MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer Reacts to Latest Conor McGregor Allegations, Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou Faceoff and More

Episode Date: June 20, 2023

On the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer, Matt Brown and Damon Martin react to the latest news in MMA including the allegations surrounding Conor McGregor. Following an appearance at a Miami Heat game during the NBA Finals, McGregor was accused of sexual assault but through his attorneys, he has denied any wrongdoing. We'll discuss the latest with McGregor and what this could mean for his future. Plus we’ll discuss the impromptu faceoff between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou at a PFL event this past Friday night. As fun as it was to see the heavyweights staring each other down, it seems highly unlikely that Jones and Ngannou will ever cross paths in the cage. While Jones will just move onto potential fights against Stipe Miocic or maybe Sergei Pavlovich, the options seem much more limited for Ngannou as he prepares to embark on his PFL career in 2024. Brown will also discuss cornering some of his fighters at an LFA event this past weekend in Kentucky including an incident where one of his athletes drove an opponent out of the cage during a takedown. All of 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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What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded

to Ghosts in the Machine available now, only from Audible. Media podcast network. Welcome back to the fighter versus the writer. I'm Damon Martin. He is UFC legend Matt Brown. He's training fighters, getting him wins, putting him through

cages from what I see. Matt Brown, what's going on? Yeah, you got it, man. Did y'all see that? My boy, Josiah, putting the guy through the cage, W.W.E. style. Dude, that was crazy. I saw the highlight on Instagram, and I was like, what the hell just happened? Like, dude, literally drove him through the cage. I mean, realistically, they must have just forgot to put the pen in. I said, dude, somebody got fired, like, on the spot right there. Bad.

Yeah, it made for a great highlight. Yeah, dude, it's so crazy. Like, I saw it. I saw it happen and didn't, I did. I realized, like, that was your guy. And I was like, oh, my God, that's so wild. and then I saw the replays and I saw close-ups and stuff. I was like, good Lord, that's so great.

Like, he drove him directly into the door. The door just flung open and he went right through it. But did you watch the whole fight? Because he got the- Absolutely amazing. That kid is a fucking stud. He got a win. I saw another one of your guys.

It was a spinning back fist knockout? The other one got? Yeah, it actually kind of landed on the elbow. So we're going to call a spinning elbow, even though his arm was straight. But, and yeah, yeah, so we actually had three wins. that was Josiah, you know, that went through the cage. And then he ended up stopping his guy in the third round. Josh Pereira, my boy, one of my, you know, kind of one of my ground up fighters, you know,

one of the guys that I built from the ground up, been with me about three years now. He got a stoppage in the third round, three and O now. And then Big Cam Kinzig, he was a heavyweight. He moved to three and oh. Also got a first round stoppage. And then, of course, sort of people we affiliate with, Jade Shealy. She got a first round arm bar. And Chelsea Conner lost to Alex Pereira's sister, Aline Pereira.

So that was a tough one. Yeah. I didn't think she should have took that fight, but, you know, she's not really my fighter. Yeah, yeah, that's tough when that happens. And I know you've said many, many times when it's all said and done, when the career's over in the cage, you will end up being a better coach than a fighter. And I know you love coaching.

So I'm sure it's a super high to ride like something like that. It's a big event too. LFA is a great organization, you know, and they obviously feed a ton of fighters into other organizations. So it seems like a great place for them to be. Yeah, that's the whole thing, man. It was great. They came here locally, you know, pretty close.

It was like a five-hour drive. So it wasn't that close. But close enough where we get the guys on the car and go down there. I was just very happy with all the guys' performances. everybody did great. And hopefully they can go fight for LFA a few more times, show the UFC what they're about. Maybe start looking towards getting LFA titles,

so the UFC what they're about and get these guys. You know, again, Big Can and Josh are both guys that I've trained from day one. You know, like they literally came into my gym with no experience. I mean, you know, they had like something, right? Like they weren't, you know, just complete novices. But, you know, a lot of the things they were doing were wrong. And a lot of the things they were doing were, amateur issue at best.

You know, so we basically, you know, they'll say, like, we've taught them everything that they know. So it's great watching these guys come up. And then, you know, in a couple years, they'll be in the UFC dominating guys in there. Do you, as a coach, I'm curious, Matt, like you, when you open your gym, like, I know you've had a lot of guys come through. Like, I remember coming up there when Mickey Gall was in town helping you get ready and working with you. And you've had other experience guys come in. So obviously, you work with experienced guys, too, and you'll help out, you know, guys who will come out. you know, guys who will come in and help you, you'll come and help them as well.

But, like, do you, is it a greater, I don't know what the word is, like, greater pleasure, greater, like, joy watching somebody you've worked with since day one. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you literally molded them into a fighter. Like, not to say, you don't appreciate work with veterans, like, when UFC guys come in and say, hey, Matt, I need your help. But, like, is it cool? Is it a cooler feeling?

Like, when you've literally been there since day one for, like, the kid, like, Pereira, to see him come up and now he's, like, three in a, like, is it a better? I don't know, you tell me, like, I'm always curious about that because, obviously is immortal martial arts than it grows. Like I'm sure you're going to have more veterans come in there. But is it cool like being there like literally since the first day this guy started fighting? Yeah, so much more fulfilling.

I just shows like makes me feel better about the things that I'm teaching them. Right. Because, you know, being a fighter and being a coach are two, very, very different things. So once you kind of, you know, when you start helping other guys, you don't really know if what you're telling them is going to come true. I mean, you can tell them based off your own experience, but your experience isn't their experience. So, you know, what you're telling them isn't always going to carry over and then learning how to be unique with each individual, right?

Like Cam, big Cam, like he responds very, very differently than little Josh does. I don't know. I said little Josh. He's like a 125 pounder. You know, so it's like a 125 pounder and a heavyweight, right? But, you know, so they're training them is completely different. I'm in the middle in between them. So training them is different, but also how they respond.

and respond psychologically to different things is very, very different. They're extremely different types of individuals. And even, you know, Josiah, he's a very, very different guy himself too. So, you know, he's more closer to my weight and we train together all the time. But it's, I guess when I first kind of started coaching, it was really just imparting my experiences on them. And I've kind of learned better about, you know, how to make, how to, how to, implant myself into their journey and how I can provide value to their journey versus, you know, just saying, look, this is what I do, so you need to do it too.

