MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer: Paul Felder Predicts Biggest Threats To Every UFC Champion In 2022

Episode Date: January 11, 2022

Paul Felder joins The Fighter vs. The Writer for the official 2022 preview show as he helps break down his favorite fights already booked for the year ahead, along with his picks for the biggest threats to each and every champion currently reigning in the UFC. Felder also addresses some bold predictions, including Francis Ngannou’s future with the UFC and whether or not Jon Jones will return before the end of the year. All that and much more on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. Follow Paul Felder @FelderPaul Follow Damon Martin @DamonMartin Subscribe: Apple Podcasts Subscribe: Spotify Read More: MMA Fighting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Welcome back to the Fighter versus the writer. I am your host, as always, I am Damon Martin. And today it's a guy I've wanted to have on the show for a while because he's one of the brightest minds in our sport. And he's also a big star now. He's in the new HBO series hacks. I mean, he's got all this stuff going on.

He's a triathlete. And he's also one of the best commentators in all the mixed martial arts. And I'm so happy to welcome in today, my good friend, the Irish Dragon. Paul Felder. Paul, welcome in. How are you? I'm great, man. Thank you.

I was just telling you earlier we had some mix-ups with our groceries other than that. It's been a great day today. Yeah, yeah. It's great to have you in. So what we're going to be doing today, of course, we are now into the new year. It is 2022, and there's so much to look forward to, of course, with MMA and the UFC coming up this year.

It's been kind of weird. We've been off for a couple of weeks now with no fights, and it's almost bizarre. Like, I've had a couple of Saturdays off, and I'm like, I don't recognize this world I'm living in right now where I don't have things to do on Saturday night. It does feel weird, doesn't? Even for me, I'm like, you know, obviously I'm keeping myself occupied.

But yeah, same here. To not have to go to work and not just because it's a pay-per-view or something like that. Usually, I mean, there's not too many weeks that go by where I don't have a fight either I just worked one or I'm about to work one in a week or I'm about to work at least a couple in a row. So to have this long of a break has been refreshing, but also, yeah, odd. I'm finding myself looking forward to getting back to work for sure this year. Yeah, you've done such a phenomenal job with commentary. Let me start right there in terms of what you've transitioned into doing. I know we've talked before about this, but, you know, you and, you know,

I call out Michael Bisping all the time and Daniel Cormier and all the other guys, but I think you guys have really separated yourself and become the best of the best and what you do with commentary. And I know you see it on Twitter. I know you see it, you know, in comments and things like that. but just to be honest, man, I think you really have become one of the best in the world doing what you do. And I look forward to every broadcast where you're calling fights

because I know I'm going to learn something and it's just fun to listen to you, do your thing. Man, I appreciate that. And that's all I'm trying to do. I don't pretend to know everything. I don't. You know, I admit my ignorance in situations, which is, I think, important.

You know, I really try to make the fighters shine. I try to give the first. fans and people at home, even somebody like you who knows the sport really well, but maybe doesn't know what it's like to be inside the Arctic. And I really try to paint that picture for people of exactly what it's like in those situations from the stress levels to the lights, the cameras, the people around and just make it clear what they're going through, what they need to do and what separates the best men and women from the people that never get to that point.

It's a challenging sport. It really is. And having done other sports now and done some things, it makes me appreciate what the athletes and mixed martial arts do even more every time I get to call the fight. So I appreciate that. Thank you. And I do appreciate also.

You did give me the accidental shoutout last year when you were calling Damon Jackson's fight and you called him Damon Martin. I was very, very appreciative of that. I was like, I feel like I made my mark on the sports somehow. I actually joked with Damon Jackson about it. I was like, I'm sorry they called you my name. But I appreciate the shout out,

even if it was an accident. Did you tweet about it? I did. Yeah, I did. I tweeted about it. I was laughing because I got tagged so many times on Twitter. Like, hey, you're fighting right now. I was like, dude, you have no idea what it's like.

I'm tweeting and fighting at the same time. Tweeting, tweeting, fighting, doing podcasts, doing all kinds of comments. It's a challenging job that you have. It's amazing that you were able to keep your composure inside of the octagon while doing it. Yeah, obviously, right. I know you. I've talked to you many times. So your name popped up into my head.

Don't feel bad. Joe Rogan did it two years ago, back when I think Damon Jackson's first stint in the UFC few years ago, he called him Damon Martin too. So I was very proud that I've somehow like embedded myself in all your heads out there. So I'm very excited about that. I'm good. I'm glad we can get you some more shine.

The more shine we can get you the better for you, right? It's not. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Paul, we got a lot to talk about. 22 is underway. We're going to kick things off. coming up in a matter of days now,

a fight card you're going to be calling Giga Chakazze and Calvin Cater, phenomenal fight. We're going to roll right into that with Francis and Gondu defending his title, unification about, I should say, was surreal gone. We know a lot of fights have been booked. There's a lot of fights coming up, a lot of rumors.

So I'm going to open things up first with a question. We'll both give our opinions here. But out of the fights that are out there that we know are happening in 2022. And again, the UFC books a lot of stuff ahead of time. We already hear about these things. what in your opinion what what is the fight right now that we know it's happening what is the fight you're most excited about right now in 2022 so far well I mean I'm always most excited about my former division right so anytime there's lightweights on the marquee is when I'm intrigued so benille d'arayush and Islam is really a fight that that that I I want to know what's going to happen because they're both such phenomenal grapplers.

Both guys are completely deserving right now. If everything fell apart and you just gave one of them a shot at the title instead of Gachi, I would be like, you know what? I can't argue it. They don't deserve it. But if Gachi would have hurt, it's one of these guys that we're calling, right, to get this title shot. And to see somebody like B'Neil who at one point, you know, was back and forth, couldn't quite string it back together.

He was up in the top 15 for a while. Then he was out of there. now he's finally just crushed his way back in. Me and Michael Kiesa had him on our little podcast that we do on Roundup, and he's just a great guy. And Islam is obviously an absolute savage. And I'm just curious to see how that wrestling versus his jiu-jitsu versus Benile's wrestling, which has always been a strong point for him as well.

