MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer Debates Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili, Does the UFC Want O'Malley To Win Plus Picks and Predictions for UFC 306

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, UFC legend Matt Brown and Damon Martin break down the UFC 306 main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili plus discuss if the UFC is actually rooting for O’Malley to win? Plus picks and predictions for the rest of the major fights at UFC 306 on Saturday  Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. To the fighter versus the writer, I am Damon Martin. He is UFC legend Matt Brown to be totally transparent. We are pre-recording this episode ahead of UFC 306. So disaster strikes anywhere at UFC 306 as it tends to happen on Fight Week. Not our fault. We're doing this ahead of time. So don't anyone blame us if something falls apart.

We're pre-recording this. So hopefully everything we talk about is still relevant when UOC 306 happens. Matt, I assume you hope to say. Absolutely, yeah. I mean, it's a great card. So at least the main card, you know, is a really great card.

So, yeah, I don't want this one to fall apart. This is going to be some exciting fights. And I'll be watching from Thailand. So I think I'll be watching it like eight or nine in the morning. So I'll actually watch this live and not, you know, watch it the next morning, which is what I usually. do because I hate staying up to 1 a.m.

That's your more normal time. Putting a show on at 8 o'clock at the morning, that's more Matt Brown time. Dude, that's my time all around. Hell yeah. What was the last time you were in Vegas? Last year. This year. Have you seen the sphere? Have you actually seen it, like driven by it or been

around it since they opened it? Oh, you know what? I haven't. I mean, I could see it from a distance in my hotel last time I was there, but I haven't been close enough to it. to get any idea of what it is. Yeah, I think I haven't either. That's why I'm like, I'm kind of curious.

Like, listen, I applaud Dana, Dana White for doing what he's doing and saying it's going to be like the greatest event ever and they're putting like $20 million into the production and all this kind of craziness. Not till I don't want to take a dump on it because I swear that's not what I'm trying to do. But Matt, you fought a lot. You fought a lot. You fought a lot of UFC for 16 years. You've been in a lot of different venues, a lot of different cities.

did the venue ever really matter that much? Because, like, ultimately it's the fights, right? Like, they can put this on in a warehouse. I mean, they do in a warehouse right now at the apex. But I'm saying, like, if you can fill a place with 16,000 fans, and I think location matters in terms of, like, when you go to, like, England, or you go to, you know, you go to like a hometown of a fighter,

you get a big crowd, things like that. That makes a difference. But I don't know, I'm not trying to take a dump on. I'm just saying, like, the venue, to me, never really matters much. Yeah, that's a, during COVID. was the only time that the venue mattered to me because there was no crowd and it felt just eerie as hell which was that I didn't think it would because I fought on the ultimate fighter in which case you know there's only what 20 30 people you know in the little studio that

gym that they're filming the fights in but it was like way more eerie to be in a big ass arena with no crowd like you know that was some weird shit man that really fucked me up. But other than that, I mean, the venue doesn't really matter because once the fight gets going, you know, you're just fighting, you know, that's, that's just what it is. Like, once the punches start flying, like, you're just fighting. You're running on autopilot anyway. Yeah.

I don't know. It's just weird. I'm curious how they're going to set it up because I think, like, the inside is all the giant LED screen. So, like, how's that going to look on TV? Like, that's going to be interesting to see, like, Because you're not going to have, like, normally you have, like, with a fight, it's kind of like in the center, almost like in a pit. You know, you get the octagon, and they kind of darken everything around it with the crowd.

So you can see, like, the first couple rows that's just kind of like shadowy in the background with the crowd. And this place, there's like giant LED screens. Like, are we just going to be seeing, like, images? It's going to turn to, like, some subliminal message. Like, it's going to have, like, vote Donald Trump. Vote Donald. Exactly, is that what's going to be flashing in the background? Like, what's going on here?

Yeah, well, I don't know what's going to be going on during the fights. It's going to be interesting to see. If they just black out the screen during the fights, which if they don't, then that could be something that could throw people off. I don't know if the fighters know what to expect. I don't know if they've given them any updates or anything. But hopefully they just black out, you know, at least during the fights. But I'm sure they're going to do some badass shit on these screens. You know, the old intro, I don't know if they still do it with Bob O'Reilly song.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's going to be badass on the in. sides of spear, assuming that they do it. I don't even know if they still do that. Do they still do? I think they still do. I haven't been to a UFC show in a little while, but I think they still do. For those who don't know what we're talking about, if you're ever at a UFC show in between the prelims

and the main card, when you go from the preliminary card to the main card, you can only see it if you're in the arena. They don't show it on TV, but they play a highlight package with like some of the best finishes in UFC history, and it's set to Baba O'Reilly by The Who, and I believe the video was originally cut by Sean Shelby, if I'm not mistaken. Like, he

originally did it. And then they just kept updating it over the years. Like, you know, they would have like Anderson Silva's front kick to Bitor Belford and Ronda Rousey's, the Holly Holie home head kick on Ronda Rouse. Like every year it would update with new cool knockouts, you know, whatever was the big Milwaukee's knockout over Impa Katsangana, things like that. And it would update all the time. And then he still have some classic ones from back of the day. Like they would show like, I always remember they put the Eve Edwards knockout on. I think it was it was a Josh Thompson? Yeah, like that, yeah, like that crazy one. They'd always have some like old ones that are

relates to the new ones, but they'd update it every now and again. It's like a three or four minute video. It's like a hype video. But you only see it if you're in the arena. It would be cool to see that in the sphere. Yes, I got to tell you that that's one of the most badass parts of going to a UFC live show. Like if someone's never been, like

that is a fucking ridiculously great song that goes right along with the highlights and just get you hyped as a motherfucker. And then of course, you know, you got to wait a few minutes for the fights. And then everything settles down you kind of forget about it but every time I'm in an arena

and hear that like especially like if I'm the first fight on the main card and you hear it playing out I'll you know in the arena like dude it just sends goosebumps you know just chills down your spine gives you goosebumps and it's just ah I miss that shit it's like bringing back memories now