Yeah, yeah. You've been, like, I know from talking to enough coaches who have been fighters, that, like, the nerves you feel when you're fighting are far different from the nerves you feel when your fighters fighting. Like, it's a whole different level of just nerves and anticipation. You've seen a lot of crazy stuff in your years, both, you know, in, like, amateur, in the local shows and then obviously

to the UFC level, what was your reaction when the dude got drove to the cage? Because I can't imagine like you never prepare for that and like it's dangerous, right? Like the dude drives to the cage

like you could easily fall and get injured. I don't know. Like it's so crazy. Like I couldn't even imagine like what that would be like watching your guy. You know, he was the guy driving him to the cage.

But obviously the fight finished everyone was okay. But in that moment I got to be like, oh shit. Right, right. Well, I'll tell you first when you talk about the nerves, yeah, the nerves are just different, right? like when we get nervous for ourselves before a fight like it becomes a peace a peaceful

nerves right like like we are at peace with those nerves because we can control it and we know what we can do so it's you know it's not like we don't get nervous when we're fighting and i would argue that anybody says that they that they don't get nervous is either stupid or they just simply don't care you know they may be psychotic or something or like sociopathic like that's a very real possibility, but generally it's either, either, you know, they're just too dumb to get nervous or they don't care. And that's what I try to explain to a lot of guys. The reason that we get nervous isn't because we're afraid of getting hurt. Like we're all big boys. We're not afraid of getting hurt. We get hurt all the time. We're not necessarily, some guys might be afraid of

failure, but most of us are not nervous about the failure. We're nervous because we care, right? like we have put a lot into this and we want to go out there and perform the way that we expect ourselves to perform. And like I did a grappling competition when I tore my ACL just to come back and get some sort of competition. And it was amazing like how nervous I got for that. And that's when I start realizing it's, dude, it's just because I care. It's not because, you know, we're afraid, like a grappling competition, you're not afraid

of getting hurt. You're not afraid of losing. You know, I was like, I don't care. I just want to. you know, compete against fresh guys and see what, see how everything feels. But it's all about, you know, how much you care. So with that said, the nerves when you're, um, uh, coaching someone else, again, you care just as much, but there's nothing you can do about it. So you don't, it's hard to come to peace with those nerves. Whereas when it's you doing it,

again, you care just as much, but you can come to peace with it. Like we accept the fact that I might win, I might lose. I'm going to go out there and, and I'm, you know, I'm committed to victory, but I'm going to fucking accept whatever happens in there. Like I might die. I might, you know, break the arm or draw or whatever. You can't come to that piece when you're coaching someone else. Yeah.

Yeah, that's true. Like you can't, you can help them and get them ready, but you can't control what actually happens in the cage. And so it's a different kind of feeling when you're on the outside looking at. What about when Josiah drove the dude through the cage? Like, is that a nervous moment? Well, you know, he, fortunately, he was on top of the guy when he drove him through the cage. I thought that what was going to happen was the dude was either going to be hurt.

Like, because I thought he was legitimately going to be hurt. I mean, they flew way out of the cage. But, you know, you got to get props to that dude, knowing how tough of a fight. fighter and how good a fighter Josiah is and how much Josiah was dominating that guy. He walked right back in the cage and was ready to go again. And that guy did not give up. Josiah beat the hell out of him, did almost whatever he wanted to him.

And that guy fought, you know, tooth and nail to the fucking end. So I give a lot of props to that guy. I can't remember his name, but he was actually a way better fighter than I'd seen on video. He looked really good, performed well. but Josiah is just a really, really special guy. Honestly, one of the best athletes I've ever worked with in my life and just picks things up, you know, boom, boom, like that. And I mean, when I talk about his athleticism,

like I just can't describe it, man. I don't know what it is in Ohio, you know, but we got some athletes like nowhere else I've ever seen. Yeah, Mike Roberts was the kid's name. I just looked it up to make sure I had a name right. So yeah, credit to him for sticking out. Because like I said, when I saw that, I was like, oh, fight over, because that's pretty nasty. And then he came back and, you know, obviously, Josiah finished him.

I think it was in the third round. So, you know, that seems like undefeated prospect, obviously. So was it like 6, 7 and 0 now? It seems like a guy who will definitely be on the rise to a major promotion in the very near future, I'd imagine. Yeah, 7 and 0 was 7 finishes, too. Like he's literally, I remember his last fight before this, I was talking to him after the dude took him down, was on top. and I mean, this is how it wasn't necessarily the best idea, but this is how good Josiah is.

He was like, I just wanted to see if I could submit him off my back. You know, it wasn't that he was, you know, that he couldn't stop the guy's take down, but he literally was just like, wanted to see if he could submit him off his back. And he had a little bit of hard time with it. So he's like, okay, well, I'm going to get up and I'm going to finish you now. That's literally how good he is.

Yeah. You learn on the job sometimes. So, you know, good for him. Obviously, great prospect. Did I also see, and maybe I'm crazy, I think I saw, did I see that Coley is taking a fight of celebrity boxing match in October? Did you see this?

He sure is. Mark Coleman, the legend, made it a comeback. Making a comeback in a celebrity, but I saw this, I saw it on, I knew it was real. I saw Mark Cole. I saw Mark Post on on Facebook, and I was just like, this is, I'm not living in a bizarre world? Like, what's going on here?

He's doing celebrity boxing? It's so random. Yeah. Yeah. the guy and it's actually gets a really good boxer. Dude that Montel Griffin, a guy, you guys may not know that name, but some of you are going to remember because we used to watch Roy Jones all the time. We all used to love watching Roy Jones.

Roy Jones first loss was to Montel Griffin. Now, to be fair, he didn't actually beat Roy Jones. Roy Jones knocked him down, hit him while he was still on, while he was on his knees, and got disqualified. So it's not like he actually. beat Roy Jones, but he's a legitimate boxer. He got in there and got the fight with Boy Jones. So it's going to be fun to watch, man.

You know, Coleman doesn't look, I know in his videos, he don't look like he's that great of a boxer, but I'll tell you what, when he moves around, when he touches you, like he will knock a fucking head right off, man. And I don't like, I don't care about his age and all that, but, you know, people worry about his age and his health and all these things. But he's doing well for himself. He's doing it for fun.

He's not doing it because he's broke and bore anything. He's not doing it for all the clout and none of that. Like he's doing it because he purely wants to compete and wants to get out there and have some fun. That's awesome. I know he's worked really, really hard. We all know the story. Of course, we've talked on here before about getting clean and sober and the work he's put in to kind of put himself back in this position. And I just, you know, I'm happy for him.