And then, I mean, the heavyweight as well, heavyweights. I got to see this Cyril gone. and Francis Angano because we've seen the sparring footage, right? There's been a little bit of leaked stuff going on there. How much stock do you put into that? What's going on in those sparring situations? How tired is Francis? How many rounds had they done?

There's so many questions that are unanswered. And we're going to get to know that one really soon. But that, that for sure, does really pique my interest. I know Eric Nixick very well. He's a very good friend of mine. He's been coaching Francis. So anytime one of his guys are getting a big headline spot or the champion of the world, you know, I'm interested. So those two stick out right off the bat.

Yeah, I'm with you on Ingano and Gone. I mean, of course, I'm with you on the other one as well. But that's such an intriguing heavyweight title fight. It's so crazy how far we've gone from what we thought we were going to see when Francis defeated Steeper to become champion. We thought, well, we thought maybe it was going to be him and Stevie again. Then we thought it was going to be him and John Jones. then we thought it was going to be him and Derek Lewis. And now here we are.

And I'll be honest. And I said this to, I talked to Eric last week, funny enough, and I talked to Fernand Lopez as well. And I said, honestly, I think Cyril Gahn could objectively be a tougher matchup than either of those. Because with John Jones, as talented as he is, and I think John Jones, I've called him the greatest of all time, we still don't know what he's going to be at heavyweight. We can't deny. We just don't know.

There's still questions. And, you know, and you look at, you look at, you know, Steve Aaron, any other fights that are out there. You know, again, Francis will be favored. I think Surreal Gan might be the toughest possible matchup for him based on his speed, based on his movement, and based on his defense. I mean, I think defense is what makes this fight so dangerous for Francis because we just don't see Cyril Gan get hit. Now, we know Francis, you know, we know Francis barely has to flick you and you can fall over,

but it's really interesting. If he goes in the third and fourth round, can he continue to push the pace? I mean, this is such a fascinating fight. Like, I think now on the odds it's a pick-um, you know, pretty much dead down the even. I can't argue with that. I can't argue with the odds saying it's a dead even fight. Yeah, it's going to be interesting, man,

because they have history, so that already makes things interesting. And sparring is sparring. We all know that. As fans, we've got to just kind of, you know, brush that to the side and we can't think about it. But as fighters, that's easier said than done. And it's the time you've shared the room with some. somebody and they've gotten an advantage of you or you've gotten an advantage of them,

you're going to feel a certain way when you enter the octagon no matter how many years have passed or months or whatever it is, something is left there. An impression has been left in your mind on how you handle those situations when you were in them against that person. So I'm curious to see how that affects Francis because I don't, I don't, Cyril Gan strikes me as a guy, he's very cerebral, he's very calculated, he's very technical in his approach. If he's going to have a boring fight and it means he's going to get a decision. He's a smart fighter. He doesn't give an F what we think is the crowd. He'll address it afterwards, right? He even did it after his one fight when he says, I know this one's not going to be the most exciting in history, but he got

he got it done. He's not afraid to do that. But like you said, Francis Ngano is one of those guys. He's probably the most just lethal, venomous striker that there is. If he just touches you at all on the chin, you're probably going to get knocked out. There's no question about it. And he's been working with Eric. I'm curious to see what the game plan is going to be, because I know that Francis can knock Cyrilgan out. And Cyrilgan can probably knock Francis out,

but how are they going to approach it? Is it going to be exciting? Is it going to be a technical chess match? We'll find out. But there's a lot of variables at play. Does Francis get tentative? Because he sparred him before and he knows how technical that guy is. Does he get reckless because he wants to just go in there and take his head off

and get caught with some stuff? It's very interesting fight. Yeah, it's a really intriguing fight. You mentioned, of course, Benil Daryush and Islam Makachev, same thing right there. It's so funny, we all kind of got lost in the Islam hype, you know, towards the end of the year. And rightfully so, he earned all the hype he got. But we all kind of forgot a little bit about Bineal. And I talked to Binald right after that fight got booked. And he's like, you know, it's a little frustrating. I kind of got lost in the mix that people kind of stopped mentioning my name. But this is such a fantastic fight. You couldn't ask for a better number one contenders fight.

I mean, of course, if Gachi is going to get Charles Olivera, and I love that fight, you couldn't ask for a better number one contenders fight between these two guys on hot streets, Islam with the wrestling. And you look at Benil, I mean, his wrestling is no slots. Look what he did to Tony Ferguson. You look what he's done on the feet. I mean, this is a really intriguing matchup. And I think, and I don't mean this to take anything away from Islam Makachev.

I'm a massive fan of that guy. But to me, this is by far his biggest test. I mean, it's not even close. I like Dan Hooker as much as anybody. But Neil Daryush is by far his toughest test right now. We're going to find out if Islam Makachev really is the next guy. Yeah, you're right. This is.

I mean, by far, right? This is the guy. This is finally, and again, we've got to preface that right, because it's not at the fault of Mokachev. that this is his hardest challenge. He's won it the guys. He's been calling for all the guys. He's wanted everybody that's been ranked

and anybody that's been ranked. It didn't work out that way because of where his ranking was and certain guys didn't want that fight. And a lot of politics, we know how the fight game is. It happens. And it's not at anybody's fault necessarily.

But a lot of guys didn't want to fight him or couldn't fight him or didn't want to fight him because of his ranking. And now finally, he's in a position where he's got a great number next to his name and respect his body. been put on his name, especially by the UFC saying, listen, this guy's right there.

He's potentially next in line for a title shot, but they just don't feel it's justified quite yet. He's got to fight at least another top contender. Boom. Enter Benial Darayush. He's also like, wait a minute. He's been on an absolute streak. So it's this is where the lightweight division is, in my opinion, the best division. It's because of scenarios like this, where you've got these guys that are on these types of win streaks and a guy like Islam who could barely even get ranked who's on like a nine fight win streak. And a guy like Bineal who's beating everybody can't even get a ranked opponent himself. And now they're fighting each other to see if they're even potentially maybe next in line for the belt. That's how stacked the lightweight division is.

