MMA Fighting - HOAM | Does the UFC Hosting More Events On the Road Mean the APEX Cards Will Soon End?

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

The UFC is taking more Fight Night cards on the road recently than they have in quite some time. While the full card and main event quality hasn't been much different than we've seen in the last few years, could this mean the end of UFC Fight Night cards at the UFC APEX? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses whether or not this could be the beginning of the end for UFC APEX shows. Additionally, Mike answers questions about Mike Perry's return to action this weekend in Los Angeles at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 against Thiago Alves, and where he could go with a win, if UFC Vegas 91 is one of the worst UFC cards from top-to-bottom, where Matheus Nicolau would go with a victory over Alex Perez in the main event, and much 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 to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-by journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just... Speaking into the void. But with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching. the right decision makers, a network of 130 million of them, in fact. You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company, seniority, skills, and did I say job title? See how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads.

Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started at LinkedIn.com slash campaign. Terms and conditions apply. The Vox Media Podcast Network. What's up, everybody? It is Friday, April 26th, 2020. And it is indeed a heck of a morning. We're live on the NBA fighting YouTube channel.

You can hear the show at its entirety. Well, obviously here. And on the NBA Fighting Podcasting Network. What's going on, everybody? I am Mike Keck. Hope you're all just having a wonderful Friday. There was no UFC this past weekend. There is a UFC tomorrow.

UFC Vegas 91. I think the way-ins are kicking off either now or at noon Eastern. I'm not really sure. We got Knucklemania tomorrow, too, Mike Perry versus Tiago Alves. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for that. Those BKFC cards, especially when they do it big, are just incredibly fun to watch. So I'm looking forward to that. And yeah, I mean, there's things we can talk about.

And that's why we're here. So let's just get after it. Throw your questions in the comments. We'll bring them up. We'll discuss. We'll make it happen. Of course, the super chatters get to cut the proverbial line. We get to jump through the velvet rope, so to speak.

But we'll get to as many as we can. And we'll get after it. Lazy bed with the correct attitude. A heck of a morning and a hell of an afternoon. You damn right. You're damn right. Thank you, Bree. Thank you, Garrett.

Oh, God. Who's a big clown? Don Davis or Tony Khan? damn dude that's a question is it not uh i don't know i i don't think either like deep downer clans i understand like the the premise of the question i'm not really like offended by what pfl is trying to do what a ewe does is just awful and as someone who is watched pro wrestling forever and i know i'm not like as into it now as i once was but man the one thing and i was talking to somebody about this because we're having a wrestling discussion like a couple days ago

and someone had brought this up about Tony Khan and I'm like AW has just been so bad. The one thing they just cannot do is put Tony Khan on television. He cannot be a storyline character in any way. And then like two days later, he's on frigging dynamite and he's going to be part of a storyline. I will credit him for Barack in the neck brace at the NFL draft yesterday, but, man, AWs bad. Oh, is it bad? It's tough. Don Davis, to me, is the funniest man in all of combat sports.

When he speaks, I have to listen. Even though he's wrong about almost everything he says, it's just hilarious to kind of see how wrong he is. and at the end of the day I think we all root we root for Don Davis we root for the PFL we want them to do well we we don't like we need them as MMA fans to do the right things

and be good and be compelling and draw an audience and make money we need somebody to nip at the heels of the UFC and the biggest fear I've had when it comes to PFL and I continue to have with PFL is they feel like they're already there They feel like they've done everything they need to do That they're in the right spot

And I think they're so far away from where they need to be Or at least the way they perceive themselves That perhaps maybe they're getting a little too comfortable And God, man But Don is hilarious Funniest man in all of combat sports Uh Joseph, will there be a watch party live from Vegas for UFC 303? I don't know

I don't know We shall see I wouldn't be opposed to it. I would like to spend more than a day in Las Vegas if we're going to do that and make like a thing out of it. See, one of my goals has always been, especially doing all these shows, is that,

and I know it's a different world post-COVID and everything going on, I would love to like do BTL, like live at a spot. And not even like just charge people money to come in. Like I saw Morning Combat do some live shows at at Brewhouse or Beer House or something like that, like right outside of Team Mobile. Like I would love to do something like that and just do the show there with live mics and fans react on the shit. Like that's what I would love to do. Even do this show from there. Just had people walk up and ask questions.

I know that's a dangerous, dangerous game to play, but I think that would be fun as hell. So maybe we could do something cool like that. But yeah, look, if we could work it out, then. I would certainly be down. But hopefully it's for more than a day. That makes sense. Left lane. Talk fight announcements. Buckley versus Roots-Ayev, Van versus Tyra,

Jacobi versus Reyes, Iembaugh versus Canaaner. We talked a lot about Buckley versus Rootsabyev on BTL. I sort of tweeted my thoughts, and I'm still incredibly confused by that matchup. And this is one of the things I said on BTL, yesterday was if you gave me 500 guesses on who Joaquin Buckley's opponent would be, Nerseltin Rutsubayev would not have been one of them. It's just, it's so out of left field. And that fight is so close from happening. Like, we're two weeks away from that fight.