Like he seems like he's happy, obviously grinding every day at the gym. that competitive fire never gets extinguished. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you can be 70 years old. You'll still want to do something competitive. That's just the drive the guys like you have. So, you know, I mean, like I said, have fun with it. And obviously, you know, if he was doing a full-on MMA fight and they're like,

we're going to put him back in the UFC, probably have an issue with that because the guys had hip replacements and stuff. But, you know, celebrity boxing. And Montel Griffin, if I'm not mistaken, is right around the same age. It's not like he's like, you know, some 30-year-old boxer in his prime or anything. you know what I mean so there's a little less risk there I mean there's still risk obviously but you know it's not like he's taking on some you know young 30 year old you know prime boxer so uh yeah good for him man I'm happy for Coli I you know this is like the the comeback story of all time for

that guy and I'm so happy for him that's exactly it and if there's any risk it's for the other guy because if Coleman lands one of those punches it's gonna hurt bro I'm telling you right now it's got power for days did you guys bust out the did you guys bust out the hammer house uh the Hammer House punching bag to get him ready? He's punching something every day, I can tell you that. Dude, that's awesome. He's so stoked and he's having a lot of fun. So, you know, everybody talks, well, not everybody,

but a lot of people talk a lot of shit. Let the guy have fun, man. He's earned it. Yeah, no, absolutely. Like I said, no one's worked harder to get back to where he's at. And I know we talked about this on a past episode, but like, dude, I couldn't wish anything better because we know, We know Mark Coleman, you know him far.

You know him even better than I do, but I've been around it for many, many years. We know what he went through. We know what he's gone through to get to this point. And like, I'm just happy. He's happy. Like, I know that sounds weird, but I'm just happy that he's happy doing what he's doing and kind of putting things together now. And so it's just like I said, dude, you couldn't find more joy for a person than me for him,

just that he's in the position he's in right now. That's exactly it, man. Same here. So it'd be exciting to see and he's going to be ready. I love it. I love it. So let's get a little bit of the news from this past week. And I want to open this by talking about something. We're going to kind of, we're going to handle with kid gloves, Matt, because obviously when serious allegations get thrown out about anybody, I don't care who you are, fighter or not, you know, we all have to live under the assumption of innocent and proven guilty. So we're not even going to talk about the allegation as much. But I think everyone knows at this point this past week there was an allegation made against Connor McGregor for a sexual assault that allegedly happened at a might.

heat basketball game during the NBA finals. He's being accused. I know that, you know, all the stories are out there. The police are investigating. There's, you know, some conversations going on. And I've received statements from Conner's lawyer saying they completely denied the charges, the allegations. And, you know, he will not be intimidated, I believe is the quote.

So I'm not even getting, I'm not even getting into the allegations because that's just not, that's not what we're here for. Like I said, we don't know what happened. We'll let it play out in the courts. You know what I mean? Like, we'll let it play out in the courts. and deal with it that way. But here's what I want to talk about, Matt.

You know, you've been very open and said, like, you know, you don't think Connor is ever coming back. And I know there's been even buzz lately. Like, we talked about him fighting Michael Chandler in December. Now, as of the latest USADA update, he hasn't been tested. Now, that being said, doesn't mean he's not in the pool. Just being in the pool, like, I think, like, you know, people mistake the testing versus the pool. You can be in the pool and not be tested. There's a lot of fighters who are in the pool who don't get tested a lot.

or maybe they go six months without testing. It just depends on what you saw it is doing. So he may be back in the testing pool, and we just don't know it. But the clock is ticking as far as making a fight in December. There was already concerns about that, and now this happens. I guess what I'm getting at Matt here with this conversation

is just like, this is not the first incident that's happened with Connor, obviously. Over the last few years, Connor's name has been in the headlines far more times for things he's done outside the cage than what he's doing inside the cage. Obviously, we all know about the incident in Ireland with him punching the guy at the bar.

I think this is the third sexual assault allegation. Again, he's never in terms of arrest and convicted. None of that's happened. Again, being clear about that. But I'm kind of curious, like, is there, like, Connor's the biggest star in the sport. And we know, you know,

you know, we know ultimately, like, he has more leeway than the average fighter. We've seen, I mean, it's cut and dry. We've seen fighters get arrested on other kinds of charges, like domestic violence charges. The U.S. is just dropped them. Like, they've just released them. Now, we know that's not going to happen with Connor, but, like, when is, when is enough enough? Like, we all understand, like, again, I'm not talking

about the allegation because we don't know exactly what happened, but, like, the fact that these things keep happening, like, at what point is, is, is, is there a line? Is there a line? Is there ever a line for a guy of Connor Star Power? Yeah, first off, is there a list of people that are in the pool? Is it, or is it only just people that have been tested? Just people that have been tested. They don't, they don't release who's actually in the pool, but yeah, like, if you're, I mean, basically the list gets updated every week and it'll show you who's been tested. Like, right before your fight, I posted, like, how many times you and court have been tested. I do that for a lot of fights. Yeah, so that's out there, but we don't know, we don't know who, and, and the thing is,

like, Henry Sehuda, like, when he got back in, he got back in the pool, and I think it was, like, maybe a month later when the update happened, we saw he got tested. You know what I mean? like he got back in there. So Connor could be in the pool. We just, he may not have been tested. The last update, I think was June 15th,

which is five days ago. So, yeah, he could be in there. We just don't know. I've reached out to Usada. They've yet to get back to me about like whether or not he's actually, but they said he's getting back in.

We just don't know that with 100%, you know, accuracy. Interesting. Yeah, that'd be interesting to see if he actually comes back because, again, I'm still not convinced.

And, you know, these types of things happen to stars a lot, I guess. Right, especially my big question is, like, is Connor putting himself in these positions where people have the opportunity to make these types of allegations, right? Like, in my opinion, you know, not that I'm anyone to tell anyone how to live our life, but I would lay low if I was him. You know, if someone's making these allegations, that means that at minimum, you know, there were people around that had the opportunity to make these allegations, right? there were other women, at least in the same room that he was speaking to or, you know, or hanging

out with or something, right? Like, it has to be a minimum of that. Am I wrong on that? Like, if he's not even, like in the vicinity of other people, of other women, then they can't make these allegations. But if they're, even in the vicinity, then that potential, you know, especially like partying or doing, you know, whatever he's doing, you know, being a wild man or whatever, you know, now you have the potential for these allegations. Yeah, I think that's the larger point here. It's like not even getting into whether he's guilty or innocent. I agree.

Like you put yourself in you put yourself around these situations and this is, like I said, the third time something like this has come up. And we do, listen, we do know and listen, you know, we understand celebrities can be targets of things like this when you're, you know, high powered, a lot of money, these things, I understand that. But at the same time, like, you know, if you're, you know, if you're that, like, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, I'm certainly not wealthy. But like, like, when you see enough, like, when you see stories about major celebrities. I'm talking about, like, you know, the top, you know, I mean, talking like, you know, Jay Z and, you know, guys who have all the money in the world, like, generally speaking, they don't put themselves into a position because they know they're a target. Like, they know that that can happen to them. So they have, they're surrounded by security and they only put themselves. in situations where they know the people they're around with and all those kind of things.