I don't remember again I haven't seen the updated version a few years because I haven't been to a UFC card since your fight in Columbus when you fought, why am I forgetting his name? Brian Barbarina. Barbarina. Yeah, I was here. That was the last UFC show, last UFC show I attended. So I don't know what the update is, but I always remembered that Eve Edwards head kick knockout was always right when it did the teenage wasteland. Like, when it bumped in, it was right when Eve Edwards landed the head kick. I always remember,

they kept that pretty much the same, even with all the new highlights. That was always like in that moment when he burst into teenage wasteland. I always remember that highlight and they'd interlaced it with other things in there. But yeah, dude, that's a cool. It's a hype video. That's, like, not saying that's the reason you need to go to a UFC event, but that's an extra reason to go to a UFC event. Yeah, yeah.

It's a one of the, I can't think of another event that, like, has that great of an intro ever. Dude, it's cool. It's awesome. Yeah, it's really cool. I've been to a lot of sporting events. That's definitely number one for, for sure. And I loved it because it was always, like I said, every year,

they'd update it a little bit different, a little bit different. So every time you go to the UFC show, you see something a little different. So yeah, it was great. It was a great of hype video, man. Great. And it's like they never released it. They never put it out on YouTube.

Yeah. It's the only time you can see it. The only way you can see it is if you're actually at a UFC event. I love that. Yeah, that is pretty cool. I never thought about that. They never put it out there. Like, you don't even know that it happens unless you're there.

Yeah, no, it's cool. I love it. Because, like, I remember, like, I always, I went to San Diego Comic Con for a decade straight. This is the year is the first year I hadn't gone in the past, in the past decade. and one of the cool things when I first used to go to Comic Commons, when you go to these panels, they'd show you like first trailers, first look at like a movie or it was cool because you can only see it if you were there, right?

Like you had to be there to see it. And then as years passed, because the internet and everything, like the popularity of social media, everything you'd see, it'd be on YouTube like five seconds later. So there was no, like, exclusivity. Like you'd go pay all this money to go to Sandy. I'm not saying like that's the only reason you go, but you sit in lines for hours,

you go in this dark and cool, darken room. They play it. You're like, oh, man, I'm here. Like, I'm seeing it first. Not really anymore. They put up on YouTube the same fucking time. So the guys at home who didn't pay five grand to come out here and pay hotel rooms are seen at the same time.

So it kind of like a little bit ruined the specialness of it, you know, because you felt, you felt cool. Like, I'm in this room where I'm the only one seeing this. And now it's just like everything goes up on YouTube five seconds later. And you're just like, well, I guess I'm not the first person to see this. Yeah, yeah. And my point is, man, I hope that they play it at the spear for the people that pay, you know, $20,000 for the tickets or whatever, is that's going to be sick. And I would love to be there for it, but I'm not going to be.

So I'll be in Thailand. Real quick before we get to the fight breakdowns, can I ask? I'm curious because this year we've had two cards where Dana, and Dana's the promoter. Dana's the ultimate promoter. I complain all you want, bitching me all you want. I'm not. Dana is the best promoter in combat sports by a mile. He is. I'm sorry. Sorry, all the boxers, whoever. Dana White's the best promoter. I think you'd agree with me on that, man. He is.

But this year, there's been two cards where Dana has hyped up the cards so much that it almost feels like no matter what you do, it's going to be a bit of a letdown. Like, he made UFC 300 sound like it was going to be Brock Lesnar versus the entire lightweight roster. And Ronda Rousey was like, he never said it. But the way he built it up, you're like, George is, George St. Pierre is coming out of retirement. Khabim's coming out of retirement. It felt like he was building towards this big thing. Now, U.S.C. 300 was incredible. It was a great card. It was an amazing card.

But it didn't have that, like, you know, that the way he built it up, you're like, oh, John Jones is why George Sapier's coming back. Well, you had that feeling about it. None of that happened. Great card, amazing card, but didn't that. The sphere's kind of the same way where he's like, this is going to be the greatest event in combat sports history and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, don't get me wrong.

Don't get me wrong. Sean O'Malley, Mareb de Wildishvili, incredible fight. Alexa Grosso and Valentina Shepchenko, incredible fight. Brian Ortega, Diego Lopez, incredible fight. But it's kind of that same feeling where you're like, dude, it's almost like he was like, yeah, we're going to get, you know, it's going to be Mani Pacquiao and Mayweather 2. Like, he had this like energy about it. Like, am I wrong?

And it's almost like, dude, you're a great promoter. Let's bring it down a lot. Bring it down a level. Well, the rest of the fights aren't anything really to write home about, I guess. So that's the one thing, but at least on the UFC 300, I mean, every fight, like even the undercard was pretty fucking stacked, you know, I mean, you know, whether you loved each fight or not. I mean, it was stacked with, you know, pretty high-level stars from beginning to end, which was solid. They just didn't have that big main event, you know, and we got Alex Pereira, you know, so it was, it turned out really good. And he turned out to be a great big star and everything.

But at the time, you know, we're kind of like, that's great. that's not phenomenal you know what I mean but I guess he's saying it's going to be the greatest event though right that's more than just the fights themselves is what I kind of took it is what he was alluding to on that

yeah I mean you're not wrong I don't know I'm just like to me like as I said this goes back to my like every arena is kind of the same ultimately like if you're there you're probably gonna you're probably gonna think it's gonna be freaking awesome like being in the sphere and like the way it's set up it's like a it's like a movie theater basically like everything's

kind of cascading up, you know, and it's like almost like an IMAX theater. I'm sure you've been to an IMAX theater. Like, kind of like that is what I think of this set up as. So like if you're there, probably going to be one of the coolest experience you've ever had. Watching it on TV, I'm like, all right, like I'm down. Don't get me wrong. I'm not like crap it on the event. I'm excited.

