MMA Fighting - HOAM | Final Countdown To UFC 289, PFL 4 Reaction

Episode Date: June 9, 2023

The UFC's return to pay-per-view is a little over 24 hours away, and there are a lot of interesting potential storylines heading into UFC 289. What is the biggest burning question you have heading into the promotion's return to Vancouver? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses some of the big headlines heading into Saturday's UFC 289 event, including Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana for the women's bantamweight title, the pivotal lightweight co-main event between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, and more. Additionally, listener topics include Aljamain Sterling being underappreciated, PFL 4, Brendan Loughnane getting knocked out in the main event in a stunning upset by Jesus Pinedo, Dan Hardy's reaction to the finish going viral, PFL vs. Bellator in the promoting game, recent UFC signees, 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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but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible.

The Vox Media Podcast Network. We need a heck of a morning. We are live on the M.A. Fighting Twitter Spaces. You hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter. On the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. Hello, friends. I am Mike Heck. you for joining us. We're on the eve of UFC 289, which goes down tomorrow in Vancouver, Manda Nunes versus Rini Aldana in the main event, big one between Charles Olivera, Benile Darius, the co-main event. We had the press conference yesterday. It's a pretty decent

press conference, if we're being honest. It wasn't too bad. Normally I just don't even want to go back and watch it, but this one wasn't too bad. The questions were pretty good. I thought all

the fighters, for the most part, got the opportunity to say some stuff. Nate Landware was just Nate Landwareish, and it was

wonderful. And we got Wayans coming up at noon Eastern today. So don't miss the Wayans show on the

M.A. fighting YouTube channel, of course, hosted by my best friend Alexander Kay Lee, Jose Youngs, in Vancouver.

We had PFL last night, which they needed a card that got people talking, and they did that. They did that last night. Big upset in the main event, Jesus Pinedo knocks out Brennan Locknardin is out of the playoffs, which is just absolutely insane to think about. But that is happening. I believe, I don't even know how big of a favorite Brennan Locknade was, but it was. but it was a pretty damn big favorite.

Bubba Jenkins gets a nasty submission. Mavlid Kibulav, nasty submission against Tyler Diamond, Gabriel Braga, knocks out Mara Morayas, who then ends up retiring. I think a lot of people were kind of relieved by that. We're a little heartbroken to see Maro Marius get stopped again, and then he announces his retirement. and one of the nice guys in the sport, no doubt about that.

Always very good with his time. And in his prime, in his peak, one of the most exciting fighters to ever step foot in a cage. So happy trails to Marlon Marius. Chris Wade gets a submission win. And Pekasang and I gets a submission win. All in all, outside it, unless your name is the Dilan Monte ending was pretty nasty and scary. for the most part, pretty good night for the professional fighters league. Deonté Wilder was in the house talking about maybe doing a two-a-tofer with Francis and Ghanu,

boxing and MMA. That was pretty interesting to hear about. Shout out to Jed Mishu for getting that one-on-one with Deonté Wilder. So there you go, PFL4 in the books. They'll be back next week in Atlanta, and we'll see if they can keep this momentum, I guess you could say, going a little bit. This is a free for all Friday. We are a little bit early today. We're starting a half hour early.

As I told you guys a couple of months ago, I took my kid to the RBC Heritage Golf Tournament, and we took a shuttle, and before we even left the parking lot, the shuttle put a nice big fat hole in my back bumper. Car has been in the shop for three weeks. It is finally done. I can pick it up.

And let me just say this, unless you're living in a major city, like New York or even like Boston or Chicago or something like that, and you have a family and you have multiple people in the household working, having one car sucks. Like, it sucks. Like, you can make it work, but it sucks. You can't do everything you need to do.

Like, I love to work out. It gets me through my day. I like doing the cross. and just busting my ass in the morning and then preparing it. I didn't, couldn't do it yesterday. I couldn't do it today. Hopefully I can get something done this evening, but my wife is working, so I have to bring her to work. And by the time she needs to go to work, like I can't do a class because I have to come back here. So these people who hit my car are paying for it. So in order to get my car today, I have to drive out to the business, which is like

25, 30 minutes away, pick up the check. And then I have to go to the body shop. pay them get the key to the car then drive back with my wife's car do the way-ins do the preview show and then at some point today i have to go back and pick the car up so it's a pain in the ass i literally only have like an hour to 75 minute window to like get all this shit done and i have to leave the house by like 11 a.m. Eastern at the latest to get that done so apologies if this is a little too early for you guys but we got to do what we got to do wanted to make sure we could do a show for you guys. And it is a free for all Friday.

So we can talk about UFC 289. We can talk about PFL. We could talk about some of the big stories, some of the big fights that have been announced. We reported last night, Karine As Silva is back already. She had that nasty inverted knee bar, leg snapper, whatever the frig we're going to call that disgusting submission. She has already got her next assignments. She has verbally agreed, as did her opponent.

against Marina Morose. UFC 292 in Boston, August 19th. That was a very popular onto the next one's selection. In fact, that was going to be my first choice, but I didn't know what Marina status was going to be. She had posted on Instagram. She had like a procedure done.

Must not have been too bad since she's going to fight in August. So that fight is great, big opportunity. And this is how you create stars, people. This is how you, this is how fight. fighters get notoriety. You have a big moment. You probably should have got a bonus.

You didn't get one. Dana says he's going to take care of you. Talked about you at the press conference. And then immediately get you right back in there on a big card. So they obviously see something in Cranei Silva. This will be the second time these ladies have fought. They fought in 2014. It was a chaotic fight for XFC International back in 2014.

and Marina Moros actually submitted Karine A. Silva in that fight in the first round. But that was nine years ago almost. And now they get to run it back. Green A. Silva, looking for some revenge. So let's go to the callers. Let's go to you guys. We're going to go for about 50 minutes here. Tristan, hello.

Hey, Mike. I wanted to talk about, I mean, the PFL yesterday was pretty good. I have to give them so much credit. I was enjoying that. So yesterday, Cards. Kudos to the PFL. Well, also, too, PFL6, June 23rd, I was stunned to see that Anthony Romero is fighting OAM on the main event car. I guess it's the headliner.