Like you don't generally see, you know, Jay-Z getting into a club fight, you know? He's got enough money that he can, you know, he has bodyguards to get into fights for him or whatever the case may be. And, like, we all know Connor has more money than you and I will see in 10 lifetimes. Like, you know what I mean?

But, like, he just, it's like he's a magnet to these bad situations. Like, you know what I mean? And also, I think there's also, I think the worst part about this is, and I'm not, again, being clear, not speaking about this particular allegation, but just talking about like the punching the guy in the bar in Dublin when that happened, when you have so much money at your disposal and lawyers that are high powered and can, you know, deal with the courts and negotiations and all these, like, I won't say that you feel above the law, but you feel far less consequences in that situation because you know you can probably pay your way out of most things. Like a lot of people, I mean, listen, if Connor walked up to me right now and punched me in the face, And the cops arrested him.

And Conner said, listen, man, I'm sorry I did that. Here's $5 million. And we'll just let it go. And I'd be like, drop the charges. Like, I'm not going to lie. Like, I would do that. Like, you know, a punch in my face is not, you know, say it's a $5 million.

Like, I don't, you know, sure, pay me off. Like, there's that, that's what I'm talking about. Like, when you have that kind of money and that kind of influence, like you almost feel above the law. And I think that's, that's part of the problem here. Again, this is just the. And that's exactly my point. these women are going to see that potential.

So all they need is a little bit of a situation. You know, again, I have no idea if he did it or not, right? No one here's making allegations or accusing anyone of anything. But the fact that you're even in that situation where they have the potential to do that, you know, someone's not advising you the right way. Someone's not taking having your back. Someone's not telling you the right things that you need to be doing. You know, and dude, I deal with that shit myself.

Like I've had, you know, my own girlfriend has fucking women texting her or messaging her and saying, oh, I did this with that or whatever. And it's like, you know, and that's not even, you know, they're not trying to get money or anything. They're just being bitches, you know, like there's bad people out there, you know, want to take advantage and fuck up your life, even if they're not getting anything out of it. So, you know, and now especially when you start adding money into the equation, it's just a, it's just bad news all around, man.

And so, you know, if I were advising him, which I'm not and, you know, never will, never would. I'd advise him to fight me if I advise of anything. But if I was, I would be like, keep the fuck out of those situations. Like, like, what are you doing around other women anyway? Like, why do they even have a chance to say this shit? Yeah, I think that's the bigger issue is like, you know, okay, you're at a Miami heat game, you're at a club. And you're just milling around with people. and it's like, why are you, like, why are you there?

You know, I'm not saying the guy shouldn't have a life. Like, I'm not saying that you can have a life. I'm not saying the guy shouldn't have a life. Absolutely should. But, like, choose your circles. Like, choose where you're at. Like, you know what I mean? Like, you got enough money and influence to where you can say,

hey, I want a roped off VIP section for me and my friends. Okay, then it's just him and his friends. You know what I mean? Just him and his friends. But we know that. That happens all the time of celebrities. That's pretty commonplace for sleigh. You can go to a club where a celebrity's at,

and I guarantee you're not getting within 10 feet of them, because that's how it works. Like they have a separate section. You're not getting in there unless you know them or they know you. I just like you keep putting yourself in this. I was going to say, I think it adds a little bit to it too when, you know, someone knows who he is and they know that he's had allegations before too.

Right. They're like, you know, now it puts that thought in that person's head. Oh, I can go take advantage of him. easy. Like he's already, you know, everybody already thinks that of them. Like, this is going to be, you know, this is just a fucking easy target. And, um, you know, I'm not the biggest fan of like Andrew Tate and stuff, but like I heard he just got arrested again this morning. And,

you know, it may be the exact same thing there, right? Like, putting yourself in that situation and like, your name's already tarnished. Like, people already think that about you. So someone's going to see that and they know that that's what people are thinking all they, like it's it's just an easy target for them i mean it's just low-hanging fruit for you know some gold digger um and that's not you know who knows if anybody you know if any of these people did this stuff but it again you know we can't say enough right like why are you in the situation

where it's even a possibility yeah and and you when you we talked about this before i i was listening to uh morning combat my friend luke thomas and uh brian campbell who do that show and they said something I don't want to miss quote exactly what they said, but they said the second half of Connor's career has been just a disaster. When you look at like pre-Mayweather to post-Mayweather, you know, pre-Mayweather, he was the biggest star in the world,

top fighter, maybe one of the top pound-for-pound guys to the world, two-division champ, all these kind of things. Post-Mayweather, as we've said, his name has been in the headline far more for things he's done outside the cage or losses. You know what I mean? It's been losses, the broken leg, the loss of Habib, and then a million legal instances of, you know,

getting arrested for punching the guy, getting arrested for this, getting in trouble for this, getting in trouble for that. It's been an unmitigated disaster. When we talked about this a few weeks back, and I hate to get, I don't want to keep, listen, people get sick. You know, sometimes get sick to talk about Connor. Listen, he is the biggest star in our sport. When something like this happens, we have to address it. But here's the thing. When we had this conversation a few weeks ago, and we talked about him coming back and fighting Chandler with the ultimate fighter and everything.

And you said very openly, I don't think he's ever coming back. I don't think he's fighting. And even I at that time was like, come on now. Like it's Connor. He loves fighting. He's going to be back. With this whole situation popping up, and now, like, we're not sure is he going to fight in December. We've heard all these rumors about, like, there's still no deal in place from him to fight Michael Chandler, all these kind of things.

Like, I'm starting to come around to your way of thinking, Matt. Like, I'm just like, I don't know just like these things keep happening. And, like, all these things are outside. And I'm not saying the DOC is not going to release him. We all know that. But, like, maybe he just fades away. Like, I don't know. Like, how serious is this guy about fighting again?

if this is where you're at. Like, if this is what you're doing. You know what I mean? It's one thing to make an appearance at the Miami Heat game and have a fun little skit where you punch the mascot and everyone kind of love, you know, whatever. And he's doing a tour,

you know, he's doing a tour of media and stuff to promote the ultimate party. That's one thing. But to then go like nightclubbing and going out and doing all that kind of stuff. Like, are you serious about fighting again? You said it. And I was like, no, no, no. Conner's serious. But I'm not so sure anymore.

