MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Alex Pereira Announcing Move To Light Heavyweight

Episode Date: April 13, 2023

Alex Pereira is moving on from his rivalry with Israel Adesanya — at least, for now — following his UFC 287 loss as he's made the decision to make the jump up to the UFC's light heavyweight division. What does it all mean, and have we overlooked a key piece of this equation when it comes to this situation? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to Pereira's announcement that he's moving to 205, and if he could find his way into a light heavyweight title fight with Jamahal Hill immediately if Jiri Prochazka is not ready to return to action in quick order. Additionally, topics include what could be next for Adesanya at middleweight, if the UFC should go right to Adesanya vs. Khamzat Chimaev, where Dricus Du Plessis fits in this discussion, Brandon Moreno vs. Alexandre Pantoja heading to UFC 290 in July for the flyweight title, the UFC Kansas City main event between Max Holloway and Arnold Allen, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Book direct and save at Best Western. to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Thursday, April 13th, 2023, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the MMA fighting Twitter spaces. You can hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a wonderful week. Obviously, a lot going on in the combat sports world.

Yesterday was a very busy day. We had some blockbuster announcement. which will obviously be talking about today throughout the program. On a personal note, feeling a lot better. I feel like I have come through whatever I had to deal with this past weekend and earlier this week. Actually got a workout in, felt good. And I think we're on the other side of things, which I'm very excited about. We'll discuss some of the news and what we're going to talk about on the show this week.

but I figured today would be a good day to tell a little story, a day in the life of your friend Mike Heck, because yesterday was a very cool day for me, or at least it was shaping up to be that way. I was taking my child to the practice round of the PGA Tours RBC Heritage event, which took place on the Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. very cool to be able to take my son there, but we're part of this group.

So my son takes through golf lessons. It's a group called the first tee. And basically it teaches kids the game of golf, but not just the skill set that it provides, the lessons that can be learned while playing the game, like honor, respect, integrity, the pillars that we should all live by to live honest, good lives. So there is about 25 kids

And obviously I saw this is a cool opportunity to take my kid Who's really getting into golf So I volunteered to shopperone And he was very excited So we go to The campus Which hosts some of the cool stuff that they do In order to teach the kids golf

That's where the bus is going to pick us up And bus pulls in It's not really a bus It's just kind of these, you know, 35-seaters. And we hop aboard the bus. We're getting ready to leave. Bus moves. We hear this sound.

And we're like, oh, what was that? And the way it sounded was, oh, maybe it's just an old bus and needed a little minute to get going. And I hear one of the kids in the backseat say, oh, my God, that's a little bit. bus hit that Explorer back there. And I drive and Explorer. And I'm like, I hope you're joking. And they said, no, I'm dead

serious. The bus hit the Explorer. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me right now. So bus drivers like, you want to go back and take a look? I'm like, yeah, I'm like, if you even have to question this, then there's an even bigger issue at hand that you didn't realize you just hit a car, let alone my car.

So drives back around and sure enough, my back bumper looks like there's multiple eyeballs in it. Just ripped a hole in the back of my bumper. I was not happy at all. I know it was an accident. Bus driver was very apologetic. The company that drove said bus was very apologetic. They got me the information. They were like, look, we'll take care of it. I was like, well, I am going to contact the insurance company. This ain't going to be doing the whole, hey, I'll go and get an estimate and hope and pray that you guys cover it. No, I'm going through the proper channels. And they're like, no, no, I get it.

Do what you got to do. But at the end, like, just get an estimate and we'll cover it. I'm like, well, I'll let the insurance know that that's what you guys want to do. So that's how my day started with a nice big fat hole in a bumper, thanks to the back bumper of a bus that drove us to the golf tournament. So that was the beginning of the day. And then I had to sort of deal with that in the background. while I was chaperoning a bunch of children around a golf course.

Most of the kids were well-behaved. Some of them were just not fun to be around. But it was very cool. Very cool. My kid got a bunch of autographs. Zander Shafley, very cool guy, went and signed all the golf balls and all the apparel and all the stuff, went to every single kid.

It was super cool. There are a few others that did the same. Call Mark Har was another one But all the kids wanted to see was John Rom And we got to watch John Rom play some holes It was cool But all the kids wanted was John Rom One of the people went over and tried to get him

We didn't get them unfortunately But it was a very cool experience Outside of the hole of the back of the bumper So that was how my day started to figure out I would share that information with you But we obviously have a lot to talk about Jake Paul versus Nate Diaz happening in a boxing match, August 5th in Dallas, Texas.

That is, that's something. And of course, we're two days away from the UFC's return to Kansas City. I saw a tweet earlier. I haven't looked at it myself, but apparently ticket sales are not going very well for this card. So if there is a sellout streak that the UFC is touting, it doesn't look like this one's going to be a part of it. If there is still a streak, it's probably going to get snapped. But of course, hell of the main events, Max Holloway versus Arnold Allen.

a fight that I've gotten more into as the days have gone by. I've just learned to accept it. I don't want to... I just feel like we may be living in a world where Max Holloway is the number one contender at 1.45 again, and that's just a tough place to be. After what Volk has done, beating Max three times,

especially what happened this past July, but who knows? Maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe Arnold Lowe will win, and none of this matters. But it's a great fight, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out. But we can talk about Paul Diaz, we can talk about UFC Kansas City,

we can talk about Alex Pereira, making the decision to move to 205 for the time being, which people were tagging me like, oh, finally, Mike Heck can move on. Move on. I mean, look, this is what I said. I wanted the third fight until Pereira came out and publicly said,

I'm moving up. And now he's moving up. So for now, I have moved on, but maybe they'll run it back at 205. I don't know. I don't know. But there's other things going on, too. So let's just get into it. Toke, spend a minute.

