MMA Fighting - HOAM | Burning Questions Surrounding Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya 2, Burns vs. Masvidal At UFC 287

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

With UFC 287 just two days away, the level of anticipation continues to grow when it comes to the entire card — but mostly in regards to the main event between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesnya, and the co-headliner between Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses the middleweight championship rematch ahead of Saturday's card in Miami, and if Adesanya is due for a win against his longtime foe. Additionally, topics include if Masvidal is being severely overlooked ahead of his matchup with Burns, Masvidal and Kevin Holland being separated by security on Wednesday, Rob Font vs. Adrian Yanez, what could be the Fight of the Night for UFC 287, UFC Charlotte changing main events, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 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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I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a wonderful week. We are on the eve of the eve of UFC 287, an event that I am very excited for. and yeah I mean the whole main card is great a lot of the prelims are interesting I am jacked up for this card I am fired up for it I was excited for 286 285 is kind of in a league of its own I think everybody had some sort of fascination with that card especially with John Jones coming back but I I had good vibes about 286 I have tremendous vibes about 286

I am extremely jacked up to head to New York for the watch party on Saturday. And I got to check out some of the graphics. And I got to see the cold open for the watch party for the first time yesterday. Wow. It lived up to the hype that I am providing. So maybe I'll drop a teaser tomorrow on my Twitter feed, maybe my IG. But it's friggin awesome. It's going to be a very festive.

time. We had Media Day yesterday. Some interesting comments from Israel Adasania, from Alex Pereira, from Gilbert Burns, Jorge Mazdal, everybody on the card. Rahal Roses Jr. had a lot to say. It's

apparently Kevin Holland and Jorge Mazadol almost got into it. No punch is thrown or anything like that. Nothing major happens, but apparently there's some beef there. It's a fight.

card that's just going to continuously build to Saturday and I'm very excited about that. BTL today. We're going to do something a little bit different on BTL today. Jed is traveling today so he will not be on. So I have tagged

in the incomparable New York Rick and what we're going to do is for the entire show we're just going to take your questions. That's all we're going to do. We're just going to do a fan Q&A edition of BTN. you all provide the topics. We will discuss them.

And then we're just going to keep going on and on. That's what we're going to do. We're going to mix things up. Nice and relaxed. It's been a busy several days for your boy, Mike, putting this feature together that dropped this morning. If you guys haven't seen it, highly recommend you go check it out.

It's about the pretty awful ending to the Fury FC-76 main event a couple of weeks ago where Edgar Chiris, slapped on a triangle on Gianni Vasquez. Gianni Vasquez clearly went to sleep. Referees looking at him right in the face, doesn't stop the fight. Chira's transitions to an arm bar. Vasquez wakes up, then goes out unconscious again, and then wakes back up and ends up

tapping out with an arm injury. And it's just, every time I watch that clip, it pisses me off. and that story could not die. I could not allow it to die because most MMA stories, they're talked about for three or four days and they just go away. We talk about the next thing,

but this was too goddamn important to just let slide. So I had the opportunity to talk to both fighters. I think both had pretty solid accounts of one another. Chiris gave his side of the story. I thought that was really important. Gianni Vasquez might be my new favorite fighter in the sport. The fact that he is so level-headed about it and he's not angry and he's just grateful to be alive,

it's pretty fascinating stuff. So I got to talk to those guys, which I really appreciated. Big shout out to anime manias, Adam Gion for translating for Mr. Chiraz. Gianni Vasquez was incredible. Got to talk to Alex Marona, who was obviously the color commentator. It's been a part of the sport for almost 20 years. Fighting, coaching, training, cornering, all that stuff, commentating. He's seen it all and done it all.

So it was interesting to get sort of his perspective on things, got to talk to the promoter about it, some damning things he had to say about the referee, basically saying that after the fight, he alleges the referee just said, no, he was fine, which I thought was pretty fucked up. And then big John McCarthy. He was one of the first people I thought of when this whole situation happened because he's the OG and he trains officials all the time. And I wanted to get his perspective on things as well. So big shout out to all them. Big shout out to all of you guys who check it out.

And if you don't want to read 3,000 plus words, you can listen to the podcast, which is essentially the same thing. But you get to hear the voices. You get to hear some of the clips from the interviews. It's a little more long form. because you hear more from the actual subjects. But yeah, it was wild. And before we get to calls, I don't think a lot of you understand,

like the feeling that overcomes you, the night before a feature like that drops. You don't sleep. And if you do, you don't sleep a lot. And it's all you think about. You just wonder if, like, people are going to care, are they going to react to it? And I've learned to kind of let some of that weight go that if people want to read it,

want to listen to it, they can. But I was happy with how everything came out. Big shout to Shaheen Al-Shadi for being the tag team partner and making things happen. Big shout to the Vox legal team for clearing everything. And now I feel 100 pounds later now that it's live. And of course, the TDLR dropped me a last second statement. that I saw this morning. So we had to like kind of rework the write-up.

I had to rework the podcast and re-upload that before I went live here. So yeah, it's been a, it's been a trying time. But I'm happy with the way everything turned out. So all right, let's go to you guys and see what is on your mind. Tristan was first in line. So we'll begin with him. Hello, Tristan. Mike, can hear me?

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really excited for this piece because especially with John McCarthy, I need to understand what's the protocol and why the rep didn't follow. That's what, and moving forward, what everybody could take and learn from this, especially moving forward for fighters, because that is so ridiculous that this rep didn't follow protocol. It's got to be, I know there's a protocol that they got to follow.

I mean, especially listening, I want to listen from John DePard because I don't really know what protocol is, how it works. I'm somethings I'm confused. I get different answers here and there. So like, this is very important because I need, because what needs to be known and understand is I need clarity here and understand what's going on because this shouldn't be happening. So I can't wait to hear it and listen to details of what is supposed to be done,

and especially in that type of situation. So I'm really excited for that. Another question I wanted to ask, as far as Izzy is concerned, and so what happened? from Kamar Usman when he got knocked out. Do you think Izzy's coming back too quick? I really, to be honest, I really think he should have just take the year off,

have some clarity in his mind, let his mind rest and everything. I mean, some people could do it. They can do that turnaround real quick, six months, and they're good to go. But, I mean, we've discussed this before as far as, like, we saw what Calvin Cater did and Tyson-Chant-Near.