Like, I'm not sure if we've already seen the last of Connor McGregor. And then even if he does somehow fight again, which I, again, I'm not confident in. I'm like maybe 80, 20. He's never fighting again. But even if he does, like we have a decent idea. We don't know his day-to-day life or anything, but we have a decent idea of the lifestyle that he's living. Like, he's not going to get in there and get grimy again, right? He's not going to do that underground, hardcore training where he's getting fucking.

and pounded every day and working his way out of bad position. I just don't see that. Could be wrong, right? Like, we have no fucking clue, you know, truthfully. But I don't see it. I don't, you know, all we can go by is what we see in the news and media. And I don't think, you know, I don't think anyone disagree, right? We don't see it at all.

Yeah. And that's, like I said, that speaks to the larger issue of like and everything. Like, this is, this is. this is what we're talking about with Connor right now. We're not talking about, man, the fight's booked. He's getting, you know, Michael Chandler, December. It's going to be great. Like, fights are ready to go, man.

Training camp started. We've seen the videos. This is what we're talking about. And this is, unfortunately, seems to be, like, more of what we talk about with Connor these days, right? Like, we talk about, like, he got arrested here. He does this or he does that or, you know, he said this or said that or gets into a, you know, like the whole Artem Loboff situation, or whatever it is. It's just not fight related. Like we, like, we, the biggest thing, the biggest thing we've talked about with Connor in the last year has been the Usada thing.

We had, you know, a couple episodes talking about that and, you know, and obviously that whole situation. But, like, we still are not really talking about him fighting. Like, we still really have no idea. Like, is he going to fight in December? Is he going to fight next year? I don't know. Like, it's kind of crazy. Like, when you said that before, I was like, no, Matt, he's going to fight again.

Like, he's going to come back. I'm not. Like, you, I just, like, with all this going on, it's like, man, I'm, now I'm coming. on the fence where I'm like, is he actually going to come back? Like, I was, I was like 80, 20 the other way. I was 80, 20, he's going to fight. Now I'm kind of like 50-50. Like, I don't know.

Like, I honestly don't know because these situations keep coming up where it's something that is just horrifically bad for him. And again, maybe it is him. Like you said, we don't know the situation. Maybe it is his bad behavior. We don't know. But you keep putting yourselves in these situations. You keep putting yourself here where you become a target of this.

and things happen. Like, dude, like, it's like, I know this is a different story, but I remember when I hear about, like, I remember when I heard about John Jones having a DUI for years ago. And I was like, John, why are you driving yourself? Like, do you have all the money in the world? Why do you not have a driver? Like, you have enough money to have a professional driver

driving you wherever you go. Like, when we go to UFC events, Matt, you know this. Like, when Dana White shows up to a press conference in, you know, Chicago. He's definitely not driving himself. There's a big SUV that pulls up driver, you know, he comes out the side door very, you know, that's pretty common, right? I'm like, dude, why are you driving yourself?

Like, you can afford a professional driver. Why are you out drunk driving at 2 o'clock in the morning? And this is, I know, it's separate but like you keep getting in these situations. I mean, speaking of John Jones, I was literally just thinking about him while we were talking about

all this and it kind of like speaks to his greatness a little. little bit more. Look at all the shit that he's been through. Just like, you know, a lot of stuff that Connor has been through. And, well, a lot of similarities, obviously, a completely different situations, but a lot of similarities. And this motherfucker just keeps coming back and keeps smashing everybody, staying undefeated, you know, two division champion now. And no signs of him stopping whatsoever. Like, you know, when you talk about, you know, how great of a fighter he is, I mean, if Connor can come back from this shit,

you know more power to him you know like that's a lot of shit to come back from and a lot of shit to deal with mentally but like john jones it seems like it just doesn't even face him at all you know what i'm saying like every single thing that happens to him he's like nah it's fucking bullshit whatever i'm gonna go beat somebody's ass this weekend yeah there's a there's a i think there's a different drive in john you know what i mean like john is jane john is uber talented too i mean that doesn't hurt the fact that he's like one of the most talented guys ever but yeah like he like when John, when John goes to these situations, I never question it. Like, it's awful what these things happen.

And I think even John would say they're awful. And he wishes they didn't happen. But he always, but there's never been a doubt of him coming back, right? And he comes back and it seems like he comes back better, which is scary. With Connor, you know, we already said, like, maybe the best has passed him by. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I've said openly, I don't think he'll ever be a champion again. And the only reason I think he has a chance at that is because he's kind of

Gregor, and if he wins one fight spectacularly, then they'll be, oh, fight for a title. You know what I mean? Like, that's just how the UFC operates because Connor's a star. But, like, outside of that, like, in terms of actual skill level, like, I don't see Connor being one of the absolute best guys. Or can he still be very good? I still think so. I think so.

But now at this point, with all this going on and all the other stuff happening, like, I just don't know, man. Like, I just don't know what the drives there. I don't know what the hunger's there. Like, dude, if you're that hungry and you're that, like, I'm not saying you have to eat, breathe, sleep, MMA because we all need a break, right? We all need a break from the cycle. But, like, he's been out for over two years.

And he's supposed to fight in December. Like, wouldn't you, like, at this point, like, your fight is supposedly six months away? Would you already be like, I'm buttoning down, I'm tightening things up? I'm getting, you know, getting back in. I'm coming off a broken leg. I need to be in the gym. I need to be working with good people. I need to be working towards this goal.

And I don't see any of that. Like, we don't. And again, like you said, maybe he is quietly in the. the shadows, but every public, you know, personification of Connor has been, he's in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is exactly right. Yeah. And that's the thing about John, right?

He kind of comes out and does some, you know, weird shit or whatever, you know, like D.Y or like hitting the lady, you know, all these crazy things. But you never questioned, like, if he went to the gym the next day. You know what I mean? Like he could, like we could see him out in Vegas on a Coke binge and. and fucking, you know, drunker and shit and all this. And then we'd like, okay, yeah, he'll probably still be in the gym next week with Carter. Like, we don't feel that.

I mean, we really have no idea. But it certainly doesn't feel that way just from, you know, everything that we're seeing, right? Yeah, it doesn't like it. And again, you said it before we even knew any of this stuff coming up. You already said, like, even when I said he's getting back into you, saw it test before you're like, that's interesting. Yeah, I still don't know if he's going to fight again. And I didn't buy it, and you were right.

Like, I'm coming around to your way of thinking, Matt. Like, I'm just like, maybe we have seen the last of Connor already. Like, maybe that's it. Like, what we have, the memory of him in the cage with Dust of Pori. Maybe that's the last memory we ever get of him in the cage. Maybe that's it. Maybe he walks away and just, you know, fades into the mist, so to speak. And just, you know, lives at home in Ireland with his family.

