MMA Fighting - HOAM | McGregor vs. Chandler Optimism, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul Back On

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

While one big fight in the combat sports world became a huge mystery, another one found a new date. Speculation went rampant following the cancellation of the UFC 303 press conference in Dublin featuring Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, and now the vibes seem quite positive, while in the boxing world, Jake Paul and Mike Tyson have a new date. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses the latest on McGregor vs. Chandler, the optimism surrounding it throughout the week, and rating belief on if it goes down as scheduled on June 29. Additionally, listener questions include Paul vs. Tyson being set for Nov. 15, UFC Louisville, the main event between Jared Cannonier and Nassourdine Imavov, the quality of the UFC 304 main card, and much more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-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. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser 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. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. It is Friday, June 7th, 2024, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the NBA Fighting Twitter Spaces. You can hear the show in its entirety, shortly thereafter, on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network.

How's everybody doing? I am Mike Heck. Hope you're all having a great week. I'm having a fantastic day. I hope you are as well. Why? Because the Boston Celtics whooped that Dallas Maverick ass last night. It was a beautiful thing.

I mean this is the most respectful way possible. because I love me some Reginala I, Quinta. Good dude. This was, last night's game was Habib Nirmaga Madaf versus Al-Aiquita. Habib just put the wood to Reginald and then just took a roundoff. Just took a round off altogether. It was like, yeah, go ahead. Do whatever you got to do.

And the Celtics still pounded them. It was the best. It was the best. Porzingis looked great. Everything I said on this program. transpired beautifully last night. The Mavs with one dude cannot beat this team.

They can't. They're certainly not winning four games against this team. It's not happening. It is just not happening. Kyrie can't beat the Celtics. Luke is great. The best player on the floor,

but he can't do it himself. He cannot beat the Celtics by himself. It's just not going to happen. So very happy with the way things played out. And you know why else I'm happy? The Celtics played good, but they didn't even play great. And that's just a tremendous thing.

So I said South Wixen 5. You all thought I was nuts. I stand by it. I stand by Celtics and 5. But that's not why we're here, ladies and gentlemen. We are here to talk about the wonderful world of combat sports. Here to talk about the wonderful world of mixed martial arts. The UFC returns to Louisville.

Yes. the KFC Yum Center will feature some fist fights. Way-ins going on as we speak. Jared Canaaner Neer, Naserdin-Vov. Main eventors, good to go. Still waiting on both co-made eventors, Dominic Grace, and Dustin Jacoby as of right now. Raul Roses Jr., Ricky Terseos, a go at 136 apiece.

Bruno Ferreira, Dustin Stoltzvus there, go Julian Marquez, Zachary Reese. There, go Putasoriano. makes weight for his welterweight debut 171 took him a couple times but he wasn't the only one that had to deal with that uh still waiting on miguel baezza who returns after a long layoff tago moises the dovet klein good to go carlos pratchez good to go still waiting on chucky buffalo ratke brad catona makes wait still waiting on his opponent jessie butler andrew lee montana delirosa there good to go daniel marcos good to go still waiting on john casoneda Didisi Goems missed weight on her first attempt, made it on the second.

She's good to go. Still winning on Eduardo. Eduardo Mora. Cody Stamen makes weight. Still waiting on Taylor Lapples. And then Ryan Dos Santos, Pujia Tomar, both made wait for their fight. So that is UFC Louisville as of right now. We will have a preview show, noon Eastern, on the YouTube channel.

Obviously, still the biggest story in all of combat right now. McGregor versus Chandler, what is going on. We talked on Tuesday about that. I told you basically what I had been told the night before, that fight was a go as of Tuesday morning. And Ariel on the M.A. hour Wednesday provided a pretty accurate update from what I've been told as well. This is definitely way more, probably way more volume than what I gathered. but positivity, optimism is probably the right word.

I would probably bet money at this point, if I'm getting even money odds, that McGregor Chandler does happen June 29th, at least right now on this Friday at 1021 a.m. Eastern time. So at this point, we kind of have to feel that way because we are running out of time to find any kind of a replacement. Connor's been posting photos from a doctor's office

with a smile on his face. He posted a bunch of sparring videos. So seems like things are good. And I guess one of the things I've thought about since Tuesday is even though this is chaotic, even though this stems from a press conference that normally wouldn't happen in Dublin, but then was scheduled and then canceled, which led to all of this

speculation. Has this whole thing made the fight bigger? It is McGregor's return. He's fighting Michael Chandler. McGregor versus a broomstick is huge. He's going to do a million pay-per-view by. It's going to draw huge numbers at the box office. It's going to be gigantic. But has this whole thing somehow made that fight bigger? I don't know. Maybe you guys can chime in on that. So that's that. And then on top of that, I had a way to actually put this out into the world. But I found out around 9 o'clock this morning that Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson rescheduled for Friday, November 15th, 18T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Netflix, everything still involved. We had a wait to release the news because that's what we do.

but that fight's a go. And I already see the people online, Mike, I'm not okay with this fight happening. Look, I get it. I get it. But it's going to happen, guys. Like, no matter what we say about it, what you guys say about it,

no revolt is going to stop that fight from happening. So, I mean, I don't know what to tell you. I just don't know what to tell you at this point. Nothing I can say, nothing you can say that's going to change anything. The fight's happening. And it's going to be the most watched fight in the history of combat sports because it's on Netflix.

And anyone who has Netflix, which is pretty much everybody, will be able to just watch the fight. Turn on Netflix and boom, it's right there. So November 15th, right near Thanksgiving time. You may not be thankful for the fist of cuffs that will be taking place at 18T Stadium. But it's happening.

