MMA Fighting - Eurobash: Episode 66 (w/ John Kavanagh)

Episode Date: January 13, 2020

On this week’s Eurobash, Petesy Carroll & Niall McGrath describe the mood on the ground in Ireland ahead of Conor McGregor’s return and discuss the implications of a win or loss for the Dubliner when he clashes Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. The episode also features comments from McGregor's head coach, John Kavanagh (20:00), ahead of the much anticipated event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget online casino is live, bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions and jackpots that can turn any mundane moment

into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Gambling Problem Call connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over. Physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play. responsibly. Support for this podcast comes from Health Netics. Do you have nagging aches and pains from your younger, more athletic days? Health Netics CBD is a premium brand CBD that may help take care of aches and pains, as well as relieve anxiety and sleeplessness. Health Netics products are

all natural, THC free, made in the USA, and undergo third-party lab testing to ensure quality and purity. All CBD is not the same. Order today with a money-back guarantee at healthnetics.com and use promo code sports for 20% off. Three, two, one. You lucky, lucky people, a day early, you're getting the UFC 246 episode of Eurobash, the greatest show on the continent. I can't believe a lucky you all are.

Oh, they're lucky, aren't they? A lucky, lucky bunch ahead of one of the biggest fights of the year. Great way to kick off the year. It's getting big. It's starting to feel big for me. You know, I don't know if the rest of Ireland feels the same way as we do just yet. No.

But I do have a feeling it's going to pick up a lot over the next week, you know, because Connor is Connor. And at the end of the day, you know, he's done a couple of interviews so far. And they've blown the kind of top off the whole, you know, in terms of Twitter and stuff, everybody's talking. So it does feel like it's getting there. Trend of number one, a couple of the interviews. So that says to me, you know, YouTube, everyone consumes their videos in YouTube these days as well. Pizza, you know that and having Connor up there and everything. I thought you were more of a porn hook myself.

but you know when he's up there on a number one and you see cavan up there you see roddy you see everyone else that has been interviewed in the camp and they're all trending it says to me that people are shown a bit of an interest in this crap and i agree with you i think this week's a big week to really sort of get the motors behind the pay-per-view and people's hype levels i think are going to increase tenfolds from what it is at the moment well the thing is right like i mean we'll talk about it later but i went into the street and i asked everybody about connor it's not like Connor's disappeared off the face of the earth. The interest is still there.

People are interested and they know who he is. He's a household name here. But I guess the support is not where it used to be, right? Yeah, no, listen, and we've talked about this for a number of weeks on the show here that, you know, no matter what you say, no matter what sort of world you live in, and obviously a lot of our listeners here are in the US, a lot of the people won't understand what the perception is like here.

It's very, very different to what it is around the world, and especially obviously in the US, there's a very distinct lack of interest in this fight here at the moment amongst the general public. And I think you can understand why. We've talked about this enough. We'll take it true.

Just before we do the news, we'll basically set the table in that regard because maybe there's been a lot of people listening to the podcast. I haven't before over the last few weeks. So, you know, when Connor first came out and we'll make this short and sweet for all of you every week listeners,

he was pushed out by us as this is what it means to be Irish when he was on top of his game we were so proud for him to represent us and he became nearly the identity of Young Ireland out there doing what he wanted like you know forging his own path in a sport we never knew of you know taking on the world becoming a millionaire all in a time of crippling recession here

so we pushed him up as this this is what Ireland is and then as he starts misbehaving and you know things happen outside of the cage the people aren't just a upset with him. They're upset with how it reflects on the nation, really. You know what I mean? And I think that's, that's really where the, the jilted kind of situation between Ireland and Connor is now. Yeah, the massive thing is, right, we'd never sort of had that type of character in Ireland before so, brash. So he used to the humble underdog status. We'd never had it. And I think to have someone

like that and to come across and do what he did and the manner in which he did it in that, you know, four or five years spell was just sensational. And it changed the way we even think about sport maybe here to enlarge. We always look at that maybe in the Roy Keene incident in Saipan back in 2002. Huge repolarising situations. A huge repolarising situations where it's just a total, you know, 180 to what the Irish sporting culture has been. But another thing, if you look in the streets, Pizzi, you don't see the guys the kids as often

dressed up like Connor, like the three-piece suits and the beard. That has sort of gone out of Irish, you know. To be fair, Conner's not even wear the three-piece suits anymore. Well, that's it, but there's not a lot of imitation or sort of idolisation. It was so much. It was rampant. It was mental. Every night you went out, you'd see you guys.

It's basically isolated to MMA now, whereas it used to be the broader culture. But look, we have loads to talk about. Let's hit up these news headlines very quickly. Josh Emmett is out of his fight with Arnold Allen. Look, we're trying to get a word with Arnold. It was meant to be in rally. But look, as we've said last week, I think we'd be happy to see that put back on the London card if Josh is able. Grundy v. Ameri County has been confirmed for UFC London.

We reported that last week. Ameri Cany reported, first announced the fight via his sponsor, Betsafe. I wonder how

the UFC feel about that. Tim Means v. Ramazan MEP is set for UFC Rio Rancho in February.

Marco Matson will face Austin Hubbard on March 7th at UFC 2 for a big, big spot there for the Olympian.

Jack Cartwright will have his first title defense against Manuel Bilich Acade Warriors Mani on March 7th as well

and what about this for a fight? Franz Malambo Ricky Bandaias Charlie Ward v. Coil Courts and Beck Rawlings v. Ellen Callendow are booked for Bellator Dublin.

Yeah, so that's the headlines out of the way, but just on them for a second. Franz Malambo v. Ricky Bandias is ridiculous. Savage. Absolute crack and fight. We saw what Ricky did, obviously, the James Galaher. Franz is sort of really sort of... Maybe we haven't seen...

But no, hang on. Franz has beaten Nathan Grayson and Dominic Wooding. That was... Yeah, I know, yeah, yeah, but that's what I'm saying. you know, maybe he didn't start off his career the way we would have expected but he's slowly grown into that and I think this is a potential fight

in the night, it's an absolutely cracker and we've seen Ricky Bandage just what he's capable of doing another young lad and I think it's one of those fights we're just going, shit I pay money alone to go to his Belterter and a fair play we've criticized Belator

with the matchmaking. That's a great fight. It's a crack and I'm liking some of the fights are doing on this card. Yeah, I do agree with you and it's a huge opportunity for Franz I mean if Franz beats Ricky and Ricky having beat James, he's off to the races

You mentioned there earlier about France. The one thing I'll say is Brave rushed them way too much. Because he had won the World Championship and amateur, he was putting against guys that were way too experienced for him. And he still held his own. Yeah, with the champion. Credit for him, yeah. Unbelievable.

Yeah, it's been, I'm looking forward to it. I really am, and I think maybe lots of Bellator, the matchmakers might be having a bit of a listen. Because they put on some competitive matches, and it's cool. It's good to see. It's got me a lot more invested in the card. And I think a lot of the, you know, the sort of casual fans,

sorry, you know, the hardcore fans will respect that decision from Bellator as well to start putting fights on like this. Absolutely. Right. Let's have a look at the mood in Ireland. I guess the unique perspective we can bring to this is how people are feeling in Ireland. So this is the weekend before McGregor's return. He has not fought in since his fight with Habib in 2018. And looking through the papers is there, there's not an awful lot. Can we do the Grumby paper? There we have them there. Looking through the papers and we did, believe me, there's. not an awful lot or absolutely anything about McGregor's return. Look, one thing I'll say about this, right?

The mainstream media in Ireland, calm down there, you're going to have... Sorry, yeah. I'm going to have a heart attack. The mainstream media in this country never really warmed to MMA. They kind of missed the boat. And I felt it was nearly even reluctantly

when they couldn't ignore Connor. After UFC Dublin, they started featuring them a lot more in their papers. And, you know, and they were for world title fights. They were big, huge fights. You know, there was tens of thousands people going to to Vegas to see Connor.