I was, I was taken about, I was surprised because I didn't even know when this fight was announced. I had to go and figure out that James Lynch had interviewed Anthony Romero a week ago. So this was already announced probably I thought it was a short notice for Romero But I guess not he knew about this couple of weeks So and the thing is The crazy part was the PFL You know, that fight that he had

He didn't even get a contract So I guess now they gave him a contract here And he's fighting OAM I don't know what the Betty Nause is Remember I'm expecting to be a huge underdog But I mean this is a great opportunity for him If he goes out there and beats OAM let alone get a finish.

I mean, this is going to be huge and this is something, an opportunity that he needed here. I am excited for this card here. This card is really good. It's not that bad. So just your thoughts on this. So, Romero, getting this opportunity here against OAM. Thanks, Mike.

Yeah, it's an interesting fight. A little Canada on Canada action. I don't see any betting odds for this fight. Usually PFL odds don't come out until later. Like, no. Draft Kings doesn't have my, I don't think. Let me see. Yeah, no odds at all.

They don't even have odds. Draft Kings doesn't even have odds for next week's card. But yeah, Anthony's a good fighter. He's a good prospect. He's won a lot. His lone loss was to J.J. O'Conovich in a fight that I thought he won. But he's really good. He's really good.

this is he's one of the guys that I think the UFC definitely should have signed the fact that Dana the reasons Dana didn't sign him were really puzzling to me but like of all the fighters who have gotten contracts on the contention series like some have panned out and some have been really good and some have been really strong we mentioned crene de silva she's one of them but anthony romeiro as far as talent goes he's one of the most well-rounded guys who has been who have been on the show and had a dominant performance, hurt the dude that he fought, didn't get a finish, but he dominated him, just ran him over and didn't get a contract. And since then, he's just been grinding away, waiting for that opportunity. I'm stunned Bellator hasn't given him a look,

but he was on the Challenger series, had another dominant win, didn't get a contract, and now he's in getting a main event spot against Olivier and Aubin-Mercier. So I think OAM's kind of on one right now. he is surging. I'm curious what the odds are going to be for this fight. There could be some value. If OAM is like a minus 600 favorite in this fight, there is a ton of value on Anthony Romero. A ton of value.

I mean, this is by far Anthony Romero's toughest opponent. But the dude's really good. So we'll see how it plays out. PFL 6, June 23rd, ATL, main event let me see what the rest of this card looks like got sadabousai Shane Mitchell Shane Burgos

Yamato Nishikawa Clay collard, Stevie Ray that's going to be fun Magamette Karamov versus David Zawada Yeah it's a very PFL-ish looking card

Let's go to Toke Hi Toke Grassbons a little thing you said about the PFL and the momentum they got from this. The problem is, imagine the fucking momentum. If they had told anyone about this card. Yeah.

Anyone. My God. I got so frustrated that I learned on the day of the event that this was happening. And it's like, yeah, okay, sure. I mean, I would love to see Brendan Loftain. Like, in the previous, like the former champion in the, in one of the premier divisions. Yeah, show me it.

Tell me about it. What do you mean? It's like, oh, so frustrating. And one thing I will say is, I mean, the results, the results on this card was really good, and it was really, it was just really decent to see. I'm just so frustrated with them not promoting it. So, PFL, please just promote your next few cards,

because this was supposed to set off the last round of the of the what's it called the season right so it's a postseason after this this run of cards so you should this should be the kickoff right before playoffs this is the play-ins man please just oh

okay and I want to say this and this is not a question of any short go watch the post-fight speech with Pinedo because they cut to a shot of the reaction from the booth to the knockout. Dan Hardy doesn't flint. He doesn't do anything. He just sits there stone-faced while Kenny Florian is going completely insane.

I don't know who makes the decisions around there, but you can't show that. You can't show Dan Hardy being completely and utterly disappointed. pointed in the result. You just can't. Like, okay, you have to show something else. Please don't show down hardy like that. I mean, oh. But anyway, fun card.

Good job, PFL. But please promote yourselves. Have a heck of a Friday. Yeah, and this is a problem. This is the same problem Bellator has. So Don Davis can create all the bullshit graphics he wants about them being the number to promotion. And there might be like semblance of truth to the graphic. I don't buy most of it.

And plus a lot of the graphics were inaccurate. But to say like a lot of people's arguments about PFL being better than Belator is that Bellator doesn't have any buzz heading into their cards. And there is definitely truth to that. There's no doubt about it. But there's no buzz heading into these PFL cards. None. there was zero buzz heading into last night's card none zippity dood and as toke said who is a big

mma fan he didn't even know the friggin thing was happening until yesterday the day of that it was happening that is a problem that is a problem and you want to know what's crazy i work in m m m m i live breathe and eat this shit i didn't even know maril marius is fighting yesterday until I looked at the card right before it started. I'm like, oh my God, I forgot. Mara Marais is fighting. That's bad. I kind of like at the end of the day,

wish I didn't know he was fighting, but you've got to be better at promoting. You got to let people know that's happening. And people shit on the UFC for their marketing, but they don't have to market anything. They've won. They're so far ahead. People know.

They know on this date something's going to happen. They know that a pay-per-view is happening on June 10th. They know. They may not care. about the card as a whole, but they know a card is happening. Bellator doesn't do this. PFL doesn't do this. And Bellator things, and PFL's the same way.

PFL just thinks like because they're on ESPN, and everyone knows about it. No. That's not the case. And Belator things like if they have fighters do a bunch of media, people are going to hear about it. That helps, but I mean, Brennan-L-lawed was on the MMA hour Wednesday,

and people still didn't know that the PFL card was happening last night. You got to be better at just letting people know not only that you exist, but you have things happening. It's, it's, you got to be better. This battle for number two, we were talking about BTF yesterday, just laughing about it. Like this whole, hey, we're number two, where number two? It's insane. And the way people go about it is, is this nuts. But the difference between like what the promotions actually promote are hilarious.

are hilarious. Like Don Davis is putting out that ridiculous graphic. Look at us. We're doing this. One championship's like, oh, we have 47 billion people watching. Here's our pretend Nielsen ratings. That said 470 trillion people watched our card last week, which nobody believes. But at least Bellator is like honest.