15 days from that event. And Routzabiv's going to cut to 170? Like, I don't even know if that fight's actually going to happen, which is crazy to think about. On the other end, if Routzabib does make one 70 and he does it healthy. Boy, is this a tough matchup. It's a tough draw for Joaquin Buckley. Dude just got the biggest win of his career. Goes out and finishes Vicente Lucke. And I feel like almost every move he has made since that win has been the wrong one,

if that makes sense. Like, I know a lot of people gave him credit for getting up on the mic at UFC 300 of that press conference. I thought the timing of that was awful. I really did. And some people gave me some shit for that, and I'm happy to accept it, I guess I will say. But I stand by what I said. I think that hurt him.

I think that hurt him. I think the matchmaking is not a punishment, but it's more of like, all right, man, be careful what you wish for. Now, if Joaquin Buckley goes out there and beats Nerselt and Roots of Vibe, gets a big finish, then gets on the mic and does the thing and calls out a name, says MVP, I'm coming to Manchester. you best meet me in the octagon then i will take back everything that i say but until that point i think he's done d plus work honestly and i like walking buckley i like him a lot but i just feel like there's been misstep after misstep after misstep and this is just a tough ass fight for him very high risk super low reward but let's see what he does van versus tyra is awesome love that fight

big opportunity for Josh Van Tetsu Retire has been putting in the work for a while I think this guy's going to fight for a belt he's incredibly talented he was supposed to fight Tim Elliott Tim Elliott I was told undisclosed injury so that fight's no longer happening and Josh Van needed a new opponent so now we get Tetsu or Tyra stepping in at 302 it's a hell of a fight I love that fight Jacoby Reyes that's in Louisville good fight still I mean I'm still at the point with Dominic Reyes where it's like I'm worried, but I actually think this is a, and this is the fight I've been talking about, I should get an Otno point for this, because this is a fight that I've suggested for a while. I think it makes a lot of sense. So we'll see how it plays out. I think we're at the point with Dominic Reyes,

and this is no disrespect for Dustin Jacoby because he's a good fighter, but if Dominic Reyes can't beat Dustin Jacoby, like what are we doing here? You know? And then Imovov-canonier, I don't even it's tough to even react to this

because it's not official if that makes sense from what I was told that report was a tad bit premature it seems like that's the direction they're going but not a done deal not a done deal Hector just bringing in the positive vibe shout out to Hector

thoughts on Michael Pinox and number eight worst draft pick in the last 10 years literally makes no sense Cannot believe it. The second Mark Ramundi starts covering the Atlanta Falcons beat. The Falcons, the worst draft pick of all time. Jane, is this the worst Apex card ever? Which was worse?

It has to be top five. This is definitely not the worst. This is definitely not the worst. The Holly Holm-Bueina Silva card is really, really terrible. We've had worse cards this year at the Apex than this one. I know the main event isn't all that tremendous, but if this, and I know Alex Perez kind of takes a lot of shit

for not getting into the Octagon, but he had a damn fun fight with Muhammad Bukhyyev. Like he stood in there and like battled, made it to the cage. If this was Matthias Nicolaal Meneal-Minell Cop, would you feel the same way? Ryan Span, Bogdan, Guscoff. I mean, it's got to be wild.

That fight's got to be fun as hell. Karine Silva Ariani Lipsky is a great fight. Janata Denise versus Austin Lane Someone's getting finished real quick Jonathan Pierce David O'Nama good fight Tim means yours medich good fight Hanyayaya Victor Henry good fight And then we start to sort of

veer into the cyclone of It's going to be tough But There have been worse apex cards I can't name off the top of my head But we've had worse cards this year I think the first like three apex cards This year were really

really, really bad, even on paper compared to this one. So there we are. Chris, how is everyone so convinced that Ryan was trolling? He admitted to drinking every night and is still talking schizzo about Bohemian Grove, despite all his claims to have been trolling. He is, Ryan Garcia, I just don't understand. Taking a journey through that man's mind is,

uh, it would be quite the trip. It would be quite the trip. But I guess we have to see what happens when the next fight is booked. Is he going to try to top that? Can he perform as well as he did against Devin Haney? With that, I'm not really sure. Thoughts on Drake May.

Like the pick. They got to build around him. They got to build around him. Damn Reyes can't catch a brave. He is matched up with Jacoby. Brandon, that fight is going down. The fight is going down. Outside of Mike Perry, who produces the most viral moment of the night and knucklemania.

I got to say it's probably the Renzo Hunt. win or lose, he just seems to be that guy. Just seems to be that guy. Let's see. I'm not even going to try to... I'm just going to say to the epic. Mike, is there a reason why the UFC outside of a few moments

like the recent Max Holloway, K.O. or Connor Ronda... If they didn't get there, I said... UFC never goes to the WWU with having their fighters getting along with celebs, collabbing on mega levels being prominent on pop culture. It seems like we lack things. Dude, we lack a lot of things. We lack a lot of things.

but I feel like some of that will be better. I feel like some of that will be better. Let's see. Bree, I do realize this entirely off topic, but do you work for both UFC and BKMMA? I also do realize this is completely all about trickling of me. I was honestly just curious.

I mean, I don't work for either of them. I work for MMA fighting. But we cover both. We're going to be covering both these cards. And I can assure you, knucklemania is going to do, it's going to have 10, 15, maybe even 20 times more interest than the apex card.