So when people argue which division, and you could of course argue many other division, but that's in my opinion why this division is the best. Because look at these two guys fighting each other. They're just barely able to get a fight night in other divisions to have the win streaks that these guys have. You are the champion. You're the champion and maybe have been a reigning champion if you're a heavyweight.

100% is crazy how stack that division is and it just I mean, one to ten. I mean, like I said, I think you know, you could argue there's guys, you know, rank 9, 10 right now who could be threats. Look at what Matuze Gamrod just did. I mean, that guy's like, you know, not just not the top 15. That guy's a beast. So yeah, so much

talent that division. Um, As we move forward, looking at 2022, of course, we already know a couple of title fights are booked. We talked about Francis Ngano and Cyril Gan. We know Israel-A-Sahna is going to be fighting Robert Whitaker coming up in February. But one thing I wanted to do is we go down divisions. Now, I'm not going to disrespect Cyril Gan and or Robert Whitaker by putting them in this equation because they're already fighting for the title. But I want to go down lists, but I want to go down division by division here and kind of pick

who we believe are going to be the biggest threats to each particular champion in their division. Some people have number one contenders, other people don't. So I want to start at Light Heavyweight, because we already know Surreal Gone, technically, is going to be the biggest threat to Francis Gonna because they're fighting on January 22nd. You look at Light Heavyweight. We know Glover Tashir is the champion. It looks like Yuri Perhosh is going to be the number one contender. Not a done deal yet, but we assume that's going to be.

But of course, you've got Anthony Smith is streaking right now. You've got, you know, you got other guys coming up in the division. Ank Eliav looks like a monster. He's got a big main event coming up. Tiago Santos. I'm curious, Paul, your opinion, who right now, in your opinion, is the biggest threat to take away

the light heavyweight title from Glover to Shera? I think it's that Ankleif, to be honest with you. I think every time we call his fight, we talk about either John Gooden, my sister, because I, you know, I've called a couple of his fights when we were overseas or doing Fight Islands. And that guy's special, man. and to have that fight with Paul Craig early on in his UFC career to lose like that,

I feel like ever since then, he's like, you know what? I'm going to tear through some dudes. So I think he's potentially a future champion, no matter who wins that belt. Glover, I'm so glad that he had that moment, that he did that. And I'm not saying he's not going to potentially keep this belt for a little bit. But when that boy gets up there, it's going to be a problem. I mean, Rockich is out there who's a big, strong, dangerous, powerful mother effort at 205. Anthony Smith is another dude who's trying to get back into the mix.

But I think Anklyev is the guy that scares me the most at 205 pounds. He's so well-rounded. He's got great wrestling. He's composed. He doesn't seem to ever be stressed out in any situations, except for when he was being triangles, obviously. but and is striking front kicks to the face good boxing good kicking game he's the whole package yeah see my heart i want to say it's yuri peraska but the problem is with year and i love yuri yri is such a

wild man and we saw it in the reyes he got too much is what scares me about him he got he got he got mounted by dominick reyes you know and dominick's a gray i'm not taking any way from dominion domic's a vizer but glomerocious share is a monster on the ground you let that guy mount you you're not getting up. I mean, that's just it. So I think Yeri as great as he is, and I think Yeri could put together a highlight, real knockout, because that's what Yeri does. He makes one

bad mistake with Glover Tashara, and Glover will make him pay, and he will not get up again. And that's the danger in a fight like that. I agree with you. I was actually going to, I was actually going to steal that answer. Angoliath, to me, if he gets past Tiago Santos, that's the guy. And I've been a big believer in Ankyloy of, you know, since he came

in the UFC, I was, again, credit to Paul Craig for pulling up that. And I think he will get past that test. I love Santos. I think he's one of the most exciting, badass fighters that there is on the roster. I've always loved calling that guy's fights. I've called his fights over in Brazil. I mean, he's a stud.

And to do what he did with John Jones with both knees, just completely gone. But I don't know. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. The next one, of course, I said, middleweight, we've got Israel out of Sonia fights. Robert Whitaker. I am going to throw this out there, though,

because we have the fight coming up between Jared Cannoneer and Derek Brunson. I tell you what, I am so intrigued by blonde Brunson, as he calls himself now, the run he's been on. I'm not saying he's going to beat Adasania or Whitaker. Of course, he's still got to get through Cannoneer.

But I am fascinated by the run that Derek Brunson's on right now, and I'm really curious to see what he can continue to do in 2022. Again, no easy test getting past Jared Cannonier. But if he does, I'm really fascinated by, either potential rematch against Adda Sanya or Whitaker.

Yeah. This is another example of why I absolutely love the sport of mixed martial arts. These guys, you can count them out and they change a hair color and they win a fight and their confidence is back. They switched it up and obviously we know it's not due to Brunson's dying his hair blonde. But just committing a little more, changing his can. going down to Florida more often and doing more in-depth camps and not just training with whoever he can find

that are dads that are doing jiu-jitsu on the side when he was back home. And look at how he revamped his career and he's been on this windstreet just beating these contenders. And, you know, he was being, the UFC doesn't feed. Everybody's like, oh, they're feeding him to these young contenders. They're giving you an opportunity to prove that you're still the guy. and if you lose, then this is now the guy.

Like, that's how the fight game works. When people are like, oh, they're just trying to get them out of there. It's like, no, they're, you live, you know what I mean? King of the Mountain, man, you win, move up. You lose, you move down. That's how the sport of mixed martial arts works. And Brunson has passed those tests. And now look at, now you give him some bigger fights.

You give him bigger opportunities. You give them those title, eliminators and things like that. So, so happy for him. I've always liked Brunson. He always takes thing in stride. He's got a good sense of humor most of the time. So to see him getting these big fights. And Canineer, man, Savage.