But yeah, kind of like, yeah, every arena is kind of the same ultimately. Like, I'm focused on the fights. I'm not looking at like the LED screens in the background. Right. Well, definitely on TV it's going to be the same. I mean, what can you do on TV that's going to blow our minds? I mean, it's just a fucking TV, right? Like, we only care about the fights.

But, yeah, for being there, I mean, he said, like you said, he said it's going to be the greatest event. I guess that's yet to be seen. Yeah, we're going to find out. You know, there's top three fights you just mentioned. I mean, those are great fights. Those are phenomenal fights that should turn out pretty good. The rest of them, I don't really know a ton about,

but those three fights, I mean, This could be some phenomenal fights. I think especially Ortega Lopez. That's the one I think has a lot of potential to do to get real fucking bloody. And that's what we want to see is goddamn blood. Can I ask Matt, like we saw Diego Lopez and credit to him for losing Brian Ortega and then taking Dan I gay on literally three hours notice. And Dan Ike is one of the toughest dudes I know.

And to be fair, like Diego won the fight, not disputing that. but Dan gave him some trouble, and especially in that third round, a guy who was literally stepping down on three hours notice. It looked like Dan was, like, surging if he had two more rounds, we'd have that whole question, like, could he have won that fight? Did your opinion of Diego Lopez change at all based on that performance? Because I'll be honest, I was picking him to beat Brian Ortega. I was like, I don't know if it's an upset pick, but I think Diego Lopez is the real deal.

I think he beats Brian Ortega. That was going back when they were originally going to meet in the summer at UFC 301 or 3.1, I think it was 301, three or two, three or three or three or three. I was thinking like I think Diego's going to pull it off. But he did have some struggles against Dan, especially in that third round where I was like, damn, like, but it's like weird because

she'll be really question it because he was fighting on three hours notice, but it's like, wouldn't you also think you should beat that guy pretty convincingly considering you're taking him on on three hours notice? I don't know. Did your opinion of D.E. change it all from like when we broke down the fight you know in june versus now well i picked

ortega to win the first time and i'm going to pick him again the second time i haven't been quite as big on the diego lopez train as everyone else even though i think he has a lot of potential i think brian is just too big of a jump forward at this point in his career i think he needs to polish up a lot of things you know he's still particularly on the feet like has a lot of unrefined technique. And Brian's pretty sharp, you know, like he's pretty technical on the feet and he does some good things. You know, he's not a literally like not a Max Holloway yet or anything. But, you know, he's solid, man.

He's solid everywhere. And, sorry. But I would say that, yeah, my opinion did change a little bit, even though I wasn't totally on the train to begin with. and I thought that Ortega was too big of a jump for him, but after the fighter, I said, yeah, he was definitely too big of a jump for him, at least that night. You know, maybe Diego had an off night, too.

You know, maybe he got thrown off by all the, the, everything he went through that week. So, you know, that's possible. Maybe he'll come in better than he was. But the, the Lopez that fought that night, Ortega beats, I believe. I agree with you. And I think that my opinion of him,

like I was, I was picking, Diego, because the run Diego had been on, what he did to sneak Yousef and everything, I was like, man, Diego just looks like a killer right now. And I, you know, I like Brian Ortega. Don't get me wrong, but Brian Ortega, if there's a knock on Brian Ortega, it's that he always ends up taking damage in his fights. Like, that's just his thing. And that scares me because, you know, you can have the best chin in the world. You can be durable. You can always find a way to come back. But sometime, you're going to slip on a banana pill and the guy's going to hit you and you're not going to get up again. It's just going to happen at some point. And that kind of worried me. But now I'm kind of like the reverse where I'm a little worried like, man, Diego, like, again, Dan Ike is legit. Dan Igay is legit as they come. But I think even Dan Igay would say, like, I was not at my best on three hours notice coming off the couch and like, you know, stepping in on. Yeah. Yeah.

So in theory, Diego should have beat him more convincingly. Like maybe in a regular training camp, it's a much more even fight. But on three hours notice, you should beat that guy. I know it's a different opponent and everything. But so, like, now it's kind of like, I can't not pick Diego. because I'm kind of on that, I am kind of on the Diego train. But my confidence is not nearly as high as it was coming into that last fight. Because coming out of 300, man, I mean, he laid waste to Sadie Kusev.

And I thought, I picked you Sadiq to win that fight. I was like, Sadieck's a great striker, powerful. I think it's a bad matcher for Diego. Certainly did not get that one right. So I was like, man, I'm riding the momentum with Diego right now. He's on a run. Looks good. And then, not to be performed badly necessarily.

I just thought, like, you should go out there and you should take care of this guy who's taking this fight on three hours. Yeah, full training camp, you know, and you know that fighter mentality. Like, I'm always ready to fight, you know, it doesn't matter who it is. But, yeah, like, I'm still going to pick Diego,

but I'm not, now I'm like 51-49. Before I was, like, 75, 25, I was like, man, I think Diego's going to do it. Yeah. This time I'm kind of like, maybe not. Yeah, and I think the big thing is going to be, like you said,

Brian Ortega does take damage. He's been damaged every fight I've seen, at least. And Diego seems like he's got some pretty good power. Like he knocks people out or hurts people at least when he hits him. He certainly like throws everything he's got into a lot of his shots. And it's like if Ortega can continue to take that damage, then I think he's got a great shot away, especially if he can drag this into the second, third round type thing.

