MMA Fighting - Eurobash: The Last Rants (w/ Ariel Helwani, Neil Seery)

Episode Date: May 26, 2020

On the final episode of Eurobash, Ariel Helwani (15:00) joins the show to discuss the latest developments in the sport including Fight Island, a potential meeting between Conor McGregor and Kamaru Usman and much more. Former host of Eurobash, Neil Seery (55:00), returns to give his reaction to UFC's Jacksonville events. Petesy Carroll and Niall McGrath discuss the latest headlines.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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in an O2, Michael Jordan's The Last Dance. It's been a fine run, Norman, but here we are. An hour from the end, as they say. How are you doing, my love? I hope you have the Kleenex close boy. I know you're going to get very tearful thinking about your time here. Me. Yeah, very emotional.

guy. Yeah, no, I'm not really emotional unless I'm on the gargle, to be honest you. I do tend to get emotional watching football, but bar that, nothing really sort of gets me emotional. Barre you, Pizzi, you do my fucking head in. We all know that. But yeah, listen, our time is going to an end. Shit happens. That's so is life. Just got to just got to shovel on, man. It's been fantastic. It's been brilliant. We started on August 28th in our first interview was Harrier Mendez. We had the original panel was myself, Noel and

Neil Sirie who were going to be hearing from later on. Of course, he believes the downfall of this show is because of his absence. He's probably right. Our goal was to shine a light on this European scene and it worked very, very well. You know, I think we

put a huge spotlight, spotlight, spotlight. K-JRers and KSW promotions like that. I see a lot more media members covering them as well. not to say we were the first, but, you know, we certainly helped gain a bit of ground in this part of the world. And very, very happy we managed to do with that. And yeah, me and Noel McGrath.

We made friends throughout the year. Nobody even left halfway through, you know, the season of Eurobash. We always brought it to the forefront, which we're very proud of, of course. Bar-Siri, he left. He ran a mile. Do you think he was afraid? you? Do you think he thought it was going to get physical one day with you? Yeah. I would never

be able to live that down if normal grass smashed me. Belly was going to get him definitely, yeah, 100%. Eat that little weasel. It'd be like a Rothweiler having his dinner I suppose, really, wouldn't I? That little fucking squirt. He's going to batting me now the next time he sees me. Team me up, you will. But no, yeah, it's been fun, Pete's.

Yeah. Let's not get our Let's not let it get in the way of the episode We have news to get you There's so much news It feels like everything's kicking back off again for Christa Too much news Yeah so let me have a flick through these

Tagger Ulan Bekhov Signs for the UFC Marvin Vittori v. Carl Robertson Rebooked for June 13th Ascar Ascarov The Alejandro Pantoja is targeted for July 18th Caitlin Chukagan faces Antonina Shevchenko at a USC event on May 30th

Ariane Lipsky v. Luana Carolina is rebooked for a UFC card on June 13th. MTK Global have announced a partnership with HK, which is quite interesting on the back of our conversation with Phil O'Connor last week about Daniel Kinnah. Gamrod v. Park 3 and Wusek v. Mankowski have been slated for a July 11 marquee with KSW. And two new signings to KSW. And I had to ask Alan Murphy to send me voice notes on how to press. pronounce these names, but I'll still mess them up here for you. Matthias Ligerski and F-E-N-D-Gamp, Andrei Grebick, I'll call him.

So, I'm for KSW. So there you go. We have that to look forward when things kick off again. Wonderful. Pronunciation was right in tea. Excellent. Yeah. No one here to correct us, so I think I got it perfectly.

It seems as though, and we're going to be speaking to our good friend Ariel Hawani, who can shine a bit of light on this as well, that, International fighters seem to have been activated over the last week or a week or so even. Molly McCann seems to have a fight booked on the Fight Island. Any word on this from you? I see a lot of talk that it could be Yaz Island in Abu Dhabi. Any ideas for you where it could be? Or is that what you're hearing too?

Man, yeah, I don't know. Your guess is good as mine. Like, Yaz Island, I don't know how that's, like, it's not, they couldn't have bought that. like it's a place it's obviously they've had events up near there before and abid dhabi so it's going to be interesting um no i haven't heard anything really unless we're doing something inish more like would be great but no man i don't know it's not to be honest you peter i find you know i'm not fully sold in this from dana what i think he's you know we might we might hit a road bump with this yet we don't we don't know um you know it is an issue we've talked about

on the last couple of weeks with two the guests we've had on like darned hill mentioned it. You know, Paul Felder reckons it's a big advantage for the American fighters. So it is. Like there's very few European fighters booked in the next number of weeks as we'll talk about later. I think it's what Black I, I Ivanov is one of the few that's booked. He's based out there

as far as I'm aware as well. So listen, it needs to happen. We need to get European fighters back active. It's very, very important for these guys. Half them having that 90% of the European roster, even probably more, having had a fight in, what, three, four months? It's mental. It's a long time, dude. I'm going to be a bit longer as well, considering how many people, like, I'm putting a card and shit like that.

Like, it's not very easy for the UFC, I'd imagine to accommodate everyone. But speaking of European fighters, Francis and Gann, who be John Jones, Noel, I was shocked to see it the other day that you, you, you, just like, does anyone even care about this fight? Yeah, yeah, a lot of people do, Noel. I think a lot of people don't either. You know, I don't. I can understand from the USC's point of view why they wouldn't want to put that together. know if you're moving John Jones up and you're taking the risk of putting them in there with a guy who's not even world champion in that division you know and let's be honest like it's not

if Francis is a household name um you know like a lot yeah he you know he can potentially be that you know a lot more people I'm sure know who see Pemi Oitch is he's the champion I just think there's no point in the UFC risking a potential future date with steepe and John Jones if he wants to go down that route I think it's the fight that makes sense for them you know you can sell the champion versus championing. With Francis in Gano, you can't do that. You know, if he goes in there and cleaves John Jones head off, which was a very sort of possibility that it could happen.

You know, it takes away a lot of stock for John Jones as well. And I don't think the UFC have really embraced the idea of putting that fight together. I actually totally agree with them. I was never liking that fight. I think if John Jones is to go up, there's only one fight. It is the world champion, whoever that's going to be. and currently that champion is Steve Emmy Oitch. I understand the point in terms of titles and things like that.

But I think for a fight alone, I can't think of a more compelling fight outside of the corners of this world in terms of gaining a casual audience. Like, I mean, you don't need to even have Francis speak. You just play his highlight reel, and he's fighting John Jones, the immovable object. What do you think is bigger if you're Francis, becoming the first African heavyweight champion in the sport

or beating John Jones. That's an interesting one. I think probably from France. I saw, I should say, I saw this being debate on the athletic. I think it was Josh Gross and Ben folks. I think they were debating it. So I have stolen that question from the split decision, but I'm wondering, what do you think?

I think it is, it's a hard one to pick. It is, but I think you'd have to go for the world title because, you know, that's uncharted territory in Africa, a country that's obviously, it's starting to produce mixed martial artists of very, very high caliber. And I think to have that strap in the world's premier mixed martial arts organization means more than

than beating John Jones currently at the moment. And, you know, there's a lot of developments needed for the sport there in Africa. There's so many, you know, as we see with RugRug, for example, there's so much untapped talent out there that can transfer over to mixed martial arts. And I think to have that accolade, that title would mean more than anything

for any African-based or African fighter that's on the UFC roster at the moment. And you can wait for these John Jones fights to happen. With him winning that world title, that opens up many doors. That opens up, you know, a potential fight against John Jones' future date down the line. That's another thing I think we take into advantage

from the last question you asked me, is that we can do this again. You know, the steep A fight mightn't be there in three or four years. Do you get what I'm saying? Yeah, I do get what you're saying. I think the part that it's kind of annoying about it is the fact that it's, the reason why it isn't happening is because the U.S.

you won't pay them for it. You know, it's, it's tough, isn't it? Like, I mean, this, this is, you know, is that the real reason, though? And apparently the greatest fighter of all time. And they wouldn't, do you think,

do you think it is a payment thing? Or do you think they're just more along the thinking of you where they don't want to sacrifice certain matchups? Yeah, because they make more money long term. The payment means nothing really to them. Well, they make more money long term. if they don't do this fight at the moment, in my opinion. Because I think if they do DC and Steep A too,

and I mean, a lot of people are giving Steepay shit at the moment, and they tend to forget. That's mad, isn't it? That's mad. The guy's out there, he's, you know, on the front lines, you know, fighting, firefighters still working. He's had eye injuries to deal with as well, taking a little bit of time out for that.

He's become a father in the last year. You know, and if Daniel Cormey, playing this narrative, oh, he doesn't want to fight me, he won't give me. Listen, Daniel, at the end of the day, you would not give him in a really rematch. after you poke the eyes off him in that fight. And then, you know, he should be allowed to do the same thing. And he shouldn't run on any pressure from the UFC to take that.