It's a different situation now. But like I mean, has, has Connor true as behavior, nothing to do with what he's done in the afternoon, but true as behavior, has they, as far as they concerned, do you feel they've confirmed their beliefs?

This is a barbaric sport. This isn't a sport. This is an entertainment-driven industry. Like, that's what I kind of feel the situation is. 100%. I think they don't understand. And, you know, we've been on the cusp a few times of getting things going and getting momentum

behind things in the media here, in certain places and I do believe that's the case because there is a huge general interest in the sport across this country it's just not being reported on to meet the consumers demand for it

Because like they only see Connor They don't see the rest of it That's what I'm saying because of You know the obviously the you know The negative press and things that have happened there He's tarnished the sport in this country To a large extent and I think If anyone wants to argue about that

Come see me because it is actually a fact that that's been the case and you know it is disappointing but again I just don't think you know the bosses and they realize how much or how many other

polarising figures there is in this sport in mixed martial arts like if you guys like Reds or we could the list could go on all day Chris Fields really respectful guys just totally different characters to Connor McGregor and his character has come across and obviously was the first sort of main character

that we've seen that's really put the sport in the map here and he's taking the sport down with him to a certain extent. Yeah, yeah, no, I completely agree with everything you're saying, but this is the thing, like, I felt like even at the height of his power, like the Mayweather fight, a fight that could have only been brokered by a man who was absolutely at the top of MMA. You know, I'd be dragged onto these radio shows all over Ireland to be the MMA side of it.

And you'd be like, glads, can we not just have a chat about this? And they couldn't reconcile the fact that it was made from money, which was obvious to all of us. And they used to get annoyed when it came to picking the fight, and I'd be like, oh, Mayweather's going to win. And they'd be like, what? I thought you were, I thought you were in my, like, what are you talking about me? Yeah, there's a lot of disrespect thrown our way at times as well.

But, like, I mean, how did they not even realize that this is going to be the biggest trafficked fight nearly a ball time? And they didn't even do anything with it. It's mental. It's again, like next week, you know, the traffic would be huge if outlets were willing to take a chance and not even take a chance, willing to cover it because the hits are there. I think we've seen that, as I mentioned on YouTube. and yeah, I totally agree with you. You go in and you do an interview. We've done hundreds of radio interviews in Ireland now.

And the one thing I always sort of get and I always sort of take from it is, you know, you're going in and the host of the show said, oh, beforehand, oh, I don't really like MMA. What's that got to do with it? Like, you know, they're telling you their stance before you go on air with them. There's no need for it. It's just ridiculous. Dude, when Joe Carvalho died, I was brought into game on and he wasn't on and he was great. I love you, Cal.

He had some other dude there. And a man's just died. And his opener is, I don't like that sport at all. That's what I always got. Yeah. We're going to, man's dead. And we're going to talk about this. I don't like GAA, but I'm not going to go in it.

I mean, but it's a very different situation. Yeah, I know. I know 100%. I'm not saying that. But, you know, you get that in a general basis. Even if there isn't a tragic event like that as well, it just seems to be a general consensus amongst what goes on here. So, yeah, it's very disappointing.

I do feel as though the coverage is going to pick up at the end. Like, they can't. They can't overlook the fact that this is going to be one of the most talked about events in the country. Whether they like to go or not, this is going to be one of the most talked about events next weekend. The country, do you expect to see the papers by next weekend, Carrie Connor on the back page and stuff like that, or do you think it's going to be a bit more towards the middle, let's say? Towards the middle. Really?

Yeah. You don't think it gets back page? I don't think so. Is it Liverpoolian night next week? It is as well. That's going to be tough to contest with it. It is, but I just don't think people are willing, the media are willing to get behind them after the last sort of 18, months, let's just be honest about it.

I feel like they have to though. Towards the end of this week, like the tabloids are 100% going to have to get in. Yeah, I think the tabloids will. I can't see it, you know, on the spreadsheets here. Broadsheets? Oh, broadsheets. Jesus Christ, spreadsheets, fucking hell. I'm not in the account.

All right. But yeah, no, I definitely think the tabloids will pick it up. But no, I can't see being on the broadsheets. And I think they have to, like, you know, it's going to do clicks online for them as well, you know, and there people are going to pick it up to see Connor McGregor. Regardless what these guys, you know, say or not, the guy fucking sells and that's the bottom line. Well, this is what I was going to say, like,

it may not be the biggest McGregor fight we've ever had in Ireland, but any McGregor fight is bigger than most events that can happen in Ireland. Of course it. I mean, way bigger. Of course it is. Man, it's just bizarre. I don't fucking know.

And I don't know what's, you know, I don't know if there's any more we can really sort of say or do than we have over the last sort of, what, 10 years at this stage to try and sort of guide the sport anymore into mainstream because I've pretty much washed my hands

of the Irish media like I don't. Yeah and it's something that I've pretty much done the same as well because it's just so frustrating but yeah listen let's just hope things change and let's hope that people give it a shot and give it a go this week here because it just takes a point it's frustrating not to see it. Yeah yeah

but like I mean I guess from the outside looking in right like when I'm talking to people in the US people in England people everywhere even us like I mean is this the Connor McGregor's redemption song like is this the one like is this the win that will lay a foundation for his comeback so to speak

like do you believe that this will be the first step in kind of wreck getting back to where he was he may never get to where he was in terms of the height of his power but can he win the people back to you feel with a victory here would a win yeah well to a certain extent yes I think he will win a large percentage of maybe the casual fans back

that were sort of with him before the whole Habib stuff went down last October. I'm not so sure everyone, and I think that relates back to the media thing as well, what we're saying, if the coverage isn't going to be there, maybe the people are going to know about it.

Do you know what I mean? You go on your computer, you're obviously going to see it. But in terms of people are picking up the newspapers in the streets, maybe not. I don't think we'll ever see him back to that sort of full power of popularity that we've seen. Because I think Irish people are very, the country's so smaller as well, people don't understand that once you're sort of damaged like that,

it takes a lot more than maybe a win. It's a country with a small town feel. Exactly. That's it, you know what I mean? So I think it's harder almost to win back the Irish fans than it will be the Americans. Americans love a winner. They love a good, you know, a redemption story. We're just so used to that shit that I don't think it sells with us anymore.

And I think maybe that's the reason why I'm not so positive that this will be the big redemption story. Well, I think it definitely, like if he wins, I think, you know, it is step one to getting back to something. but like as you said at the height of his power I don't think Ireland had ever seen anything like that before like I mean so it's not like crazy to say oh he won't be back to being

bigger than Jesus in Ireland like it's just because that's what he was um I was as popular as Cristiano Ronaldo across the world and I don't think that's you know he's massively proper in China and Japan everywhere if you take everything in context going over to see him in Vegas

he knows it's going to bolster his stock to be around Connor so like I mean that that is a huge gesture I guess exactly yeah and uh I think we're far removed from that now but a win will do more for him in America than it will for here in Ireland

life yeah I feel like they will they will be willing to accept that he is back to being the guy he was a lot quicker than people I do I think so but before we move on we should we were on a conference call with John Kavana last week

snuck in it was for the UK papers as far as I know LPD gets his head in there but a lot of the things that we talked about last week, Noel, in terms of him being at the helm of the camp, you know, him saying that Connor, like we're basically moving out of his way. He did clarify those comments on this.

And I think that's important because, you know, we were starving for information coming out at a camp. Oscar puts out the two interviews, and we're going over with a fine tooth comb as we do. John's kind of clarifies what he said there. It doesn't seem to be what everybody thought it was, to be fair, where they're just kind of there and Connor's doing what he wants.

but he talks about that. He also talked about, you know, I asked him about Conner's popularity in Ireland. He said personally, in person, he hasn't noticed any dwindling in popularity.

