MMA Fighting - Heck of a Morning | Reaction To Paddy Pimblett vs. Jordan Leavitt At UFC London, More

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

Paddy Pimblett will in fact fight on the UFC's return to London on July 23 against up and coming lightweight prospect Jordan Leavitt. Was this the right booking for the polarizing fighter from England? On this episode of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck — along with the listeners — react to the announcement of the bout from the promotion live on the air and discuss the matchmaking for "The Baddy" in his third octagon appearance. In addition, listeners ask about how to book the top of the bantamweight division and whether or not Aljamain Sterling's next title defense should be against Henry Cejudo, what to do with Nate Diaz at this point (if anything at all), Max Hollloway's next move if he loses to Alexander Volkanovski for a third time at UFC 276, and much 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

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Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca. Black Friday. Ikea. Bring home to life. Welcome to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Friday, May 27, 2022, and it is indeed, as always, a heck of a morning here on the MMA fighting Twitter spaces. We are live.

And then once we are no longer live, we will be uploaded shortly thereafter on the MMA fighting podcasting network. I am Mike Heck. It is Friday. There's always something just a little more special about a Friday. And this is an interesting Friday because there's no UFC events.

There's no Bellator events, no PFL events. but if you want to partake in some mixed martial arts viewing, you have options. There's Cage Warriors, KSW has a card, this weekend as well. So there are avenues to find your mixed martial arts action, or you could just take a weekend off.

You could just take a weekend off from it. Take some space, what have you. But either way. You're not wrong. No one's really wrong here. But thank you for joining us, especially so early in the morning. I know Fridays, a lot of people like to sleep in and do whatever if they don't have to work or do whatever. But this is a very special day for me personally.

One, today is my kid's last day of school. And I just want to say, normally I'm very excited when he goes to school. It gives me some space. He's a very active young man. He likes to make a lot of noise. He's very creative. He likes to create videos and have fun things. But he's also very loud at times.

So when he goes off to school, it's nice. And then when he comes home, it's great. But I have to tell you, with everything going on right now in the U.S., with the schools and all the horrors and all the tragedy and all that stuff, I am pretty friggin relieved that today is the last day of school. So half day, he's done, gets to spend the summer with us. So I'm pretty excited about that. More importantly than that, as far as timing goes,

it is my wife and I's 10th anniversary. How about that? Ten years ago, she walked down that aisle. The man who speaks every day for a living couldn't say a word. One of the most memorable moments of my life. We said I do. We're still doing the damn thing 10 years later defying the odds, taking those percentages and raising them up a percentage point.

So happy anniversary to my lovely bride. Holly, it is that kind of a day. Now, it is Friday. And what that means on this show is it is a free-for-all Friday, which means we're going to talk about whatever the hell you want to talk about the entire time. I'm getting off my soapbox. I've said the things I've needed to say. We have no topics.

We have no nothing. We have no organization because I don't need to organize anything because you guys are going to do it because you guys are going to ask all the questions. You guys are going to bring the heat. You guys are going to bring the thoughts. And we're going to get after this thing. By the way, if you missed it, some breaking news. Caddy Pimblet has his opponents for UFC London. He's fighting Jordan Levitts.

Caddy Pimblet, Jordan Levitt, UFC London. There you go. Interesting matchmaking. Interesting matchmaking. I'm kind of surprised by that one, but I don't know. We can talk about that if you want to, but that just happened.

And there's a couple other fights that just got dropped. We found out Yaya Rodriguez versus Brian Ortega is official for UFC Long Island. That'll headline July 16th. Fred of fans should be fun. apparently Caitlin Chukagian versus Manon Fioro is all but done. So that's good. Confirm that yesterday.

So there's a lot going on. It's kind of slow on the news front, but we get some cool fights going on. Let's get right after this thing. Let's get the general manager for the New York Yankees, Brian Cashman in here, a celebrity to kick us off. Brian, how are you? Hey, yeah, is this Mike Felga?

Mikey Felga. What's up, man? Hey, Mike. Notts and Tony Mads. Hey, Mike, I've been waiting to call, but it worked. I can never get in. So I got a quick thing. Who do you think will be the first Dana White Contender Series champion?

And how long until someone is a champion from that? First Dana White Contender Series champion. And how long until that happens? That's a great question. Let me just take a quick gander into, into the world of the contender series. It's tough because, I mean, there's a few options. I'm going to go out on a limb here.

And it's really not that much of a limb. There's a couple that stand out to me that I think have very good chances. I mean, Shot O'Malley would probably be the popular name, but not the name I'm going to go with. I mean, I could be wrong. I just feel like even when Shot O'Malley gets to a title, shot, it could be five years from now. Just because the way he

approaches his career, he's in no rush. He's only going to fight the fights that his contract kind of puts him in the position to fight. So I would say the next person from the contender series who will fight for a title will be Marina

Rodriguez. She will be next and she might actually get it done. She might actually be the one. The other pick I'm going with Jelton Almeida. Jelton Almeida is certainly on that list. Jamal Hill is another guy that I feel will fight for a title at some point.

There's a few. There's a few. There's some who probably, actually most of them probably won't. I actually thought Jimmy Flick would have been a great pick before he retired. But I also understand why he retired. I think Jeff Belina, there's a chance he could fight for the 125 pound title at some point. Adrian Yanez, the potential on that kid. I mean, there's options.

There's certainly, there's certainly some interesting names that could get there. Jack Delam, Adelaidellane is really good. I think he's, it's going to take a little while to get there. But, yeah, Marina Rodriguez, Jelton Almeida, those are one and two for me. Let's go to Tristan Gordette. Tristan, what's up, buddy? Good morning to you, Mike. Mike

I want to say congratulations on the 10th anniversary thank you sir this is this is awesome may you have many more you may you have many more years another

let's go another clapping of yesterday on BTL the first inaugural MMA All-Stars that was that was so good it was so good I loved it

I loved it I loved I think I listened to it three or four times it was great cliche on that that was great that was all I had so much fun of you guys having your picks, who you guys selected. So I selected mine.

I went different. I didn't pick anybody that you guys had. I am shocked that you didn't take Armistarukin as your first choice. But let me go ahead and give you mine. So heavyweight, I have Curtis Blades. That knockout against our Charles Christophis was incredible. I mean, Blades did the deck thing. He looked great.

I have light heavyweight. Paul Craig, Paul Craig, this first half with the armbar. So against his opponent, I picked him. Middleweight, I had Anthony Fluffy Hernandez. That was impressive. I know he fought a newcomer. He was a name Jake Fromm. Josh Frown.

I'm sorry. Excuse me. That's it. And you know what, Terson? you know what, Tristan, I think that win is going to age really well, but continue. Well, to wait, I have, of course, Shopcott Rockmano getting Carlson Howard's back in. Lightweight, I had to pick Armis Surrukin. I'm sorry.

