MMA Fighting - Heck of a Morning | Jake Paul vs. Michael Bisping, Drakkar Klose Joins the Show

Episode Date: April 21, 2022

Is former UFC champion Michael Bisping the right next opponent for Jake Paul? Both men have gone back-and-forth on social media for the past several days with Bisping answering Paul's challenges every step of the way. With Paul looking to put his undefeated boxing record on the line potentially this summer, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck answers listener questions about Bisping's chances if that bout was put together on Thursday's episode of Heck of a Morning. In addition, other topics include the PFL's 2022 season debut — which was capped off by a war between Clay Collard and Jeremy Stephens — Bellator's doubleheader this weekend, and Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte. Plus, UFC lightweight Drakkar Klose joins the show for a podcast exclusive interview to recap his UFC Vegas 51 KO win over Brandon Jenkins, his callout of Mark O. Madsen, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Black Friday is here at IKEA and the clock is ticking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials, all the little and big things you need to make this season shine. But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca.com slash Black Friday. IKEA, bring home to life. It's week two of Canadian tires early Black Friday sale. These prices won't go lower this year.

So you're lying on the floor? Save up the 50% November 13th to 20th. Conditions apply, details online. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. It is Thursday, April 21st, 2022, and it is a heck of a morning indeed. As we are live on the MA fighting Twitter spaces for MAs morning show. as we discussed around 11 episodes ago. I think that's where we're at right now.

M.M.A. needed a morning show, a call-in show, if you will. Every other sport has one. So what better way to try to get this ball rolling and then to host it with all you find people on the M.A. fighting Twitter spaces. And later on, you'll hear this on the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a wonderful day.

Yesterday, of course, was April 20th. 420, if you will, as the youngsters like to say. And some of the oldsters, if we're being honest. And you know what that means, right? It was National Cold Brew Day. So hopefully you all were floating away, maxing and relaxing, sipping on that delicious cold brew. Maybe you got the munchies and had a donut or something to go with that cold brew.

And yeah, it's the day after. So hopefully you guys are hanging in there. A lot to talk about. There's a lot of options to discuss. Bellator is going to double header this weekend. UFC has a card this weekend. PFL had their season opener last night, which is a pretty fun card.

And let me just say this. Kudos to the PFL for actually listening to people. Because, yes, it was a long show, as most of these shows are. But the pacing was way better than it was last. year way better like a million times better so people are very happy about that then of course you get the big boxing match Tyson fury and what is looks like it's going to be his final professional boxing boat taking on dillion white that should be a fun one michael bisbing and jake paul are getting after it on social media and then we found out last night robert whittaker is out of his fight at

ufc 275 against marvin bettory and that's just the tip of the iceberg there's a lot going We're going to go here until about 845 Eastern because this is a busy day. We got BTL later on. And at 9.30 a.m. Eastern, Jorge Mazadol is actually going to head into court for his arraignment hearing for the alleged incident with Colby Covington. So we will be on that following along. And for those of you who will be listening on the podcast network later, we will have an exclusive interview there with Jarkar Close following his big win this past seven. Saturday, his first UFC finish. First fight in two years against Brandon Jenkins.

His first fight since the Jeremy Stevens shove heard around the world. But a lot going on. So I just want to throw it to you guys. I know tomorrow is a free for all Friday, but let's have some fun. Let's take your calls. Let's get your thoughts on the big news of the week, the comings, the goings, etc. And let's kick things off with Alajuan. Don't call me Akeem.

Alajan, what's up? Are you there? All right. We'll try again. Let's try Calvin. Let's get Calvin in here to kick us off. The first word, Calvin. What's going on?

Hey, yeah. Good morning, guys. I just wanted to say a few things about the Bispin and Jake Paul back and forth. I think it would be a really bad idea for Bispin. Why do you think that? I think he's just kind of falling into the same trick that we've seen Jake do, you know. He's always. over a certain age.

He's had a bunch of surgeries. He's got one eye. Like, I think he would get really badly hurt, you know? Maybe, but sometimes tears can be wiped away with $100 bills, right? Yeah. Bisbing would get a lot of $100 bills. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

True. Yeah, I mean, listen, I don't think it's going to happen. But I like how Bisbing is handling this. And I'm sure you agree because Jake Paul, they've been kind of going back and forth and Jake's like, all right, Bisbing, if you do this, I'll fight you. And then Bisbing goes on and does this. And then he's like, all right, now you're going to do this.

Business was like, okay, I'll do that. He got a commission to pretty much clear him to fight. They're like, if he fights here, like, we'll allow him to fight. And then Jake Paul's like, nah, like, I pick where we fight. So I think Visbing's handling it well. And even if the fight doesn't happen, I think Bisning looks pretty good in this situation. Yeah, it'll certainly game for me either way. Yeah, I get what you're saying.

I'm enjoying the back and forth. I just, I think I just don't want it to actually happen, you know. Yeah, I mean, it'll be good for Bisbon to get one last big payday. But yeah, I would favor Jake Paul to probably win that fight, but we'll see what happens. Anything else, my man? No, not really. Just want you to chip him with that. All right, cool.

Thank you, Calvin. I appreciate it. Cheers, guys. All right, Calvin kicking us off. Here's Tristan Gordette. Let's bring him in. I hope you're not going to address the Instagram DM that I just, looked at. I was good to address that tomorrow, but

what's going on? Hey, Mike. All right. So, you know, I know I prepped you for this, send you a message about the question I was going to ask right now. All right. So I'm going to name my top five for both categories that I sent you. So top five UFC fighters that will contend for a title at some point, no

fighters cannot be, you know, it's obvious. They can't be already in the top five of the rankings. And then top five USC fighters that may never contend for a title, but are the most fun to watch. So mine, I have for top five fighters to contend, Shafcombe Rockmanov, Armist Surukian, Aaron Blanchfield, Tatiana Suarez, and then Uwarn and Megammerinov. And then my top five that may never contend for a title,

but are fun to watch. Julian O'Rosa, Charles Jardine, who's fighting this weekend, fighting on Saturday, Billy Quintillo, Brandon Whitebell, and then Adrian Yonis to finish it all. So I do have, I don't have mentioned for the top five that would pretend probably. I have Saeeda McAmane of as well and then Carla Phillips to finish that off. So wanted to hear yours, very curious. Hopefully you could ask the rest of the team as well, their thoughts.