But going back to the original point, if the UFC play their cards right in terms of putting on the right matches the right time, they're going to make more money in the long term. And that's what it's all about. And like, at the end of the day, listen, Francis and Gano had a shot at Steve Emioch. He didn't beat him. So in my opinion, the bigger fight is John Jones versus Steve Miochich, if that is to happen. if he goes up there. Daniel Cormier can sit and wait.

I disagree. I get what you're saying, but I disagree that it's a bigger fight. John Jones v. Steepay than Francis v. John Jones. I just think that would sell so much. And especially in this day and age, was that happen now in a situation where you can't do a lot of interviews and stuff.

I mean, I feel like the Angainu Highlight Reel could sell this fight better than any press conference, really. You know what I mean? But it's not. you know, I know that it's nuanced and I do take your point. But I don't, like, can you think of, I really can't think of any fight other than a counterfeit that would be as captivating as in Ganoe v. Jones. Do you really think that Steepay v. Jones is bigger than this type of you was?

Yeah. Just because of the belt? The two baddest motherfuckers on the planet. Like, that's really the way it is. And listen, Franny has had a shot at Stebe. Didn't go well. Yeah, it didn't go well. Steve, you know, I boxed them.

It was a clinic, to be honest, you're from Mr. Miochich in that fight. I just don't guess why people were so hung up in this Jones idea. Like, really? It's like, in Gano is only sort of recaptured what we've seen in him in the last two or three fights. And obviously, coming off that fantastic knockout, but like, at the end of the day, he's lost two scraps in there in his last few. Stipe has only lost one, and he redeemed that loss as well. So, Stipe is the baddest motherfucker in the man. And the guy just doesn't get enough, does not get near.

enough credit for what he deserves in my opinion. And that's obviously rangs with the UFC and Dana White as well. He's always had a turbulent time and relationship with the UFC and Dana White. You know, I'm sure they don't want him to be champion, but at the end of the day, he is their fucking champion. And they need to start

taking into consideration what he wants to do as well. Because, like, really, even the Jones fight, the DC fight, I'm not interested particularly in seeing part three of that at the moment. I think they should strike while the iron's hot. I've said this for a long, long time. They should steep MEO and John Jones.

If John Jones was going to go up, it's got to be Steep Emmy Oachish because he's the champion. Simple. That's it. End off. You know, you're talking about Steepe

getting a hard time. One of the worst shows I've seen is people call him for him to be stripped. You're like, are you seriously going to strip a front line worker during the coronavirus? You know what I mean? That would be,

I've seen people say this online. That would be the worst fucking decision anyone could make in terms of optics. Like, come on. No, it's absolutely madness. It's crazy. And people have to think like, that. Like the guy you fought last August, we've seen other fighters take a lot longer than that

out and not be stripped of their titles. So, you know, get a grip, get with it. The guy needs a fucking break. He's the world's heavyweight champion. You know, he's fought two hard fights against Daniel Kornme. He got injured from the back of one of them. He's on the front lines fighting. He's a bloody young kid, not too long married. Fucking hell, man. Like, what else have you got to do to shut up people at times? And he'll get back in there, I'm sure, before the end of this here. I'm going to see him see him what her take on DC again or potentially even not John Jones

fight. Right, well let's get on with our first interview of the day. Forget fronnie. Sorry? Forget fronnie. Okay, no, nobody will. You're the only man in the world that doesn't like that for you. It's amazing.

Boy, I do get your point with Steepai. But let's get on to our first interview of the day. It's a man who helped this train get rolling. The goat of MMA media. Ariel Helwani of ESPN and of course the CEO of Helwani boxing. Great for him to get on the show. We've been wanting him on for a long, long time.

It's sad that I had to be the final one, but great to speak to him as always. He's always been a big, big supporter of ours and we really appreciate it. Great to speak to Ariel. We'll be back in about 25 minutes to speak about McGregor v. Usman. And we'll also have a look at McGregor's goat rankings he put up over the weekend and see how close our top five is to McGregors. So see in a bit. We'll be back in a while.

And now I am joined by the great Ariel Hawani, the face of ESPN MMA. And one of my great inspirations, of course, and a man who gave us lots of encouragement and lots of help with the concept for this show and what better way to... The first time I interview him on one of these shows be our last one on Eurobash.

Very sad, but a momentous occasion, all the same. Ariel, how are you, my love? I'm doing great. What's the crack, Pizzi? It's bittersweet on many different fronts. Number one, because as you mentioned, this is the last Eurobash on MMA fighting. Number two, because I've been waiting for almost 100 episodes now for you to invite me and you finally invite me on the last one. And number three, and perhaps most important, I was wondering, are we going to do like a one-on-one or a 2V-1? And apparently I'm not big enough for Nile, so it looks like it's just you and me here. One of these days, I'll get the 2V1, as they say. But I'm happy nonetheless to be with you. Yeah, Noel, I asked him about it. He's like, who? And I was like, sorry about that.

You know, he just doesn't know. He can't be bothered. Like, he's just not big time enough for him, I guess. No, I understand. He can't be bothered. He's probably really busy right now doing God knows what. Yeah. But most importantly, I'm a huge fan.

I've tweeted about the show. I look forward to the next chapter for you and Nile and the show itself. You know, sorry to hear how. things went. I don't think it's an indictment on you guys or the show. It's just an unfortunate time in our lives, but I'm glad to see that you are kicking it until the very end with MMA fighting, and I can't wait to see what's next for you. How are you finding this all, Ariel? I know, you do work from home and awful lot, but, you know, you used to have a few days in the studio as well. Is this very different for you? And is it good? Is it a good different?

Or how are you finding it? It's dramatically different because, like, right now we're taping this on Monday afternoon. I would be, you know, know, in the studio doing my show during this time driving. For the past almost two years, I was driving to Bristol, Connecticut, which is two hours away from where I live. And, you know, that's quite the track, two hours, you know, one way and then two hours back. So I was driving four hours on Mondays, and that's a lot. And, you know, after doing the show, you're very tired and all this stuff, or at least I am

because, you know, it was three hours, three and a half hours straight. And so now it's dramatically different. And my Mondays have changed as well. I'm no longer doing for now like those shows with the 5, 6, 7, 8 guests doing the DC and Hawaii show. But I would say I've really, really enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the change of pace. I've enjoyed switching it up.

It was doing one sort of show for 11 years. And so it's nice to do something different. I have my Wednesday show as well. But, you know, honestly, being at home, two things. Number one, it reminds me how I started. I'm literally sitting at the same table that I sat at when I started in 2007 doing, you know, my website and interviewing people that I was reaching out to via my space. So it kind of takes me back to that.

And I think that I was sort of built and started on a path where, you know, I'm used to, you know, just reaching out to people and being creative, even though I don't have a fancy, schmancy studio behind me, I'm still doing it the same old way. I just so happen to be with ESPN. So that's a little different. And number two, the time that I've gone to spend with my family, you know, my wife and kids and our dog during this time has just been, has been. really nice, like the bonding and just being with each other and getting to do things like

learning, you know, them learning how to ride a bike. I still can't ride a bike, but they've learned how to ride a bike. That's hilarious. That is so weird. And just all that stuff. So it's, honestly, I hate that it's happened this way and I hate that what's happening to this society, to world, to humanity. But I'm trying to make the best of it. At the beginning, I was very down. But now I feel like I've hit a groove, so to speak, to where, you know, I'm seeing the bright side. Yeah, I love the show with you and DC. You bounce off each other so well. And, you know, as I'm watching that show, I'm kind of thinking, does it ever go back to the way it was? Does it need to go back to the way it was? You know, do you think the way we're doing our jobs in this time

will maybe change how we do it in the future? I mean, do you feel like there is going to be a big rush to get you back in the studio and have a million guests on every Monday? Because, man, we only have, you know, between two and four guests every week here. And it's a nightmare. I can only imagine. Do you still book the whole thing by yourself and everything like that? That's crazy, man. Like, I mean, it must be an awful lot less stress at least just to have to get one guy on the phone on Monday, right? Oh, my God. My Sundays are dramatically different now. I mean, you know, I will say this to you, I would watch UFC events, the big ones, right, where there's the biggest names. And there was a point where I wasn't even enjoying them as much because after every fight, I'm thinking to myself, okay, how do I get this person on Monday? What is it going to take to get this person on Monday? Who do I have to go through? Will they say yes? Are they beat up?

