MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: Neil Magny On Why He Takes Fights Nobody Else Will; Merab Dvalishvili On Wanting Jose Aldo Over ‘Piece of S***’ Petr Yan

Episode Date: June 21, 2022

On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Neil Magny and Merab Dvalishvili join the show. Magny will preview his upcoming fight against rising star Shavkat Rakhmonov and why he’s been so willing to take fights against highly touted prospects while other ranked welterweights refuse to even entertain those kinds of opponents. Also on the show, Merab Dvalishvili discusses his new fight that was just announced against Jose Aldo at UFC 278 and why he prefers that matchup over a potential showdown with former champion Petr Yan. Dvalishvili will also preview his teammate Aljamain Sterling taking on T.J. Dillashaw and the relationship he shares with the current UFC bantamweight champion. All this and more on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Subscribe: Spotify Read More: MMA Fighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome back to the Fighter versus the Writer. I'm your host, as always, Damon Martin. And this week we have a fun show leading into the next UFC on Vegas cars. to be UFC Vegas car this weekend, headlined by Arm and Saruki and taken on Matus Gamrod in the main event, and we will have one half of the co-main event. On the show today, Neil Magna is going to join me in just a few moments to talk about his upcoming fight with Shavkat Rakmanov and his constant willingness to take fights that nobody else ever seems to want to take.

That's kind of been Neil's lot in life and his ability to step up when others won't, and he's never one to protect his ranking, so to speak. I love that about Neil. He takes risks where there are seemingly very little reward and never hesitates to do it. And that's a special kind of badass right there. So we're going to talk to Neil Bag me in just a few minutes. We're also going to talk for the first time, actually, on the show. And also my first interview, I'm kind of ashamed of this is the first time I've actually had a chance to talk to this guy.

But his fight against Jose Aldo was just announced for UFC 278 on August 20th. I'm excited to speak to Marab de Wailishvili, who is one of the top bands. fighters in the world, of course, training partner and teammate of the current champion Al Jolie and his fight with Alge. Excuse me, his fight with Jose Aldo should be fantastic. What a matchup that is coming up in August. Great bit of matchmaking right there. And that fight takes place of UFC 278. So we're going to talk to both of them today.

I planned on actually having both Kevin Holland and Josh Emmett on the show today. But unfortunately, travel schedules and things like that kind of interfered doing it on Monday. So I will be speaking to them later this week. so look forward to those interviews coming out on MMA fighting this week or next week. So stay tuned for that. Real quick, on those fights, of course, Josh Emmett picked up a razor-close decision over Calvin Cater. And I mentioned this on Twitter, and I want to say it again now because, listen, whenever there's a really close decision, we have a tendency to battle or fight over what we believe is the correct decision.

I scored the fight 48-47 for Josh Emmett. But I guess the larger point I made on Twitter, and I just want to say it again here, is that it was a close, fight. You're not wrong if you thought Calvin Cater won. It was a close fight. I could see it 48, 47 for Calvin Cater. I thought, and I rewatched it again just to be sure I wasn't, you know, missing anything or in the heat of the moment or also I'm writing during fight night, so sometimes I might miss things here and there. So I always like to rewatch a fight to make sure my score was correct or I feel justified in my score at the moment. And I did. I felt 48, 47 was just, but I also understand, depending on how you're looking at the fight, depending on a few key moments

in the fight, why you'd score for Calvin Cater. But the larger point I want to make here is, is that what Calvin Cater, or what Josh Hema did was, you know, a great win, big win, and deservedly so. But that being said, if you scored for Calvin, you're not wrong. But the big thing is, it's not a robbery. And I'm not saying a lot of people are out there screaming robbery. I really haven't seen a ton of that, but I have seen some, you know, some arguments some fights going on back and forth. You know, Josh Schmidt came out in his post-fight speech and said, I thought I was going to get screwed. I thought I won four rounds to one. Calvin Cater, of course, said I thought I did enough to get the decision. He didn't, you know, he didn't go, you know,

flipping angry or anything. He, you know, still say congratulations to Josh Schmidt and his team. But listen, that's how fighters are supposed to feel. You know, fighters are supposed to feel they did enough to win a fight. And especially in the heat of the moment right afterwards, it's It's not like they sat back after the car spent 25 minutes and just rewatch the fight. They're in the fight. They're in the moment. And both guys believe they won. And if you believe Calvin Cater won, you're not wrong.

I mean, it was a close fight. But I guess, again, the arguments you're getting into justifying those scores, that's fine. You can say you believe one guy won over the other, but nothing's a robbery. It was a close fight. And I think we need to get in our head sometimes in this sport. While judging can be a problem here and there, you know, when it's a close fight, I don't envy their job. I actually said that in a tweet on Saturday night. I don't envy the judges in this moment because it is a razor close fight and I can't really fault them, whichever way they

scored. People were freaking out about certain rounds being scored, things like that. Again, I get it. I understand. But at the end of the day, the right or wrong guy winning in this fight is not right or wrong because it was a close fight, a very close fight. A lot of rounds could have gone one way or the other. And that's the difference between 3-2-Kater or 3-2-immett. Or 4-1-Kater or 4-1-Emit. However you want to do that. to score it was a close fight with a lot of close rounds and I just I feel like we need to get that out of our vocabulary a bit in the sport when we say robbery there are robberies don't get me wrong there are absolutely robberies where a fight comes out and a decision is read and you

kind of scratch your head and you say what in the world is going on here what were they watching where were they scored this fight all those kind of things I get it I've had plenty of those conversations and I'm not opposed to those conversations but what you don't want to do is when it's a close fight, automatically start screaming robbery because your score didn't jive with what the actual decision was, because that's just not the case here. Also, of course, we had the disappointment on Fight Day once again, Donald Cowboy Seroni and Joe Lozong got canceled. Bummer there, such a freak thing to have with Joe Lozahn's knee locking up. He couldn't fight, understandable. And if you know Joe Lozahn, we've had Joe on the show before,

Joe is not the kind of guy to just say, I'm not going to fight because I'm a little banged up. every fighter goes into every fight banged up, but it depends on the severity of that, whether or not you can, you know, whether you can actually fight. When you can't walk, you know, he had his cornerman carrying him to his hotel room during the way ends or after the way ends. Pretty clear you can't fight on that. It's unfortunate. And, you know, it is a bummer.

I get it. Dana White said afterwards he's not going to rebook the fight. And, you know, that kind of sucks. But I get it again. Two times this fight really does feel snakebitten, especially the way it's happened. You know, Cowboy falling out the day of the fight the last time. Lozon falling out the day of the fight the second time. And that's not, you know, that's not weeks before.

That's not time to get a replacement. That's the day of the fight two times. This is not ranked contenders fighting for a title shot. This is not a title fight to where you just rebook it. So in this particular instance, I get not rebooking it. It's kind of a bummer. And you hope that both guys get some other version of this. You know, maybe they do Lozon Jim Miller 3, which would be a lot of fun.

Both of those fights were incredible. I would 100% watch that again. I don't know what else is out there for Cowboy. I mean, listen, he's on a bit of a losing streak, and he's clearly said he probably has a couple of fights left. You know, so whatever they book for him, I hope they find something good. It did feel like this was kind of the perfect fight,

and I think that's why everyone was a little disappointed. This one fell apart a couple of times, and then, again, we're missing out on Eversing, and now it appears, especially with Cowboys saying I only have two fights left. So maybe the UFC will change. minds, maybe they'll look for other options and nothing will be there and they'll revisit it. I know Joe, if you go back and listen to my interview with Joe prior to the first fight book,

and he said that, you know, right now he's only taking fights when he wants to. He's only taking fights when he feels like it. He's only taking fights when an opponent is interesting to him. He's got enough other things going on in life that he doesn't necessarily need to fight. You know, his gym's doing well, financially secure. So he's not in a position where he has to fight every month or six months or whatever the timeline would be. so, you know, we may not see Joe Lozahn for a year from now because he may not get offered a fight that really draws his interest.