I'm taking that year up. and we saw, like, after that Max Holloway fight, took the year off, came back, looked incredible against Jakkaz. So, like, and I think Kamar Uzman should have done that, too, taking one year off, like, I'll be back in a year. And I think for all fighters, when you're coming from a knockout loss or you're coming, getting finished, I think immediately you take the week off and then you immediately go to a neurosurgeon, see where you're at as far as your health

and everything. Take that one year off. To be honest, I feel every fighter should just spend twice a year. Especially maybe when you're coming up, maybe you can take three because you're so high level and you can finish opponents and you're not taking damage,

that's fine. But once you start fighting the top five guys, you're getting up there in the rankings, I just feel that if you got finished or you take damage, take the year off and then, you know, let your mind rest, meticulously, you know, look at tape, see what you did wrong,

and just have that clarity. I mean, again, Calvin Cater's the poster child. We saw they took the year off and then he looked incredible. There was just clarity to him when he fought. He was just like, a guy that looks better than ever. So just your thoughts on that. And thanks for everything you do, Mike. Thanks, man.

Yeah, John McCarthy had a lot of interesting things to say. I don't know if it was like exactly protocolish. I mean, there's some things he went into, but it was just kind of like fascinating insight to how the referee should have actually saw everything. Use terminology like micros and macros, which I thought was really fascinating. And yeah, John had some, a lot of interesting things to say.

I talked to John for almost a half an hour. I'm actually pondering just like releasing that conversation like as its own thing. Maybe tie it on to the podcast version of one of these shows because it's just really interesting stuff. As far as the Adasani's stuff, I mean, look, nobody knows better than the fighters and the team. And Eugene Barerman doesn't seem like a guy that's going to be like,

you know, if he feels like Adasania is coming back too soon, he doesn't seem like the guy that's going to be like, well, if you feel like you're ready, like, go ahead. It doesn't really strike me as that kind of coach. And let's not forget, when Pereira knocked Izzy out, in 2017, which is a far more brutal knockout than UFC 281. A lot of people didn't even feel like that fight should have been stopped in that moment.

Yeah, he took some damage, took some hard punches. Personally, I didn't have a problem with the stoppage, but it's not like he got deaded. You know what I mean? He took some big punches, had that fight continued on. Maybe it could have gotten worse. Who knows? But in 2017, Pereira knocked him dead. And then four months later, he came back and he made his, I think it was his MMA day.

debut. No, it wasn't his NBA debut, but he fought an MMA and hasn't looked back since. Made the transition, got a first round knockout in his next two fights, then signed with the UFC and looks like he got back. And I'm trying to credit, I want to credit like who said this. I forget who it was. Somebody said it and I heard it. And I was like, yeah, that's kind of makes sense. Maybe he was New York, Rick. Kickboxers are different, man. They're just different. Maybe it was Michael Kiesa, who said this. Take bosses is different. Like, they fight all the time.

They know what it's like to get knocked out and all that. And again, this wasn't like a scary knockout. It's not like he got punched a thousand times. It's not like you got hit 500 times like Calvin Cater did. So, yeah, I'm not surprised coming back. I mean, I guess we'll find out the answer if he's really timid. Because you can tell Oussman was a little bit timid when he fought Leon Edwards. the second time.

But guess we'll get our answer on Saturday. I can't wait for that freaking fight. Golly. So interested in it. Four quarter sports.

Hello. Hey, Mike. Yeah, I completely agree with you. I mean, from Otisani's history, we've always seen him fight quick

turnarounds. I mean, when he fought Whitaker to the cannoneer, same timeframe, about four months. So it's not really surprising on Adasani coming back.

I mean, it's what a four or five months. spanned since he lost to Pereira and it's not like he got deaded. I felt like Usman should have taken the year off. Onusania, it's not surprising that he's coming back. And it's actually good because

you know what? The UFC, you know, need people like him. He's a star, you know, or a superstar. And it's good to have him at the top of the card. Now, the card is pretty stacked. I know the UFC always says about every single pay-per-view, which is inaccurate. But for this one, it is.

Adrian and is versus Rob Fawn. Now, this is Rob's first fight, I believe, since the Cheeto loss of it was not mistaken. Like, Mike, from what you know, how do you think Rob's going to be able to respond back from the huge layoff, knowing how Tyson Chardier likes to prepare his fighters? And Adrian Yannis, this is a big step-up in competition from all the other fighters he has had. I know he's fought his Davey Grant. is Randy Costas in the world.

So I want to know, could Adriana be able to hang? It's a big step up. I know if he gets to the view, he is going to be squeezing in inside top six, top five territory. And Kevin Holland versus what's it called Jorge Mazzo. Any idea what was the reason behind the reason why they don't like each other? and could you see them having a fight down the line if Mazelow does win and Colby Covington has to take the title shot

and Mazel's on the sidelines? I mean, I don't really know the exact sort of genesis of the rivalry, but I'm sure Holland said something at some point about Mazfadol wouldn't surprise me. And Mazol probably heard it and maybe Mazel said something back.

I don't know. and then they just ran into each other and talked a bunch of smack. So, I don't know. Could it be a fight we see down the road? Sure. Like, if Mazadol loses and wants to keep fighting and Holland wins or loses, like, it doesn't matter. Like, if Mazdaal loses and wants to keep going, Holland makes sense,

whether he beats Ponziabu or not. So that could be a fight we could do. Could happen. Again, that's planting seeds. Either way, Mazadol has the next fight lined up. No matter, like, he, He's either going to fight for the belt or he's going to wait and see what happens with that title fight if they go with Colby or he loses and he could fight Kevin Holland in a fight that people are going to care about. You know what I mean?

But Mazelaw has been teasing like it's do or die for him and who the hell knows if that's really the case. I don't know. As far as Fawn and Yonnas goes, can Yonnas hang? Yeah, I think so. I mean, he's favored. The betting community certainly seems to think he can. I think there is value on Rob Fond as a plus 155 underdog for a lot of the reasons you just mentioned.