I think it's Brian's fight at that point. if Diego can hurt him early, you know, maybe, maybe Brian's chin isn't what it used to be. I was yet to be seen, right? But if he can't take those shots, then, you know, then I think Diego's got a pretty good chance. But if I was going to, if I was going to pick round by round, I say, like either Diego early or Brian late, you know, like I think Diego's got a real good shot early. I think that's the best point right there. I think you're absolutely right. If it gets like three minutes into the second round,

it could go bad for Diego in a hurry because Diego is such a high-impact fast starter that if he can't put Brian away early, Brian hangs around. We know what Brian can do late. We've seen him do it many times. He has a ton of third-round submissions. That's not a guy you want to let hang around.

I agree with you. If it goes past, if it goes past like two and a half minutes into the second round, my pick's going to shift pretty dramatically to the Brian Orteg's side. because Diego had some cardio issues against Dan Iga he just did I mean that third round Dan was taking over I was like what is going on here like shouldn't Dan be the one who's tired right now and it wasn't so yeah I agree with

you I think the longer it goes the more favors Brian Ortega yeah that's what it comes down to for me other than that I mean you know it's just a great matchup you know if if they're just skill for skill cardio for cardio I think it could be a great fight you know if they're both coming in at their peak and they're able to go all three rounds. Like say there's no cardio involvement. Like they're both, you know, able to go three hard rounds. It could just turn out to be a great fight, you know, and it's just going to come down to, you know, who gets that step ahead

throughout the fight, you know, who gets the tiny little details, right? And that's kind of why I pick Cortegas. I kind of see him just being a little bit more refined, you know, just in the kind of the areas that matter, right? Like just being a millimeter ahead from his experience and from his, you know, high level, uh, fighting. And, and I think he's just that much better. Just a touch ahead. You know, the Diego can cancel a lot of that shit too because he's explosive and comes at you like crazy. Right. And, you know, sometimes those millimeters don't matter when someone's just exploding all fucking wild like Diego does sometimes.

so it's definitely a fucking a wrestling fight. I could absolutely see this turn into a bloody drawn-out war. That's probably the fight I'm most excited for personally. I was going to say, I think that's the one that's like, if you're looking for a fight, that just seems like there's no way it's not going to have an exciting, either exciting crazy three rounds or there's going to be a crazy finish. It's this one.

I feel like that's pretty much guaranteed in this one. It's hard to not be more excited for Shanao Mali Marab just because of the names. and, you know, because they're the main event, and they shine O'Malley, and he's done some spectacular things. And, you know, they're both, like, strong personalities with huge characters. But if you just take away all of the name value and everything and just put, you know, robot against robot, like warrior against warrior, you know, Ortega Lopez is a fight to watch. 100%. I agree 100%. It's funny you say that because Ortega Lopez is probably the fight that, like, in terms of, you know, like excitement, like what it's going to deliver, you're like, that's the fight.

Like, you know that fight's going to deliver. Then you think about name value, you're like, Marab and O'Malley is an incredible fight. What a matchup. What a clash of styles. The forgotten one here is kind of like the co-main event, Alexa Grasso and Valentina Chubchenko. And I think the problem is it's been out of sight, out of mind because they fought last September. We've been a year away.

And Matt, I think you probably agree. No one really seems to get that excited about the ultimate fighter anymore. so I don't even know how many people watched them coached him against it. I didn't. I certainly didn't. I have no idea. Like, where they had at each other's throats. Alex is an incredibly nice person.

You know, obviously, Valentina is a nice person. Like, I can't imagine they were, like, cursing at each other and throwing shit at each other during the show. And I didn't see that online. So, yeah, I just, like, it's weird because this is an incredible fight, but it's kind of slipping under the radar, even as a co-main event.

Yeah, I agree. It's probably the The only kind of X factor, I think, in this one is like, it just, it seems to me like it just depends on which Valentina kind of shows up, right? Like, like, I think the Valentina lost to Alexa the first time they fought, she just wasn't all there, maybe underestimated or whatever. And then the second time, she just kind of showed up a little better.

It was a good fight, but, but this time, like, you know, I just don't know where Valentina is at. mentally right now like if she's as hungry as she used to be you know that's it's kind of just the way that I've seen her career you know because to me she's like the best girls fighter out there you know skill for skill pound for pound but it's like she doesn't always she's not always able to utilize all the skills that she has and I can't tell if it's you know lack of hunger motivation energy you know bad night's sleep who knows right but to me that's kind of the ex-fight it could just be a dominant fight one way or another

so i don't have a pick either i i thought valentina deserved the win in the last one i thought the judge just kind of robbed her on that one i think she should have won that fight and i think how she approaches this when coming off kind of a disappointing fight and then also a year away does she does she come back looking fired up like i should be the champion right now this should be me as the reigning champion defending my belt and having the trilogy with Alexa or is she kind of like despondent and saying man I got screwed I had to spend a year away I had to do this stupid reality show and now I'm fighting for the belt and should already be mine two totally different mindsets now I'm gonna I'm gonna lean Valentina because I still believe at her best she is the best

pound for pound fighter and women's mixed martial arts today and she was beating Alexa the first time and got caught with that spin kick and Alexa got her back and choked her out. I thought she won the last fight. The judges to me screwed that up. I think everyone, I think Dana White said afterwards like, yeah, it was not good. Like, shouldn't have been a draw.

Should have been Valentina winning. I'm going to lean and put my faith in Valentina based on her history and based on the overall fight they've had. Through two fights, Valentina has won the majority of the fight. but I don't think there's a question with Alexa because Alexa when she got the title shot

and when she won it I don't think anyone picked her I don't think anyone picked her I was not like her family like no one picked her to be Valentina everyone thought this was going to be another Valentina just dominant run didn't happen but it's almost like Alexis I don't want to I know this sounds like a terrible way to say it Matt I almost feel like Alexa's fighting you know um with house money in a way Like no one really expected her to be here when she did it. Now, did we learn a lot about Alexa to be going out there and having that second vibe with Valentina? Sure, it was a close fight, but I still thought Valentina won.