So take it away. All right. I appreciate that. As I alluded to, I just looked at it this morning. So I really had a chance to prep it. I like your first list. I mean, Rockmanoff and Sirukian could certainly see all of them fighting for titles. Aaron Blanchfield, some would certainly see fighting for a title.

Tatyada Swares, hopefully her health is good to go. I think she'll fight for a title either at 115 or 125, just depending on when she comes back, what weight class she comes back at. So those are all interesting. The top five might never fight for a title, but are the most fun to watch. a Rosa is a pretty good name on that list. I like that list a lot.

I actually think Braderoyv will fight for a title at some point just because he's probably like two wins away from fighting for a title. Flyweight is starting to move along. Like I know there's talks about maybe doing figurato Moreno 4. They were talking about doing that maybe in July. That doesn't look possible right now

because of figurato having maybe a finger or hand injury or something like that year. McCrues talked about this if you want to go and find that information. But it seems like Moreno just wants to get back in there and he wants to fight in July. And Kai Kar-France is right there. And I think that would be a fine fight to put on. So maybe the winner goes on and fights Figurado. Roy Vaugh, I believe, has a fight coming up.

So if he wins that fight, then he's probably like a win-away fight for the cycle. So I do think Roy Val will actually fight for the belt at some point. The other names I liked. And then, yeah, I will think about this more, Tristan, for sure. And I will have, like, my final list for you on tomorrow's show. You have my word, my bad. But I liked your list very much, the first one especially. So it is 809.

We're going to go, like I said, until about 845. So if you got thoughts about the stuff that is going on in the wonderful Warland mixed martial arts, we will do that. I will talk about the PFL once again because I thought last night, and I didn't watch the entire card, but at least the pacing of last night's card seems to be much better, especially the main card.

It capped off with a really fun fight between Clay Collard and Jeremy Stevens, 30-27s across the board. And I know you look at that, and if you didn't watch the fight, you just think that Clay Collard went out there and just put on a master class against Jeremy Stevens. That is not the case at all.

It was a really fun fight. It was a close fight. Way closer than the scores, would indicate, but definitely in the top 10 discussion for fights of the year. It was a lot of fun. But Clay Cod gets the win, Jeremy Stevens. His losing streak continues on. Hous Monfeo, man.

This guy just has a never-say-die attitude, right? Losing the fight to Don Madge. And then he goes out and gets a knockout in the third round. I mean, it was just out of nowhere. It was great. Shoeface does what he was supposed to do, gets a dark stroke submission in like 30 seconds against De La Monti. he was like a minus 7 billion favorite in that fight.

So Shuface treated him accordingly. The Canadian gangster gets a win over the former champ Natanz Chote via split decision. Olivier Aubin Mercier, trying to make some moves here. Corey Hendrix with a nice upset win over Emiliano Sorty, TKO in the second round. Good win for Alexander Martinez, Martin Hamlet. Amari Ak-Madoff with, excuse me, a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday night for 17 hours. We definitely don't want that to happen.

So good job by the PFL. They kick things off in a nice way. Very happy to see that. So good for them. If you guys want to chime on in here, feel free. Again, we have a lot going on. Tomorrow, Bellator kicks off their double header, Belator 278. A couple of events headlined by women title fights, which is very cool.

Good for that. Giuliana Velasquez, Liz Carmouch, will headline Bellator 279. Then we get a couple of play-in fights for the Bantam. Grand Prix, Enrique Barzola, taking on Nikita Mikhailov. We got Jordan Al Lugo, putting his undefeated record on the line against Danny Sabatello.

Dark Horse fight, indeed. I like that one a lot. I actually think, I think Danny Sabatelo has a chance to win this whole thing, honestly. And no one's going to like how he does it more than likely. But this guy is a problem with his wrestling. It may not be the most exciting thing to watch,

but he is a problem. That is a dark horse fight for sure. and then Christian Edwards going to look to bounce back against Grant Neal. Mani Murrow is back against Nate Andrews. That is your main card. Weber Al-Meda is probably going to go out and get a highlight real finish to bounce back from his first loss. So it should be fun. And then Saturday, obviously, the main event of the two cards.

Chris Cyborg, Arlene Blanco for the featherweight title, a rematch. I think we all expect, I mean, it is M.A. and anything can happen, but I think we all know what's going to happen there. Juan Archeletta, Rafion Stotz for the interim Bannamweight Championship. That fight is awesome, and I feel like the world is disrespecting Juan Archiletta. What is going on here? I'm looking at the betting odds. Scott's is a big favor here.

It's like everyone forgot how good Warren Archoleta is. Craziness. Kioji Horaguchi versus Patchy. She mixes a great fight, potential five rounds there. And then we'll see the return of a Lima-Mac-Farlane for the first time since her championship loss to Velazquez. First fight since December 2020, she will take on Justine Kish. the former UFC fighter. So not a bad car.

That Saturday slate is really solid. I like that one a lot. And then before that happens, UFC is back. We got Amanda Lamos versus Jessica Androge in the main event there. Clay Guida versus Claudio Pueyes in the co-mate event.

Macy Barber is back, taking on Montana de la Rosa. Sumiderji versus Manel Cap. Cannot wait for that fight. Alexander Romanov will be fighting. After all, he's taking on. Someone put this on Twitter and I'm going to steal it. I forget who it was.

So credit you from the inside. Taking on the returning, Chase, Chase Nine Live Sherman. Love that nickname. Chase Sherman, like a week after being released is back, signs a new four-fight deal, gets a few extra shekels. Unfortunately, he's got to take on Alexander Romanov who's an absolute killer. And then the people's main event. I know how on he was on here for a minute and I'm stealing his gimmick

a moment, but Charles Jordane versus Lando Vanada. What a fight that's going to be. Tyson Pedro is back for the first time in a long time, checking on Ikeville and Oweva. Listen, not the deepest card in the world, but if you're a fan of prospects and up-and-comers, it's a pretty solid card. With Instacard, you get groceries that over-deliver so you can over-share your preferences.