I just, like, Yannes is really good, and he's got a very bright future in this division. But Rob Fon has just fought a murderer's row of competition, and Yonnas just hasn't. Like, Davy Grant is probably the biggest test he's had, and that was a close fight. That was a really close fight.

He took some punishment in that fight. Davy cracked him a bunch. So I think there's value on Fonda plus 155. I don't know what my official prediction is going to be. But it's a good fight. I mean, if Yon is going there and finish Rob, holy crap. Like, they are really going to strap the rock to him. And I think if he just wins, they're going to push him like crazy.

That's why he's getting this fight to begin with. So I can't wait for it. I can't wait to see it. but I'm curious to see what Rob's game plan is going to be. I would not be surprised if Rob wrestles in this fight. I'm not going to, he ain't going to be Marab. He's not going to sit there and shoot 58,000 takedowns. But it would not surprise me if things get a little hairy.

Rob uses his boxing to set up a takedown or two. Could be a pretty smart move. And I can't wait to see how this all plays out. It's going to be a fun fight. It's a big one. It's it's not like a win-win for yonnas. Like if yonnas is competitive and loses a close decision, like it's not going to hurt him at all. And even if yonnas loses like a 29, 28, like clear decision, it stings, but it's not going to really hurt him.

But if he wins, I mean, the risk reward for yada is is gigantic. I don't know if it's, I don't think it's the same for Rob. We have to keep one thing in mind too. Yes, this is, and I know this doesn't necessarily equate to fighting, but I can, tell you as somebody who has experienced this myself. Rob Funt, this is his first fight since becoming a dad. He is a father now. He's got his baby out in Miami.

It creates a whole new energy and motivation when you see that child. And Rob is now fighting for the first time as a dad. And that does something to you mentally. Put you in a whole different place. Even today, like I have a nine-year-old. It'll be 10 in a little over a week. Just seeing him every day, fires me the hell up. So, I know Yana's his dad too.

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the same thing's Cajorah. Summer Fridays, Rare Beauty, Way, Cifora collection, and other part of with the video. Procurre you, Corma Stannery, for a better quality of price. On link on Cifora.C.A. or in a magazine. We'll go to Abzwalia, and then we'll go to Ani,

and then Mikey is in the hole. Ebswalia, hello. What's that, buddy? So, you know, I just got two things to speak on. My first thing is, you know, with June and July, upcoming we have we still haven't got any fight news regarding like the fight night and pbv events um what's happening with that are we is there a possible chance you know the june card could get cancelled will they be a title fire on the line and what's up with that and

just regarding the adisania fight um in my opinion how i see this far playing out is he you know israel probably will go very aggressive in the first two rounds he might even take it to the floor. We saw how he took Pereira down in the third round the last fight, but there's also a good chance Alex Perea might surprise us with his takedown defense, even though you know, he's at the stage where it's really hard

for fighters to develop that kind of skill. Let me know your thoughts on that. Yeah, I honestly, and I've talked about this before and Mikey talked about this with me the last time he was on, I really think Adizan needs to be aggressive here. I really do.

Is he flirting with some danger? certainly. No doubt about it. But I honestly think that's his best chance to win this fight. Sure, he can go in there and be patient and get takedowns and stuff, but he just did that in the last fight. He let Pereira hang around too long. And we know what happens when you let a guy like that hang around for too long. It's a nice little weapon that Adasania has that he can wrestle if he wants to. And I think he'll have success should he choose to do that. But again, unless he can advance him. position and mount him and just start unloading shots. I don't know what that's going to do other than just give Pereira something. The thing about, Pereira doesn't seem like a guy that's going to be distracted by getting put on his back once or twice. He's just got to get up. The next round's going to begin and he's going to look to take Adasani's head off.

So I really think Adasani needs to go after him here, not be reckless, but aggressive. And whatever happens happens. You know what I mean? Like you got to try to, you can't go in there and try to out point Pereira for 25 minutes because you're going to lose. It's not going to go well. But if you go in there and you just lay it all on the line, you could get them out of there.

It is possible. We've seen him, heard them. That first round had 15 more seconds. We're talking about Israel Adasania and knocking out Alex Pereira in the first round. That's what we're talking about right now. We're not even talking about these guys fighting right now. But that didn't happen. The game plan sort of changed from there.

And we saw the result. So I think he's got to go after him a little bit more. more and just kind of, I'm not saying get or get got, but whatever the two notches below that is. And if you go out on your shield, go on your shield. But if you get them out of there, I mean, it's massive. I honestly think stylistically it's his best chance to win. But he's got to go out there and be aggressive.

He's got to treat this like the Paul Costa fight. He's got to take it personal and get pissed. Not reckless, but aggressive. And I think he's got a chance to win, like a pretty damn good chance to win that fight. As far as June July goes, I don't think they could cancel the June card. They'll throw something on there. It's shaping up, whether it's in Canada or not. I know there's reports, Michelle Pereira versus Stephen Warner Boy-Thompson's going to happen on that card.

What's the golden rule, my friends? What is the golden rule? If it ain't on MMA fighting, it ain't done. It ain't done. And that's why it is not on MMAfighting.com. Believe me, I saw the initial report on that. Saturday. There's April Fool's, didn't know what to believe, reached out to people, was told, no, it's not done. It's not even, I was told on Saturday it wasn't even being discussed from one

side of the table. But there is momentum towards making that fight happen. It's just not done yet. There are some logistical issues involved from what I am told. Do I think, do I, is this the fight the UFC wants to put together for June 10th? Yes. Is it done? No. Is it verbally agreed on all sides? No. But I think it will happen. It's just not there yet. It's not there yet, my friends. And then, you know, we talked about this last week. I don't know what's going to headline it. I have no friggin idea. No clue. But, I mean, I kind of might have to trot a Mandoninz out there at this point. Because I mean, all the other champions are, unless Zhang Wei Li wants to fight in June. But, I mean, we're already in April, so we're less, we're like two months away from this card. We have no main event. So we'll see what happens.

Maybe we'll do Colby and Leon there. I don't know, which I'll address that in the moment. Ani, hello. Hello, Mike. It's good to talk to you again. How have you been? I've been great. Yes.

