MMA Fighting - HOAM | Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington At MSG Chatter, Sandhagen vs. Font, More

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

Both UFC President Dana White and Colby Covington have suggested that Leon Edwards' next title defense will take place at UFC 295 in November, which serves as the promotion's annual trip to Madison Square Garden. With so many unknowns in the final couple of months of 2023, would that fight be best served as the co-main event for that card, or be a headliner in December? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck gives his thoughts on the Edwards vs. Covington matchup, and where and when it could take place. Additionally, listener topics include Rob Font stepping in to face Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC Nashville, divisional litmus tests for the UFC, comparing future stocks of Bo Nickal, Erin Blanchfield, and Jailton Almeida, UFC 292, UFC London, Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz, 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: 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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shortly thereafter on the MMA fighting podcast and network. Hello, everybody. I am Mike Kat. Hope everyone's having a wonderful Friday. We, of course, are on the eve of UFC London and the return of Tom Aspinall, and we take on Martin Taibora. We got Molly McCann back at it in the co-made event

against Julia Stoliarenko, who we talked about her on the program yesterday, weren't really sure how she was going to look at 125 and man, Stolia Ranko looked damn good at 125. She looked healthy. She looked happy. She did the whole, hey, I'm going to brush all this negativity off my shoulders after she made weight.

I think she's a live underdog now. I think she's a live dog in this fight now that she's healthy and ready to go. So that's going to be a much more interesting fight than I thought it was going to be. I was definitely concerned about that. I know it wasn't the only one, but she made the weight. as did the other fighters. All 30 fighters made weight early this morning. Shout out to Shaheen Al Shadi for covering the weigh-ins for us.

Super early in the morning. I was still sleeping by the time it all went down. But a lot to discuss. It's free for all Friday. Also, we got some news yesterday that it did not take very long to get the answer to one of the big questions that we had on the show yesterday. Who is Corey Sanhagen going to fight in the main event? of UFC Nashville on August 5th,

and we found out confirmed multiple sources, first reported by the great Mark Romundi of ESPN. It's going to be Rob Font. It's going to be Rob Font. Rob Font no longer fighting in Boston. And it worked out in a weird way, because Song Yadong, I'm told, was not going to be able to compete at UFC 292.

and I was told yesterday that when the news of Umar Nomaga Madoff came about that he was not going to be able to compete August 5th, not long after or right around the same time, Song Yidong, out of the fight as well with Rob Fawn at UFC 292. So Rob needed an opponent anyways. It's probably going to be tough to get him one on that card. So opportunity knocks. The timing is perfect. And Rob Fon has a huge opportunity. to jump the line at 36 years of age. And I got to tell you, I do not blame Rob fought one bit for taking this fight,

especially now that the Boston fight was off the table. And at 36, man, he could make something happen. That is going to be a fun fight. I don't know how many people are going to watch that fight because we got Jake Paul Nate Diaz the same night. And it's going to be a busy-ass day in the world of combat sports. So we got our answers there. And maybe the show can help produce other answers.

Maybe we'll put some good juju out into the world. And we get other answers to other questions. So let's get after it. Free for all Friday. What's on your mind? Jay, kick us off. Jay, are you there? Try again, Jay.

Do I have you? Okay. Do we have Jay Stat? What's up, Jay Stat? Good morning to you. You too. What's up? Okay, so my first question, I saw rumors of, you know, Kobe Covington versus Leon Edwards,

potentially on the John Jones card as the co-main event. And I wanted to know, like, you know, what are you hearing about that? And my second question is, if Tom Aspinall wins, when we see him on the Jones card, potentially versus Sergey Papadus, and that'll be off. So my guess, I don't have a ton of insight. I know Colby did an interview with submission radio. I know he left a little video message for Chale Sunn, which he put on his YouTube channel yesterday.

As far as Colby knows, they're targeting MSG, and I think that makes total sense. I think that makes total sense. Now, could there be hiccups in play? Sure. Could they need a main event for December? Sure. And that one would be a fine main event.

But it all depends. I think Connor is a big factor in this conversation. If they can somehow get Connor, at least targeted for December or at least have another title fight ready to go but I think we're going to have to kind of wait and see I feel like MSG is going to be the spot for that fight been saying it for a while especially after the Jones fight got announced

that's just a massive one-two punch the UFC likes to load that card up and Colby and John Jones on the same press conference stage is just going to be wild and crazy and I feel like that makes a lot of sense for that card but it could end up in December as well. But I would say probably 70-30 with my gut that that fight will happen in November, but it could happen in December as well. But then Conner's in play.

I think we have to wait to see what happens next week with the Janbojovich-Alix Pereira fight because I would say if Pereira wins, I think the UFC will try to get that Pereira, Yuri Perashka, vacant title fight on that card. but do they want to play with fire again and try to put a vacant light heavyweight title fight on that year-end card like they did last year, create some more headaches potentially. It's a risk they might take, but I don't know.

But I think November, if the UFC had their druthers, will be the spot for the Leon versus Colby fight. As far as Aspinall goes, it probably depends on how he looks. I don't know if... Because we got Jelts and Almeida fighting Curtis Blades as well. So, I mean, if Jeltenal Meda goes out there and just mushes Curtis Blades like he's done to everybody else, then I think he's probably ahead of Tom Aspinall. And they might, and we don't even know what John's going to do. Like if John beats Stepe, which I am favoring him to do, will he stick around? If he does, he's probably going to have to fight Pavlovich. Because I just don't know if there's anybody else there for him. That's going to really, I don't know. It's just, it's tough. It's tough. So I think we're going to have to wait and see.