It's just how it always works. It's just how it always works. And look, the UFC's charging eight, the UFC's going to be charging you $80 for UFC 301. Not a good pay-per-view card. One of the worst we've seen in a while. Like I do actually think it's going to be a somewhat enjoyable watch. Pantosia versus Erseg is a really good fight.

It's just not a main event. It's just not going to, it's just not going to make people. people want to drop 80 bucks knuckle mania is $30 it's 2999 and if you already i think if you already have the the the bkfc app it's free i think it's free or it's only like five bucks or something like this the value in this is unbelievable and if you've never watched a bkfc card especially when they do a big it is fun as hell it's very fun this is going to be a lot of fun but uh i i work for this company but i don't work for you guys or BKFC or BKFC and May I have Buckley's not a good look.

We got a super chat for him. What do you know about Colby and Ian Gary about as much as I've seen on social media? I mean, everything that Ian's kind of talked about like I had already heard that Colby's still a little bit dinged up. So that date might not work. That's just kind of what I've heard. It would have been told from a couple of people would probably know the answer to that. but Ian's just trying to draw up some interest. He wants to get on this Connor card.

I understand what he's trying to do. I just don't know if this, I don't know if this date's going to work. He might want to pivot, but I don't know. I honestly do not know. Mark, I have not seen that video. Realoms are pretty bad.

I agree, Garrett. Mark likes Gary versus MVP in Manchester. I don't hate that. It's a big, honestly, and MVP's like over and stuff, but I think it's definitely a step back for Ian. The better fight for him business-wise is definitely the Colby fight, but the build to that is going to be awful.

And I think, and I've talked about this before. I think, I know a lot of people don't like Ian Gary. I feel like some of that hatred is a little off, if we're being honest, but he's, I mean,

he's always been super cool to me. So I have no problem with Ian at all. He's a tremendous fighter. The dude's probably going to win a title. at some point. He is incredibly skilled and he's only going to get better. The reputation that he's kind of getting it at certain gyms, I know the Leon Edward stuff kind of rub people the wrong way, but it seems like he's found a home in Brazil and training with Charles Oliver and those guys. But I think he kind of needs, I guess, an image refresh.

And there is a part of me, I think I'd rather see the Colby fight just for how he progresses and how close that would get him to a title fight. But the MVP fight would be way more refreshing. The build, MVP's not a big shit talker. Even if Ian starts firing shots, like MVP's not going to sit there and talk about his wife or anything like that. So I think it would be a little bit,

it'd be refreshing. But we'll see what happens. Where does Nicola go if he wins on Saturday? Instead of being raw-dogged, he's been on a good run. I don't know. I don't think much, man. Maybe he gets...

I mean, he might even get like the Tyra Van winner. I mean, he's just in a really tough spot right now. Maybe he gets the loser of the title fight or Steve Erseg loses. Maybe get Steve Ersig. I don't really know, man. Thoughts on the Lakers versus Nuggett series on how disgruntled mentally checked out they look. What do you think the Lakers need to do in the offseason still being contender reminds me of Volk versus Max? Look, the Lakers are just sometimes you can get great players.

on one team, it just doesn't work. And it's not working. It has not worked. It has not worked. They're going to make the playoffs every year, but it just has not worked. LeBron is still very good at basketball. He would beat the shit out of me on the court and most other people around the world. But dude's getting up there.

He's knocking on the door of 40. He can't do this shit all by himself. Honestly, I think they've got to blow it up, man. But go Celtics. Go Celtics. Thank you, lazy bed. BKFC recently purchased. Do you expect big changes?

No, I expect no changes. Why would they? They're doing good. They are doing well. I know the trailer thing is strange, but I just want to add to that. It reminds me Maxville since no matter how skill the Lakers were. They can't seem to overpower and throw the juggernaut, high IQ. Denver's really good, too.

Mike, hearing anything about Leon's matchup in Manchester? What are the odds that's not Ballol? My God. We were talking about this on BTL yesterday. can you imagine if Dana White dropped a video in like 10 minutes. Guys, we're going to Manchester. We got a couple of

badass fights. Tom Aspidal versus Curtis Blades. This is how the first fight went. Yada, yada, yada. And then Leon Edwards, England's own. Defends the Welterway title against the undefeated

Shafcott Rockvada. Can you imagine the friggin reaction? If that happened, that would be insane. It would be absolutely insane. God. And I would feel so bad for Balaal, man. Like, I know it's kind of almost like an unspoken joke at this point that like every

time something happens and Bala's not a part of it, he just becomes part of the conversation as sort of the butt of the joke. And it's been a fun kind of gimmick to see. Like even just Steve Erseg getting a title shot before Bala Muhammad gets one or before like Mara. gets one like that's crazy that is friggin nuts and i'm not saying like steve doesn't deserve it because of what's available and what they needed to do with this card steve is the perfect guy he's on the good streak he's finishing people he's delivering fun performances and i honestly think stylistically

like vini siggs is a really good chance against pantosia as long as he can keep this fight standing but man if shafkot gets it over belal that would be tough but i got to say i think if we're looking at this from a Leon and Tom just fighting in Manchester is going to sell that place out. Like it doesn't matter and you probably throw Patty in there

and a couple of other names, MVP, etc. That place is going to sell out. So from a ticket purchasing standpoint, none of that shit matters. But from a pay-per-view standpoint, I think this, honestly, I think there'd be more,

more intrigue with Leon versus Shafcott. Belal deserves it. I'm not trying to stand here and tell you that he shouldn't get it because he should get it. But, man, what an interesting time. What a world we would be living in if Shopcott gets that shot. I think it should. I think it's going to be ball, though.