But again, I still think she's kind of playing with House Money here because I still don't think, I still don't think Alexa gets like the respect and say, man, she is, she's right there with Kayla Harrison and Zhang Wei Lee is like the best pal for Balinese. I don't get that feeling. So I'm going to, I'm going to lean Valentina based on here. history and based on overall body of work, but I have more questions about Valentina, too. Like, did the year off help? Did the draw piss her off, like to the point where like either the draw piss or she's motivated or the draw piss drop and she's like, I don't want to do that again?

I don't know. So I'm leaning Valentina, have a lot of faith of Valentina, but I won't be sure. I know that's people like, dude, pick a fight. But I won't be shocked to see Alexa Grasso pull it off. But I'm picking Valentina. She's just out of 50 minutes, almost 50 minutes they spent the cage you there 45 minutes like valentine has won the majority of that 50 minutes so that's why i lean her way yeah i i feel exactly where it coming from the um you know like said that that's why i'm kind of 50-50 on it like there's not really a we don't know what they've been doing in this year off you know like alexa might still have a chip on her shoulder you know she knows that she wasn't a clear winner in that last fight um or is alexa say

And look, I beat you twice. I'm the better fighter. You know, she getting cocky about it. You know, there's so many, like, variables to this. And I think that Valentina is the better fighter, skill for skill. And I think, like I said, I think she's the best woman's fighter on the roster by a fairly decent margin, really. I don't think there's really a close second. But, you know, it's hard to say that, too, when, you know, she lost Alexa, you know,

and then went to a job. draw with her, right? You know, regardless of who we think won, you know, obviously wasn't a clear enough victory. So it makes it a it just makes it a really, really tough pick with so many variables and that's why I have to just stay

50-50 on it, you know? Yeah, I mean, you're not wrong. I think you got a good point there. Now, Ontario, the weight 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. The main event, Sean O'Malley, Marabdo Alishville, we've talked about this one so many times. I think we spent more time talking about this than we did Cheetah Vera against Marlickon's chicken. Sean O'Malley, because I think we kind of had a feeling how that fight was probably going to go. And it played out pretty similar to how I thought it was going to go. It's pretty rare that they play out the way you expect them to in the UFC.

And that one was like, oh, most to the T the way you expected. Yeah, it really was. It really was. But Marabs on this incredible run, whatever is 12 fight unbeaten streak, just comes off beating Peter Jan and Henry Sehudo in pretty dominant fashion. Incredible wrestling, incredible pace, incredible card. but can't deny Sean O'Malley proved a lot of people wrong with what he did

to Al Jermaine Sterling. I know he certainly did me. I thought Al Jermaine would handle Sean. I still don't like the timing of that fight that happened like two months after he just fought Henry Sudo. Not making excuses, I'm just saying, still don't love the circumstances, but that's not Sean O'Malley's fault. He didn't. The U.C. didn't have to book him that win.

They wanted to do that. That's not his fault. But I, like, we talked about this months ago, Matt, and we both picked Morale. grabbed Wileshilly to win. We thought future champ, just a matter of time. Just he's got to get the shot. Has anything changed

going into this fight? Well, I guess I give Sean probably more of a chance than I did before. I mean, he's done nothing but impressed also. So, you know, it's easy to kind of I don't know, put Sean down or

you know, criticize them or kind of be against, you know, who he is as a person. It's kind of easy. to nitpick things about him the way his personality is and everything. But we can't deny what he's done in the cage, his body of work, and particularly the way that he beat Al Jermaine Sterling. I mean, that was absolutely impressive. And realistically, even just the way he beat Cheetah Vera,

you know, we kind of called it, but he went out there and did what we called, which is what you're supposed to do. And it was pretty impressive. And so I don't know, man. And it's hard to, it's hard to deny anything from Marab, though. Like, it's like, it's like you got Sean who's done nothing but impressive things, but you're fighting Marab. And, I mean, you talk about impressive.

I mean, this guy has fucking ran the gauntlet and done it in just ridiculously good fashion. I mean, his pace is just out of this fucking world. So it's just hard to pick against that, you know, unless, unless Sean catches him like he did Al Jermaine, which is possible too. Like Marab definitely in this stand-up makes some mistakes. He definitely, you know,

leaves himself open at times. There are definitely going to be holes there for Sean to capitalize on. I don't see Sean being able to capitalize on him, but I can see him prove me wrong at the same time. Like, it's kind of the tough one. Let me ask you this, because I felt like going into the Al Jermaine-Stirling fight, the narrative on Al-Germaine had finally turned a little bit,

where everyone was kind of against Aljo, where they're like, he's going to lose this fight, he's not as good as they think he is, he's just not that dude. And then he goes out there and beats Henry Sehudo, who everyone, like him or not, had a ton of respect for it. And I think the narrative shifted where it's like, Aljimane's a terrible matchup for Sean. He's a great grappler.

He's big, he's rangy. All he needs to do is get a takedown. He's going to ragdoll Sean. on the ground. It's almost like Al Jermaine went from being the underdog to the favorite in like a three-month span where everyone kind of doubted him and then everyone's like you're on top and you're the guy. And it's almost, I felt like Al Jermaine reacted poorly to that. Like he went out there and just didn't look himself. It was a weird fight. And again, credit to Shana Malley for getting the knockout. This time around, it's, you know, we got the pace, we got the pressure, we got everything that

Marab does very well. But I think the one factor that concerns me a little bit with Mrab right now is Marab has spent a lot of time lately responding to little jabs from O'Malley and his coach. I'm going to kick your ass when I see you in the street. It's on on site, all those kind of things. Now, Matt, you and I both know there's a one side of the coin where guys say that and then it comes into the fight and doesn't bother them at all.