So it's a bummer, really is. Also, I mentioned, of course, we are going to have Kevin Holland on eventually. I'm going to talk to Kevin Holland, hopefully, this week. Boy, oh, boy, what an incredible performance. I mean, he just sliced and diced Tim Means and then finished with the dars choke on the ground. You could not ask for a better performance out of Kevin Holland. I mean, that guy has looked incredible, two fights in to Welterway. Now, you can argue and say, well, are Alex Olivaire?

and Tim Means at the top of the food chain in that division. No, they're not. But Alex Olivera, super tough guy, super tough out, no matter when lose or draw, the guy is the tough out. And then Tim means is as tough as they come. I mean, the guy got shot in the leg and fought like a few months later. I mean, that's just kind of the moxie of that guy. He's not an easy guy to get out of there.

You may beat him, but you're not going to beat him, and you're not going to beat him convincingly unless you're really, really good at your job. And I think Kevin Holland at Welterweight is really freaking good at his job. Now, he called out Sean Brady afterwards, which is interesting because you would think that, you know, the problems he's had in the past with wrestlers and grapplers, maybe he would stay away from a wrestling heavy, grappling heavy fighter like Sean Brady. But I love the call out because right away, saying, look, I'm not afraid to take on those kind of guys. And if you look at his speed, his accuracy, his size at Weltsway, I don't know. I mean, I'm not saying you can't be out-wrestled. I think if you go up against a great wrestler, you can get out-restled against anybody.

If you go up against Kamar Usman or Hamzaa Chamaeev or one of those guys with that wrestling pedigree or Sean Brady for that matter, there's a chance. It's a risk. You end up being on your back for 15 minutes or 25 minutes, depending on how it plays out. So not saying that can happen. But Kevin has looked fantastic, and I really think this is his weight class. I don't know if he's going to become a title contender. I can't say if he's going to beat the grapplers of the world, the Michael Kiyazas, the Sean Brady's, the Usmans, the Chamehs, those kind of guys. He's been a really interesting edition already, and there's a lot of really fun matchups out there for him in this weight class.

The one I'd like to see made, and I don't know that they'll make this just because, you know, maybe it's a little too soon, or maybe they're not trying to give this particular fighter, you know, a tougher matchup off a couple losses. But what about Kevin Holland versus Wonderboy? That seems like that would be a really fun fight. I mean, Kevin Holland doesn't need to have a rivalry with an opponent to make it. fun. I mean, I would say, you know, from talking to Kevin leading into the fight, if you go back and listen to my interview with him, back a few episodes ago, Kevin, you know, had nothing but the utmost respect for Tim Means. That was an OG. That was a, you know, that was an old school fighter. And he had a ton of respect for Tim Means, but he went out there and did his business, got to win and, and choked him out. Wonder Boy, you can say what you want about Wonder Boy's performance against, you know, Belah Mohamed.

You can say what you want for his performance against Gilbert Burns. But on the feet, you know, Wonder Boy is still one of the most dangerous guys in the world, one of the nastiest strikers in the sport. I think that'd be a lot of fun. I think Wonderboy and Kevin Holland would be a lot of fun. And, you know, listen, Kevin Holland against the guy, like, listen, you know, we just saw Neade Diaz just put out another tweet saying, give me a fight or release me. He wants to, you know, he's been trying desperately to get out of his contract, to find out of his contract, to fight out his contract and be done with it. He wants to move on from the UFC. It's utterly, utterly ridiculous. The UFC can't seem to find him a fight and book him and just let this guy go.

I understand he's a star. I understand he's a name. You don't want to let that go. But this game they've been playing with Nate Diaz is ridiculous. Now, I don't know everything going on behind the scenes. And I understand they tried to make the Chimae fight. He wasn't interested originally, but then he changed his mind and said, give me whoever. At this point, give him whoever. Kevin Holland, Why not? That's a fun fight. Get booked them. I have a hard time believing Kevin Holland wouldn't want to fight to August, September. Give him the fight with Diaz, get Diaz the final fight, give Kevin Holland a big name. And I like that matchup for Kevin Holland a lot.

He takes away the size and length and reach advantage from Nate Diaz right away because he's a big tall, you know, lanky welterweight with big reach as well. So that would be a fun fight. Wonderboy Nate Diaz, and I'm not just giving him, you know, matchups that are kind of tailor made for his style, but have some fun. That doesn't mean you can't give him the Sean Brady fight and he can't do well. He may do great. He may win that fight. I don't know. But there are fun fights out there for him that I think would be really interesting.

I think the Wonderboy fight would be one. I think the Nadez fight would be another. You know, depending on what happens this weekend, the winner of Neal Magny and Shafcott Rachmanoff could be a really interesting matchup. I don't know. You know, if Shabkat wins, I feel like he's kind of on a fast track towards the upper part of the division at that point. Neil is kind of, you know, the guy who's always luminous. around that top six, seven, you know, in the world.

But I think that would be an interesting matchup as well. So I think Kevin's in a good position. He's a veteran. He's been there. He's a really fun fighter to watch, a really fun fighter to talk to. And I think he'd be a really interesting matchup for a lot of guys at Walter Wade. Again, I like the Sean Brady call out, but what about Wonder Boy or Nate Diaz? Let's see one of those.

Let's have some fun. Why not? You know, Dana seems to love Kevin Holland these days. Well, then they're Nate Diaz. Why wouldn't that be fun? Throw him in there with Wonderboy. That would be fun. overall UFC Austin was an incredible card tons of knockouts of course Ricardo Ramos had a big knockout in there

just so many fun fights on that entire card it was just a blast what a great card and uh you know this weekend's card a bit more underrated of course you got two great prospects in arman suruky and and matush gamrott taking on the main of course as i mentioned neil magnin shakka rackman off at the co-main not as not as stacked necessarily but still a fun card and i really do like that main event although So, truth be told, a little surprised Magny and Rachmanov didn't get the main event slot, but I'm fine with Saruki and Gamra. I give two up-and-coming lightweights, a shot to headline a card, and one of them get propelled towards that top six and six-seven in the world.

Nothing wrong with that. So really fun card, and then, of course, we roll right into that from that into Oc-276, which is big pay-per-view, the return of Israel, Adi, Sanya, and Alexander Volcanowski, Max Holloway, three. Lots of fun fights on that car, Sean O'Malley, coming back. So yeah, lots of stuff to talk about. But we'll do a preview show on that next week. But for now, let's talk to the man who will co-headline this weekend's UFC Vegas card

against one of the top prospects in the Welterweight Division Shafkat Rakmanoff. I am always happy to speak to Neil Magny. It is always a pleasure to speak to this man. He's one of the top welterweight fighters in the world coming off a big win in his last fight and he's already got his next one book because that's just what this guy does. Neil Magny, Neil Welcome in. How are you? I'm doing great, man. How are you doing? I'm fantastic.