Arvin Sarucan, just demolishing, demolishing Joel Avras. I mean, that man is going to be champion one day. I'm sorry. Featherweight, I love. And if he comes to the UFC, I think he's going to be. if he ever comes to the UFC I'm picking that man I'm picking that man and this is Aaron Pico

had to do it and he was so impressed in his last fight he did everything that he looked flawless in there it was unbelievable Bantamate I went with Umar and the Mergamette uh you know his win this year was great I love this and performance

this is all going by performances here at flyweight I had to go with Tatsura Tara very dominant win you know, very tough win, good win too. And then I guess you guys combined a woman featherweight and woman Bantway. I went with Stephanie Egger. She had a good win, submission win on her opponent.

I think she fought a Gen U. Fry. That was great. Women Flyweight, I went with Alexa Grasso, pressed with her win. I was shocked. You know, because she had a couple of finishes, but to come back and get that win, that was great. woman straw right the only one i had i guess was sam hughes she was like a different fighter in there you know tough here so those are my picks i want your thoughts on those and everything and then

another thing before i get off shout out to edvin shabazzian radar to cool for me fighting he did the deck then it was like it was time to move on time to go to a no team no listen i know edvin listen edvin tovarian sorry he just he's not getting done done. It is what it is. Edmund had to do it. So just your thoughts on that article and what Edmund had to say and switching teams and hopefully, you know, this could do something for his career. So thanks, Mike. Have a heck more morning. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Tristan. Yes. If you jumped in and you heard Tristan sort of listening things off there, BTL, because of just all the open scoring talk and I mean literally it's an entire week of open scoring talk and judging and just it's literally

all you heard anywhere you listen to things we decided to mix things up because if we had done a normal btl even on an off weekend for the major promotions we would have been talking about open scoring we would have been talking about if holly home was robbed it would have been talking about all that stuff and what what needs to fix in judging and you know what we decided screw it we're taking a break from that. We're not going to do that. So we called a, like, a last second audible, and we just did an MMA All-Star selection, kind of like you would see, you know, in the NFL with the Pro Bowl and some of the other major sports organizations, we decided to have some fun. We drafted our All-Star teams. I like your picks Tristed. Of course, Sirukia,

not picking him hurt my soul, because those who are in here who have been following you for a long time. No one on planet Earth, except for maybe like Surukian's coaches, no one has been higher on Armand Surukian than I have been. I have been saying for five or six years, this guy is going to be a UFC champion, and he's on his way. And I'm very excited if you missed the news yesterday, Matush Gamrot versus Arm Martin, Surukian is going to be the main event for that June 25th card at the apex. Love that fight. I love everything. about it. I saw some people come out there and say that I saw one person in particular, who I like a lot, by the way, who said, who questioned and said, is this main event like the worst in terms of name value and drawing eyeballs to the product? And I could not, I mean, that was a hell no for me. Just Gamrod alone, just what he produces from that area coming from KSW. I mean, so many people are going to watch that fight. so many people are going to watch that fight.

And Serugian's becoming a star as well. He's on his way. Very interesting cat, both those guys. That fight friggin rules. I'm very excited. That's five rounds. UFC makes the right decision. Those guys deserve that.

1,000%. Good on them. Good on them. I liked your roster overall. Tristan. As far as Shabazzian goes, yeah, you got to switch things up. I don't know if,

I don't know if it's the camp with Shabazian. I honestly think there. are certain fighters who you throw them, you throw them to the wolves and they'll eat and they'll just beat the shit out of the wolves. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn't. Other times, you get a rapid rise. You have a few good performances and then you get thrown into a really tough fight. And if the fight doesn't go your way, that could really mess with you. That could really mess with you because even with Shabazzian, one loss is, the Derek Brunson loss is bad, then the next loss was kind of bad,

but then we're going to three, and now we're just like, man, what do we do with this guy? You seem to be very careful with what they do with Abin Shabazzian now. And whatever fight Edmund Shabazzian gets next, especially after that interview, you know, him changing camps and changing a lot of things, that is about as must win as you can get. Edmund Chabazzian has to win his next fight. And he's not going to fight a bomb either. He's not.

He's going to fight a very tough 1-85er, and he's got to win it. Or he's in big, big trouble. Let's get Dax in here. What's up, Dax? Hey, Mike. So I got two questions for you. First, why is Ramazan Amiv versus Jack Del and Adelena

on the main card of a pay-per-view? next month. I've been so curious. I don't know if there's a relation to Singapore or something with that fight. I just, I don't, I don't know why it's on the main card. Second, I believe it was aerial. Somebody mentioned that there are going to be a lot more, you know, UFC fighters going to bare knuckle.

I don't know if you have any info or not, but. Either way, what are some of the names you could see or maybe is there going to be like veterans or, you know, contender series? What kind of familiar names could you see heading to bare knuckle? Thank you, Jacks. The Jack Delam Adelana, Ramadan, a Mia fight being on the main card of a pay-per-view. I just think this is a Dana White call. I think he was very impressed with what he saw from JDM. on the contender series and I think they're going to try to boost them up a little bit.

I think they're going to try to build them up and, you know, oftentimes when you set these main cards up, you want to try to, of course, the top three fights are absolutely ridiculous, but you want to set the table in a good way. I don't know if that's, I have to, let me just pull up the card real quick. I just want to make sure, because I would assume that fight would be opening the main card. I don't think that's one you're going to, you're going to have deep on the main card. but let's just take a gander. Let's just take a gander.

UFC 275. Very excited for this card. Glover and Yuri, Valentina Shifchenko's back against Tyler Santos, Zhang Wei Li, Yawadi and Jacek, Rajirio, Bonterrine, Menel Cape. I mean, they haven't, to be fair, they haven't actually, at least based on the UFC website. They have not actually set it up.

Quite yet. I mean, they have they have orders. So as it looks right now, Jack Della Madelana versus Ramazzanamiv is kind of on the main card, but I don't think it is officially yet. Let me see if the fight center has anything else. No, the fight center says it is. You're right. So that's going to open up.

I think they think Jack Della Madalana is just going to run over Ramazan Amive, which is, I mean, you're asking a lot. Ramazan Amiv is a tough dude. dude, he's a tough out. It's a good test for Jack. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. But, yeah, I mean, trying to look at the rest of this card.

Fialo, Jake Matthews, you can make a strong case that should be on the main card, or at least that should be the featured prelim. But, I mean, if you're looking at the card, I mean, outside of maybe Fialho and Matthews, I can't really, it's hard to find somebody that sticks out more. You know what I mean? I mean, there's just, there's fun fights here, but I mean, you're kind of just throwing darts at this point.

Maybe that's what they did. Maybe that's what they did. I don't know. Welcome aboard Air Canada. Rocky's vacation here we come. Whoa. Is this economy? Free beer, wine, and snacks.

Sweet. Fast free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land. And with live TV, I'm not missing the game. It's kind of like I'm already on vacation. Nice. Air Canada. Nice travels. Wi-Fi available to aeroplime members on equip flights.

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Try the season's hottest flavors from the PC Holiday Insiders Report. Please feast responsibly. All right, let's get Ivan in here. Chris, you're on deck, and then if we, uh, we'll go back to the GM of the angs. Ivan, what's up? He's got to unmute. Ivan. Speak to me.