Can you believe that? Like, I mean, totally. Not. I can believe it. If I was with Connor, I'd imagine I wouldn't notice.

Like, I'd say when you walk into a place with Connor, people are still mobbing him. But, you know, as far as we're aware from what he said,

and, you know, they weren't talking for quite some time. So I don't believe. But that's nothing to do with his popularity. No, but I think, you know,

being removed from Connor that he would have seen that oh yeah but he he didn't say that he said in person i haven't noticed it could you believe that i i think i can to be to a certain extent yeah if he's around connor and stuff like that and yeah obviously being around it that you know you're obviously going to see the fans and everyone's going to be going mental as they always do so it must be weird being kind of in that situation that because you could probably walk down grapins street now and people would be all over him and then you know when when he's not there people are you know what i mean it's it's it's fascinating that's another fastening element to this fight.

Yeah. Is if it's going to fuck his head up, you know, in terms of, you know, if there is to be booze in Vegas when he comes out. I can't imagine that. Yeah, but listen, man, you never know. Like, you never know. And I think there is, that adds more pressure on him, I think, together. And there's a lot of, a lot of pressure on Connor here.

And people don't realize how big a part of his whole thing, the Irish people are. I mean, without the UFC Dublin card, when he's, like, looks like, you know, he's the savior of Ireland, basically, because everyone's losing their minds and it sells out in seconds and the loudest crowd ever for this guy. And, you know, now they don't like him. That's mental. Like, if you're, if you're American looking in on that, it must be so strange. Yeah, I've just noticed that as well. He hasn't, you know, come out with the Irish sort of phrases and slangs and sayings as much as he normally has. So maybe he realized that in his head that the support is gone wayward a little bit and he doesn't want to sort of tap down those lines. So that's, that's an interesting one

to me and another sort of dynamic and, you know, element of this. There's so many so fast, isn't it? It's mental. It's mad. You can talk about this all fucking year, to be honest, you. Yeah, well, so let's get on to this conference call. Apologies for the feedback in the background. That was all Garrett A. Davies' fault. You know, he just left his phone on the ground, walked off and came back 10 minutes later and asked a few questions. He's unreal. He's a gangster. But look, look, I think this is some great stuff here from John. She had some of the questions that we were asking last week. So, uh, Yeah, have a listen

and we'll be back in about 15 minutes or so. Hi John, thanks for your time this evening. Well, it's 9 in the morning so you're very welcome. Connor said last year an interview with ESPN

but he thought he had to mend his relationship with you. Did you, A, feel the same and B, did you have to fix a relationship? Yeah, it's a Coles, we had drifted a bit. He had a lot going on with life with his, you know, whiskey business and other things going on.

My team is getting very busy with a lot of new fighters joining. So that was kind of a natural thing that happened, but it's been the last couple of months of being fantastic. I feel we're... I feel we're quieter now than we've ever been. So it's been good. Was it a specific point that you sat down and thrash things out outside, right? the past of the past let's go again it wasn't really

that it was more he just kept showing up I kind of wondered would he be able to do the type of training required again because that's called a state of state he's made a lot of money and it's hard to

go running when you went up until Gunderware as somebody once said and that he did he just kept showing up he kept training pushing himself hard and show him that, not just talking about, but showing that he wanted to compete at a high level again.

Just something to do it again now? All right, cheers, thank you. Hi, John. Thanks very much for taking the time this morning. Appreciate it. Hello. No problem. Okay, let me get, sorry.

Obviously, this fight is taking place about 170 pounds, and the head of it, many people are wondering how Conner's cardio endurance are going to hold out. How has he been so far at training with the extra weight, and are there any concerns at all that the extra weight could have

detrimental effects on them? It sounds like there's a wrestling match going on in the background there. To be honest, I think he has a bit more lean muscle now, but I don't know if there's a huge weight different now between the last few times he's able

65. He's woken up on weight. He's about 70 pounds now for the last few days. And that is not an unusual number for him to be after 65. He normally cut that last

15 pounds in the last 10 days or 12 days. So maybe there's a little bit of extra muscle, but I don't think it's that noticeable. But what I can tell you is that I've watched him do a lot of five rounds

and he's barely breathing heavy by the end of it okay and in your recent interview with Oscar Willis of the Mac life that you foresee the fight finishing the later round that actually makes you think that I think that I think my opinion on that's changing

What I really say is that what I see this fight is going to be is a lot of people said about a fight where Eddie Alvarez is one of the most perfect fights they've seen of any anime fight. It was just so correct. It was so technically correct. There was no wasted movements, no waste of technique. And that's what I see in this fight. And that could be short, that could be long. I don't think that part is as important. I think the tempo will be exactly as Connor said.

and it will be a very for people that are fans of MMA technique it will be a fight that will be studied for a long long time because it will be beautiful it will be perfect thanks John yeah thanks very much

and thanks very much John for answering a few of our questions today I really appreciate it a lot has been made Top of the morning Pete exactly yeah for you anyway but a lot has been made of the MacLyfe interview

as Jasanga mentioned with Oscar and you kind of saying that Connor's at the forefront of the camp that he knows more about fighting the rest of you guys combined. Yeah, I saw your tweets. I know, yes. I saw your tweet. Your concern is genuinely appreciated.

Is this normal for Connor? Like, I mean, has he always been at the helm of these things with game plans and stuff like that? Yeah. I think it was a little bit misinterpreted to what I said. We've of course set out the training schedule and what each day will be.

I mean more, Conner has an ability to see what shots are going to land better than me or better than anybody else I've ever seen. So if we can see what shots are going to land and communicate that to us, then we can make sure that those are part of the pad session, for example, that I can inform the sparring partners that these are some of the looks that we want to see.

But it's not like every Monday he says, me the second day schedule and says, okay, on Wednesday we're going to run 7K and Thursday night, I want, you know, it's me and the team setting out the schedule, but I'm more meant to fight I feel than being able to see what's going to win the fight. Has joined the conference. Right, right. I appreciate that, John. I'm just wondering as well, you know, from the height of Conner's career, like, I mean,

he was nearly like the patron saint of Ireland. like it was like pure idolization across the board like it was always going to come down from them but people are kind of making a big thing of his popularity dwindling considerably in Ireland do you feel like a win against seroni will get him back on track with the people because we know winning is so important when it comes to the public perception on sports I'd love for um I'd love for people to spend a little bit of time like I do driving through town with Connor or having to call into a shop with Connor and being

mobbed for selfies and people shaking his hand and congratulating him so yeah I think people confuse sometimes Twitter life with real life and people write to be stuff on Twitter but very very few people are on Twitter it's when you're

actually in real life that I'm going through Dublin and going through the airport and there's just crowds of people screaming and running up to us so I'm not sure of I agree with that. Yeah, maybe there's going to be a couple of people on Twitter or write something nice after he wins, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

So you haven't noticed any drop-off in his supports inside the Habib fight in Ireland? When I'm physically with him, no. No, when I'm physically with him, no. All I just see is mobs of fans asking for pictures. Nice man, John. I appreciate that, mate. Hi, sorry about that. Hi, John. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us this morning.