Thank you for taking the time. for me as always of course I was at your last fight here in my hometown Columbus Ohio coming off a big win there and as I said you never waste any time booking your next fight if all possible no not at all those long eight-month layovers it's not something I'm built for rather than knock him out quick and just keep going yeah absolutely so let me let me backtrack because of course as I said we talked to you in Ohio you come off a big win it was a gruel super tough opponent max Griffin was no joke and you know when the fight got made Neil because I think we talked before that fight got made and of course at that point you were still calling for

the fight with homzot that was the one you wanted it seemed like you were going to get it seemed like a natural fit and i like max griffin let me be clear mass scryphon's an incredibly tough guy and he proved in that fight he's a you know heck of a fighter uh but when i looked at on paper i was like it didn't make sense of me because like where you're at in the rankings he was an unranked guy but that's just who you are neal like you you don't mind these fights and and i gotta be honest you're a guy who does this when, come on, let's be honest, like 15 guys in the top 15, I guarantee you there's like 13

who would not do what you do. Yeah, I mean, 100% is one of those things that, like, if I'm going to fault the other guys are not doing something, I can't turn around and do the exact same thing. I was just upset them by doing. I mean, I try to get a fight with Luke game,

trying to fight with Burroughs, trying to fight with Burroughs, trying to fight with Hamzot, try going to fight with Wonderboy. I try to find all these guys who are actually ranked guys, and for some reason or another, these fights have not. not been coming through. And it was a pretty frustrating place to be because at this point, going to the

Mazz Griffin fight, I went eight months out of fight. And these long layoffs, I think take it so long. I mean, it's taking time mentally and physically. I'm like, I'm one of those guys who was constantly in the gym. So whether I have a fight or not, I'm constantly training, trying to get better and trying to be, and resent myself if there are two, that stuff to like jump in last minute or whatever. So in doing so, it kind of takes a toll on your body and takes a torn on your mental. I mean, I'm trying to stay sharp 8% of the time.

To be very 100% of the time is a very difficult thing to do. And doing that for eight months, it definitely takes away from being able to draw out there and peeped where you want to. Well, I think we're also used to fighting so regularly. Like, of course, you know, you're one of the few people who's ever done, you know, five fights, five wins, and all this kind of things. When we don't hear Neil Magnus's name for like three months, I'm always like, where's Neil at? What's going on here? Why aren't you fighting? Because we're so used to you being such a regular, you know what I mean?

Yeah, 100% and I'm right there with you guys. I'm trying to see these fights being in. I was like, oh, man, how can I get that fight? I might have considered moving up to middleweight at this point. Like, I think I've cleared out enough fights at 170s time we're going to to middleweight. I even thought that was a possibility at this point in my career. Just so I can go out there and keep chasing the girls and keep staying active.

Yeah, I say this, and I mean this sincerely, Neil is a compliment. You're like, you are an incredibly nice guy. You're not the guy who's going to go out there and say crazy things to try to start up controversy or try to land a fight. you go out there work your butt off put on great fights and and you win most of them so you go out there and you prove yourself but does it ever get frustrating when you're when you're out there and you're like hey i want to fight vicente i want to fight bala i want to fight whatever and and you're not the guy who gets called up very regularly now occasionally you know you will hear your name you know

out there but like when you're trying to get a higher rank guy or a guy even just around you in the rankings within a couple spaces they don't call your name does it ever get frustrating that you're like, hey, why am I not getting these guys? Yeah, I mean, then we put this into a plusher in place. I mean, you see some of these guys that are ranked in the top five, top ten. I rarely ever get called out for them. But everyone from like 11 back, like, yeah, New Maddie. You going to fight, New Magnet.

They know him the guy when they take that fight. The split side to that, which is what makes it a little less pressure in. Because I understand how to fight game worse right now. Like all these agents are out there trying to do those best for their clients. And at the end of the day, if they have more to lose in fighting, me it's not going to be fight the way for their guys. And I guarantee you, after this fight that I have here in June, a fight with Vicente Luque or Giverr Burns would be a lot more likely for me because of,

we're there with the rankings and who they fought recently where it's like, oh, damn, my hands are kind of side. I guess I had to fight real now. So it's just one of those things. Like, it is funshry not getting the fights that I run is when I want them, but I didn't have to understand if I'm going to have to understand if I'm going to be the way that it is. Yeah. On the other side of that, though, like I look at rankings as kind of like a blestering.

blessing and a curse because like we do our own global rankings at MMA fighting and I have fun with it and we do a rankings podcast. You ever listen to it sometime. You can hear me like getting all riled up about people being ranked ahead other people. It's fun. It's a fun debate to have. Like I admit it's fun to have. On the flip side, and it is beneficiary sometimes. Like when a guy's on a good streak, you can say, man, you're a third ranked in the world. You should be getting a title shot. I understand all that. The curse side of it though is because of where we have guys who will protect their ranking.

I'm not saying that, like, I had, I had Bilau. I talked to Bilau last week. I talked to Vicente before their fight. I don't think either one of those guys are protecting their rankings. Vicente is a guy who's fought everybody. He's never turned down. I don't think he's ever turned anyone down either. And I know Bilal, I mean, he's taking, he took fights he probably didn't need to take as well.

So I'm not saying those guys are particular. But we know there are guys who are protecting their ranking. You know what I mean? They don't want to fight the number seven guy, even if they're number five, because they don't want to fight backwards. They only want to fight fours. I understand the mentality of fighting forwards, but I also understand, you know, momentum is built,

and, you know, and you're a, you're a name. I mean, you are a guy. You've been a top 10 guy for so long. How is beating Neil Magny not, you know, that's a, that's still a very meaningful win. Does it ever just like, I don't, again, I don't use the word frustrating, but angry or whatever. Like, it's like people, do you see that happening?

Do you see and believe people are out there trying to protect their ranking? Um, for me to protect my own standing, my own piece, I quit hearing about the rankings a long time. go. I stopped caring about the rankings when it was a situation where I believe I was ranked number six or something like that. This was years ago and Donald Serrani was scheduled to fight Kevin Gaston with the time he was ranked number five and that fight had never, it never came through. It never happened. The fight never took place. I think Kelvin had something going with his wake up where he had to pull out the fight either the day before or the day on and a fight

and never fell through. Somehow, the ratings came off the next week, and Donald Sorony found himself in the top five. I bowed back the spot, and Kevin Galsman was at number six. Or number five, never said it, or, yeah, number six, and I fell back. I'm going to scratch my head trying to figure out, like, wait, how does someone move up in the rankings without actually fighting?

I mean, I can even understand someone fighting, someone who ranks to be able to further back, losing to fight, and they fall back just a little bit, but to not fight at all and somehow jump six, six, seven spots in the round. rankings, I could care about the right at that point. At that point, I was just like, you know what? If I have a number behind my name, sure, whatever, come and get it.

Like, if someone who's not right, wants that opportunity to try to take this number that I have by my name, by all these, come and get it. Come and try and make that fight happen. For me, I'm going to do whatever it says to get to that title shop. It means fighting a thousand guys if I get that one highlight real finish. It's like, oh, my God, that was amazing. All right, this is a new fight. Let's fight a new fight for a title now.

And that's what it takes me to fight for a title. I'll do it. But at this point, I quit chasing the rankings because, like, like you said, It's the most fushed, pretty thing possible. Like, before the Gilbert Burns fight, I mean, this is a guy who has reached out to me personally, like, hey, let's make this fight happen. And he got word back from his management, whoever they may be, they said, oh, yeah, you're not doing this fight. You're not, nobody's not ranked behind enough for you. And in a certain round, if I see a guy who's ranked four or five spots behind me, I'm just like, wait, like, where is the logic here when it comes to rankings?

And what do these things even mean anymore? So yeah, at the end day, it is a gift from the curse where it's like one side of it, you won't be in the top five, you want to get so close to the Tiber Shop, the other side of it's like, what does it actually mean at this point? I mean, we've seen guys win fights being right number two, and they call out Nade Diaz, you guys want to fight in five years. And you're seeing here thinking, like, how do we legitimize these rankings when you have things like that taking place?

