MMA Fighting - BTL | UFC London, Magomed Ankalaev's Title Hopes, Kevin Lee's Win Over Diego Sanchez, More

Episode Date: March 17, 2022

Who had the better weekend — the UFC, Bellator, or Eagle FC? That question will be discussed this week on a special roundtable edition of Between the Links. In addition, the panel will discuss Magomed Ankalaev's win over Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC Vegas 50 and if it was enough to earn him a title shot, Song Yadong's ceiling in the UFC bantamweight division after his first-round KO of Marlon Moraes, what we learned about Kevin Lee's unanimous decision win over Diego Sanchez in the main event of Eagle FC 46, the UFC's return to London on Saturday headlined by Alexander Volkov vs. Tom Aspinall, if the promotion should've tried to switch gears to book Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett after their hotel skirmish, and more. Mike Heck moderates the discussion between MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew and UFC middleweight Brendan Allen. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew Follow Brendan Allen: @BrendanAllenMMA 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 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. The Vox Media Podcast Network. On M.MA Fighting Studios, this is Between the Links. And now, your host, mine.

We are live, and thank you for joining us for a special live edition. of the BTL Roundtable. So if you're watching us live or in video, you don't get to experience this, but for those who are going to be listening on the podcast feed after the fact, the iconic voice of Esther Lynn will welcome you to that edition of Between the Likes.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week, a wonderful day. It is St. Patrick's Day after all. I'm trying to be a little bit festive. So hopefully you're having a good day watching the first day of the NCAA tournament. If you're a wrestling fan, watching the first day of that NCAA tournament,

you're eating some just crushing bangers and mash and some corn beef and cabbets. and just having a great and responsible time, because that's where all about. But I am Mike Hack. Fun show this week. No actual competition. No bells and whistles because Casey Liden, our producer extraordinaire, he's got himself a mixed martial arts fight to prepare for this Saturday.

So we're going to roll on without him. And we are rooting for him to lay at the smack of down in that cage. We are all very proud of him. Go Casey, get it done. So we're going to keep things light and loose here on the show. but a lot to discuss. So let's introduce the panel first. We introduced the reigning, defending, BTL champ.

No title defense this week, but I'm sure a lot to say as usual. From mhmat fighting.com, Mr. Jedbushu. Happy St. Patty's Day, Jed. This is the holiday of my people, Mike. I am, as many may know, I am from Savannah, Georgia. This is always the biggest holiday of the year in Savannah. So happy St. Pat's, everybody. Let's go.

there you go and I live like 15 minutes from there so I should probably find no way to get over there but alas I'm here in a room virtually with you so uh and now we have a very special gas there he is getting in after this win over sam alvy got on the microphone and he said you know what I want to be on the desk I want to talk some fights I would be good at that so now we're going to build those reps right here on BTL and also we found out that the UFC is targeting a fight between this man and Jacob Malcoun at UFC 275. So without further ado, let us welcome UFC middleweight contender. Brendan Allen Allen to the panel.

Brendan, how are you, sir? I'm good, man. Thanks for having me. I appreciate. I look forward to having a little fun here with y'all guys today and hearing y'all side of some things and all here and mine. Yes, we are all very excited for that. Look at this.

Production 101. Watch this, Jed. Ready? Watch this. Watch this. Boom. How about that? Let's start with this past weekend because this show probably all jumbled up without Casey here

because we don't know what direction we're going to end up going, but we're going to fight through this thing. There was a lot of MMA last weekend, but three big events sort of took center stage, and it came from the UFC, came from Bellator and Eagle FC. The latter had their event on Friday. UFC and Bellator went head-to-head on Saturday.

All three had their moments. All three had excitement. All three had main events that created some storylines after the fact. So, Brendan, we're going to begin with you. who won the weekend and why? Was it the UFC with UFC Vegas 50? Was it Bellator with Bellator 276? Or was an Eagle FC with Eagle FC 46?

Man, I think all of them had some great fights. If we're going by main events off each card, just their main events, I have to go with Bellator. I feel like Adam Borick and Madsburnal had a great fight. It was amazing, you know what I mean? They went back and forth. They were both a hard 25 minutes

and had a killer. pace, man. I thought that they looked like they were going for a three round by how they came out. But man, they came out and still did that for five rounds. So if we're going by just peer main events, I would have to go with Bellator. But as a whole, I would have to go with UFC. They had a lot of good finishes, a lot of good matchups. But obviously, you know that that main event was a little, I think it's what everyone kind of expected, to be honest with you, either a knockout in the first or second from one of them or if it went past the second, I think everyone think knew Anka Live was going to go ahead and take over.

But Eagle was great too, man. They had some really good fights. I was actually in attendance live for Eagle, and they had some really good fights. And they're a promotion to watch, man. They're doing good things. And so they're just getting their foot in the door. That was their second event in the U.S.

And I think they're going to be something to watch out for. Jed, who won the weekend for you? Because we did a lot of content for, I think, all of these cards. I don't know if we did it much for Bellator on Twitter Spaces, but we definitely did Twitter spaces. We did maybe the longest Twitter space we ever did during the Eagle FC card. And long after the Eagle FC card. Yeah, we stayed on for a while.

And then we did some stuff for the UFC card as well. But who won the weekend for you? Between the three, who was the gold medalist? Sadly, it's Eagle FC. Like, I think I agree with Brendan. I think, you know, Belator had the best fight of the weekend. But it's that age-old question. You know, if a great fight happens and no one watches it,

did it really make a sound? And I'm just not sure that more than four people, including the three of us on this call right now, I actually saw the Bellator main event, and as great of the fight as it was between Madsboro and Adam Borch. It just did not register, at least with us, from a site perspective. Similarly, I thought the UFC card as a whole was awesome. Unfortunately, that main event was garbage.

We talked a lot about it after on fight night. There's really bad fight. It was really not worth watching, and that kind of leaves that bad taste in your mouth when the final fight, the Marquis matchup ends up being a bit of a dud. It just sort of sours the rest of the card, and you kind of forget about everything else to happen because almost every other fight in that card was really fun. You know, the Sadiq Yusuf Alex Kassaris fight was maybe like the second worst fight, and that wasn't a bad fight. So, you know, overall they had a great card of bad main event. But the reality is Eagle FC, I didn't love it. I'm not like, it's not like Kevin Lee Diego Sanchez was the best fight I've ever seen.

But it was entertaining enough. And more importantly, people were in. Like, I don't know what is attracting people to Eagle FC. I don't know if it's just that it's Habib's promotion. And so people are stoked on, you know, Habib doing this thing. or I would argue that Kevin Lee and Diego Sanchez were the biggest names competing that weekend, but even so, I don't think, like, if you put that, we talked about at the time, put that fight atop a UFC card.