And it's happening on a Friday. night which i kind of like i like friday night fights i wish the ufc did more friday night fights i don't think they're on a friday night card since boston and october of 2020 that was the one headline by dominic grace versus chris wyedman at the t d guard and that was friday night card and it was the best it was truly the best and i wish the ufc would do more of that so holy shitballs there are a lot of you lined up ready to go uh so let's let's let's roll Let's rock and roll. Riley, go.

I just want to say congrats on the Celtics. And I think it's going to be hilarious if Jalen Brown ends up winning MVP instead of Tatum. Because I feel like even though everyone respects Tatum, like, no doubt he's the top 10 player. But people don't really like give him his flowers or like fully put him in like that top of the top. top of the top and I feel like if they win the championship and he doesn't win finals MVP

he might not get his flowers secondly I just wanted to say I feel like McGregor Chandler is definitely happening like you were talking about if you get even odds you would bet it I feel like that's like minus a thousand

minus 500 it's happening right now especially after Chandler Post the video of him like drinking tequila i feel like that's definitely an old video i remember an interview he specifically says he doesn't drink in camp um so that's that in my opinion on that and lastly i just wanted to ask you and i also say i think this is a pretty like solid fight night card like there are a bunch of fights i'm looking forward to but like why why is andrio lee

fighting Montana, De La Rosa, like four-fight losing streak versus three-fight losing streak, and they've already fought once before. Like, I don't know how many fights there are on this cart. I'm on ESPN. I'm not going to count them all up. There are a bunch of fights, though. They could have just not made this fight. I have no clue why they made this fight.

That's all I got. Thanks, Mike. Have that good morning. All right. So let's start with the Tatum. thing completely agree with you uh he could drop 55 points in his next game and he was still get shit he's the most underrated and most criticized player in the entire league right now it's insane it's truly and utterly insane but doesn't matter i think he's okay just winning a ring at this

point i think that'll silence a lot of doubters and boy howdy he's going to get one i love this matchup i love this matcher from jump street i said bring on the mabs from like game five of the Western Conference Finals and on. Bring them. That's who I wanted. I begged for the Mavericks to win this series for this exact reason. But that's neither here nor there. So I certainly wouldn't take minus 500 or minus 1,000 on anything involving Connor

McGregor, but especially now with, because obviously there is an issue. No one really knows what it is. but yeah i still wouldn't take even money i would bet it but i'm certainly not taking minus a thousand on anything involving connor granger coming to fruition at this point but still i feel i feel good that this fight will happen um and i assume and i know ariel's talked about this and i completely agree with him if dana goes to louisville and does a post fight interview like a post fight press conference he's going to shit all over the media i guarantee it guys a press conference got canceled. There was this, this, and this.

Did you hear it from us? Did we say the fight was in jeopardy? The media's bullshit. La, la, la, la, la. That's what he's going to say. That is what he's going to say. It's guaranteed, mark it down. That you can bet minus a thousand on if he's there. And he may not be there. Who the hell knows at this point? Dana was at game one last night. And I can assure you, if they had lost game one, the title of this episode would have been Dana White is never allowed to go to a Celtics game again. Because I think his record of him attending Southwix playoff games, he's like now won in a trillion. So seeing his face there, I was like, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No, you can't be here for this, Dana. But it doesn't really matter at this point. I will disagree with you on another thing, too. This card is not good. It's not. It is a, it's a tough one. Look, do I think there'll be some fun, scraps, yes. Do they mean anything? No. Not even the main event, in my opinion, has a lot of

significance. Jared Canaaner has been the forgotten guy in this division for a year. Longer than that. Dude's won two straight. It's won four out of five. The Vittori performance is incredible, but every time we talk about the middleweight division and every time we have talked about it since that win, we do not mention his name at all. People just forget about him. And this is going to be a tough fight for him. Stylistically, Nassardine Nemovov matches up pretty damn well with Jared Kananir. Plus, Canaanir is 40.

There's a lot of things against Canaaner here. Let me see what the betting odds are. What are the betting odds? I assume Canada is a favorite. Maybe I'm wrong. Camerner is a dog plus 105. I still kind of like Yemovov on the spot. So even then, like you need to do.

even thought of wins like, yes, it's a good win, fought a guy that beat a guy that fought for a title once, but I mean, that's really it. He's just going to kind of maintain his place. Dominic Ray is Dustin Jacoby. I don't know what's going to happen there. Yes, it's good to see Raul Rosa Jr., but this is a tremendously good stylistic matcher for him. Ricky Terseos cannot defend a takedown. Raul Rosa Jr. is great at defending takedowns. Burn of Ferrer, Dustin Soltzvus is going to end violently. Julian Mark. Marcus, Zach Reese is going to end early. Soriano Baez is going to end early.

These are going to be fun fights, but as far as, like, depth of card, this is not great. It's not a great lineup. And Andrew Lee versus Montana de la Rosa, this screams loser leaves town, loser leaves town fight. So, honestly, of all the fights on this card, Andrew Lee, Montana de la Rosa might have the most significant stakes of any fight on the card, including the made of bet, because you have to imagine whoever loses is probably out of the UFC. It's probably getting their walking papers. So, yeah,

I do think this will be an enjoyable watch, but again, come Tuesday of next week, we will not even be thinking about it. Because there's just going to be no real storylines, really, unless someone gets bitter, who the hell knows.

So, yeah, there you go. Let's go to Tyson. Tyson, go ahead. Hey, what's on? How you doing? Good. That's good. That's good.