Do they want to talk? Was it controversial? And it's like, you're watching these great fights and you have this great privilege. And all I'm worried about is booking it because booking it is so tough. Like if I had to just show up on Monday and do the show, that would be a blast. But I have to book the show because, and that's partly my fault. Like I don't hand the reins off to anyone. And, you know, I just kind of feel like I've been doing it for so long. So I should. continue to do it. But yeah, things are dramatically different. And I have to say, you know, watching the last three events,

and I'm sure it will be the same on Saturday when Woodley fights and then 250, et cetera, it's really been a lot different because I don't have to worry about reaching out to these people right away on Saturday night, late Saturday night, early Sunday morning and trying to get them to confirm to be on the show. And I've just really enjoyed, you know, I've always been hesitant to do something like this with Daniel or any other fighter because, you know, and they're in the midst of their career and you don't want to seem biased or any of this stuff. Once the pandemic hit and we're all at home, DC and I have been talking about when he'd retire that we would do something together. But it was like, all right, well, there's no better time than now.

We might as well do it. Who knows how long we'll be, you know, sitting on the sidelines with no sports or no UFC, no MMA. So we may as well do it. And thank God, because we have this great relationship behind the scenes, it translated into this show. So I really don't know what the future is going to be. Like, is this going to be the case from here on now?

Are they going to change in a month? I really don't know. I will just say I'm really enjoying it and I really like what it has resulted in as far as my MMA watching or UFC watching specifically because it's the only thing going on because I don't have to worry every Monday

about booking a gazillion people to come on the show and I hope that the fans understand that 11 years of doing something and booking them all on my own that yeah sometimes it's fun to switch things up a little bit I can't imagine I don't know how you sustained that for so long man even thinking about that there I'm exhausted is chale jealous of your relationship with dc obviously you guys you know you at your own show and i feel

like maybe he might feel a bit pushed out by this uh uh blossening relationship between you and dc really hitting me with the hard hitting questions here peter i love it look man david this is why they pay me the big books uh yes i love it very much um no not at all i mean it's a totally different show on a different platform chale ariel and the bad guys on espn plus and we built espm plus with our hands off shoulders. We made that platform what it is. And the fact that we don't get recognition for it is a crime, if you ask me, a travesty. DC and I want is a completely different show. It's like we're talking a little bit MMA. We're talking a little bit other stuff. It's free format. It's kind of a radio show style where it's just us going back and forth. Ariel the Bad Guy is a lot more produced five rounds,

five minutes, debate style. So to me, like, yo, why can I have two shows? Why can I have three shows? Why can I have four shows? At the moment, I'm very, very lucky. I have DC-Han Hawani on Monday. I have Aaron the Bad Guy on Wednesday. I have the Hawani show podcast on Wednesday as well, which is more like the Monday show, what that used to be with the multiple interviews.

I host the Snapchat show for ESPN, MMA. I host the Facebook show for them as well. I got things going, my man. So I feel like, you know, why can I serve multiple masters and everyone get a piece of the pie? So I'm happy. It's kind of just said that, DC walked through the door that chale open,

but we can move on. We can move on. You know, there's been a lot of talk. Here we go. I'm going to start grilling you now. You better be ready for this, Ariel. Fight Island, right? We need Foyd Island in Europe because most international fighters

think it's their best chance of competing. They think the visa situation to get into the US is too complicated at the moment. And when you talk to these European fighters or fighters internationally, they all think that's the way they do it. What have you heard? Where is Foyd Island? We're seeing a lot of reports that it could be Yaz Island in Abu Dhabi.

What can you tell us? What have you heard? Do you have an inkling? Do you have any knowledge? Okay, okay. Jeez, Louise. Can you let me answer, for God's sakes? So it's like an interrogation here.

Just answer the question, Ariel. Jesus. So I will admit this. I will admit that early on my impression of quote-unquote fight island was that Dana White was scrambling. Dana White wanted to figure out how to get the UFC back. I mean, let's not forget, he didn't want to miss a single week. He wanted to do the London card some way somehow,

if you recall on March 21st. And so I think he was throwing things out. He was working on things. He was coming up with plants. They were brainstorming. But I don't know if there was an actual real thing that quickly. I mean, it's impossible to do something like that that quickly. However, so my thing was always, all right, until I start to hear from the managers and the

fighters that they're being approached about fighting on an island, I just don't believe it yet. And it's not because I want to say that he's a liar or anything. on the contrary, I'm just saying like until people are actually being offered fights at this location, to me, it's just a thing. It's a thing that they're selling T-shirts about and talking about, but it's not a real thing, and people love talking about it. And I think what happened was people really liked it.

It caught like wildfire. It became a catchy thing to say. It became a great idea that people were like envisioning who's going to fight, where is it going to be, what's it going to look like, and then they started to really seriously, you know, work on it. First, they had to try to get the Jacksonville thing. done, right? And then they start to think about this and they got that done successfully for the most part. Now they're thinking about this. And last week around Wednesday, I got five calls from

five different important people in this sport saying, Fight Island is real. We've been offered a fight. They're talking about this. They're debating that. They're negotiating this. And now I'm a believer that it's going to happen in July based on those conversations. Now, do I know the exact location? Honestly, hand on my heart, I do not know the exact exact location. But I do know that multiple fighters, managers, representatives have been approached about fighting on the island. I know that multiple fights are being discussed for the island. Dates are being discussed in July. I think it's a pretty safe bet that June is going to still be at the apex and that's perfect. But to your point, they need Fight Island badly or whatever this island is going to be and wherever it's going to be

badly because of the fact that the international fighters can't come to the United States. You're starting to see the car. It's a little thin now. You're seeing guys like Kevin Holland get, you know, a fight on 14 days, notice after he last fought, all that stuff is because the cupboard is a little bear right now. And so the sooner they can get this up and running, the better they'll be off. And you're also going to see an influx of international fighters. So it'll be great for the Ades Sanyas. It will be great for the Paolo Costas. It'll be great for the Conners. They'll be great for all those international fighters that right now can't fight in the United States. So I think it's going to happen sooner rather than later because of that.

Speaking of our buddy Connor, Ali Abdelaziz has said that Usman is Aung, for a fight with McGregor due to Masvedal chasing up that rematch with Nate Diaz. Is this all lip service at the moment, or do you know anything about this, Ariel? So there's a really fascinating thing going on with the elite of 155 and 170 because, all right, and it's so crazy how many people are involved here. So you had Mazvedal and Usman, right? For whatever reason, I'm told that the negotiations there aren't going swimmingly to put it in that sort of term.

Then all of a sudden on Saturday, you have Masvedal saying, let's run it back with Nate. Hasn't talked about Nate for months. And all of a sudden he says, we're running a back. Why? Because the negotiations aren't going well.

Maybe he gets paid more if there's a rematch clause. Who knows, all of a sudden he's not talking. He just says, let's run a back with Nate. All right. Then we have Ali Abdel Aziz, who's Kamar Ushman's manager, telling Brett Okamoto that, you know what? right, if Mazvedal is not available, we're going to fight Connor. Wait a second. You're the guys

who keep saying that Connor needs to fight a gazillion times to sniff, Habib, that he doesn't deserve it, that we keep talking about it. And now Usman on 170 is going to give him a title shot? What's going on there? What's happening on your end? Okay. And if Nate and Mazvedal, which Nate seems all in because he responded to Mazbadole, Nate and Mazvidal are tied up, then where does that even leave Connor? That's a massive question. You have the biggest draw in the history of the sport, who right now doesn't have an obvious dance partner. How weird is that? What happens?

Now I wouldn't be surprised if this happened. What happens if Habib asked for a little more time? His father's not feeling well. Send my best to his family. Do they try to do Gaichi versus Connor right away? I wouldn't be surprised. And then the winner fights, Habib. Big money fight for Gechee.

There's a backstory there. I wouldn't be surprised as well. So all of this is like so intertwined where we thought, sure thing, Masbred al-Uzman, doesn't seem like a sure thing anymore. And then I wonder, hey, wait a second, is the UFC trying to put together Geichi and Connor and is Ali trying to stop that from happening because he wants it to be Gehji versus Habib and he's trying to pair Usman up with Connor.

Do you see what I'm saying? Oh, I do. There's a lot of weird things going on here. Wow. And I'm curious to see how it plays out, all very fresh, all very new. But yeah, this is fascinating stuff. Yeah, yeah, that is really interesting now. Would you put it like that?

there is a lot going on, as you said. I don't know. Like, I mean, I know there's different rules for McGregor, right? There always has been. Yeah, he brings in a crowd like no other. But is there any way, like, I mean, this is how I read this Jones and Angano situation, when they completely ruled out kind of paying these guys more

as it seems to be based on their social media. Like, is there a chance that, like, maybe you just won't see Connor fighting until we can get crowds back in there because of the amount of money he brings in from Gates and stuff like that? Or do you believe that they, be willing to, you know, make sure that paying Connor enough to fight if he could potentially fight on this fight island or wherever it might be. So two things. I think one thing that's really interesting to monitor because, of course, we saw it last week with John Jones and Francis

and Ghanu, too, where the UFC, we all know they're tough negotiators. And we all know that, you know, they don't like to break the bank if they don't have to. But now they're starting to tell people like, look, we're not making any money off the gate. So, If you think you're going to come in here and ask for the world, you've got another thing coming because we're, quote, quote, losing money. Now, the fighters don't necessarily care about that because they don't make any money off the gate. So to them, they're like, yeah, and, like, how does that affect me? But the UFC is saying, like, look, we need to be a little more stringent here. So that's going to be really interesting.