I think Aspedo will certainly be in play, but he'll probably have to win another fight. But I would say Pavilich is kind of the top of the list. If Almeida beats Blades, I would say he's right behind him and then Aspinall is a close third, but still not a bad place to be. We'll see how he looks tomorrow. I think it's a really good matchup for him. I do think a lot of people are sleeping on Marcin Taibora, but I just think this matchup really favors Tom Aspinall.

That knee is good to go, and I would guess that it is. I think it's going to be a good night for Tommy Aspinall. Jay, who do we have you? Hey, Mike. You able to hear me? Yep. All right. Great. First off, happy Friday. Two questions I have is first, who do you want to see Kamar Usman now face? We're the number one, Walter Wicons Center, since we not know Coms that's moving up.

Like maybe they could do him versus Belaw on the same card as Leon and Kobe, or maybe the winner versus Shafcott and Kelvin Gasland. And the next question I have is, do you think? think the UFC might have pressured Olivera to take this fight because if he loses this, especially in the same way he lost the first one, he's probably going to be in Max Holloway and Robert Whitaker's territory now. He's just going to be finding the up-and-comers now. And I don't know if this is really the best decision for him, even though he is getting a title shot and is doing the UFC favor. So I just wanted to get your thoughts on those two. Have a heck of a morning.

What was the first question again? I'm sorry. Oh, who do you think Kamar Usmish should face now for it? Okay, okay, okay. I got you. Thanks, man. Man, I don't know what they're going to do with Usen. Maybe they do Bilal. I know Bilal is in play, but I think if Colby wins the belts,

Ballal is kind of, I don't know. Ballal is an interesting spot. But I think Belaw would, I think below would at least think about taking that fight. If Bilal is just like, no, my next fights for the belt, and I would totally understand if he did that, it's Shafcott. Like if he beats, if Shafcott beats

Calvin Gasselham, it's Shafcott. 100%. But Oosven also in a very strange place. I think he's probably going to be the biggest Colby Covington fan on the planet. But Oosman's going to have to beat somebody. So maybe it's below. Maybe Shafat if he wins and he can turn around

for the end of the year. But those would be probably the only two. I mean, I told you. I didn't think that Hamza fight was going to happen. Dana was steadfast against. it already. He said, we're not doing a catchweight. We'll do it at 185. And I just didn't see a world where that was going to happen. So that's what we have right now. And I don't think all of air was pressured, man. Like, I think he was very smart about how he approached media

during the fight week saying, oh, I'm not going to be ready. He didn't mention anything really specific that I can recall. But I also think he understands that if he didn't take this shot now. Getting it later is going to be real tough because we do eventually have Connor coming back. We have Chandler.

We have guys coming up and we have the BMF title fight between Dustin Porre and Justin Gagy. Two guys, by the way, who have not fought Islam Makachev before. And you would suspect that the winner of that fight is going to be at the top of the line was going to jump

Oliver anyway. So I think all of it. probably use those media interviews to negotiate a little bit, some negotiation tactics. I think he talked himself into a couple of extra bucks. I think Volk getting the surgery when he did kind of put him in a position where it was kind of a no-brainer. But I think he kind of understood that.

Poria and Gaetia are going to beat the hell out of each other. Neither of them were going to turn around in October for October. and the winner of that fight's going to jump them. Plain and simple. So, yeah, I don't think there was really a lot of pressure. I think the UFC just came with a bigger bag, and I think he realized this is his best chance to get one back to a title shot quick within a year,

because not a lot of people saw that coming or really giving him a chance to do that. Even heading into the Darius fight. Darius wins. He's definitely getting a title shot. Oliver, not really feeling it. much. But then he went out and just ran over Darriush and

timing kind of played out. So probably not the most ideal, but if he wants a title shot and he wants to try to avenge that loss, he's got to take it. He's got to take it. Zach, hello. Mike, can you hear me? Yep. I'm going to go

full on hypothetical free for all Friday here. I've been playing a lot of modded UFC 2 and 3 lately. And I want to get your thoughts. If Prime DJ versus prime John Jones, except illegal strikes are legal for DJ, who do you think wins? Thanks, Mike. And they're both like, this is not a hypothetical where they have to like somehow be the same weight? No, 125 DJ 205 John Jones, but not shots,

eye gouges, all of the above, legal for DJ. Um, John Jones wins. Smushism. John takes him down and just sits on him. Like, DJ can kick him in the balls and gouge the eyes all he wants, but John's going to sit on him and tap him. He's just too big, man. He's just too big. Skill for skill, DJs can hang. Like, if they were both somehow, like, lightweights,

they could somehow morph into lightweights and each fight each other at 155. I think DJ has a pretty good chance. But, yeah, John just, I mean, John just kicks him in the first. face, he's done. And I love DJ. I don't think DJ gets enough credit for his UFC title run, but yeah, John wins that fight. For sure.

Let's go to JD, then we'll go to Toke, and then we'll go to Four Corner Sports, and then we'll keep on going. I see a lot of you lining up. JD, are you there? Brother? Good. How are you, sir? Dude, I'm great. Been a while since I've been on here.

So for some of us in states like Georgia, who we don't have sports. betting. We can do the fantasy sports betting. So my question for you this week is, if you had to put a little fantasy lineup for this weekend, who would you put together? Otherwise, man, hope all is well with you. And thank you so much. These are always tough questions because I got to see, let me see if I can get some, I'm looking it up and see if I can get some like price tags on people. Because I never really remember, like, As well, 9,700. So I feel like

if you take him, you're just losing out on a bunch. I think Stolia Anko is not a bad choice at 6,800 to have in your lineup, especially with how she looked on the scale. Nathaniel Woods probably too high. I think Paul Craig's an interesting one.