Because good God, the guy does not need to go out in public anymore. Because it seems like every time he's out in public, some crazy shit happens. I have a hard time believing he's going to fade. way, though. And just be, yeah, he's always going to be in the news. He loves being in the news, I think. And I think he loves his name being out there. But whether he actually comes back and fights as a completely different story. Yeah, it's, it's just, again, it's just, when I say unfortunate, because obviously, like, with serious allegations like this, like, you, you know, again, we'll wait until, you know, whatever happens in the court system. But, like, it's just,

it's just, like, when I use the word sad, I mean it, like, in the way, like, man, it's just, like, dude like again this is the guy who's on top of the freaking world six years ago not that long ago and now like I said it just seems like every time we talk about him it's not good like it's never like a positive story like we're not talking about oh man did you see that that sparring session or man did you see this or wow did you see him no it's never that that's the problem it's never that like every time we talk about him it's something bad or you know he's not in the you saw a testing pool or he said this or he doesn't you know what I mean like that's not good like that's you know like you said with John like John will make you forget about the stupid

things he's done because he'll get back in the cage and be amazing yeah and you kind of I'm not saying it it certainly doesn't excuse the behavior but it you you kind of move beyond it like Connor just keeps piling on things yeah yeah that's a good way to put it you know it doesn't excuse the behavior but we certainly forget about it when we watch him go in there beat up surreal gone in, you know, two minutes or whatever it was, you know, you're like, all right, well, you know, he fucked up, he's still a great fighter. And that's what we love, that's what we love about, right? That's what we're a fight fans. That's what we care about. You know, it's just like if a movie star does something stupid and then, you know, he goes and makes a great

movie, we kind of forget about the stupid thing you do. We like him because he's a fucking movie star. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. With MX Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats.

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Product availability varies by region. See app for details. It's true. Speaking of John Jones, did you see this past weekend he was out cornering at the PFL? He had like a weird, awkward kind of face off with Francis Inganu, who was also there, which was so bizarre. It was fairly friendly. They were talking a little trash. Like John said, you don't want no smoke.

And, you know, Francis is like, you know, why it takes so long for you to come? come back and John said, how's your wrestling? Like, they were having some fun with it. Here's the thing I said about this. It was fun. I watched it. It was fun. I covered.

I wrote about it. It was fun. But somebody said something to me on Twitter and it's true. Like, as much fun as we're having with this, let's just be honest. They're never going to fight. Ever. It's not going to happen. John signed an eight-fight deal to stay with the UFC.

He's going to retire in the UFC. And I don't see Francis ever coming back to the UFC. Francis. I don't know how many fights he signed with PFL. I'd imagine it's like three or whatever. But he's 36. It's not like he's 30. It's like he's 29 years old and getting started with this. He's 36. I think he's the same age or older than John. So like as much fun as we have talking about this, like we got to kind of let it go. Like I understand. And listen, if John says something about Francis, I'm going to write about it. Francis says something about John. I'm going to write about it because it's two of the biggest names in our sport. But like the reality is, They're never going to fight. It's sad. It sucks. I hate it,

but they're never going to fight. I think this is one of those sports where never say never, damey. But they're probably never going to fight. Yeah. But, yeah, you hit a spot on. It's hard to imagine them ever fighting. But you can never say never in a sport. You know how crazy this fucking sport is, man.

There's always something new crazy happening every week. And there's always something. you know, some new deal being made or whatever. Yeah, like you said, might as well forget about. But that was a fun little exchange they had and, you know, kept them both in the news and gave them both, you know, had a little fun, you know, that's about all they could do now. And it kind of sucks that that that's all they could do because I want to see that

fight. You want to see that fight. The fans want to see that fight. But it is what it is. It's over. Yeah. Well, what's really good. If they do fight, it's not going to be, it's not going to be in their prime, you know,

if somehow. something gets made it's not going to be in the next year it's not going to be the next two years you know that i can see them doing a celebrity fight you know 10 years from now right you know what i'm saying like some silly shit like that's what i said never say never but in their primes yeah it's a dead fucking cause man what's crazy is um you know john is john's gonna move forward from this and John still has because the UFC's the UFC like John in theory November

him and Stepe that's still a massive fight Stepe greatest UFC heavyweight of all time I've heard I haven't It's still rumored still hasn't been booked but that's what they're that's what they're targeting is November at Madison Square Garden Um for what I hear

Steve is yoked he's like 250 now like Yoked like put on a lot of muscle and size for what I hear Um so yeah that looks like it's going to be you know In theory, November, that's the fight, though. But if it's not him, your boy, Sergey Pavlovich, a guy you've been riding and dying for on this show since forever. He's got to be, obviously got a big winner of Curtis Blaze.

He's the number one contender. Obviously, that's not as big of a fight as steep A. But hypothetically, John could fight him. There's other guys out there. I watched some of the PFL card this past weekend with the heavyweights. And they had, you know, a couple guys out there. Dennis Goldsoff had a big win. Anti-Dilesia, who's their last champion, got a win.

A couple other guys were out there. but when I saw the whole face up with John and I was like okay you're man this is great for PFL get a lot of attention for a fight they can never promote and I'm like this is what this is the problem that Francis is going to run into and I know we talked about this before but it just drove home what we talked about like who is he going to fight like who is he going to fight in PFL this actually gets like everyone everyone keeps bringing up Fabricio Verdom as like the one name out there and Fabrici was like 46 now like Fabricio Verdom and I'm like Okay, yeah, he's a name, but is Fabrizio Verdom at 45, whatever he is now, the same Fabrice

for Doom that tapped out fade, or no, let's be honest with ourselves. It's not the same dude. But that's where we're going. We're like, ooh, Junior DeSanto, a guy who's unfortunately not been at his best these last few years. Like, who is Francis going to fight? Like, they're promoting him fighting John Jones, but they can't promote him fighting John Jones. Like, it's so crazy.

Like, that's where, that's, and listen, Francis is going to get made, you know, $8 million, $10 million, wherever he gets paid. he's going to make his money, and I'm sure he doesn't really care. But that's the problem he's going to run into. It's like, who does he fight? Like, who, like, this past weekend, Vadim Knav got a big win in Bellator, and he's talking about going up to Heavyweight. Why?

Because they don't have a ton of people for Ryan Bader to fight right now, and Ryan Bader are lost to Vadim Knoff. Heavyweight is just not a deep division, Matt. Like, it's just not a super deep division. Who is Francis going to fight? There's a reason why he was staring down with John Jones and not the number one heavyweight in BFL. Yeah.

if he stares down with a number one heavy weight in pfl or even bellatory just outside of the ufc there's not even any names even if the guys are great fighters even if they could be ufc champions or whatever they're not names and that's a problem right like no one's going to care i mean we will because it's francis so but how many you know mainstream casual fans are going to care You're also asking people when Francis fights to plunk down money. They're considering him a pay-per-view star. So if you're going to charge, let's say, $50 to while. I love France.