Called a bunch of his fights. He's a scary, dangerous, dangerous guy. If he can get past Blan Brunton, I'd love to see him get into the mix for the title shot. And I know Izzy would love to fight him. Yeah, I know to fight Izzy's won for a while now. The next division down, I got to be honest, Paul.

this is probably the most intriguing question of any division out there, which is the champ, number one pound for pound in the world, Kamara Usman, fighter of the year. I don't think anyone's going to really argue with that, what he did in 2021, Gilbert Burns, Jorge Mazadol, Colby Covington. It's hard to top that by anybody because most champions don't even fight three times a year. He went out there and beat three of the best welterweights in the world.

It looks like it's going to be Leon Edwards. We don't know that for sure. I've heard that Usman wants to take a little bit of a break, which I think he's fully earned with the busy year he had. You know, Edwards seems to be the guy right now. And again, I say right now, because we all know how the sport can change. Of course, there's other guys out there. You know, we've seen Bilal Mohammed, your friend, your teammate.

He's been on a great run. Just got a big win, dominant win over Wonderboy, which is nobody beats Wonderboy that way the way he did it. I mean, 30, 25, come on. There's other guys out there. But, of course, the big question right now, so to speak, is Hamzaa Chamaev. You know, Hamzat is the guy. Everyone's talking, buzzing about Hamzot.

Your guy, Sean Brady, I think more people need to talk about Sean Frickin Brady. Consider what he just did with Michael Kies, I am such a Sean Brady fan. Not to mention what he just did over this past weekend. Now, granted. And jujitsu. There was some, there was a few rule changes with the heel hooks so that these UFC athletes could come down to Fury grappling for Cage Fury and grapple and not have to worry as much about their knees. These guys are professional fighters, not just professional grapplers. Does it change things?

100%. 100%. But that doesn't mean that what Sean did on Saturday night is not beyond effing impressive. I mean, he went in there with arguably one of the top two baddest grapplers on the entire planet and a big guy and a strong guy at that. It's not like he went in there against somebody who undersized for him. That's one of the best grapplers in the world. He went in there against a guy who's bigger than him.

was able to stay in the guard, try to pass it, be active on top, and not get submitted or swept. Now, Craig couldn't roll for heel hooks and stuff like that. But obviously, Sean's a fighter, too. He's not ground and pounding. There's rule changes for both guys in that scenario. I think that was even more impressive for him. Well, I mean, the Michael Kiesel fight, obviously rank-wise and Mike's a veteran, he's been around, and Mike's been itching to fight for the belt for forever.

So that win is huge. But what he did to Craig Jones and being able to go in there and not get submitted, stay on top and win that. That I think got a lot more attention from the welterweights in the UFC than even his fight with Kiesa, I would dare say. Yeah, I don't disagree. So with that being said, Paul, I'm putting you on the spot here because one guy, of course, is your guy. We can't ignore the Chamev out there. We can't ignore Leon Edwards out there. And I'm not going to lie to you.

I think Kumar Usman, talent-wise, and he doesn't have the title defenses yet, so I'm not going to disrespect George St. Pierre. but I think, you know, talent-wise, Kamar Usman, in my opinion, could be the greatest welterweight of all time. So I don't know that anybody's going to beat Kamar Usman. That being said, who is the biggest threat to Kamar Usman's title in 2022? I think it's, I mean, it's one of these three guys, for sure. We know that. I think so.

I mean, Leon, I really, really like Leon Edwards. And I think he deserves his title shot more than anybody. But I think that's. a win for tomorrow again. I think it's going to take somebody that's a freak grappler and somebody that's just as strong him in those departments. And those two guys, to me, after what Blal showed in his last performance against Wonderboy and what Sean has shown throughout his career, I think it's one of those two guys

in the future. I don't know. I don't think it's yet. And I think Leon is the next guy and should be the next guy. But I think as far as somebody that's really going to challenge him. in the future. I think it's one of them. And I hate to say,

but I think those two guys are probably going to have to meet before that happens at some point or meet Shemiyev at some point. The three of them are all lingering. They're all winning fights. They've got to fight each other

to figure out who's going to be next in line. Shemayev does not have anything booked, does he? No, he does not. He's got to fight one of these guys. I know bully's been calling for it. He says he wants it. Give him the freaking fight. or give Sean the freaking fight because I know he's talking a lot right now.

And listen, this, I don't want to fight him myself. I can tell you that right now. But you're not getting the title shot right now. So just accept that you stop talking about, oh, I just smash you. I'll just smash. Then go do it and say yes to one of these guys. That it has to happen. You have to fight one of these guys.

You don't deserve the title shot yet. Even if we all agree right now that you're the best guy in the division, hands down. You've got to prove, first of all, to me and I'm sure to the UFC staff, that you can actually make welterweight a little easier than you did the last time. Because that was, can I curse on here? Oh, yeah, yeah, you can. That was a shit show. That was a shit show. I was in the room for those weigh-ins. And I'm not saying that he didn't make weight, but he was a mess. And then he's, you know,

obviously he tried to manipulate. They pulled the towel away. They made him go in the back. They made him come out and do it again. you've got to prove that you're a welterweight because you might be the future 85 pound champion but you got to get that weight under control because he's so talented but he's got to beat some of these other guys

that have been working. Yeah, I agree. I like Chimaev. I think he's a monstrous talent but I said this on another show of mine earlier. I said Sean Brady's more accomplished than Chameh he's beating better guys. I mean, you know, and that's not a knock on Chameh.

Yeah, he hasn't made the, the noise that Shemiya has had because, I mean, the way he came in, the way he fought back to back like that. But as same with Belaw. As far as actually beating at dinner, Belal just beat Damien Maya and then Wonderboy in a row. Sean goes out, beats all these guys, submits these dudes, has some highlight real guillotine choke,

and then goes and beats somebody like Michael Kiesu is an absolute stud and has been on a tear in the division. That makes sense to me logistically. Now, okay, you've got all of these content. tenders that are all lining up, you've got to start matching them up. It's clear as day to me. Or get Gilbert Burns involved. Who's he fighting?

Get him in there with one of these guys. Split them all up. If you had Gilbert Burns into the mix, a guy who was recently challenged for the belt, didn't work out for him like that, but he's still one of the baddest dudes at Walterway. Okay, that's four guys right there. Shemaiah, Brady, bully, and Burns.