Jai Herbert, he could just because I think if Jai Herbert's going to win, he's going to have to wrestle. So I think 7,500's not bad. probably have to get one more price tag guy maybe Lorone Murphy and then Davey Grant

I think that would probably round us out pretty good Davey Grant 7700 Yeah It's tough without actually like having a lineup in front of me And seeing like what the options are But you got to pick some A couple of heavy hitters and a bunch of dogs And I think it's a pretty good lineup right there

I think that could work let's go to toke hey buddy it's the way in but at the same time an email was sent out by the UFC about tickets now being on sale for the Abu Dhabi card

and I was at work so I went I only opened the email when it was done with work at about 3 p.m. my time which is like an hour ago and

the card sold out. I was on the official site. The entire arena is already sold out. So, which means they can just, you know, put Islam on there and then it's a sellout, which is kind of amazing, especially seeing the price tags. It cost about, yeah, it cost, I think it was a $120-ish for the cheapest seat. So you're sitting in the bleachers. Which, so yeah, it's a money-making machine down there. People traveling from all over to get to Abu Dhabi. That was just an observation.

But what I wanted to say is, let's see, Mark Dia Casey, or D1 Casey, as he's going to be in this fight, because he's just going to take down Joel Alvarez, because he has no takedown defense. That's just going to happen. So I'm going to say that as the draft kings play. And, oh, shit, I had another thing. God damn it.

Walking around. Yeah, sorry, I remember now. It was the GSP Damien Maya thing that Damien Maya, I think, he teased it on his Instagram. Is that a grappling match happening in December? Is that a thing? Because I am intrigued as fuck for that, if that's. to the thing. Thank you, Mike. So I've talked to some people about that.

If it is a thing, then they're not confirming it. No one's confirming it. I'm told that an opponent hasn't been officially selected, but that doesn't mean anything. They just are ready to announce it or whatever. That'd be a good one, though. But the way Damien worded that tweet, it was like, oh, it's done. But obviously you have to go through.

And, you know, I saw some people, like, write articles about it. And then they had to, like, redact it and give it updates, saying, I guess it's not 100% true. So it's always important to do that before you put stuff out there. But that'd be a good one. That'd be an intriguing one for sure. But from what I'm told, it's not done. And GSP still opponentless at this time.

Mark Jacasey I looked at, I think Joel Alvers is going to finish him, honestly. Either he's going to knock him out or even if Jacasey gets takedowns, Joel Alvarez is pretty good on the ground. He's really good off his back. And look, Mark Jacasey is a talented guy. He's got skills, no doubt about it. But he ain't Armand Sarukian, my friends.

He is not Armand Sarukian. Joel Alvarez can compete on the ground with him. You might not be able to stop the takedowns, but Joel Alvarez, with straight grappling, exchanges on the ground, I think Joel does pretty damn well down there. So I know a lot of people love the stat

that he has a 0% takedown defense, but is Chalajiz going to get a couple takedowns? Sure. Could I see Alvarez jump in a really sure? we talk shit about people who jump gilly but joel alvers is actually really good at it and there are opportunities for him to submit mark gkacey in this fight so if you're confident jase is going to win go for it but i think you can get better value at 7200 like parkins at 7300 like there's a great chance he finishes that fight um hanny kanzad at 7100 i think probably

going to win that fight? Yeah, I think there's just other value there. I think there's other value. 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 the audible original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The earth only has a few days left. Roscoe Cadulian 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 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 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Let's go to Four Corner Sports.

So I remember there was a question earlier being asked about what could possibly happen for the December card. And wouldn't Volcanowski be, you think, eligible to return back to fight Elis O'Ellia? I mean, I could see them having Volcanowski main event as long as, you know, Conner and Chandler are still, you know, in the talks. I mean, at this rate, it feels like Connor and Chandler, like. even if it happens, it might not happen until like January, just because he would keep on pushing, you know, for, it's a habit and stuff like that, and maybe what you said yesterday was accurate,

that maybe just Conner just, you know, isn't responsible enough to keep himself out of trouble. But I can see for December if that's the case, if they feel skeptical about putting, you know, the light heavyweight title, the vacant light heavyweight title as the main event. They could just put Volcanowski as the main event and then have that feature.

as the co-mean event although I feel like you know Yerre versus Alex Pereira would do great numbers if it was a main event and

if Jones does retire right because I mean I know he's hinted at this you know because he wants you know challenges that's going to get him out of bed and he feels like the steepy matchup would be it if Jones just decides to walk away from it what do you think they will end up doing

with Sergei Pavlovich and who would you think be his next opponent? All right, that's what I can't. Thanks. So, yeah, could they do Volk Taporia? Sure. It's tough to say because we don't know what the schedule is going to look like. It seems like Australia is going to be

a multi-time-a-year destination for the UFC, especially after the success of the February card. We'll see how the September card goes, but they went to Australia in February, and if they're planning on doing that again, it kind of doesn't make sense to put Volk on December and Vegas when we can do Sydney or wherever they're going to go in Australia two months later.

So I think geographically we have to kind of see what the schedule is going to look like. But sure, I mean, that fights a sick-ass fight. So put that on any card. down but if they're going to go back to australia first quarter 2024 you would think volk's going to headline that one with izzie headlining the last one so it's got to be one of those two guys for sure could they do izzie ddp yeah could they do izzie ddp and then volk toporia as the co-main sure but i think we have to kind of wait and see what happens there but yeah they did volk and toporia on that december card sign me the hell up for that fight and heavyweight

I don't know, man. Again, we have to kind of wait and see how this all plays out. I would say if Jelton Al-Meda beats Curtis Blades, it will be Jelton Lameda versus Sergey Pavovich for the vacant title. And I don't think John's going to straight retire. I just think he's going to wait and see if something happens. I don't think Sergey's going to get over as a star.