First thing, first, I just want to say that I think my Mavs are going to make this a series. I don't see us beating you guys. But I see it going six, possibly seven. Oh, God. But I got three. What game are you watching? I want to know how this happens. Are you saying that we're going to lose guys to injury because that's the only way I see this happening?

Hey, I mean, I just, the way this team has bounced and they showed resilience this whole season. And I know your heart was kind of thumping a little bit when we cut that 30-point lead down to eight points. That felt okay about it. I'll continue on. All right. I got three quick. Well, I had three questions. You kind of answered my first one.

I was going to ask you about if you thought Dominic Reyes was going to bounce back. But you just say you don't know how that fight's going to play out. My second question was about Volcanowski. He seems like pretty eager to get a fight. You know, he had that somewhat of a call-out against, to Dustin Poirier, and then he just recently said that he's willing to fill in on that USC 303 main event, that Conne McGregor fight. I just kind of wanted to hear your thoughts about that. And then my third question was on Tuesday's episode, you mentioned you were talking about Armand Sarukin,

and you were talking about his striking being really underrated. And you said that he's not the best striker in the division, but he's really underrated. And I was kind of curious on who you thought was the best striker. and the lightweight division. But I think that's all I got for you, Mike. Appreciate it. Thanks, man. I mean, God, it depends if you add, like, Max Holloway to the mix

because you have to probably put him at the top of the list. Islam is definitely up there. His striking has just gotten really, really good. Dustin's obviously a great striker. Gaei. I think I may have met him. Charles Oliver, I mean, there's so many great strikers. Rafael Fiziv is a great striker.

I mean, It's probably max if he's just beat, like if we're counting him as a lightweight. But I mean, Jesus Christ, there's so many. There's just so many. Like tremendous strikers. And then we even have like guys coming up, like even Tiago Moises who's fighting on Saturday is a great striker. And he's a great defensively savvy fighter unless he's fighting guys who are middleweights or welterweights naturally like Benoit Santini or Joel Alvarez or somebody like that. If you go back, I always tell people,

if you want to watch like great defensive savvy, go watch Tiago Moises versus Alexander Hernandez. Because if you watch that fight live and you watch it like as it went down, you might have thought Alexander Hernandez won that fight. But if you go back and just really watch it,

the amount of times Alexander Hernandez hits air is incredible. It's really incredible. There's just so many good fighters at 155. So many good strikers at 155. It's just, it's incredible. It's why it's the best division in the sport, and that's why I always say it's one of the toughest divisions in all of sports.

All of sports. Yeah, Dominic Reyes, that's Jacobi. Honestly, I don't know. I don't know how that fight's going to go. Because we just don't know anything about Dominic Reyes right now. He's a huge underdog in this fight. and he's a i'm telling like i always like throw this out as it's almost cliche now on the program but the 30 for 30 on dominic reyes is really going to be the one of the most fascinating watches i've ever seen

from a guy who almost universally everybody thought beat john jones was going to be the guy to the throne him hand him the first owl all of that to where he has been since which is just getting brutally caoed in all of these fights. It's friggin insane. It's really wild to see where he has gone. And the Bossa Cowars actually that I mentioned earlier about the Friday Night Fights.

That's October 2019 now that I think about it. And Dustin Jacoby is very solid. So, yeah, I'm very intrigued. But you have to imagine, you know, Dominic's also gone through a lot of stuff. It's gone through a lot of medical issues on this road back, so we'll see how it plays out. But I just hope it's not one of those moments where I'm just like, oh, man, not again. Watching Dominic Gray is just unconscious on the mat.

That'll be tough to watch. That will be tough to watch. 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 turfs 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

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19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly. Concerned by your gambling or that if someone close you, call 18665-3-1-2-600 or visit comics, Ontario.ca. Jay Stack, go ahead. You too, ma'am. I'm sorry, who are your favorite dogs this week that you can see winning?

That'll be all. Favorite underdogs? I mean, I think Canineer is worth a look. It's hard to bet on Dominic Reyes, even though the juice is there. I just don't see a world or Ricky Terseus B through Al-Rour versus Jr., especially with his inability to defend a takedown. Maybe Tiago Moy's. I like Tiago Moises in the spot.

I mean, look, look at what Tiago Moises is done in the UFC. And, again, the toughest division in the sport and one of the toughest divisions at all of sports. Look what this band is done. His losses in the UFC are to Benir Derrush, Demir's Bagulov, A guy by the name of Islam Makathev. Don't know if you ever heard of that guy,

who, you know, is the champion of the world. Joel Alvarez, who is basically a middleweight. And Ben Wausantini, who is probably closer to middleweight as well. I mean, these are the dudes he's losing to. He's losing to, like, the best dudes. So the Dover Klein is a solid hand. Solid fighter. but this should be a fight he wins.

This should be a fight he wins. So I, I, Klein's looked good. He's quietly won four in a row, but Moises is, I feel Moises is more of a top 20 guys, clearly fought better competition than Ludwig Klein has.

So I think that's a, that's a good spot. God, there's not a, maybe Denisi Gomes at plus 164. That's not bad. I'll tell you I wouldn't go crazy here. I'm not making a single bet on this card. I will probably have a bet next week because I'm going to be doing no bets barred with Jed. So a little bit of breaking news for you.

Everything I'm hearing about Cody Stamen is everyone's telling me this guy might, the way he's looked in the gym, the way he's looked in preparation, the way, everything, that this is the dude to watch. Like everybody I've talked to Extreme Couture from Eric Nixick to fighters that I just chat with. And when I asked them, which fighters should we be on the lookout for this year that may not jump out of the top of our minds? Almost unanimously, everybody says Cody Stamon. He's a plus 235 dog. And I think Taylor Lappos is a good fighter.