Do you hear me? I got you, buddy. How you doing? Yeah, fine. How are you? I'm wonderful. What do we got? Yeah, I'm just tuning in.

I didn't listen to you from the start. So maybe it's best that I tune out. You know what I mean. Because I'm just learning about this Twitter stuff. I installed it yesterday. and by accident I came here. Don't take it for, don't take me for bed, but, you know, I have nothing to say, but I'll keep listening to you.

It's okay. All right. Yeah. Oh, that's, that's great. Thank you, I. Yeah. You know, have a nice, have a nice day. And I'm listening to you.

Awesome. Thank you, Ivan. Hey, a happy accident. You stumble upon MMA's morning show, and we appreciate you being here. Christopher, you are... You're in. You're up.

What's up? Hey, I'm doing, Mike. Good. How are you? Yeah, not bad, man. First thing I wanted to say is obviously, happy anniversary and congratulations. Thank you.

So, I've missed the last two episodes, which is probably a record for me. I have two questions for you. The first one is, I don't know if anyone's asked this, so apologies if they have. What are your thoughts on Michelle Pereira versus Wonderboy? The reason I say that is it gives Wonderboy a chance to fight someone who isn't a grappler

and obviously allows Michelle Pereira to kind of continue this path to stardom that he's on. Not that I think he can win a title or anything, but he clearly has the potential to be a really, exciting name at 170. My second question is, do you think that Armand Sarucan and Gamrock being five rounds changes that fight in any way?

Like how you originally thought it might go? Do you think that five rounds changes that at all? Great questions. To discuss the first question, Michelle Pahanna versus Wonderboy, if you listen to Tom to the National, and that was my pick. I think that makes all the sense of the world. Like that fight, I think it makes sense for both guys,

Paheda is on the way up. Wonder Boys lost a couple in a row kind of on the way down. So I love that fight. I think it makes all the sense in the world. We give Wonderboy a striker like he wants and we get Paheda the chance to step up. Because I feel at this point,

Paheda has earned the right to see how far you can go with this thing. There are a lot of people out there who have made very good livings just putting on fun fights and putting on fun performances. And Mitchell Pajeda could certainly be one of those guys. But five wins in a row.

The level of competition's been pretty strong. Beating Santiago Ponsonibio is not easy to do. And he went out there and he did it. I scored it for Pajara. I didn't think there's any robbery. There is no controversy, no nothing. Paheda did more damage. He won the fight.

No issue with that whatsoever. I thought he won the first two rounds. Third round, maybe can go to Ponsonibio, but I had no issue with Pahed. winning that fight. So let's give this man a step up. I'm cool with that. Let's go.

The other option I could possibly see the UFC going to, and this might not make people all that excited, although I would like to see it. I'm curious. It would not shock me in the slightest if the UFC try to do Michelle Bahadda versus Sean Brady. You got two guys who are probably in similar spots right now who are on good streaks.

who are looking to move up the ladder, we're going to have a hard time finding fights, if we're being honest. A lot of these divisions have veteran fighters who are trying to hang on to their spot and they want to fight guys that are either like immediately behind them or ahead of them to try to get to a title shot.

And I feel like Walter Waite is probably at the top of the conversation when it comes to that discussion. I feel like Walter Waite, guys, you just do not want to fight backwards. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. But Sean Brady was telling me, if you want to go back and listen to the podcast version of the show from yesterday,

Sean Brady got a lot of crap for calling out Wonderboy. Just because, I don't know, I didn't really get it. I was kind of surprised to hear that because I thought it was a fine call-up. That's what you want to do. You're not in here to just fight. Especially when you got like Sean Brady's 15 and O and undefeated in the UFC and you're in the top 10, Like, what do you do?

You're trying to call out guys who are in front of you. And Wonderboy's just a guy that's in front of him. So I understand why people want to see Wonderboy fight strikers and not grapplers. We all love Wonderboy. I get it. But, you know, we're at the point right now where Wonderboy's lost, is losing fights. He's not even really competitive in these fights because, yeah, and it sucks that he's fighting wrestlers and stuff. But, I mean, at some point, like, even if you fight,

even if he fights Michelle Beheada, Michelle Beheada would be crazy if he didn't try to take down Stephen Wonderboy Thompson in that type of a situation. Be nuts. Of course he's going to try to take Wonderboy down. You have to. Why risk it? Work smart, not hard. That's what's all about.

So I think even if they booked a Bejada fight, there's a chance. I don't think Pahedahua Coveington in there. He's going to try to shoot for 35 takedowns. But if I'm Michelle and things get a little hairy on that. the feet. I'm going for takedowns for sure. All right, let's get Brian Cashin. He's got more on his mind.

Oh, my God. I can be here all day with you, Mike. So, first off, I just found out about that Patty Pimbled book. And with that, I mean, I think Jordan Levitt's really good, but I'm just thinking a lot of people criticize him. And I feel like if he beats Patty Pimlet,

Patty's stock could drop drastically. And secondly, with the, I've been on your bandwagon with the Glover to share versus Yuri Pajasca. First round submission.

Let's go, baby. Let's go. Congratulations, Mike. Thanks, Brian. Amazing. Yeah, I mean, that is an interesting booking. Patty Pimble,

we were waiting to see who they were going to book him with. They book him with Jordan Levitt. I have to say, you know what, I'm curious for the, for the betting community. Let me see if we have odds for that, opening odds for that fight yet. Let's take a gander, because I'm curious how they are lining this one. It doesn't look like we have Bynjet. I mean, we'd have to imagine that Patty's going to be the favorite.

Let's see, going through draft kings, bear with me, bear with me. We will find it. these cards like as I'm going through these these cards look freaking real good over these next few weeks all right no lines yet but you have to imagine patty will be the favorite but jordan lev it's good real good real slick sneaky jujitsu and patty's obviously really good on the ground as well patty's can be the bigger fighter but jordan's tough man this is kind of a weird matcher for me because I feel like the UFC has something

with both of these guys. I feel like they have something with both of these guys. So it's kind of like a weird matchup to me. But again, you have to book Patty. You have to book Patty the right way. You have to give him fights where...

And this is probably the smartest booking you can do because the big knock on Patty right now is that he gets hurt in every single fight. And if he gets put up there against a striker who smells blood and knows how to put fighters away, he's got to have a hard time. Jordan Levitt's not going to be a guy that's going to knock him out. It's, I mean, Patty's got the advantage on the feet.

Patty hits harder. Patty's the better striker. But when things get on the ground, it's going to be really interesting. So if Jordan Levitt can avoid any major significant striking exchanges here, he's got a chance to win this fight. I think Patty's probably going to be like a minus 200 favorite, if not more. But the way I would have booked Patty, because listen, people are going to crap up me if you're Patty fans, and I get it, whatever.