Hello, Joe. I was just wondering if I could talk to you very quickly. I know you mentioned how the training camp's going. You elaborated on the game plan, the quote you said early in the week. But obviously, given how the last two fights you've had the boxing match with Floyd, then you've had Khabi,

he's obviously so ground-oriented, how refreshing has it been going back to sort of looking at an opponent like Saroni, who's so well-rounded in every aspect of you say? Yeah, I mean, it's probably going to be, be more contested in the in the kickboxing area and you know obviously that's

Connor's strongest point I'm not saying that thing is not a strong point but could the strike and as well as usually one on the fight yeah that makes it a little bit more fun excellent and obviously you've used lot of heart and leave to help Connor in terms

of preparation and nutrition etc for so long now I just wanted with this move up to Walterway Is he eating more? Because he seems to be growing by the day. Every time he puts saying on Instagram seems to be bigger. Is it a case of just eating more and training harder? Yeah, you know, this far out is obviously, it would be on fairly heavy,

calorie, well, lowering the amount of calories he can have, and that's not the case. We've done, so give you an example, this far out, we would normally be on fairly light single sessions per day. yesterday he did two heavy sessions and one of those sessions was a full-on spar which is incredibly unusual for this close to the fight but i can't seem to tire the man out he's got he's got down his energy because he's zero calorie deficit and and the uh the guys from lockhart they they know what they're doing about loading someone up on energy so yeah there's uh

it's a lot of fun that having to hide every piece of food in the house room you know Amazing. Thanks so much, sir. Can I ask you, first of all, if you were to pick out one thing, what's the most important thing that we see from Connor

in this return performance, win or lose? Obviously, winning is very important, but what's the most important thing that we see from Connor in this performance? In this performance, let me see. I think you'll see

a more relaxed Connor in this performance. Somebody who's calm. You know, if you rewatch the Eddie Alvarez fight, you'll see something very tactical, someone very calm. A hell of a lot of pressure, but done in a control

manner, and that's what I'd like to see in this fight. Is the, have you noticed since, I know that he's been with you training for a long time on and off regardless of whether he's had actual prize fights in the octagon or in the ring um do you can you talk to us about you know the hunger of a man who's extremely wealthy could you talk about the return of his hunger as a

fighter um and that you've seen that and that you felt that with him in this camp yeah well that that was certainly the point that was of most concerned to me if you'd have asked me this a year ago, is he going to be able to go back through the grueling fight camp for a professional fight because there's one thing

training for fun, and you know, I imagine he'll want to do martial arts or some description for the rest of his life, and you train it a couple of times a week and it's fun, but it's very different to the demands of training for a professional fight where it's twice a day and there's a lot more impact,

and that's why I wondered would he still have and he didn't tell me he did and he didn't do a lot of interviews about it he's actually been quite quiet the last six months he just did it he just showed up and he took part of the team sessions and he pushed himself very very hard

every time this training camp I was actually just thinking about it it sort of started last Easter he did a boxing contest last Easter and he's being pretty consistent since then so you're talking it's almost 10 months long and in that time

almost no miss sessions so it's been it's been a year coming and he's not talked about it he's just shown it for a year that he has that hunger to train at this level and finally John obviously

Vegas is a place of maybe a few memories aren't perfect but it has great memories of Conner's rise to start to his success as a fighter in mixed martial arts to yourselves as a team. Is it great to be back there as a group going through it again? Are you actually all enjoying that as a process as well?

Yeah, that's a huge part of it. And even in the last while, there's some of us that are involved in the training camps. We physically have different gyms now back in Dublin. and this is a chance for us all to kind of get back together and reminisce on old times and we're driving through the strip and remembering different you know, we're at Ramsey Burger the other night

and that's a part of the tradition we go to when we're in Vegas. It's been over a year and a half since we've been here and what about a year and a half since we've been here. So a lot of great memories in this town and it's good to catch up with some old friends and it's been a lot of fun, yeah. John, thank you both.

I look forward to seeing you next week. Thank you very much for your time. I'll see you then, brother. John, this is Pizzi again. I'm just wondering, as well, something you said on Twitter to your day, do you think this will break the pay-per-view record? Are you confident that will do that? He just seems to break records everywhere he goes,

but I'll dismiss my own advice and instead stay in my lane because I'm not a promoter. I don't know. But it almost becomes routine that whatever, it almost becomes routine that whatever the hell he does, he tends to break a record. So it wouldn't be that surprising to me if this one pops the, but it doesn't affect my pay salary, Pici,

so I'll kind of shook my shoulder and say it'd be cool of it does, but, you know, whatever. Fair enough, fair enough, thanks, and John, and sorry to enjoy the IPC, and it's just anger again, John. And recently on Twitter and in your interview with the MacLyke, you said that you expect to see the best version of corner we've ever seen. What in particular makes you have to think that?

Is it an improvement in skill set or a reduced focus and change of mindset? What in particular has made you come out with that statement? It's absolutely an improvement in skill set. He's the best fighter technically that I've ever seen. If you think about it, What do you need to get better or something, time? So he's now physically training longer than he's ever trained in his life because we've had another year of training.

So the technique has improved. And the mindset is returned to a state of being relaxed, enjoying it, being calm and being prepared, and being ruthless as well. That side is certainly there. So when you put all that together, that's why I'm fully expecting this one to be is the best side he's ever had. Cheers, John. Thanks for a time. Hi, John. Sorry, just to jump in there.

If it's all right, it's Joe here again from Talksball. Very quickly for me. If that's okay. Sorry, just to jump in there, like I said, I know obviously when Connifies the speculation about who he's going to potentially face next before even stepping in the octagon that goes off the chart. and he talked about, you know, what he wants to do. I just want to know, from your perspective, there's one part I've heard you talk about ever since, you know, it happened a few years ago. Nate Diaz three,

is that still a fight you'd like to see somewhere down the line for Connor, potentially this year? Absolutely. I'm not going to lie. I'm a fan of Nate, fan of the Diaz brothers. And the two fights they had

were fantastic. or 1-1 so it seems it seems inevitable that those those paths are going to cross again but let's see what happens

brilliant thanks so much you're welcome can we just get a quick prediction who do you think's going to win between Tony and Kabid I invite to put money I would say Kabid by decision

now very interesting stuff from John and great to be on that conference call with him those lovely, lovely journalists like Chisanga Malata and Garrett A. Davies, my spirit animal. Even though he ruined it. He ruined it and he made it all the same time. It's a gas, man.

Right, so I'm just going to hit you with a few of these quotes so you can hear what he has to say. First of all, I'm just going to talk about something that was a big one with the Oscar interview is him saying that Connor looks better than ever. Now, he's doubled down on that sentiment here on the conference call. He says, I think my opinion on that has changed. this was about it being in the later rounds. He said, what I would really say is that I see this fight.

A lot of people said his fight with Eddie Alvarez was one of the most perfect fights they've ever seen. It was so technically correct. And that's what I see in this fight. And that could be short or it could be long. The tempo will be exactly as Connor sets and for fans of MMA will be a night that will be studied for a long time

because it will be beautiful. It will be perfect. Is that like putting a lot of pressure on Connor? Yeah. Yeah, because we don't know where he's at. That's the fascinating. thing another fascinating element because he's fought once in the octagon

since the Eddie Alvarez fight since that fight how many guys have we saw take a gap off like even from like from like from the Habib fight and come back and beat that like resounding just knock over like an all time are really and Donald Seroni not many yeah

like not many so crews against Mizugaki that's all I can she's like he was out for a long time it's a tough one and you know I'd be more sort of, you know, if you put everything to get any sort of thing about, lucky that he had that Habib fight for me. If he hasn't had that fight and he's coming back now, obviously that's all bullshit talk from me,

but it would be a totally different sort of ball game. So I think, you know, him coming back in now, having that Habib fight, will maybe lit a bit of fire under his arse and he'll want to go out and make a statement. And listen, you know, he probably was injured the toe. We heard all the rumours beforehand when he broke the dislocated the toe. gone into the Beeb fight. You know, maybe that was a massive issue, but clearly Connor has been training for the last six, seven months.