And we got Louvre. Don't forget about Luke. And that Louvre. Maybe I take my statement back about which division. The welterweight division is slowly rising to the top for one of the best divisions in the UFC for sure. Yeah, I'd actually called for Sean to fight Chimae, but that would be a great fight and two guys,

but I'll be honest, I love to Bilau's been calling for it. You know, I talked to him last week. He called for it. He wants it clearly. Give him that, you know what I mean? And then let Brady, you know, maybe Brady gets coming I mean, I think that would be a really interesting matchup. You know what I mean? I think that would be a really interesting matchup

because, you know, Colby, how would he do against a guy like that? Yeah, once you get one of them linked up, it opens up the matchmaking. You've just got to commit and match one of them. And I'm sure Sean Shelby and these guys are doing that. I'm not saying they're not doing their jobs. They're probably trying to figure it out and get the fighters to agree, right? It's not as cut and dry as everybody thinks. Hey, you fight him, you fight him.

And it's like, no, I don't want to fight him. I want to fight him. Now, I don't want to wait through him. I don't want to fight him in April. I want to fight him in June. So it's, I mean, matchmaking is, uh, I don't envy those guys. But as you said, and I agree, though, Chamaev, all the hype is there. He's got to beat Brady.

He's got to beat Burns. He's got to beat Below. He's got to beat one of those guys. Just one other guy, right? And then, and then we can say he's the real deal. And I like Lee Jean Leang very much. I think he's a very talented guy, but I've never, you know, he's never been a top guy. You go out and beat.

to Bilal Muhammad. Okay, I'm done. My questions were answered. You know, you beat Gilbert Burns. Questions answered. You know what I mean? He's got to beat one of those guys, though. Sean Brady has beaten one of those guys.

Michael Kiesa was one of those guys. Yeah. Chamev doesn't have that win yet. He needs that win to prove he's one of those guys. So I agree, and I think it's got to be one of those kind of fights for him. Let's talk about your division, lightweight division. We mentioned it looks like it's going to be Charles Oliva and Justin Gachie. Of course, we know Makachev and Dariu.

sure out there. You know, Dustin Porre, you never want to count him out. I mean, you know, no shame in losing to Charles Oliver, him coming back, Michael Chandler's out there. In your opinion, Paul, who is the biggest threat to Charles Oliver's title reign right now? I mean, I am retired, so can't be me. Man, I, it could be, hmm, hmm, okay. I do think that Gachi is a problem. But dare I say that I think somebody like Benil Daryush is actually more of a threat to his particular style because and vice versa. Like when Khabib was still around, I always said that I thought Charles would probably be one of the bigger threats to him because of his style.

And the way that he grapples and accepts bottom position, but it's so dangerous from there. I think a guy like Charles, you've got to get somebody, but the way he ran through Tony was impressive. Yeah, I think the, I think B'Neil. I think B'Neal, even more so than maybe Mokachev, just because of he's going to try to wrestle him. And Charles, he has a way around those kind of exchanges. Same with Gachie.

If Gachie just tries to stand and exchange with him, we saw how that works out. He has a decent striking now. He's powerful on the feet. And he can just wrap up your neck if you slip. It doesn't matter if you have great takedown defense against Charles Oliver. He will find a way to your back. I'm going to throw a big Hail Mary out there and say that my pick is Benile Darhue.

Yeah, I don't think you're wrong because while my gut says Justin Gaichie, if you're asking me to pick that fight right now, I'd say I pick Justin Gaichie to beat Charles Oliver. I don't have full confidence, just like the Dustin Porre fight. Charles Oliver is so good you can't get him out. Benil Daryush, though, his jiu-jitsu matches Charles Oliver. Anyone that says his jiu-jitsu isn't good has not watched Benil Darius grapple. That guy's a monster.

And his striking has gotten to another level lately. I mean, that guy's knocking people out left and right. He can knock him out. He can knock him out. For sure, he can knock him out. He's not, he's a south boy. He's not afraid to stand. He's got great kicks.

And he's not afraid to bite. down on his mouthpiece when the going gets tough. And now neither is Charles. I would love to see that fight. I would love to see that fight. But again, I agree with you, Damon, too, where I'm not saying that Charles isn't going to go out there and maybe get an insane fight of the night or a knockout win as well. But if we're just talking, got to pick my pick, you've got to talk about styles and threats,

he's got everything that could challenge somebody like Charles. Yeah, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna stick with Gaichi only because if you're, if you're nailing me down on a pick right now who I'm picking, I would still lean towards Gaichy to win. So I have to say Gaichi because if I'm picking him to win, then he is the biggest threat to Charles's title. Even though, even though I 100% will admit I don't have full confidence in that pick, but I will say that. Now, let's get on the featherweight where Alexander Volcanowski is a champion. He does not have a fight right now. Now it looks like it's going to be Max Holloway. you will not find a bigger fan of Max Holloway in this world and myself.

I love that guy. I personally thought he beat Alex the second fight. But again, close fight. You know, kudos. It looks like that's going to be the fight. But let me throw you a little, let me throw you a curveball here, Paul, real quick, because you're calling this fight next weekend.

Am I crazy in, am I crazy in thinking that if Gigga Chikaze can beat Calvin Kater, and I think that is a fight he can win, that he might end up being the bigger threat. And the only reason I say that is because as much as Dana has said Max is next, and as much as I think we all believe Max Holloway is next, we know how rare it is for the UFC to ever book a trilogy when one guy has two wins over the other.

We've seen this happen throughout time. Now, Max Holloway may be the exception to the rule, and I hope he is because I really do want to see that fight. But we also know the reality is it rarely, happened. So maybe Max doesn't get the next shot. And in that case, I think Giga, I think Giga is on a role right now, man. Like, I just, I can't bet against that guy right now. I like him, man. I like his style a lot. I think he's really evolving. Always working. He's really always working his, just overall MMA game and working to Jiu-Jitsu and going to grappling tournaments and things like that.

and I know at King's MMA that he's getting pushed to the limit. Those guys train legit over there. Yeah, I mean, I'd like that. I'd like to see some fresh blood get that title shot. Again, I agree with you. I thought that second fight, I mean, in the moment, I remember thinking, you know, I'd had to go back and watch, and I don't want to give any disservice or discredit to the champion.