I'll be stunned. There is an issue, though. Like, I just don't know how fun that fight's going to be. And especially for the Manchester fans, it's going to be like six or seven in the morning to end the, the festivities with a fight that I don't think going to be all that fun. I think it's competitive, but I don't think it's going to be a thrilling fight. It's tough. What kind of drive you got? I got a Callaway, man. I got a Callaway. That's an elite UFC 303 card? I did not see that. Let me see if I could find something here. Let me look at this real quick. Who, like where are these rumors coming from?

Just me should do which I get a little responses. Yeah, I don't really see any anything here. Joe Piper's recent Instagram story revealed that Ian Gary will take on Colby Covington at UFC 303. I don't know, man. We'll see. But that's honestly all I see here. Back to Bree, I feel like I do like BKMMA a bit more than UFC. It's just a tad bit more grotesque. And I am sure. I mean, BKFC is fun. I think Game Brat, like I think Mazadol's fair knuckle promotion is super. compelling. I really like it. I think they could do something really big here. The problem is, and I've talked about this before, because you were talking about BKMMA,

the game bread stuff, they need to go full ECW. They cannot, you cannot compete with the UFC. You cannot try to book these big ass arenas. Like, you can't. You got to go to these like 2,000 seat venues and just get the ravenous, loud, obnoxious fucking people in there to just scream and hoot and holler like it should be the sort of anti-promotion and i know they try to portray themselves as that but when they do it they do it in commentary and it's just it's a little tough to listen to like you need to be the anti-promotion without telling the world that you are that you just need to show that you are they need to go full ECW and i think if they do i think they can be really big i think they can be really big but them going to vizar and them going to the big arena

in Orlando. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense to me. But I do like what they're trying to do. I think it's a good concept. They're really the only ones kind of doing it, especially in the United States. But it's just they're trying to get too big. I don't know how they're even pulling. I don't know. I don't know. Race the runners. Raise the sales. Raise the sales. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger. Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title, and more. Start converting your B2B audience today.

Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started today at LinkedIn.com slash campaign. Terms and conditions apply. Support for this show comes from Chase. If you're a fan of women's sports, you're always looking for ways to get closer to the action. and your Chase card can get you exactly that. With a Chase card, you can experience more. That means access to pre-sales, preferred seating, and more savings.

For more information about how to step into a world of more with Chase experiences, visit chase.com slash experiences. Benefits available only to eligible Chase card holders, deposit in credit card products provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N-A, member FDIC. Terms, conditions, restrictions, and limitations apply. Mr. Heck, Who's your favorite Massachusetts born-bred mixed martial artist?

Jesus Christ. I don't know. That's tough to answer. I mean, Joe Lozahn, probably. Like, if I'm going back to Fan Mike, it's probably Joe. It's probably Joe. I mean, I knew about the stories of him and his brother, like, just beating the shit out of each other and their front yards at family parties.

Those legends spread throughout. According to Leon's coach, does a 0.01% chance the fight won't happen. It's probably going to be the fight. Because at the end of the day, the UFC just wants to sell out that building. That's more important than a million pay-per-view buys. But I think they'll stack this card properly with enough names and enough other star power to make it compelling. But yeah, Blal is probably going to get it. Only one can win it all this summer.

Bruins are Celtics. I mean, my heart is more with the Bruins. I'll say the Celtics, though. I just want them to shut people up. Mike, this is the UFC 302 main card. Islam versus Dustin. Costa versus Sean. Fluffy Delizze, Romanoff Al-Meda, Van versus Tyra. What's your favorite fight outside of the main and co-main?

It's probably Van versus Tyra. Romanoff Al-Meda has the potential to be just a hilariously bad fight if it gets out of the first round. And I think Fluffy Hernandez, man, I think there's a really good matchup for him. But Van versus Tyra is going to be an absolutely. war so I'll go with that Trin Daddy I spent a small fortune on UFC 303 tickets should I be concerned that they don't pump this card up or should I anticipate a video from Dana another silly victory lap but how awesome it was got just go back into time for the most part

when you look at Connor McGregor cards when Connor's in the main event usually the card the rest of it behind is not very good it's usually not that great because they don't need it it doesn't need to be Connor's the draw he's the one bringing in all the eyeballs and the tickets. Chandler's going to do his best to try to pump it up. You are getting Jamal Hill versus Cleal Roundtree, which is a super interesting fight, but they're not going to, I don't think they're going to,

this is not going to be $300. This is not going to be $2.99. I don't even think card quality top to bottom is going to be as good as $298. But none of that matters when you get the return of the biggest star in the history of the sport. So I think it's going to be fun. I think the festivities will be great.