I'm not sure that it's going to do like an insane amount of traffic, but for whatever reason, Eagle FC was killing it all weekend for us from an interest, fan interest perspective. All the questions we were getting were about Eagle FC. And the reason, you know, you've seen. said, the reason we are Twitter spaces went so long that night was people just really wanted to talk about Eagle FC. So they won the weekend from a promotional standpoint, certainly. I don't think they put on the best fights, but they got the most interest, the most buzz going. And that's

what they're in the game, especially at this stage four. So let's let's dive into that fight a little more, Jed, because we saw Kevin Lee defeat Diego Sanchez. Lee was a massive favorite. And depending on, there weren't a lot of websites like putting out odds. for this card, but I saw betting lines from minus 1700 to like minus 3,300 for Kevin Lee against Diego Sanchez. And Kevin Lee wins. It was

unanimous. It was a pretty competitive decision, if we're being honest, but Kevin did say to be fair, that he hurt his knee badly when Diego landed the first leg kick. As of now, no update on his condition. We don't know if he had an MRI or anything. So the last we heard was I hurt my knee on the first kick, and that

was it. So we watched that fight together, Jed. What did you learn? watching it. What was your biggest takeaway? At the time, we talked about this on the Twitter space is I had a lot of concern about Kevin Lee's career because he, in all frankness, did not. He probably should have put the wood to Diego Sanchez, given Diego's almost, if not 40. And I don't think he's like washed, but he is certainly not the fighter he once was. And Kevin Lee, while winning clearly all three rounds, struggled at times. And at the time we talked about it, I was like,

man, I don't feel good about, I thought Kevin Lee was going to be in a much better position than this, especially to functionally be the guy that Eagle FC is building around. They've created the weight division. He's been the most active in calling for. Ostensibly, he is going to hold that title and that he's going to be the guy that is the lead of their promotion outside of, I guess, Habib. But he did not look like that guy last Friday night. at the that that's what I felt at the time I still have some of those concerns now but now that we know hey Kevin Lee may or may not have torn his MCL almost immediately into that fight that answers that would make a lot of sense for his performance where he looked a bit slow he didn't look like he had the ability to close the distance on Diego without just kind of lumbering in like a lot of the problems that I was noticing with him they seemed to really be answered by the fact that he didn't have a working knee So assuming, you know, that all of that's true, which I've no reason not to believe that,

I think that answers, that makes me feel better about Kevin Lee's performance. But I am still going to have some real questions because even with that injury, I, there's still, there's just going to be a lingering thing in the back of my head about, man, where's Kevin Lee at in his career right now? Because I'm just not sure. Brandon, you were right there, man. You took the fight in live. So what did you take away from?

And I think we talked about this on Twitter spaces too, Jed, that in baseball, you could have like an over 20 slump. But if you could hit a little nubber off the end of the bat down the third baseline, leg it out, and you break the slump. And then all of a sudden you start ripping doubles and triples into the gap. You're just going to get that first hit. And for Kevin Lee, this is his first win since the Gregor Gillespie knockout. Maybe you just, it ain't got to be pretty.

You just got to get your hand raised. And although he was, he did suffer the knee injury, what did you take away from? from his performance in the fight. Man, to be honest, I can't say it any better than what Jed just said. I had, and along with the people that were watching it right next to me, we had a lot of questions, a lot of wonders of why he was doing certain things, why he wasn't doing certain things. And I feel like the knee injury kind of explained it,

and there was some people that were next to us. It was like, man, we think he hurt his knee in the first. So that kind of explained it. But again, there is questions to be still be had on. where he goes from here. Granted, like you said, you just need to get that W and maybe get back in that win column, and then you can build that confidence, you know what I mean?

So hopefully the old Kevin Lee comes back because Kevin Lee at the beginning of his UFC career was, he was a stud, man. That's why they pushed him so fast. So hopefully that Kevin Lee comes back, but obviously there's still a lot of questions to be had because 165 is a weight class where Eagle FC has guys that they can bring in that can wrestle like crazy.

A lot of those rushing guys can really wrestle. They have good ground and pounds. Some of them have really good hands. So there's a lot of talent there, and there's a lot of questions that still we had that hopefully we'll get answers too soon. But, you know, still, hats off to Kevin Lee for fighting through with the knee injury.

I know it's tough to do, and I haven't even had a knee injury like that. So to go three rounds like that is impressive by itself. But hopefully, you know, everything heals up, and he comes back better. On the flip side, Brendan, Diego Sanchez, there was a lot of concern. They're like, I don't know if we want to throw this guy in there,

especially against a guy like Kevin Lee. Like, I know Kevin needs to get a victory, but, you know, this might be a little scary. You had the horrible boat of COVID and everything he's been going through in his life. Like, eh, not really, not really feeling it. But all things considered, the dude went out there. He competed.

He didn't get badly hurt. And he said on the microphone, he's got two fights left in his deal. and he wants to fight them up. So did you see enough from Diego where that idea, I don't know if gets you excited, but it doesn't make you nervous. Yeah, I mean,

he looked better at this fight than he has in his previous fights. I mean, a lot of people were making jokes about the Fabian thing or whatever his old coach's name is, but I don't know about that. I just thought it was pretty funny that people were blaming his performances on that. But he did look better that night, but still, I mean, if I'm just being, very honest, I think his career is done. I think evolution has really taken place and he just

hasn't evolved with the sport and really can't compete with guys a medium to high level anymore. And it's sad to say because he was a guy that helped build the sport and he is a pioneer. So it sucks to have to say that, to be honest with you, from me being a fighter, you know, but at what point do you just look at your overall health as a human rather than just saying, saying I'm a fighter, this is what I do. But then again, coming from a fighter, it is hard to get rid of. It is hard to walk away from.

This is something that you give your life to, and it just becomes your life. So I understand that it's hard to walk away. But as far as him performing, you know, there's, I don't think he's going to be any top dog at Eagle FC, to be honest with you. Jed, your thoughts on Diego. Are we past the concern phase?

There's just still some concern? Are you okay? Like, if he wants to just run, out these two fights. Are you cool with that or are you concerned still? I'm cool with it because I'm kind of cool with people get to live their lives and make their choices, you know. I'm never going to be beyond the concern stage with Diego. Not from his in-caged performances of being honest. Like, it's not like he's getting like really dusted up in these fights. Like he's getting hit and hurt and stuff. But it's, it's not like Chuck Liddell

at the end of his career where he just got brutally knocked out. like five times in a row or a guy we're going to talk about in a minute, Marlon Marais. You know, I don't, Diego's not losing that way. My concerns are just more about the long exposure we've had to Diego and I've never met the man, but I still feel like I have at least some understanding of how he operates and who he is. And he gives to me every impression of the guy who is going to have to be drug away from the sport, dragged away from this sport. And that's just always going to be an ever-present concern, right?

Because even if, when we talk about this a lot in various contexts, it's not, it's actually less so the, ah, he got knocked out brutally that one, two, three, four times. It's the accumulation of damage that leads to long-term health concerns. And Diego certainly has taken a lot of damage over the course of his career. and he's just going to keep taking more the longer he fights, especially the way he fights. So I'll always be concerned, but at the end of the day, I fundamentally believe that it's his right to fight.

Like, this is how he makes his living. He gets to choose how he wants to go out. And so long as there's no real medical reasons to not clear him, which to this point I don't think there have been, like it's okay. he gets to keep doing it, whether I wouldn't promote him personally, but that's a story for a different conversation, I guess. But, you know, I don't have any huge issues with it. Last thing on this, Jed, we got two U.S. shows in the books for Eagle FC.

No changes at all from the broadcast side. So from show one to show two, how would you rate the second go around here, Jed? It's garbage, man. I don't first shouts to them their stream is actually really good um and normally that's like especially with the smaller shows that is like historically a thing that is a really big problem is getting a consistent stream that works I've never had an issue with the Eagle FC stream so at a very baseline well done you guys are nailing the important part Henry Souter is terrible and you should stop letting him speak on camera um she's really bad

at it. And when he can't pronounce Habib Narragamatov, the guy who owns the promotion, who he shares a management team with, and literally has multiple conversations with, at this point, I have to assume monthly since he keeps doing these shows,

and he can't say that name. Like, what is the hell is going on? Like, I don't... Some people have talents in some things and they don't have it in others. And it's okay for people to get a shot and attempt it. And yeah, let's see if Henry can do it. Henry can't. We know this now. He certainly can't do it. So make him be an analyst if you're like really committed to him doing this or whatever. But it's just this is not where he excels. And I don't think we need to keep trying. Other people can come in. Brennan Allen wants to get some time doing some stuff. Let's let a man here. Do like other humans exist that can talk or hold the microphone and can probably at least say the names of the people they're talking to.