So I won't talk about who I thought won or didn't win. champ now and he looked phenomenal in his last fight with Ortega. That was just such a sick fight. But yeah, I'd like to see that giga, giga fight with the striking. My only problem with that one is I think that the well-roundedness of Volcanowski can get through maybe some of those dangerous strikes and start to make it a grueling fight and a grappling match and uses wrestling. So I would think he would win that.

I do still think that the biggest threat is probably Max Hollis. away, even though he lost twice. Max is the biggest threat. Like I said, my only worry is will he get to fight? I think he should. I think he should. There's so many other fights. And you saw Max is so, he's so content with where he is and he knows what he's capable.

If he knows what he's done in this division, that he's still winning fights, he's still proving he's one of the best guys in the world. I think if somebody gets in there before him and he's got to wait or go beat up somebody else or have fun in another crazy fight like he did against, yeah, year. I mean, he might be upset, but I don't think it would be the end of the world for him. He seems to be really good lately at just letting things roll off. He seems to have his family life figured out. He's happy at home with his son and his, I believe, new wife, not just fiance.

They're married. Yep. I agree. Things are good for Max Holloway right now. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Now, we know Bansomweight is going to be Al Jermaine Sterling and Peter Jan. We don't know when.

I've heard March, maybe April. Assume that gets books. So here's a little sideways question that I'm not going to ask who's the biggest threat because thankfully it's champion versus champion right now, interim versus current champion. In your opinion, Paul, the end of 2022, who is Bantamweight champion? Jan. Pure Jan. Yeah.

Yeah. I got to agree with you. I think he's this. And again, we know how this is. And as always, I mean, this is our job to talk about these things. I don't mean any disrespect to any of these fighters. I've seen that guy alive, feet away from me in action against a guy like Corey Sandhagen. And the stock that he takes, the notes that he takes throughout the fight,

the adjustments that he makes on the fly as the fight continues on is something I've never seen before. For a fighter to be that loose and in the action, in the moment, to be making reeds that will then further better his chances as the fight goes on, second to none. Yeah. He sees and he gets hit with things and then he doesn't get hit with those things in the second round. Then by the third round,

he's shutting that down and sweeping you off of it. By the fourth round, he's knocked you down with a counter off of it. And by the fifth, he's in complete control of the fight. It's crazy. I mean, to do what he did to Corey Sandhagen, who I was, you know, banging the drum, saying I thought this guy was going to be the next champion.

I thought he beat T.J. Dillawaw, absolutely no offense to T.J. Dillishaw thought he won that fight. I was like, man, this could be the fight. And then, you know, Peter goes out there and has a bit of a rough first round. And then he gets better. It's ridiculous the way he just kept getting better round after round. Like, by the fifth round, you're like,

Corey's got to pull a rabbit out of the hat here. He can't win by decision. He's got to fight. And it's ridiculous. And I love Al Jermine Sterling. I think he's a monster. Doesn't get nearly the respect he deserves, but I have a hard time picking against Peter Yon against him, against Dillishaw, against San Hagan, against Aldo.

We already saw that. I mean, I just, Peter Yon, man, that guy, I was, I'll be the first to admit, coming out of going into the Aldo fight and coming out of the Aldo fight, I said, he gets hit a little bit too much. I was like a little worried, you know, how does he do? I'm sold now. I mean, I'm done. I'm on the Peter Yon bandwagon.

I'm not even going to lie about it. I was similar, to be honest with you. I was similar. And that fight in particular, the Aldo fight where I was like, I don't know, man. Aldo had a lot of success, yada yada, but that Corey Sandhagen fight. And I thought Corey looked good. He was prepared. And I am a humongous Corey Sanhagen fan as well.

So when I got to call that and see that happen in front of me, and Sandhagen is one of those strikers and as somebody who was a big striker myself when I fought, I have like idols and people I look up to and I want to be as smooth as them. He's one, Sergio Pettus is another one. And man, to see him get shut down,

now, Pioreana is one of my guys. I'm like, I wish I could be as smooth and just as calculated and taking notes during a fight like he does. It's crazy. Yeah. So we know going, down to flyweight. We already had the title fight coming up in a couple of weeks between

Brandon Moreno and Deveson Figurato, very much looking forward to that trilogy. We know it's going to be Asker, Asker Off against Kai Carra France later this year, probably a number one contenders fight. That's fantastic. So that division will kind of take it out of there. At women's Bantamate, we know it's probably going to be Amanda Nunes and Giuliana Pena again. What a tremendous rematch that's going to be. I've said for years, and Paul, you can feel free to disagree with me, and this is not taking anything away from Giuliana Pena. I think Juliana Pena approached that fight with the kind of confidence you have to have to beat Amanda Nunes.

And that was huge for her. But I've said for years, the only thing that's going to beat Amanda Nunes is her own complacency. And I think, in my opinion, she went in thinking, I'm just going to, I'm going to destroy Giuliana Pena. And then Giuliana Pena is like, oh, no, you're not. And she took her, so I can't sit here and say with a clear head, Amanda Nunes is going to win that rematch. I just can't say that.

But we also know that's the next fight. And then at flyweight, you got Valentina Shochinko, in my opinion, the number one pound-for-pound women's fighter in the world. Now, I'm going to throw this name out there because I think she's going to be a next, which is Talia Santos. She had a big win over Joanne Wood in her last fight, I believe four-fight win streak, B. Roxanne Motifery, impressive win there as well. Absolutely nothing against her. But if you're asking me the question of who's the biggest threat, and I don't mean any disrespect,

Paul, nobody. I don't think anybody is out there right now at 125 pounds to beat Valentina Sotchenko. I will say this. I love what Minot Fioriot has brought, and I love Casey O'Neill, but they're still several fights away from challenging. So maybe 2023, we could mention them. But 2022? Yeah.