And I can't understand it. So here I am, fighting a guy right behind me yet again in order to get, hopefully get posted to my spot. So there we go. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's, and I think in a way, like, I think that's why you carry so much respect in the industry, Neil, because, like, you were the guy when no one wanted to fight Hamzot, you're like, I'll fight Hamzot. Now with Shavkat, same kind of thing. He's saying no one wants to fight me. You can't get the guys to fight me. You're fighting Shafkat. Like, you're the guy who will do this. And I think that says a lot about your character that for years, it was Uspin. Like, Ousman, when he was coming up, I remember talking to Kamar many times. He's like, I can't get these ranked guys to fight me. If I remember correctly, you know, you're guys, I'll fight any. I don't care who you are. Like, give them to me. I don't, I don't, I'm, there's no prejudice in my, in my world.

Give me the fights. I feel like in a way, like when it's all said and done, years from now when you're retired and you're hanging out with your family and your kids and all the stuff. Like, can you, I feel like you're a guy who's going to look back with pride to say, I never ducked anybody. I never turned down a fight. I sought out the guys. Other people wouldn't fight.

Because I think that says a lot about your character and who you are as a fighter. For sure. That's 100% the legacy of me for me. I mean, uh, for my own. selfish desires, I want to leave your seat being a champion. But like, along the way, looking back, even if I stop fighting tomorrow, looking back what I've done in my career

so far, I'm not ashamed of it at all. And I'm very happy with the work that I've done so far. So it's definitely not any regress that I'm having five, six, seven years after retirement for the kind of career that I've had. Just because I know what I put it into, I know the fights that I took, and I know

a risk that I took. I mean, one of the five people all over the world in your own backyard, just like, All these fights that most people would not take. I mean, going down to South America and fighting Cosmedia, no one was going to do that. Going out to Brazil fighting being my own, he's in his prime, no one wants to do that.

Like, you know what I mean? So going out there, I mean, fighting Kevin Gasson, Mexico, two weeks notice, five-rounder, no one's willing to do those things, and I took those risks every single time. And that's something I had my head proudly on and have no shame at all at the end of the end of the day. Yeah. So let me ask you, before I get to Shavka,

let me ask you one more thing about Hong. because that was a fight you wanted for such a long time. I thought it was going to happen. It just never came together. Did you? Because it was right after, because again, we talked,

you know, on March 26th, when you won your fight in Columbus, we talked to the post-fight Presser, and even then you're like, I still want the Homzlaught fight. Of course, he went out there and got a big winner of Gilbert Burns.

Impres an incredible fight. What did you think of Hamzot's performance with Gilbert? It was a great fight on both ends. I mean, Gilbert showed a lot of a great-knat fight. He threw himself in a very, I thought it would be like, him leaning to his jitzen afi, but he stood his own against humzahn and was right there

swimming, shot for shot with him. So I was definitely a person with both guys. I mean, the biggest takeaway from that fight even watching live was like, I turn over and looks to my tramp on. I'm like, dude, this is the guy that you guys thought was invincible? Like, look how he looks. Like, you know what I mean? So, um, it's seeing Hamza fight give a verse, there was nothing that like, that's how he stood out. He's like, oh, wow, I never thought he'd done that. Like, don't get me wrong. It was a great fight. The guy did one. I'm not hate him at all. But like, um, seeing him. him in a fighting against Gerber and seeing how human he looked,

finally going against the top competition. This kind of let me notice what I've seen in the entire time. You know what I mean? It wasn't like this mystique character that everyone was trying to build around there. It's like, yeah, man, he's a man who believe just like I do. As a matter of fact, I'm going to go out there to make him bleed. Watch this. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, that was the thought I had with wanting to fight. How was that? You never had to the fight. I was still the same noise. He went from like absorbing five shots of people of fights and getting 11, 119, and 220-70 shots. fight. So I definitely knew what I was capable of going to fight with what I was at. That's why I would have got there and do it. But it's still there. Desire's still there. He's still undefeated.

And I still got there in a judgment. He's undefeated guys. So here we go. Yeah. Is there any part of you that wishes you had been in the Gilbert Burns position though? Because I, you know, again, and Gilbert, you know, even I told Gilbert this after the fight, even though it was a loss and it's a very close fight, let's be honest. Like that third round could have gone either way. I said, you know, listen, I understand it's a loss on your record. And Gilbert's like, listen, it doesn't make me feel me better. But I said, I don't feel like you lose anything with that fight because it was such a great fight. And, you know, you showed a lot of what people wondered, you know, what Hamzot has in him.

Is there any part of you just like, man, I wanted to be that guy. I wanted to be the guy to kind of expose him a little bit. Yeah, I mean, definitely a piece of that that goes into it. I can't mean, like everyone's a friend that video. When can be a superhero that soup sitting and show, like, oh, yeah, he wasn't that bad, was it? Like, you know what I mean? So you definitely want to be that guy to go out there and kind of puts these other guys to the test and show that you want to best feel that's where it's out there.

So that desire to go out there to compete against the guy who had so much mystique about him, so much worry around him and was undefeated, I definitely want to go out there and just know something against a guy like that. So you still would like to see Hamza at some point down the road? Oh, 100%. It's not off the table yet. Yeah, I love it. I love that mentality.

Now, again, the other guy, the other prospect, let's say, the other guy in the division who's coming up undefeated, lots of big knockouts, all those kind of things. He isn't getting the same kind of attention because, let's be honest, Shavkat, Rachmanoff is not a guy who's going on speaking English and saying, I'm going to smash everybody. Hamzot has the benefit of that to where he kind of got the publicity also from, you know, fighting twice in 10 days and then, you know, kind of having that, you know,

that little bit of that Khabman mentality where he's like, I'm going to smash everybody. Okay. Shavkat doesn't have that, but he definitely has the resume in terms of what he's done in his fight so far. you could fight another top 10 guy maybe a guy who's you know three and two in his last five you know whatever is there a bigger benefit of fighting a guy like shaft cap much like fighting much like fighting umzot undefeated all the hype in the world maybe he doesn't have the ranking but everyone's buzzing about it like is there sometimes more to gain from a fight like this um for me personally 100% of me he's a guy that's coming up he's undefeated he's the young guy

he has way more fights out of than i do you know what i mean so I'm I think I test myself against the best of the best right now is the thing that drives me. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I go to a gym day and day out. And I try to bring out the best of myself and going out there and test myself against a young undefeated fighter is definitely the most motivating thing I can do. Because, like, the opposite is happening through my career as well. Like, I've beaten literally every single U.S.C. champion since George's APA, with the exception of the current champion and retired wily. And after those fights, it was the same kind of thing.

Like, oh, whatever, those guys are over the hill. So you're telling me, Robbie Lauder is over hill. You go under fire by Rob Laughampton and how to do. Like, you know what I mean? So like, at this start my career, I'm like, I literally do not care about rankings, about this, about that. If it's the, the record is kind of carry more weight than the rankings to a certain extent. Like, the guys undefeated and fighting UFC, that dude's legit. Like, you know what I mean?

Like, there's a lot of tough fighters in UFC right now, and the rankings don't always tell that story. So going against a young, undefeated fighter in UFC, I feel like that definitely made some bigger statement than some of these guys who made me rank a little bit higher than he is or whatever else may be. Yeah. Now, with that being said, Neil, you said it with Hamzai. You said, when you looked at Hamzai, you didn't see this monster, this invincible force of nature. You saw ways you could beat him. You saw ways you could analyze and say, I could go out there and beat this guy.

And again, we're not putting it past you to be the guy to maybe hand him his first defeat. That being said, when you looked at Shavkat, he's got a little bit more tape on him than Hamzot did, because Hamzot had been in the, you know, been in the cage for like six minutes of total time and it absorbed one strike. And again, let's be honest, you know, a couple of his first couple opponents, you know, were out of the UFC right after he fought them. So maybe he didn't have a great test in those first couple fights. We have a little bit more on shop cut. Now he's had, you know, some big finishes and things like that. And he's looked incredible.