And that's part of the reason why the Francis versus John stuff kind of fell off before it even got started. Now, I'm curious, I don't believe it's dead necessarily, but it was interesting to see it all play out that way. And so you have that situation, and then you have the Connor situation. When initially I thought the same, like, okay, you know, they can't have him fighting on an island because they're going to lose out on the gate. They make $15 to $18 or so million when he fights. Now they're just not going to get that money. That seems crazy.

But I think two things happen to change the point of view on that. Number one, I think Connor was hesitant about that as well. And I think he was also honestly hesitant about the testing and the procedures. and the way they were going to do things. Obviously, if you look at his social media, this cause is something that is very important to him. And his manager, Adi, told me this as well. Adi Atara told me that once he saw how they did in Jacksonville,

he felt a lot better about it. So those reservations, I think, went away. And then he was also a little bit down on the idea of fighting in an empty arena for multiple reasons. And I think that once he saw the fights, those reservations went away as well. And then when you see how well the pay-per-view did, according to the Sports Business Journal, did 700,000 on the ESPN Plus pay-per-view. That's an incredible number in this day and age, considering they've changed the pay-per-view model.

And I think that, could you imagine, if Gachie v. Ferguson, the 700,000, which by the way, you put that fight in November of last year in normal times, it's not doing 700,000. Great fight for all of us. We loved it. Hardcores. It's not doing 700,000 because the model wouldn't suggest that. Connor, I think you could do $2 million in this new era. And that's just an astounding number, right? That's crazy.

So you'll make money more money off the fact that there's no people in attendance. There's no sports going on at the moment. If you can fight in July, there's probably not going to still be any major American sports going on at the moment. ESPN's going to push it. So maybe you figure, okay, I'm going to lose here, but I'm going to gain there. So I think he's back on to being a player. It's just a matter of them getting this fight island up and running. Right, right.

I mean, you're mentioning it there, you know, that, you know, is the only gig in town, really, the UFC at the moment. I imagine that it's featuring a lot more mainstream broadcasts than ever, like news items, things like this. I know it's been featured on SportsC quite heavily, of course, on ESPN. And what, like, I mean, is this, is this like a huge moment for the UFC in terms of dragging casual eyes to the sport? Like, I couldn't believe that Donald Trump was at the start of the broadcast for 249. I thought that was crazy. I'd never seen anything like it before. But it really spoke to the mainstream kind of element that was there with UFC 249. I know some of it's controversial. You release an article today about new safety measures being added to the criteria for the UFC.

But do you feel as though this is a good thing for the UFC, like an even, a nod to it becoming even more mainstream during this situation when it's the only sport? Or is it, you know, we see a lot of criticism as well. Like, what way does the average American see the UFC at the moment? I think, so initially when they were trying to put on the events in April at, at Tachi Palace, I think people are like, this is a little bit too, you know, too rogue-like. Like, it's, it's just a little crazy. It was very fresh. They were not doing it under the jurisdiction of the California State Athletic Commission.

It just seemed too crazy. I think I've said this in other interviews, but there's a famous. American sports moment where a coach, he's no longer with us, his name, Dennis Green, he was the coach of the Arizona Cardinals. And on Monday Night Football, I know that none of this means anything to you, PT. Oh, man, I look Monday Night Football. I love it. I breathe it.

Well, Tuesday morning football for you guys over there, but he was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, and they played the Chicago Bears, and the Bears were doing great that year, and the Cardinals weren't. And they almost beat the Bears, but then eventually they lost the game in the final moments. and he shows up to the post-fight or the post-game press conference. Excuse me. I always make that mistake when I tried to talk about normal sports or the regular sports. He's called a post-voy as well.

Everything. Always post-voy. It's ridiculous. It drives me nuts. So here I am trying to, you know, like spread my wings a little bit and I'm saying post-fight. So he shows up and he goes, they are who we thought they were. They are who we thought they were. Like insinuating like, yeah, you guys all thought that the bears were great, but, you know, we knew that they were beatable.

And so I thought of that quote when the UFC was trying to hurry back in April where it wasn't being talked about. It wasn't that controversial because I felt like to the general public, the UFC was who we thought they were. It's combat sports. Combat sports is always a bit of a circus. They do things a little different. A lot of people now are asking me like, oh, with the UFC back, you know, are there lessons that can be applied to what the NBA and Major League Baseball and the NHL are trying to do? And the answer is no. There's no, there's no lessons because those leagues have unions.

Those leagues have board of governors. They have owners. Dana White, all he needs is 24 people to show up and he can put it on an event. And that's just the structure of the sport. That's not me hating on the sport. The sports are just structured completely different. Witness the fact that that that article that you talked about that I posted on Monday where, you know, they're outlining the new testing procedures.

Okay, they sent out that memo to fighters. That's a... page and a half memo. The NHL, the National Hockey League on Monday, posted a 29-page memo on how they would, if they do come back, do the testing, do the boarding, all that stuff. It's just totally different sports. You need to get the Players Association involved.

You need to get the owners on board, all that stuff. So to answer your question, I know I'm going on a crazy rant here, but answer your question, a lot of people, yes, have now watched and enjoyed it. and I think the fact that they did $700,000 is great. But I also think that when the NHL and the NBA and Major League Baseball come back, we'll kind of go back to where we were. And that's fine too. The UFC was in a great spot here in America.

They were on ESPN getting a lot of love and stuff like that. Now they're capitalizing up the fact that more people are at home, bored, wanting live sports, and that's great. But I don't think like we're going to see the UFC above the NBA or the NFL when they return. I think that that's kind of wishful thinking. Are we any closer to getting a 40th? I don't seem to think we are, but I mean, you will know better than me. Like, I feel like this incident or anything, it should have shed more light on it for the fighters

that they need to do this, but I don't really get that feeling from them. No, nothing. I've seen nothing of that sort. You can make the case if there ever was a time it would be now, right? But I haven't heard any talk of that. The last time there was any sort of serious talk was 2016 around the time of Connor Nate 2. You recall, there were a couple of organizations.

trying to make some noise, but I've heard nothing remotely close to that happening. So, yeah, I'm looking for a bit of encouragement of you now. Now, people won't know, but I always call Ariel for encouragement, and he always dishes it out. But it's time you guys heard what a motivational character he can be. Ariel, you've been down your look a few times in this industry, and as now me and Noel walk into the unknown, is there anything you could share with us to give us a bit of an as we head into the free agency market, we'll say. Yes, and yes, I have been down many times, probably too many times at this point.

But there's a few things that are important to remember. Number one, one thing that I've always felt, and look, I get down, I have tough moments, moments where you feel sad, moments where you feel like, you know, everyone's against you. But it's very important to not feel sorry for yourself. It's very important to not lick your wounds. It's very important to not say the world dealt me a bad hand and now I'm screwed and I'll never get back and I'll never get back on my feet. That's the wrong approach. It's the wrong mindset.

To me, the mindset should always be, all right, this happened. What am I going to do to get back on track? What do I have to do? All right, it was a great run, great memories, great times, great friends, great colleagues. Unfortunately, it's come to an end. How am I going to do things better now? How am I going to evolve? What am I going to do now that, you know, I've pressed the reset button, different.

How am I going to change? What can I do better? What could I do to improve? All that stuff and more. And so if you think that the road to success is just, you know, clear skies, paved road, perfect, smooth sailing, you are sorely mistaken. And I know you don't believe that. The road to success is. Well, and look where he is. You know, he's not even a part of this conversation. For God's sakes. Your back is probably so tired carrying that guy after all these episodes. I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it. Yeah, well, I've said it. And so the roads of success is always under construction. And once we acknowledge that and we acknowledge that times change, people, you know, go different paths. But you know what? You got to keep going. You work hard.

What's that famous lying? You know, tough times don't last, but tough people do. That's you guys, right? That's you guys. And so I hope that you're not feeling sorry for yourself. I hope you're not feeling down. I hope you're grateful for the time. I remember when you joined MMA fighting, I was so excited.

I was so happy that I was going to get to work with you, and you've done phenomenal work, and this podcast in particular, I don't listen to any other MMA podcast. I only listen to one. I only listen to Eurobash, and that is the God's Honest Truth. I'll show you my podcast player.