Like I said, with Wonderboy and Michelle Perreira, I told you with process of elimination, I already called it. I mean, not saying I'm taking the credit for it, but you know what I mean. The same thing, the process of elimination method was how I call Anthony Smith versus Johnny Walker as well.

I'm not bragging, but maybe I'm bragging a little bit, but it is what it is. I'm kidding anyway. I actually wanted to, also, congratulations and really well done on your new feature. I hope it stays around.

as in you make more such features. I know it's a lot of work for you, but if you enjoy doing it and if you're passionate doing it, I'm pretty sure you would enjoy bringing out such content, isn't it? Yes, with regards to, you know, how Kamaru Usman lost his title and how Israel lost his middleweight title. I think there are two different things.

Like, Usman was starched, as an Usman was knocked out, cold, cold as a block of ice, he was out. But Israel, I think he was on the way to a potential TKO, but, I mean, losing in a potential TKO, of course, but I don't think Israel should have taken an extended period of time off. As an I think he last fought in November, and I think July would have been a better time frame than what are we in April right now?

man, I'm losing track of time. That's what happens when you do a research degree. Sorry about that. So I think he should have maybe fought an international fight week, but I don't think he actually took a lot of damage in that fight. As in the only shot that Pereira land and that landed flush was, you know, the final TKOing shot and maybe a head kick here and there. I guess I think there was a head kick which landed flush.

Not a lot of damage that Israel took. Yeah, so I lost my train of fun. Anyway, so my question and what I wanted to say is, you know, when you said that Usman didn't look like himself, like Usman looked a little timid or Usman looked a little slow. I don't think that is particularly true. I just think Leon looked so much better, you know, because in the previous fights, in the previous fight,

the altitude actually did play a role in Leon slowing down. And Usman kept pressing forward. It was not like a drastic change that we've seen in the likes of Tony Ferguson or Tyron Woodley. Tyron Woodley just became very, very, very, very tentative since UFC 235. Usman was still throwing. He was still shooting takedowns. It's just that he could not find a lot of success. So I'm not sure if Usman declined or is it just our mindset that we assume that he's declined?

Because if you think about Gilbert Burns and Wonderboy Thompson, Stephen Thompson did not look like himself. Like he couldn't do anything. But look at the way he performed against Kevin Holland. You know, I think it's more on Gilbert Burns side and not on Usman's. And Gilbert Burns and, you know, the person who won, It's on his side that he made the opponent look bad. I don't think it's Usman's decline.

He is declining, but not completely declined, if you know what I mean. And the question related to UFC 287 that I have is, I mean, if I had the opportunity to speak to Israel, I would have asked him this. So do think about it. So, you know, where do you think Israel needs to do more work in order to, win this fight? Do you think he has to work on that hole in his game, which, or the technical flaw in his game, that somehow Pereira keeps finding? Or is it more on his

mental part of the game, as in where he has to sort of forget the fact that he has been winning the fight because eventually he lost, he shouldn't dwell on the past. He just has to sort of of tune his mind to move on and actually look at the fight as it comes. As in the thing is, especially when he, when Israel is training, where do you think he gets the motivation? Like as in when he fills up the technical flaw, does his mental health improve or when I say mental health, his EQ improve?

Or is it on the other side? Does he have to work mentally first to gain the technical, prevents if that makes sense does that make sense uh yeah man i think he'd see like i don't think there's a mental thing there i just think he's got to get aggressive like honestly and this has been an issue like this is people have had an issue with israel's performances for for a few fights now he was a lot more he was a bit more fun in the perera fight because perera brings that out of them but like the whittaker fight wasn't a lot of people didn't love that that people hated the Cannone Air performance because he was just,

and I don't blame him for that. Like, I don't necessarily blame him for that. I mean, Jared Kennedy was like, I'm going to try to wrestle and take him down a bunch and get aggressive and try to knock his ass out. And he didn't. He decided to have a point kickboxing match with Israel Adasania, which was a terrible idea,

which everyone was like, well, as long as Canadaer doesn't do a point kickboxing match with Alassani, he might have a chance to win this fight. And what does he do? He goes out and that's point kickboxing match. And Israel Alessani is like, Okay, you're just going to hand me this fight. All right, I'll take it. So, I don't know.

And maybe he's just kind of gotten that mindset where I could just outpoint and outclass everybody. But when you're dealing with somebody as dangerous as Alex Pereira, as big, powerful, strong, all that, you can't do that. Like, you cannot let this guy hang around. And that's the biggest flaw in his game right now, in my opinion. but we've seen signs that Adasani can bring out that anger and that aggressive side.

We saw it in the Paul Costa fight. Pitched a freaking perfect game in that one. I don't care what excuses Paulo had about drinking too much wine and all that shit. It wouldn't have mattered. Paul could have drank 18 gallons of secret juice and he would have got blasted out that night. That's just how that fight would have gone no matter what Paulo Costa drank in his hotel room the night before. He could have done it. He could have had anything.

And it would not have mattered. If that guy shows up, he's got a good chance to win. I'm picking Izzy to win. I've made my choice. I'm picking Izzy to win. I think he gets it done. Because I just feel like there's just, I just don't see a world where any human being,

unless I see it on Saturday, I just don't see a world where one guy can beat Israel out of Sondia four fucking times in a row. Like he's due. He's due to win one. So I'm picking him. I think he gets him out of there, and I think we're going to see him fight again. And I'm going to be even more fascinated to see it again.

But who the hell knows? I don't know. I have no idea. As far as like the Ushman thing, yeah, he is declining. He is declining. But it's the same way wouldly decline. It's not as dire and not as drastic. No, no way.