So it's awful. I wish they'd stop doing that, although them not doing it gives us more content to talk about in Twitter spaces. So silver linings there. But yeah, I have a lot of problems with Eagle FC, and one of the big ones is that. I think that's an easy fix, and they're not doing anything about it. Brendan, you didn't get to hear the broadcast because you were there.

And not a lot of people were there. This is the, they were saying on the broadcast. This is a VIP-only type of experience. So you got to sit there and watch some fights and do some different things. How would you grade the experience overall? Did you enjoy it? Was it a good Friday night? Did you enjoy it?

Would you do it again? Yeah, so I've been to both of them. Like, we got to go. It's a different experience, to be honest with you. Being there in person, it's a very weird to say, but a very intimate type of feeling because you're so close to the cage, you're so close to the fighters when they walk out, when they leave, after they fight. They can come out and hang out with everyone.

There's only 100 to 200 people in the whole thing. That's including workers and everything, if I'm not mistaken. So it's super, super close. So it's a different feel. And there's not a lot of booing. I don't think I've heard anyone booed but one time that was on the first event. I don't even remember what fight it was. So people understand the fights, you know, and if they don't understand, at least they don't say nothing.

So I think there's a lot more knowledge or just a lot more people that just aren't assholes. You know what I mean? It's a different experience. I enjoy it personally. I think it's very cool to be so close to the cage, no matter who you are, no matter what seat you are, you all are pretty much all the same distance from the cage. There's like a type of bleacher setup for most of them that are like movie seats. and then they have a small section on each side of the entrance to the cage,

like the little catwalk, and they just have normal folding chairs there. There's probably maybe eight rows, ten rows on each side. So not a lot of seats, but like I said, I can't say it enough. It's a very intimate feeling. And it's very interesting. I don't think anyone's ever going to go to any other fights that gets this caliber of fighters that's so unique.

How can't compare to a lot? Like LFA. I like it better than LFA. I fought for LFA. It's pretty similar depending on what venue. Like I fought in Minnesota, Lake Charles. It was pretty much all that I, like location-wise that I fought. Less people, so more like just a tighter knit type of deal.

But you still have your space. It's not like you're sitting on top of each other. And the way they also, the way that the eagle treats, the people that are attending. Like the first event, all the food was free. You can order whatever you want. No liquor, but all drinks and food was free. All you had to pay for was your parking.

And the second event, they paid for parking. You had to pay for your food that was in the event, different type of food. But they give away shirts, jackets, hats, all that's free. They have like a little like almost like a red carpet theme when you walk in. It's got like the poster board on a big, like, canvas almost. So everyone can take a picture in front of it with your friends or whoever you're there with

to post and they promote the next event somewhat. So they don't put the next poster out that they release, like the UFC, they release the big fights. Like they release the JDS, Signore and the Castro promo and things like that.

So it's pretty cool the way they run it to be honest. And I think it's better than LFA. It's a more UFC type of feel, but with a different type of swag, if that makes sense. It's interesting. I'm telling you, when you go there, it's hard to explain, but once you're there, I'm telling you, if you're going to a chance to go, make sure you go,

because it's a different experience. Mike, let's go to the one in May. Let's go to JDS. I'll be that. Morgan de Castro fight. May 20th. Dumbus fight. Let's go.

We'll have to hit up our bosses. I mean, that'd be a pretty damn fun fight week to cover. The Eagle FC debut of JDS against Jorg and Castro. I'm sure we'll have more recognizable names on that card. Yes, Kekhter Lombard and Tiago Silva. Not fighting Tiron Woodley because Eagles are really bad at their jobs. Both of those fights are objectively bad, but, you know. That would have been an interesting one.

That would have been a good one. But we'll be all over that car when it happens. Black Friday is here at IKEA and the clock is ticking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free. today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials, all the little and big things you need to make this season shine. But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca.orgia. Bring home to life. With Instacart, you get groceries that over-deliver so you can over-share your preferences.

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Instacard, groceries that over deliver. Service fees exclusions in terms apply. But let's move to the next day, UFC Vegas 50 because it was capped off by Magamette Ancolaev, defeats Tiago Santos, main event, five-round decision, but Jed, we hear at M. May fighting. We have spearheaded two conversations that have not gone away.

One, the Tim Elliott stuff, based on what he said after his fight in my interview with him subsequently thereafter. The other is what this win has done from Agamette Ankelai, because there's a lot of people that agreed with us in the preliminary stages of this. It was a win and it's cool, but it's not a win that screams. We've got to get this guy a title fight. But on the other end, there are people that say, I don't care what you have to say, this guy has won eight in a row, exciting performance or not,

this guy should fight for the title next. He got his main event, he beat a former title challenger over five rounds. This man does not need to do anything else. He's won eight in a row, give him a damn title shot. So do those people... Who are those people?

Are those people of Magumann and Goliath's family? Is there any argument? Do you watch that fight other than them are like, yeah, get this dude in the cage for the bell? But 205 isn't the deepest division in the world. Is there an argument to be made that doesn't really matter about the performance? The guy's on the big winning streak. We see a lot of potential for this man.

Let's just throw him into a title fight and see what happens. I mean, sure, there's an argument to be made because he's got the longest winning streak in the division. I think that's just true. I don't think Glover's past him right now. So, sure, I mean, there's an argument to be made. I just, you, and hell, maybe the UFC will do it. But it's just not the performance you want to see from somebody with, we talked about it afterwards, with a title fight on the line, you know,

like he knew coming in that if he puts a stamp on Tiago, Teago Santos, that's it. He's going to get it. But now, who's Rockich fighting? Rockich is fighting somebody, isn't he? He's not fighting anybody. He's fighting on. Well, they're trying, yeah, the, we assume,

they're going to try to rebook that fight. Yeah. You know, if that fight gets rebooked and Alexander Rockich knocks out Jan Behovic, that's it. Rockich is getting the next title fight. Like, sorry. It's he, we talked about it afterwards. Uncle I have basically treaded water, right? Like he didn't lose and that's the most important thing.

He got two paychecks, got his W, kept his one streak alive. But he did it. and he just scraped by. You know, C's earned degrees, but they don't get you to the honor roll, basically. And that's the answer for him right now. Like, he's trying to climb up, and he can't not going to do it off that

unless everything else breaks right, unless the class curve is so bad that he's just at the top with that C, that's where it's going to be for him. And, like, so again, you know, if Rockich gets rebooked against Blahovic and Rockich wins, he is above Uncle Ivan in the UFC's rankings. he will have a spectacular win, you know, in this scenario over a former champion. Like, he's going to be the guy who gets the next title fight.

Anklav has to hope that that fight doesn't get rebooked or the Bohoevich wins. Because, honestly, at this point, even if Rockets just wins it's not spectacular, he still might just get the title fight. Like, Ankliv needed to do more and he didn't do it. So, sure, you know, if you put him in a title fight, nobody's going to be upset by it, I don't think. but he did not put a stamp on it. He did not make himself must-see television.

He used this on Fight Night, and I'm going to keep saying it. He Leon Edwards is the crap out of the whole situation. And look how that's working for Leon Edwards. Not great, my man. So maybe he gets it if he does. I like his chances to win the belt, frankly, but he's not doing himself any favors. What do you think, Brennan?