It's the only one that I listen to because you guys have great chemistry and you have something going. And I told you this, privately, and I'll say it publicly, I say less guests, more banter. I want the banter. I want the news at the top.

I want the back and forth. I want all that stuff. And then you maybe one or two guests here or there. It's great. But what you guys have been able to do is become the voice of European MMA. You've been able to break the stories. People trust you. They come to you.

They want to talk to you. They want to get in your good graces. They listen to you because they react to the things that you're saying. And it's hard to do that in this day and age. And so I commend you guys for having a great run, but the run isn't over. And if you think the run is over, you've got another thing coming. If you think that you're just going to leave us all now, then you're wrong. You're not going to leave us all now.

And dare I say, you should just be the back. You don't have to be Eurobash. Why should you just confine yourself to Euro? Why? I want to know what you think about Henry Sehudo. He's not European. Can you talk about him too? I want to know what you think about the, I don't know.

I was going to say Bones versus Angano, but Engano's technically European now. We take them. Yeah, he's one of ours, yes. Yeah, yeah. But you get the point, right? Yeah, I get it. It's been a great run.

And I hope, you know, it's unfortunate. I know because of COVID-19 things happen, but it's important to leave on a good note, to be thankful. It was a great run. I worked for Vox for nine years, try to leave on the best note possible, not burn bridges.

Everyone shake hands. It's been a great run, and we don't know what the future holds. Maybe we'll be back. Maybe we won't. But you try not to leave with any grudges or any ill intent in your heart because I think that that weighs you down.

I absolutely agree with you. And it was a great time. We had some brilliant, brilliant times here. There's absolutely no doubt about that. And I want to thank you very much, Ariel, because I owe a lot to you for even getting me into this publication and for encouraging me to do this podcast, which has been a big hit with the all Europeans. I think they're going

to be a bit annoyed with you trying to get us off the European angle, though, to be honest. But we'll have to wait and see. Well, that was a compliment. I'm just saying that you guys, listen, I like the fact this is the beauty of podcasts. You said what you said. You said what you said, you said. Listen, you can get as niche as possible in the podcast world, right? And that's the beauty of it. That's why podcasts are doing so well now. All I'm saying is, I hope you guys don't think that you can't flex your muscles. You can't spread your wings. That's the beauty of it. That's why. sort of thing because you're very good at what you do. And I think that not only are you guys great podcasters, hosts, presenters, as they say in Europe and writers as well. You're just great

personalities. And that's at the end of the day what people want. They want personalities. I enjoy the podcast very much. I enjoy what you guys do. And I've also been pushing you as you know to do video. I don't know why you're so reluctant on that front. We can discuss that at a. That's McGraw, yeah. Sorry, man. I mean, it is his fault. It's completely his fault. And but Ariel, love you very much my friend um i can't tell you what this means uh to us to have you on the show and i'll continue to be a huge fan and of course a great friend of yours and i hope you continue in this beautiful vein of success you're having my friend because you're killing it at the moment and with the boxing as well helwani boxing when's the first of all i mean don't get me started halwani boxing i mean look

fight island might be real but helwani boxing way more real than zufa boxing am i right am i right absolutely am i right i still haven't got but i've got my t i've got my in the post actually my my boxing thing and only arrived they are about two months ago but um i'm gonna have a lot of time to uh hone my skills in the next few weeks so so watch out for that video when it comes wait are you saying you still haven't gotten your your gear is that what you're saying your shirt i've got my i've got my shirt and i've got my gear but i haven't cut the thing yet i only got that the other day i haven't cut the thing that has to go on the headband but uh you you better get ready for some videos wait a second you got the shirt and you haven't shown me a picture

i got that today i got it today the shirt wow on Saturday. So there you go. The stars are aligning for us here, huh? Amazing. Isn't that amazing? You get it today. I'm finally, like, you throw in the towel in the last episode.

You see, who can I get who's available? There's nothing else to do now that his show is like an hour and a half. Let's get old Helwani back and let's have him save the day. But that's okay. I'm happy to save the day. It's been great. And yesterday, by the way, I said, I used the term good crack and I said that you gave me permission.

Oh, absolutely. My defense. You didn't come to my defense. I absolutely. You're an honorary Irishman, Ariel O'Annie. I've said this for many years. You need to come to my defense. Do you want me to come to your defense? You need me to say, this is okay. This is Irish approved. I will do that. I'm about to do that right now. I need a fellow Irishman to do that. You've had such a great run, my friend. I'm very proud of you. I remember when you were just a little peon guy staying at the Hooters Hotel in Las Vegas. No direction. No motivation. Just eating chicken wings all day. God knows what you were doing over there. I mean, it was. It was a little bit gross And now you've turned into an actual beast You've turned into a beast

You've turned into a powerhouse And better days are coming It's been a great run Much loved to everyone I think this is my first time back on MMA fighting since I love This is kind of historic moment right here But anyways, it's not about me

It's about you All right So much love You guys are going to kill it And I'm honored to be honest I don't even know if we're wrapping The thing I just kind of felt like

It was a good thing to say It's a natural It's a natural turn to wrap it We love you Ariel You're the man I can't wait to speak to you again and I'll be tuning in as always, my friend. I love you to bits.

I love you to bits as well. To many, many bits. Don't you soon, man. All the best. Cheers. The great Ariel Hawani, popping boy the bash for its last ever episode. Absolutely fabulous.

What a man. What a man. Great to speak to him and pick his brain on all of these topics, this madness that we currently have in the sport. So I'm really, really grateful for his time. and I spoke to him about that there, Noel, the Connor McGregor-Rughey-Uzman shout from Ali Abdelaziz.

Is this just lip service from Ali Abdelaziz? Or do you believe that this is a fight that could potentially happen? I've said it for quite a while. I think this could be the route. McGregor's going to go. And the reason why I've sort of said that over the last number of months is

Connor's all about records. I think we even heard that in Donald Serroney fight. you know, he was the first one, I think, to finish Donald, whatever, with a head kick or most head, whatever the stat was. What was the start again, the Connor? He got some start on the way. That was a pretty weird one. Yeah, it was a weird stat.

But things like that. That's what interests, Connor. He's interested stats, records, all this sort of malarkey. And I think if you look at what he wants to do, and that is claim, a third title and a third weight division. And yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. And I think you have to take into consideration as well. have you seen McGregor lately?

Jesus, man, and he looks like he's put a lot of muscle on. And that could be very much to think, in my opinion, that he is going to go to 170 and stay there. Obviously, his last fight was at that way class as well. So maybe it is a warm-up for a summer date.

And I think, you know, by doing that, he puts himself in the conversation to be the goat, as he's been talking about his rankings over the weekend on social media as well. So it doesn't surprise me at all. I don't know if Ali is playing a game. We know what Ali's like.

He likes to tease fighters. he likes to tease ideas and then not follow up on them a lot of the time. So, yeah, Ali has a lot of power in the UFC and a lot of his fighters of champions at the moment. So it could go either way. But yeah, I would not be surprised the way Connor McGregor looks at the moment, the way he thinks, the way I think he thinks in terms of winning championships and accolades. It would be a tall process that I'm sure Connor is looking at that 170 pounds. And in fairness, he's always sort of said that.

He wants three world titles in different divisions. That's it. Yours truly back in the old severe MMA days, I believe. He put out his list of goats there the other day. I'm going to give you a quick breakdown. Number one was Anderson Silva due to him. He said, sorry, number one is Andrew Silver. Number two is Connor himself, if not Toyed 1, he says.

GSP in a 3. Jones is 4, maybe toyed third. And does he give us a, a number five? Is it is a DC or DJ? He doesn't. Does he mention it? He doesn't. He doesn't even give us a number five. But what do you think of that?

You know, in terms of a, who is your MMA goat? Gosh. It's easy. Like it's GSP every time. Yeah, I don't understand. Yeah, it is GSP. I think you have to go with GSP because of the lack of taintingness. Like, that's, that's the bottom line.

I think you have to go down at that thought. at the moment, yeah, I can't argue with that. You know, he came back, he beat Base Ping, one hundred and eighty-five-pound title, left the sport again. He's done things the right way, and I just don't see how you can give it to Anderson-Silvin, in my opinion,

after what happened towards the sort of last number of years in his career. And then you've John Jones as well with the numerous issues he's had, which I don't even know where you start with the issues that guy's had. Yeah, then I can know how many times that's happened to him. Exactly. So alone on that, out of those guys you have there, there's only GSP, the guys that's total legend in the sporting. In terms of pound for pound now at the moment, I'd have to give it to Mr. Miotich, because of what he's done in the heavyweight division, most amount of defenses. You know, really good streaks.