It's just fight talk. You know, the other side, though, where it does get in your head, where you get like a Jose Aldo, Connor McGregor situation, where 100% Josie Aldo fought outside himself because he just wanted to rip, Connor McGregor, limb from limb, and then Connor put him out with one shot because Jose came out there just guns blazing, not even really thinking about defense. So how much of a concern should we have about the mental warfare aspect? Because I will say, Marab, like, I interviewed him a few weeks ago.

Morab got pretty damn fired up. And I was like, this is kind of unusual for Marab. He's not usually this like animated, like pissed off at somebody. Now, again, maybe he's got that mode where you can just shut it off. But am I wrong? I'm thinking that could be a problem if you're not controlling those emotions. Well, I think that's where I make a lot of wrong picks because I'd separate because I don't, I can't read nobody's mind. I can't decide. I can't look at a fight and make a pick based off

of, you know, this guy, you know, feels this way or he's going to act emotion or whatever. I can only look at a skill for skill. So skill for skill, I'm going to pick Marab all day in this fight. Yeah, I think it's a mistake if he goes out there and lets emotions get to him. And I have to, as an outsider looking in, I have to look at his skill for skill and assume that he's going to go in there mentally in peak form. And so I can't make those kind of judgments based on that. And again, I think that's where I get bitten ass a lot with picking fights is because I think people do fight with a lot of emotions at times when they shouldn't

and a lot of times or they use bad strategies and things like that. But my picks are based solely off of, you know, skill for skill. And skill for skill, Marab should go in there and beat Shotomali. I agree. I mean, I think, again, I'm picking Marab to win. I've been picking Marab to win for a year now. I can't back off that all of a sudden because I'm trying. curious like what the emotional factor is going to be you can the fighting happened yet i'm not i'm

sticking with marab that's my guy i'm sticking with marab you could definitely you could definitely back off though like it's it you know we're not in Vegas and putting money on this shit no i'm i'm sticking with marab because i do have faith in him and again maybe this is all just like him playing into the promotion because remember for the longest time marab was just kind of like a quiet dude it just went out there and fought and he had to really battle he was kind of like the leon edwards balaah mohammed where he was just fighting and winning and people just weren't excited to see him in a title fight. And then he goes out there and Leon knocks out Camaro.

And of course, Bilal goes out there and Malls Leon. Like, you just got to give the guy the chance. And I think that at his best, Marab de Wallace really is going to be a handful for anybody. I'm like, in the back of my – I know this is terrible to say this. In the back of my head, I'm just like, I can't wait to see Marab fight Umar and Mega Metal because that is a fucking battle of styles. But, yeah, I'm sticking with Marab. But listen, I've come around a long way on the Shawna Malley thing.

I'm kind of done a little bit with like the Dracus Duplice thing a little bit too where I like I just kept doubting him and I kind of doubted Sean the same way because he just he did let's be honest Matt he did get an easier path he did I don't know you like it he got an easier path but he went out there and battled Peter yawn had a very close fight I think you scored that for Peter if I'm not mistaken I think you scored for O'Malley but it was so close I couldn't have like cared you know what I mean it wouldn't have bothered me one bit of it's not a robbery either way not at all And then, dude, what he did to Al Jermaine was super impressive.

I saw the Cheeto fight coming. I'm not going to lie, I thought that would go. Actually, I thought O'Malley would probably finish him. Credit to Cheetos chin surviving that knee especially. But overall, the fight played out pretty much how I expected it. So I'm not doubting Sean anymore. I just think stylistically of Marab's wrestling, his pace, his cardio. I think it's just a bad matchup in that way, the same way I thought Al Jermaine would be.

So I'm sticking with Marab. Let me ask you this, man, before we get out of here. And I'm curious, because you were in the UFC for a lot. lot of time and you've been around. And I think now that you're retired, you know, I can ask you this a little bit more openly. I doubt that you wouldn't have given your opinion before, but I'm curious. You always hear this narrative. Fighters bring it up a lot.

That the UFC wants this guy to win or that guy to win. Now, Dana White always says, we don't care. You know, we promote whoever. We were just in the business of fighting. And I think to a point, he's right because the UFC's had their most successful in the financial years these last couple years. And Connor has been nowhere to be found.

And Connor is the biggest star. We all we all know that. Like, we know he's the biggest draw. Do you believe deep down, like, is Dana White quietly rooting for Sean O'Malley to win?

Because Sean's a star. Sean is probably the, has the most potential to be a star on a level of a Connor McGregor. You know what I mean? Like in terms of attention and draw,

do you think the UFC quietly roots for some guys to win? That's a good question. Well, like you just said, it's very clear. Like, Sean has had an easier path. And I think that's really what you get from having that stardom. But you still have to fight the toughest guys.

Like, Marab just had a harder path was the only difference, right? You know, or Balal, right? He had a harder path. Leon had a harder path, right, than the vast majority of guys. I think that's where it really comes into play. But ultimately, the one thing you've got to respect and love about the UFC is you do eat what you kill. You might have to do more killing than the other guy. but you get to eat it

So whether they're quietly rooting or not I mean I can't even speculate on that Because I just have no real clue I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't Because like you said Sean is a star And it's like if I'm Dana White I'm quietly rooting for Sean O'Malley too But you know

The fact is that you know they put the fight together If they were really rooting for Sean O'Malley They wouldn't have put the fight together That's true It's good point. Yeah, because, I mean, Marab is a tough matchup, and stylistically,

he could be the toughest matchup for Sean O'Malley. If they didn't, they could have, and they did it already with Cheeto. They didn't have to make the Cheeto fight. That was them like, and you know, they could have gone.

So, yeah, you're right. They could have gone another avenue. They didn't. So, yeah, I mean, that's true. So you can only root for him so much because, I mean, I'm sure that, in a perfect world, Connor would be a three-division champion

and fighting three times a year and selling 800 million pay-per-views, but that's not the world we live in. Right. You know? And the other thing is, too, like you said, the UFC's having a record year. Like, I don't, again, whether they're quietly rooting or actually rooting for someone, I don't know because they're having a record year. They don't need a single person.