Because from a fighter's perspective, and like you just fought in this division. You took a short-nosed fight. You fought a 205. If you were in this division full-time, and let's just say you were in the same spot as a Jan Belhovic or at Alexander Rackich, you were probably happy with the way that fight played out on Saturday

because that wasn't a leapfrog over everyone type of performance in most people's eyes. So if you're Behovich or Rackich, are you confident in the fact that maybe like the UFC will give Ankelaev, you know, Anthony Smith instead of a title shot? We'll do like a two-fight, whoever does it best kind of thing in the winner of that conversation gets the next title shot sort of scenario. So if you're Bojovich, if you're rackets right now, are you like, cool ankle, I have good win, but we're still in play here. Definitely.

I feel that's the only way to go, to be honest with you. I feel Magramed has a, I feel like he has a lot of talent and he didn't display it that night. So, and you're only as good as your last performance. So unfortunately, that's not a title worthy win, in my opinion. But I do feel he has the talent to fight for a belt. Just that's not the performance that's going to give him that. And who knows, man, maybe he could have had some injuries. Maybe it was the bright lights of a main event.

And he just wanted to get the W. Who knows what the reason is for that. But definitely, I feel he's going to fight Anthony Smith and they'll rebook Yon and Ratchik. And like you said, whoever does it better, that's what it's going to be. That's who's going to get the next shot. now we had another fighter in not the exact same position but kind of a similar position not as close to the belt as ankylai up but in a spot where it was okay this guy is really good but let's give him a real test put some pressure on him and see how good he really is

song you dung brennan allen did exactly that he comes through goes right after maraise like normally when you fight maro maraise you kind of stay away you try to you know keep some distance in that first round and then you attack him as he starts to get tired Song Yadong did the exact opposite. He just went right after him, brutally knocks him out, and it's a huge win for him. So how high is this guy's ceiling? Do you feel like we could see this guy fight for the Banimoy title in the next two years good?

I think so, man. He has, he's talented. He's younger than me, and his IQ is very good. Just the way he adapts the thing are very well. And his technique is obviously very good as well. the way he stayed in there, stayed in that fire of that combination, that exchange, or he stayed in that exchange to give that combination was just, that's pretty hard to do.

Someone that hasn't been training or isn't diligent is not going to do that. They're not going to stay in the fire. But as far as his game plan to come out there and get in his face, it's actually kind of smart when you think about it just because Marlin's not a heavy, heavy puncher. He's more of a really heavy kicker. So getting in the inside negated that kick. and made him have to throw his hands

and I think kind of overwhelmed him just a little bit because he wasn't expecting that. But, man, that Song Yadong has some talent. And, yeah, I do think he's going to be worthy of a title shot in the next two or two or so years. And hell, but what they say, I think he's 24 or 25. He won't even be in his prime from what they say.

You know, they say he primes from 28 to, like, what, 34? So he's got a very bright future. No matter where he goes or what he does, he does have a very bright future. And I feel as long as he stays diligent, which obviously is, man, look at his physique. They say he's like that year round. That's hard to do.

I don't do that year around. So I think you've got a bright ceiling. What do you think, Jed? Like, how high can this guy go? I know you're not as high on the band of weight division as Casey and AKR. And even my side as they are. Okay. But still, but do, you?

Do we have like a legit contender now? Do you look at Song Yunung and say, yeah, let's, let's strap the rockets to him. Let's see what this guy could do. Let's see if he can fly. I want to clear a couple things. I'm not down on the Bannamweight division. It's arguably the most exciting.

Lightweight's just the best division in the sport. It has always been so and will always be so. So that's just it. And I'm sorry that I'm rational. But I love Bannon Wade as much as everybody else, just not as much as Casey, who has an irrational a love for it. Shouts to you, my man, Casey, whooped that ass this weekend. Two, I think I was the biggest one on Song Yadong coming into last weekend.

Like, I, on all our pre-show stuff, was like, I think Song-Yong is going to go kill Marlon Rice. And a lot of y'all are like, I don't know, Marlon's just lost two the best guys. I think he's still got it. I was like, I don't know. I think Song-e-Dong is going to go kill him. And I was super right because Song-I-Dong did just go blow the doors off Mal and Maris. And I thought that in part, because I do think Marlon, you know, has had a really tough run and maybe is past where he should be fighting.

But I just, I'm really high on Song Yong. I think, like Brendan said, he's 24 years old and really, really good already. Like, he is still going to, like, he still has a lot of room to grow into this. And he has the bare, like the infrastructure to be a really, really excellent Bannamway. I would be frankly shocked if he does not end up fighting Peyote Rian at some point for the title because at some point Peter Yon is going to get that belt back from Sterling

whether it's this next fight or not. I could see Sterling winning this next one, but Jan is also very young. And I think what I'm hoping for is that we get a trilogy of fights between Piori Yan and Song Yodong down the line because they're both awesome. That would be a lot of fun.

but all in all UFC Vegas 50 was a really fun car we had some good moments Cleo Roundtree Huck you not just have so much respect for that dude Drew Dober great win Alex Paheda getting a step closer to that Izzy fight just a really enjoyable event I mean the main events not one will go back and watch again but the card before that was pretty fun

it was a pretty fun card Jed yeah I'm just mad at Alex Paheyer for not getting a knockout and ruining my bet he had a lot of opportunities to do it and just couldn't quite put bruno silvo away and it made me very upset i'm not over it listen sometimes you need that you need that experience you need to go to 15 and just see what life's about and he's going to grow and learn from that right i mean just not good for your bet yeah i mean i'm i don't begrudge the man for his fight i'm just unhappy and how it affected my life it's totally reasonable now i'm kind of hoping you fight's

and out and gets heel hooked in like four minutes. I mean, that would be an inch of, what do you think about Alex Bejana right now, Brendan? I mean, this is a guy that is streaming up the division. He's got history with Israel Adasania. It seems like everybody is looking to fast track this guy into a title fight right away. What are your thoughts on what he's done so far? Man, I thought the fight with Bruno Silverwood had been a good fight. You know, Bruno is pretty good.

He's a banger. You know, I've heard about his jihit-suit. but I've never seen it, which obviously... No one has. I can lie. I ain't watched tape either, so... But I don't know. My boys kind of told me about him. But I know Piero, to be honest, I'm not going to lie,

and people will talk so much crap about it. But Piero's striking does not impress me as like, oh, he's this great champion. Like, you feel like he would be... The way he's talked about, he would be super flawless. But, man, it's just when he throws, it's ill intentions. It's very bad intentions. And I feel like that's what makes his stand up good.

And his switch knee is actually pretty good. But as far as like his one-two, his one-two-three, things like that, his combos aren't flawless. Like, they have holes like everyone else. But he's just tough and he's intent. He's got a lot of experience and striking. But as far as MMA, he's still super green. We've got to see anyone really try to take him down and test his ground game. But he's evolving.

So, I mean, if you're going to get it, you might as well get it now. I mean, me personally, I'm that type of guy. I want all the smoke. I want every hype train. If I can't have an O, nobody else can have O's. If I can't have one, no one else can have it. So I'm trying to give a loss to everyone. I just need them to stay in the fight and not have so many late replacements.

But that's a different conversation. I like it. Well, let's move ahead to this Saturday. The UFC is back in London. first time in two years in the UK at the O2. We got Alexander Volkov versus Tom Aspinall, the main events. We got Arnold Allen versus Dan Hooker, phenomenal co-main event. Patty Pimbled is back.