But when you look at him, do you see the same kind of thing where you look at him and say, yeah, he's looked great. I mean, you know, credit to him getting the big knockouts. But this is going to be his first test. This is going to be his first legitimate test and going in there, and you see ways to beat him the same way you saw ways to beat Hamzad. Yeah, 100%. I mean, you watch film with these guys. You see these guys.

I mean, there's not a world to it out there who haven't seen fight and haven't thought my back from mind, like, oh, I wonder how this fight would play out. Like, you know what I mean? So before this fight, he was in the office to me. It was already a guy who's in my radar. I'm like, all right, those guys doing some things in division. I'm sure there'll be a fight to make down the road here. That road just came up a lot quicker than I thought it would.

but yeah i definitely see some uh kicks in armor so to speak and definitely see um several ways i go out there and meet them do you ever take it personally that you that guys try to build their name off of you because you are the guy you are a veteran you are a top 10 fighter and because you mentioned earlier like you said like you know they'll call you out because they know you'll take the fight like you're not the guy who's going to say no you're not ranked high enough. You know, you're not big enough. I'm going to fight, you know, the number eight guy. Like, you're not, you're not, you've never been that guy. But does it ever, do you ever take a personal that people are trying to build, like going into this fight, let's be honest. There's

a lot of buzz about. He's undefeated. He's the next big thing. We love this narrative in our sport, and Neil. We do. We just love it. And I get it. I do. I understand the, I understand the novelty of it. I really do. Everyone's undefeited at one time until they lose. I mean, that's just how it works. But do you ever take a personal to like, you know, this guy thinks he's going to build his name off of beating Neil Magny? No, I mean, to some extent, it's almost like a badge of honor. I mean, spending seven years in the army, like you see that old, that old rusty vet out there.

The guy just, like, did five tours star, right, four tours of Afghanistan. And, like, that's the dude, like, that's the most badass dude in the unit. And you look at him like, damn, dude, that guy has seen some stuff. Like, you look at him and you kind of, like, admire that guy, so to speak. And the fight game for me is no different. Like being a guy that these, these juniors think that they're going to make the name off of. For me, that's motivating. There's something about that.

It says, like, damn, I did enough from my career to this point that these guys think, like, all right, this is the next big test me. This is the next thing that could, like, probably take my career to the next level, so to speak. So being that that person that stands in the cups of that, like, that kind of hill, they kind of take someone over to the next part of their career. For me, like, there's no, like, bitterness to that, it neat about that at all. I mean, you want to be the guy if these young guys want to fight. Like, I guarantee you talk about as Griffin for his last fight.

He was probably riding Cloud 9. I'm like, oh, wow, I'm fighting so-and-so. I'm fighting a time-ton guy. I'm fighting this and finding that. There were all these things that he was laying out before I had fights. So being in a position where these guys think they go out there and make a name of me,

it does not bother me one bit. I mean, if I think it would probably motivate me more. Because I'm more so sitting back like, all right, cool. You think it's be that easy. Come on and get it. Come on and try it out to see what it's about. Yeah.

And you've been there before. when guys try to do that and you've been there when it doesn't work because you you are the guy who doesn't go away you know you're the guy who will you know maybe you maybe like the max griffin fight great start for him then you just ran it out you ran it out of him like you know he had that moment in the first round and then you just ran it out of him and you kind of broke him in that moment like do you love that feeling of like you know when it doesn't work when he doesn't go out there and get that quick knockout when he doesn't go out there and just you know steamroll somebody do you like that mentality of going out there

and kind of breaking him a little bit because I feel like you're the I almost feel like we need to I know you have a nickname I don't want to ruin your nickname but I feel like you need to be nicknamed the unbreakable Neil Magny because you're just a guy who doesn't go away

yeah I mean I did I freaking love it like you said it as your fight you said it perfectly in that fight I realized the moment that he broke and most of the time in a fight that happens when you're the guy opposing your will like he got that knocked out early on and he chose not to engage.

And at that point, I realized like, okay, cool. I see what the game kind is here. He's not necessarily looking to, like, go out there and like literally do what it takes and put me away. He's okay. He's content of like riding it out and just kind of point fight from here. So making that adjustment and realizing it's like, all right, cool, this is the guy, I know for a fact that can break in his fight.

Now we're not going to adjust that. I mean, you literally see the guy in the fight, laying in a corner, head down, that kind of thing, seeing him backstage, icing every carver's body. You're like, all right, cool. I did my job. We're also supposed to be out there and do. These young guys, when it comes to these fights, they want to say, hey, I'm going out there and knock his head off.

Please come out there and try to do just that. I hope you're manual and you actually try to do that because it makes my job a lot easier being in bringing the fight to you. And that's exciting. That's the kind of exciting matchups that I'm going into. Yeah, I love this fight. And again, you know, in all sincerity, Neil, you know, you fight everybody.

Like you said, you've kind of fought every great welts way. And, again, like, me personally, like, I loved when you got the Robbie Loller fight. because that's kind of like one of those fights, much like the kind of legend fights where you get to prove yourself against the established veterans. But I'm not going to lie. I thought, and I thought you should have got the Hamza fight. I thought there was a perfect fight to make, and it would have made a lot of sense based on the timing and based on where he was in the division. And weirdly, I do like this because as good as Shavkat has looked and he has looked incredible, he's not really been tested by that level of welterweight.

You are that level of welterweight. We know that. So we're going to find out how real this guy is. And I kind of like, because like I said, and I don't want to name names. I'm not going to, I don't want to disrespect anyone in the Walter Ray rankings. But there are guys around you in the rankings where I would say,

honestly, right now, Neil, you'll, you'll get more from fighting Shavka right now than you would get fighting them. Am I wrong? I don't think I'm wrong. I mean,

I've sat on the couch eight months before fighting Mike Griffin and have gotten absolutely nothing for it. So, if anything, We're out in fighting Shaqtap does a lot more from the sooner couch for another eight months. I mean, I know for a fact of me, these guys, you know, stood out and wait for a perfect moment, this kind of thing. And I'm just not one of those guys. I mean, if that method worse for you, more prior to you, I'm a guy that goes out there versus everything he has.

And me going out there, fire in Shabjat is literally me doing just that. I know what this fight brings for me, my family, my legs to me to see him like that. And I'm going out there and make sure all those things take place. Now, this fight is in June. I can't remember, and forgive me, because I didn't look it up right before we spoke. This is this a three-round fight? Yeah, so three-round fight, June 20th. Okay, so this should be a five-round fight, is what I'm saying.

This should be a main event. I'm saying, like, it should be a main event, because I feel like you're a guy, you get stronger as the rounds go on. I think we've all talked about one of your biggest weapons is your ability to push the pace and people can't go with you for that long. I mean, we remember the Kelvin fight on short, two weeks notice what you did to Kelvin in that short-nose fight. Is there any part of you that's kind of like,

man, I wish this was five rounds? Part of me does. The five round of the main event definitely carries a little more nor riding for my part. But at the end of day, it's like, I have 15 minutes to break this guy. If you mentioned 15 minutes, it's great. But like, what can I do within that 15 minutes and make sure I absolutely break this, dude?

And I think 15 minutes more time to get it done. So it's all to me to go out there and get the fights started early and bring the fights from right away. Yeah, it's a really intriguing matchup. And again, I think this is the moment we're going to find out how real this guy is because he has looked great. But we all know you're a different animal, Neil, and you're not a guy who's going to bow down for anybody. And I love that about you. And I think that is a mentality that we don't see as much in the sport maybe because we do, again, you know, we talk about like the unfortunate side of the rankings, people protecting their spot in the division, all those kind of things.