But Cody's been in there with some good dudes, man. He's been in there with some really good fighters. He gave Mara a tough fight. He's been in there with Al Jow. he's been in there with like everybody like really good guys and i'm not confident like i'm not jump it on here and be like cody stamens going to kill taylor lapolis i don't know if i have that kind of confidence but seeing him at plus two 35 like immediately i want to take a shot on him so yeah that's pretty much we're at right now i can this car just screams squash matchy finish

throughout a lot of it or some of the lines are just super duper close. But yeah, that's our map when it comes to dogs here. Let's go to Kowloon City. Wonderful. Free with Dominic Cruz, he once said you need to have a loss to grow. I don't think that's true at all. But in the case you do suffer an L like Raul did against Rodriguez, who I read pretty high. And he almost had him out of their first round sub.

I think he came back against Mitchell coming off that first L look phenomenal. Just real simple. What is your big fan of Raul? What is your ceiling for him? Just give me five years down the road where you think he is in the division. Appreciate it, man. God, it's so tough to say, man. Because I just, I don't know.

Like, I feel like he's got a great foundation, but he's so young and he has fought, hasn't really fought anybody. like Christian Rodriguez is fine, but I don't even know, like, is he even in the division anymore? You know, I feel like since then, matching him up with Mitchell and then this fight in particular, like, it's perfect matchmaking. He's going to run over Ricky Terseos because, like I've said already multiple times, just go and look, go to UFC stats and look at Ricky Terseo's defensive wrestling numbers. It's awful. Awful. Kevin Atibati died took him down 70.

times. Raul Roos Jr. is going to throw this man around the cage. So Brawl Roos Jr. just goes in there and just tackles him a bunch, he should win this fight easily. Am I confident to, like, pick him against, like, a top 30 Bannam weight right now? Probably not. But he's only 19. He's only 19. It's tough to say. Like, honestly, the sample size is just so small to even really have an answer for this. but I know a lot of like sharp betters out there are like looking for spots to fade him but the UFC isn't really giving him any I just don't see a world where he loses his fight I just I just don't Ricky Tursa is a cool dude and you know good on the mics got charisma

he's you know got some skills certainly but man he's he I don't know if it's a mental block or what but his inability to stop a take down. The Brad, not Brad, who the hell was it? The Amon's a hobby fight. Jeez, Louise, man.

I've never seen a guy missed so many punches in my life. It's just such a wild fight. So, yeah, it's, I wish I had a better answer, but I think he'll be like a top 15 guy.

Like, I feel confident in that because I think the UFC is going to match him appropriately. But what happens when he turns 20? or 21. Will the UFC have the same sort of oomph to push him up the ladder as they do with him being 17, 18, 19? It's another question we've got to keep in mind. So tough to say.

Billy, go ahead. No go for Billy. Jump out, jump back in, Billy. Ryan, do we have you? Good morning, Mike. I just wanted to know your thoughts on Mike Davis versus... Drew Dover? Yes.

Thank you, sir. Great fight. Great fight. Good to see Drew Beck. And good to see Mike Davis fighting multiple times with inside of a year span. I think he's a guy that a lot of people have sort of had their eye on. Dude's real good. We just can't keep him active.

And this is a good one. This is a good matchmaking. And I love it. I love the fight. We're going to do it in Denver. and it should be fun. Good, good piece of business and the best division in the sport.

Billy, do we have you now? Hi. Hi, I'll just wonder, what do you think's happened to Dominic Ray is like, obviously put together a lot of wins, came up against John. A lot of people obviously said,

you know, it might have even beat John Jones, which obviously is a good thing to do, obviously. And then obviously he's lost to John, lost to Yarns, lost to Yeri, and obviously he'd been beating to Ryan's ban. So do you reckon he can get a win?

this weekend and you reckon he could spiral back to the top of the division. Thank you. I mean, if there's any division where you can get brutally ca-oed as many times in rows Don McReyas has, but still make your way back up, it's light-heavyweight. Light-heavy weight is. Bad. This is a bad division. And Reyes is a name. He's one of the bigger names in the division, despite not having a win in several years. but just think of your Dominic Grace. You go out there, you put your all into this training camp to fight the greatest fighter ever, guy who's never lost. I mean, technically, you go in there, you give a all,

you fight a near perfect fight against the greatest of all time. Everybody thinks you won. You think you won. You go up there. Bruce Buffers making the announcements. You feel like that belt's getting wrapped around your waist. You're about to get a rematch. of John Jones and make all the monies, everything your whole life is about to change.

And then you get screwed because that's what happened. Dominic Gray's beat John Jones that night. I've gone back and rewatched the fight several times. There's no watch of that fight where I felt John Jones won. Tiago Santos, there were some watches where I felt Tiago Santos won. but at least you could find ways where you could justify a John Jones win. Can't find it here.

Can't. And all that, just have that taken away from you. And then John leaves the division. You can't even get a rematch with the man. You'll never get the chance to fight this man again. I can't imagine what this guy has gone through.

I really can't. And the performances have shown as such. So what has happened to him? heartbreak, I guess, is my best guess. Can he get back? Sure. But this is kind of do or die for him. And I think Dustin Jacoby's a fine fighter.

But if he can't, if he cannot beat Dustin Jacoby, it's done. This is, this is it. This is the end of the line, I think. I just don't see how the UFC keeps him going at this point. But, yeah, it's tough, man. just so tough. I like Dominic Gray's a lot. It's just really tough. Eugene, go.