They got the brand. Like, they're pretty set, you know, they're fucking cool. And I, but what I would say is I do think that they are, part of what has got them the success. Like, Dana is a risk taker, too. you know so whether he's quietly rooting or not that's just such a tough question but um you know like putting if maybe they do want sean to be a star quietly but they're like look we're still going to give you the toughest fight you have to go out there and be the star like we'll give you the opportunity to be the big star but we're not going to take it easy on you to be a big star yeah i think that's

also true and listen did did shan have an easier path to his title shot than marab did yes i think Sean would probably deny that. I think Sean whether he wants to say an interview or not, but I think Sean would probably say, yeah, I didn't go through the same 12-fight win streak and all these different guys to get to the title shot. But they gave him Peter Yan, who is an incredibly tough guy, and again,

very close fight, he did have to meet him. You don't get there if he don't go through, if he sucked, if he was not a good fighter, if he was not a good fighter, Peter Young would have ran through that guy, just like he ran through so many other guys. I'm not discounted the Cheeto win, but again, you know, they could have said, hey, we're going to do any other number of fights of Bantamway,

right now and we're just going to try to continue to grow the star power but to their credit they gave it to Mirab and Marab is a tough matchup Marab doesn't offer him the same level of stardom necessarily as a you know maybe even I'm not I'm not maybe I'm wrong but like just because the last name

you could say Umar would be a bigger fight because of his last name and Khab's going to be their fight week and Islam and like you could just build around that name and everything like you could argue that's a bigger fight you could argue the Sanhagen fight would have been good because that's stylistically much

Let's be honest Matt What's a more fun fight to watch? Sean O'Malley versus Corey Sandhagan Or Sean O'Malley versus Marat They could have done that they didn't So yeah maybe I am maybe You're right like maybe I don't Maybe they're not really quietly rooting for it because

And to my point they are They're making money hand over fist They don't necessarily need Sean O'Malley to be champion to continue to make money hand over this Because John Jones has been out for every year And Connor's been gone for fucking four years or whatever and you're still making money. Right.

They might be like, hey, we, again, quietly, they might be saying, look, we hope you win, but we're not making it easy for it either, buddy. We're going to give you the right matchup, you know. And Marab, you got to give him credit. Like, he earned the matchup. He basically put the UFC in a position where they're like Marab or bust. I mean, you know, after you'd have a 12-fight win streak,

you know, beating the guys that he's beat, I mean, you just can't deny the guy anymore. And to the fans credit, by the way, because I remember when I interviewed Sean before this fight was official, he said, you know, because remember he came out and he's like, I want to fight Ilya, I want to do the double belt, I want to fight Ilya. And the fans, to their credit, said, hold on now, you got to fight Marab first. You can't go start the whole two divisions thing until you get through Marab. And I appreciate Sean said that publicly. He's like, I thought people would get excited. They didn't.

They wanted Marab. So we're doing Marab. And I appreciate that Sean said that because he wanted to be a fight that the fans would want and fans are like, no, we want to see Marab get his shot. And I appreciate that he didn't fight it. He didn't, you know, he didn't say, oh, no, no, no, I'm sticking around waiting for Elia. No, he's like, all right, you want Marab?

We'll fight Marab. So to Sean's credit, you know. Yeah, and we don't know what the talks were backstage or, you know, in the office is behind the scenes or anything. And, you know, maybe Sean said, no, I'm fighting Marab, right? Maybe the UFC's, you know, tossing other things his way. And he said, no, like the fans want me to fight Marab. I'm fighting Marab.

So who really knows? But, you know, we're all, what it comes down to is ultimately we're all human. Dana and the company is all human. You know that naturally we're everyone is quietly rooting for someone in every fight, right? And, you know, but the UFC again, that's why you do have to give them credit. Like, they put the tough matchups together. Ultimately, you know, we go on all the time talking about how, you know, there's no more, there's not really deserving in this world

you know you kind of just a lot of times funny things happen different fights get put together that shouldn't get put together all these kinds of things but ultimately if you stay on the path like you're gonna come across the fucking baddest dudes in the fucking world

and that's all there is to it yeah we talked about that Patty Pimblo we're like Patty's not you know Patty maybe maybe a little overreed the game Bobby Green or King Green whatever his name is he's a tough matchup dude he's a monster and Patty went out there and wiped him out inside of a round.

So, yeah, I mean, listen. It did me too. So, like, and, you know, again, like, I know, people did the same thing with Connor. Like, Connor got the easy path. Connor got, well, guess what? He fought Chad Mendez. I know it was on short notice, but Chad Mendez, wrestler, good fighter. Connor beat him.

Then he got Aldo. There's no joking on Aldo. There's no juking on Aldo. Aldo's a bad motherfucker. And he knocked him out in 16 seconds. So, yeah, I mean, and, you know, Connor fought Kabib. Did it go his way? No, but he fought him.

It's not like he backed out from the beam. Yeah, so, yeah, you're probably right. Like, maybe quietly, like, yeah, for our bottom line, it would be better if Sean won. But I'm sure you're probably right. Like, there probably isn't no rooting. Like, the quietly rooting partly just because, you know, what we've been. But I'm saying, like, ultimately, I don't think he's like, man, we don't want Marab to win. If you didn't want Marab to win, you don't make the fight.