It is International Fight Week. there's going to be all this shit going on. And I highly recommend any fan. If you have not done it, you should probably check out an international flight week and go to as many things as you can. But like every fighter on the roster is going to be there. So they may not be competing in the octagon, but at least you'll have the chance to be able to do some different things.

It's going to be like live shows and all sorts of fun stuff. So I think the week's got to be fun as hell. I really do. I need the UFC back in Cleveland next year, run up the numbers this year and next. I mean, the fact they haven't been back since the steep A card is wild to me. Crazy Belal thinks he gets to tell everyone when he's done enough for a title.

He has done enough. He has done enough. In a true meritocratic world, Balal Mohammed should have gotten a title shot like a year ago. He probably shouldn't even have to fight Gilbert Burns. If we're telling the truth here. But this isn't that. If this is PFL or Belator,

Belal would have gotten his title. shot probably in like 2022, 23 maybe. After the Sean Brady win, he probably would have gotten it. But this is not that. This is a whole different world. This is about getting asses and seats and getting people to push okay to spend 80 bucks on a pay review.

But all ain't that guy. He's a great guy. Nice. He's funny. Good presence on social media. Good personality. But for some reason, it just hasn't, it just hasn't clicked. with the overall fan base outside of fans just not wanting to see belal get a title shot which is

wild because what like what is belal truly done wrong i mean honestly like what is he truly done wrong he does good things he does he's not a dickhead he's not out getting in trouble he's nice he's got a funny sense of humor he wins fights yes i understand that some of his fights are not all the compelling but he beat the breaks off of sean brady that was an so impressive. And I know the Gilbert Burns fight wasn't the, wasn't the greatest fight of all time either, but that fight should have never happened on that card anyways. So I will give a little bit of leeway, but to see a guy who really hasn't done a whole hell of a lot wrong to see everyone just sort of turn on him, he's almost like this generation's Daniel Cormier. Because like DC never

really did. I mean, DC's always done the right thing and the nice guy and everyone just sort of turned on them. It's different circumstances, but yeah, Belal deserves a frigate tile shot. Ken Flo, yeah, dude, Kenny Florence, great too. What else we got? Back to Breeze. Mazadal Diaz fight coming up this upcoming and GFC 302. Now, they're having a boxing match. June 1st, probably the worst date they could have it. Outside of doing it, July 20th or June 29th, but they're doing it June 1st. I still don't understand why. It's going to be a tough night for him. I'm going to be really interested to see how their tickets is. go I don't think that paper is going to do well at all but maybe we'll do double watch

party June 1st we'll do the UFC one but then when that Mazadal Diaz fight comes on me we'll just do that on the watch party we'll tell you in keeping with mass theme questions what Boston sports hero would have made the best hypothetical transition into MMA David Ortiz easy easy he would have been a superstar and he Pedro Martinez would have been really good too because he just just kind of an asshole and you either love Pedro or you hate him. Brad Marshan would be another one. Seeing on typology, Tim Elliott,

he drew against Tyra. Josh Fan is even better fight. It's great fight. Personally, just for Tyra's development, I would have liked to see in the Elliott fight because Elliot's a ranked dude. I think he's top 10 or just outside of it. It's, and Tim's a tough out.

He's a really tough out. Not saying Josh isn't, but the style Elliot brings to the table that veteran savvy I mean he gave Mahayev problems I mean if McIv didn't finish him the third round Tim Elliott would have beat him in that fight

so I thought that was the perfect matchmaking but this is just a super fun fight Trin Daddy fourth row in the upper deck $1,500 each damn good Lord that's a lot of money Tyra wins against Josh Van assuming he moves up the rank

further at what point to the ufc start acknowledging that they're got to return back at japan in order to do a fight night card there i mean i think that doesn't hurt need to get a headliner in there like a really good headliner maybe he gets there last fight i went to is ufc 274 spent 500 bucks for a front row seat in the little ball yeah it's come come full circle of all that john jones is training again training for who no wants to see him i don't know if that's again. I'm just going to fight Stepe guys. He's going to fight Stepe Mietich. That's the fight. Patar, who do you think of the three most authentic and three least authentic UFC fighters and why Chandler? What do you mean? What do you mean with Chandler? Do you think he's authentic or

not authentic? I don't understand. Jesus, three most authentic? This is a tough question. I'm going to have to think about this one. So you have to define it too. Are we talking about how they're portrayed on camera, press conferences, et cetera. Or we talking about like, sort of like over the year relationship building and just talking to some of these guys and gals. I think Chandler probably is more in the more in the authentic than less authentic side, honestly. He's just kind of sort of one of those dudes. I don't know how I can think about this one.

least authentic. I mean, I like Colby. I've had a long-standing relationship with Colby. I haven't talked to him in a while, but just because of the character, the gimmick, if you will, that's not really him. And I think people know that at this point. But Fight Week, he turns it on to a nine interviews, he turns it on to a 5,000. So I think just because of that, you sort of have to put him in there. I think Bala is like pretty authentic. I mean, just like, people are giving him a whole bunch of shit for that tweet

because someone asked him how he thinks the fight with Leon would play out and he said he was going to win by decision. And I thought, I think people got a lot out of that. Steppe's pretty authentic guy. A man, a few words, but very authentic,

hard worker, firefighter. DC, obviously very authentic. His takes lately have been so fucking bad, though. Like, I got to, I think we need to get him on BTL and just be like, come on, man.