Want russet potatoes with no brown spots? You got it. Want turnips that look light but feel heavy? Easy. Want honey-crisp apples that are firm, green, and definitely not Macintosh like last year when you lost the fall bake-off to perfect Penelope Johnson? Okay, a bit TMI, but we're here for it. So download the app today and get zero delivery fees on your first three orders.

Instacard, groceries that over-deliver. Service fees exclusions and terms apply. We know you love the thought of a vacation to Europe, but this time, why not look a little further? To Dubai. A city that everyone talks about and has

absolutely everything you could want from a vacation destination. From World class hotels, record-breaking skyscrapers, and epic desert adventures to museums that showcase the future, not just the past. Choose from 14 flights per week between Canada and Dubai. Book on emirates.com.com. All right, let's go back to the lines here. Let's get Hussein in here. Hussein, good morning. How are you? Just make sure you're on mute. How are you doing, Mike? What's going on, man? Okay, so I have a question for you. A lot of the 16 countries have UFC champions in them.

There's a lot of upcoming guys from Georgia. Talk about Giga Chkajadze, Rob Devashvili, and we have some guys from Armenia, Patsarian, and Armand Sarukian. I know you're hiring a lot of those guys, and I know Glover is definitely going to win that match with URI, so Czech Republic won't be the next country to be added to those UFC champion lists. So who do you think is the next country to be added to that? UFC champion list.

Oh, interesting question. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, just to kind of go along with the Georgia theme, I mean, there's a couple there, obviously. We have, we got Marab, who I think he, if he gets the opportunity to fight for a title, he's got a really good shot to win it. I just don't know how long it's going to take for him to get there.

One, because I think he's going to have a hard time finding fights on the way up. And two, he's obviously not going to fight for the title while Al Jemaine Sterling is still the champion. So he's an interesting one for sure. I mean, Giga, I don't think Giga fights for a title. I don't think he'll get there. I think he'll just be a, you know, kind of going back to Tristan Gordat's question, who's a fun, exciting guy who will probably not fight for a title.

I would probably put Giga Chikadze on that list. I'll get Teporia is a guy who I believe could certainly fight for a title. And then you mentioned some other names. Armand Sarukian, I mean, there's, I mean, he's absolutely fighting for a title someday. I am super high on that guy. I might be higher on him than anybody has been. I was high on him before he got to the UFC. I'm even higher on him now.

He will absolutely fight for a title. Unfortunately, I think he's going to kind of run into the same problems that Marab is running into because people are starting to see how good Armand is. The ranking, where is he ranked right now of the UFC rankings? I have him very high on the only rankings that truly matter, the MA fighting global rankings. I think I have him higher than than anybody.

Let me see where I have Armand on my list. Let me see. Bear with me for one second. Armand, Syruquian. I have Surukian number eight on my personal rankings at 155 pounds. And I feel like he could beat anybody. Let me pull this up.

Okay, so Syruquian and the UFC rankings is number 11. I know him and Gamrot are lobbying for a fight. That would be super fun. I just don't know if the UFC will go that route because you have two guys up and coming who could both fight for titles, if we're being honest. And I don't know if you put those two guys together to Abme, if you do,

I'm watching the hell out of it. But I don't know if the UFC will go that route right now and I would favor Syrucian to win that fight. I think Surukian beats the bottom half of the top 10 from Michael Chandler down. I think he beats Chandler. I think he beats RDA. I think he beats Ferguson.

Gillespie would be interesting. I think he would win that fight, though. He would definitely beat Connor. And he would beat Fiziv, although Fiziv is a very good prospect, too. So, yeah, I mean, listen, the sport is evolving. There's a lot going on. And then you mentioned Glover Tashara versus Yuri Perhaska. You feel like Glover's going to win.

And guess what? I agree with you. I agree with you. I think Glover Tashir is being extremely overlooked. I don't bet on MMA, but if I did, I would probably save a couple bucks for that one, because I feel like that one's going to pay off at a big way, because, yes, Uri's been getting some work in at fight ready. It's a really good camp pair for somebody like a Glover-Teshirea,

but I just don't know if the game could evolve that quickly and that short of amount of time to take out a guy that Glover-Teshire who will really stylistically just need one takedown to win the fight. And we saw what Dominic Reyes was able to do in that aspect, against Yuri Prahashka and if Glover Tashira gets in those positions

against Jerry Phrashka the fight is not going to be going on for much longer. So, yeah, some good questions. I think France could be another interesting country. I know in Ghana is a champion

right now, but he's more Cameroon. He's got some France in it. Like Sierra God could be a champion. I mean, I don't know. I don't know how you sort of categorize that one. If a guy lived there and trained there for a little

while, but he's from other places. Do we count that? I don't know. So, yeah, that just shows you how good the sport is. And now we're at a point where, I mean, eight, nine-year-olds are training, are getting after it. Like, my kid took MMA classes for a little while. He liked it.

But then he got into soccer and basketball, and it just came a lot for him. But going to his MMA classes, I mean, they were like 50, 60 kids in those classes. And some of them were really good. Like nine, 10-year-old kids. really good. I mean, these kids, instead of playing baseball and basketball,

I mean, they're going full-time training MMA, so they're getting to learn the sport a lot quicker now. So, I mean, think about what this sport's going to be

in five, 10, 15 years from now. I mean, you're going to have extensive amateur careers, probably in some countries, fighters, getting fights at 15, 16 years old. I mean, good Lord.

It's going to be interesting. in the next 15 years. So, all right, we still got a lot to talk about. By the way, for those listening, who will be listening on the podcast network, there will be an interview with your car close coming up. So stay tuned for that. Tomorrow, you will hear an interview with Belator President Scott Coker.

I spoke with him last night. Some really interesting stuff from Scott Coker. So maybe we'll have that video up today on the MAFinding YouTube channel. We do a BTL coming up at 3 o'clock, live back in video form, first time in a conference. couple weeks because we're in Jacksonville. Last week, I was being Florida, Mike, kind of on vacation the week before. We still got some podcasts in for BTL, but we haven't had an actual battle.