And again, to a certain point, I understand it. But, you know, as I said, I'm just going to start calling the Unbreakable Neil Magny because I think that's the perfect nickname for you. because you're not a guy who goes away. You're not going to bow down for anybody. And I love that mentality. I love that as, you know, again, you're not going to ever be the biggest talker. You're never going to become, you know,

Connor McGregor on the microphone, but no one's going to walk through Neil Magne. No one ever has, and I don't think anyone ever will. Yeah, 100% exactly exactly how I feel and exactly how I feel and exactly my career. I mean, I have a commercial for my career? Sure, plenty of times.

But at the end of the day, I'm not a guy that's a good way easy. I'm not a guy that's like, for black veterans, not a soft dude. I want to do this kind of lays over and like, and just kind of takes it like way that way. I'm no guy does it bring the fight to you do whatever I can,

make it exciting. So I'm excited to go out there and test myself against young under-duty fighters. Yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, Neil, thank you, as always, for taking the time. You know, I appreciate it. I have a good training camp out in Colorado. I'm sure it's going to be.

Hopefully the weather's getting a little bit nicer as the summer's getting closer. And enjoy a training camp, man. Can I wait see you back in June? And thank you, as always, for the time. You know, I appreciate it. Awesome. I'm doing. Hey, talk to you soon.

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Gambling Problem Call Connects Ontario 1866-531-260. 19 and over. President in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply. See golden nuggettcasino.com for details. Please play responsibly. A big thank you to Neil Magne for stopping by. Love that dude's willingness to fight the fights that no one else ever seems to want. I really enjoy that. And again, you know, win-lose-a-draal, the dude goes out there and fights his ass off. And you've got to love what Neil Magne brings to the sport. He's a guy, you know, much like, you know, I've praised Bilal Muhammad multiple times for being a guy who is constantly called out Hamzat when it seemed like nobody was calling out Hamzaat Shamaev and he continues to call

it Hamzat Shemayev. Neil Magny was the original. He's the guy who said, give me Hamzot Shemayev. I'll absolutely fight Hamzot Shemayev. Give him to me tomorrow. I'll fight Hamzot Shemayev. I love Neil Magny's willingness to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even when the situation doesn't necessarily favor him or even when the situation doesn't

necessarily offer him as much reward, you know, giving, you know, putting his ranking up against the guy who's maybe out of the rankings or a guy who's on the fringe of the rankings or whatever the case may be. You're never going to hear Neil Magnet protect his spot by turning down fights. That's just not who he is. And you've got to love that about the guy. All right now, we're going to talk to my next guest. He is one of the top bantamweight fighters in the world, and he is returning to action on August 20th at UFC 278 for a big time matchup against former featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Again, I've never actually had a chance to speak to this guy.

So I'm super excited to get him on the show and talked about his upcoming fight that just got announced. So let's talk right now to Marab de Wailashvili. He is one of the top bantamweight fighters in the world and his fight just got announced. August 20th, UFC 278, he takes on the legend Jose Aldo. I am excited to speak to Marab, Duolishvili. Marab, thank you for taking the time for me. I appreciate it. Let's go.

Yes, they are no problem. So you had to wait for a long time to finally find an opponent, somebody willing to step up and fight you, and you get a legend in Joseo. How excited were you to get that fight offer? It's amazing. I wasn't accepting this. Josialdo, he is a legend.

I was thinking everybody else, but not him. But, yeah, so UFC gave me him for my next opponent, and I'm ready to go. he's just he's just another fighter another opponent for me and I'm just ready like it's nothing just I'm just going to go and fight hard and it's like we got to show people good fight and that's that that will be absolutely you know I know that you know when you were waiting for an opponent you know I imagine it got a little frustrating right like you were trying to get somebody ranked you're trying to get a good name like was it was it getting frustrated

were you getting a little irritated, kind of waiting for a fight? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I was a little bit, after I'll just fight, I was a little bit stressed because I don't have motivation, like, because I was training and I don't have an opponent to who, everybody was getting a fight, but, like, nobody was saying my name and, like, nobody told me to, like, you, I mean, you fight being six months later, or are you fighting? You know, I was just waiting, and then, like, it wasn't. any news.

And yeah, because, yeah, so I was ready. But now it was worth it to wait, you know. Absolutely. Now it's, yeah. Let me, let me ask, you know, when Aljo, right before Aljo's fight got announced with T.J. Dilloshaw. Now, I know the fight's not officially done yet. He talked about, he hasn't signed the contract,

but it looks like he's going to fight T.J. Dillishaw. He had actually said on Joe Rogan, show, he said, you know, Jose Aldo is probably the toughest matchup, you know, in this division. Jose Aldo's, you know, looking really good in a way, like, is this like the best possible fight you could get? Because a lot of people believe Jose Aldo probably, you know, in a way, probably deserved the title shot over Tija. I don't know how you feel about it, but, I mean, Jose's been on a great streak lately.

Yeah, yeah, I think he deserved title fight, too. But, yeah, I don't know, you have the choice to give T. TV show fight. I agree with Aljo. I think Jose Aldo deserve more and I know also Aljo once fight with legend like Josialdo

and but like I don't know like this is, you have seen me this fight so see I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna fight and like make

my team and my country proud and my all my people, whatever. So this is another fight. This is my job to win. Josie Aldo's job to win. So we'll see. We'll see.

We'll see. You know, I know, Marab, you know, there's a possibility of having a fight with a little bit of bad blood. Like, I thought you and Peter Jan was the fight to make. I thought that would be a big fight. Of course, you know, you training with Aljo, getting him ready. I thought you and Peter Jan would be a great fight. You know, Hinder's to Hudo coming back. That's another one.

I know he's got a little bit more of a delay because he has to go through the test. and everything coming out of retirement. But again, he likes to talk a lot. He likes to, you know, go crazy. But Jose is such a respectful guy. You know he's not going to say a bad word about you. He's not going to say a bad word about your team or anything else like that. Like, do you like that better having an opponent who is very respectful and just a legend

versus a guy who, you know, is going to probably try to trash talk you or, you know, say crazy things to get the fight amped up? Like, do you have, do you prefer one over the other? Hey, man, I have a legend opponent, Joseph. And this is, this is perfect for me. Why we have to talk trash, you know, like he's legend. I have respect to him. And then he, you know, he thinks he's, I mean, he's, he's, he's the best and he's going to try to kick my ass. And, but we'll see. So, you know, it's like, we don't have to, we don't have to, like, he, he's the best, you know, he don't do anything bad for me.

Like, he's just my opponent. And this is just sport. We're going to go and fight. each other. But like Peter Ian, he's a piece of shit. And that's, you know, like, you know, like forever. Just I don't want to talk about him. You know, he's just, he's in, he's in Russia. And I hope he gets locked there and never come here, US, you know. But with Aldo, I mean, you know, Aldo, Aldo is such a legend. I mean, the guy's been around forever. you could argue the greatest featherweight of all time. And his last three wins, he's looked so good, beating Cheeto Vera, beating Rob Font. Again, you know, you could argue he's a better opponent than anyone he could get right now

because he's on a win streak. And again, I mean, talking about adding a legend to the resume. There's not much bigger than Jose Aldo, the guy is a guaranteed Hall of Famer. Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Hey, man, like, I'm just blessed. Like, thank God and thank UFC and thank you. everybody thank my team. And, like, this is, like, really dream where we are now.

And, like, this is, like, for me, it's, like, really another fight. Like, yeah, like, maybe a couple months ago or a couple years ago, I cannot even imagine where I am now. But step by step, we are here, and we are proving. We are doing everything right. And we're just fighting and working hard. with my team. Absolutely.