I think he'll just be a badass knockout artist. I don't know if he just has that appeal globally or in North America. Jailton, I think might. I think there's a chance he could. And I don't think Curtis Blades get in the title shot. So if Curtis Blades wins and Tom Aspinall wins, then I think they would do maybe, I think they'd give Aspin all the title shot.

I know Cyril Ghan's getting ready to fight, but he's had two chances at the belt. So I don't think he's going to get another one, at least so quickly. I don't think Spivak gets one. So I would guess it's going to be Sergei versus Aspinall as the second option, but Sergei versus Jalton if he beats Blades would be the other one. But I think Jal will just walk away. And if something comes along, that gets him excited and that can make him a ton of money,

then he'll come back. But the steep fight makes him. him a ton of money. It's a price fighting. And I do think is a, I do think John Jones is a very favorable matchup to fight Sergey Pavlovich. I think John could take him down and just tap him real quick. It's very possible that happens. Sergey could also punch him really hard in the face and knock him out. But I do think stylistically that matchup favors John Jones in a lot of respects. But I just don't know if the juice is worth to squeeze financially for him. He'll get good good money, but not

steep money or Francis money. I think Francis would get him back. Maybe someone breaks through, I don't know. Maybe Aspedal could be the guy. Maybe Aspedal just breaks through and becomes a global superstar. Maybe John will want to come back. So,

anyway, it's interesting. It's more interesting with John there, that's for sure. And I'm sure the UFC would love to keep him around. But even Dana's kind of preface that John might walk away. I don't think it's a straight retirement, but I think it's a sabbatical for sure if he does win.

And we can't count Stepe out. I do think if Stepe wins, he's probably done. I think it's Stepe's last fight either way. But we'll see what John does. Justin, hello. Hello. I have a really goofy question for you.

Let's go. So this hypothetical situation, it's called that I'll have what he's having challenge. You have to go through at least 10 drive with a soft limit of about six hours, you get four participants, including yourself, maximum of one drink place, maximum of two dessert places. What you have to do when you go through the drive-thru, you go in behind someone, and you tell the person I'll have whatever they're having in front of you.

So you don't really know what you're getting until you get it. So I'll go through it again. One drink place, two dessert places. is you have to go through KFC at least once, and you can only have one repeat restaurant. And I'm going to say you have to make a team of yourself in three fighters, limit of one fighter who's middleweight or above, and no patty, no park or quarter.

Jesus Christ. Well, I'm going to Dunkin' Donuts, that's for sure. I think John Jones could probably eat his ass off, so I'll take John. Derek Lewis would be fun to, you know what, I'm taking Derek Lewis. I think Derek Lewis would just be a joy to have in the car with you. Desert places? Drive-thrus?

If Friendlies had a drive-thru, I'd probably go to Friendlies. If you're from New England, you understand why. It's just a classic. So, Derek Lewis would be one. Brandon Moreno would be one. Because I actually think that dude can eat too. and he would just be a joy. Derek Lewis and Brandon Moreno

on the same freaking car. Golly. Who else would I put on there? I think you need to mix up the personalities a little bit. I think you need someone who's just like nice to be around but doesn't say a whole lot. And I know he's not on the active roster anymore.

I know he's just retired, but I would just like to hear Robbie Lawler stories while I'm going through all these drafters. I don't know if I answered that fucking question correctly, but I did my best. Friendlies twice, Dunkin' Donuts once, and KFC, sure. Let's go. Mikey, hello.

Good morning, Mike. Good morning, everybody. Happy Friday. In honor of Oppenmire, I haven't seen Oppenheimer yet, Oppenheimer yet, but in honor of Christopher Nolan's new film coming out, namely your four favorite, or even five favorite Nolan films. Also, how far do you think, you know, everyone keeps talking about Roman Rangers Street, but how far?

Do you think Gunther should go as an unbeaten intercontinental champion? Also, oh, goodness gracious. Do you even care about the Women's World Cup? If you do, who do you think the final will be? United States is going to win. We're going to kill everybody. But, you know, who do you think they'll play in the final? And, geez, what's another part of I want to throw up just for the hell of it?

No, yeah, I'm blanking right now. Sorry. All right, guys. Have a good Friday. Be kind of one another talking about. Gunther's great. So I would like to see him have that title for another year. There's no need to rush it.

Let him, let him have it for another year. Let's build it up and then put it on someone who could do something with it and get the rub. And then send him up and win the other title. man four or five best no one movies dark night's number one for me I've seen that movie a million times it never gets old

so I would definitely put that there I have a soft spot for the prestige I really like that movie so I'll put that on the list Memento is really good it doesn't get enough credit inception is friggin insane

I mean I could cop out and just go Batman Begins yeah I'll probably go I mean insomnia is good too I'll go Batman Begins Dark Night Rises stinks that is a bad movie

that was a letdown like Bain's badass dude but it was just I just felt like I was in the theater for eight days watching that movie all the other all the other known Batman movies I've watched multiple times

that one I've only seen once and I've never seen it again I've had no interest in watching it again It's just not good. It's just so long, dude. You could have cut an hour off that fucking movie. It's fine. It's fine.

But I like my list. I like my list. Look, I got only pick four or five. That's what I'm going with. If you gave me 10, I'd put interstellar on the list. If you gave me seven, I'd put interstellar on the list. But four or five movies, I would definitely go and watch right the second without hesitation. Like, if I flip through the channels,

on cable if I had it and stopped and saw those movies, I would stop and watch those. Let's go to Momanala. Do I get that right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Hello. How are you? I'm good, sir. How about you?