Scott Coker tweets out, we're going to Chicago next week with two of the biggest fights in promotional history. They didn't say two of the biggest fights at MMA history. They said two of the biggest fights in promotional history. I don't know if that's necessarily true, but you can make a case for both of those. Belator is at least being honest with themselves when they promote. They may not promote enough,

but when they make statements from a top level, it's not like they overshoot. They don't say anything like incredibly ridiculous. Like Scott Coker is saying, like, we might have the best fighter in four or five different weight classes. that's not an egregious statement. There's a case to be made for that. When they say that the lightweight Grand Prix

is the best lightweight tournament of all time, it might be true. You can think about it and be like, that might actually be true. Don't know if it might not be, it might be true, it might not be true. But at least it's something like, it's not out of left field where you're like,

this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. At least they're honest with themselves. So I can appreciate that. but both companies need to do a better job of promoting. One does a real, one's actually really good at it. They could take some notes from one championship. Their social media team does a really good job, like letting you know what's happening. I don't know like every single car.

Like they don't like mass promote every single car. But the, but the ones that are happening where like most people can watch, especially here, like they do a good job of promoting and like get you fired up for it. Their social media team does a very good job with stuff. Plus they're on Amazon Prime. So all you have to do is turn on Amazon Prime. And there's a big thing up there saying one championship, this date, this time. And you can just click on it.

So, yeah, promotion is important. You have to let people know that shit's happening. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. It's hockey season. get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice, yes, we deliver

those. Gold tenders, no, but chicken tenders, yes, because those are groceries, and we deliver those too, along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Thank you. Hello. So bear with me and hopefully I get them all out in time. First of all, I'm not trying to pile on Brendan Lothang because I actually like him as a fighter, but it's very ironic that today's Bill LGO's birthday, and he named dropped him for no reason whatsoever, and the whole thing with the UFC, and then he ends up losing to somebody that doesn't have a Wikipedia page. Also, the irony is this, I'm glad he's happy to PFL and I'm glad that he has the opportunity to compete for a million dollars, but nobody talked about it. He doesn't talk about enough that how much of, kind of the irony is he should be a world champion walking around with a belt and he should be getting paid six figures for being a champion and defending that belt he just lost and if pinato doesn't win this tournament that win almost means nothing i mean i mean i

know it doesn't mean nothing but you get what i mean you're your teams your team sports fan too you get what i mean by that i mean that's pinneda should have a freaking belt that guy is that guy is the featherweight champion as far as i'm concerned you know what i mean but he's not so it's going to be interesting how that pans out Also, I find the irony of the hypocrisy about MMA fans and M.A. They talk about how these UFC cards, these UFC fighters, the pay-per-the-pac cards are also subpar and all this stuff. But then they gas up a lot of these other promotions cards,

like as if they're like any better when they're really on the same part. I get the banners different. I get the UFC's on a different level, but that's a different conversation. But I just find it funny. I mean, next week's Bellator card has its prelims feature like 85 people with no Wikipedia pages. You know what I mean? And, but anyways, the, that's for PFL's car. I'll focus on that.

I was very impressed by that kid in the opening battle, the one that, what's his name, Alex? Oh, my God, his name is Alexei. You know who you want to talk about. I don't know if you watch the whole card, but he was in the opening bout. Oh, God, I'm losing his name. Pargande? Yeah, Pergande. I like that kid.

We don't want to jump the shark on him, but I like what I saw from that kid. They'll be interesting to watch. Abby Montez, they clearly bring her along very slowly, but it's, you know, they need to capitalize more on the fact that she beat Clarissa Shield. You know what I mean? Like you don't want beating Clarissa Shields not to amount to anything. And, um, can't wait for tomorrow's card.

And one more note, um, oh, Jesus Christ, yeah, I did this all the time. You know, people talk about all these, the UFC's oversaturation of all these cards. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it in these spaces, but I can attest personally. It's a very small sample size, but I've met several MMA fans throughout the last,

over years ever since the pandemic who said the reason they got into the ufc or became even bigger fans was because of those cards like because they either didn't have anything else to watch or because they were on so frequently when they did have time when they did have a Saturday off that's what they were able to watch something they consider okay much love to you guys as always be kind of one another let's enjoy the fight tomorrow see you later bro yeah i mean the pandemic created a lot of fans. There's no doubt about that. And there were, me in particular, I, like, when they first started doing, like, those, those empty arena cards and the apex cards, like, I was into it. Like, listen to those shots. Like, I always tell people who are newer fans that, or tell me,

like, watching fights in the apex is kind of boring. And I get that. Like, when you, when you're in front of a hot crowd and you can hear them go crazy and then you go to the apex, it's just like, but then I tell people to go watch the Justin Gachy Tony Ferguson fight when they fought a UFC 249 that was like the big events the big comeback to sports and like

the thuds the sounds of like all of it was just mesmerizing it's one of those fights you watch where you're like I don't know if I'm proud to be an MMA fan or if I'm like terrified of myself because I'm actually like watching this and enjoying it and not cringing too much.

It was just very, it's just a very cerebral fight to watch and just to hear everything. And it's just, and it's not like the apex where there's like 150 or 200 fans and there's like there's nobody in there. You hear nothing but the coaches. It's just so wild. You hear the echoes of every shot. Just a crazy bit like Calvin Cater's elbow to Jeremy Stevens is, just terrifying in that place.

And there was like a very cool cerebral factor to it. And then it just kind of gets old. It just, it gets to the point where it's like, all right, we're just settling. And that's what a lot of these cards feel like. And again, I don't necessarily blame the UFC completely for this because they have a deal. And they're making Bucco bucks. And they have to put something on. And as we say most times,

a lot of these fight night cards that are at the apex on paper are awful. But it doesn't mean like it's awful because it's just fights. And we like fights. And some of them are very competitively matched. But the same token, at least for me in sports, I like when there's stakes. I like when fights matter. And I know it matters to each individual fighter because of the pay structure, which that could be a whole other podcast. But a lot of these fight night cards, like we always say, look, if you're not,

you watch it, you're probably going to have a good time watching it. But come Tuesday or Wednesday, unless we have a Kikar, Fransomir al-Bazi situation where there's a controversial card, we're not even talking about it on Tuesday. Like we'll talk about it Monday and then boom, it's gone. Like we've had BTLs where we don't even mention a fight night card because of what's happening, because the new cycle moves so quickly.

People want stakes. They want fights that matter. And more oftentimes than not, We don't get fights that matter. And I think that's the big thing. I think that's the big thing. PFL, that's an issue. All right.