We're going to have a match between a couple of Arizonans, Sean Al-Shadi versus Jose Young's. So that should be a lot of fun. And, of course, if you missed the news last night, Robert Whitaker, out of his fight against Martin Vittori on June 11th in Singapore, UFC 275. If you missed it, Robert Ordecker took to Twitter and said, quote, sorry to say, guys, due to an injury, I took early in the camp, I'm not able to compete in June. I did everything I could to get it right,

but it's not healing in time. All this means is that I'll be back in the octagon a couple of months later, and I'll be better than ever. So, Martin Vittori has been out there lobbying. He wants the smash boys. He likes Shemaiah. He likes Darren Till. Probably doesn't get either of those fights,

if we're being honest. I mean, where's the upside for Darren Till there? Probably very, very little. I mean, rankings-wise, yes, but it's not the kind of match. If you're Darren Till looking to get back on track that you want to take, especially on less than two months notice. No. What else?

Vittori also called out Luke Rockhold. That happens. I don't know. We'll see what happens there. I'm sure somebody will step up fight with Martin Vatroy. Let's get our man, Patrick. in here. We got about 20 minutes to go. So if you guys got questions, you got thoughts, you got some MMA on your mind. We'll get into it.

Mike! Mike! What's that, man? How are you? Good. How are you? Oh, pretty good. Good morning. To be hanging out with all you mother heckers. That's amazing. That's amazing. What's on your mind, man, man? Well, I don't know. I wanted to call him the other day to talk about, kind of wax poetically, about Aaron Pico, which I guess I could do. But the thing that made me request was, there was all those middleweights that got mixed up in that last fight. So any of those guys you think could step in against Vittori,

like Drichus de Plessi, Nassardine Imovov. I think that's what I thought, that if Nassardine Imovov could fight Marvin, that would be amazing. That's actually a really good idea. I like that idea, Patrick. Well done. Oh, you could hop back here. We'll talk about Aaron Pico if you want.

My apologies. I pushed the button by accident. Yeah, I like the Mavovov idea. Yeah. I mean, that's probably perfect, if we're being honest. Yeah, I like that one. Duplessi is already going to fight booked. He's fighting July 2nd, UFC 276.

He's taking on Brad Tavares. So Duplessi is book. But again, as we've seen in this middleweight division, who the hell knows, mixing and matching. But, yeah, I love the EMOvah, the EMOvah idea. Now, well, Martin Vittori take that fight. I don't know if the risk reward is quite there for him. He gets, he'd be heavily favored against Darren Till.

He's definitely not getting the Shemaiah fight. Luke Rockhold, I don't think that fight really interests him all that much. But, yeah. Yeah, I like that. the imbaoff idea i know it was more of a of a visa issue i believe so if you can get over to singapore be a really good opportunity for him i like that idea well done well done patrick and then talking about iron pico this guy man really good him versus mads bernel that's the fight you got to make very intrigued to see how that would play out and then if he beats mads bernel you might have to

get throw him throw him into a title fight right you might have to throw him into a title fight right you might have to to a title fight. I'll get Patrick back in here to finish his thoughts about Aaron Pico. What did you think of Pico, my man? Yeah, so Pico just seems I started watching him paying attention after that little losing streak and everyone was

talking about how big of a disappointment he was. And then watching these last like, I think five fights he's on a win string now. It just seems like every fight he's improving with the mixture of the martial arts. That he, and the other thing that I think with him is he takes what is given.

That's what I see that. Like, he goes in and with a game plan where he strikes into range and then he takes you down. And if he feels like, you know, he has an advantage of the feet, he'll let him back up. and then he'll do it again. It's not like he's wasting any energy to do anything that is going against the grain in the fight. You know, it seems like he kind of is effortlessly letting the fight play out.

And he, I think he just knows what his strengths are. And he's so good at all those individual things. And now he's also so good at transitioning into all of those things. you know, like he'll slap a submission that I think will scare the shit out of someone from trying to engage, you know, and that's just to let them know that that weapon is there. And I don't know, I just, I was super impressed with that fight. And he was just throw, he throws with power, you know, he's not like this throw a jab out there, pump it out there and win by points. No, he's like, you know, just a liver collector, man. He's just hammering that the body.

And then as soon as you go to cover it, he goes up to the head. I was just very impressed with that fight. He looked like he has a skill set to compete with the best in that division for sure. And I think he could be the reason why John Jones left, man, signing it with the last name Pico. Yeah, man. He's really good. He's really good.

He's living up to the potential. I feel like he was done a little bit of a disservice early on in his career, getting the Zach Freeman fight, but maybe that was the best thing for him. He's talked about this many times. Those losses were some of the best things for him. He ended up now he's got some time over at Jackson Wink,

some time with, I mean, Brandon Gibson has done wonders for him. his career and his overall game. He just believes in everything Brandon tells him and his coaches tell him. I mean, he has developed into just a super talent. Very dangerous in all aspects.

And that wrestling is so good and it's there whenever he wants it. And he hasn't even really needed it in his fights. He just strikes so well and so effectively. He's just a very smart fighter. Fight IQ is through the roof. He can be chaotic what he needs to, but he's not full on chaos like he once was.

This guy is a problem. this guy is a problem. Him versus Mads-Bernel would be just a ridiculous fight. I think that's the fight to make. And then Pitbull's probably going to fight. Adam Borch next, because Adam Borch won't have more contend to fight.

You would think that's the direction Belator is going to go. And if Aaron Pico beats Mads-Bernel, you do Aaron Pico versus Pitbull. You've got to give this guy a title fight. Like, just throw him in there. Just see how he does. Do he loses? So what?

So what? They'll suck. You know? Losing's never fun, but he'll learn a lot from fighting guy like Patricia Pitbull. He's still super young. He's got a long way to go. Yeah, he's a win away from fighting for the title. All right, let's get Christopher in here.

Christopher, how are you, my man? I'm doing all right, Mike. How are you doing? Good. What's up? Yeah, I've got two things for you today. One, just staying on the topic of Bellator. I'm really, really excited for the Raffian-Stots archelta fight.