Hey, Mike. Heck of a morning. I had two questions. One, sort of inside baseball, maybe you could apply to people with Otno picks, but I wanted to ask how you go about research or understanding fighters and teams, like who's on what team other than sort of people who are very open and public about those relationships in the media. and my second thing, I had sent a DM to AK about this, so it's not as much of a pick for Atno as telling you what's going to happen, unfortunately. But breaking rumor and innuendo, Marcyne Tybor Taibora versus Cyril Gaon in Paris.

I believe that's what they are going to be doing to us. Thanks, Mike. Ugh. That's not fun. I mean, dude, if you're going to fight, like if you're going to fight, like a not that incredibly fun grappler, go fight Jailton Almeida. Like that fight is so much more interesting to me.

I love that call-out. That was a perfect call-out from Jailton Al-Meda. Go in there, try to fight Cirol, do it in his home, doing it in his home city. I love that call-out. That's so much better. That's so much better.

But we'll see. And in terms of just kind of knowing who trains with who, it's just, I mean, you follow social media one and just conversing. I talk to coaches, managers and fighters all the time. It's not just about fighting. It's not just about hey, is this true? Or hey, can you give me this?

Like there's some of that going on, but there's a lot of conversations I have with people within the industry. It's just like, yo, what's up? And then we'll start talking about different things. And sometimes fighting comes up. And, oh yeah, this dude was in the gym the other day. Jamal Hill was here and Anthony Smith was here and all these different things. So, yeah, it's mostly that is where I get all of that. And that's why I'm not know.

I think we're a little bit fair. There's certain matchups that are made between guys who train together. We'll give you a warning before we give you a bunch of crap about it. But again, like the cardal rule is do not book Gerald Mearsharp versus Brennan because those dudes have known each other forever. Many, many, many years, train together many, many years, and they will never fight each other. Left lane.

What's on, Mike? Yeah. All right, cool. Look, the card this weekend, I know a lot of people are saying that it's not that great. I'm not here to kind of convince you guys that this is some stacked fight night. But I think what we've kind of come to expect

with these roadshow fight nights that aren't in like another country, like obviously the Mexico card or the Saudi card or the Abu Dhabi card. Those are going to be a different story. But I think what we've kind of come to expect with is roadshow cards like with St. Louis or like with Atlantic City. More so St. Louis is just like a card with very little stakes but just fun fights throughout that we all had a good time watching. I think everyone can agree that card was a fun watch unless you turns the TV on at Rebels Spain versus Waldo Coteza Costa. It probably

didn't start off the best, but the overall card itself was fun, but there was just no name value. And I think I'm kind of okay with it. And I think most people, obviously, we would love to have stacked fight nights with like three or four top 15 matchups on them each week, but I think we all just

know that's not going to happen. So these road show cards with Louisville, I actually like this card in terms of, it's going to be a fun watch. Am I saying that we're going to be talking about this card for weeks coming out of it. Absolutely not. We will probably talk about the winner of the main event and say they are probably one

fight away from a title shot. And then we might say, damn, it feels bad for Dominic Reyes to get knocked out again. Like that's probably going to be the discussion points coming out of this card. But personally, I'm a big Nasda Dina Mavov fan. I don't know why. I just am. I like his style. I think he's a fun fighter to watch.

Probably not a commonly shared opinion, but I just enjoy watching him fight. I think he's going to beat Jared. Canineer and it's really annoying for me because I was hoping it would be an underdog because the way I've been seeing everyone pick this fight. I'm picking, I'm seeing everyone pick Canineer. And I'm really not seeing that many people picking Amav. So I was like, and even on the UFC's like YouTube, they put up a poll. It's like 80% for Canoneal. So I was hoping Amav would be an underdog, but he's not. But I think Amel is going to win. I actually wouldn't even be surprised to be finished as Canineer just like catches him. I don't like Canaanian taking a year off doing

and his injury as well. Don't like that. But apart from that on the card, a couple other fun fights for guys to look out for if you guys are thinking of maybe not watching this whole card. Castaneda v. Marcos should be a really fun scrap. Marquez versus Reese will just be fun because Marcus is just down to clown

and Reese is probably going to get finished or finish someone. Bruna for Hayo v. Dustin Stoltz, was guaranteed finish there, in my opinion. And then Klein v. Moises is, opinion the second best fight on the card behind the main event anytime you get two like top 30 dudes in the lightweight

division top 35 even like top 40 it's just going to be a great fight so I'm looking forward to that one too but yeah what's your I think you said before you're picking a Mavov but what other fights are you like really looking forward to on the card if any but yeah that's it thanks Mike

thanks man look like I said this is this is gonna be a fun watch but it's just a card. Like, this is, this is an apex card, just not in the apex. It's an apexe main event, if there ever was one. Dees and Co-main, yeah, you got Roses, but, and you just got, like, a bunch of, like, just fun fights

that have no impact on any division at all. And, like I said, the fight with the most division, like the, with the most on the line is Andrew Lee, Montana, And they're not fighting for title shots. They're fighting for their jobs. So 14 fights is a lot. It's just a lot of fights. So, yeah, I think it'll be okay.

But like you said, by Tuesday, we are not even going to be thinking about it. It's going to be over and done with. We're going to be talking about a whole bunch of other stuff. Update on the way ends. Everybody is stepped on. the scale. Nope, John Castaneda has not stepped on the scale. As of now,

Eduardo Mara missed weight by a half pound, but to be fair, Denisea Gomes also missed weight by a half pound on her first attempt and then made it. So maybe she'll step back up. Not really sure. Everybody else is made weight.

Still waiting on John Castaneda. Donate gray is Dusty Kobe both made weight just fine. Pune Soriano made weight just fine for his welterweight debut. So there you have it. 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, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no.