Henry's not a bad shot either. Yeah, you know, you can't discard Henry even though he relinquished his belt earlier today. Officially. It was officially vacated today. It was officially vacated today with the UFC. So, yeah, yeah, listen, Steve out at the moment. But yeah, I can't argue with GSP, definitely not. I saw someone speaking about this on Twitter earlier and forgive me because I forget who it was. But, you know, they were kind of saying it's a bad look to vacate Sehudo's title simply because he wants more money essentially.

Like he said, like, yeah, I have a number here. I'm retorting, but I have a number here if you want me to come back and yonk, there goes the title. I mean, is that a bad? move from the UFC to drop a guy for essentially wanting more money? Well, no, no, listen, I think maybe those words were taking out of context a little bit. I know he said that, but he also said, you know,

he's other things to focus on his life. You know, he wants to get away from the sport, do other things, he's a lot of the projects. See, you know, you can look at that as well. And, you know, that wasn't brought up in the tweet you've mentioned. So, no, I... But it was also last week, Ali Abdelaziz saying me back in July. So, I mean, that's a bit...

That is true, but we know, again, you know, what Ali, you just never know with that guy's gotten his mind. But yeah, interesting all the same. And I do think, I agree what you said a couple of weeks ago, Pizzi, and refresh the people. You know, I think we'll get to a point in this division

where we have, you know, maybe Peter Yan is champion in a year and a half's time and Henry Sehudo comes back in the international fight week for the right price and they'll get him back because the guy's retired, bloody, you know, unbeaten at the top of his game. And, you know, I would love to see him just go out and see you later. And I know,

you know, we often say that guys don't go out you know on top this is a perfect example where he could do that like GSP for example another reason why he's the goat and if Henry was to do that and stay gone it would be a wonderful story but I agree with you I think he's just going to sit this out do a few little things

that he has lined up for the next year and then potentially come back get a big payday against someone like the aforementioned Peter Jan if he is the champion but you know it is interesting I think it opens a lot of doors for the division now great division and I'd love to see them do that four-man tournament that he

actually mentioned even himself post fight after that winning against Starmina Cruz. It's a fantastic idea. My money's only on one man if they do that four man tournament. Yeah, I agree. Piotr Yan, right? I feel like it's his time right now. Yeah, listen, I don't think you can look past Peter at the moment from what we've seen. He

absolutely, you know, went through Uriac Faber with a fine two comb and literally picked the moment where he wanted to finish the fight. We heard what he said to him. It was scary. And when you're going to do that's the likes of a legend like uroy of favor um you know the sky is the limit for peter yon in my opinion and again i think the ufc or you know maybe realize that as well but i think they want them to learn the language that's been a big sort of issue over the last number of years the ufc

they want the champion speak in english they want to be able to market them uh as much as they possibly can to be u.s market an audience yeah i mean i like i think mara's an incredibly tough fight for him but i do like his chances there but sandhagen his move movement is so unique. I think that's a very tough fight. And I think Aljo probably is the hardest matchup there because of how good as wrestling has been and how much has evolved since that lost to Marois,

that knee from hell back in the day. I mean, I think that's the matchup. If I was going to pick two people to fight for the belt right now, it's been vacated. I'd go Sterling, Jan, I think most people would. But do you think Sterling probably is the toughest test for the Siberian gangster at the moment? Yeah, but I wouldn't.

Yeah, I agree with you with his race. wrestling in his all-round game. He's come on so much. And, you know, he did. He went through a bit of a sticky patch, and he's learned a lot. Since then, he's really bounced back in impressive form. But, again, Marais is a guy in there who's absolute power in those hands, and he can cause anyone problems on a knight. And you never know, but yeah, I do. I like that fight. And I think, you know, Peter Yan's going to give anyone problems. And I do agree with you. I think Al Jermaine is probably the other front-runner in there,

but his all-round game that he could make a push. And listen, let's not forget about Dominic Cruz either. you know, a guy who's still a legend in the sport. He obviously suffered that loss to Henry, but I'm sure he'll be wanting to get back in there soon. You know, obviously those injuries have hampered him over the last number of years, but if he can stay fit and get back in there as well, he'll be knocking on the door in a year if he's continued on fighting as well with those guys.

Imagine like Peter Yan and Don Cruz, man. Like, what a fight that would be. Savage. And he needs those names, I feel, like, to really get him over. If it is this language thing, I think they would be keen if he was the champion to put him in against the legs of Aldo, even though there'd be not much English quotes getting pushed out. Yeah, I think you know, I think you destroy him. And yeah, it is.

It's about those names. It's about building the profile. It's about for the UFC, as we well know. It's about money. It's about pay-per-view sales. And they're the guys that do it for you. And yeah, I do think that is, you know, I can't see the UFC doing this four-man tournament. I'd love to see it, but I can't see it happening.

And I wouldn't be surprised if they got in that sort of route of popping them up against these big contenders to give them that finals sort of push over the line. It's going to be interesting to see what they do. I'd love to see it to arm up, but, you know, the UFC,

they all pisses off. Speaking about pushing us over the line, we couldn't do this last show without getting the great Neil Sirian to give us a piece of his mind. What a legend. We had hoped that he would be a co-house of this show, and he did start off that way.

Unfortunately, the budget wasn't released. It kept on getting pushed back, so we couldn't make. it happen in the end but very glad that he'd get on the phone and speak to us and sign us off and give us a bit of shit because we always love a bit of that from neil and of course very upset that liverpool still aren't champions i made sure i asked him about that just to ruin his day um but yeah here's neil we talked to him about 15 minutes um the line isn't great but it's still the goat neil syrie back in 15 minutes and by popular demand he is back one-time co-host of this podcast

The legendary, Neil Siri, Neil, long time people been asking for you back. How are you getting on? I'm sure it has been music to your ears to hear that me and Noel got the bullet. He's got the bullet because he's a fucking shoot to the job. He's doing fuck all by all about the bullocks for the years.

We were inundated for many months. We were inundated for many months. Every time we posted an episode, where is Siri? It was so destroyed from staying up all day And then as soon as we post it'd be like Where the fucking Siri? But you're wearing magic I told you that myself

We were trying to get We put the blueprint out there And used to fucking Making step over To get to fuck her up Too much room for activities Too much room for activities Yeah

You can fuck they don't do The job list Even's like it's out of the dawn. It's a harsh reality, but it's the truth, what you're saying. How was retirement?

Like, I mean, the foot you've got from retirement, how is it going? Do you miss the game at all? The fighting aspect, Neil, or has this whole situation kind of brought you away from the game a bit?

I was often wondering well, all this behind closed doors, fights were going on and stuff like that, how you felt about it. What did you think? behind the cloud eyes fighting stuff yeah like i mean the pharix and all that stuff like i mean are you still watching are you still there an avid fan

oh yeah yeah yeah yeah still still is good on and i watch the fight going on whether it's right now whether it's right no it's not still interested as a retirement can like there's no interest whatsoever of fucking ever fighting again is that would you ask him but tested in the sport in general you're still still a big fan of it you know

so um general the fights the fights have been really good lately I've been interesting with the no crowd in it can hear the punches

actually taking in a head of damage we fighters took you know a lot of the time in the crowd would have drowned it out there the shots and stuff and I know that there's no crowd just got basically microphones and people going out, you know.

A lot of people taking heads. And as you could see, a lot of people are saying big footage for them off from the starts, you know? So maybe it's a good thing, you know? Yeah, I mean, you're dead right about the sound. It's crazy hearing some of them shots land, especially the Gaetie Ferguson fight. Jesus Christ, it was nasty stuff. Like, I mean, you used to always tell me about the crowd and what you got from them. Do you think that would be a weird dynamic?

Would you think you'd enjoy that the kind of almost sparring session kind of backdrop these kind of fights have? Yeah, do know what? Look, it's hard because, look, most of the times, whatever they're, I don't know, it was always down to bars.

So there wasn't many people. So when I saw, fucking Louis Smoke it in Vegas, you know what, I mean, it was about 20,000 people there. If there was, if there was even, it was even three-tenth, in the crowd

or it'd be suppliers, you know? So that was like really nothing to me other than to them to like the Dublin shows and obviously Gly, I asked all me last week that would have been

you can feed off stuff like that but as you see look at a shot that people just just take the you know

and we just it should think that it's good that people are taking an interest in in the damage that's what I take it you know interest in the damage

I mean Jesus Christ I be sitting there going like I was rewind in some of the shots that landed like do you're saying that like you think it might bring people more aware of the toll

that the fighters kind of take on their bodies like and that's why maybe they should get more money yeah like that's that's one of the aspects and then they've got

when some people go down some people think that they've gone down easy you know they've gone down they were looking for a way out just that

you know, now that they're hearing the shots of fighters have actually taken, you know, without the crowd drowned and, you know, crowd, and they're actually standing up and going, oh, Jesus, hold on here a minute. Like, if you look at that gaugie, that gaugie fight, that was just incredible, denounced damage that Tony Ferguson took.