But I'm asking, is he perfect? Do you anticipate him being perfect, as John says? No. Yeah, I can't do it. I really. You just can't. If he does, he is every bit as special as we have said in the past. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And listen, his body looks great. You know, aesthetically, physically, he looks really, really big. He looks really ripped. He looks frustrated in his face and old, though. He's sort of got old looking, I think, the last couple of years. So maybe that shows you where he's at

in a mental level, physical level. You know, he's a lot more serious, I think, in the interviews we've seen. But perfect. I think it's a very, it's an out there comment from Mr. Kavanaugh. Okay, here's the clarification on the training camp.

As I put it to him, a lot of people had been talking about this since it came out and he said, I saw your tweet, but I mean, what else are we meant to do? But here's what he said about the training camp when I asked him to clarify.

And I'm actually glad he did. We have, set out the training schedule, what each day will be. I meant more that Connor has an ability to see where shots are going to land better than me or anybody else I've ever seen. If he can see what shots are going to land and communicate to us, then we can make sure they're part of a pad session, for example, and that I can inform the sparring partners that these are some of the looks we want to see. It's not like every Monday he sends the seven day schedule and says on Wednesday, we're going to run 7K on Thursday night. It's me and the team setting out the schedule, but I meant it more

in terms of FOID IQ. Now that I understand, I think, I think it's fair to say that Connor probably has better FOID IQ than anyone in Ireland. So, you know,

that's, that's fair enough, but... Yeah, but I thought it came across when he said it originally with Oscar, that, you know, in terms of...

Oh, it definitely came across that way. Yeah. So, like, I can understand what he said there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

But it seems like a very different answer, right? It does seem like a very different answer. And it, it's a tough one to work out, and I think we talked about what Roddy had said and what John on it said last week as well

and it was very conflicting even in that so yeah I can understand me means there but I'm a little bit fucking flabbergasted again I don't know what to say with some of this stuff

I think it's a big shift it's a big shift maybe they're doing on purpose maybe they want us to fucking think 10 different things are they just listening to your bash and pissing themselves probably yeah

it's a fucking it's a fucking cluster fuck it is the whole last two weeks with all these interviews I like I'm just I'm sitting in bed at night going Jesus oh what about this that that fucking hell man yeah

I don't know. Here's the line on popularity, which I talked about beforehand, and you can give me your reaction. I'd love for people to spend a little more time like I do, driving through town with Connor or calling into a shop with Connor and being mobbed for selfies and people shaking his hands and congratulating him. I think people confuse Twitter life at real life and believe stuff on Twitter.

In real life, going through Dublin and the airport, there are crowds of people screaming and running up to us. Maybe a couple of people on Twitter who will write that if he wins, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. I'd say when he's talking about who will write that if he wins, they'll be talking about his, you know, his popularity dwindling in Ireland. It's an interesting way he's framed that, right?

Because he didn't really answer the question in terms of, has he noticed the drop in support? On Twitter, he's said the positive things when he's out with Connor when he goes into his shop and, you know, the nice side of Connor. And we've all seen that, and there is. Let's be honest.

There's a lot of things that Connor has done that have gone largely unnoticed, a lot of good things that he's done, you know, the children's charity, with the Children's Hospital, should I say. He did the same in the US. He's done lots of really, really good things. But yeah, that's not answering the question.

That's looking on the positive side, what he's experienced. When he's been with Connor, Connor's a very different person, I think, when he's away from the camp and away from John Kavanaugh. We've seen that time after time that Connor's best behavior

is obviously when he's in camp, in the gym, in with SVG. And when he's outside of that, he's a very, very different person. Yeah, I mean, it was actually that answer that I actually, when he said that I was like, people are going to think I'm making this up. So that's when I went out to the street. Like, that's when I was like, oh, we've got to do this.

Like, and I wanted to see as well, to be honest, I was like, maybe I do have it ours ways. But did you see that video to video? Yeah, yeah, no, yeah. I watched it there this afternoon. And, you know, it's interesting because you sort of, it's given me a hope that people are going to tune in and watch it. You know, especially with the girl, I thought. she was like, yeah, I know he was fighting. I might stay up and what.

Like, that is there. Yeah. It's about getting across. And how it comes across is going to be the press conference next Wednesday. Yeah, yeah. I agree with you too. Like, I mean, but I do feel as though the thing I got from it was we're writing what we're saying. Like the popularity has definitely gone down.

I think the dogs in the street know that. But the popularity has definitely gone down. He's still the most, probably the most famous sportsman in Ireland. Easily. But I also got the feeling that for. at least 80% of the people I interviewed that there is that room for reconciliation. Like they are kind of saying maybe you will, maybe we'll get back into our good books. You know what I mean?

But I don't think they're going to, as you said earlier, I don't think they're going to be as big as, you know, he has ever been or anything like that. But I do feel as though he has room to get back into better graces. Yeah. I think I think anyone does with a win. And I think it's going to be very important the way he conducts himself this week. Because you know, I know, Habib, press conference, last time eight, when there's no fans there. That was a horrific. That was bad, you know, and there was a lot of people after that.

That was the first sort of, I think we saw a negative push towards his name, his brand, where people were gone, Jesus, maybe we don't really like this guy. Probably the bus thing, though, before that, right? Of course. I forgot about the bus. I was even there in Brooklyn. Like, I was there, fucking covering the fight. But, yeah, that would have been the first one.

Then the Habib thing. Oh, there was a few before that. All right, yeah. It's been a kid. That is true. That is true. The homophobic slur and brag. Okay.

Like, there's been a lot. But, yeah, no, that's, you. you know, that's what I mean in terms of, you know, we don't forget, I think, as quick as you've just even mentioned it there, you've just given a perfect example of that. So people in Ireland, I think... There's been a lot, man. There has. I'm just going, fuck, it's like a shit.

Their fucking has been, really. So it is hard to forgive and forget. And I think we're such a small nation. News gets around quicker. Shit gets around faster. And both, like, I mean, rumors, like, spread like wildfire in this country. We know it's better than anyone. Man, I can't tell you.

tell you the amount of lies that I've been told about Connor, like, and that's not to say everything about it was a lie, but the amount of people, like, I mean, I thought it was career, the stories people were telling me, like, why do you wake up on Sunday morning and have about 50 different, like, stories that don't correspond with each other? They could have been all

dotted around different parts of Ireland, and people like, that's actually happened. And you're like, it didn't, though. It's crazy. That's Ireland all over. Like, every uncle you have, a maid of mine told me, my dad's, sister's, friend's, mother, all this rubbish, man. He rescued a sheep from a field He actually the cat from a burning fucking house.

Like that sort of shit's going on. And it's crazy in Ireland. I don't think you get that in the States. And I think that's why maybe we tend less to forgive here. And we're a nation of a fucking big Rogers. We've chips on our shoulders as well. And I don't think we like to see people doing well at the best of times. But the one thing I'll tell you, and I always say this when Connor's fighting, you know, you maybe hate the guy.

You know, you love the guy. But somehow, whatever happens in Ireland, people always end up fucking watching. and getting behind them. It's weird. It is weird. But maybe this time it's a trip too far. That's what I feel. But it's going to be very interesting. We may as well have a look at this card because we have not done that yet. There is not a heap of European interest on there. We have Alexei Olenek taken on Maurice Green. We have towards the opening of the car. We have Nazareth Hacperast and Drew Dober. And of course, we have Ascar Ascarov and Tim Elliott. a fight that I'm really, really excited about.

But what's jumping out to you there, apart from the obvious? Yeah, I think, you know, you mentioned Tim Elliott and Asker-A-A-Sker-off. Tim, obviously, is a little bit of a purple patch since that World Title fight. It's been a bit up and down for him. But I very much looking forward to that.

You know, Davidson Figueroa, he's getting a world title shot, obviously, against our good pal. Megan Olivey's good pal. Joey B. Joey B. So that's going to be an interesting one, really big, really tight. Ascarus coming off a draw. Is that right?