I don't really care. But I just feel that I feel like Patty's just not going to be like a contender. He's not going to fight for a title. He might not even be ranked at any point in his UFC run. This is not a shot-out mallee situation. this is not a Connor McGregor situation I think we are all very aware

of what we have with Patty I think we are we're all very aware of this and what they should do is they should just put this dude over just give him fights against this should you treat Patty Pimble like an episode of WWF superstars you put him up there against a guy

you Bellator book Patty Pimbleut Patty Pimblech should never fight outside of London for the rest of his UFC career. He should fight in London. He should be on a main card or on a co-main event spot. And you put him against a guy who's like, 23 and 12. And like, in Patty's like a minus 500 favorite against this guy.

You book Patty to win and win impressively and get the crowd erupting. That's how you book him. This Jordan Levin fight, he could have. It's, yeah, I mean, I would probably pick Patty to win that right now, but it would not shock me in this light as if Jordan Levitt beat him. Jordan's a slick, slick guy. And I think they're jiu-jitsu, like, I think if we're talking about grappling,

I think we're talking about the, just the juzitsu, it might be a wash. But Patty's still really good on the feet. We're not really good on the feet, but he's fine. But he's the better striker at this equation, that's for sure. So, yeah, I mean. Good opportunity for Jordan Leavitt. We'll see what happens. Let's get Raymond in here.

Raymond, what's up? I was just wanting to expand on your Paddy situation. I'm from the UK and actually I don't think he's got a jaw. I think he cuts too much weight. You think he cuts too much weight, mate? Yeah, so do you think eventually he'll go to 170? Eventually you will. Yeah.

What do you think of this fight? What do you think of this matchup? Jordan Leavitt. Oh, I mean, it's a tough one for him, to be honest. Can you hear me? I'm outside at the moment. Yeah, I got you. Yeah, I got you.

Yeah, it's good, man. I appreciate you, Raymond's. Yeah, it's, uh, I mean, we'll see what happens. I mean, we see the pictures. I know a lot of, like a lot of me you see online are kind of, kind of bullshit, kind of fake. Patty, all blown up looking like he's 385 pounds. But yeah, he's, I mean, he's, he's so secret. He likes to eat his pizza and eat his junk food after fights.

But he gets in there. He gets after it in these training camps. He cuts down and gets to 55 or 56 and goes out and fights and wins more than he loses. But we'll see. It is a tough matchup. Don't sleep on Jordan Levitt. He's real good. And Jordan's not going to let that London crowd affect him whatsoever.

He's a very interesting guy. He'll eat that up. He'll find ways to use that to his advantage. so interesting booking i'm curiously what the betting lines are going to look like when they open let's get toke girding jensen in the room what's up buddy um i'm just taking a quick break from a very uh busy work day but i wanted to let to ask about squash matches because you just talked about uh yeah you just talked about patty and do you think that because of the way that UFC only signs, well not only, but they don't have enough like cannon fodder, if you will,

to actually make squash matches, and that actually halts the evolution of some of the fighters. Because, you know, one example, I think is Mark Dia Casey. He had a really rough start in the UFC because he couldn't really, he didn't get matchups where he could actually excel. I think it has one now, though, with Demi Yadzovich and UFC London. But it seems like UFC is not really made for squas matches. And I think that they should, it seems weird to ask them to expand their roster. But it seems like they don't really have the roster to actually build up the guys to be, to kind of develop in the UFC.

Yeah, I mean, that's an interesting point. I'm not going to say I disagree with you because I mean this is it's not Bellator situation like Bellator you can just grab regional guys throw them in there you don't have to sign them the contracts they sell tickets it's a win win it's good for everybody they get an opportunity to fight on a bigger promotion stuff like that I still think the UFC does book quote unquote squash matches but they just hide them better you know I mean they promote them in a way where it doesn't seem that way. Shot O'Malley is a perfect example of this.

And sometimes when they book these quote-unquote squash batches, it doesn't turn out that way. But oftentimes they do. Like, look at what they did with Joseo... Shotomalley, Jose Alberto Kenyonis. We knew how that fight was going to go. He was just going to blow the doors off of it. But that's exactly what happened at UFC 248.

Then they book him against Eddie Wyland. Now, Eddie's a veteran. and he's had some great wins. He's got a rich history with some of his fights in WEC, et cetera. But I think we all kind of knew how that fight was going to go. Then they gave him a little step up with Marlon Vera. It is what it is. And then even Thomas Almeida, at that point in his career,

where we would, like early on in Thomas Almeida's career, we're not looking at Thomas Almeida. It's kind of a quote-unquote squash match opponent. But Thomas has a name, but Thomas is getting beat. He's getting knocked. out and technically it kind of was a squash match. So the USC just does a better job of hiding it. They take the pro wrestling model where it's kind of a squash match,

but they also use guys who have names who are on the decline to put over a young talent, which is what you should be doing in these types of situations. So, yeah, they don't do it all the time. But I think even to this point, Patty Pimbled's run has been, kind of squash matchy. Not like, we weren't picking. No one was really picking the opponents in his last, it is two UFC fights.

We just weren't. So, but still, the UFC does a nice job of, I'm sort of masking the fact that this is going to be a squash bat. Like, Kuzulavargus, we knew what was going to happen there. There weren't many people on the planet who thought Luigi Ventramini was going to beat Patty Pimblit, although both guys did fight.

Both guys went in there and they got Patty's attention with some hard shots. And there you go. But they're not, they're kind of squashy, but they do a better job of hiding them. Like Patty's still gigantic favorites. And the betting community was well aware of that. Like Luigi,

he should have been a better favorite. There's a great value on the Luigi fight. Rodrigo, he was a freaking almost a 7 to 1, it was a minus 650 favorite in that fight. We all knew the writing was on the wall there. And they're doing, and now they're giving him a slight step up. They're smart.

Like, Leavitt could beat Patty. There's, I mean, there's a, there's a chance that happens. But it's not like Patty's going to go out there and get knocked out. If there's a submission, Patty can say, oh, I just made a mistake. I slipped out a banana peel. It is what it is. But if he goes out there and gets viciously caoed, that's a different story. And Jordan Levitt's probably not going to go out.

there and viciously KO Patty Pimplett. There's a chance he could win a decision. There's a chance he could submit him. But he's going to be,

by the way, it doesn't really, you know, he doesn't look it, but Levin's a pretty, Levin's a pretty big guy. He cuts a good amount of weight to get to 155.

He doesn't like look it on television, but he cuts a lot of weight. So he's a, he's a, he's a decent size 55 or two. This is an interesting fight. All right, didn't get him in,

didn't get him in there yesterday, but I hid let's go uh yeah like I saw the Paddy Pimlet news um I don't know what to think of that like I'm just sort of like I was ranting about Fighter Pay like a bit before and then now I'm like I've sort of changed my start to little bit of Fighter Pay I haven't gone to full Michael Chana but I was thinking about I was like oh Paddy's being paid the same um I was Connor two-fight thin, which sounds pretty bad. But something else, I watched change. And what I realized also changed is the roster is gigantic.