I was very, very supportive that was gone, I didn't pull a bell. And then, on the other hand of it, I was listening to Eddie Bravo on the podcast with Joe Logan. that yeah. What he was talking about actually just being sent in blowing forward with him

going, hold on a minute what am I going to say here to the fire and it was mind-blown to think that at such a high level like that that stuff

that was still happening you know I'm sure as Eddie came out himself and he says look he's a jitzo coach he's been there from the start

he's just there for a bit of voice but to be thrown in at the deep end there and when the fighter has taken so much damage like that. I don't know how Tony Ferguson

this is standing off. Incredible. It really is. Now you're dead, Roy. Did you see the Anthony Smith fight? That was a different kind of situation. Like, I mean, I felt like watching it. I was like, these two lads are done.

Like, I mean, I think most people, like, I mean, sorry, Smith's clearly done here. The fight isn't going to change. I don't think there's going to be a big surge from this going in the last round. And it seemed like he was nearly appealing to the referee by handing him his teeth and then going back there was corner and saying, lads me, me teeth are after falling out that he didn't want to be in there.

Obviously, I'm not Anthony Smith, but were you kind of watching it like that? Like, why isn't someone... Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're looking at it. Like, there's a good thing about the no crowd, because obviously people can hear the shots that fighters are taken. And then the bad thing is, look, they're hearing what, what's going on in the fight, what's going on in people's corners. I know a lot of people are... But even the crowd sometimes block out what fighters are being told.

old in the corner or stuff obviously because there's no crowd there and see I listen to some of the corner

and then it's in that fight it's just it's a hard it's a hard listen you know

and somebody's handing that heat to the ref he's putting in his pocket it was mental wasn't it

was never seen acting looking at me he looked in and yeah fucking deika

father you know you know I know it's a big fake they get that but

you know point of safety and I'm you know I think somebody should have sort of let a call there

on both fights, you know, even on Tony Greg's on on Smith, you know, but look, that's the end of the game, yeah. Would that change? Like, I mean, you're in a lot of corners over the years. Like, when you see something like that, do you ever kind of think, Jesus, like, if I ever see a situation like that, I won't

hesitate with the towel, et cetera, and things like that? Does a fight like that ever change how you do your job in a corner or anything like that? On occasions I've I've heard of You know It's hard look Here you have nothing left here

Coming back in the car And I think I don't have A couple of the battle zones And stuff like that And furrows are coming back in And broke up And we just didn't send them out For the cover around

You know We just say look you're done Wrest, it's over You know But we haven't had many of them Throughout the years Where you'd say Hold on a minute

You know what we do we'll get them back out just that in the jury you know so they'll look enough to pull a couple

of people out and say yeah even up the gym you know even up the gym me and Andy up and say yeah hold on

taking a bit of smack there and furters don't want to come up you just pull them out and say hey look we're even back and there too

you know and just let that come down and blah right you know but just like points like that

and letting them go on and I when especially when the decision isn't going to change, you know? You know, I think Tony Ferguson and Ms. Smith, they could have fought for ten rounds and the decision still wouldn't have been, wouldn't have changed.

So, you know, it was just, it was one-way traffic, you know. Look, I suppose, big fights, big fights, big money, you know? Yeah, like, it just feels like, you know, fighters by nature just so tough, like they're never going to sit down in a corner and say, here, lads, I'm done, there's no way I'm going back in there. Like is that way, like, and the way you're kind of telling me you've done it where you've just looked through it and say, no, it's over. Like, you're taking that decision nearly away from him and saying, look, I'm going to be the responsible one here.

I'm saving you from yourself. Do you think that's the way more coaches need to be? Oh, yeah, like some winner. Absolutely. We know. If the fun's all that you're doing, you know, it saves him for a different day. Look, see, look at Andy Smith now to go to Keith the place. Yeah, Jesus.

And the rest. You know, what a damage to be taken? You know, the total of the other than we were in the hospital? He's got, he's got a month ahead of him what we had to have before. He can get back in. He's probably back to him. I don't know him. You know, he's like fucking punching coconuts or whatever.

He's there and a lot of coconut. So, you know, it takes it to tell them, you know. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. How about the coaching for you, Neil? Are you kind of, like, I know you were helping read a bit there before the last fight, and I know you're doing a lot in the gym. I know, obviously the gym's closed now at the moment, but, I mean, is that something you're looking forward to now when the Rhino starts opening again?

You're going to be down there coaching the lads again? Yeah. The only thing I'm really missing, I'm going to, as everybody knows, I'm not too sociable anyway, so we don't need to get to fuck about this. It just bothered me. Don't go to the pub and let someone That's going to drink so That's fair

It just Yeah Don't mean Don't need you about Now in this Obviously up the gym The Panda And

And the train with the lad As I said We had a couple We had a couple of people That was Actually fought And all filmers there And it's up

Thinking away A little bit Momentum You know We've got The two mall down And we're doing really well Concedane

As well We're even Chess Sheet and Like killing people you know and the momentum is probably gone now with the lockdown and showers

they're probably not going to see a show to see next year you know in Ireland or in England could probably late next year early next year who I know what the noise at the many of you know there's not going to be getting a blogger with a big at the many you know so

looking for shows back off the home but then obviously the UFC it's hard you know yeah like and that that was it for me like I mean I felt for the first time Irish MMA was going in a great direction since that glory year is basically

with you guys in the UFC like I felt like Reese McKee was knocking on the door if he had to add that Belfast fight you might got the call up and then as you said James Shee in there lots of young guns signed to Cage Warriors

as the way know Cage Warriors is the path there to the UFC it just felt very exciting and of course there was a lot going on with Bellator there as well, so many urge for it, it's signed that, and now it's all gone.

You know, it feels like we were just on the verge of something big happening again. Did you get that impression? I know it's very unlikely that we'll ever have a golden era like you were involved on Conner's ascent

and all these ascending at the same time, but it did feel like we're on the verge of something big happening there. Did you get that sense? Yeah, well, look, if you look at the points, the quality of fights that was dematched, you know,

and the performance is that, that the fighters are we're going you know who were getting out yeah look he said the EOSC was coming back to Dublin for a reason because we were making waves again you know

that was that was the only coming back because this whole lot of the EOS there's great coming back to we'll make them waves again and the world been in Maggie

you know that's got good fighters there and look it's probably a long opportunity of a couple of fighters that maybe could have been signed for you know you know but to get things

open running again. It's, you just don't see you end or you don't see where it's going to kick off again, you know? It's, it's, we thought, along with the head of,

along what I'll do. I got to ask you before, before we end this, Neil, about Liverpool. Obviously, you know, you thought you were going to have

your hands on the league and... Go not. What's going on there? I mean? It was going to do it. about me, you know, and they never go to the company, and that's out of the window, you know, so. It's devastating.

It's devastating to it. Well, yeah. Look, we'll get there. Yeah. We'll get a year. We got a hand from a year. What is happening there? Have they decided what's going on? Like, I mean, it feels tortures for Liverpool fans. After waiting so long, you've played this magic season all year. Absolutely unbelievable football.

You know, you've all but your name on the trophy, and then this happens. Have they made up their minds? Two matches, two matches from taking the Brooklyn League and everything falls in that. I actually believe that a corner of a worse starting to stop Chris Bales fighting again.

You know, it was still good at the leg in the show. You know, not that you could fight any, like when he was back in the day, he could fight in any way. And anyway, there was obviously, but look, going out and having a song so many years,

fucking we would have decided to release of words to be able to fucking go on. the cage is going to know. You're at Air Force. Coronavirus is created to keep Chris Fields out of the cage. Oh, my God. He's going to be very upset with this.

And he's out there just saying nice things about us on his podcast with Paul Redmond as well. What do you think of that match up there? Reds are and Chris with the son, I believe it is. It was it? Redser and Chris have launched a podcast with Simon McGuire, I believe, with the son.

And he was singing our. praises last week and now he's going to listen to this and Neil Siri's giving him dogs. Maybe they should have typed me off to say full call, you know what? I came to the service and told me, yeah, look, time off, I won't open a note about him, but look. They should have. I was just posting Chris Balls, you know? Yeah, absolutely. You always get a few in there on each other.

But, yeah, Siri, I'm so glad you came on to speak to us again, mate. And maybe... Yeah, so that's you've gone, isn't you? Yeah. We're done. Trowing out like yesterday's newspapers. Yeah. It's all over.

It's all over. I don't know. Any jobs going in your place, no? I really wouldn't be fucking like, no. You kidding? I'm not like Noel McGrath. I'm the hard work. You're not like Noel McGrath.