This isn't a knock on Francis. And I'm glad Francis got his money and I'm glad he got the deal he's happy with. But, like, when you're banking on a guy to sell pay-per-views, like, are people going to be like, Francis is fighting, you know, anti-delegia or Dennis Goldsoff? Are people really going to get excited about that? Are people going to plunk down $50 to watch that? Like that's the problem. And listen, because Francis, we said this before.

Like Francis was not a massive UFC star. It wasn't like the guy fought. And every time he fought, he sold a million pay-per-views. He wasn't that dude. So, yeah, like, if he fights Junior to Santos, can they promote that? Sure. You know, could there be some people who buy a pay-per-view for that? Maybe.

But, like, long-term, is that a viable business plan? Although, you know, we've all heard these rumors. PFL may be buying Bellator. Maybe they're going to bring in some guys from Bellator and do it. I don't know. But like, yeah, that struck me watching that face off. I was like, oh, man, that's awesome. John's going to go on from this.

John will fight Steepa and we'll all kind of forget about Francis. Who's Francis going to fight that's going to move him on from John Jones? I think, yeah, that's a good way to put it. Like, again, no one's going to care other than the hardcore fans. We want to see Francis fight. But how is it going to get promoted to the level where they're selling massive pay reviews and getting some ROI on this. And, you know, we talked about it before about, you know,

the entire deal and the structure and everything. And it's not looking too great. Like, maybe he gets to fight boxing guy and then everything, you know, evens out and it's all worth it. But, you know, fighting, you know, any of these guys you just named. I mean, I can't, you know, even Verdeum or Dos Santos, it's like, that's great. know, as long as he wins in spectacular fashion, then maybe they got something to build on.

But, you know, I mean, what if he loses to one of those guys? Like, don't tell me Verdeum can't submit him. You know, very doom coming with a fucking rolling Eminari leg lock and pull off some crazy shit, you know, like, like he's wild like that. He doesn't have anything to lose, and he's going to get paid good. So, yeah, it's a tough situation for him. But I hope it works out, man. I hope they figure out a way to make all this work out and where we all get. you know, excited to see a fight and, and everybody gets to see it, you know, like, I want to see something good here. I want to see something good come out of this situation.

I'm with you. I do too. And like I said, you will not find anybody rooting harder for Francis and Gondon to find success. Like, I hope he does. And the reality is, the reality is we need, you know, we need organizations like this to succeed because it can't just be the UFC. Like, I know you're a UFC ride or die.

You're going to end your career there. And I totally understand that. But like I said, we need that contact. Like, how does the UFC get better? It's because other people are willing to pay fighters. So they said, well, you know what? We got to pay more too. Like, we got to, you know, if the PFL's willing to pay this guy $100,000,

we want to keep him, we'll pay him $150. That's how it works. Like, that's how, you know, when you control the market and you can decide the pricing, well, you don't have anywhere else to go. So we're going to pay $80. Like, we're not going to pay $100. We're going to pay $80 because you have nowhere else to go. So we need organizations to succeed.

So by no means am I saying that I want them not to succeed? I do get a little concerned, like PFL buying Bellator. I'm sure you've heard this rumor and everything. We don't know for sure what's going to happen. Maybe it will not happen. I've heard rumors that there are buyers for Bellator, maybe not necessarily just the PFL. So we'll see how this whole thing plays out.

But it sounds like Bellator's on the chopping block. Like they're going to get sold somewhere. And I would argue right now, Belator has the deepest roster in the sport outside of the UFC. I mean, they have an incredibly good roster right now. Like they have the Deem Nimcoffs. a monster. Sergio Pettis got a big win over the weekend. Patricio Pitbull is still

very, very good. Patchy mixed the monster. Obviously, they got Chris Cyborg. They've got legit welterweights. I mean, they've got legit lightweights. Like, they've got a really solid, obviously Usman de Magamato. That dude's a beast. That dude's a monster. They've got a really good roster right now.

They've done a great job recruiting. You know, they've pulled out some guys some NCAA wrestlers too. You know, like they've done a great job of scouting guys. guys and pulling guys in that have a lot of potential in the future. And I think that's one of the biggest things, right? Like, even like they're champions right now and the guys that they're kind of promoting

right now are great. But I think when you talk in terms of roster, the up-and-comers that they have, are absolutely really on point with these guys. Like, Epico, for instance, is a great, you know, you know, just what a prospect they have there, you know, just for example. Yeah. Well, and that's the thing I think, I mean, and that's got to be the PFL's interest in this, right? Like, because when you look at the PFL's roster, they do have some good young guys, but they also have a lot of, like, veterans.

Guys have been around for a while, and, you know, you need to inject that. Like, there's a reason why there's interest there because the PFL's roster, just being brutally honest is not that deep. Like, they have good fighters. Don't get me wrong. Like, they have good. I like Brendan Locknain. Obviously, he just suffered an upset loss recently. He's a really good fighter.

I think obviously I've had other people obviously Kayla Harrison was a star for them for a long time and still around Larissa Pacheco has really reignited her career being over there and she seems like a legit monster they have good fighters there but it's just not nearly as deep like it's just like they were still signing the Anthony Pettuses of the world

and the Rory McDonald's trying to get that last like ounce of fight left in them to kind of build them whereas Belator has built like ground roots up like I said Usman de Bagamato patchy men you know, guys like that, Patricio Pitbull, I mean, he's been there forever, but like Patricio Pitbull is a great example of that. Vadim Nemcoff, guys who have been there for years and kind of built themselves up in Bellator,

PFL would be like, I know that's why PFL has to be interested because they want the roster. Like that roster is good right now. Like that's a really strong roster. Yes, I couldn't agree more. And that's a, you know, them coming together, even if I'd like to see, like even if they don't buy them, like just co-promote, work together. somehow. I don't know if that's even a possibility. You know, I don't know if they have the same kind of strict policies that the UFC

kind of works with. I would imagine that they don't, but it would make sense to me. Like, co-promote, have some fun with it, give the fans some new, you know, fresh, you know, whether it's tournaments or fights or, you know, something to get people excited for. Yeah. Like they could do, like, again, we talk about compelling fights. Listen, I understand Ryan Bader has his fans and he has his haters. like Ryan very, very much. But, like, Ryan as a champion fighting Francis Ngano, is it as big as him fighting John Jones or Sergey Popovich or whatever?