Mikey, go. Spenado, all due respect to Brendan Loveling, but if that is your MMA upset of the year, you're insane. It's Valentina Shepchenko and Alexa Grasso. I will not have any arguments. I get it. If you want to say that's the biggest upset in PFL history, fine. MMA upset at the year, it's Valentina Shepchenko

and over Alexa Graz. time Valentin ever got to miss, the first time she ever lost in that division. Just please stop people. Have some sense. Thanks, well. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I think saying biggest upset in MMA of the year is a little too far-fetched. I think, I actually, like, Brennan Lockney is a, is a very, is a good fighter.

He's a very good fighter. But I think we maybe overvalued him a little bit, just a touch, just a touch. Like, we had them in our rankings, and we ran down how good featherweight is, just in the UFC. And maybe we just wanted, maybe there was a reward factor to us ranking him in our rankings. Not saying that he shouldn't be like a fringe guy,

but maybe he just wasn't the 13th best featherweight in the world. And I just, I don't, like, Grasso beating Valentina is an upset, but to me, there are a lot of ways Grasso could have won that fight. So, like, I wasn't stunned by the result. This one I was like, holy shit. I can't believe that happened.

You know what I mean? So, upsets of what you make of them and what you think of them. And like most arguments in MMA, it's just based on your opinion and what you think and how you value each individual thing. So, yeah, PF, like this PFL card compared to UFC 289, it's not even close. On paper, UFC's cards way better. The Bellator card is actually, I like this Bellator card a lot. At least, like we have name value, we have stakes, we have two title fights, we have

Vedim Nemcoff, Yo-O Romero. That fight, there is no gray area. It's either going to be an absolute war, or it's going to be awful. There's no in between. I'm here for it. And the thing about Y'all Romero is, even if this is the worst fight at all time, you're still on the edge of your seat because this dude is so chaotic and he could just land one shot and change everything.

Patricia Pitbull going for a third title is super interesting, even though Patsy Mick should probably be getting a title. shot first, but that's just the way it worked out. Corey Anderson, Phil Davis, two recognizable names. I'm not a fan of the Daniel James Gokon-Sericam fight being on the main card. I think Norbert Novenu Jr. should be on the main card because I think Norbert and Venue Jr. is not only one of the top three prospects in Bellator, I think he's one of the top three prospects in the sports right now.

These are the things that Bellator needs to do better. They have this loaded three fights. And then they put rando heavyweight fight to open the main card. When you have guys like Archie Colgan, when you guys have guys like Norma veney Jr., when you have a bunch of undefeated uppercumbers that you're trying to make a name for, you've got to put one of these guys on the main card.

Like that's how you create stars, or at least attempt to. You think anybody's going to, how many people are you going to watch Norbert No Venue Jr. fight? it's like one of 13 prelimbs 14 prelims 14 prelimbs it's just buried in the middle of 14 preliminary fights how are you going to create a star doing that no venue should be on the should be opening the main car 100%

we got to do better with that and to go back to to to toke's thing the dan hardy reaction to lock name getting knocked out is maybe one of my top five funniest things i've ever seen in my life. But again, to Tocke's point, how could you put that on the broadcast? How can you put that on the broadcast? What are you doing?

You don't have an editing team good enough to just like crop out Dan Hardy and just so Kenny Floreen going ballistic. Now you got mopey Dan Hardy out there. This dude is about to get roasted for the next day. All day, this dude is just going to get crushed because you put that on the broadcast.

Why even show it? You think it made that moment so much better? It did nothing. That moment did absolutely nothing for that moment, except make Dan Hardy look bad. It's just, what is the point of putting that in the broadcast? You don't,

MMA Twitter is smart enough to clip that shit off so that it's going to go viral. And that thing's going to go viral. I have seen that clip 5,000 times today, and I didn't even try to look for it once. Come on, man. Why would you put that in the broadcast? That did nothing for the moment at all.

It's hilarious. God, is it hilarious? Incredible. CV, hello. Good morning, Mike. I have done this late, so, like, forgive me. Like, did you guys talk about any, like, males, male band-on-weight fights yet? No.

No? Okay, perfect, perfect. Okay. Just two quick things for me. I saw Marcel tweeted out that they're working on Rob Font and Song Yadong at U.S.C. Boston in August. Yeah, just super early thoughts on that fight just because they're working on O'Malley and Sterling

as a main event, right? Like, could either these guys, like, sneak in and get a title shot if they get, like, an impressive finish, or do you think they're probably still, like, a fight away? And one more thing, since it's free-for-all Friday, is Nicola Yokic the best player in the NBA right now. Thanks.

Yokic just I mean if he's not one he's in the top three at worst he's just so good I have to say this speaking of viral clips the clip of Stephen A. Smith just getting absolutely

dogged by JJ Reddick on first take yesterday was just poetic it was amazing Stephen A. Smith's like oh you know what's crazy about Yoki he doesn't have a dominant post game and then Tim like

JJ Reddick's like Stephen A, we have data for the last 10 years. You know what the most efficient half-court stat is in all of the NBA? A Yokic post-up. It was the best. He just drops the pencil. And Jason Williams is like, yeah, man, got you. And Stephen A. Smith tried to get himself out of it.

He just couldn't. It was incredible. It was fantastic stuff. So I mean, obviously I saw Marcel's tweet and Marcel is usually. pretty spot on. We've obviously reached out to people. We've heard zero confirmation on that as of yet. Doesn't mean it's not something.

There's a helicopter just flying over my house right now. I reached out to one side, and I was basically told, like, it's too long to text. So a phone call is probably going to be happening at some point today to discuss this. So I like the matchup. It's a good fight. The stakes there? probably mean, I don't know.

I mean, neither of these guys are going to get a title fight with the win. They're just not. Song Yianong just lost, not that long ago. Got a nice win against Ricky Simone. Rob Font got beaten up in two straight fights by Joseo and Marlon Vera. Got ahead a great performance against Adrianiannas. And I feel it'd be so sad if, like, one of those guys got a title shot,

and poor Mara Ravdawellish will, he's like, what the fuck man what else do i have to do and cori sanagan's right there so i don't know they probably get themselves a big fight i wanted rob faunt versus peter yon that's the fight i wanted but maybe yon's just not ready to come back that quickly but yeah rob font song yon's great fight if that's what is what is to come i guess but we shall see rob should be on that card that's for sure four corner sports hello hey mike how's it going good hey's uh i believe they're probably going to hold on Peter Yan up until the Abu Dhabi card, just because if he's not ready to fight now,

then it only makes sense for him to be placed on that Abu Dhabi card. But I saw Marcel end up tweeting about Viviana Arroo versus... KCR, we reported that last night. Oh, you did? Okay. Now, I know Arrooge is on a two-fight losing streak, and O'Neill just suffered her first loss. How do you feel like that fights then to go stylistically? And could Casey O'Neill with a win, you know, rebuild up momentum?