I'm really high on Stots and as much as I love Horiguchi I kind of think Stots is going to run through pretty much everyone in the tournament it's a shame the Pettus fight fell through but I think I think the way Stots fights with that forward pressure the heavy kicking game obviously the wrestling

I think he's going to nullify a lot of what Archelaeta is good at but I guess my question for you is one how do you see that fight going and the other thing I wanted to bring up is did you watch Clay Collard versus uh, Jeremy Stevens. If so, your thoughts on that crazy,

crazy fight. Yes. Christopher. Uh, thank you very much. I'm going to go and look at some, uh, some betting odds real quick because I was puzzled by this.

I jumped on a, uh, a bell at our preview show yesterday with, uh, my man, Big Marcel in Santiago, we were talking about this. And I was puzzled by the betting lines for that fight.

Where is it? Where are we at? Yeah, it's, it's even got. Raffaun Stotz is a minus 255 favorite. The comeback in one archilettas plus 205. That is really surprising to me.

Not that Stats is a favorite because I think Stott's should probably be the favorite, but that just seems like a huge number at minus 255. I mean, if you are, I know my best friend A.K. Lee is here, and he will agree with this. Don't bet on M.MA. It's too unpredictable. but if you are going to bet on that fight, you take a dog shot on a one, Artcholetta plus 205,

because he's really good, and I feel like he's being completely overlooked here, completely overlooked. Archiletta had that fight with Sergio Pettis. He lost the fight. It was clear he lost the fight. But it was a close fight. It was a competitive fight.

Who knows? Maybe he had an off night, and Pettis had a perfect night. It happens. It happens. But I feel like Archelette is being kind of overlooked here. So I favor Stats because of the mixing of the martial arts a little bit more. But I think Archelaide is a super live underdog.

I actually think Patsy Mix is a super live underdog. Plus 185 against Keoggi Horoguchi at minus 225. Mix is going to have a big size advantage in this fight. Now, if the fight gets extended, that sort of things get interesting if it goes in the championship rounds. But Mix is really good, man. Mix is really good. Could be another live underdog in that fight.

So, yeah, I like both of those fights. It's super interesting. The Stats Archeletta fight is probably the most intriguing fight of the entire weekend. Really interested to see how that plays out. And then the Clay Collar, Jeremy Stevens fight was fantastic. It was a great fight. And as I said at the beginning of the show, you look, if you go on M-Afighting.com and you just look at the results, and you see that Clay Collard won 30-27, 30-27,

you immediately think, oh, man, Collar just outclassed Jeremy Stevens for 15 minutes. But that is not the case. This is a close fight. This is a chaotic fight. It was a lot of fun. And a fight that was way closer than the scorecards would indicate. It was a lot of fun. A lot of people were saying this is a surefire contender for fight of the year.

I don't know if, I mean, it was really good. I don't know if we're having those discussions. I don't know if we're putting that in the same class as Shamiathan Burns. But good fight. Probably a top 10 best fight of the year thus far. But overall, PFL was a pretty good card. The Monfeo win was just insane against Dodd Mad. It was a good card.

It was a fun card that was paced pretty well. And that's it. That's the whole thing. That's all I wanted from PFL. It's just good pacing, a card that doesn't feel like I'm watching for four days. That's always my biggest hope for the PFL. To succeed in the future of work, forward thinkers use AI to deliver measurable results. Workday is the AI platform for HR and finance

that frees you from the mundane so you can focus on more meaningful work. Workday, moving business forever forward. I will say this. Speaking of the PFL, as I mentioned earlier, I spoke with Scott Coker last night. You'll hear that interview on the podcast version of the show tomorrow. It may go up in the M.A.

Finding YouTube channel today. But I asked Scott Coker about the PFL's approach to the Kayla Harrison, Chris Cyborg potential fight. But we're going to wait on that because we have somebody requesting. Let's bring in Kaiser or Kaiser. Hopefully I got that one right. Good morning. Oh, no, she's gone.

Okay, never mind. But Coker, if you listen to a Scott Coker press conference or listen to a Scott Coker interview, he's very, this is kind of an old school reference, but if you ever seen the movie Bull Durham, Scott Coker is very, very Bull Durham-esque with his answers. He's got things ready to go, very, very company-oriented, doesn't really talk a lot of trash. He'll put his fighters over.

He's a promoter. He is a promoter in every, he's a textbook promoter. But I asked him about the whole PFL situation, them going on social media, Peter Murray doing interviews, talking about how they're going to put this fight together. And Coker got a little uncolumburg. Koke-esque, had a little fire in that belly talking about the PFL. I was impressed. He got me a little fired up. I got some goosebumps from Scott Koker.

Kind of threw some shade at the PFL for their business practices, the way they're trying to put this fight together. And what was interesting is that Scott said, no one, no one from the PFL has actually picked up the telephone to contact him or any of the Bellator brass about putting that fight together. Scott is not thrilled with how PFL's. fellows approach this. And I'll save the rest for when that interview actually comes out.

But Scott was, I had a member of the Bellator PR staff, like, reach out to me. And they were pretty much shot at Koker's response to that because that was very unscott Coker-like. But it was good stuff. So we'll see. All Scott wants is a phone call. You can call them out on social media all you want, but you're not going to get any response from those guys if you want to make that fight.

But I felt like this could have. a bit of possibility maybe a month or two ago. Right now, not so much on the co-promotion side of things. But I could be wrong. And again,

Chris Seiborg, she's got this fight coming up on Saturday against Arlene Blanco. I believe her contract and Coker kind of confirmed this as well. Ends in July, I think, whether she gets another fight or not. So,

but I mean, if you're Chris Cyborg, like you can go to PFL and, in fight Kayla or do whatever. But why would you just stay in Bellator? Make that money. Make that money. You got a pretty cushy gig right now.

And I'm not trying to disrespect the fellow featherweights in Belator, but you get paid lots of money to main event cards and be a minus 1,000 favorite every single fight you're in. Seems like a pretty fun gig to me if you're a fighter on, you know, the last legs of your career. Not saying that Chris Iborg is on the last legs of her career, but she's probably got a couple of, two, three more years left at most.

I know she's out here saying she's going to fight for like 20 more years, but come on now. You ain't fight for 20 more years. You crazy? All right. Let's get Corey in here. You're going to have the final word. Let's see if we can get Corey in here.