Yeah, and look, Tim Elliott's a top position. Like, I feel like he had a tough first fight as well. I can't remember exactly who he fought, but it was, he's a real talent, man. He's an outrageous talent, Ascar Ascar Oskaroff. So I think if he does get a win there, it's going to be huge for him, you know. I think he will struggle, though,

the fact that he doesn't speak English. He's actually deaf. I don't know, like, you know, how his communication is really at all. It's a fantastic story. I actually didn't even realize that. He can't hear his corner when he's right. It's incredible.

It really is. He's an incredible guy. That's phenomenal. I didn't realize that. Did he do sign language, I presume? I don't think he, I just don't think he really...

They just totally... Yeah, just off you go. Wow. That makes it even more impressive. Yeah, yeah. He's insane Grappler. Holy shit. Yeah, no, he is.

I was impressed with him on his debut. Obviously, he was a draw. But I'm looking at some other fights. I think Macy Barber is a fascinating character. Yeah, I mean, it's all there for her. You know, she's 21 years of age. She sells herself so well. She says the right things.

We're chatting about the tweet, she said, to Roxanne Modifery, who's obviously, you know, a pioneer of women's mixed martial arts. And she put out that tweet of Roxanne being real nice to her, and I just totally fucking ruined her in the response. But she made it public. I didn't think it was that big of a dis to be honest. It was sort of like, fuck you, I'm the future, as she said. But listen, this girl is going places.

We saw TKO of Jillyn Robertson last time out, you know, three on the bounce in the UFC since her debut in Dana White's Contender Series with the UFC sign her. She says all the right things. She does all the right things. This is a lady you're going to watch for one of the UFC's shallower female divisions. So, you know, a big, big test against Roxon-Modafari. I think this is a coming out party for her. I'm very, very excited for that. And I think another one, a female fighting dimension is about, Katie Godelli against Alexa Grasso.

That's a really, really good fight in paper. I think it's a grasso's for time there. I think it's a great time for it to be fighting Goodalia. She hasn't had the best of it. Yeah, Claudia's been all over the place, man. She's jumped from gym to gym. She seems very unsettled. She's not in a great place in her career.

And I think Grasso was finally sort of getting to the grips to the UFC. And we saw that last time out when she fought. So I'm impressed with her. You know, I've always been impressed. I remember seeing her watching her Invicta before she came through the UFC. She's a talent, man. Sadiq Yusev has a similar fight against Andre Faley as Barbara has against Modifery as far as I'm concerned.

Fili's in a great, great place, though. Like, I mean, it's the worst time to be fighting, Andre Filii, but Sadiq Yusuf looks insane. Yeah, he's a killer. As I said, in the Aiside last week, he's been on my radar since he was about 16 when he was in their Lloyd Irvin there in his gym, when he had that group of lads living in that place.

They had a reality TV show and everything. He was insane, though. Nazra Hakperas again. Yeah, we've talked about it. For God, that was long. Three fights on the bounce now. Savage. You know, and I do fancy him against Drew Dober.

I have to say. I really do. I really fancy him to get a big win there. But, you know, look, Anthony Pettis being on this card, I can't help but keep, my eyes keep on going to it every time. Like, was this supposed to be, remember you were talking about it? It was. Was this supposed to be Anthony Pettus v. Donald Soroni this week? And then it just.

Yeah, it was 100%. It's supposed to be Anthony Pettis. You know, Duke came out and said that, you know, this rematch was long overdue. it was going to happen about two weeks before the UFC came back to Team Pettis and said, Donald is unavailable. So effectively, that's what team Pettis were told

and Rufus Sport. The fight didn't happen. That shifted in a new opponent for him. Put Donald Serroney against Connor McGregor and that's it. You have to feel sorry for Pettis to a certain extent because Anthony was calling for Connor last summer as well. I didn't interview with him. He was so

keen to get that fight against Connor McGregor. It didn't happen. And it's a fight we sort of talked about many a year ago as well that it would have been fantastic fight he was looking for because then RDA took his title and then it became the RDA fight you know?

So yeah no it's an interesting one and yeah you gotta feel sorry for Frantney and people are forgetting that he's on this card man and I always love that guy fighting and I know we haven't seen the best of him in the last few years obviously the Wonderboy fight

so he's back down a lightweight I like it and I'm looking forward to that one as well should be going. I'm not buzzing for Holm v Pennington yeah I think it's gonna play out in the feed oh yeah you know obviously Raquel is a very underrated boxer I feel

but you've got to go with Holly, man and what Holly's able to do on her feet in terms of styles I think Hoddy's going to make a statement here I really do. It's a big, big fight for her as well. Do you think the criticism of the card is rightful? I feel like it's a bad time for the card that happened after

UFC 2-4-5 with so many title shots on it, so many big names. We had a few good pay-per-views back-to-back there and now this obviously doesn't have a title fight on it, but it does have, of course, kind of a record on it. I think the strategy this year is going to change. And I think we're going to see more cards like this.

I'm a little bit disappointed maybe that, you know, the likes of, I talked about Sean Amali potentially being on this card, maybe a few younger sort of athletes. Obviously, Macy Barber is on its grade. Asker Ascarov. These are guys that need promotional pushes. And I think they're doing a right. The McGregor spotlight, so to speak.

Exactly, 100%. So I think we're going to see this year. And I think it's, I like it to a certain way, because I think when we get like three, four title fights, we saw it a couple of years ago when they did like the UFC 200 card. I think there was like four title fights at the top. And they're actually looking for main events

then going into the new year. And it just gets a little bit all over the place. So I think this is better. I think the younger stars on the cards that you can promote and sell. And the UFC always need to start progressing guys and put them in the spotlight. So for me, I think it's a sign of things

to come under this ESPN regime. Is it fair to say this will be the most bought pay-per-view since BT brought it in? I mean, I don't think Connor and Habib wasn't, wasn't it? Connor Habib wasn't, no, I don't think. I don't think so.

I was over there, so I can't really remember but I don't think it was. No, I think it was free to air on the subscription alone, but you're talking numbers. Yeah. We won't get into numbers just yet, but I mean, in terms of Europe.

Yes, that will be. On BT's radar, definitely you know, I couldn't really understand to talk about this last week that they didn't put Diaz and Masmeda on the pay-per-view here. And then they had John Jones on against Santos on pay-per-views.

Some weird things going on there. I don't really know where they're at, but they're definitely taking advantage of the draw and the name that Connor Gregor is here to bump up their pay-per-view sales here in UK and Ireland. I wrote down a few questions that I wanted to ask us

so we could both discuss them, I guess. I think we've already touched on this one, but do you think he will look as perfect as Kavanaugh as saying? That's just a bit hard for me to take. Like even Connor was kind of talking about getting his sharpness back in that interview with Oscar, right? Yeah, I think, you know, obviously that's what he wants, is Connor to be perfect. But, you know, I think when you're looking at perfection,

I don't think we're going to see a performance from Connor McGregor like that, that we saw against Eddie Alvarez in terms of going out there and just, you know, blowing the absolute doors off it. Because he's coming off a pretty lax performance against Abeenormagamade of, you know, Eddie Alvarez was the last fight before that. So I just don't see where the turnaround's going to come into play here in terms of his training camp, what he's going to be able to implement.

You know, there's questions over the gas tank. There's just too many things that have gone on here for John Kavanaugh to be looking for perfection. I think if he gets half perfection over what he's going on, he'll be a happy man. Oh, yeah. It's good to set that, but I don't think it's realistic. Right. So we know Dana has said he's going to get Habib if he wins here. Connor has been talking about Usman, guys like this.