I know I guess they asked about Miranda Maverick and, you know, you're very high on Casey O'Neill. But it just seems like now more than ever that the Flyway Division is getting stronger and stronger. I know that, you know, it's, I know what's called the U.S. You never made anything official. but it's pretty obvious that, you know, Alexa Grosso versus Valentina Shepchenko is most likely going to happen sometime this year. Between, you know, outside of Aaron Blanchfield, who do you think from these female flyweights are, you know,

is going to get the next title shot? And I saw you posted something of Melissa Dixon being signed by the UFC. Is this like a sign that, you know, Amanda Nunes probably gave him, like, noticed that she's probably going to be retiring within this fight or the next fight, because I saw they had signed Melissa Dixon. I saw they had signed another female Banoit, and maybe they've been hearing you and A.K. Say about there's no Bannaway division for females. So, I mean, it looks like they're trying to stack up little by little on the female Bannway Division.

And lastly, I still think that Arrani-Odana gets it done. real question is does Amanda Nunes walk away come Saturday night? All right, thanks, Mike. So I feel, I mean, I feel like Amanda Nunes is going to retire. I feel like she's going to retire. I feel like winner, I feel like when or lose, she's going to retire. I feel like if she loses her Rini Aldana, I think she'll feel good enough with like Aldana as the champion.

Her reasoning for not retiring after the Giuliana Pena loss is like, I can't leave this division with Giuliana Pena as the champion. So I don't know if she'll feel the same way about a Remy Aldana at the end of the day. I think Amanda has a lot of respect for Rene and vice versa. This is not like a trash talk fight or anything like that. And Giuliana Paney got her title shot because she talked a lot of noise and she did a good job doing it.

And she got herself a title fight and pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time. And then got was one half of one of the most compelling asswopens in the history of M.A in the rematch. So I do think of Amanda wins. She walks away and I think if she loses, she'll feel like the division's in a good enough place to walk away. Like, what else does she need to do?

She literally doesn't need to do anything else. She loses her legacy is cemented. It's just time. You know what I mean? It's just times. And that kind of goes to, and I just think more of the Melissa Dixon and somebody's dying, I believe there's like six or seven female

also got signed. They're not all Bannam weights. There's some fly weights. I think there's like a straw weight mixed in there and a couple of Bannam weights. They got to build these divisions up. The Bannamweight division, there is no division. It's just bantam weights. D. There's no vision. There's no vision. It's just, there's like 11 fighters. So we need to build this up. You can't even fill out a rankings. You can't even, there's no featherweight rankings. You can't even fill out a Bantamweight rankings in the UFC with all Bannam weights. There's It's like three feather weights in the Bannonweight rankings. That is a problem.

That is a problem. This division is just so dry right now. It's the same fighters. There's nothing wrong with that, but we don't have, like, we don't have anything else like on the come up at all. We don't know when Giulia Obelah is coming back. Meyer Blaine of Silva, maybe it could be like the new fresh face to probably challenge for a title if she beats Holly Holm.

it's just and if Amanda wins like who's she going to fight who is she going to fight it's crazy so I think that's more of that like we just need to get some bodies and just hope some of them pan out

and it's a lot of international talent too most Dixon's like an English fighter but she's known in she's fought for Ares FC she's fought in France a bunch of times like she's fought all over the place just a lot of international talent which tells me that they're going to be

doing a lot of international travel over the next couple of years. So like Shauna Bannon just got signed. Could maybe a return to Ireland come. She's already your next fight booked or her first fight booked. So yeah, this is smart. Like this is what you need to do. But also you need to sign like contender. Like what's crazy is we talked about the contender series.

And like George Hardwick having to fight on the contender series. which makes no sense to me. And then they're just outright signing a bunch of women, which I get. I don't know. I don't know. It's crazy. Casey O'Neill, Viviani Ara Ujou, UFC 293. Many Meyer first reported the matchup.

I believe he reported it for August 12th. But again, it's the golden rule, people. If it's not an MAfighting.com, it's not real. Now, the match, it was real. But I was told that Sydney was the target and that date was probably not accurate. And it turns out we were correct on that. I think this is a good fight for Casey O'Neill.

I think stylistically, she should be favored in this fight. Just look at the three. Like, Vivianna is a good fighter. She's last three out of four, but look at... Look at the losses. Caitlin Chucagian, Alexa Grasso, the champion,

Amanda Hebas, who's been on a role. I think if Casey can just out volume Viviani Arr Ujo, if she can just sit there and be calm and just not be reckless,

she can channel that energy a little bit for good, I think she'll win this fight. I think this is a good matcher for her. It's tough, but I still think stylistically it's a good matcher for her. It's a winnable fight.

And, lot of maybe all of the ranked opposition that's there right now. Let me just see where she is ranked in this division in the UFC. Where is she? She is 12. Yeah, this is like inside the top 10, this is probably the best stylistic matchup for her. It's a fight she can lose, but stylistically, this is a winnable fight. So I like the matchup.

I like the fact it's on her home, it's in Sydney. She's going to have the crowd behind her. and let's see if she can bounce back after that loss to Jennifer Maya. But I like the fight. Marshall's buyers travel far and wide, hustling for great deals on amazing gifts. So you don't have to. They've bagged this season's Italian leather handbags.

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My best friend, you heard your name and you want to... You have some thoughts. Did I? I don't know. I don't know. I thought I might have. Yes, we went on to the next one, chatter. No, I'm calling for a free-for-all Friday talk. Oh. Also, I need to talk to someone.

I'm reeling from this... I went to bed. somewhat early on Thursday night. I guess the main event didn't roll around until like, when did the main event happen? When did Lockane and Panetto actually happen? I didn't see the finish until like 3 a.m. I felt, to be honest, I fell asleep watching it.