Good. What's up? I was wondering, do you think if Islam Mahachev can finish Charles O'Aver in the next fight, do you think he enters the goal list of the lightweight division? And is he better than Habib if he beats

Charles Overe? No, on the goat list. He's just not there yet, man. He's just not there. And this is my thing. This is why I was in no huge rush to see Makachathev fight Volkinovsky again. He's got to beat these guys, man.

Like, he got it. The timing worked out great for him to fight Charles. And again, I've said this multiple times, Islam's run to a title shot. his fault. Because I know a lot of people were like, oh, he has to beat a top five guy. Oh, he only beat like one or two rank guys on the way up.

It's not his fault. It's not his fault. He was supposed to fight Benile Darius. You're supposed to fight other guys. Fights pulled out on him short notice. And then he was just in a position where he's like, well, I'm just going to take whatever I can get. I'm a company guy. But he's been matched up with

Darius, RDA, multiple times with RDA. but I mean his he beat olivera squeaked out a win against vulk but prior to that i mean bobby green cool dan hooker short notice Tiago moises was a good performance drew over good good performance Habib's reservation is way better uh and charles oliveras is way better if we're being honest just look at the killers that this dude has fought man on this run Guida, this is 2018, Christos Ghiagos, Jim Miller, David Tamer, Nick Lens, Jared Gordon, Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson, Michael Chandler, Dustin Pori, Justin Gachey, Mokachev, loses that fight, Benil Daryush. I mean, that is, that resume is insane.

That resume is insane. So I would argue that Al-Avera beating Mokachev would actually put him in a better spot. It would put him in a better spot. I think it's Habib and BJ Penn is number two. But you can say BJ Penn's number one. And I wouldn't hate that. But just if he runs off like, if he beats like, he beats Olivera and then beats a gaichi and a pourier and

Sauru Kina a second time or a Fiziv, add one of these upper comers, yeah, I think we have a, I think we have a conversation to be had. But he hasn't defended his title yet against an actual. lightweight. Olivero is he already beat him. Let's run off like three or four and see and then we can we can reconvene with that. Could he be, could he be better than Habib? Sure. I think his resume could get there, but he's got work to do. He's got work to do. Oliver has done a lot and he's gotten very close. If Oliver goes out and beats Islam and they run out the third time and he beats Islam again, like I think he's the dude. Like I think that's it.

you go and beat Islam twice. I think he is a better case right now than Makachchev does. But Makachov's got skills. Makkachev's a better striker than Habib, in my opinion. So it's a conversation that could be had. We're just not ready for it yet. It's too soon. Too soon.

But he could get there. Mokachev could be the champion in this division for a long time. It's very possible. But the other question I have is, how long do we have him for? Is he going to stick around? and fight for three more years or is he going to win like three or four fights

and just be done? These are questions I have as well. His longevity is going to be a big factor in this conversation. D-Rox, hello. D-Rox, are you there? You're muted. All right? Do we have you?

It's not going through. How about Skyler? What's up, Skylar? Hey, Mike, how you doing? Heck of morning. You too, man. Yeah, I got a free-for-all question for you. It might take me a minute to set up.

but I know you don't like the term gatekeeper. And so from this other podcast, around the NFL, they created the Dalton line. So the concept was that Andy Dalton in his prime for the Bengals was kind of quarterback purgatory, where if you were above the Dalton line, you were set at quarterback, and if you were below, you were looking for one.

And he was like that middle ground where he wasn't good enough to win you. you something, wouldn't you the title, but good enough to get you there. So from an eminent, MMA perspective, who would you name a fictional line like that after where they're not good enough to really contend for a title, but they're, you know, maybe they're good enough to get you there. The first person I thought of maybe was Dan Ege in Featherweight. But I just want to see who you would name this line after and maybe in a couple of weight classes, where do you think that line falls? Thanks.

man that's a great question um man this is tough let's see i like the e gay one i think that's a real good one each division i feel of sun so i was like perfect at bannam weight before he retired that's a good one flyweight's tough light weight dan hooker i think dan's a good one i think dan's a good one Neil Magny is 1,000% the correct answer, Walterweight. Middleweight, probably Jack Kramansen. Light heavyweight. Light heavyweight's tough.

Maybe Vulcan Ozedam here? You out there and you Mel Vulcan, you are, you're good to go. Heavyweight, heavyweight's tough. Jarzino? Maybe. Flyweight. Andrea Lee Women's Flyweight

Straweight Tisha Torres by a mile Bannamweight I mean there's really no division there so I don't know yeah Bannamweight I'm not really sure but that's a great question

I interpreted it as like the litmus test like the next level litmus test I think I yeah I think I I got it I think I got it Bantamway I'm not sure because there's only like 12 fighters in the division

So if I have to pick one, Calvin Vieira is probably a good one. I know she's like the highest ranked of all the names I said, but again, women's band-of-weight has like 11 fighters. 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-sister

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I was kind of wondering, like, what you thought of Dominic Mysterio winning that NXT title on, what was it, Tuesday night? I thought that was pretty interesting. Also, did you hear about this, like, Dan Hardy potentially coming back? If so, like, this is kind of crazy, but what if we saw him versus Nick Diaz on that Jake Paul, Nate Diaz? has MMA card that's eventually going to happen with all this 10 million number getting thrown around but yeah that's all I got

have a good Friday um Dominic good for Dominic man like that dude has gotten over to the point it's just it's just so funny every time that dude has a microphone in his hand that he just gets booed out of the building

like he can't even speak so yeah getting him on another show and using him and how over he is on the main roster to get over other talent at NXT is great. I didn't see it coming. I don't really watch NXT. I used to watch it every week, but it's just gotten real bad.