Like, you're an MMA journalist. And I'm sure, you know, like, I mean, you actually interview people who, like, who are lesson names and stuff, which is good. But I'm sure even you might not know everyone on that bloody roster. There's people I watch find out who the hell is this. and there's people who are taking up space like I genuinely believe it so I feel

with Paddy like Terrence McKinney has a point like that this is not like as in it would have been nice to have like an undefeated a Zeta and it's just like the O and Terrence McKinney was like a pissed of like Terrence at

what was it to Terence South? Terence went straight for Fravola then he had Ferres who is good and he didn't deserve to get released. Then he had Drew Dober. I think he's got some no name now, but that's purely because I'm assuming people just didn't want to fight him.

Yeah, a little bit of under like a disappointment. I just feel that, you know, Paddy is like very overrated at this point. I do feel, you know, you'll just give it like the two guys he beat are released. That they're not part of the UFC roster. It's ridiculous. and Mike I got like a little idea. I know you had your Hamsat Shemayib and Leonfire. I've got a bantamweight bracket, all right?

And this is my copyright thing. So here we go. Like obviously we've already got O'Malley and Munoz. We've got, I think it should have been O'Malley and Yarnas, to be honest. But anyway, we should do, this is what we do. Corey Sanhagan, song your dog, okay? That's fireworks. They're both going to try and kill each other.

Five rounds. That's what you do. Then you do Jose Aldo and Dominic Cruz, WEC nostalgia, easy to make. I saw Marlon Verra call up Peoria. No, that's not the fight. You do Peoria and Meraad de Valishvili, because the former teammate and like the beef and whatever with Aljo.

That's the fight. Then this is what you do. Marlon Vera versus T. DJ Dillashore, okay? Because here's the thing, right? Like, Marlon is so admirable. He's got that immigrant mentality. He clawed for everything.

He fought hard for everything. There's the reason he started crying after the fight, man. He fought hard. He's been a hard worker. He's been here really putting in the work. So what a better way to put someone like that, someone who moved to the US for a better life and struggled through everything

against an arrogant, entitled, T.J. Dillershaw, a cheetah in T.J. Dillershaw. Like, that's the fight. Like, as in, because T.J. Dominic Cruz was saying on Ariel's show, like, oh, you know, like, how can he get a title shot? I agree. Listen, the pros are that T.J.

was amazing before, like, the whole steroid incident. And I don't know if that's the first time you used it or if he's used it before, but T.J. looked amazing. And if he looked amazing against Corey, yeah, give him a title shot. But this is the thing. TJ during Fight Week against Corey looked like a drug addict who came out of rehab.

He actually looks so bad. And like he is a drug addict. He's a drug addict to EPO and he's coming out of rehab. So I mean, he looks wary and torn. So we need to still see him, like see if he can contend with like someone who's at the highest level.

And Marlon is, Marlon's, yeah, we need to see, we need to give Marlon a big name. He deserves it. And also, like, I want to see Henry against Aljo because, like, I think that's a much more competitive fight with Henry's wrestling. Henry's got better striking. I pick Henry to pick that, to win that fight and to move up, and in which case you make an interim title with the ones left over. But, yeah, like, that's what you do.

And I wish I was here. So that's my idea. Like, that's my copyrighted idea. You tell people who came from Ahead, not what you. anyone else and no one's stealing my bracket. And I wish Sean Brady was here because I would have grilled the shit out of him, like crying about how Wonderboy didn't want to fight him. But when Shavkarakhanov was calling for a fight, I had crickets from him,

crickets. So whatever. He was hurt. Sorry? He was hurt. He was injured. He was recovering from no surgery. He wasn't fighting anybody.

And then by the time he was ready and cleared, Rachmanov was already booked to fight Neil Magnus. So it's not like John Brady's going to come out and call out a guy who's already booked to fight. Then why call out one, why like tweet again, tweet to Wonderboy when he was already, when he wants to break against Dustin Porre? I mean, why not? It's the Wonderboy doesn't have a fight booked. Sean Brady doesn't have a fight booked. He's cleared.

Brady wants to move up. They're both top 10 guys. I didn't have a huge issue with the call. It's not like you said, Wonderboy, you're a piece of shit. Let's fight. It was just a very respectful call out from a guy's up ahead of him. And I get it. Like, we don't want to see Wonderboy fight another grappler.

I get that aspect of it. But, you know, the name of the game is you fight the bigger name for the most amount of money and that you have the advantage to win. I mean, that's prize fighting. I don't have an issue with the callout. I don't. It's probably not going to happen, but I don't have an issue. What if Wonderboy is like, yeah, dude, let's go. You take a shot.

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take ahead. you should know that. True. It's just that like there was tweets before whilst apparently Sean was injured like where it was just like Dustin calls out

so Wonderboy calls out Dustin and then Sean's a bit sarcastic like oh you could just fight people in your own division I was like he's done that for he's the one that's provided the most opportunities

to people behind him you know there's tons of other people and it's very clear it's just one person that is a stylistic like favorable style realistic matchup if you know what i mean and if he was injured during that time it's like you know like you're on twitter you're still injured you're not clear to fight and but you're targeting one person

for such a sustained period of time you know what i mean like doesn't it not feel a bit like hold up you know a bit weird like yeah i mean i mean i love you ahead you bring you bring you bring energy you bring it you bring vigor to this to this conversation uh you're the man. Yeah, I don't have an issue with Brady calling out Wonderboy. Best fight for him right now. Probably the

I'm not saying easiest, but it's the most winnable fight of guys who are ranked ahead of him based on the styles. So that's, I mean, that's prize fighting. That's what you do. You take the most winnable fights for the most amount of money with the biggest names possible,

and that checks off all the boxes for Sean Brady. But at this point, he knows... I mean, there's very high reward, a very low reward, excuse me, to fight a guy like Sean Brady right now. It's just that there isn't a lot of reward there. Kind of like Marab. There's not a lot of reward to fight Marab. And by the way, onto the next one after UFC 273, I picked Barab versus Peotter Yon. And I disagree with you on the Sterling Henry fight.

I disagree with you on that. What kind of precedent does that set? When a guy who the UFC was trying to put the promotional machine behind to try to build him up, puts him on the card that were saving sports in their eyes, putting him in a spot against Dominic Cruz, which was a very winable fight for him, no disrespect to Dominic Cruz. And then he just ups and leaves and just says, you're not paying me enough.

I quit. I'm out of here. I've retired. And nobody knew about this. And Dana White, five hours later, said, okay, he's gone. Now we're going to put Pierre on in the title fight. So then he just leaves for a couple of years and then just comes back and gets a title

shot. What kind of precedent does that set? For a guy who is very accomplished, as an athlete, but not a draw, not a star, and he just ups and leaves and screws you over, which that's what he tried to do, tried to screw him over, is one of the biggest missteps in the history of combat sports, just a guy not reading the room at all, leaves, and then comes back two years later when, by the way, and I have so much respect for Henry Sohudo as a competitor. Nobody

was clamoring for this. Nobody was asking for this. And we're just going to reward him with a title fight? Come on. I hate that idea. I hate that idea. Is it a fight that... How many more pay-per-views does Al-Germaine Sterling

versus Henry Sehudo do over Al-Gabed Sterling versus Josealdo? You can make a strong case that Al-Germaine-Stirling versus Josea-A-A-Lto and Al-G Sterling versus T.G. Dillishat it's better on pay-per-view than the Suhudo fight. Or it's, if it is Suhudo, it ain't going to be my much. All right, it's not, this is not apples and oranges.