You know, if he struggles to win, even if he gets to win, but he doesn't make it look maybe as exceptional as we've seen him before, do you still think the UFC push him into that title picture because, you know, a Conner-Megger title fight is big business? Yes, I think we're going to have problems here again. I think from the interview we watched last week with Oscar, and I said this last week to you, when Kamara Usman's name was mentioned, there was a glint. You saw that little smirk in Connor's face. Connor is always outlined that he wants to be a three-out world champion. I think the UFC will want to do the Habei rematch because obviously, financially, it makes a lot of a lot of sense for them to do that. But Will Connor want to snub him?

That's what I'm saying. I think we could get into this sort of back and forth now again for a long, long time. And potentially, you know, I think Connor might go this 170 route. I'm not so sure we're looking at Abbe before the end of the year. I really believe that now. Just from watching that interview last week, I think it might be on the backburner in Connor's mind,

UFC's mind. They'll want to get it done in the summer. And Habib's mind as well, yes. So, yeah, I think Connor's going to go after this 170-pound title. I would not be surprised. Where would Sorone, if it goes according to plan for McGregor and he gets to win, where would Soroni rank in terms of the opponents he's beaten? Because that's something I feel like people are overlooking.

This guy is not a walk in the park. He is not. He's certainly not a walk in the park, Pete. He's a perfect matchup for Connor. Don't get me wrong. He is a perfect matchup. He certainly not a walk in the park. But, look, he's certainly not a walk in the park.

it doesn't rate too highly for me in terms of who Connor is beaten. So who would you write ahead of him? Well, I think you'd have Jose Aldo. Definitely. Probably Eddie Alvarez at the time in his career. Obviously not so now. You know, Eddie's gone through a little bit of up and down recently.

But then you look at, you know, like to Chad Mendes, Chad was probably ahead of him. I wouldn't. I wouldn't rate Chadmanez ahead of Don't. Well, Chad had only really lost to Aldo. Look what, look what, you know, Serrone's record in his last few. coming off two losses. You know, obviously,

those three wins and the bounce, then lost to Leon Edwards. He's been up and down, Donald. There's been no real consistency. You know, jumped a couple of divisions as well. You know, obviously you'd lightweight, then up to Welter for a stint, back down again, back up.

Like, he's not better than Max Holloway, or is he? Yeah, like, he should be winning this fight. If he wants to go out there, start this year, and to talk about this season and all these fights, it's not about even getting a result here. It's about making a statement. It really is that simple.

And I don't care what anyone says. That is the mindset. John's looking for perfection as he says. Conner has this glint in his eye. He seems refreshed, as we saw in the interview, this snippet with Ariel. He's focused, but can he implement it? That's the question. I think everyone's looking to see here.

Can he go out and replicate that form where he was that star and that champion? It's going to be fucking interesting. Yeah, I do. I agree. Do you feel as though, another question, do you feel as though he is going to do astronomical numbers here. Like, the word on the street is that Nate and Jorge did about six, about 600K. You got to remember that the new thing has been putting in place there with ESPN that's making it harder for people to get the

pay-per-views because it's two walls really. You have to be paying for your, your monthly subscription on ESPN plus two open the window to pay for the pay-per-view basically, isn't it? Yeah, it is. And so I mean, look, what would be huge here, which is it? I, you know, a million, I think, would be, you know, 1.1, you know, one million. Be crazy. I think that would be a good number. For the fight that it is as well, like I'm, as I said just there, I think I'm expecting Connor to win this fight and I think maybe, you know, the, because of what's on offer there out for Connor in terms of opponents, this is obviously not the most attractive in terms

of what the sort of casual fan would want to see. So I think that might hinder a little bit, but I'm still expecting the people to tune in to see this whole narrative of Connor coming back and can he can he, you know, redeem himself from, from what's gone on. So it's going to be interesting. I think we're going to see a minute.

I think it would be the ESPN's, ESPN deal we're going to see, definitely. I do thoroughly believe that. I think after Wednesday, it's when it's going to kick off. Do you expect him to fight three times in 2020? Yes.

I do as well. Depending on the result. But if he wins, expect him to win, yes. But when he was fighting, he was always fighting. Like, I mean, this is what people don't,

like, I mean, if he is taking this seriously, he should be fighting three times this year. Yeah. Oh yeah. That's the way McGregor goes. Without doubt, you know, we mentioned it earlier on.

I would like to see this be a constant year of like two week holiday at the end of this, fight to pen out goes straight back in the gym. It would be great. It would be great. Fight announced. And I think that's what he needs to do as well. People are maybe forgetting about this. You said it there, you know, he needs to be fighting, needs to be in the gym.

If you're getting constant momentum, if he wants to go back in the public's minds, the public spotlight, do the right things, say the right things, have the, you know, laugh and spirit back. He needs to do this. It's not about just coming in and out. This fight was only an end six weeks ago as well. He needs to have a year of his face in the public spotlight for the right reasons. And the only way he does that is by going out, knocking out Donald Serroney and saying good things at press conference and getting people invested again.

Yeah, yeah. I'll touch on that again later. But two final ones, I'll answer these as well. Does he fight for a title in 2020? I'm going to say yes. Yes, I think he will fight for a title, whether it's the 155-pound title or the 170-pound title. Or a BMF maybe. you know they're going to whip that out for Connor

if Connor fights Masvedatat 100% that that belt is going to go on the line Yeah, of course it will yeah Of course And um Does he Fucked to be in the last one Here's the last one

Does he win a UFC title in 2020 I don't think so I don't know how even Right now it's hard for me to say It's hard for me to say yes now It is I think But he is he has shut our mouths before So I wouldn't be surprised if he did

But at the moment no I think we'll wait till Saturday to make a thorough statement on that but no at the moment. I just wanted to mention it because we forgot to mention during the show and as as men to. You know, initially after those interviews came out, as we mentioned earlier with Oscar, you know, there's a lot of talk,

there's a lot of like people nitpicking here and there. And look, Oscar did a great job. I'm sure, like your first time interview on Connor McGregor straight after a training session in front of all his training partners is an awkward position to be put in. And Oscar certainly didn't seem like it was awkward for him. But I did notice, like, the clip that Ariel has put out with Connor and he's sitting down. He seems a lot like the guy we used to know there, doesn't he?

He seems like that's the calm, cool. The little joke about the flu, like that stood out to me a million miles. I was going to mention that to you because he goes on about, you know, all the respect for him, his family, his grandmother, and then has that little fucking joy, the little dig in there. And that's why I think we're going to see something, you know, turn the TED of 180 on Wednesday. It makes you feel like, you know, that it is there still. And, you know, the fact that he's joking, like, he's nearly like, he can't believe that Ariel's even suggesting he could lose the fight.

You know, you can see, like, it's not even like he's planned this. He's like, oh, my God, he's serious. Are you serious? Yeah. But that's what you were saying. You were saying he should have come out and explain to people that he's changed. Just what I kept on talking with Toys and Fury, my face is purple saying it. It wasn't just that Toys and Fury came out and won a fight.

He went on a press tour telling everybody how much he changed, explaining him why he's changed, him all the things he does to help himself to how it's still a struggle how he's still working on it I think that was the one key component we were missing here and said ahead of this fight

after everything that's happened Yeah no, yeah And I think I think based on that little clip When I'm looking at there I'd say it was one of those conversations with Ariel where If he puts all his cards on the table here Which I expect he does

And I feel like it's gonna warm him To the public a lot more Yeah I think we got that tone from the snippet That it was way more relaxed, Chill, the little joke was thrown in there and I think a lot I think this interview sets up

the week well in terms of what Connor's going to do and saying the media it could go tits up it could go 180 360 who fucking knows what way it's going to go I think this sets up the week

and I see the interest is going to be there from the get-go and we'll see what Connor McGregor on the Wednesday I'm intrigued about this press conference just to see what's said what's asked what his answers are like

how he reacts to Donald and I think there is going to be some real sort of fireworks fireworks to press conference You expect animosity because he's being so nice in the build of, yes, I think this is a psychological plan from Connor McGregor to,

oh, okay, but he's watching this, gone, oh, he's not a bad dude. And then boom, flip on Wednesday,

and it's all going to fucking kick off. I would not be surprised that. I wouldn't be surprised if he was wasted away in, just that final phase off and just goes ballistic like he usually does. And it's like, because Conard doesn't really, I feel like Connor can't really control himself when he's doing them final face off.