Nobody. I can't see anybody beating Valentina Shochinko. That's the problem. right now is I think there's quite a few contenders like you just mentioned right there who will if given enough time could be the next biggest challenge but yeah you're right this year no no she's levels above and it takes years to close those gaps and maybe the let the title holder age a little bit or like you even talked about get a little complacent but she's not right now and she's one of those women that she doesn't do anything else crazy. She doesn't have some crazy family.

She travels. She like drinks tea. She eats women's asses. That's what she does. And she shoots guns. So I don't see her going anywhere either. Now again, right, we could be eating our own words and whenever she fights. But if we're talking this year, not yet. And Manel, the French girl, I thought she was really good too, but yet she's not ready. Like I saw that last fight. I thought she was throwing too many of the same combos over and over again. You do that against Shevchenko and you're just going to get knocked out. Even as powerful as you are, however good your karate is, you go out there and throw that same rush in like this.

And no matter what power is behind it, she's going to figure that out and smoke you. Just that that's just it. She might smoke me and I'm probably 50, pounds heavier than that woman. Yeah, Valentina is a monster. You could argue, like I said, I think you could argue it's her in Camaro, like, who is really the best pound for a bound fighter in all mixed martial arts.

I think you got to put Valentina in that conversation because she did it at Banterway, too. That's not her weight class. You know, she came within a round of beating Manda Nunes and she beat Giuliana Pena. She has a win over the current ship. It's ridiculous. Of course, straw weight. We also know what's probably going to come next. It's going to be Rose

against Carlos Bar. as I'm actually really intrigued by that rematch. I think stylistically, Carla could be a very tough matchup for Rose. So I'm actually really looking forward to that one. So that's a great rematch. Paul, before I get you out of here, I went on Twitter before we talked and I asked to the fans for their boldest predictions for 2020. So I'm going to throw out a couple of these at you. And I want you to give me your opinion.

I won't keep you much longer, but I got a couple good ones here. And I want to throw them out there. Now, one subject we haven't talked about, maybe the X factor. speak is John Jones we know John Jones is gonna he wants to fight a heavyweight he's been preparing for it for over a year it's been you know over a year now he's coming in where it looks like you know this year is going to be his time we assume hopefully his contract situation he figures that out with the UFC but one bold prediction I got from a user on Twitter said John Jones does not fight this year now I would love to disagree with that but I can't say for sure because

you know, we just don't know. But I'm going to say hypothetically he will. I believe he will fight this year. He got his legal issues. It seems like out of the way I'm not saying it's right or wrong. What happened? I'm just saying like it looks like he's not, you know, his legal situation has been closed with that situation in Vegas.

As long as the contract thing gets figured out, I think he will fight this year. But what do you think? Do we see John Jones in 2022? Man, I don't know. I'm starting to agree with this, this. Twitter person because like what's what's the hold up like what's the contract issue what are we asking for and you know what's the relationship like right now with the UFC so man I don't know I don't think we will you don't think so no I think there's a lot of talk you know and tweeting and all that

kind of stuff it's all well and good man but just what's going on where are you training who you training with what's your team like right now there's been the feud with jackson's does he have a home base is he just training out of his home gym right now that's still all got to be figured out again i hope uh differently but you think i lean more towards no than yes yeah you'd think if there was something that was going to draw john back it would have been as soon as francis knocked out stevie to become champion john would have been like banging on dana white's door saying give me that fight because that's the biggest fight yeah that's the biggest fight that's the biggest fight he could have

and that's the title fight he wants and we know Francis wants that fight. You know what I mean? But again, I lean towards him fighting only because once the legal stuff got out of the way, I'm going to hope that, you know, he gets back in there and maybe fights the winner of Francis

and Cyril Gahn, maybe. But yeah, I don't disagree with you, though. It's kind of like the Gagee Olavera thing. Like, if you're asking to put my money on it, I'm probably not going to put my money on it. I'll say I think he's going to fight. Maybe that's wishful thinking, I want to see John Jones back, but, you know, we're coming up on two years. It's kind of crazy.

February, it'll be two years since we've seen him fight. Yeah, yeah, and that's why I'm like, I don't know what's going to change this year. I know the legality of it all, but before that, it was even getting drug out, so I'm not sure. Yeah. Another bold prediction, now this one is a little controversial, and I know it's going to be a tough one to answer, because we know what's been going on behind the scenes with Francis and the UFC. They've seemingly been at a little bit of the odds of his contract. We know he is coming up on the last fight of his deal. One bold prediction a Twitter user made was Francis Ngano will not be a UFC fighter by the end of 2022.

What do you say? I think he will be. I can't see the UFC letting him walk away. I know Dana recently mentioned that he, he, uh, he ran into Francis and they had a conversation and got to the bottom of some, some of the confusion of what was going on. But no, I'm going to, I'm going to say we keep Francis. I'm going to say that we're keeping, UFC keeps Francis. Hopefully.

Yeah. I'm hoping. For selfish reasons, I hope we keep him. I mean, it's a guy you want to keep around. You want to keep a guy like Francis and Gano under, under your umbrella for sure. I said this earlier today, and I truly. believe it. I said when it comes to the superstars, you know, the guys are the girls who are going to build pay-per-views over the next, you know, five years, four or five years, you know, we got

Connor, but Connor's in a bit of a weird situation now. A couple losses, broken leg. Of course, when he comes back, it's going to be a big moment. But again, at some point, you got to win. And, you know, if Connor loses his next fight, you know, not saying people won't tune in to watch him, but you got a win. I mean, that's just the reality of it. But you got him. I think Israel Adasania is a massive star. I think he's a guy. And I think Francis and Gano is the other guy. I think if you're going to build around a champion, around a marketable champion, Francis is that guy. I really hope him in the UFC can come to terms and figure things out. And I think they will only because of this. I know Francis has talked about going into boxing

and things like that. And I don't begrudge anyone having dreams and doing other things. I get it. And I have nothing against Bellator. I have nothing against PFL. I have nothing against anybody else out there. If Francis and God who wants to make the most money be the biggest star and raise awareness to the issues that they're important him, all these kind of things, the UFC is the place to be.