It's apples and apples, if we're being honest, that's it. I mean, here's what I've been saying about Henry Suhudo, and they probably won't do this, and if I'm Henry, I wouldn't probably do it either. But if you want to get, not that he cares, but people who are not with this comeback and people who, because I don't care that he's coming back. don't care until he actually gets in there and fights it does something i don't care i don't believe it until i see it he could take a thousand piss test for usada and it doesn't change my mind until he actually gets in there and competes and where the test for me is if he takes a fight before a title

shot you go in there and you fight peyodor yon or you go in there hell you go in there and you fight marlin vera henry sehudo versus marlin vera we want to give marlin vera a big name he's my all selection for from BTL. This guy's had an incredible run. What a performance against Rob Font. You want to get people on your side? That's how you do it. Get a fight before that.

Anybody. Anybody in the top 10. But if you go out there and you fight Peter Yan or you fight Marlon Vera, hell, you could fight Rob Fott or Corey Sanhagan, guys on two fight losing streets. Fine with me. Just fight one of the.

those guys and then go fight for the belts i will not argue that at all you will have to do nothing else just go in there fight somebody tough get a win then i will i will come on the show because people think i hate henry suhudo i don't he's just not who he's like he's just not as big of a stars like he thinks he is he just isn't he's just isn't and he's screwed over the company he left him high and dry and you know how the other he reacted, they didn't give a shit. They moved on that same night. They're like, okay,

he's gone. Now we're going to give Peoria a title shot against somebody else. And they booked it against Joseo. I mean, they did not care. I just don't, like, it's hilarious that he just feels like he can just jump right into a title fight. And his team thinks

he can just jump right into a title fight. D.C. does this interview at Suhudo's house with Sehudo and Algeman Sterling. You know how much of that interview I watched? Zero seconds. And it was probably a newsworthy interview. I watched zero seconds that interview.

I could care less. Until Henry Sehudo steps in that cage and throws a punch. I'm not interested. I'm not interested. But you want to turn this thing around? Go fight Marlon Vera. Go fight Pieter Yan. You will never hear a...

I will have so much respect for that, man. I respect everything he has accomplished in combat. sports. He's tremendous. Gold medalist, two-division UFC champion, great wins, great resume, but you screwed over the company, and the company didn't care at all that you screwed them over. They were just like, okay, we're moving on. And Dana has not welcomed the Suhudo comeback at all. Have you noticed that? Like, what is the UFC done to promote this comeback? The answer is nothing. The answer is nothing. So I'm going to be. curious to see what the UFC does of this because I would be stunned. I would be stunned if they

throw him into a title fire right away. And if they throw him a Marlon Vera or a Peter Jan, what's he going to do? Is he going to say, no, I'm not fighting unless it's for the title? And then he just doesn't fight? Because I honestly, like, it's not like Bannonweights hurting for contenders right now. They don't need him right now. They don't. Yon's still there. T. T.J. Aldo, you got Vera, you still got guys like Sanhagen, now you got Marab, Dominic Cruz has won two in a row. You get guys like Song Yidong. You got Sean O'Malley.

You got Ricky Simone. You got Jack Shore. All these guys are on big winning streaks. You got Umar and Amalgamadav. You have all these guys just waiting for their opportunity to climb the division. They don't need Henry Suhudo. They don't need him. Now, if Suhudo fights Marlon or fights Jan and wins,

We got something here. But throwing him into a title fight is just dumb, in my opinion. It says a horrible precedent. And it just says that, hey, even though you're not a star, but you're holding our title in one of our deepest divisions, you could just leave, come back two years later, and then just fight for the belts again. No, it shouldn't work that way, at least in my opinion.

All right, let's get VD in here. VD are you there? Do we have you? I'm not getting anything. Try again, VD. Looks like there's a connection issue. It's the Nissan Black Friday event where you can... Wait, wait.

Isn't it like a month long now? Nissan Blackfri Month? Does that work? It's the Nissan Black Friday Month event. On remaining 2025 Rogan Centra, get 0% financing. Plus, get $1,000 Nissan bonus on kicks models. This Black Friday, you've got a whole month

to catch all the exclusive offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or Nissan.ca for details. Conditions apply. Let's get Keith in here. Keith, what's up, man? Hey, Mike. How's it going? Good. How are you? Keith from Dublin here. Great to talk to you. You as well. Good. I just wanted to

briefly, there's obviously a lot of talking the last couple of months about about Nate and his status and a lot of people, you know, rightly, I suppose, in a way, you know, getting on the UFC's case for, you know, keeping them on ice. And I know we all know their contracts have those, you know, offer him two or three fights a year to keep him under contract.

And I assume if they've one fight left, that's still the same way it works. And so therefore, I assume this year they will have had to offer him a couple of dates or fights so far. And if he's kind of so, as he'll wants to get out, I'm wondering,

is there not a case for him not having accepted a date or has he turned down dates that we don't know about and therefore has a way out. does he not have a way out two or three times a year that he can just get in, fight, whoever. I'm sure he doesn't care if he fights in a way. If he wants to get out that bad,

does he not just take a fight and get out? Or is there another reason he's not taking certain fights because maybe he doesn't want to get out as much as he says he does? What do you think? Thank you, Keith. I appreciate that. Sorry, there's something going on. Yeah, I just confer. There are a couple of stories coming out about this Jake Paul card on August 13.

and one of the things that I mean, I literally just confirmed it, which is why I got a little positive action. And it's apropos if the Celtics are on their way to going to the NBA finals, one of their former one-time champs, Glenn Big Baby Davis, is apparently going to box on this August 13th, Jake Paul card. So there you go. How about that for a crazy weird thing? Opponent TBD, but it's happening.

as far as Nate goes I mean Dominic Cruz kind of talked about it on the MMA hour where they could just offer him fights and then they can extend this deal if he says no and Dominic said like listen

I don't turn down opponents I turn down dates if you want to be trying to and Joe Lozahn has said the same thing for Joe Lozon to fight he's got to like the opponent he's got to like the date and he's got to like the location those are things he needs

he's got to get excited he's got to have time to repair and he's got to just like where it is wants to make sure that the taxes don't crush him or anything like that and that's the thing with Dominic like if you want to book me for a fight in three weeks it's probably not going to happen need time to repair

so for him it's like July, August against anybody is fine with Nate it's just weird because Dana said like on multiple occasions things to the effect of if you don't want to fight

just don't fight when Nate clearly wants to fight and two if you don't want to be here don't be here both of those things he wants both of this he doesn't want to be there and he wants to fight

and here's like here's another thing it's not like the UFC is just this isn't the UFC of 10 years ago this is a UFC that is making guaranteed money from ESPN like boatload of guaranteed money. All they have to do is just put on events.