And so. Let me, let me ask you, Marab, you know, I don't want to, I don't try to get too much into like fight breakdown

stuff, game plan or anything. But of course, everyone knows you have such a tremendous wrestling background. Your grappling is second to none. And you also have some of the most vicious ground and pound in this sport. We saw it in your five, you know,

in Marlora, is the way you have some just nasty, devastating ground to pound. There's one thing you can say about Josealdo, incredible striker. But he's not spent a lot of time getting wrestled. It's tough to wrestle a guy like Josealdo. Do you look forward to that kind of

a challenge? You know, that guy like a Josealdo who is, you know, incredible striker, tough to take down, and you know what he's coming in to do. You know he's coming in to kick your legs off and try to knock you out. I mean, I would be shocked if he goes for like a flying arm bar in this fight, Marab. I'd be shocked if that's

his game plan. Yeah. Yeah, I think he's going to try to keep a stand-up and he's blackball jujitsu also, like, you know, like yeah you and I you know

listen he he's good tracker we all know he kicks hard and or he defends wrestling like he's not it's hard to

it's hard to take him down and even if you take him down he's a great jiu jiu jutsu he will get up or he will try to attack submission so like I have to fight everywhere I have to be smart and I have to

I have to show like everybody that I can fight everywhere so I think yeah You know, like everybody thinks, yeah, I'm more grappler, whatever, but I can, I strike, you know, I just don't like get punch in my face too much. Yeah, I can keep her up with Giusealdo and I can throw punch and whatever. But, you know, I'm ready for every position, you know, he's legend and I'm just, you know, once he's going to touch me and I'll be, I know, I'll be mad. Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely. It's kind of funny, like you get up for the challenge, right? Like, he is an incredibly tough challenge, but that just makes you work that much harder to get ready for him, right? Definitely, yes. So let me ask, I mentioned, of course, that it looks like it's going to be your teammate Al J. Stirling taken on T.J. Dillishaal,

and I know that's a fight that I think a lot of people are looking forward to. I'm curious. I know, of course, you're going to pick your teammate Al Jermaine Sterling to win that fight, and I actually like Al Jermaine to win that fight, And I actually like Al Jal Jain to win that fight as well. I think T.J. lost to Corey Sanhagen. Just being honest, I thought he lost that fight. So I was not one of the people saying he should have got a title shot, but it is what it is.

He got the title shot. Okay. How do you see that fight playing out? I know you're going to pick Al Jamee, but how do you think Al Jamee beats him? I just don't see how TJ can touch Al Jamey Stanley anywhere. Like even striking, Al Jaljo is so tall. You know, like, and if he wants, Aljo wants, if Aljo keep a strike, you know, like we all see like Aljo versus Pedro Munis fight, Jimmy Rivera fight, you know, Aljo, Aljo can strike with,

like, Aljo's stand up is very good. Even, even he, he won the first round with Peter, yeah, like, like the second fight. Like, he was, like, back up, like, walking, he was walking, he was working backward, but he was the winning fight. Aljo is good, you know, stand up. And if Aljo, and they, if they hit that ground, and Aljo will submit him or take his back and, like, make him miserable. So, yeah, Aljo wins all day.

Because I don't see, I know, Aljo is tall, strong, you know, T.J. Yeah, he has a fast hand moving, but, you know, but, yeah, what he's going to do? What he's going to do? Yeah. Aljo, Peter Young, Davley, you know, Al Jaljo, you know, Peter Ian, I think he's a good, good, good, good fighter now in our record. TJ, they're sure he's good, but I think it's not this much good, like, to keep it up without Joe.

Yeah. How do you feel about, you know, again, this is not your business because you're, you know, it's your teammate fighting him, but there's so much being made about TJ coming back from the suspension. And no matter what he does in his career, you know, we're always going to talk about, you know, when he cheated. I mean, you just can't ignore it. How do you feel about that, Marab?

Because, you know, a lot of people say, well, why is he getting this opportunity? you know, one fight after he cheated, and, you know, you wonder, like, should he have done more? And, again, I know, you're going to get your teammate ready and all those kinds of, how do you feel about that? Because I know a lot of people don't like to fight guys who have cheated. They worry, are you still cheating? What do we have to wear? Like, do you worry about that with opponents?

I mean, obviously, I don't, I don't think you're going to worry about it with Josaldo. But, I mean, I don't know. What do you think about that? Because it is, it is a real issue with a guy like TJ and, you know, some other guys in the sport as well. Yeah, I hate cheaters. and shame on him. He was like, this is the sport. Like, like, we punch people in the face.

And then like, you know, like if you cheat and you get some steroids or something and he punched me in a face. So you're not a normal man. You are a monster. So you can give me damage. It's not like a play soccer or maybe like, you know, you can, you know, you can, whatever. can give me damage and life, life changing damage. So I hit cheaters and especially these sports.

And most people, we are clean. We are coming from like a humble family, like from nothing. And we all get here from hard work. So but yeah, I hit like that kind of stuff like cheater. But like whatever. So now he has a big name. He's been champion. So the UFC give him title shot.

Like now, it's like, whatever. We have to just get ready. You know, he's definitely good fighter, but I don't think he can like keep up with Aljo. Aljo will win this one much easy. And then other fights, I think. And yeah, so whatever. Just it's going to be another defend, the belt for Aljo.

and then I'll be just happy for him. You know, I think it's, yeah, it's much easier than just the other fight. I think, I don't know. So I think whatever. So I'm just going to enjoy why I'll just fight how to make, how to give less and cheater. I love it. Mara, you know, of course, you and Al Jermaine have both said numerous times. There's no chance, there's no world you guys will ever fight each other.

I know Al Jermaine has said he'll go up to Featherway before he'll fight you, you know, and let you become champion, and you said you'll never fight him while he is champion. I am curious, though, you guys train all the time, and you guys spar all the time. Now, I went down to American Top Team a few years ago, and I got to see Dustin Porrier and George Mazvedal spar. Now, they'll never fight each other. They're very good friends, but I got to watch them spar for three rounds, and boy, was that fun, watching them spar for three rounds in the gym.

So tell me, what are your sparring sessions with Al Jermaine like? You guys will never fight, but what are those sparring sessions like in the gym between you's two? Yeah, sparring with all the gym is telling me never fun. You know, that guy always makes me humble. You know, he's the monster. He's champion for a reason. He's, like, hard worker so smart. Like, you guys can watch his podcast, how he, like, talks about fighting, how he's, like, he has best knowledge about.

I mean, he's he's teaching us, like, wrestling class, like some grappling, the M.MA grappling. So, like, Aljo just, like, every time I'm sparring with him, I'm so, like, pumped up, like, I'm, like, a fight, you know, like, because I go with everybody else. I can, I can relax, I can do my thing, like, try a new thing. With Aljo, I always, I have to go hard, but it's never fun. I tell you, like, he makes me humble at the time. Yeah, it's funny because everyone, you know, because you are one of the best bantam weights in the world, of course, he is the champion. Everyone says, well, you guys have to fight eventually. And I understand you guys aren't going to fight.

But how good is it to have Al Jamein as your main training partners you're getting ready for Jose Aldo or Marlon Marius, whoever you're fighting? And then same thing with you, like, as he's getting ready for T. T.J. Dillishol, you're going to be a huge part of his game. We're talking about two of the best bantamates in the world working together. Like, that's a great problem to have, isn't it? Yeah, definitely. Of course, it's a, yeah, it's not a problem. It's like I just blessed, you know, like because of him, that's where I am now.