Gunner Nelson is back. How about that? And just a lot more fun fights. So Brandon, we'll begin with you. I just want to start here. The next three UFC events, we have this one. We're in Columbus next week. And then we got UFC 273 in Jacksonville.

So do you feel like we're approaching some, semblance of normalcy here? More, I mean, more than we have in the last two years, we have three straight cards in front of more than a hundred people outside of the apex. We're getting like full arenas for the next three cards. Does it feel like we're getting out of the

hole here, so to speak? It feels like it. And man, I sure hope we are, man. I can't wait to have the fans back consistently rather than just, what is it, 50 people at the apex or whatever it is. The apex was fun, but me personally, I'm ready to get the hell out of there. I'm ready to get in a full, full venue back again, like Jacksonville after COVID.

So I sure hope so. It feels like it right now, and I sure hope it continues that way. I feel like they're going to start putting more and more and more into at least the paperviews. So I think pay-per-views, I think we're solid on making sure we have fans. And hopefully we can get consistent with that on fight nights as well, just so everyone gets back to that normalcy. I agree. Jed, this is one of those cards where as long as you promote the right fighters and get some locals on the card,

like the lineup certainly matters in terms of viewership, but not really as much as other events because the crowd is going to make this as memorable as the performances are. So having said that, how do you like this particular lineup overall, taking the, I guess taking the ambiance out of it because, you know, that's going to be fun. But how do you like the lineup and how do you like this main event between Volkov and Asmodal and the headline spot? This card rules. I think there's an actual argument that it is the best fight card the UFC has put on this year, including pay-per-views. It's probably not right, but I think that there's top to bottom.

This is about as perfect as it gets. I have two very small quibbles with it, but otherwise it is excellent. Like you said, we're going to get a great ambiance, and they have done the thing. that they do when they go to England, but they, like, did it well this time, where instead of just, like, every European fighter gets on the card, and, you know, doesn't really matter that Gunner Nelson is fighting in England. It's not like he has, it's like this enormous pole or whatever. They've got just a ton of British people fighting on this card,

so crowd is going to be absolutely bananas the whole time, which is going to be great. Like, I expect this is probably one of the, like, very few events this year, where the house is going to be mostly full from fight one. Maybe not fight one. I'm not sure how much, like how much Mohammed Mokai have, like how many people are that into him. But like by the time you get to the Jack Shore, Timmer Valley of Fight,

which is probably the best fight of the weekend, if we're being honest, like that place is going to be going ape the whole time. So great card. My biggest issue with the card. Also, love British cards. It starts at one Eastern time. so great for us. Super stoked that I'm not going to be up to like three in the morning.

12 fights. I know we lost one, so it was supposed to be 13, but 12 is a number I can work with. It's not the 10 perfect, but 12's okay. My main issue, honestly, with this fight card, is the main event, which I understand why it's the main event, and I get that it's very, that it's like, as far as heavyweight goes, a good fight.

I don't want to see five, rounds of this because I think that we're going to get five rounds of it. And I don't know, I watched Cyril Ghan and Alexander Volkov fight for 25 minutes and nobody was like, hell yeah, I need to see 25 more. And I suspect this fight's going to look a lot like that fight. You know, the British fans will be stoked because Tom Aspinall is doing stuff. But for the rest of us, I would way, way, way rather have Dan Hooker, Arnold Allen in the main event. I think that fight, the dynamics change dramatically over five rounds. And I would watch those two dudes fight for 25 minutes, no questions asked. But that's my only issue. Otherwise,

top to bottom, great card. And I'm really excited for this weekend for a lot, because a lot of the fights are great. Brennan, your thoughts on Volkov versus Aspital, because this is kind of like last week, last weekend's main event. A lot of hype around Aspinall. Has it really asked for this big of a step up. He kind of wanted the... He was like, I want a slow bill, just one ranking spot at a time. Let's just slowly get there. You have C's like, uh-uh, we're not doing that. But he's getting it here. He's getting that step up, hometown fight. And if he goes out there and impressively beats Alexander Volkov, you got an official player in this heavyweight division. So from a fighter's perspective, is a guy who's going to look at it maybe differently than the Jed and I will,

like what's the biggest question you have in regards to the same? fight like what question you look and to have answered more than any other it's tough because i like aspirin i think he's a very he's he's also a guy like song yodong as far as how how far he can go i feel he's very talented and he brings a different a different like swagger to the heavyweight division he's he's a lot different i think he's like the an evolved version of what we used to see so but as far as what i want to see answered is just um how's he going to deal with that height discrepancy. You know, Volcom's a big dude.

And I know that Aspenall's been working with Fury, so that'll be interesting to see how that's going to work. But I think for me, it's just that's the only question I have in this particular fight is how well. And to go off a jet of my bugaboo for the card is that there's no real Londoner on the card. There's no real true Londoner. So I find that a little weird, man. I wish my training partner at Sanford was fighting a little bit sooner. and could get the call up because he's a true Londoner.

But his fight got moved to this weekend for Fury in the main event. So shout out to George Tokos. But yeah, that's my only thing. There's no real Londoner on the card. Jed, like you mentioned, the co-man event is fantastic. I got to find this comments because I thought it's actually a really good question here. David Sandown, he likes him around Allen. Feels like Hooker really needs this win.

So, I mean, he's going to root for Hooker. We're not going to talk about who you're going to root for. but it is an interesting point about who needs this one more because Alan has been on a tear. It's his first fighting quite some time. I know they're trying to book him as a big fight at the end of last year. Some big main events. I know Calvin Cater was mentioned, but he had a hand injury and he just couldn't get these big slots. So now he gets his opportunity to come back.

He gets Dan Hooker, who everybody likes. He's going back to 45. It feels like this is going to be home for the foreseeable future. So who does need this one more? Arnold Allen in a division that is really interesting and very loaded right now. It's very deep in talents. Or Dan Hooker going back to 45 and trying to get things on track. Like who needs this one more right now?

It's really good question. I think the answer has to be Hooker because if he loses, he's lost four of his last five. And that's a tough look. But I think there's an argument for it to be Allen. And the argument is I like Alan. I think Alan has a lot of promise. I think I have him the highest ranked of our panels, of our panelists at MMAFinding.com,

greatest website in the world. I have some questions about kind of what his ceiling is, but more importantly, I think that he is really at risk of being in that Leon Edwards, Magamette Ankaliav, now a role of, yeah, he is great, but he is imminently forgetable somehow, despite the fact that he's got a great personality,

and I really like the things he does outside the cage. His performances inside the cage don't seem to resonate in the way that you would need to build a star. And it's really hard if you're that kind of guy to take a loss to, let's say Dan Hooker is an outside top 10 featherweight. Like it's hard for him to build a title run. If he needs eight, nine wins, every loss is a big, big setback for a title run.

And that's he's starting to shape, his career is starting to shape up to be that way, where he is not going to be able to get there with four wins. He's going to need a bunch of them. So there's an argument that he really needs this win because every loss is just frankly catastrophic to his title aspirations. And I know that that is, like that's the driver for him, is that he wants to be the best in the world. But with Hooker, I hate this drop to 145.

So I think there's an argument that if he loses, say, oh, well, screw it. I'll go back up to 155. I don't think that's in the cards for him, though. I think he's committed to this. And so he needs this because he wants to be relevant in the division. And mostly he doesn't want to lose his fourth fight in five tries. Like, that's just not a good look for any human.