I had softball. I was exhausted. 95 degrees out playing softball. We had two playoff games, so it was a little wiped. But I woke up and like went back to it and watched the fight at like 3 a.m. this morning. A stirring endorsement for this main event and for the pace. Actually, not the minute, for PFL pacing, right?

By the way, I don't know if you guys know. In Canada, we actually have to pay extra to watch PFL now. It is not on a basic cable service. It's on TSN Plus. So it's like, you know, it's an additional sort of extra charge if you want some of these, the sweet, sweet, sweet exclusive BFL programming. So I haven't been doing that, but I do keep up, of course, with the updates on Nemefighting.com. So I'm still really from that.

But just for free for all Friday, Mike, I know you saw the video of the TikTok star. What's his name? I want to get his name right. Ackhams, I think his name is. I shouldn't have to endorse him. He has like 24 million TikTok followers doing the Michael Jackson training. Did you see that? Yes.

Yes. Yes. Incredible. Incredible. He has some other videos too doing Michael Jackson Tennis, Michael Jackson basketball, etc. It's very funny. So my question for you, I need you to put your DJ cap on, sir. Your top five Michael Jackson songs. Either your favorite songs or songs that you make sure that you got to spin every time when you're doing one of your gigs.

So whatever criteria you want, I'm curious. What are your top five MJ songs? Oh, man. So obviously Michael Jackson got very, very weird as his, life progressed. So I am a, I'm an old soul. So I'll say that.

So there's a, I tend to lean more towards Jackson 5 stuff. Like I want you back as a, is a fucking jam. Like I don't care who you are and how you feel about Michael Jackson. When you hear I want you back,

like you're ready to sing your ass off. It's a good jam right there. Blame it on the boogie is an underrated song by them. Obviously ABC's a class. I don't think it's a very danceable song. It's just kind of like a, oh, yeah, this is cool. I want you back. It just slaps, man.

Shake your body's a good one. Like, that doesn't get a lot of credit as a Michael Jackson song. And then you just go to, like, don't stop to you get enough as a, is an easy, like, dance floor starter. That's not like an end of the night song. That's like a beginning of the night song. That's like the first wave of dance songs. You throw that in there. Billy Jeanne's a classic for wedding songs.

Those are like the two big wedding songs. And obviously, I want you back by the Jackson Five. And there's about, like the way, I think the way you make me feel is a jam. I have been known to sing a karaoke song or two, especially when a libation or two happens to enter my system. I have been known to get a little aggressive and try to sing the way you make me feel. And it's not terrible, I'm told. It's not terrible.

What's the other one? There's one other one that's on my mind. Oh, Man in the Mirror. Man in the Mirror is kind of a sloppy jam too. PYT is a good one. I mean, there's so many. There's so many. Man in the mirror is like powerful, man.

That would just get you. And if you like free willies, there you go he's got a couple jams in the free willie soundtrack dude could sing his ass off and he could perform sorry AK I know he said five but there's too many it's hard to narrow it down what's up S.K I know much man I've got two things I know I've hopped on on a bit but I didn't even know that there was a

PFL cut until I saw the MMA fighting coverage on my newsfeed after it even happened like why are they broadcasting me week and not promoting. And secondly, how keen he for the Nate to train fight this weekend? Am I what method do you think he inevitably wins by? Cheers. Yeah. I mean, we talked about the PFL and the promotion and all that.

They do a better job. Danny get Nate Landwehr's great fight. I'm picking Dan to win. I think he gets a finish sometime. I think he's just the better fighter all round. but Nate is just a psychopath. And when you're dealing with the psychopath, especially in fighting,

a dude who just brings so much chaos to the table like he does. You can never count him out. But I just think, like, stylists, I think Dan's just better everywhere. I think Dan's a better striker. I think he's just better everywhere. And I think when you look at a fight like this, no matter how chaotic a guy is,

I always lean towards the dude who has been in there with the better competition. and it is without question. Danny Gay has been in there with better competition than Nate Landware. It's not even close. Like, this is not a debate at all. Dan has been in there with everybody. And his losses are good losses.

Like, none of them are bad losses. He was on, he was on a tough run, but it was like a murderer's row of guys that he lost to. All his losses are like really good guys. Nakajima and Pankrays, the Julio Arse one, I was. was there for. That was his UFC debut. Then he goes on

and wins six in a row. His losses are Calvin Cater. Zombie. And zombie looked incredible in that fight. That was one of like zombies's best performances.

Josh Emmett and Movs are of Loyap. Like those are his losses. But when he gets in there and he fights dudes that are like just outside of the top 15.

Dudes who are on the come up that have a lot of hype. that are like just there. Like, there's a difference between like, like Bob Zarabloy. I've had a lot of hype. But he's a guy like we looked at right away and we're like, this dude could fight for a belt. He could fight for a title and it wouldn't surprise me. Damon Jackson goes on a nice run.

And Danny Gaye just outclass him before he knocked him out. Gavin Tucker was on one. And Danny Gay knocked him dead in 20 seconds. Like these are the types of fights that Danny Yee does. really well in. Merceda Bectage, which back then at the time meant a lot more. Kevin Aguilar, who was 17 and one at the time, a lot of hype behind him, goes out there and beats him. Like, Dan just has fought better guys. And I think he's going to win this fight. I think he probably finishes Nate. I think Dan is a really good first round. I think Nate turns up the volume a little

bit and things get a little wild and crazy. They have some big exchanges and I think Dan's eventually going to catch him and get it done. But if Nate goes out there, it's just like, is losing the fight into the third round and then just lands something out of nowhere and just hops on Dan and submits him, like, that'd be insanity. That'd be absolutely ridiculous. But no one's finished Danny game before. I don't know.

It's going to be a fun fight. No matter what happens, it's going to be fun. Four out sniper. Hello. Are you there, sir? I'm going to hear me. Kind of. You're breaking up a lot.

Okay, let somebody else go. I'll try again a little bit. I can hear you now. I can hear you now. You're good. Wait, you can hear me. Yeah, I got you now. Okay, okay.

Heck of a morning. First off, I just wanted to say, happy retirement to Marlon Marius. By happy retirement, I mean, I'm happy he retired. It's been a big downfall, seeing him lose, nine straight all but one by TKO or K.L. I say nine straight because that Jose Aldo win, we already know it was really a loss. But what happened, like to Marlon Mariah, did he just not evolve with the times?