Usman can still compete. Usman's still a top three to five wealth weight in the, world right now. No doubt about it. He beats a lot of guys. I would pick him. If they book him and Balaamah, Muhammad, I would pick Ustman to win that fight. So Ustman can still hang. He's just not the best Walterweight in the world anymore. He's not the best fighter on the planet anymore. People get old. And Uspin has credit to that guy. With all the injuries that guy has had, he basically has no knees to be able to do what he has done over all this time and that the decline didn't start and maybe it did kind of start sooner but the fact that he was able to withstand it all and win a

bunch of fights is pretty damn impressive it's pretty damn impressive he's a freak he's a freak in nature he is but father time beats everybody and sometimes a stylistic matchup will favor you look at wonder boy i thought that was a great stylistic matchup for Wonder Boy, because I just didn't think Holland was going to shoot a bunch of takedowns on them. And plus, Wonder Boy is a pretty decent, defensive wrestler, unless you are, like, a

grade A inside tripper like Gilbert Burns is. But, I mean, there's so many stylistic differences. The other thing I want to mention, there were reports that came out about Leon Edwards versus Colby Covington and that London card. Again, golden rule, my friends.

Golden Rule. we've got more people let's continue on with the part take Mikey hello I just want to get some quick thoughts of it's kind of funny how my fans myself and completely don't admit that oftentimes we use the word stacked

based on just our emotions like listen 287 isn't really that stacked we just like a lot of people on the card you know because if it was really stacked as much as I defend Raul Roses being on the main card he wouldn't be on the main card if this was a genuinely stacked card You know what I mean?

I don't agree with that. But go ahead. Well, you don't think? I mean, well, listen, I get that the UFC probably would have put them on there, even if there were like bigger, bigger names on there because they're clearly trying to push them, which I 100% agree with. But I think this was also one of those times where we were like, oh, if we can put them on any main card, it would be on this.

You know, it's a good, me and you are on the same page. It's, it's good to put them on the main card either way. You know, like, I like Chris Curtis, I met him a couple of times, but he's, but he knows why that kid's on the main card over him. you know what i mean so and that's for israel and and alice i think it's one of those tough things i think people just the absolutism sometimes in m ms go is like well he won so he's so he's technically better i'm like i still think israel isan is the technically better fighter he was winning their last fight until until the stoppage i think sometimes we just things have to be what

they are it's like i think is he the better technical fighter it's just that pehara hits really, really hard. You know, it's one of those things where I just look at them and I go, I think Izzy has more overall better skills, but it's just the other guy is blessed with being able to, like, you know, his bones are denser or whatever the fuck. Sorry, I shouldn't trust, but you know what I mean? And that's sometimes that's what it is. And that's what will always be the intrigue of this fight.

It's like, how can Izzy avoid getting cracked, you know? and as for just want to end this on the pro wrestling note I want to get your thoughts on I don't know if I asked you this the last time but the finish of Cody and Roman before you knew Vince was back with his hands back in the pop. What did you think of the finish? And two,

where your thoughts about all-in at Wembley Stadium? And if I know it's four months out, book the main event. All right, thanks guys. Be kind of one another. Talk to later. Sheesh, book the main event. Man, I don't know. So, yeah, I guess we'll talk about this. The Cody finish, I don't think Vince had anything to do with the Cody finish. I think this is the plan all along.

I don't know why. I just, I just, it felt like Cody should have gone over, like, have that moment. Or if you're going to, like, if you're going to do that, like, end night one with that. and then N-night 2 with Sammy and Kevin and K.O. winning the tag titles, like at least send the fans home happy to close it. But this is an ongoing, like, if you go back and just like watch everything, this whole story since Cody Rhodes came back, he's got to go through what his dad went through.

He's got to go through that. He's got to go through the hard times. Now he's going to wrestle Brock, and Brock might just kill him. And then the story continues on with Cody, like, building himself back up. building himself back up and that eventually when he does win the title and he will uh it'll just be a much bigger moment i know it just felt like everything was going to end that way but and it was it kind of went over like it just did not go over well but um we'll see how it plays out we'll see how it all plays out i feel like with what i at first when i i saw this announcement from tony con

And I knew they were going to London. So when he said, like, we're going to London on the state. I was like, oh, another, I waited around all night for this ridiculous announcement that I already knew was going to kind of come. And then he dropped the Wembley line. And I was like, oh, okay. So my first thought was I kind of have game bread boxing four vibes where it's just like, this might just be a little too much too soon here to try to fill Wembley Stadium. And then I realized they got to know something. They got to know something big that we don't know.

So if I'm going to try to put myself in Tony Khan's shoes, and this is very tough to do, they got CM Punk getting ready to come back. That's what I'm thinking. And we do something big there. Either you do CM Punk and I didn't even watch Dynamite last night. Like I watched some of it. I watched up until the announcement.

So let me just look real quick. I don't even know what has. happened in the last match. Did FTR lose? Did FTR lose? If FDR won, let me just look real quick. Okay, FDR one. Okay. My prediction for that card, if they're going to fill Wembley freaking stadium, it's going to be CM Punk and FTR versus the Bucks and Kenny Omega. Otherwise, I don't know if you're going to fill it. I mean, I love him. I love me some MJF. He's the man. He's the best in the business, in my opinion right now, but I just don't know, like, what's available for MJF that's going to sell out Wembley Stadium. I think Siam Punk's coming back. I have no insight to this,

but if they're going to book Wembley Stadium, he better be coming back. And I know there's a passionate fan base there. They just, I don't know if their passion is there for the AEW product as it stands. So that's my guess. Ontario, the weight is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget online casino is live. Bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting.

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Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for Details. Please play responsibly. Let's go to AA. We'll go to Brian. We'll go to Poppy. We'll go to CV. We'll get all of you in. Double A, hello. How you doing? Good. So I've got two questions. The first one is Kevin Horan said in his media data that he was offered Michael Kiesa. I wonder if there's any truth to that statement. And the second one, I'm sorry if you've been asked this already, but watch your fight at the night on 287. That's all I've got. everyone you're awesome take care of yourself have a good day in peace was kevin holland offered michael keessa i don't know maybe no i know kevin doesn't just throw stuff out there it would

seem like kind of a random name to just chuck out there so um so i guess i'll believe him there fight of the night's going to be the main event um i'm i'm going to say it's the main event because i think he's going to be aggressive and i think they're going to beat the shit out of each other until somebody falls down. And I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I like the 281 fight. I went back and rewatched it the other day. It was a good one.