The wheel is spinning. But I don't know if we can get him. There he is. Corey, what's up? I had you. Unmute. You got on mute. Oh.

Oh, there you go. Hey, what's up? Yeah, bad service, Corey. Bad service. So Lucas gets the final word. Hi, Lucas. Make sure you on mute. Yo.

Yo. What's up? What are we talking about here? Whatever you want, my man. Okay, I've got a question for you. Okay. Do you think any current UFC fighter that is active right now would be Jake Paul in a boxing match? Like any UFC fighter?

That is active right now. and don't say heavy weights so like from middleweights and lower that are active in the... Probably. Probably. I mean, I don't think like any welterweights are beating them. Let me just for reference.

Let's see. Yuri Perashka, maybe. I mean, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's an interesting question. Nobody at welterweight's beaten them probably. I don't know. Maybe, I don't know. Middleweight.

Yeah, you know what? It's actually pretty interesting. Middle weights are going to get more of a problem. If we go up to 205, it's going to be even more of a problem. Yeah, I don't know. Unfortunately, I mean, we're never really going to find out, at least right now. But we'll see what happens to Michael Bisbing. Maybe Michael Bisbing gets this fight.

I wouldn't favor Michael Bisbing in that fight. I will tell you that right now. But I am in favor of Michael Bisbing getting one last big payday. That's for damn sure. All right, Aheed, you are the man. I appreciate you jumping on all the time. But let's keep this to like 45 seconds. What's up, my man?

Okay, like I guess we'll talk about the weekend's main event. And obviously, it's not Lambo. We've got Lambson and Dajaj and it's explosive fight, but obviously we've got the heavyweight boxing title fight. I think that's going to between Fury and White. I think it's going to be fun. I think it's good that Fury and White were actually composed and John Fury was busy trying to get himself in the media as usual

but yeah like it should be good Tyson Fury genuinely I think Tyson Few generally understands the danger of Dylan White like as in how dangerous this person is and I follow Dylan why he's actually been you know he he's a victim of being screwed over multiple times Not Leon Edwards. Leon Edwards is not a victim, okay? Leon Edwards is denied fights and whatnot.

You want to look at someone that's been screwed? It's Dillion White. That's someone that's been really screwed. And when you've been screwed like that, it makes you dangerous. And he's had to wait a long time for that title shot. It's finally here. And yeah, I'm excited. I think it's just going to be an absolutely brutal fight.

I do think Tyson Fury takes it. But, yeah, I'm excited. for that. Yeah, I mean, listen, we we're going to obviously have the two Bellator cards, we're going to have the two UFC cards, or I'm sorry, the one UFC card, the two Bellator cards,

the one UFC card. But obviously this flight between Fear and White's going to take over the whole weekend. Like when we're looking at quote unquote clicks and numbers and engagement, things like that, the Fury White fight's going to get way more than the Bellator and the UFC

cards combined if we're being on. honest, because of the PFL in there too. More people are going to care about the boxing fight. And, yeah, I mean, listen, it could be competitive. I think Fury is just going to, I think the first few rounds are going to be interesting. That's why it could be the most effective. But I think, I think Fury is just going to, I think Fury is going to dominate. I really do.

I'm glad White gets a shot. I'm glad White's getting paid. And you're right, Ahid, he's kind of gotten the short end of the stick more times than not. but I just think Fury with the crowd and everything going on and final fight, pro fight anyways, and everything that's there, the way he's approached his career the last couple of years since coming back from everything that he's gone through.

I think this is going to be Fury's night, but White's good, man. White's one of those guys. And maybe I'm guilty of it too. Maybe I'm guilty of it too. That I'm overlooking Dillion White here. But I don't think I am. It's not a, out of disrespect to White.

It's just how good I think Tyson Fury is, especially right now. So there you go. Well, that's it, everybody. Again, we got a lot going on here at M.A. fighting. 9.30. I'll be trying to figure out how to get into the virtual courtroom, if you will, for the Jorge Amazadell arraignment. So we'll keep you updated on that on Twitter and on M.A. fighting.

We got B.T.L. coming up at 3 p.m. Eastern. It is Shot al-Shadi versus Jose Youngs, a battle for the BTL King of Arizona. I'm very excited about that first live BTL video show that we've had since before UFC 273. So that'll be a lot of fun. And then if you're listening to this on the podcast network, don't go anywhere. I'm saying goodbye here. But that's just for the Twitter spaces. Interview with your car close coming up in a matter of moments.

And then tomorrow it's a free for all Friday. which is taking your calls the entire day. So think up of your MMA anecdotes, previewing the Bellator 278 car, which would be going down later that day. We got Bellator on Saturday. We got UFC on Saturday. We got Fury White on Saturday.

So there'll be a lot to talk about. And I'm excited to do that with all of you. So hopefully you guys are recovered from National Cold Brew Day 420. Yeah, yeah. But if you're listening on the podcast network, interview with your car close coming up next. for everybody else we'll see you tomorrow 8 a.m. Eastern for another edition of heck of a morning have a good day everybody all right let us welcome back dracar close and let me just start up by

saying that this is quite refreshing talking to this man not only coming off of a fight his first and over two years coming off of a win and on top of that his first UFC finish in fact his first finish in almost seven years against brandon jenkins this past Saturday at ufc vgas 51 Drachar, welcome back, my man. Welcome back to competition. Welcome back to the wind calm, all that stuff. How are you, sir? Thank you.

You didn't have to bring up to seven years. Hey, but you got a lot of wins in between, so it's all good. Yeah, I know I get clowned a lot. We always joke about that. We've done enough interviews. I figured you wouldn't be too offended by that. But first of it, I mean, that was some performance, Dracar.

You just unloaded on that poor man early and often, and he survived the onslaught to make it to the second round, and the chaos just continued from your end. Was this just a year of built-up frustration from the Jeremy Stevens thing, just coming all out at once? Like, how would you describe what happened in that cage that night? You know, I would just focus and determine, you know, I'm back at the lab now.