So I'm going to say, Jane Hooker, but it's a really interesting question. I'm not sure that's the right answer. So the start time, prelim started 130 now, in the main card at 430 because you lost a fight. So they pushed it back half an hour, but that's okay. Do you agree with that, Brendan? Do you agree with what he said about this co-made event

in terms of who actually needs this win more right now? Yeah, I think you can see it for both sides. I think personally, I think Hooker needs this one more just based off the fact that, like Jed said, he lost four of his last five. But also it's the fact that it's tough to have to go from 45 to 55 to back to 45. I know what it's like to feel like you're the best in the world. world, you start getting these wins and then something happens, whether it's outside of your

control, whether the guy's just better, whatever the case may be, but then you just end up losing these key fights, these key matchups. And so you start not doubting yourself, but looking for another way to make it to the top, whether it's going up a division, down in division. And I feel like he's trying to find his place to where he can be the best, be at the top of the division, be the champion. So this is a very important matchup just based off the fact the four out of the five and then what happens if he loses? Then you have to know you're pretty much never going to be a champion. And when you feel it in your heart that you're a champion and that you can be the champion that you're the best, but you just lose these key matchups, man, that's devastating. That's

hard to deal with. I don't think a lot of people can understand that or put themselves in their position to understand that. But if that is to happen, I really feel for hooker. I'm not a huge hooker fan personally, but I like his fighting style. Like, I like his fighting style, but I don't really know him too well as a person. But I've heard things. But I would feel for him greatly just because I know that would suck for me or any other person that does this.

But as far as Arnold Allen, I don't think obviously every fight is super important. But look at Kamar Usman. On his way to the title, he was bringing off people to decisions, to decisions, or I don't know, I'd have to pull it up exactly what it is. Like, if he had any finishes, do you know if he had any finishes on his way to the title? Was it all decisions? He had like one. One, right? He had a lot of decisions until he got the belt and got comfortable.

Right, exactly. So I think Arnold's the same way. As long as you're winning, you're good, you know what I mean? You're winning. You're good. Like you said, though, Jed, it's hard to really boost yourself when you're not getting. given those key performances that are memorable. And unfortunately, like you said, Arnold Allen hasn't had any of those

that make him, you know, remembered for weeks and weeks and months to come. So, but as long as you're winning, that's all that matters in this, at least promotion. You know, I feel like it's in the sport, but at least in this promotion, as long as you're winning, that's all that matters. They'll catch on eventually, you know, and the UFC can make a star out of whoever they want to make a star out of. So whenever they want to make Arnold Allen a star, they can without. of doubt. So all he's got to do is just keep winning.

This card is really good. Like the first fight is Mohammed Baha'iath against Cody Durdin. That's the first fight of the card, which is a really interesting fight. Because a lot of hype behind Mahayev coming in at 5 and O, getting like an immediate signing, and an immediate signing. That doesn't happen all that often in the UFC. Of course, we got Jack Shore, Timor Vallev. That's a great fight.

Nikita Kraal, Paul Craig, it's a great fight. Shalabdurah. Sergei Pavlovich. Mike Grundy's back against Makwan Amir Kani, Jai Herbert versus Ilya which by the way, we should probably bring this up because the most interesting thing

that's happened this weekend is Ilya and Patty Pimblit almost getting into it, hand sanitizer bottles being thrown, punches being thrown. There's some heat between these two guys. Judge, they've just like called an audible here

and just booked these two dudes. No. Look, I like Patty Pimbleau as a character and full credit to that man. He has got like million dollar endorsement deals and all that stuff. He's built a brand. He and I think he came off looking, I won't say he came off looking good in this particular thing because the genesis of the beef is him making an ass of himself about the country of Georgia.

But I thought like that moment, that encapsulated moment, he did like, look okay. Like he did what he said he was going to do. He stood his ground. Tuporia had six dudes behind him and Patty wasn't shook. So he wins that little microcosm of it. But if Patty Pimlet were to ever fight Ilya, it would be the most one-sided ass beating of this world. Tuporio would rearrange the bones in Patty Pimlet's body and make a necklace out of them. So you can't audible this into a fight because the idea is that Patty's a star. Like you can't.

At some point that the whole house of cars is going to come crashing down, but you don't want it to be audible two on Fight Week in the second fight of Patty's UFC career. You want to have Patty keep doing this thing where everybody gets stoked. So in a great world, they would never fight because DePoreal will beat that ass. But, you know, maybe sometime they do and then hopefully Patty gets a lot better and then in between. but for sure you don't audible out of this. I would ruin Patty's whole image.

You agree with that, Bernie. You were nodding, so I assume you agree with that. Yes. I agree a million percent. All right. Patty's a fun guy, and I love the hairstyle, but he's not the best fighter in the world, is all I'm going to say. Well, we'll see. He's fighting Rodrigo Vargas in the featured bout, so I'm sure the craft.

That'll be... Oh, crowd's going to go insane. They're going to go nuts for them. And it should be, what a scene. What a scene it shall be in London. We'll have our preview show tomorrow, I believe, at noon Eastern. So be prepared for that. We're going live to preview UFC London.

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So we have a few more minutes. So I wanted to end with this, a little potpourri. We're going to play a little game of buy sell, gentlemen. We're going to do a little rundown of some topics that people are talking about. I've seen it in the chat a few times. So let's get after this. I'll bring up a topic, a headline of sorts. I will present them to each of you.

You decide whether you buy it or sell it and explain why quickly. So, Jed will start with you. First topic, buy or sell, that you're surprised the UFC book the Nami Yunus Esparza title fight rematch. That is official. It is on the books. Are you surprised by this, or did you actually expect this to happen? So I expected this to happen. I know that the UFC wants to really get a fight that they think is better or more marketable

or have a better outcome. But this was the fight to make the whole time. It's a, I think you can market this rematch. It's the fight that both women wanted and deserved. So I think at the end of the day, this was where we're going. So not surprised. Same question to you, Brennan. Same 100% agree.

I think it was a no-brainer. Both women wanted it. And obviously, they say a champion has poll on who they want to fight. So why not? It's number two. Let's run it back and see what happens. I feel it's like he said, like Judd said, it's very marketable for them. Yeah, it's a good fight.

I'm actually not surprised that I got books so quickly. I didn't, I, you would think like this would be a July fight or June fight or maybe like even later. But I mean, this card is less than two months away. The 274. Yeah, it's the May card. So less than two months away and it's on the book. So not really surprised with that one. Then the one in Arizona?

That's the Phoenix card. So now it's, we got the two title fights. We got the lightweight title fight and then we got. What the hell are they going to put on a fight week? What's that? What the hell are they going to put on international fight week? Like all of their belts are being defended. I don't know.

Maybe we do Izzy versus. We'll save that. We will save that. Okay, I'll save that one. We'll save that one. Fredon, you start this one. We've seen a little more steam on this one over the last week or so, and maybe this question will make you a little nauseous,

but it is what it is. By yourself, Jake Paul versus Connor McGregor, will happen in the UFC. No. I definitely I don't think that's close. Never. Chad?

Never. No. Jake Paul keeps Jake Paul is playing with house money because he knows he can just say stuff and Dana can't agree to it. Dana just can't because the demand that Jake is making

on the other end of it is it can't be, Dana will not do it. So he just gets to say stuff like this. But no, why would Jake Paul and Connor McGregor do that and give the UFC that money when they can do it outside of the UFC next year and make

all the money themselves? That's a good point. Two more. Jed, buy herself that Tim Elliott's honesty in fighting to win to secure money for his family in any way possible, whether you grab a glove or not, this will actually create positive change

in the sport and how referees look at fights. No, I sell. It's not going to, this change does not come because one fighter said something or people started talking about it. It's only going to come if systemically commissions start talking to referees and are like, hey, the rules, this is the enforcement of the rules.