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Archer, go ahead. Answer to this, but let's go first. The UFC Manchester poster. I mean, it's God awful. I know the UFC's a monopoly and they can, you know, put whatever garbage poster and people still buy tickets and everything. But I just want to get your thoughts on that. And the second thing I want to say is I watch a game show.

It's Wheel of Fortune. Pat Sejax's last episode is today. Best of wishes to Pat. And I guess his replacement is Ryan Seacrest. And fuck Ryan Sechrest. That's it. Thanks for having me. Ah, man.

I can't say that. I have a ton of respect for Ryan Seacrest. That dude is a fucking gangster, man. Started off in radio and then just exploded. This guy is a machine. So shout out to him. It just won't be the same without good old Patty Seyajak. But shout out to Pat Sejack.

Last Wheel of Fortune tonight. And end of an era. end of an arrow. See how Ryan Cicris does? One thing I will say is I think I would be better in that role. Just that role. Not like hosting American Idol or any of the other things that Ryan C. Chris has accomplished.

But Will Fortune, that'd be my jam. That would be absolutely my jam. So shout out to Pat Sejack. What a run. What a run that guy's at? Oh, God. Yeah, the UFC 304 poster? Trash.

So bad. so bad there are so many talented people on social media who do artwork that make incredible posters this

is just no effort at all it's so bad it really is so bad the first thing I thought of when I saw it I was like is this the right direction because it looks even weird with like the side by side faces it just

look so terrible. They should have flipped it and did it the other way. But it's, it's so bad. It's so bad. I have more of a problem with this poster than I did with the UFC 300 poster. Honestly. The UFC 300 poster signified what the UFC is at this point in time

heading into this historical event. No stars. They're not pushing any talent whatsoever. The UFC themselves is the brand. the UFC themselves is the star. The only other thing they could have done better is made Dana White the face of the UFC 300 poster. Everything else is spot on for what the UFC is right now.

But this poster is awful. It's so bad. I feel bad for everybody that's on it. I feel bad for Leon and Tom Aspedal in particular. Like, they can't win. They have to fight at like 6.30 in the morning local time. And they have to see their faces on one of the worst posters in the history of the UFC.

Come on, man. This is Garbo. This is a Garbo poster. Not impressed at all. Tristan, go. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? Yep. All right, Mike,

the other color kind of stole my thunder about Mike Davis and Drew Doe, but that's such a bang of a fight. And I'm really high on Mike Davis. I think I actually DM the AK about it. I think Mike Davis could beat a lot of those guys in the top 15. I'm just going to say it him.

And then obviously, Mick Debeke-orabai, those two guys in particular are going to make some ways, obviously, in the lightweight division. My question, my question I have is, obviously,

they're going to be on the Colorado, Denver Colorado card. You have, obviously, the main event, Rose Nam and Eunice versus Macy Barbara. That fight,

It's got some stakes in there. I mean, if Rose wins that fight, maybe she's one fight away from a title shot. Because I think the winner of this is going to get Aaron Blanchfield, to be honest. And that's going to be very interesting. I'm picking, I know this is early impressions looking at this fight. I'm picking Rose, man.

Rose is the better technical striker. I feel Macy Bob is too sloppy and way too aggressive. I mean, she's got some wins. because of that of her aggression and pushing forward and backing opponents up. But I mean, this is something Rose, it's gonna be a fun scrap, but I just think Rose should win this fight

with her technical striking and possibly catch Macy Barber coming in and then be just probably one fight away. And it's pretty much gonna be the Aaron Blanchfield's sweet steak, excuse me. And, you know, go from there, from part possibly maybe a title shot at that point. I mean, because I believe, I don't know, with a tough finale with Schochenko and Alexa Grasso,

I mean, it's just probably been the last time that they fight, you know, and just go from there. So it's a very interesting fight here, and we're going to see what happens. Just your thoughts. Early, not because obviously when it gets closer, you'll have stronger opinions about it. What's your early impressions about that fight?

Thanks, Mike. I kind of don't think Aaron's in play for either right now. I mean, she's honestly, after what we saw with Manon Fioro, Aaron needs some polishing. That's for sure. She got to get in there and round out her game a little bit. So that's where I'm at with her. I think, honestly, I think the winner either gets,

like, Bacy would maybe have to fight Manon, but Rose already fought her. And Rose is the biggest name in this division right now. And that includes Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shepchenko. If Rose Domiyunis goes in there and beats B.C. Barber, she's probably getting a title shot. She probably will jump over Manon Fioro in the process, which is crazy to think about. So who knows? And who knows if Alexa Gras is even fighting Valentina Shepchenko at this point?

So I don't know. I don't know. I don't think Aaron's in play at all, though. I think Manon could be. But I don't think Aaron's in play. I think she's going to take a step back for sure. But yeah, good fight. $125 is interesting.

But it's slow right now. It really is. And even though both Grasso-Shiftenko fights are awesome, I'm ready for something different. I really am. This division needs to move forward. I want to see some new blood. I want to see some of these other fighters get an opportunity.

But they're giving Macy an opportunity. they're giving her a chance. They're giving her a chance. She goes and beats her Osama Yunus and does it in Denver. That's huge for her. That's huge.

So, we'll see. Four-ounce sniper. Yep. Hey, heck of a morning. Real quick, I know you got to go. I heard you guys bring up the poster for 304. That poster was trash.

I don't know what they were thinking. I looked at it. and I thought this was going to be like the first ever tag team match. It looks like Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards versus Belaw Mohammed and Curtis Blaze, which, I mean, that'd be wild. I mean, it'd be a good fight, but this poster, it's like a two out of ten. Hopefully they redo it and then, you know, maybe they can start over fresh, put out something decent.