They just have to put on 42 events. They put on the pay-per-views. They do whatever. All that other stuff, the contender series, Ultimate Fighter, that's all bonus. That's not like,

that's just bonus stuff. They're getting all this money no matter what. No matter what. It doesn't matter who they put out there. They're getting all this money. Now, of course, you want to sell pay-per-views. I get that.

You get a piece of that puzzle as well. But the UFC has gotten so big that the brand itself is so valuable that half the time it doesn't matter who's on the card. Like just give me a good main event. Give me another intriguing fight and people are going to buy it for the most part. I know it's expensive to be an MA fan, 75 bucks, but most people are going to find a way to consume the product. They're just going to. With Nate, it's not like Nate's fighting for titles. It's not like Nate's taking up a, I mean, it's not like Nate's.

holding up roster spots. It's not like Nate is fighting every three months. Like Nate is a guy that fights maybe once a year if you're lucky, maybe once every two years, just depending on what his mood's like. And Nate's a star, sure.

He's a draw, yes. You want to do the counter fight. I get it. But losing Nate isn't going to hurt your bottom line. It just isn't. You might lose out on one payday. if you don't get the trilogy fight with Connor on the books

because I think everyone's well aware of what's going to happen. If Nate, let's just say, and by the way, I know a lot of people are like, there's no way Nate would fight Hamzaa Chamaa. I guarantee you he would. If the UFC offered him Hamzaat Shamaia

for like, forget August 20th or something, he's taking that. Garin damn teed he's taking it. Just so we can get out of there. He just wants to get out of there. What's he going to do? He's going to go box Jake Paul. He'll get a date.

with Jake Paul. What the UFC is probably concerned about more than anything is that because Connor doesn't have a lot left on his deal either. I think he's got maybe two fights left, maybe three. So Connor's just got to want to whip through those fights. He leaves. He goes and does his thing. We get Nate Connor up and they do it on their own.

They promote it themselves. It does huge business. You can do multiple fights. You can do an MMA fight. You can do a boxing match. You can do whatever you want. You can do a freaking grappling match. if you want and people are going to spend money on it.

And that's probably the UFC's concern. They don't want to miss out on that other payday. I want to lose two of those guys. I get it. But they just won't fight. Like, he just won't fight. What they should do is you're running out of options here. And I mentioned Shemaya,

but I truly believe that the idea I had in November is the right thing to do, which is Hamzaa Shemaya versus Leon Edwards for the freaking interim welterweight title. and the winter flights and injured Kamarra Usman. That's what you should have done the whole time. August 20th, I think the frontrunner is Salt Lake City, Utah, which is kind of, it's not done, but that's the direction they're heading.

I mean, what are you going to do? What other title fights can you put on? Everyone's pretty much booked at this point. Almost every title is already up. It's coming up in the next couple of months. We're booking all these cards with multiple title fights on it. just do Nate versus Dustin Poirier in the main event of that August 20th kind

just do it what's the problem just book that fight Nate rides off into the sunset Dustin gets his big fight you make him happy a guy who has become a star for you as well he's become a draw in his own right

just book that fight just get it done everyone parts ways UFC still makes a flappity pagillion dollars because of the ESPN deal doesn't hurt anybody just book it let's call it a day give him five rounds main event spot boom see you take a couple more

four corner sports what's up yes sir um i just wanted to get your thoughts on the i don't know if you spoke up spoke about it earlier about the main event between uh yair and um ortega now who has the most blues out of this and you know who's in it you know who's going to be wanting you know who to win on July 2nd between Volkanowski and Halloween. And by the way, I tried watching tough, and you're right, it sucks. It's really hard. It really sucks. I wanted to watch it because I know a few fighters there.

You know, I watched Hannah Dye fight. I see what's the call, I know Usman's brother is fighting on the thing. I watched maybe like 30 minutes of it. I'm like, this is enough. I was like, I tried watching last season, so I was like, I had to skip through it. And I'm like, this thing sucks. But also, I want to get your thoughts on Patty Pimland versus Jordan Levelette. I can never pronounce his last name, Levelette, I think his name is.

Levin. There you go. You know, that type of matchmaking, I don't know. I think that's, like you said before, in previous shows, I think it's best to always put Patty over in the O2 arena. But who do you think wins in that outcome? I think, I don't know. I feel like Jordan Leavitt, you know, might bring some. some challenges for Patty.

But yeah, I want to get your thoughts on that. And also, will you be attending, what's it called, U.S. Long Island, since it's not that far from where your residence is at? Thank you, four quarter sports. A lot to unpack there. UFC, Long Island, July 16th. I don't know. I mean, I am on the East Coast.

I'm not in Massachusetts anymore. I'm in South Carolina now. It's still not terribly far. If I am asked to go cover that card, I will certainly go cover that card. I will certainly go cover that card. But we do have some people in New York, so we might go a different direction. I don't know.

I am hoping to cover UFC 276. That's the one I really want to cover. That's going to be a very big deal. I've never been to Las Vegas, so I'd love to cover that. As far as the main event goes, great fight. Yair Rodriguez versus Brian Ortega.

I have to say, while both those guys are exciting names, I don't think either of them really need to worry about. the July 2nd fight, at least right now, because especially if Holloway wins. Hollow wins, we're doing this damn thing again. But if Volcanovsky wins,

I think the winner of Calvin Cater versus Josh Emmett will probably get the next title shot. I think the way Cater has come back and that performance gets Kigachikaze, I don't think he gets enough credit for that performance. I think at the end of the year, I mean, especially if he meets Josh Emmett, he is the runaway for comeback fighter of the year, beyond the shadow of the doubt.

And then Josh Emmett's on this great run as well. I think the winner of that fight, they're going to be fighting in Austin. They're the first ones up. I think there's a very good chance that the winner of that fight would get the winner of the July 2nd fight because it's just kind of right there. But who needs it more? I have to think it's Brian Ortega because he just fought for the title. He had his moment.

That third round was insane. and he almost got Alex out of there But for the most part, Alex Alex beat him I mean Alex just won four rounds It's pretty dominant performance Outside of like that maybe eight 90 seconds Which is insane 90 seconds

Alex won pretty much every other second of that fight So Brian's gonna need a win here And need it bad and Yair just Yair's just one of those guys Where he could lose like two or three in a row But then just come out and have a fun fight And people like, all right, maybe this guy could fight for the tight title. So I think

Yair is one of those guys that can just always find himself in the discussion. I don't know if Brian Ortega can always find himself in the discussion. We'll see what happens. Like the fight. It's a good card. I feel like doing that fight in Long Island is kind of weird. That has like a Texas fight written all over it or an Arizona

fight or a California fight written all over it. But hey, I'm sure Brian Ortega and Yaya Rodriguez have been dreaming about traveling to the wonderful Long Island, New York area. Joey T. You're up. How's it going, Mike? So since you just brought up the Volkov and Holloway, let's say for a scenario, Volkov went straight up again, third time. What do you think that means for like overall Max legacy?