You know what I mean? And he's not going to he's not going to fight John Jones in Bellatory. He's not going to fight, you know, steeping in a trilogy in PFL. If he wants those legacy kind of fights, it's going to be in the UFC. I think they get a deal done. I just, I have a hard time believing

that at the end, if, I know, Dana jokes about this and we can all talk about Dana. When Dana says I can get a deal done with Tito Ortiz, I can get a deal done with anybody, I truly do believe that because people don't remember how badly he wore with Tito Ortiz. If he can make a deal with that guy, he can make a deal with anybody. They were going to have a fight. You remember that?

Oh, yeah. And they were going to do the boxing match thing. Oh, yeah, it was crazy. You know, I remember, I remember that from way back. And I was like, oh, and then it just never happened. I was like, what? I invested in this thing for this long and you guys aren't even going to fight. Yeah, I have a hard time.

I believe it. All right. Last one. Now, this is the most, this might be the, the biggest one. Biggest bold prediction. Are you ready? I'm ready. Paul Felder headlines the UFC card in 2022.

Now, I'm not lying. It's on Twitter. So I'll put it out there. There are so. few circumstances that that could happen. Like, let's, let's mull it over, for real. For me to come back. Who am I, first of all, come back and I'm headlining is massive.

Yeah, I just don't see who that could be against and where that could be. I mean, it would have to be, I don't see me coming back to headline at like the apex. nothing against the apex or the UFC or fighting. It's just I've moved on and, yeah, I would have, I mean, it would have to be something insane that I couldn't turn down. And I don't see that happening in 2020. I do. I'm going to disagree with you, Paul Felder.

I'm going to disagree. And I'm going to say, here's, here's my bold, everyone's asking for my boldest prediction. Here is my boldest prediction. Are you ready? I'm ready. Paul Felder. versus Connor McGregor International Fight Week in July. There's my bold prediction.

What do you think? I love it. But even that, right? Let's say Connor decides for some reason he wants to come back. He wants to fight me. He just wants to get a W. He doesn't want to try to fight the rankings. He hates me for some reason.

Let's say that all happens. Where are we headlining anything? Do you know what I mean? like for us to be a five round main event in Vegas it's got to be non-title fight I mean the UFC can make anything happen for for Connor let's let's be honest right and they'll make a fight night just the two of us if it had to but yeah I don't know man that's probably about it right and it's not even that I'm like everybody comes at me when I mentioned it on other interviews where I'm like there's like one

scenario where I come back and it's it's to fight him for some huge fight and it's because I mean as much as we all love, hate him, whatever you want to say about him, the guy is the money fight. I mean, he jokes about the red panty night and it's like, yeah, you're not insulting me fans when you're like, you just want that paycheck. It's like, yeah, yeah, I do. Do you go to work and not want your check at the end of the week, you idiots? Like, yeah, of course I want to make a million dollars or more than that. you know but hey damon for your sake i hope you're right buddy there's my bold prediction uh i like paul i truly mean like i said before you become one of the best commentators in the game

keep up the great work whether you fight again or not in all seriousness uh keep doing what you're doing because you you really do you bring so much to the broadcast and uh and i just keep doing what you're doing this spending some time with me today to break down what's going to happen in in 2022. I can't wait to see you in hacks again, all the other things you're doing, triathlete, and all this. Also, one last thing I want to mention to you before I let you go. I mention this to Bilal Muhammad during his fight, and I put it on Twitter, and I know

you're not like huge on social media. I said the guy who was chanting USA, USA during Bilal Muhammad's fight, and you said, Balow's from Chicago, you idiot. I think that might be the quote of 2021. I was crying, and I put it on Twitter, and I said this, I said, I said, Paul, Paul Felder deserves a $50,000 bonus for that comment alone because that made my entire event. You know, that just really pissed me off.

And it's like, well, and then people came at me. They're like, he's got a Palestinian flag. And I'm like, how many other fighters from the United States have come out with where their parents are from or where their families are from or have dual flags where they want to represent their heritage and the United States? It's like you just have to do three seconds of research to know or I'm sorry, listen to Bruce Buffer make the announcements when they say fighting out of Chicago.

I mean, it drives me nuts. And Ballal's about as American as you can get when you actually sit down and have a conversation with the dude. Just because he's repping his movement and what he wants over for his heritage and his family back home, it's like, don't get a twisted. The dude's from Chicago. He grew up in Chicago. His parents own a shop in freaking Chicago. And he's fighting, of course, Wonderboy, the most white guy looking person. you can imagine.

There's a guy channing USA and I'm not going to think it's racism. Come on, get out of it. I was, I appreciate it. I did. And like I said, I wish Dana would have given you a 50 grand bonus for that.

I was like, that was, that was the best, that was the best comment of the night. I was like, oh my gosh, I was like, they need to break off Paul a little check for that one because that

totally made my night. So thank you for that, Paul Felder. Thank you. Keep up to great work, Paul. Thank you so much again for spending the time doing this. And hopefully we can do it again in the future.

Yeah, man. Anytime, man. just hit me up or hit Butler up and we'll get it squared away. Absolutely, Paul. I appreciate it. We'll talk soon, okay? All right, man. Thank you, bud.

Bye-bye. There you go. The Irish Dragon, Paul Felder, one of the best of the game. Could not ask for a better co-host for the week. For Fighter versus Riders, we preview 2020. If you've got bold predictions, something I didn't get to in the show, send him to me. At Damon Martin on Swater, hit me up. I'll talk about him on next week's show.

We've got a lot more plan for Fighter versus Rider in 2020. want to say a big thank you to everyone that tuned in for our debut shows in 2021, and we got a lot more planned in 2022. I want to say a huge thank you to Paul Felder for being on the show. I really do appreciate that. Make sure you check us out on all of your favorite podcast platforms, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and, of course, over on MMAFighting.com. We will see you guys next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider.

Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you then. Thank you.