You are not doing it. You have to start doing it. And I don't think that that will ever happen. So, uh, shout to Tim Elliott. We wrote about it on the site. People got mad. cheat cheat your ass off that's what i say cheat all the time because if they're not going to call it you're not breaking the rules right and your thoughts on this whole situation i'm sure you've seen

the articles and and everything and tim's responses to everything and you know i saw julia marcus say that that it's clickbait and it's absolutely false when tim actually came out of super honest about all of this so i mean just it's just an awful take on the whole thing but uh your thoughts on on this whole thing from a fighter's perspective because again no one's like advocating to run out and, I mean, maybe Jet is, like, go out and cheat. The martial artist way is like, don't cheat and play by the rules, but the

prize fighter, the guy's trying to make money for his family that needs that second paycheck to put in his bank accounts, like if a glove's there and I can grab it, I'm going to grab the damn gloves. So your thoughts on this and the whole thing, are you down with this whole thing? If the ref ain't going to call it, go

do it. Yeah, if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying. That's what I am always told me, you know? But I mean, I guess you can say it's cheating because there's rules, right? But is there really rules in fighting? We could go as far as say there's rules in war. There's nothing. We're fighting.

They make this so that it's a sport, but still at the end of the day, it's still a fight. Like, you put your hand in my mouth to try to, like, rip my cheek out or something. They don't call it. Hey, it's a fight. You did your thing. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I don't get mad at nobody for doing that.

I mean, if you're intelligently, like, try to keep me in my nuts, though, then yeah we got a little problem but you know little things like that grabbing the gloves in a in a hard fight we're not going to wear gloves so i don't know there's there's certain things that it's just like like jett said russler are going to call and it's not going to change unless the commissions enforce it so it's just tough to say because where one ref may enforce it he's only getting what three fights a night so maybe only three people are getting called but the other what, nine fighters aren't getting told shit. So it's just like, I don't know.

I feel across the board, you're never going to get a fair shot at it. I was way more mad that Kennedy and Cheshoku didn't get a point taken in the first round. I was livid that he didn't get a point taken. Mark Smith, the entire first round was saying, put your fingers up, put your fingers up, put your fingers up, put your fingers up, don't poke them, don't poke him, don't poke him. The whole first round, and then he pokes him in the eye and he gives him a warning. What? Are you kidding me?

You wait till the third round to give a warning? morning after you literally for two and a half minutes straight are telling him not to poke him in the eye and he pokes him in the eye and we don't take a point away. It's so stupid. It's so dumb. A lot of people give like Tione a bad rap sometimes. But man, for me personally, he's my favorite one. Like when I fight, I want Towny. Like for some reason, when I get Herb Dean, it's always weird circumstances. I don't want Herb Dean. No offense to Herb, but I don't want Herb. Give me Tyone. You know what I'm saying? That's how I feel.

Give me Chris. So him, and there's a couple other ones that I like, too, but he's, right on the top of my head, he's my favorite. And man, I can't think of his name. The other, he's short, little skinny dude, black. Erzog? Huh? Peterson? No, Peterson's cool.

Oh, Herzog. Herzog. Yeah, Herzog. He's my favorite. I like them. But it's like, no, don't give me Herb Dean, you know what I'm saying? I don't. Look, man, just, I wrote about it in that article that Julian Mark,

because doesn't understand what the word clickbait means. He's a square anyway. A little bit, but, you know, I wrote in the article, the analogy I made was to pro football. I was like, can you just imagine what would happen in the NFL if, like, we all watched the Super Bowl. One of the PIs happened on Jalen Ramsey, you know, DPI, and the rest were just like defensive pass interference.

We told him in a mean voice, to do it again, so play will resume no penalty. It's like, it would just be anarchy immediately. You already see it like in the NBA and the NFL. Teams know which refs are more prone to call what sorts of penalties and will actively do the bad things that those refs allow more. Like that's just how it should be in M.A. Herb Dean is never going to penalize me for anything.

So I get two nut shots of cage grab and an eye poke. before I even have to worry I may have lost a point. I'm going to use all of them. Cheat your ass off. Make the referees do their jobs. That's my PSA. Chris Tione is like the Mick Foley of M.M.A. There's like three faces of Chris Tione.

Like once in a while, like the Brennan Allen experience, when Chris Tioni is on, he's very good. But we've seen instances where Chris Tione just has an off night and it's just really bad. And he like stops fights too early or he lets fights go on way too long. And then there's the middle ground that we see more often than not, where it's like, I'm going to be real stern about this warning. And he gives like layers and tears of warnings where it's just like, all right, don't do it again. Then it's like,

all right, now seriously, don't do it again. And then the third time, it's like, all right, this is officially a stern warning, son. If you do it again, I'm taking a point. And then on the fourth one, then he'll take a point. But sometimes he'll just come out and take points right away. He'll just take point. You know, stop, taking a point before the first punch is thrown. Like, he's, he's in that kind of mood. Yeah, I feel like Goddard does a very good job at, like, taking control of the cage in that aspect. He's another one of my favorites. I've had him when I was amateur for worlds. And, man, he's very, I would almost like to say that's his cage when he's in there.

You know what I mean? Like, he takes control of it. But he's another ref. He's very good. And he's, he's pretty consistent. He's had his off nights as well, which. I think everyone has, but I think he's pretty consistent from the fights that I watch. And granted, I don't watch all fights, but from what I watch, he's pretty consistent. Yeah. Goddard is one of the best refs. I think it's between Goddard and Herzog. Yeah, for sure.

I agree. Not great. And Markle, like, he doesn't do media often, but he'll come out and, like, talk about calls the next day. He shows accountability, which I always respect. I've always respected that because not many people do. Yeah. Yeah. If he F something up, he'll come out on Twitter the next day and watch it and just be like, oops, sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Like, it's all good. So yeah, by the way, yeah, he did. But I mean, I sure did. I think we're on this. I think we all kind of look at that same way. All right. Last one, because this is somehow become a thing thanks to Uncle Chale Sunnan. Brennan, I'll start with you. This is your division. Buy or sell, Israel, Adasania. versus Colby Covington for the middleweight title

is the fight that makes the most sense for both fighters. I like Cho, but he must have been super high or something when he put that out. That is definitely not. Kobe, you better stay where he's going to stay because it's a totally different animal when you step to 85. That 15-pound difference is something serious. Definitely not the fight to make. Izzy's got cannoneer, obviously next,

but according to him he does. But he still got work to do at 85. But I think, I know it's a little off topic, but I know his time's coming too. Like he's going to lose soon. The blueprint's being drawn. It's going to happen. But just put that on record, too. Highlight that.

This is the one we're clipping right here? Yeah, I like that. I like that. All right. Is this you? Are you saying you or just in general? When I get up there, I'll do it for sure if he's still there. But no, I'm saying in general.

How many fights? How many fights are now? I'd say with three, maybe max four, max four. I don't think Canaaner is going to do it, to be honest. He's definitely not going to do it. Yeah, I don't think he's going to do it. And I'm trying to think of the rankings, but within three, within four, he's going to do it for sure. Like, he's going to lose at middleweight.

Jedd, what do you think? By herself, Adisanya Covington is the fight that makes the most sense for both guys. No, Jay. By the cell, he loses in three to four fights. We'll last that, too. That's part two. Okay. Part one, there's a logic there.