I learned a little bit more rewatching it for like the third or fourth time. A lot of leg kicks. The Pereira leg kicks are nasty in that first fight. And Izzy's got a poker face and a half. And that is a skill that doesn't get enough credit in the sport. Is when you could take a shot and like just show like it doesn't bother you. but those leg kicks were, we're bugging them a little bit,

even though he sold it really well. So, yeah, I'm going with the main event. I think they're just going to, I think they're going to get after it. I think all the fights are compelling in their own ways. You can make a case for almost all of them. Probably not the, well, Rosa Jr. Christian Rodriguez could be a lot of fun because Christian can grapple. And roses just has one speed, and I'm sure Christian is well aware of that.

So, I mean, that could just be like an absolute chaos scramble fest or Roses just kills them. Here's the thing about Raul Roses Jr. The UFC matchmakers, we've talked about on the show a lot. They know what they are doing when they are trying to build talent. They don't get it right all the time, but they get it right most of the time. When they have an idea of what we're going to do with a certain fighter, if we're going to push him, they know what they're doing. And as much as I like Christian Rodriguez, and I think he's a fun fighter, there's a reason this fight's happening on this card. Those matchmakers see something, they see something that maybe not a lot of

other people are seeing. So it's a big spot for him. He's 18 years old, but I thought 279 might be a big spot for him and he killed it. So yeah. But to me, main event will be the fight of the night. Let's go to Brian. Hey, Brian. Hey, Mike. How you doing? Good. A couple of things I want to touch on. First, I don't know what that one guy's talking about personally. I think this card is absolutely amazing. It kind of hits all the points you want as a fan. You have your fun Banimate fight with Yannas and Fant, of course, fun up-and-comers. Great main event. But I really want to touch on the main event. I know a lot of people talk about Pereira like an Ngano type almost of like a slugger, not a slugger in that sense, but a powerful

K.O. Punter. And I really think that's not the biggest thing with prayer. I think the thing that makes this match up so good for prayer is that the length and its size. I don't think people are talking about that enough. Anytime Izzy's really faced anybody close to his height or close to his reach, he hasn't been able to use those tools that he usually does, like his leans, kind of like fading back, ripping the inside leg kick. And I think that's going to be the biggest difference. And that's why I don't think he can really get past Pereira, in my opinion.

I think it's that size. So I just wanted your opinion about that. And then who do you think is the biggest live dog on the card? I think there's cards full of them. But I think Ponziadivio is such a good matchup. in my opinion with Kevin Holland, just his way to be able to get inside, uses boxing really well, not really make Kevin use his length. So I'm just curious on that.

Really excited for this weekend. Thanks, Mike. Yeah, I mean, look, at the first point, you might be right. You might be right. But I don't know. Adasani has won. I mean, Adesani was winning every single fight until he didn't. And I thought he won the first kickboxing match.

He was winning, he was winning clearly the second one. until he got knocked dead, and then he's clearly winning, and he's clearly winning the, the MMA fight until he just let her hang around too long. So yeah, maybe, I don't know. But an aggressive Izzy is what I want to see. I'm curious to see how that fight goes. I get where Mikey's coming from. Like, the main card is great.

Like, this is a great main card. But as a whole, like this lineup, like, it's a good card. like top to bottom it's a it's a solid card the main card is excellent but the rest of it's like it's fine we've had better pay-per-view offerings than this for sure but this is good this is good main card's excellent main card is excellent live dog i've talked about this before the biggest i like i like i like ponsadibio plus 205 uh i like that i think fonts a live dog i I think there's a lot of live dogs on this card. I think Watterson Gomez is a live dog.

I think Gerald Mearshaart's a live dog, for being honest. But to me, the biggest live dog in the card is Jorge Mazadol. Mostly because of the value on him. He's plus 360 right now. What you're saying is that Gilbert Burns is 80% better than Jorge Mazadol. And I just don't think that's the case. I just don't. I don't think Mazadol gets enough credit for his defensive grappling.

Burns is a good striker, but he ain't Mazadol, and Burns isn't a wrestler. Like he's not going to sit there and, again, he's not going to shoot a bunch of takedowns. And if Mazadol gets taken down, he's very good at getting back up and defending submissions. Like, he's good at that stuff. Defending takedowns for 25 minutes is not his strong suit, but Burns isn't that kind of fighter. I just don't think Burns is, like I don't think there's going to be a ton of takedons in this fight. I think this fight will hit the mat at some point.

But I think I don't, and I think it'll be kind of early when it does happen. Which means, in my opinion, I think a lot of this fight plays out on the feet. And if you're telling me that Gila Burns is 80% better at striking than Jorge Mazol, that just isn't true. Burns could win a striking matchup of Mazdal, I think. I think he's very smart.

He's very wise. He's got great coaches and corners. he's good at that stuff could he win a striking matchup with mazadol certainly but could mazadol win a striking match with gilip burns absa freaking lutee so

mazadol is a very live dog in my opinion mostly because of the value I mean he's just not plus 360 it's just it's just it's this line way too widely for me you have mazadal like plus 225 plus 250

leave it alone but plus 360 I just he ain't 80% better. I don't think he is. I don't think Mazdaal gets enough credit for how defensively sound he is. So, yeah, I mean, there's, there's, there's, there's, uh, there's a few dogs on here that, that are interesting. But I think, I think Mazadol is a pretty smart betting play.

Wouldn't go crazy on it, but I think Mazdal is pretty smart betting play. And if you want to, if you feel like Mazdal can knock him out, I'm sure the value on that is like through the roof. so I'm excited for that fight. Poppy, hello. Mike Heck, good morning to you, sir. How have you been? I've been good. How are you?

Good, good, man. Loving the coverage on the upcoming pay-per-view. I wanted to switch gears a bit here and ask you about that UFC Charlotte card. I know you're being local, man. Hopefully we can see you out there. I'm looking at this card, though, man, and I'm just seeing where it's kind of a bit light.

Have you heard anything about, potential fights that are going to be added. We saw where the main event was switched around. So I guess any news or updates or anything that you can shed on them, that would be great because, I mean, I'm excited. I'll be there. So, yeah, I'm just excited that we'll have UFC in the Carolina. So definitely.