What are you talking about? Calvin Cater is very authentic. All the New England guys are very authentic because they don't talk shit. Like they don't talk shit at all. And I guess like to some degree, I mean, like him or not, Sean Strickland is, that man is who he is. I love all these like MMA Boston athletes MMA. No, Nomar. No, I think

Nomar is a legend But I mean, you saw You saw the moment when like Derek Jeter made that jumping catch into the crowd And like busted his face open And you see Nomar just kind of sulking in the dugup Because he wasn't playing And then his ass got dealt

Like a week later And then the Red Sox won the World Series So all good Pedro would be a good one You reckon Rashad Ronda would have made a great MMA fighter for a couple of years. Robert Parrish, yeah, good one. Marvin Hagler.

Mickey Ward would have been fun doing MMA. All right, now we're getting the authentic. Tom Aspinall, Poetown, Max, Matt Brown, love it. Love this. All right, you guys are helping me out. I suck with some of these questions on the spot. Chandler's Sweet Art, too, finish.

Chandler's enmes, John Senior, it just does and says the right things at all times, strive people nuts. Chandler's like always been like that though. Always. Like it's turned up to a different level now. But Chandler's always been sort of that same guy that has, is always a sharp, always with it, always has something to say,

always has says the right things, always has like a good quote in mind. Like he's always been like that. Always been like that. I'll tell you a cool little Michael Chandler story. So I covered the Vitor Belfort, Avander Holyfield, Triller boxing shit show that got moved from California to Florida.

And it was that event where like Trump did color commentary. It was just, it was just out of, like, it was so bizarre. And Evander Holyfield probably shouldn't have been fighting anybody. But I saw Michael Chandler there and I asked him, I shoot him a text. I'm like, look, I'm here. I was like, do you mind if, like, I'd just come up and we'll do like a quick cell phone interview just for like our social media. It was, it was not long after the fight with Justin Gagey was announced.

I think it was maybe like a week after that. So I was like, two minutes. That's all I need. I promise you it's only going to be two minutes. So I like sleuthed around and like me and Chandler did the thing. And then we were done. And I go and sit down. and then I'm not going to mention his name,

but another media member kind of lurked behind us. And when we were done, just kind of like swooped in and tap Chandler on the shoulder and like asked him to do an interview. And Chandler obviously is the kind of guy that feels bad if he says no. So Chandler does the interview and he texts me and he's kind of pissed about it.

And I felt so bad. And I was like, dude, you know I wasn't trying to do that. Like I was trying to be all East Van, trying to find Snowflake at that dude's mansion, just trying to, you know, Mission Impossible theme in the background, just trying to sleuth right in, but someone just kind of like stalked right behind and got a Chandler conversation. And he was like not happy with me. And I just apologize for you. He's like, oh, good man. And then we're fine like two seconds later. Like, he's a good dude. He really is. Support for this show comes from Volkswagen.

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more information. What else we got here? You've seen us a couple road shows, but they're pretty bad. Are we going to get apex level fight cards on the road more often now? Okay, I'm glad you brought this up. You want to talk victory laps? Here's a victory lap for you. I told people after, because we knew they were going to UFC was going to St. Louis, right? We knew they were going to St. Louis. The day before one of the events, I think it was, I think it was the day of UFC Atlantic City. They announced that the main event for UFC St. Louis is Derek Lewis versus Rodrigo Nassimento. Now, this is

a market that historically has a rich history in combat sports that like every pro wrestling company, most boxing companies or promotions will try to go to St. Louis. At least it has been like

that over the years. UFC hasn't been there in a hot minute and they come back with Derek Lewis versus Rodriguez. go to semento now i'm not here to get mad at derrick lewis because derrick luce is the dude and derrick lewis doesn't say no to fights as long as the paycheck is where it needs to be he will fight whoever you tell him to fight and there's a 98% chance derrick lewis has no idea who he's fighting and probably won't know after he fights him because derrick doesn't watch m m mb he just oh yeah i'm in the main event you want me to fight whoever i don't give a shit fine but this is

a it's such a trash main event like this is an apex main event if there's there ever was one. So my whole thing was like, when I first saw this and first reacted to it on the people's pre-fight show for UFC AC, I was like, don't even buy tickets. Like, send the message to the UFC that we will not accept this. This is unacceptable. We deserve better. And if you want us to shell out hundreds and hundreds of dollars, like, give us better

than this. Derek Lewis is a main eventor, sure, for a fight night. But Rodrigo Nassimenta, like, I'm not saying he's a bad fighter, but he's just not, he's not a main eventer yet. I'm not saying he can't get there, but right now he's not. He is not. And Derek Lewis is coming off pretty lopsided loss. He's lost a lot of fights recently.

We still love him because he says funny shit and his balls are hot. But I mean, you just deserve better. You just deserve better than this. But then on the flip side, do I want this to sell out because this is the UFC's way of testing out the market? by saying, hey, if these fucking people will buy tickets to this card headlined by this fight, then they'll buy tickets for absolutely anything. So I'm torn on this one. I'm torn on this one.