No, it's not. We're not going to lie and say it is. But at least you can sell it like that. Like, Ryan Bader is a legit heavyweight champion, and he has legit wins on his record. He has two wins over arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time in Fador, Emilianco. He has, you know, he's actually, and I'll be honest, I think Ryan Bader's look great as a heavyweight. I think he's actually better as a heavyweight than he wasn't a light heavyweight.

you could promote that. Like I'm not saying it would be the biggest fight in the world, but you could promote Ryan Bader against Francis Nogato, and there's a little bit of interest. With Ryan's wrestling and Francis's power, there's a little bit of interest there. I don't have any interest right now in watching him fight Dennis Goldsov or Antidelegia

or Maurice Green or Jorgon de Castro. None of those fights get me interested for Francis and Gano. But Ryan Bader is like one legit fight. Or Vadim Kov, who's a monster. That dude goes out there and becomes heavyweight champion. Now, that fight would be interesting. And that's where you're talking about co-promotion. Like, that's where you start thinking like, ooh, that is interesting.

Maybe we could finally see Chris Seiborg and Kayla Harrison fight. Like, oh, my God, finally. Like, there's fights that can be made. And so, like, yeah, even if they don't come together, let's get some co-promotion going. Right. I'm right there with you. I'd love to see it, man. I think there's a lot of great things that can be done there.

So we'll see how it all plays out, right? We're just all sitting on the sidelines hoping that some cool things work at. out and we have uh i forgot all about ryan bader man like yeah i'd love to see him fight francis out of all the guys outside the ufc that i'd like see five francis that is like one of the first names that pops up that well not first names because i kind of forgot about it but one of the better names i think that could get potentially give francis a real run for his money and possibly even win well that's the other thing like there's a lot of danger there ryan bader's like a legit wrestle. He could take Francis down and do to

Francis what Steepa did. And that might be the fight with like, well, maybe we don't want to make this one. Maybe we don't want to take that risk because that might be a very risky fight. Yeah, so we'll see how it all plays out. Matt, what you got going on? Obviously, you're down in Kentucky corner and then coach you guys this past week and what did you get coming up?

Oh, man, I got everything coming up. A lot of training, man. Well, let's see, July 1st. I got a couple guys that are going to be doing some kickboxing up in Akron, Ohio. That's going to be, you know, one of the first real kickboxing events has been put on here in Ohio for many years. Extreme kickboxing by Ryan Madigan. So I'm really happy to see that.

We've got a couple of guys fighting up there. I'm working hard on my online courses, trying to get all this worked out where I can educate the masses online and get this program going for everyone. I think it's going to be a great thing, man. I love to get all of the knowledge out there and provide value for as many people as I possibly can. And, you know, the internet is a way to do that these days. So I'm putting a lot of effort and energy into that, working on this e-book for a Strength and conditioning manual with Dustin Myers. You know, just so much stuff working on, man, trying to get things out there more. And, you know, I'm really enjoying educating people and helping people learn and become better for,

fighters and you know and not even just better fighters just be a stronger human beings more resilient human beings help people get in shape and improve their lives and if we could do that through the martial arts which is my specialty then that makes me a happy fulfilled person and that's really what it's all about so that's kind of my big focus right now but trying to stay in shape also so hopefully again late fall early winter or maybe into next year I can get back into the cage and you know and go through another war. You got a lot going on this summer, though, so it's definitely going to be fall or winter at the earliest and probably,

you know, maybe UFC 300. Jim Miller, UFC 300. That's kind of what, yeah, that's kind of what I'm hoping for. So we've got a lot of things going on right now, man.

Those online courses are so amazing. I think I've told this story before when I was a kid and I first got into MMA. I lived, you know, kind of like you did, lived in a small town in Ohio. we had no access to like training except like karate schools and stuff and so I ordered a three

video set of Frank Shamrock teaching you the basics of MMA and that's how I first learned how to do MMA was from videotapes of Frank Shamrock teaching you back in like the late 90s early 2000s um that's that's early early mid-I think it's a mid-2000s or like 2004 2005 whatever it was but anyways like that's like my first exposure like learning so those online courses are really beneficial like you really can't learn from those kind of things. Like I learned stuff that when I actually did train, like I used. I could execute that.

So yeah, those online courses are great. And like I said, we live in the digital age. Like, why not reach more people that way? Maybe somebody can't come to Columbus and train at a Mortal Martial Arts Center,

but they want to learn from Matt Brown. Okay, well, here's your way to do it. That's so funny. I never realized that. Like, that was the first DVD or VHS, whatever I ever got.

Also was French Shamrock. I was practicing these, leg locks in the fucking living room, just couldn't figure it out for shit. And, you know, those were so rudimentary back in the day. And, you know, there's so many online courses out there now, you know, so I'm, I'm going to try to build one that's, you know, a little different, you know, try to make it a little bit better.

You know, show everybody all the things that I've learned over all these years. And that's kind of what my second half of my life is kind of what I'm pushing towards is, you know, the most of the first half of my life has been. about building myself and again i never call it selfish because it's not selfish what we do as fighters but yeah there is a lot of you know uh self-centric you know everything is really about me right like trying to make more money and trying to become champion and build myself to the best martial artists that could be so the second half of my life i wanted to be all about giving giving back helping others reach their goals.

And, you know, if I can even just have a small part in a lot of people's journeys, then that means a lot to me. So, you know, there'll be a lot of education that I'm going to be working on getting out to the masses pretty soon. And it's taken a lot longer than I expected it to. It's a lot more work than I expected. But I'm going to make sure that I do it right and make sure that I do it well rather than kind of get out there half-ass.

I love it. I love it. We'll have lots more to talk about that, and we'll definitely continue to talk about the online courses. Obviously, you can always follow Matt. I am the immortal on Instagram and Twitter for updates, everything going on over there. And we'll be back next week with more Fighter versus Rider. We're finally moving into some bigger cards.

Obviously, we've got International Fight Week coming up in a couple weeks. Alexander Volcanowski, Aeer Rodriguez, we'll be talking about that. And, of course, this weekend, UFC down in Jacksonville with Josh I'm in Iliott-Teporia. That's a solid fight. So we'll talk some of the follow-up from that next week. Matt, anywhere else, anything else you want to plug before we get out of here? You know, you got to check out The Immortal Coffee at the immortal coffee.com. Then no crash coffee.

Make coffee, not excuses. Let's go. I love it. I love it. Everyone, we appreciate you tuning in to another edition of the Fighter versus the Writer. Check us on all your favorite podcast platforms, Apple Podcast, Spotify. And, of course, over on the best website in the world, MMAFighting. Dot com.

We will see you next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider. Thanks for tuning in. and we'll see you then.