It's a skill level. It had immense. So after the out, not outjo, who do you lose to first? Henry Sehudo? Yeah. What do you think happened to him? Because nine in a row is, that's a big. Yeah, I'm listening, man.

Thank you for the call. What happens, Henry Sehudo happened to him. Henry Sehudo happened to him. There are certain times in fighters' careers where a fighter just takes a piece of you, win or lose. And we've seen it a lot, like the Robbie Lawler fight, like Robbie Lawler's career. And even Carlos Condon. When Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit fought each other, those two, guys are never the same after they were never the same after that sometimes you're just in a war

and you get cracked and like the fight just seems great and like but a piece of you just stays there and you can't get it back and i think henry sehudo you know being able to take marlin's best best shots just putting it on them and then eventually finishing him in the third round the way that he did uh i think that was just that was kind of the beginning of the end right there i also think the He cut that late in his career was really getting to him. A move to 145 probably should have happened a lot sooner. But dude is just action-packed. Dude is just action-packed.

And I know like his legacy gets a little bit tarnish and people look at him in a different way because, you know, going one in eight in his last nine fights. And like you said, some people think it's 0-9 because of the Aldo fight. And they're just getting finished in six straight or seven straight. It's just a bad look. And it's almost like BJ Penn-esque. But, I mean, Marlon's career up until that point was just, I mean, it's just ridiculous.

It's just so action-packed. His running World Series of fighting was incredible. The Jafiel Sunself fight, a lot of people thought he won that fight. The Dotson fight was good. He just annihilated Al Jermaine Sterling. He annihilated Jimmy Rivera, which at the time was like, Jimmy Vera had run like 20 in a row. Then he fights the Sun Tzu again, chokes him out in the first round. He looked really good in the beginning of that Suhudo fight,

but just kind of ran out of gas. And Suhudo just kind of took a piece of him. And that happened, what? Literally, that's crazy. Four years through the day of that Henry Suhudo fight is the day he retired. That's wild. That's crazy to think about. Yeah, it's kind of poetic when you really think about it.

but one of the great guys like one of the great guys nice interview probably went a little too long got to the point where like every time he's booked a fight we're like oh man we're just we're just worried for the man

we just didn't want to see our heart we just didn't want our hearts to get broken again and I think I think he probably should have retired after and he didn't sort of retire after the song you don't fight he retired and then he signed with PFL made a bunch of money So I can't blame the man of trying to take care of his family.

It's just enough is enough. And here's my message to one David Feldman. Don't even contact this, man. Don't even contact him. Don't call his people. I don't care how much the envelope is. Do not call this man. Please, for the love of God.

You have a stacked enough roster. You don't need morale morale. on it. Do not call this man. I do not want to see Marlon Marius and BKFC. I do not want to see this guy fight again. You know what he'd be great at? Get him on the PFL broadcast.

Get him on the broadcast. Do something. You're a global brand. You can do some Brazilian commentary. You can put him on as an analyst. Like, you can still use Mara Mara Marius as an ambassador. There are very few guys who would do a better job at it.

than Maro Mariah's if we're being honest. So happy trails. One of the just most fun fighters to watch for most of his career. And if you ever want to just go down a rabbit hole, just go find old Maro Maraerai's World Series of Fighting Fights. And you will have just a great time. You'll have a great time going through and watching those because that dude just gotten so many wars and had so many finishes.

is really fun. Viking, take us home. How are you, Mike? Good, how are you? I'm fine. I was listening to BTL the other night, and New York, Rick seemed kind of off. So is he okay?

I just want to know, is he okay or not? Yeah, Rick's okay. Rick's good. And the other thing, I was listening to Michael Bisspingport. Michael Biscopin podcast and he just interviewed Benile Darius. And at this point, at this point of his career, Benile Darius said title shot is not important for me, but the fighting top five guys.

So I think he has a brain fade. And I'm sure if UFC want to duck him in the future, they have an excuse. and the same guy said Jesus Christ is the best in front of all the Muslim arena. All the people filled with, all the Muslim people filled in the arena. So what do you think about that statement which was made by Minil Dario that he doesn't want, title short is not, the UFC title is not important for him. So I didn't actually hear that.

I mean, at this point in his career, like, how can you say that? And I actually believe that? Like, what are you fighting for? Just for the love of the game? It's not about making money. Like, you make the money when you win the title. That's when you make your money. So, I don't know.

He kind of shrugged it off. Like, I thought Dana was really interesting at the press conference. The will see out of him gives me a little bit of trepidation. But maybe he's just saying that from the Charles Oliver perspective. Because like I've said, I don't have, all of Aerosy is very confident that if he wins this fight, he's just going to fight Islam next. I don't think that's true.

I don't have that same confidence. I do feel very, very strongly that if I, Benyel Dariush wins, he will get his title shot. There's just nobody else. Gichi and Poria are not going to be able to turn around and fight Islam-Machad two months later. They're just two and a half months later. It's not going to happen.

Those two are going to kill each other. So what do you do? You just hope If Volk just destroys your year and just says, Islam, I'm coming to Abu Dhabi to fight you and cuts a great promo could see a world where Benny gets screwed.

But I don't think that's going to happen. I don't know. And then the 280 post-fight speech was just one of the weirder ones. that moment in particular because a lot of people read the room and the other thing was

just one of the all-time worst like set yourself up for the next step types of statements I've ever heard yeah man I'll fight 10 more times just one of the all-time worst post-fight promos ever when trying to get where you want to go so we'll see hopefully he's interesting on the mic

don't say that again. Just don't say that again. Or don't say like, well, I said 10 fights. Now I just need nine more. Like don't, no. You just go in there, make it simple. Do it. Do it, Benny style. Hey, Islam.

UFC, you promised me the shot. You said if I beat Charles Olivera, I get the title shot. Islam, respect you. You're a great champion. But I'm coming for that belt. I'll see you in Abu Dhabi. Drop the mic, get your ass out of the cage, and that's it. There you go.

Don't overthink this. Just keep it simple. Islam, I'll see you in Abu Dhabi. You have to see you promised me the shot. I won. See you in October. Bitches. Goodbye.

Don't have to do anything out of the ordinary. All right, rapid fire. I have to get out of here in like five minutes. Barbarissa, hello. Good. I'm good. Good. I just want to ask you a general question about when people fight despite injury and people coming up at weight and weight.