But yeah, that's a nice little curb ball by the WWE. So, yeah, good on that, man. I love Rob Fon stepping in. So that should be very fun. I love that fight a lot. And again, Rob Fondon at 36 years old, kind of didn't have a choice.

Honestly, like, even if the Boston fight was still available, even if Song Yudong wasn't going to be able to fight, was going to be able to fight, I still think Rob kind of had to just take this one, the way you look at it. Like, if Rob wants to fight for a title, he had to take this fight. Not saying that, like, beating Song Yadong

wouldn't get him there, but the road's much longer. He beats Corey Sanhagen. I'm not saying he's in, but he's probably a win away if he beats Corey. And again, 36. We've talked about ages. Fighters over 35 in the lower weight classes,

170 and below, they do not fare well in title fights. So you've got to strike now. So I love that fight. God, man, that is a great fight. it's a great fight uh deny hello hey heck of the morning what's up ma'am can you hear me yep well my question is is it worth spending 500 bucks for the nosebleeds in uh boston garden

because i'm probably going to go to bill burr i paid 80 bucks for ufc tampa back in 2019 i can't shell out that kind of money why is it so damn expensive because people are going to pay it, man. They're going to pay it. That arena is going to sell out. But yeah, I mean, I got so many messages from, like, buddies of mine and family members when those tickets went on sale. They're like $500, $300, $300 to sit up in the $300 sections. And here's the thing.

There's not even, right now, let me look at this card. Let me look at this card. The only chair, right now as it stands, let's go through it. We get Sterling O'Malley. Jean Lamos. Right now, the only possible Boston representation on this card that could happen is Rico DeShullo. If Rico DeShullo wins his next fight on the ultimate fighter and makes it to the finals, he will be the only local fighter on this card.

The only one. So, I don't know how much that's going to hurt tickets. The thing about Boston, man, they come up. out, man. They come out. Doesn't matter who's on the card. They will sell that place out. We got wacky-ass main events in that building. And people come for the first fight. Like, they come for the first fight and they stay. These are fight fans, for sure. Whether they're hardcore fans and they watch every event or they just want to sit in an arena while people punch each other in the face. Like, bosses got all those boxes cover. But yeah, 500 bucks is a lot, man.

Cost of living in Boston is so ridiculous right now. It's so insane. Rent is ridiculous. House prices are ridiculous. Everything up there is just super high. And now you're asking people to spend $5,500. I can tell you this. I haven't talked to them yet.

But I have family who works at the garden. They do security there. I can tell you this. They are not excited for this card. The UFC events at the garden. Yeah, you get a lot of good fans. This is probably like this everywhere, but they are very, very busy when the UFC comes to town,

chucking people out of there, people starting fights, just acting like a bunch of knuckleheads. They are probably not looking forward to August 19th. But some news there. I'm actually going to be there. I'm not going to be at the fights, but I will be there for Fight Week.

I'm using it as an excuse as well to go back home and visit. I've already booked my flight. I will be in Boston for Fight Week. Jose will be there as well. And I'm very excited. It's going to be a very busy stretch for your boy. Because we got 291 next week. So I go to New York for the watch party next Saturday.

Come back Sunday. I'm home Monday. And then I fly to Dallas Tuesday for Jake Paul versus Nate Diaz. I'll be there all week for that. Then come home for a week. the following Tuesday, I'm out to Boston for that week. And then I go from Boston, New York on the Saturday of the card for the watch party, fly home Sunday. So I haven't traveled all that much outside of the watch parties.

I think the last time I've traveled for an actual fight week was international fight week last year, 276. That's it. And now I get to do, I'll be doing two fight weeks in like a three week stretch. So it's going to be a busy time. I'm pumped. I'm pumped. I mean, the company was okay with, I'm like, well, I'm just going to pay my own way to visit family, but I still want to just go and cover stuff.

And they were like, yeah, go for it. We ain't going to say no to that. And it just wouldn't be right. It just wouldn't be right that the first events in Boston, since I jumped over to m.a fighting. com, that I wasn't there. I had to make it happen. And I'm going to be there for the fight week shenanigans. And hopefully we'll have some fun content.

as well. I'm working on some stuff. Working on some stuff in Dallas as well. I'm going to try to make a visit to Fortis MMA and see safe and all the fighters who are going to be training there. It's going to be a fun

time. It's going to be a fun time. I have feeling Dallas is going to be a really fun week. And I have a feeling there's going to be more news on that front coming sooner rather than later. So stay tuned for that. but it's going to be a fun time.

292 is still pretty good, man. We got Sterling O'Malley, you got John Lamos, two title fights. Jeff Neal, Ian Machado, Gary's gotten pretty interesting. A little bit of a rivalry boom in there. Marlon Verra, Pedro Munoz, Cody Garbrandt, tough fight with Mario Batista. We get Gerald Mearsart. Last time the UFC in Boston,

Gerald Mearsart was there. He didn't fight, but he was, he cornered, Brennan Allen and he cornered Macy Barber. So now Gerald gets to fight on the card, fighting Andre Petroski. Chris Wydman is back. I feel like that is not being talked about enough. Chris Wyman coming back from that halacious injury.

Fighting Brad Tavares, I think it's perfect matchmaking. We get Robocop back against Dennis Toulian. We got Marina Morose versus Corrine A. Silva. That's a great fight. And we get Andrea Lee versus Natty Ice. We get Natty Ice. At 2.92.

Exciting stuff. This is going to be an entertaining watch. And then I believe we're getting the two tough finale fights on this card as well. It should be a fun watch. And then we head into 2. Like 291 is great. 292 is a banger. 293.