Do you think he maybe stays at 145 or since, you know, I'm not saying he's old by any because he's not really old? Do you think maybe he decides just to go up and see how he can try to compete with the upper tier of 155. And just to get back to the Chameh F and maybe Edwards, I would be fine with that. I would honestly think that matchup would be key for, you know, let Kamara heal and maybe towards the end of the year,

maybe get title shot or beginning of 2023, maybe on a January-February card. But I want to get your opinion real quick about what Kamara said about the overall title picture where he said, if anybody should really want to fight me, they should actually go through the gatekeeper of Kobe Covington. Yeah, listen, Colby, Colby's the second best welterweight in the world. And Colby's probably the champion in most other times in this division.

Usman just is a little bit better than him, just slightly. Both those fights are super close and super competitive. There are people who, there are people still today who tell me they felt Colby won the second fight. I'm not one of those people. I thought Usman just snuck it out. but the momentum was clearly shifting in the Covington favor. And if Covington just started off a little bit stronger, I mean, just a tad stronger,

he's probably the champion right now. But he didn't start off strong. Usman got him a couple of times early. But then Colby, once he got aggressive and once he kind of got in Usman's face, he pieced him up a little bit. He had, he had Uspen, he had Usman questioning things at certain points in that fight.

So, yeah, I mean, I get where he's coming from. I think there's a very good chance we see those guys fight again at some point. I don't know when, because this whole thing with Mazadol could be a while before we see Colby back in there. Yeah. I don't know. A lot going on. I love the Usman-Shimaev. I mean, not the Usman.

I love the Shemai F. Edwards idea. I love this idea since November. And as he will tell you, no one on earth should ever take credit for this fight. because I was the one who picked this fight from the beginning. On to the next one. Matches to make after UFC 268. This is my pick. Before Kamara Usman fights again, interim title, those two guys.

Let Usman take time off, most active champion in the company. And then whoever wins that fight, the fight with Usman becomes much bigger. Because if they book, it's Usman Edwards right now. That seems to be the direction everybody wants. but is anyone like clamoring? Is everyone, is anyone like super excited for that fight? Is this the one? No.

It's just, I mean, it's there. Like, Edwards has done enough, and it'd be cool to see him get his title shot, but can you imagine if Leon Edwards beats Hamza Tchamaiv and then fights Kamar Usman in a unification bout? That's a massive fight.

That would be the most, I mean, that would be the most highly anticipated Leon Edwards fight ever. And it wouldn't be close. It would not even be close. Yeah. Interesting times, my friends. Interesting times. I forgot your first question.

I'm sorry. Brian Fairstein. What's going on, Mike? Since we're on the topic of Volcanowski, do you think the lack of, like, a popularity or the people jumping on a bandwagon late is due to the fact they put them up against a lot of fan favorites. If you look at it, the two fights against Max, probably the most popular fighter in recent years, zombie very popular, and also Ortega.

What's your opinion? Thank you, Brian. Okay, now thank you for reminding me. Now I figured out the other question, Joey T's question. What happens if Max loses to Volcanovsky? The fight I've been clamoring for one of my other, onto the next. X-1 picks, this is probably the silver medalist outside of Edward Shemaya for an interim title. I want to see Max Holloway versus Justin Gagey.

That's the fight I want to see. Do it a 155. Both of them are, like, because if Max loses, I don't need to see him cut to 145 anymore. He's just, I just want to see him in fun fights that get him excited and get him motivated. The fight with the guy year is, was so good, tremendous fight. and those are the kind of fights I want to see Max in. Just fun fights against exciting fighters. Max Hollow versus Justin Gachie is just one of my dream fights.

I just want to see it happen. It would be ridiculous. And I think everybody would enjoy it very much. So that would be kind of the direction I would head. You know, that's probably it. Like, I mean, at that point, if he loses to Volk, I mean, I don't know. Just go up to 155. don't cut as much weight and still get some really good challenges.

That's what he wants. He wants to challenge more than anything. As far as Volcanovsky goes, I mean, Volcanovsky, I was on the Volkadovsky train real quick. I interviewed Volkadovsky before his first UFC fight for the first time. And then I interviewed him probably like after his next three or four wins against guys that a lot of people didn't really know about. And as he got bigger, getting the Volcanovsky interview got a little bit more difficult. all the bigger names jumped on board and I get it

I completely get that but I think the thing with Volkadovsky was the thing he always kept telling me from day one is that I'm going to be me I'm not going to come out and talk a bunch of trash and say horrible things about my opponents

I'm going to be the nice guy in the UFC I'm going to be the guy who didn't talk shit and got a title shot and won the championship without having to do that that. Now, has Volkanowski maybe gone outside of that a time or two? Yes, the Max Holloway tweet, which he's already referenced and already felt really terrible about and,

you know, misread the situation. He admits that he was wrong there. But for the most part, Volkadovsky is just, you know, I'm going to go in there and fight and I'm going to win and do my best. It's typical sports stuff. But now Volkadovsky is starting to get a lot of a little more swagger. I think he understands how good he really is, but he's still not like a significant trash talker. He's just a confident guy. He's not talking about people's families and religions.

He's not going outside of himself. He's just being a confident champion. And this guy might be the best fighter on planet Earth right now. He might be. He is so good. He's so good. And he's so good everywhere. he's a tough out for anybody

that's why like I think there's a chance he fights for the 155 pound title within the next year I think there's a very good chance that happens because if he beats Max and then maybe he fights the cater Emmett winner

I mean what else is there at 145 for him really go up try to challenge for that second title like Volcanowski Olivera is a super interesting fight in my eyes that's a really interesting fight I would favor Oliver. He's clearly the bigger guy and all that stuff.

But skill set-wise, both real good. Vol can stand with Olivera. Volcan do a lot with him. He can mix things up, the leg kicks, he can wrestle a little bit, mix things up, get him thinking. It's great at changing his game plan

and making adjustments while the fight is happening. It would be a really interesting fight. But Volcanovsky is a, walk before we run kind of a guy's got that New England Patriots mentality. We got Max Holloway to think about. We'll think about that other stuff later. All right. I got to get out of here.

It's 9.15. I think we've heard from everybody here at some point. I know Brian and Raymond are hanging out, but I think we got to both of them. But I got to go. It's my 10th anniversary. I'm going to get this up of the podcast network. And I'm going to enjoy the rest of today off. I'm going to enjoy tomorrow off.

I'll come back on Sunday for a little while. I'm enjoying Memorial Day as well. Spend some time with the fam. And just enjoy a weekend without the ultimate fighting championship. Not that I, you know, we can't, sometimes it's okay to miss things before we get them back. You know what I mean? So thank you all for jumping in. You guys are tremendous as always.

Another tremendous week of heck of a morning is in the books. And thank you all for joining me. So I'll be back here on Tuesday, 8 a.m. Eastern. We'll do it again. I'm sure we'll have lots to discuss, lots of news and notes. Hopefully it'll be a much busier week. And hopefully we're not talking about open scoring ad nauseum again. So thank you very much. I am Mike Heck.

Have a great weekend. Have a heck of a Friday. And have a heck of a morning, everybody. Fox 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.