Like, he's like, ever since he's a kid he was doing this, like, he switches out, like. The Dave Hill fight was, remember that one

was just going bonkers of that so I would not be surprised I think the whole week is intriguing but I think I just think

I just have this feeling man that we're going to see some fucking mental on Wednesday and I just want to say you know if you hear

Ariel using colloquial Dublin slang this is his teacher I am his teacher don't let any of those other guys these fighters go

oh yeah we taught no it's always me and maybe am I hears some I don't know I don't know anything but I thought it would be nice to finish off, Noel, to...

I'm very sad that you won't be in Vegas this time. We haven't been in Vegas together since 2016, I want to say. It's not long. It's probably for the better of MMI fighting's coverage on the week, but I mean, it's been a long time. Yeah, no, listen, I'm disappointed, you know, things didn't work out the way I would have liked to it over the last year. It's just in certain aspects of my MMA coverage.

So, yeah, listen, I'm not there and just have to take it on the chin. I'll be pissed off during the week, but I'm sure you'll have a fucking drink from you at some point. At some point. I haven't had a drink in January. I don't know. I'm going to try and stay

squeaky clean over there. I think you're lying. I haven't. Did you not have a few? No. No? I haven't had anything. I'd be very, very good

the last team, month and a bit. Now, I made show to myself over the Christmas as I said earlier. Yeah. I didn't either. I drank for both of us in Ireland.

But both of us over Christmas. I was bound to pick actually with you, you fucking Welsh, what did I do? You and that little fucking blonde-haired gist, Josie Young's having a little

pop at me and fucking, the A size What did we say? He's, we're fucking bitching about music a bit I don't, man, I hear... It's not bitching

when you're saying in public. I hear everything. Thanks for a support the show, thank you. Fuck you. Look, man,

I can autograph your laptop if you want. Jose can just shut his mouth because he's calling out too many people, right? It's got to, he's gonna get bet in Vegas. Oh, he's gonna,

I'm gonna kill him when I see. He thinks some friends with him I'm gonna smash his face in as soon as soon as he. At least we're sticking together on this. Maybe not the face because he is very good looking actually. I'll just destroy his body.

No, to destroy his face. He's too pretty. It would be like desecrating the Mona Lisa or something. Here's a message for you, Mr. Young's. Watch your fucking self. Oh. Well, now if he listens to the show now, because this is at the very end.

Oh, Barry that guy. He's in trouble now. Can I be special guest referee? I think him and Mike Baum are having a bit of beef on Twitter. Well, I'm telling you, I just have been on Twitter now much as we began because I've been in here, but just watch yourself, son. You're digging a hole. I'm going to Tito Ortizier.

Boom, straight in that. I could be like special guest referee and pretend to be Jose's friend and then just at the last second pick up a chair and smash him across the back but get a baseball bat with Barb wire wrapped around and wrap it off he's a wrestling fan isn't he?

I never leave home without it I never leave home without it. Sheaky little fucker I can't believe it but um you know is like I mean it doesn't feel like you know the thousands are sailing over to Vegas to watch this fight like you know like it was our it was

Connor Mendes Aldo even Diaz to less for extent they were our Italian 90s That was our generation sporting moments. So it's like... Yeah, the feeling, you know... It's hard when you go over, I'm sure, like, you were a Habib. And it isn't the same as that, but you also don't want to be, like, throwing water on the fact that it is a huge event by going like, oh, not the same amount of guys here, right?

Yeah, I just think, you know, I think the difference from the Mendez fight to maybe the Habib fight, Conner became so far removed from society from the people. He no longer belongs to the Earth, he belongs to the world. To the world, yeah. And I think when you become that famous, you know, you can't really go out as much. Maybe people see you in a different light, which clearly they do with Connor. I think the Mendez fight was that sort of transitional point where he was one of the people to becoming a world, massive star. A global commodity, yeah, yeah. Maybe that's where the separation became between.

It's like a soccer player like Cristiano Ronaldo or something. You know, you've people going to games every week. You know, Chrysano's getting fucking 200 grand a week, maybe. He's not paying your fucking, you know, mortgage for your gaffe. It's that sort of thing. But, yeah, you know, I don't think you'll ever top the Chas Mendes fight. That was a special, special time for Irishmen. mixed martial arts.

And our sport. In our sport, it was unbelievable. And it's hard to replicate those feelings. And I don't think we'll ever really replicate those feelings because it was,

it was probably the most special event I ever covered in my life was 1-8-9. Yeah, it says the same as well. That and the UFC Dublin one. That was the first one. Yeah. Incredible.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. New York was cool as well. Yeah, it was deadly. I'd love to go back there. But last one, we'll end on a cliche. Let's do the predictions. Final prediction for that,

main event, Noel. I think Connors, you know, I just think if we look at the sort of the way you can beat Donald Seroni, I look at the, you know, I've said it before, the Darren Till sort of game plan, you know, close him down, don't let him get space, he's always struggle with guys

that come in his face. You know, he's always sort of struggle with guys who forward pressure and cut down those angles. So I expect Conner to be able to hunt him down and land that left at some point and that's interesting as well Pete's he that

you know they obviously break in the hand as well I don't know if that's going to have a much of an oh shit yeah you know that there's so many different things going on that it's going to be intriguing to see when he lands at left for the first time how Donald reacts but I expect Connor to get him out of there within three rounds I don't see it gone outside four or five

which John said a couple of weeks ago unless Connor wants to toy with him if he's that confident but I don't think you much want to do that cowboy Soroni and I think cowboy wins this fight the only way he wins the fight is getting the fight to the ground looking for submission I don't see it.

Seven to one on Patti Power. But yeah, I agree. I think second round, Connor, is what I'm going for. I think it'll be early in the second round. I think it'll do most of the damage in the first and then done into...

We're green. We're green. I'm done. This is a bad omen. It is a bad omen. It is a bad omen. Listen, Jesus, don't be saying that. Now, someone gets sick this week

in the fight's bloody call loft. That would be a fucking nightmare. But stranger things have happened, I suppose, if you look at Habib and Tony. but let's not even go out. She's, I'm cursing everything now. Right, yeah, you've got to stay away from that. But look, yeah, so I guess I'll see you in two weeks. It won't be, because we'll have to do a kind of a variation of the bash next week

because I want me to be home until the year goes out. Yeah, yeah. Have a fun one, motherfuckers, and, you know, enjoy the card, and I hope you've a great time in Vegas. Buy me something. All right. Send me back a burger in the post. My fucking, man, I'd love it at Johnny Rockets or something like that. Oh, yeah. I'm going to go, I'm getting home on Tuesday and going to Amsterdam on Wednesday.

What are you doing in Amsterdam, Pete? Going away with Elaine. What are you doing in Amsterdam? Just, you know what I mean? I have... Beautiful cities. For a long time... Yeah, like, for a long time, I think that I wanted to get involved in the sex trade.

So that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to rent myself a little window. You and Josie. And wax me back and see if I can make back the money of spending in Vegas. Jesus Christ. Well, that's it, guys. Be a lot of people sick after that. Oh, yeah.

Including myself. Get an abba ball. Man, I'm looking forward to your coverage. I may have you a fun month. All right. Love is loud. See you soon. You know,