could just leave the arena, like, in good health. And I think that would be a win for everyone. And if I was you're right, who I'd never fight again because the curse will eventually land and your leg is going to get stabbed. It's like when, when Anderson came back and beat Nick Duncan. Yeah, yeah.

And he was just like, just be okay. And then he won and he cried. Yeah. I bet why I'm in Win or Loo is going to be the same thing. I just like, I think the middleweight division is better with Chris because he's, he's a good fighter. He's good fire, good name, good style for some of those guys. 100%.

He's just so, so much older, so much more worn weather than, you know, like there was that tour, they were going to do the Rockhold rematch. That was your original main event on 199. Yeah, he'd have probably battered fucking Rockolds, to be honest. I think. No. No, what? $199?

No, but I think they were talking about it after Rockold lost to Blaucovic. I think they were talking about it. The original main event in was Rockold Weinman. Yeah, and then your boy came in and fell in left. Larry Thur. And then the one-eyed monster came in and won. Oh, dare you, sir.

He'll be here. I'll have him stab you. And then they were going to do the rematch again, but I can't remember who got hurt this time. At 2.30. Anyway, we sort of, yeah. Either way, I hope Chris comes and gets what you need to get out of it, but I don't necessarily.

think he needs to still consider this a career but hey he's his own man and we've seen we've thrown dudes in worth of shape in there so yeah it's good all right i think we're good because we're gonna be talking about this card for the next several days leading up to saturday but wanted to get a btl done a little bit of a different vibe just kind of sitting in a hotel lobby and and chopping it up so having a couple cold ones yeah you're so lucky there wasn't a bar nearer so i could be like more It feels weird not doing this with John Morgan. I know. Shout out, Joe Moore.

It sounds like he's dead now, but no, shout out Joe. RIP, John Morgan. Shout out to John Morgan. We'll have, we'll have the press conference coming up later on today. As you hear this, we will have the, God damn it. There's another media day that's going down later on today with the Boston guys. Joe Lozon. Yeah, he might be in that when you're right now, Mike.

Rob Fock, Calvin Cater, and Corey Sanhagen, I believe, are the three gentlemen. And then we'll have the press conference. Wyden will be at the presser. Yeah. So we will get to hear from him. And then all the way in fun on Friday. And then all the fun on Saturday. You know what I even comes out to?

I might be on a tangent right now. But you know what I haven't comes out to? He won't back down. Yeah, we've got to change that. What are we going to do? Real American. Hulk Cogan. But he comes out like this.

You know the slow bit. He comes out on crutches. Oh, so he does the. He throws the crutches. So he does the Willie Wonka. thing at the beginning where he comes out all slow and then falls down in somersaults. Willie Wong, I shouldn't have been loud near children. Anyway.

Yep. That's a perfect way to end the program. Wander, Frank. That's why it is. Oh, God. All right, now we're out of here. Thank you all very much. Stay tuned to NAMAFighting.com for you.

Oc-C-292 coverage. Good night, everybody.