We'll see what that ends up looking like. Do we get out of Sonny Strickland? We got Minnell Cop versus Kai Kar-France in that car. That's a great fight. You know 294 is going to be ridiculous. MSG is going to be insane. What else do we have on 293? Taito Ivasa, Alexander Volkov.

We got Araujo, Casey O'Neill, great fight. Carlos Ulberg, Daun Jung, Jack Jenkins, Chipei, Mariscal, is ridiculous. We get the Justin Tava, Austin Lane rematch, Blood Diamonds versus Charlie Ratkey, Tyson Pageer's back. Shane Young's back. It's going to be fun. We'll take a couple more.

Let's go to CV. Last call, if you want to ask questions, line up if you want. CV, hello. Hey, Mike. Heck of a morning. Happy Friday. Since we were just talking about the Boston card,

since Font is now fighting Corey, is Song Yadal is still going to be in the card, or are they looking for a replacement? I don't know, maybe put him in against, I don't know, Adrian Yanez. What's Peter Yon Singh? What do you think? And speaking of Sanhagen and Font,

if Funt like secures a spectacular finisher, or like he beats Corey, is he a fight away from the title? What do you think? Yeah, I think he's at worst a fight away. If he beat, if he goes on, I mean, if he goes out and just knocks Corey Sanhagen in the middle of next week, yeah, he's a win away.

Who he would fight. I'm not really sure. You have to think, I mean, we kind of have to wait and see how this division plays out. Like if Aljo wins and vacates, what's it going to look like? If Sean O'Malley wins, what's it going to look like? But I do think Rob is in a title eliminator for sure if he beats Corey Sanagan. Maybe it's enough.

Maybe timing works out in his favor. I don't know. But it's a fight he had to take. And to answer your other questions. kind of goes hand in hand. Song wasn't be able to... Song was out of UFC 2992 as it was. That's why this fight was so easy to put together.

I was not aware of that until I confirmed that Rob was taking this fight, but Song is out. Undisclosed reasons, no word as to why specifically, but right around the same time, Umar Namauga Madoff informed the UFC he had a shoulder injury.

Song Yudong was basically right behind. him exiting his fight. So there will be no replacement. He is not fighting. And even if Rob Font was still on this card, he wouldn't have been fighting Song Yudong. So it actually worked out great. And now we get this fight.

And huge opportunity for Rob. Let's see if he can get it done. It has potentially really, really good. Henderson, what's up, buddy? Free for all Friday. Yes, what do you got? I don't know if you. you know anything about UFC cards like baseball cards but UFC do you know anything about that I know

gc collects them uh he's taught me some things but so I know yeah yeah yeah so we look really yeah so i'm a collector of them I'm a fan obviously of the sport and they've only existed since 2009 they're kind of a weird thing but what makes them especially weird and kind of cool in my opinion is that in the UFC right there's no season so like there's no rookie year. And because of the way the cards have, cards have always been made, they just like decide randomly to make someone,

someone's rookie year and just start making cards of them. So every single set, you have no idea who's going to be a rookie, who's not. Like Moreno was a rookie after he won the belt. So it doesn't make any sense. So they just announced a whole new list of rookie cards yesterday. And there's a whole bunch of fighters on, there who are fighting today, but like it just goes to show how weird it is.

Like, so we got Myra Bleno Silver rookie card, Miranda Maverick, Roman DeLeedze, Tyson Pedro, Justin Taffa, Robo cop, Brian Barbarina. So you can get a rookie card at any point in your career. But the big rookie cards of this year, like 2023, are Aaron Blanchfield and Boe Nickel. And the big question right now is who is a better long-term prospect, Aaron Blanchfield or Bo Nicol, and the outsider vet is Jailton Almeda, who's also a rookie this year.

So out of those three, which do you think has the most long-term potential? Jeez, Louise. That's tough, man. I think you can make a case for all three of them, honestly. I would say Bo is, like, it depends on how you look at it. If we're talking just like success, wins and losses, and just building a resume,

I feel like it's Aaron Blanchfield. Because I just feel like she's going to be the champion forever once she actually gets a title shot. Like I've been so impressed with her. I was impressed with her when she got into the UFC, but I thought it was going to be a longer road for her to reach her potential. And I just feel like she's well beyond that.

And her potential is even better than I thought it was. And I just think she's a horrendous. horrific matchup for almost everybody at 125. She is a nightmare. And once she figures out the striking and gets that better, no one's going to beat her. No one's going to beat her. So I would say resume and records and all of that,

I think Aaron Blanchfield is number one. If we're talking five tools, if we're talking total package, wins, losses, accolades, superstardom, it's Bo Neckle with a bullet. It's definitely Bo. Aaron Blanchfield could defend her title a million times, and she might,

but I don't think she becomes the star that Bo Neckle will become if he gets to a title fight and wins it. They are going to push him to the moon. He's going to be everywhere. He's everything the UFC wants. Right. Good fighter, good on the mic. Political beliefs are with the UFC side in a lot of respects.

They're going to push this dude to the moon, but they're also going to not rush him either. So dollars and set, like whose bank account is going to be bigger? It's going to be Bo Nichols, for sure. And Jelton's like right there. But I'm just, Jelton is just so good at heavyweight. But I'm not, I just don't know if he's at. I don't know if heavyweight is like the place for him

for his long term success. I think he will do quite well anywhere he fights, but is he better suited a 205? Like we still don't know. We'll find out for sure what the Curtis Blades fight. But I mean, Jelta could be a two division champion. Like he could definitely, like he's got it in him. It's tough.