But I wanted to ask you on this fight card this weekend, which fight do you think is going to end the quickest? I'm looking to add some more plays, you know, some more violence plays. I could see some ending inside half around, but in your opinion, which one ends the fastest? Thanks, Mike. Oh, man. Oh, God.

Probably, man, there's... I think it's a race between Julian Marquez and Zach Rees and Bruno Ferreira and Dustin Solzvus. I think it's a race between those two fights. Zach Reese has never been out of the first round. I'll go Marquez-Rees, but it's one of those two fights, I think, honestly. And yes, the 304 poster is, it's poop. It's poop.

Real awful. Real bad effort. Real bad effort. Four corner sports. That we'll go to Abs Wai. Then we got to go. Rapid fire. Go four core sports.

Hey, Mike. So I ended up seeing that the T-Mobile arena ended up, I guess, opposing the whole Conn of McGarger v. Michael Chandler. They were also the same people that ended up breaking the news of John, Jones versus Zero gone after seeing that tweet, is there more optimism that the fight will happen just because what was it? It was like last year, or the year before? That's when in the breaking John Jones versus Zero gone and the USC never mentioned anything

about it and it called Dana by surprise. So after seeing that tweet, how did that make you feel? All right. That's all I got things. Nothing did nothing for me at all. really didn't I bet it made some people feel better but

you know like I said I just I feel much better about things now you know they're this is T-Mobile is about to draw the biggest gate ever like 20 mil they don't want people to start jumping the shark

just yet they don't want people jumping off the board just yet and like selling their tickets or do whatever is this is them just being like Yo, fight's still on. It's not off. Still a couple tickets available and they're disposed money. Go get them. So, I mean, honestly, like, it really did nothing for me.

I wasn't like, ooh, T-Mobile tweeted. Fights happening. Because I feel like they don't know shit in this whole process. The Jones Gone thing was the best. Really enjoyed that. But I think that was kind of a different story where someone just had the info, there was a poster made and ready to go,

and they just popped it on the screen. Some probably lost their job in the process. But, yeah, I didn't compare the two. I didn't compare the two. Change nothing for me. Go ahead. I was while you, close the show. Start, Mark.

A heck of morning. I'll do it really quick. One MMA question and one MBA question. With the MMA question, I just want to ask. I know it's a bit too early to judge. all these upcoming paper views and stuff. But personally, for me, from what I would assume is, you know, been provided for us as fans with the upcoming Conner and London card.

And also, I will presume the Australia Club, because I actually have zero hope on how they're going to actually provide that unless they really do surprises. I just am not really looking forward to them, because I feel there's literally nothing at stake. Like, yeah, sure, okay, they did a good job at stacking that main event. UK, but if you ask me, there's only really two fights that really matter over there. I just personally do not really give a shit for...

Look, I like Leon and Belar. Actually, Dan, it's going to be good for a fight, but I really don't give a shit for that fight. Because to me, I think Leon is just going to be below, honestly. Unless Belaw surprises somehow with his cardio. Tom Asmel Curtis is just such a useless fight, in my opinion. I don't care what anyone says. At best, it's just going to show Tom Asimel is a fucking talented guy. And, you know, even for Arnold, Alan and, you know, Gigar, that's not really, I mean, it's a good fight.

It's amazing matchmaking. But if you asked me, it does nothing for either two guys. I mean, for Arnold, it just puts him back in the wing column, maybe tries to get one more last chance at the featherweight run for a title shot. But, yeah, I'm personally, I'm not really a fan of accepting these pay-per-views. I'm still going to watch them, because obviously there are some parts I'm interested in. But, yeah, that's just, I'm curious if you feel the same way. And one more thing with the NBA is just about Jason Tatum. I know you're a huge Celtics guy and everything.

I'm a big man, Tatum. I just want to know, do you really think he's the most confusing superstar in the league in maybe the last 10 to 15 years? Because I really feel that this man, he's in such a really weird spot. He should really be winning at least an MVP or two. And even if he never wins in his career, it's all right. As long as he can win, I guess, a few finals MVP. a few rings.

He will be where Kauai and DeWayder, but it just kind of pay me to say that it's just a really odd spot for him because he, talent-wise, he's easily a top three-prenner league. I don't care what anyone says. He's a fucking phenomenal guy, but I just really don't see him ever being better than the Luca Donchiks, maybe, you know, like the yokechers of the world. I just don't see how. I'm wondering what your thoughts on that.

That's all I have a great day. I mean, we'll never know. We're just never going to know. The Celtics aren't going to let a team just fall apart and have Tatum be just the only guy. You know what I mean? That's why, like, I feel like the Celtics are just going to roll the Mavericks because the Mavericks, yes, they have Kyrie, but I've never bought it into the, oh, I'm a change, man. Once a choker, always a choker.

And I kind of feel like that's who Kyrie is right now. You know, maybe he's found peace in other ways, but the Celtics always shut him down. Dude doesn't beat the Celtics in 11 games. 0-in-11 against the Celtics in his last 11. Luke is great. Dude can ball. He's fucking great. There's just no way he's going to beat the Celtics by himself.

You see how the Celtics played them last night? It was frigging beautiful. They made Luca work. Like no one else in the league has made him work. You know, you want to make difficult shots cool. We'll let you have them. But when you're on defense, we are going to make you run your ass off and that's what they did.