And it seems like if they win, all people are going to praise them. And if they lose, the people are going to come hard at the opponent who beat them. As of late, we have seen Al Jamin Sterling beating T.J. Deliver. and Bilal Muhammad and so. And people would not give a credit for the people who won. And they are risking in principle nothing. It's all he gets praised. If he win, he gets praised if he lose.

And the other guy, he's just risking it all. And I don't know if this fair, it should be not. And second thing, it's not MMA related. the go signed for Inter Miami I just want to it's called soccer

from now on yeah thank you much yeah that was obviously big news some people have like compared it to Pele

and I'm just like you guys are on drugs because it ain't like paylay but soccer's obviously in a different place now football

much more worldwide and much more regarded now more people are watching it AK talks about it like every single podcast we do. Ariel does too. It's just a difference.

It's just different now. It's just so much bigger than it once was. The other question you had, yeah, I get where you're coming from. The Belal thing is a weird one. Like, I don't understand why Belal got any hate

because Gilbert got hurt in the fight. It's not like he showed up injured. Like, I'm sure he had some, maybe some nagging things going on, and I'm sure Belal did too. I mean, Belal of the ankle, for God's sake. Remember the ankle gate? Everyone's talking about Ballal's blown up ankle.

And then he goes in and wins. But because Gilbert got the shoulder injury in the fight, like he doesn't get credit. But the injury happened in the fight. So, yeah, I think people kind of veered back on that one. The Sterling Dillisham was really weird. Like people just hating on Al Joe for just eating that man alive because T.J. fought with the shoulder injury.

And I remember I interviewed T.J. right before that fight. And he said, you know, after I win the belts, like, I'm going to tell people something that they don't know. And I was like, oh, interesting. He goes, I'm not going to tell you now. Like, nobody knows. Only like a few people know.

And I think he wanted to go in there and be like, I beat this dude with one arm. And obviously that didn't happen. So Sterling getting any heat for that is just weird. I just, it just adds to just this very bizarre title run that this man has had. you know, winning the belt the way he did, which is totally fair, by the way.

He didn't deserve any criticism for that. The close fight with Yon, the Dillishaw fight, all weird, and then the Sehudo fight also kind of weird because of the way the scorecards played out. But Aljo deserves more respect. I've said this for a long time. He might be the most underappreciated. He's one of the top five most underappreciated champions

in the history of the company. and the way his from where people appreciate him to like how good he actually is just the divide there is kind of unbelievable but we'll see what he's about to fight Sean O'Malley

that's going to be real interesting all right we'll take one more and then I've got to go yeah yeah hello Big Mike what's going on man heck of morning you too yeah I guess I was just gonna piggyback off what you were saying about Aljo do you think that after he leaves the division, he'll be more appreciated,

or do you feel like after he retires, he'll be more regard as one of the best band-in-weights of all time? Appreciate you, have a good Friday. Probably the latter. Probably the latter. I think Aljo is going to... It's kind of hard to compare him. He's in such a different place of his own, I guess.

But I think we're going to look at him kind of like... Daniel Cormier, Demetrius Johnson in a lot of respects. Like, I know DJ's still doing the damn thing. But that, it's going to stop. And it took DJ kind of leaving the UFC and going to one and having the Adriana Marius loss and then coming back and beating him twice

and for people to be like, ah, y'all must have forgot how good this dude was because he never got any appreciation in the UFC. From anybody, fans, the promotion, which is very simple. similar to with Aljo. A lot of the fans don't give him the credit he deserves. Dana shits on him every chance he gets.

The UFC dumps on him every chance they get. They try to put him in really tough situations all the time. So, like there is kind of a similarity. But like we said about DJ, he'll be appreciated more when he's gone. And I remember saying that about Daniel Cormier, too. Daniel Cormier is going to be one of those guys that when he's gone, we're going to be like, damn, he was really good. and probably should have treated him a little bit better

when he was still around. And I kind of feel like Al Joe's, in a different way, is right there. I don't know what the reaction is going to be to him going to 145. I don't know. I don't know if it's going to, I don't know if the UFC's going to, like, push him to be this dude. I don't know if they're just going to push him right into a title fight. Like, I'm just, I just don't know what the reaction is going to be. be. Like if he goes out there and just

melt Sean O'Malley and then gets on the mic and says Volcanovsky, I'm coming. I'm coming up to 1.45. Watch out, bro. What do you think the reaction's going to be? Is it going to be the same as Volk going up and fighting Mokachev?

I don't think so. Are people that be super, like, is Dana White going to go to the press conference and be like, they put this over as an idea? I don't think so. So, I don't know. I think it's more I think it's more going to be the latter for Aljo. Like when he retires and walks away,

I think if he beat Sean O'Malley, he has a very good case of being the greatest Bannam White of all time in the UFC. He'll have all the records, all the title defense records. He won't be tied with anybody. He'll be in a league of his own when it comes to that. And he was pretty active for the most part during this run. Like this run he's been on is incredible. The names he's beaten to get to this point has been unbelievable.

He deserves a lot more credit. His resume is as good as anybody else's. And if he gets that title defense record with his name and only his name there, he's got a case. And I don't think anybody will give him the credit he deserves until he calls it a career. But there you go.

All right, we are done. I got to go. I have to go run around and just deal with a bunch of real life stuff. So, way in show. Coming up at noon Eastern, Don't miss it. The great A.K. Lee, this is like his, it's like a holiday for A.K.

He loves the way-ins. Loves weigh-ins. Just like the ultimate fighter. It's like 1A and 1B for my best friend. We will have a preview show live. Myself, I believe my best friend will be on that as well. And Shaheen Al-Shadi, 3 p.m. Eastern, get you ready for UFC 289. People's Free Fight Show tomorrow.

I believe we're right around 6.15 p.m. Eastern. We'll take your questions until the first punches are thrown. And then it's watch party time. I'll be hopping on a plane to beautiful, clean air New York City for the UFC 289 watch party. Excited to see my man G.C. again. We have a gimmick in terms of wardrobe. So get excited for that. I have to go pick up the finishing touches on my ensemble later on this evening.

So it's going to be a good time. So if you drop in the 80 bucks, watch it with us. If you're not dropping the 80 bucks, we'll tell you. what's happening. Save your money, watch the fights with us. So thank you very much. We'll see you later on. Have a great rest of your Friday. And as always, have a heck of a morning, everybody.