And if we get Jared Canaanernery versus Nasor Dene Imovov in Louisville, what? What are we talking about here? I thought Louisville Lopez was a better idea. You threw Diego Lopez versus like Josh Emmett in that main event. Like that's a way better made of it. Like, Cannoneer is good. Nastynese muff is good But like

That is an apex fight That is an apex main event Just look at all these apex Made events Half of them are in the middleweight division Like mid-range middleweights And now like this potentially could be the main event For Louisville

Like what are we doing here? Do I think we're going to Like leave the apex? I kind of felt like St. Louis was the tester But honestly like seeing Joachim Buckley on this card tells me that their ticket sales are not good. And when we were doing BTL yesterday, I went and looked at the map. And I'll pull it up again.

It was, um, it was one of the worst, I, worst maps I had seen in terms of ticket sales. I mean, there was, there was, uh, that's what I'm looking for. There were a lot of tickets left. Let me take again or now. Oh, yeah. I mean, there's, there's like almost full sections of, available for this card. I mean, they're doing okay. Considering what this main event is, like it's doing better than it probably should. But I mean, they have thousands of tickets still

available, thousands of them. Like usually if a section is sold out, it's gray, if it's almost sold out, it's light blue. And if it's far from selling out, it's dark blue in the maps, there's a lot of dark blue on this map. So look, they're on fire right now and they can do this. And they know, especially if they haven't been to a market in a while, they could just throw shit at the wall and people will buy it. So, I don't know. We'll see how it goes. And again, it doesn't matter because they have this ESPN deal and they're getting a shitload of money just to put a card on there. What else we got?

UFC 303 presale cold UFC social. Cheapest tickets, $2,500. Damn. I mean, that's going to be an experience. I always tell people go to one. like go to one big event and just check it out and I think that's all you need. I think that's all you need. It's better watching it at home.

There are certain sports that are better watching live. I think baseball is better watching live. I think hockey's the best live sporting experience you can get. Just go into Bruin. Like if I had the choice to go to any game, it'd be a Bruins game. 100% without question. Football I think is better on TV, but still. cool experience if you can get the

whole day out of it and do the tailgate and the food and the parking lot and like hang out with your fellow fans and just like make a whole day out of it. It's awesome just that part of it but from the viewership experience football just kind of drags a little bit because it's not like you get to watch commercials in the stadium

and you just see the guys on the field and they just kind of stand around for five minutes while we wait for the commercials to add and so and I think MMA is just one of those sports that I think once you once you see it once you see it once you go to a big card you get to experience the intensity and like the vibes from it and then you're just like all right cool done it we're good louis a lopez fantastic name battle the mediocre midterweights any fight on ufc 300 is better than any

fight this weekend i wish they saved this one for tomorrow this is the go home look this is the sandwich show this is the meat you get 300 301 and smack dab in the middle is ufc viz Vegas 91. There's just not every card is going to be 298, 299, 300. It just isn't. 297 was trash. It was not a good card.

We got a good main event. Jerkis duplicity, Sean Strickland, we had some decent moments, but I think every fight, maybe there's a, I think there's a late finish on that card, but that was the longer, outside of 300 where we watched every single fight

and did the watch party, 297 was by far the longest watch party we'd ever done. It felt like we're watching fights till three in the morning. It just went forever. And the card on paper was not good. So, but 302 is pretty damn good. 303 is going to be good. 304, I think it's going to be good.

And then we'll see what the rest of the year looks like. But there's going to be some pretty bad. There's always like one or two pretty awful pay-per-views every single year. Dominic Cruz, most authentic fighter of all time. Tremendous, tremendous name drop. is jelton i made it going to move to light heavyweight and what are his chances there super good super good he's going to be a problem that division is not great outside of the top six or seven fighters it's not great so i think you do really well but i actually think he's going to stick around

at heavyweight at this point because you see what that man looks like before the curtis blades fight he got yoked up pretty proper he put on he looked like a heavyweight his previous heavyweight fights even even with the Derek Lewis fight he looked like a light heavyweight who didn't cut weight before the blades fight he looked like a heavyweight so it's gonna be tough for him to cut down but I still think Jailton Omata could be a top five heavyweight for a long time again not a lot of depth in that division what else we go iron lady very authentic germane yeah what else we go what else we got this is three am poor dear Mike try living across pond getting six yeah you guys love fucking

throwing that shit in my face but you deserve better i'm trying to fight for you guys like you guys should be watching ufc 304 in manchester like at the same time east coasters are watching fights not at 3 a m or 7 a m come on you deserve better than that but we're all used to our we're all used to our time zones right like just kind of how it is i don't that sound just I haven't been able to watch a lot of PFL this year. Is the pacing been better? Yes. Slightly.

Slightly. But still not great. Who's your choice for the hottest prospect outside of the UFC right now, excluding established talents from other orcs? I mean, it was definitely Paul Hughes until he got signed. That's a good question. There's a lot of good ones. I have to pull up my little doc here.

Yeah, I have to think about it. Austin Boschie is a really good one. I don't know if he signed anywhere. He's really good. There's others. I got to find my... Oh, dude. There's one that I've been super high on for a long time.