And they're going to do this shit for the next four games until it's over. It's beautiful. And as far as Tatum goes, he is confusing because no matter what he does, he gets criticized. Stephen A. Criticizes him. He could put up, again, he could put up 71 points in game two and they will still pick him apart on ESPN. Like, it just doesn't happen to most other guys of his level. That's just the way that it is.

So, yeah, he is confusing because no one gives him the credit he deserves. We do. We know how good he is. But the rest of the mainstream media, fans around the world who watch the NBA, they fucking hate the Celtics, they hate Boston, they hate New England teams because we went all the time. And you're sick of it. I get it. And he just happens to be the best player on the basketball team in New England.

The region of the country everybody hates. to sports, but that's okay. Totally fine with that. I don't know. Look, 303 is what it is. It's the Connor show. Yes, we get Ian Gary at BP. Yes, we have Jamal Hill versus Carlos Oldberg.

And like a bunch of other things that are happening. They're putting up-and-coming stars on the cards. That's great. I like 304 a lot. I don't know what you, like, what card you're looking at. But I like 304. Yes, it is Learoff. Leon versus Belal.

It is what it is. Leon is the face of the MMA scene right now in that area. Yes, he should be in the main event. He's the undisputed champion. Balamah Muhammad is the guy. There's nobody else. There's nobody else right now.

So it's got to be him. And when you have a card like this, the amount of cheers, the craziness of the fans all smashed up and drunk at 6 a.m. They're going to go shithouse for Leon Edwards. They're going to go shithouse for Tom Aspinall. Arnold Allen, Giga, Chacadeh, there's a ton of stakes in that fight.

To me, someone's title aspirations end in that fight. Arnold Allen loses, never fighting for a belt. Giga Chikadze loses, never fighting for a belt. I think there are significant stakes in that fight. I really do. Mahama Mikhail Menehl Kopp. That is a great fight. It's a number one contender fight.

stakes galore in that one. Winners fighting Pantosia at the end of the year. Huge fight. And Bobby Green versus Patty Pimblech, come on. That's the best, like honestly, that's the most interesting fight on the entire card to me, including the two title fights. These two are going to talk shit the whole time.

They're going to do what Leon Edwards, Belaw, Muhammad, Tom Aspinall, and Curtis Blades will not do. These two are going to carry the card. Now, Mohamed McIiff and Minel Kopp are going to try to do their trash talk. And let me tell you, folks, it's going to be awful. It's going to be real bad. I mean, all cops are going to say some really heinous shit. And Moham McIv is a terrible trash talker.

Bobby Green and Patty Pimbley, pretty good at this. Pretty good at this. They're going to carry the dais when it comes to bringing heat. This is going to be that fight when by the time we get to 304, this is the fight everyone's going to be talking about. This is going to be the show stealer. This is going to be Alex Pereira versus Sean Strickland, a la UFC 276. This is the one people are going to have their eyes.

on. And we're going to see how good Patty Kimball really is. We're going to find out. It's a fight that Patty can win. It's a fight Patty can't win. If Patty can't take Bobby Green down, he is going to get thumped up something proper in a bad way. But if Patty can get Bobby Green to the mat, things are going to get real weird and interesting. And it's a very winnable fight for Patty. I think this main card is excellent. I think it's an excellent main card. The only thing that would make it more excellent is if we did what we did last year when the UFC did a pay-per-view in the UK was they do it 10 p.m. local time, which means we get afternoon MMA. That would be the only thing that would make this main card better is if we got like a 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. Eastern

main card. It's the only thing holding this one back, in my opinion. the only thing. Other than that, main card is spectacular. Excellent main card. 305, we're going to get the big... We're going to probably get DDP versus Izzy. I mean, we'll see how they do the rest of it.

I assume Kai Kar-France will fight on that card. Maybe do Kai Kar-Fran, Steve Ur-Segg? Love that idea. I don't know if we get Volkanowski on that card, but do, DDP is he's going to carry the load for sure. and yeah I mean I don't know what else they're going to do but dude three of four is great that's a solid card that's a very good main card every fight has meaning every one of them every one of them

and then the spear is just going to be ridiculous and then what October we'll get probably two pay reviews in October from what I'm hearing we'll get Abu Dhabi I assume Salt Lake City will be in October since they got to squeeze that in somewhere. November, MSG, December, Vegas. I mean, yeah, look, 302 was tough. 297 was awful. Even on paper, 297 was awful.

298 was fine. 299 was a great pay-per-view. 300 is going to be the bar that people are going to compare every UFC. event to for the next three years. A 304, like, 304's main card is excellent. It's an excellent main card. It's probably the third best pay-per-view main.

It's the third best pay-per-view main card so far this year, outside of 299 and 300. It's better than 302. It's better than 298. It's better than 297. 303 as Connor. It's better than 303. I know Connor is the biggest star, and that card's going to do bonkers numbers,

but in terms of like quality of fights, 304 is way better than 303 main card, especially when it comes to stake in significance. So I think you're going to be all right, my man. I think you're going to be okay. All right, we're done. Appreciate you all. We'll be back next week.

We'll do this all again. And, yeah, Tuesday, right around 10 a.m. Eastern. We will have a great time. We will discuss the fallout of the weekend that was. and we might have other crazy shit. We didn't even talk about the Nate Diaz-Horhe-Mazidol thing. I totally forgot about that yesterday. Freaking melee into the crowd.

Dude's getting walled around. Pretty wild shit for that card that's coming up in July. And it's going to be a crazy time in the world of combat sports. So get excited. Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy the fights. Preview show for UFC Louisville coming up at noon Eastern on the MA-fighting YouTube channel. Peace out. Have a great rest of your weekend. Have a heck of the morning, everybody.

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