And like I was telling Crouch, like I'm happy, you know, I'm happy to be there. And when I'm a happy man, I'm a dangerous man. And to show it on Saturday. Yeah, that was another thing that kind of warm my heart, finding out that you return to the M.A. Lab, because, you know, as I've told you in the past,

I was surprised that you made that move. But you said, you know, at that time, that felt like the move for you. You felt like leaving there was the right thing for your career. Maybe some things you might have said that you may have regretted today, but, you know, but to find out you were back there a few years later, I mean, that was very cool.

How did that all happen? Um, you know, I kind of, because I went to fight ready and I was only there for, you know, like three to four months. And, and then after that, I was just, I was training with the guys from the lab, like other places, but not at the lab. And, you know, that was always my home. And, you know, I just manned up and, you know, talk to Crouch and let him know that, you know, I was in the wrong. And I understand what he was saying. and I don't know, I just, I guess just growing up, you know what I mean, and just being a man and I'm admitting your wrongs. You regret leaving? Like if you could do it again, would you do it the same way? Because sometimes in life, as you know, you're, you know, you got a lot going on right now. It takes making a big change, sort of making mistakes along the way to make you grow and make

you realize, hey, this is where I was supposed to be all along. I needed this to know that for sure. So if you could do it all over again, would you just stay at the lab or would you have done this whole thing all over again? You know, like leaving, it turned me into a man, you know what I mean? But, you know, I wouldn't want to leave on those terms like I did last time. You know what I mean? Like if I can go back, you know what I mean? You know, I heard a lot of people when I did that and the stuff I was saying.

But, you know, I was still young and I didn't understand all that. and but you know, I've grown from it. I'm sure Crouch was just like happy to have the conversation and then he's probably over by then, right? That's just the kind of guy he is, right? Yeah, yeah. He's, you know, he's always taking care of me and it kind of sucks. You know, we veered away, you know, when I had laughed. But I knew where my heart needed to be.

And, you know, I just made sure, you know, I talked to him and squawks. everything. So last week, the fight week in general, I mean, you did this a year ago. You got ready. You made the way nearly a year ago to the actual week. It was like, I think it was like a day prior a year ago. Everything's all good until the face off after way ends and then everything changed from there. What was this fight week like for you? Just being back in Vegas, the same venue, the same location, the same everything. Was it a little jarring at all? Was it a little strange or did it feel super comfortable for you? I felt very comfortable for me, you know, especially Corner and Courtney in her fights there. And then, you know, I was joking around with Crouch. I'm like, well, last time I didn't make it this far, hopefully I'll make it to the cage. And, you know, but we did. It was a great week, you know, the weight cut was a little tougher than what I thought it was going to be. But we got it done.

How about like just stepping up for the face off? Did you have your guard up mentally in case things got a little testy? I mean, that's not really Brandon's style, but just precautionary, if you will. No, because I know that's not his style. You know what I mean? I kind of did like a little like reenactment, like a little push thing, you know, just, you know, I don't know. But it is what it is. You know, Jeremy, he's that type of guy.

You know what I mean? He needs to, you know, fight, you know, trying to get the other guy angry to win, you know what I mean? brought it out with them, you know what I mean? So, but it is, it is what it is. Darren, I don't know if you saw this, but Jeremy's actually fighting this week for the PFL. He's making his PFL debut. And when we last spoke, it was probably like, I don't know, 10 days after the shoving incident and everything that had happened. And you basically said, listen, no matter how many times I see this man, whenever I see him, we're fighting. Like,

it doesn't matter, we're going to fight. So he actually was asked about you at the PFL Media Day, and I want to read this real quick, we pulled up, said, you know, I'd imagine with everything that we've been through and all the chaos and people misquoting me, all that shit, I wish nothing but the best for him. He went in, got his win, battled through a lot of shit that he'd been going through. I have nothing but respect with him going forward. I hope he goes in there and kills it and gets to the top. So I was just curious, your reaction to Jeremy's comments there. Someone told him to say that, you know, that's bullshit. You know what I mean? But it is what it is.

Like hopefully, you know, one day, you know, hopefully he wins his fight in the PFL and he makes it back to the UFC so I can fight him. So all is not, all is not lost here. Time will not heal this particular wound. Oh, of course not. Fair enough. So going back to that conversation after the whole incident, you told me that you were dealing with neck pain.

You found out you had a herniated disc. You were dealing with headaches. but at the time they were starting to go away and you were you were feeling a little bit more positive about it. And I know you did some media heading into the fight. You were actually pondering retirement because you're eventually going to need surgery on your neck from everything that's happened. You're not 100% yet. Is that true? Like when did those thoughts start creeping into your mind that, you know what? Like I might have to get this surgery. And if I do, I'm just not going to do this anymore. You know, just, you know, dealing with injuries. You know, I've had, what, seven surgeries.

and, you know, if I had to do a neck surgery, because they told me they wanted to fuse it. And I'm like, that was the last thing I wanted to hear, you know what I mean, is fusing it. So I just made sure I did a lot of therapy, and I just told myself, if I have to get surgery on my neck, I'm just going to call it quits. But, you know, I'll just thank, you know,

all the therapists and all that, taking their time out and making sure, you know, they're getting me to these fights healthy. During that conversation, you weren't overly thrilled about the UFC's reaction to the whole situation. Dana Wayne in particular is saying that he called Jeremy a savage and you thought that was a pretty awful take on his part as many others. I'm not asking you to come out here and trash the UFC or anything like that because I'm sure there'll be a Dracar close book after your career is over. Maybe you'll talk about this whole situation in depth. But has this whole thing changed the way you view your career as a UFC fighter?

Like a lot of times when you come into the UFC, you're like, I'm going to do, I'm going to help these guys out. You need a short notice fight. I'm going to hop in there. I'm going to help these guys out. Has it made you, I mean, it's a team sport after all. But in a way, it's a little more selfish you and Courtney against the world. But has it sort of changed your view on what it's like to being a UFC fighter at least? You know, I just know it's a business now.

You know what I mean? I got to take care of myself first, you know what I mean, before anyone else. and that's how I'm just going to treat the rest of my career as a bit. I'm going to make my own business choices. Is that like a freeing feeling having come to that conclusion? Yeah, because, you know what I mean? Like, when I got in this sport, it's like, oh, I want to be the champion. But there's a lot of behind the scenes, you know what I mean?