There's a chance. And ultimately, ultimately, that Connor Khabib is a great example. Like, look, Connor didn't lose his stardom by losing to Khabib. You know what I'm saying? Like he was still just as big of a star after losing to Khabib, if not even bigger because, you know, all the shit show that happened, right? Like all PR is good PR. So, you know, the UFC's like, look, we're putting together fucking badass fights

to get people talking. And that's what we care about. Yeah. If people are talking about it, whether, like, Sean's not going to lose stardom if he loses to Marab, right? He's not going to, his Twitch following isn't going to dwindle down all of a sudden because of that. You know, he,

yeah. So, but again, we're humans. So, you know, I say again, we're like,

there's no way to not quietly root for people. I'll give you the best example before we get out of here of a guy who lost and it mattered, absolutely matter. He lost,

but we just don't care. Max Holloway. He lost Alexander Volcanowski three times. Do I give a shit? No, because Max Holloway is that dude. Did I get any less excited when he fought Justin Gagey

because he had lost to Volcanowski three times. Fuck no. That was a great fight. I was super excited. I'm just excited to see him fight Ilya I don't care that he lost to Volcanowski. Max Hollow is a bad dude. So you're probably right.

Like Sean, even if he loses a five-round decision to Marab, does that mean his next fight's not going to be huge? Of course it's going to be huge. It's Sean O'Malley. So, yeah. And don't forget they could Barry potentially set up a rematch which gets even bigger now.

Yeah, absolutely. That's huge. So yeah, you're probably right. You're absolutely right. It is a narrative. and I understand the narrative, right? Like a business sense I get it. But like I said, business-wise,

they probably would have had Connor back already if they had a perfect world, but that's not what happens. So, you know, that's how it was- still setting records, though. Like the UFC is a monster fucking brand. They are an absolute monster. They don't need any stars.

Specific, any, you know, specific star. Well, we talked about, didn't it? We said this before. We talked about it with FighterPra. We were saying, like, you got to remember, everyone says UFC is the NFL. No, they're the Dallas Cowboys. They're not the NFL.

There's one owner, one group, one team. Guess what? The Cowboys, they have star players now. They had star players two decades ago. Like Troy Aikman eventually had to retire. Michael Irvin had to retire. Guess what? Now they got Dak Prescott and they got this guy and that guy.

People are UFC fans. Like it or not. I'm not saying that's right or wrong. I'm just saying people are UFC fans. They're going to tune in for UFC fights. Are some of them bigger when Shauna Malley fights or Conna McGregor fights? sure but yeah

UFC's not going anywhere because the UFSI's not going anywhere Sean O'Malley could lose in the first round knockout to Marabdawell was really the UFC ain't shutting down because of that. No I mean what does that do? That just gives more PR to the UFC right? Like

then everybody's going to want to watch that tomorrow. Yep, exactly. Like Justin Gage didn't lose anything when he got more famous when he got knocked out in the fifth round by Max Holloway. You know, unfortunately he wasn't the Max Holloway in that situation, but you know he like he didn't lose a single follower like he i guarantee he gained hundreds of thousands

of followers that night 100% i agree no it's good point now you're absolutely right now you got me thinking about you know you're right you're probably right they're not it's not like you know as you said everyone's got a little bias but like ultimately i don't think they really care so you're probably right just don't forget don't just don't forget all PR is good PR here you know why data why this is the worst moment in the history of sport what a what a terrible thing when Connor did the bus attack and then what what do we say three months later when they're promoting the fight what's on the promo the bus attack yeah exactly yeah outside of racist homophobic and Islamophobic type comments like all PR is good PR so we'll put that little addendum in there

yeah absolutely and you know yeah like I say yeah I think that's the perfect case like dude it was it was the darkest moment our sports history when Connor attacked the bus oh yeah so dark And then a few months later, what's in the promo? There's the dolly come fly at the window. That's how it works. That's how it works. All right. That's our episode, folks.

Want to appreciate it when sticking around. Of course, as they said, pre-recorded. So, you know, we mess something up here. Don't blame us. Yeah, I know. You're going to be back from Thailand to rejoin us. We'll have lots to talk about. Like I said, you need bail money while you're in Thailand.

Hit up your boy. I got you. We appreciate it. And Matt, if people want to support you while you're gone, while you're over in Thailand, where can they do that at? I'm the immortal Twitter and Instagram, and I'm probably going to be documenting a lot of this. Maybe I'll do it on my stories and shit over on my stories on Instagram.

I always say that, and then I never do because I'm kind of just in the moment type of guy. But anyway, The Immoral Matt Brown on Facebook, check out my sponsors at try underscore create, the best creatine gummies ever in the history of man. and Redwood Outdoors CO at Redwood Outdoor CO Use Immortal 250 code Immortal 250, say 250 bucks on a sauna or a cold plunge I feel like they need to do like GoPro when you do fight circus over there

Like put a GoPro on your head and that's how you document it Like they just see you in like your point of view of you going through like ice skate fighting Or whatever the fuck you're going to be doing over there No shit right maybe I should buy a GoPro for that real quick Yeah it'd be a great dude you want to talk about a great viral content. That made a way to do it. Created over there. I love it. All right, folks, we're going to get out of here. We'll be back as I said, well, Matt's gone.

Our old buddy Alan Japan's going to step in a little bit while he's out. And then, of course, Matt will be back in a couple weeks from his trip over to Thailand. Hopefully, again, you know, this is Matt Brown we're talking about here. Who knows what's going to happen. You know, what happens in Thailand may stay in Thailand. We'll find out, you know, if you, if you, I may come on this show. Hopefully I don't bring nothing back from Thailand. Hopefully it stays in Thailand.

That's true. That's true. We may have a special episode of me. me on the phone with the Thai cops being like, Matt Brown, I need to speak to Matt Brown. You never know. You might document me fighting my way out of prison. There you go, dude. That's like the ultimate documentary. Like that would be like the special, the special, special episode of the Fighter versus

the Writer is Damon traveling to Thailand to try to get Matt out of prison. It would be good times. All right, folks. We appreciate everyone tuning in as always. We'll be back next week with another edition of the Fighter versus the Writer. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you then. Podcast Network