It's tough. It just depends on how you look at it. whole package is bow just fighting and building a resume and winning titles and all of that it's probably Blanchefield and I would say Elmada is just outside those two

but I would invest in all three of them 100%. And how is Brian Barberina a friggin rookie? Like of all the rookie cards that you throw out there, Brian Barberina, I feel like Brian Barberia

has been the UFC for two decades. I know he hasn't, but I feel like he's been the UFC for two decades. two decades. Toe, hello. Welcome back. Thank you. I just have a little add-on

because I'm uniquely qualified to comment on the Dalton line because I've been a Binkle fan since 2005. And I'll just say, the guy that you know it's just never going to click for. It's Brad Tavares. Who has beat him?

It's been Driggas de Plesses. It's been Israel, Adasana. it's been people that basically all went and fought for either a number one contender spot or the belt. The only exception is basically Edmund Chabasian and Bruno Silver who hasn't gotten the chance yet. But yeah, I think with a bullet, I would just call it the Tavara's line

and just say, it's never going to click for him. We know that by now. We also knew it about Andy Dalton, but we didn't do fucking shit about it. Anyway, we're in a much better place now. as Bengals fans, but I will say, I will call it the Sabar's line,

and that's it. Tavares is a good one. I would say Gerald Mearschart's probably a good one, too, for 185. But, yeah, I think Tavars is probably the right answer for 185. But Hermant's a good one, too. Yeah, Tavar's,

I could see both. I could see both. Andy Dalton won games. Like, he could win games. games, it's tough, but both those are acceptable answers. Cole wanted to chime in, then I'll get to Daniel, and then I got to go. Cole, hello.

All I got to say is I'm team NFL, or not, sorry, team UFC combine. Let's go. Let's make it happen next year, international fight week, bang, fuck defending fighter pay, no one cares, boom. I love the combine idea. Jed and I have been talking about that for a long time. we talked for like another two hours like on our Slack channel about a combine

that would just be so fun dude like but mix it up like can you imagine like big Willie Knight bench in 225 like that dude would bench 225 like 7,000 times I like I don't know if 225 is like the right weight to do

but if we did like a bench if we did a 40 yard dash if we did like a vert and then we did like a couple of fun workouts like some AMRAP stuff like just things that fighters do in strength and conditioning all the time

but they like go up against each other and then we add like little floaters like you punch the power puncher thing or the thing where the lights all light up and you try to touch all the lights like that shit's amazing like that'd be so fun

it's way better than watching the fighters play basketball like so many people would watch that. I think that's super fun. I think it's a great idea. I would love to do it. And I think we could do it. Like I think we could do it.

It would take a shitload of work. But I would love to make that happen. That'd be incredibly fun. Like who's the best athlete in MMA? Like we would find out. It would be the best. Daniel, take us home. Hey, Mike.

Top of the morning to you. Heck of a Friday here. I just wanted to get your quick opinion on this international Mexican card. I'm happy to say I'll be in Vegas for that weekend for a bachelor party. So that card is on my mind, just trying to think what other Mexican fighters are going to make it on that card. I know Grasso is going to headline that, but just curious if there's anybody coming to your head of any fighters that might make it on that one. Thanks, Mike. Hey, look, they're doing something different and they're trying.

So I respect the hell out of that. So here's the lineup as of right now. We got Grasso Shipschenko rematch for the title. We got Shafkav versus Calvin Gassel. I'm Chris Curtis, Anthony Hernandez. I love the Tracy Cortez, Jasmine Jazz DeVizier's fight. Lupi Godinez, Sam Hughes. Edgar Chiraz, making a quick turnaround.

Fighting Daniel Lacerda. Cynthia Calvio, last fight on her deal, fighting Elise Reed. My guess, I mean, I can't think of like a, bunch of fighters, but there is kind of one glaring name in my eyes that is not on this card that I think will be. I would guess Rao Roses, you and you will be on this card.

That would be my guess. If there's any other name that's going to get like the poster treatment, it's probably going to be him. I don't know what kind of matchup he gets. He'll probably take a big step back because I think putting him on there is about getting him a win and letting him look good. So, yeah, I think Roses will find his way on this

card, but it's probably, I mean, we're getting close. We're less than two months away, so I would say him. He seems to be like the glaring one that if they're going to throw somebody on this card to boost it,

good or for bad, no matter how you feel about the kid, dude generates interest. That's for sure. So we'll see if he gets booked. But all right, everybody. Thank you all very much. We will return to the YouTube airwaves in just under two hours from right now. 1 p.m. Eastern for the UFC London preview show.

It'll be myself, the Wise Word Smith, Shehina al-Shadi, and Jose Youngs. We will talk UFC London. We'll take some questions. People's pre-fight show tomorrow, 1130 a.m. Eastern, early day M.MA. just the way we like it. Myself and E. Casey Liden. And then after UFC London wraps and packs,

we will have our post-fight show. Who's it going to be on that? Me and New York, Rick? How about that? A combo? At first, I've never, never done a post-fight show in New York, Rick.

So that's your unit gets tomorrow evening. Very exciting stuff. And then we'll have it on to the next one. I don't know who's going to be my co-host for that, but I have to figure that shit out. I'm glad I reminded myself working things out in my brain as I speak. So thank you all very much. We'll see you at 1 p.m. Eastern for the preview show. Have a great rest of your Friday. Have a wonderful weekend. And as always,

have a heck of a morning and enjoy the flags. Support for this show comes from Volkswagen. As the U.S. gets ready to host soccer's biggest moment on a worldwide stage, Volkswagen is helping people discover new turf and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the U.S. From Deaf and Power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal, Volkswagen is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S. soccer ecosystem. They're supporting talent from across the U.S. soccer extended national teams and are focused on helping to give these less widely known forms of soccer a platform moving forward.

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