You're just, fuck off, wouldn't you? I will have it, Neil. You're a legend. We loved having you on. It was great to have you back again. the fans the fans of the podcast would not have forgiven me if we didn't have you on so much my friend and hopefully when this shit ends i can go up to the shillen or somewhere around fingers and meet you for a point all pay oh no what's your pay you're a guy well that's pretty man i'll talk to you soon sir you're a legend all the best and there it is the last guest of our m m mhm fighting tenure uh nil syria i wouldn't have it any other way

what a man what a legend a beautiful beautiful thing as expected you got a bit of shit there Noel I should listen what's fucking new with that rat um

listen he supports liverpool um it's Siri like he's got him like he is what he is what he is you know what I mean don't mind McGrath I love you

you know I love you all the time we better actually I know we're the last segment ever here but we probably should have a look at the card, right, this weekend. Otherwise, what the hell are we even doing, my friend? Anything that's jumping out to you there, Noel McGrath. No.

I'm going to mess in that. There's a fight. No, listen, you got, listen, it's not the strongest card in the world. I think we can both agree on that. A couple of scraps there that are obviously pretty interesting. I think the main events, you know, Gilbert Burns has really sort of turned the table and got a bit of consistency together since moving to 170 looks really really impressive. Woodley hasn't been in there in a while.

Really interesting main event for me. There, you know, you have obviously Antonina Schoenko against Caitlin Chikagan a really good women's match. You've McKenzie Dern, Anna Seifers as well. Decent scrap. Kevin Holland back in there after two weeks. Really impressed with Kevin Holland and he's probably fought about 15 times

since being a contender series a couple of years back. Super impressive. and then we've a couple other bouts on the on the card there further down you know like lewis smolka and casey kennedy that's a decent one you know tim elliottes against the hot very highly touted brandon roival so that's an interesting one there as well it's a decent card and they're putting on cards we can't complain too much from what cards are putting on at the moment because obviously there's not a lot of fighters available especially the european contingent so fair play to them again

for going after and fair play to all the fighters for stepping up but uh you Yeah, listen, it's not the strongest card in the world, but there is some really interesting dynamics in there for us to get some, you know, finishes and exciting matches. As you've said there, team Europe is made up with Blagoi even off against Augusto Sakai and Antonina Shevchenko against Caitlin Chukagin. I'm not fancying a big night of success for Europe, even though, like I think Blagoe might pull it off.

I think it might be a bit of a difficult one for Antonina Shevchenko. What do you think? Yeah, I agree with you. I think Caitlin's boxing is really crisp and good, clean. You know, loves to go in there through a few combos. Real Mark Henry style and get out there. Use her feet. She's very, very quick.

And, you know, obviously coming off that win against Lucy Puddleova, the Roxanne Mata-Fa-Fights didn't go Antonina's way. It was a performance, I think we were expecting more at the time, and she just didn't deliver, and I think that's going to be a problem. And I feel sorry for her in a way because she is constantly in her sister's shadow, and it must be very, very tough for her to sort of get past that, and it hasn't happened so far. She has not impressed me, particularly in any of her performances in the Octagon.

And there's a lot of pressure on her. I do feel like Caitlin's being there. She's fought for the title. You know, people know what you're getting when you get Caitlin Chikagan in there. But Antonina needs to really sort of pull it out of the bag on this occasion. I don't like it for her. I just don't like this fight. In a way, right?

I'm kind of thinking about it and saying, like, you know, her loss was Mattifery. grounded her quite easily you know and won the fight from there but Chukagan isn't really known for grappling as much you know for her footwork and being evasive

like in a way is she playing into Antonina Chavchenko's kind of wheelhouse by standing and striking with or something that I guess people have been reluctant to do in some ways yeah but we haven't seen it that's the problem you know

yeah we haven't seen that in stunning yeah so when we're not seeing it um I think you know she's she's being in there with obviously her sister who who pretty much had her up with elbows in that fight, Caitlin. She would have learned to laugh from that. It's not even that long ago.

When was that fight? UFC 247 back in February. So fair play to Caitlin for getting back in there so quick again, wants to eradicate that title loss. And yeah, I do. I think Caitlin will have learned a lot from that. And she is real quick, man. She's real hard to get after.

We've seen that numerous occasions. Opponents have really fend it hard to keep her pace and her volume. And I think that could be the undoing of Antonina Schifchenko in this fight. But I am. I'm expecting something from Antonina, but whether we'll get it or not, I'm not too sure. I think her confidence might have taken a pounding in our UFC tenure so far.

Yeah, no, it's all good points, my friend. Yeah, so I guess we'll finish off by discussing what's next. We don't have any concrete plans at the moment. Free agency is what beckons this time next week. I'll probably already be sauce in the garden, let's be honest. But you've been an amazing audience for us. a fantastic community, as I have said, many, many times. We didn't expect to build something this big

and have such a great following for the podcast. And it's been a real dream of mind to work with Emma fight. Three years, three great years with them. So I'd like to thank Brian Tucker for the opportunity. And it was just a pleasure working with such brilliant, brilliant people. People who are there at the start and the people who are there now, absolutely brilliant. I've enjoyed every second of it.

and going away to the events around the world, absolutely amazing. But most of all, of course, it's been growing this bad boy, the Eurobash. Noel, I'm sure you're going to wax lyrical about your great times with the bash here.

Yeah. It's been fun. We've obviously been partners on podcasting. I'm not crying, by the way, I'm just, he is, yeah, no,

he's getting very emotional. Jesus. Yeah, listen, we've been partners for quite, some time over the last number of years and this one's been a fun one it's it's been um how long have we been doing this i've got even now two years two and a half years since august 2018 so about a year and a

half or i don't know whatever it is it's been being a fun right um and yeah listen you know we'll move on i'm sure we'll we'll keep the guys with some announcements in the next couple of weeks and where i know we're going to sit down this week and have a long discussion about what's next and um i'm sure we can We can work out something. We have lots of ideas. I'll tell you, is that much. We have,

we have lots of ideas. We're talking to lots of people as well, but it's just the situation that we're in at the moment, the whole global recession situation. Yeah. Makes it very difficult to get the ball rolling of these situations,

but there's definitely a lot of interest out there. And, you know, I think it goes out saying, Noel, that we are going to be doing a podcast one way or the other. Is that,

is that safe to say? No. No. No, no, no. No, we got to, we got to chat this, you know, we, we, we got to sit down and have a, have a discussion. We'll, we'll let the guys know, um, in due time whenever we're ready to, to release. But yeah, yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe we're going to be changing. We're going to be changing our feeds and stuff.

So we don't want any casuals, not change. Oh, where is it? Where is it? You're going to fucking know, we're going to tweet it. I don't want to, no, I don't even want to prompt you. We're going to have to start. If, if, if we're going, if we're going out by. ourselves here we're going to you're going to have to expect a lot more

likes and subscribe kind of shit on the show because we're going to have to generate that ourselves yeah if that's the way it goes we still don't know yeah but like you know i think if you're putting something together it is it's costly process people don't tend to understand that you know all the gear all the equipment all the streaming hosting applications it you know it is it's a big commitment it's a good whack a wedge so yeah you know the only way people survive in this industry and this game is is from um subscriptions and you know liking things and subscribing and and downloading that's what the game's about so yeah you motherfuckers you better fucking uh like subscribe share click that fucking bell button all that

bollocks uh or i'll come after you as all and make sure you tell everyone how much you're gonna miss us don't don't forget that we all need a great outpouring of emotion tomorrow with this the last rants goes out of course um but uh yeah it's been a pleasure i have i have nothing else to say really, you know, if that's all I've got. I was gonna crack a beer now, but Noel McGraw was the one who said, actually,

listen, mate, I'm actually looking after myself now if you wouldn't mind not being such a fucking degenerate for one podcast. I'll tell you the one thing. I'm struggling a little bit

with the fucking, with energy and stuff. My energy levels have just sapped from not eating meat. Maybe I'm afraid, I'm afraid you're gonna have to get back into the old bovine category just for the good of your health,

my friend. I think so, yeah, but yeah, no, I haven't been drinking much either so, yeah,

listen, fuck, but listen, no it's been fun and I'd like as well I'd like to thank everyone thank thank you for the opportunity um you know all the guys at mma fighting and yeah listen um we'll sit down have the conversations and we'll we'll discuss this week I think we're gonna have a conference call tomorrow or something you and I we've a couple of people shh okay I'm sorry you better on saying all right okay I've got it out so yeah yeah we'll iron out some shit and I'm I'm sure we'll be

We'll be, we'll be, well, yeah, we'll see. Well, that's it. I mean, you couldn't ask for more information than that, guys. So one last time, let's play us out Big Dutchie with our beautiful, beautiful music. Thank you all so much. You've been lovely, lovely people. Thanks, we love you, and we'll see us next time.