Like, not anybody can be a champion. You know, the UFC, they know who they want to be champion and they push the guys. who they want to be champion. So, but as long as that, if I keep winning and spectacular, you know, maybe I'll get a shot at that title one day. I don't have the fans been as of late. Like, I know they were pretty awful after the whole Jeremy thing. Have they turned the corner at all?

Have you gotten some good vibes, especially after this incredible performance you had on Saturday? Definitely. You know, after that, Jeremy, like, people were just talking mad shit. like they're crazy they've never been in a combat sport or anything like where you where you cut weight and being pushed is the last thing you want to be you know what I mean being touched you know what I mean and and being pushed like that it like unexpected dude it's it sucked um people get injured all the time you know car accidents rear end

whip flash you know what I mean so but the fans you know either they hate me or they love me. But they're going to tune in to watch. That could be your new nickname, Joucar, no gray area close. How about that? It's one or the other. I like that.

You mentioned that you were joking with John about, hey, last time I didn't make it this far. So I'm curious, because, I mean, especially in today's UFC, until both guys are in the cage and the fight begins, like no fight is ever done. Because we've seen the charge,

Chas Skelly incident from a couple years ago. He walks out. He's getting ready to fight. And then Jamal Emers has a back spasm and he can't fight. So when you're walking to the octagon after everything you've gone through, what was that like? Were you just like, all right, this is cool? Be honest, I had no, no emotions. You know, I just felt like I was focused. I was in there just to do my job and just going there and try to get the victory. Because, you know, thankful for Courtney fighting for these last two years, you know what I mean? Like, because I haven't been making any money and she's been, you know,

holding it down here at the house and stuff like that. And it just felt good to go out there and get that victory. So now, you know, she can relax a little bit and, you know, I can take care of the house. And then you got 50 Gs on top of that. So it was a banner night for you. Yeah, definitely. You get the win and you get on the microphone and you just fire out at Mark Madison. who is also now at fight ready.

Is the fight ready thing where that stems from more than anything, you know, just line up these fight ready guys and let's get after it? Like what was sort of the genesis of this? It's the coach. It's the coach that I have followed. You know, he was at the lab and when he left, I followed him over to fight ready. And I just realized he's like a used car salesman.

You know, everything sounds good. And then when I got over there, you know, it wasn't good and realized he was just a scumbag. Which is this? Eddie Chaw. Okay. Yeah, he was making too many backdoor deals like with managers and stuff like that. It's like that that's not me. When he's all he's worried about his money and, you know, that's just not me.

Money's going to come regardless. You know what I mean? I'd rather have the love. And I have the love at the lab. So this is more of a call out of Eddie that Mark, Mark just happens to be kind of in the crosshairs and just happens to be a fighter and just happens to be in your division. So it all works out. Any any guy over there at 155 in the UFC, that's who I want to fight. What did you think of, did you watch Mark's fight against Vince Pichel at 273? What did you think of it? I heard it was really boring. Like, so, you know, I'm, that's, I know, I know, I know, I know,

I can beat him. You know, I can, you know, I'll, I'll fight him for his medal. Then he take third in the Olympics. I'll put up, I'll put up 20 grand for his medal. And, you know, whoever wins, he wins, he gets 20 grand. If I win, I get his medal. Oh, man, I like that idea. That's a good call right there.

See, we're creating stakes, Trakara. I like this. I like this a lot. Do you think that, do you think this is a possibility? I think, I mean, with where you're at in your careers, I mean, he's the undefeated fighter. you have a very good record in the UFC. People seem to forget that for some reason.

I feel like this is the right fight. It's a fringe top 15 fight, in my opinion. Yeah, I hope he takes it. You know what I mean? Like, I know everything that, you know, his coach is going to try to teach him. And it's like I can, you know, I already know I can whoop them.

So I think it would be another TKO finish if I do fight him. The UFC's obviously coming back to Phoenix very soon. So I assume you didn't take a lot of damage in this fight. Is there a chance? You could maybe come back. I'm sure you don't want to do it a lightweight. But if something opens up at 170, do you think you'd jump in there and do it just to be able to fight in Phoenix? Yeah, I'll talk to my manager right after the fight.

And he was like, we'll find something for 170 if it's a good matchup here in Phoenix. So hopefully, hopefully that happens. Well, there you go. I mean, that'd be something. What a tail? This would be after everything that happened? two years away, you get to fighting back to back months, and then you get to do it at home?

I mean, that's amazing. Yeah, that'd be perfect, you know, and then get another bonus. There you go. I got to tell you, some things that you said and just looking at you right now, that you've grown up, that, you know, you have sort of a new outlook on your career

and on your life in general as a fighter. I could see it in your eyes, man. I could see it. I feel from a year ago, when we last spoke to right now, you seem very happy. You seem very happy. You're in a very frustrated state the last time we spoke.

Rightfully so. But right now I feel like you're very clear minded. Everything's starting to fall into place. Do you feel that way as well? Do you feel like, okay, I needed this. And now we're going to start rolling in the right direction. The roller coaster ride, we're going to start going super fast now. Yeah.

Like I told you, I was happy. Like I took a crouch, like, you know, sometimes camps are ups and down. But that whole camp, I was riding high. You know what I mean? like he always kept, kept me positive and, you know, I have great teammates over there. And, you know, everyone's on the same mission. Everyone wants to win and make the other person great. And, you know, and it showed in my performance.

100%. Choucarat, congratulations on the win. Incredible performance. Hopefully, you know, we could see you back in there. It would be cool to see you in front of a capacity crowd in Phoenix in front of all your, all your friends, teammates, et cetera. That'd be a super cool story. And if not, we get that Mark Madsen fight,

medal for dough. I like it, man. Yeah, I like that. Metal for dough. Congratulations, man. I appreciate the time as always and all the best to you guys. And hopefully you can get Courtney back in there sooner and rather than later. I heard about her fight.

That sucks. Yeah, yeah. So then they moved it back to July, what? Oh, that's right. That's right. So. Oh, there you go. So she's on the books and hopefully can get you on the books as well.

Joukar, appreciate it. Thank you very much, my man. Thank you. Have a great one. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first?

There, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.