Thank you. Yes, hell to the, yeah. I'm pumped up for that as well. I don't know if I'm going. Hopefully they send me out. I'm working on something. working on some other things in terms of travel. So you might have to kind of like pick and choose which ones I do and which ones I don't do.

I mean, I'll just break down the fourth wall. A couple of things I want to do. Not saying they're happening or anything like that. I would love to do an extra day in Jersey for 288 and maybe do like a fan meetup on Friday. you know because Jose is obviously going to be out there and like maybe me, G.C. and Jose can do a little something, something, hang out. Maybe there's a PFL car or something. We can all just hang out and watch fights together.

And then obviously we're doing the watch party. And I do want to go out. I do want to go back out for an international fight week in Vegas. We'll see if that can be possible. But my plan would be to go out Tuesday, be there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday during the day, hop on a red eye Friday night and fly to New York, get there Saturday morning, get some more sleep. and do the watch party on Saturday. But if they want to send me to Charlotte,

you bet your ass I'll be there. Let me see what this card looks like right now. So you have 11 fights. Rosenstrike Almeid is the main event. It's kind of a weird switchup if we're being honest. I don't know what to think about it. Unless they are just preparing for a world without John Jones,

like they are just preparing for it. And they're just pushing Al-Macon. made it to the moon. I just don't understand why this move is happening over the Anthony Smith-Johnny Walker fight. I don't know. It just seems like a weird one. We got Matt Brown. It's solid.

I mean, this is a pretty damn solid card for a fight night. Anthony Smith-Jonnie Walker. Matt Brown coming back. Cort McGee. McKenzie Dern, Angela Hill. D. Rod. Ian Machado Gary. Tim Means.

Alex Marronos will be fun as hell. Carlos Oldberg, Ehorpe, Poiterea. happening in Charlotte, North Carolina is kind of a weird one, but sure. Jessica Rose Clark back against Tynauer or Lisboa, Gianni Boeem, Cody Stamen, Douglas Silva-Dia Androge, Gabe Green, Brian Battle. They'll fill out a few more. I don't think it's going to be like, I don't think we're going to get anything crazy, but like the top five fights, six fights are really pretty damn good.

They're pretty damn good. I think this card is better than the UFC Las Vegas card by a long shot. I think it's better. Let me see. Let me pull it up real quick. Let me just weigh it against the other. Yeah, this card is better than UFC San Antonio, in my opinion.

Like the main event for UFC San Antonio on paper, we're all jacked up about. But we can't be real honest. Like, if we're being honest with ourselves, we weren't really fired up for the rest of this. card. I mean, we were all, we, we love watching Nate Landware fight, so that checked off some boxes. But this is like, on paper, is if, like, if we didn't know what happened at UFC San Antonio, I think the Charlotte card's better. The main card's going to be better. So I don't think it's too

bad, but they'll probably add a few more fights, but I don't think we're going to get like any rank guys on there. Let's go to CV and then we'll go to Daniel and then that will probably be it. CV, hello. Oh, Mike. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Okay. My bad sort of background noise. I'm not working from home today, but yeah, I actually listen to your on the way for work.

I think you killed it once again. I think you should release the Big John interview. I think it was really cool. Yeah, I agreed with your earlier comments about the dad's strength for Rob Fon and Yana. I'm not a dad, but I could definitely agree with that, like once you become a dad. being become a dad you get that extra correct you know you got to feed but um my question is um the gasolum um chris Curtis fight what's at stake for pelvin gasland is this his last uh chance at getting a w and if he does you think he gets a last chance to get a w

I don't know if I'm willing to go that far. Let's see. Yeah, I don't know if I'm willing to go that far. Because if he loses, it'll be six out of seven. There's still value to Kelvin Gasselm. He still has a name of some kind. He would be a very serviceable gatekeeper at 185 pounds. This is a tough fight to call, man.

Like, it really is. It's a tough fight to call. This is probably outside of maybe the main event, this is the toughest fight for me to call. It really, like, it's a tough one. I like Chris Curtis a lot. Kelvin has been out for a while, so I don't really know what to expect.

But again, I just think Calvin has fought the better competition. He's been in bigger spots. And these are the types of fights that Calvin does very well in. So I think stylistically, like, I don't know. It's so tough to call. Gassim's line continues to go in his. direction a little more. This is like a pickam fight earlier this week. Now the line's kind of swayed in Gossum's favor a little bit more. So, but if you want a little more insight, go listen to the

most recent episode of No Bet's Bard with Jed Michoud in G.C. Jet has introduced a new little treat for the betting community. They introduced the flyweight unders, which is paid off. Jed talks about the electric heavyweight over's bet. But now he has introduced a new bet called the Chat GBT bet where he puts in a certain fight. You can't ask him like who's going to win. We have to be kind of sly and cunning about it. And ChatGBT.

GBT laid out a scenario of how this fight's going to go. And it has Kevin Gasolum getting a late finish over Chris Curtis. Chris starts off really well. Gasselham starts to wrestle and take him down a little bit. Curtis starts to wear down slowly but surely. And then Gasselm gets him out of third. And for those who are kind of sort of challenging the chat GPT bet, uh,

they did it. Jed introduced that for the Trevin Giles Preston Parsons fight. And chat Gpte said that Preston Parsons was going to submit Trevin Giles in the third round. And good grief was it close to happening. So just remember that. If Calvin Gasselm gets a third round knockout of Chris Curtis, maybe the chat GPT bet will be, will be something to both.

hold. But if he, I mean, if he just gets the absolute doors blown off of him, which I don't think's going to happen in this fight, I think it's going to be really close. Maybe we, we reconsider certain things. But I do think Kelvin, even if he loses three in a row and six out of seven, there's still value throwing him there. Like if Joe Pfeiffer, like beats Gerald Mearshard and finishes him, like Joe Piper, Calvin Gasselham's like a fight the UFC could put together to try to get Joe over a little bit more. So there's value there. Let's go to Daniel. Daniel, you're there. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? Yes, sir. Sweet. Well, I'll make it quick here. Just got two questions for you. First one, just on the main event, I feel like we've been seeing just a couple more

closer split decisions and stuff lately, even with the Cheeto Ver or the Cheeto Sandhanging, we don't even, you know, maybe agree with it. But what do you think this chance is this main event here ends in a split, you know? I think most people might be thinking this could go the distance. I think it might be even closer than the first. So, yeah, just what do you think this main event? event ends in a split. And the last thing I wanted to bring up was, what do you make of this GM3 versus Pfeiffer fight? Honestly, I'm a pretty big fan of GM3. I've been watching the UFC, obviously, for a long time. So GM3 has 17 UFC fights, and he's been an underdog and 13 of them. He's won over 50% of those. He's won seven times out of those 13 times his underdog.