And then I'm really appreciate to Aljo where I am. So, and then without him, I won't be here because he, everything, like, you know, like watching, watching how he trainings, how he do things. and he's, I tell you, he started like, you know, we have a great coach, striking coach Ray Longo and then Jiu-Jitsu or Mets set up, but like, like, MMA is now only kickboxing and Jiu-Jitsu, you know, it's like there is so many, like, so many, like, things that transfer to like MMA, like, you know, like so many, like ground game or something. and I learned from Aljo all this and yeah

he yeah man I just this is the best that I have a teammate like him and a friend and brother yeah I love that you guys are our family like that because you know again when you become

champion you know you become the hunted you know he has the target on his back because he is the best in the world but I love that you guys say that we're not going to fight we're never going to fight you know we'll we'll fight other people one of us you know and when Alja's done being champion, you can become champion. Like, I love that because you guys make each other better.

Like, Alja wouldn't be where he's at without you, and you wouldn't be where you're at without him. And I love that, I love that friendship that, you know, some things are bigger than fights, right? Some things are bigger than money. Some things are bigger than titles. Yes, for sure. So now, let me ask you this because I was on your Instagram and I saw, I think it was when you guys were in Georgia, because you had Al Jermaine and Al-A Quinta went to Georgia. with you, correct?

Yes, last year, last summer. You posted a video with you guys swimming upstream. Do you know what I'm talking about? When you guys were jumping, I think it was in the river, and you guys were swimming upstream. Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Did it look like you almost lost Ally Aquinto at one point? Because it looked like he was kind of falling behind

in that race a little bit. No, no, the video is cut. Like, actually, I was, like, like, the widow is cut cut cut a couple of times. And like, it's different, like different, like, different parts of video, like, you know, it's like, I don't know, like I, like, some people don't get it. Some people think that I win, like, and then the, no, no, no, it's like, that was just fun. Like, we all need good. We were trying to all, like, make the top. And then when you make top, the, like, the river, you can just put your leg to the rocks and then all these water gives you massage, you know, you get stuck. there and then like the water like you like it's amazing but if you if you don't hold yourself if you miss your leg and then the water just take you down you know like that just brings you whatever so this is the river called sulori it's like my small village name and that's where

i grow up and i was swimming all summer long and um and this is just natural organic like then the water is so so clean you can drink, it's like, it's amazing. I was getting tired just watching you guys swimming because that current was no joke. Like, it was definitely flowing and you guys are, you know, three high-level UFC athletes and you guys were swimming hard to stay on that current. That looked like no joke right there. Yeah.

Yeah, that was so fun. Good workout. Absolutely. Before we drink lots of wines. I love it. Real quick, before I get you out. here, Marab, I know that the fight is still a little ways away, of course, in August. I know you do travel a lot with Aljo and your team. I know you train in Vegas,

you train in New York. Do you know where you're going to spend the majority of this training camper? Are you going to be traveling a lot? Are you going to stay in New York? Like, where are you going to be training mostly when you get ready for Josealdo? Yeah, I think we will go, we will be in Vegas because it's much easier because UFCPI. There is more training partners here in Vegas and Aljo will be here at all

because he's getting ready for T.J. Dillishal fight in September. So we will be together here in Vegas and we will just training each other, spying each other and we will like, we also training with other guys too. And then yeah, this is much easy because New York

I have so many good friends and family members and like even Georgia and B.com. lives there in Brooklyn. It's not far. And every time, every weekend or every day, something happening and every time you invite me a restaurant or like this and some some people needs like something help or something. You know, like simple. I always would love to go do things, but and then the waste my time and sometimes I am late to training, sometimes I miss training because in Vegas I'm more purpose. I have, I know less people here.

and then it's just for it's like it's like a it's like a it's like a best good good place to like just focus of training you know then then not not worry for like other things like because because this is like this sport you need to need to like training and relax you know like because otherwise if you like I'm not young anymore you know I used to have a party I used to go everywhere is to like not go sleep and work and like still

I was still training and still fighting but now I feel like a little old I gotta slow down a little bit no like I gotta do

for you know it's not joke anymore yeah no I understand I understand is this is this is this is unreal

I'm fighting Josio Aldo so I gotta take serious you know because yeah like it's like looks like a dream man yeah and i assume i assume aljermain will be in your corner and then you'll go

and be in his corner in september yeah i think so yeah i mean aljol will be my corner for sure if you like you know like it's like only 20 days before or his fight and yeah i think if he is yeah yeah he will be my corner and uh yeah yeah he will be my corner and uh yeah yeah he's like a Romania is like to training. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Marab, it's a pleasure to speak with you. I really do appreciate the time.

I'm very glad you got this fight. I think you deserve it. I'm glad you got a big fight. Jose Aldo is a legend. I love this matchup. Cannot wait for August 20th. Have a great training camp. Thank you so much for taking the time.

And I look forward to catching up with you again in the future. Thank you so much, man. God bless. All the best. Talk to you soon. Okay. Thank you so much. See, right.

Bye-bye. Marab de Wallisville, what a great time talking to him. Cannot wait for August 20. That card's going to be great. Kamar Usman, Leon Edwards, too. Of course, you also got Luke Rockhold taken on, Paulo Cost on that card. Should be a really fun night of fights going back, going to Salt Lake City, Utah for a pay-per-view. That's interesting, interesting choice.

It's going to be good. I think the crowd's going to be lively, and I've only been to Utah one time. I've seen your high school went camping on the northern part of Utah, so I've never actually been to Salt Lake City. I actually know people from Salt Lake City from that area. Big Sports Town, of course, Utah Jazz always do really, really well there. So it'll be interesting to see what kind of crowd they draw for a pay-per-view. And we've seen, you know, since the UFC has come back and been putting on fights in front of audiences in the pandemic era,

the crowds have shown up. The ticket sales have been out, you know, through the roof. So I expect Salt Lake City will be no different. Interesting card, of course. You know, Kamar Usman, number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. rightfully so. Taking on Leon Edwards in a rematch after he put on a pretty dominant performance against Leon the first time, but Leon has since gone undefeated in his last 10 fights, a really interesting

matchup there. Luke Rockhold, Paulo Costa, that's a really interesting matchup as well. Luke Rockhold coming off a long, long layoff and taking on one of the nastiest knockout artists and one of the guys with one of the best chins in the middleweight division. And let's be honest, bit of a troublemaker. Guy, you know, struggled to make weight last time, started wanting to fight a heavyweight. before it was over with Marvin Vittori, some other things going on in his life. But when he steps into the cage, you know, whatever other, you know,

there's a word I'd like to use here. I won't use, but whatever craziness is going on with Paulo Cost outside the cage, he pretty much always steps in there and puts on a phenomenal fight and has a lot of fun in there doing it. The only time he's ever kind of blanked a fight was when he fought for the title against Adasanya. Outside of that, he's always been fun, always been exciting. So that's an interesting matchup. So yeah, looking forward to UFC 278 in August.

All right, folks, we're going to get out of here. I want to say a big thank you to both of my guest, Neil Magny and Marab de Wailashvili. Definitely appreciate them stopping by the show. Next week we'll be previewing UFC 276 going into the pay-per-view with Israel Adis Sonia taking on Jared Cannon here in the main event. Also got Alexander Volkanowski and Max Holloway in the co-main event. Sean O'Malley's coming back on that card. Really, really fun fight card next. next pay-per-view on July 2nd.

So stay tuned for that on next week's episode of the Fighter versus the Rider. Want to say a big thank you to everyone at tunes in each of every week to the show. Make sure check us out on all of your favorite podcast platform, Spotify, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and of course over on MMAFighting.com. I'm Damon Martin. We'll see you next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Writer. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you then.

The Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay. Only 10 more presents to wrap. almost at the finish line. But first? There, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.