It's probably a faulty logic. God bless Chail Sondon, just doing his best to put over the guy who poorly stole his stick. It's not going to happen. I'm going to sell this in general because it's obviously not a thing that's going to happen. I think there is an argument for it. And it's a lot of the argument that Jail makes where I am not certain that Kobe Covington is a star because he hasn't sold a lot of paper to use it for being honest. He's some level of a star.

I don't know how much interest he really drives, but I could see a world where that is a fight that some people are compelled by and interested in, and assuming Izzy does beat Canoneer, which I think he will, there's not like a ton of people immediately jumping out as title contenders for him. So like there's a logic to it, but at the end of the day, it's a very stupid fight that won't happen. So, you know, it's just a bit of spinning the wheels and trying to buff star power. As for the second one, I could see what Brendan's saying.

I don't think it's going to be true. For one main reason, I don't think Izzy's going to stay at middleweight past this year. We've talked about this before. I think he's fighting Canaanere. I think he makes maybe another two fights this year, but I think he's going to fight Canaanier in the fall or maybe summer. And then he will have one more middleweight title defense.

I don't remember who I thought it was likely to be. I don't know, like Sean Strickland or something shit. that. But he's going to have one more and then I think he's going up to 205 permanently because I think this is all a long game where he goes up to 205. Oussman defends his belt against Leon Edwards. And then Ousman jumps up to middleweight, does the thing where he tries to get his second title because that's before he retires. I think Ousman's near the end of his career. But if Izzy does stay for a while, I could see him losing. And the reason I say I could see him losing, we all know the answer, Mike.

You don't want to believe it's true, but I believe it's true. Hamzaa Shimaev, baby, two division champion, let's go. Like in Brennan's face. Wow. I knew Brendan would hate it, but I don't care. I am all in on the Hamzaat train. I don't care that he has like one good win in the EvoC. It's not all in.

I'm all in I I have all my chips behind him future welterweight champion future middleweight champion

I'm like two beers away from saying future light heavyweight champion let's go I don't I have anything to say

about Jen look me wrong I'm just saying four's forever let's go Oh, man. Well, the Colby thing's actually interesting.

Like, I think it's a little more interesting. And it's interesting for the reason. It's interesting for the reason you brought up, Jed, because we're booking all these big fights. We have two July pay-per-views that we need to fill. One of them is International Fight Week. Izzy said after his last side of the fence, he wants to fight in June or July,

because he wants to have a very active year. He even thought, like, I'll fight in May. but June July was probably like the benchmark of where he wanted to fight. The June card is filling up big time at this point. I mean, maybe you could do it underneath. No, we got two title fights on that card already for that potentially Singapore card. So now we have to think that's the Valentina Tiles Santos fight as well. Oh, I forgot that fight was announced a week ago or whatever.

So now we have international fight week. you have to believe that they're going to prop, they're going to do everything in their power to throw Izzy on one of those two July cards, right? Let's just say Canaan Air is not ready to go. What's the most interesting fight you can make, maybe Shami if you want to make the argument for Shamiya, just for weirdness, go ahead.

But Colby's interesting. Like, Izzy Colby would actually be interesting. If Canaaner is not ready to go. If he's not, I mean, who else would Izzy fight? Unless you'd throw him up at 205 again, but the 205 pound titles being defended the month before that. Yeah, but, you're not. Shemayev or come shot, whatever,

he can't get a title fight off of a loss. That's the problem. Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's a good answer right there. It's going up to 85 yet, so. That's a good answer right there. I respect your belief in Gilbert Burns.

I do not share it. You know, maybe. The thing you outline might make sense. I would frankly be happy to see is he fight like just another 205 or if that's the way he wanted to do. do it like my guess my gut feeling is that they are going to try and push for the john jones

stepey fight to headline international fight week and then that doesn't need help that is just it like you do that and you don't need anything else to work but but you're asking a lot trying to book that fight look i there's no man who believes john jones and me there's no man who believes less than jones stepea versus tie to ivasa for the interim title i don't think stepe'll take it you don't think so i think Stipe is too stubborn. Straight of think he's just like, no. Same money, same stakes. He wouldn't fight.

You don't think he'd fight time? John Jones or I wait for Francis because I think, I could be totally wrong, but I just, it seems difficult for me to imagine Stipe would take it. But the point being, I can see Covington sneaking his way in, but I just don't think it's, it just seems unlikely in part because I think Izzy doesn't want to give him that boot. Like it would undeniably like lift Colby Covington up in some ways and given Izzy's connection with Usman and Usman's not like a huge fan of Covington. I just don't think he's going to want to be like, yeah, I'll give him that shine. So we do, uh, we do Izzy versus Iwan Kutalaba at 205.

Look, I love Moldovia and Joel Edgerton. Well said. Well, I will say a little teaser. Some of you will be happy about this news. and some of you won't, but we'll get Colby's take on this idea. I will specifically in around 48 minutes from right now. So stay tuned for that on MMA fighting. We'll hear from Mr. Chaos himself. Can you once again, well, one, and you should ask Colby two things. First thing is tell him to quit running, been calling him out for like, I don't know,

two years at this point, he can come get this smoke anytime he wants on BTL. And two, just, like, I'm happy to help him with his train. trash talk because he's really not very good at it. And I'm happy to help. I'll write him some lines. I'll give him some better material than the weak stuff he's working with because it's just, it's a bit played out. He needs some new,

he needs new stuff. Well, we'll see if he has it. But we are running out of time here. That's it. So next week, we should be back to normal with the bells and whistles and the competition and all the fun stuff and music and all the and everything.

What about the low key banger, Mike? I have a low key banger. We have a preview show tomorrow that you're going to be on, right? Oh, okay. Either they're going to be on it or you're going to be on the pre-fight Q&A. So either way, we'll hear what your low-key bangers for sure. Brennan's a very busy man. He's got things to do, all right?

So Brennan, big fight targeted for UFC 275, I believe. That is that June card. And there's talks about Singapore, although that's not 100% official yet. But Brennan, very excited to see you back in there with Jacob Malcun. should be a nice grueling grinder of a fight. Jacob's been looking pretty good. You're coming off the big win. So what's your message for Jacob Malcun right now

as you embark on this new training camp, getting ready for this June fight? Man, I just hope I can keep a consistent opponent. Like, hopefully he doesn't pull. Hopefully I don't have a switch. That's what things don't go good for me is when I have too many switches. So same guy. Come June 11th, and I'm going to put Jacob away

for sure. No if, hands or buts. I'm getting them out of there. I'm going to make a statement and prove a point. Well, there you go. And that's it, everybody. So thank you all for tuning in. I know this, you know, the production quality isn't Casey-esque, but Casey's got things to do.

What will be Casey-esque is his performance in the cage in California. He is going to lay at the smack it down. 30-second, K-O, baby. And we're going to find a way to figure something. I forgot, Mike. The reason Israel, Adesana is going to lose is because

Casey Layton's coming, baby. Let's go. Let's get it done. Let's get it done. So we'll let you know how we're going to, how we're going to do a Twitter spaces or some sort of stream or something when that fight happened. So we'll let you know what's going on. We'll figure it out.

But I believe we're going to see some video content in the buildup, a Casey Leiden embedded, if you will. Two-part series. I believe the first one's going to drop sometime tomorrow. So to get it ready for that. Jed versus Ben Deffy. A lot of people calling for this matchup, Jedd.

So we will try to make that happen. But until that, everybody, for Jed, for Brennan Allen, we love you, Casey, kick some ass. I am Mike Keck. We'll see you next week between the links. Good night, everybody. Love you, Jeff.

Listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.