It just feels like this guy is just like the glorified kind of gatekeeper, you know, facing the guys with the height. So just think what you think happens in that fight. think GM3 wins again as a dog if you think Piper gets that K-O. Thanks, Mike. I mean, I think there's value on GM3 as a dog

at plus 155. This is one of those fights where this is going to end super quick and Piper's just going to knock them out in like two minutes or if this sees a second round, Mears Shard's going to start to take over.

And this could become a very middleweighty, middleweight fight very quickly. So I like the matchup. Pfeer can get him out of there. Certainly, he's a good striker. We've seen Mierchark get knocked out before. But I think Mierchart's a very smart fighter. Like, he understands,

he understands the type of opponent he has in front of him. He understands the hype behind him. He understands the tools that he brings to the Octagon, understands the punching power that Joe Piper has. but Beershard has beaten a lot of those guys in the past and has finished them. Did it with Bruno Sylvan his last fight. Nobody was giving GM3 a chance in that fight. And he went out there and submitted him in the third round.

So Mock Moon Murdof, very good striker. Weathered the storm, submits him. I like Beershart at the value. Would it shock me if Pfe or knocked him out in the first round? No. but if this fight gets extended this would be a very interesting live bet like maybe not touch it

but if Mearschart if Mearshart gets out of the first round maybe look at the live odds and see where they're at if GM3 is like a plus 400 or something or higher might be worth taking a look at my friends but I like that fight a lot

yeah screw it let's take some more Tom hello Alex has genetically a better body for weight cuts, etc. Do you think Izzy will try anything smart or anything different with his weight cut and rehydration thereafter? I don't know. It's a good question. I don't think he's going to change much on that aspect.

I don't think he needs to. I understand the size discrepancy and all that. And Pereira is just not a human being. But, yeah, I think he'll probably just do what he did the last time. It worked out for him until it didn't. Let's get Yusuf in here. Send us home. Thank you, thank you.

Just a quick one I saw this morning, Israel was answering some questions, and then somebody brought up the fact that Eugene Berman had said to somebody else that he didn't think Israel sort of taken this fight and that it was too soon. And Israel looked pretty shocked by it. I don't know if you saw the clip,

but I don't know if he was shocked by the fact that Eugene said that or whether he went public, but he seemed very, very annoyed. So I don't know, you know, if there's some problems going on in CKB. Obviously,

we know Dan Hooker is not doing well with the false allegations and everything like that. So just wanted to get your thoughts on that. Thanks. Yeah, like I said, like I said earlier,

I'm sure there, I think everybody had like some trepidation when it came to this. But then Eugene, like if Eugene true, like Eugene might have said, something like off the bat like maybe originally i thought this might be too soon but if if eugene truly felt that izzie wasn't ready to go that he hadn't recovered from the loss and all that stuff

then i think eugene would really be vocal about it and i think as he looks at eugene as almost a father figure in a way where he would take his advice but eugene doesn't seem like the type of guy that's just going to be like totally against something and then have his fighter just be like, screw you, dude. You know what I mean? So maybe there's like initial trepidation, but maybe Izzy convinced him, I don't know.

Again, these kickbox, like Michael Keyes said told Ariel, kickboxes are just wired different, man. Like I know Izzy's been all MMA for the last several years, but is he got, I mean, he got deaded by Pereira in kickboxing in 2017. And then four months later, had an MMA fight and got a knockout. So, like, it seems like Izzy can recover. And again, it wasn't like Pereira kicked him in the face and knocked him unconscious in the other fight.

Yeah, Izzy took some damage. The flurry was nasty. The more you watch it, the more you think the stoppage isn't as bad as maybe a lot of us initially thought. I didn't have it. I never had an issue with the stoppage. I know some people did. I never had an issue with it but I understand the argument back then

if you felt like it was too soon that Izzy didn't get enough of a chance to recover but I think the referee gave him plenty of chances to recover and try to make something happen and he didn't so we'll see I mean again we'll find out the answer on Saturday if Izzy goes out and he's just incredibly timid and just isn't feeling it

and he's not throwing anything and he's just on the back foot the whole time then maybe we have our answer, but I just don't think that happens here. I don't think he's going to be the guy going backwards. I don't think he can. I don't think you can afford to do that here. So,

can't, man, I can't wait to see this fight. I can't wait to see it. All right, we are done. Thank you very much. TBD,

if we're going to do a show tomorrow, I think we're going to, but we also have the UFC 287 weigh-ins going down right around the same. time. So what we might do is what we did a couple cards ago when we didn't do a show on Friday, but we just did something cool on Saturday. We just did like a pop-up show. So we might do that. We'll see how it all plays out. I don't really know. But I would say we're 50-50 on doing a show tomorrow morning at the usual time. And if we do something, it'll be later on in the day.

Or we'll just do something on Saturday to get people all hyped for UFC 287. So thank you very much. We'll be back on BTL. So if you have more questions, we're going to do a Q&A edition of BTL. It's going to be myself, New York, Rick, just taking your questions and discussing your questions about 287, main event, co-main event, all the fights, the merger,

WWE UFC, Bellator PFL, GameBred Boxing, Fight Circus, whatever the hell you want to talk about. We'll do that for about an hour on the YouTube channel at 1230 p.m. Eastern time. So again, if you haven't seen it, new feature that I've been teasing is out. It's on M-Afighting.com. It's right in the top spot. Check it out. Give it a read. And if you don't want to give it a read, if you, you know, you get like a 35-minute drive ahead of you,

you can listen to the podcast, which is a different kind of a look-see, if you will. So thank you all very much. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. Have a heck of a morning. You know,