His name is Isaac Moreno. He fights for... Oh, I just thought of another one, too. Isaac Moreno is... Usually fights for, like, Fury FC and stuff. And he was fighting for them, like, super early on. Big karate guy, but he's transitioned. in an MMA and like really got the ball rolling.

Let me see where he's at right now. He hasn't fought a minute. He has not fought. I think it's been like over a year since he's fought. Yeah. Six and O Pro. A bunch of finishes. He's fought pretty good dudes.

He hasn't fought since March of last year. He got a first round knockout. He's a guy to watch. I was super impressed with him as an amateur. He's 26. on his way it's really good uh i'll throw giani vaskis in that conversation as well who is the he's the up next fighting banamway champ or flyway champion he's the dude that was in the wrong end of that awful refereeing with the fight um you i did a whole feature on it uh with edgar chires

where johnny got put in a submission and was put to sleep in the rest of the referee didn't stop the fight even though everyone was screaming him to stop the fight and then ed good chiras put him in an arm bar which woke him up so he could tap as his arm is like falling off of his body and he still hasn't recovered from that and dude still going out there and winning fights uh he should absolutely get a ufc opportunity i don't really truly don't know what else he needs to do really don't fighting what do you thoughts on ddp statement about yuri should move to middle Uri's talked about moving to middleweight. Boy, would that be wild?

I mean, sure. If he could do it and do it safely, I mean, is anyone going to be mad at DDP versus Yuri Perhashka? Is anyone going to be mad about Yuri versus Izzy? Yuri versus Hamzot? Yuri versus Whitaker? Like, I don't think anyone's even mad about any of those fights.

Mike did Jed Rage over the Falcons traffic. We had a good time in the Slack channel. Once that happened. We blamed Mark Bermundi for that. Really truly one of the worst draft picks I've ever seen. Jesus, Viking. Spamming away. Oh, great call.

Great call. Patina Klein is, that's a great one. Yeah, she's going to be in the UFC very, very soon. Very, very soon. All right, we got like five minutes. So rapid fire. I actually have to go to a meeting. So we actually truly only have like three minutes.

Jacoby Smith, you guys should be more critical of the UFC cards. I don't know if that's sarcasm. I think we're pretty damn, I think we're pretty damn fair when it comes to the UFC. But I don't know if that sarcasm or not. Like, we're here to tell you, if cards great, it's great. If it sucks, it sucks. And there's been a lot of not good,

a lot of not good apex cards. just a lot of not good cards all year. But again, no one's nipping at their heels and no one can slow them down. Why are UFC cards generally so late when the paying demographic is older? Because they just, they've had the same process for a while

and it continues to work. Now, they are getting somewhat better with the fight night cards. I think every one of these apex cards, the main cards are started at 4 p.m. Eastern. There's no need ever for a 10 p.m. main card at the UFC apex ever and I think a lot of these fight night cards unless it's a massive name or they're airing it exclusively on ESPN though should not be starting main cards past 7 p.m.

Eastern but pay-per-views being at 10 it's fine all right rapid fire keys to victory for hill and round tree uh hill just needs to not get hit I mean I don't know what to tell you uh he'll needs to wrestle not that round trees a slouch on the ground but I mean hill can hear really hard too it's a really interesting fight it's a really interesting fight anyone know if invicta's done they haven't had an event in a long time i don't think so does roundtree fight for the belt if he beats hill i hope so i hope so dude calil roundtree versus alex prayer is awesome just wanted to add and i thought you won the draft jerk is the only pick that threw me off why jerkus would fit in perfectly for bkfc no sarcasm quality of recent ufc card sucks and we have told you as such if a card is

awful we have told you that we're going to do a preview show 1 p.m. eastern today about this card and the bkfc card i can assure you we're going to spending five more times on the bkfc card than the fc card all right final minute alex versus serial winner fights winner of aspinal blades don't hate it ursig is a title fight you never know and you know what he might actually win that fight see last one last two would it is he humzot headline or super fight card be the basis and the December. I mean, how? If it's not for the belt, then what's the point? In Danger Mouse, should Tom or Leon be the main event for UFC Manchester? It should be Leon Edwards, because he's

the undisputed champion. I know Tom Aswell is in the bigger weight class. I think he's getting more and more popular, but I think you got to put Leon on that spot. I think he's earned it. All right, we're done. Danger. Shout out. Shout out to all of you guys. guys and hopefully we do this again so moving forward this program we're not going to do three days a week anymore we're just going to do Tuesday Fridays BTL day will be the BTL day the only time that changes is if BTL moves to a Tuesday then we'll do Thursday Friday on the show I'll let you all know no matter what anyways we'll have a preview show coming up like I said 1 p.m. Eastern to get you ready for Vegas 91 knucklemania 4 etc etc so not the last you will see of me here on this channel

Thank you all very much. Much love. Have a great rest of your day. Have a heck of a morning, everybody. We'll see you later on. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Sacks Fifth Avenue makes it easy to holiday your way, whether it's finding the right gift or the right outfit. Sacks is where you can find everything. From the perfect Chloe bag for your hard-to-shop for a sister to a prodig jacket for a fancy holiday dinner. And if you don't know where to start, Sacks.com is customized to your personal style. so you can save time shopping.

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