What's up, all in toke? Already, aren't we? Because I'm going to use your own words against you. This isn't Bellator. strike merit or the surge vocabulary,

it's time for Adesania versus Hamzad. I'm sorry, Mike. We have to do it. DDP is just not it. I mean, sure,

if you're going to Cape Town in August, there's something, sure, but you're not. You're really not. You know you aren't. And the only fight that is going to sell

Adesania, the biggest fight for Arasania is no doubt. No doubt, Hamzad. There's no... I mean, unless Jan Blakovic is actually serious, which I don't think he was. You said yourself, he's trolling. And I still think he is.

So I'm sorry, Mike. I'm going to use your own words against you. This isn't Bellator. It's time for Hamzaa Chimaev. Have a good Thursday, Mike. To be fair, to be fair, we had the ranking show. I haven't been on a ranking show in a while, and we discussed this very topic.

And we sort of laid out how we would rank the names that could be potentially involved here of which fights we would want to see most. And it was Pereira 3 for me. But number two was Hamzaa Shamiath. It was Hamzaa Shemayev. And Tok, just to let you know, number three on the list, DDP wasn't even number three on my list. DDP was number four on my list. number four because if that fight doesn't happen in Africa I don't want to see it right now I don't think it makes a lot of sense I think Adasania is a minus 700 favorite in that fight

and the bill to it is just going to be ugly and it's not going to be fun because they're just going to talk about who is you know I'm more from this area than he is no I am no I am no you're not I am it's just going to be a argument from Pee Wee's big adventure. I know you are but what am I?

Infinity. I don't need to see this for eight weeks or however long this is going to be that fight week's going to be brutal.

We already have to get ready for Al Jermaine Sterling versus Henry Sehudo and I already am sick of that fight. And we haven't even gotten to fight week yet.

All I needed to see was one face-to-face interview with those guys and I was just like oh boy, this is going to be awful. This is just going to be awful.

And I feel like it's going to be very similar vibes with this. So process of elimination, I'm with you on the Hamzot thing. That's the fight to make, in my opinion. Number three was the Whitaker fight, and I know a lot of people think I'm crazy for saying that, but I want to see those two guys fight again.

I'm kind of in the New York-Rick train of thinking where if after the dust settles with other rivalries, if the champion and the guy he beat twice and enough time has passed at least where the second best guy is the guy he beat twice and there's nobody else really then I'm cool with that. If the choices are DDP and Robert Whitaker,

I want to see Robert Whitaker right now. Now, if DDP goes out and gets a win over somebody not named Derek Bruncett or Darren Till, somebody who already doesn't have a foot out the door of the UFC Octagon, my mind will change a little bit. If he goes, if DDP goes out beats Martin Vittori or somebody like that, okay, my mind has changed.

I'm in. But if we get, geez, Louise, Adasanya Hamzat is a crazy fight. I just wish, I just, or we can just do Hamzaat versus DDP and winner gets, winner gets the title shot? I don't know.

But the fight I wanted the most is the Pereira fight because I felt you had to do it now. but now that doesn't apparently seem to be a thing because Pereira is moving up to 205 and I don't know what the hell we're going to do I don't know what the hell they're going to do we will see my best friend

welcome what's going on my best friend wow that was aside did you watch AEW Dynamite last night is that what your reaction because it was mine I watched Toronto Rafters last night well congratulations that was a nice win why would you be why why are you why are you why are you being like this listen I know it's not an effort Friday but uh for anyone I mean

not that anyone should care about the Toronto Raptors because they're a garbage team so I understand a lot of people probably didn't watch last night's game they uh they lost the game playing game by four points not that it matters that they you know they're not going to make it out of the first round anyway but they look pretty good Mike my Toronto Raptors they did Matarado's look pretty good, except for one thing, all night, brick and free throws because Tamara D'rosan's daughter was screeching at them. And these are grown men. They lost the game by four points to miss 18 free throws.

So I know this isn't an FIT Friday, Mike, but I'm still coping with this embarrassing loss. Can you think of, let's just make this M.A. related because I don't know who gives a crap. Can you think of what would you say is the greatest, the greatest, the greatest choke job in in in in may it doesn't even have to be a championship fight because I I think not to answer the question for you but I think the first thing that most people would come to mind you know chel sonin of four rounds to none against um and then of course literally getting choked in the in the fifth round but is there

any other examples to come out again it doesn't have to be a championship fight because it certainly wasn't a championship game on uh on wednesday uh the team is very far from competing for anything like that so yeah can you think of any other any other people in the bag. Maybe not even in a fight. Maybe even career-wise, a career choke. But help me, Mike, help me get through this. This was, I'm in a lot of pain right now. Well, I mean, A.K.A. at least, at least you're not Magamette Ankelyev. Because remember when Magamemate Ankelyev was just putting the absolute wood to Paul Craig for 14 minutes and 59 seconds. And then with one second left, Ankeliath was tapped by Paul Craig. I mean,

that's a tough one. That's a tough one. That's like the Raptors being up 14 points with like one second left in the game and somehow the NBA instituted a new rule that next basket wins. And they were like, okay. And the Bulls just scored and won the game. That's kind of the other example. But I apologize. That's tough. You know, especially being a

a Boston sports fan at the moment where we have the Celtics who are probably going to go to the NBA finals. We have the Bruins who are probably the greatest hockey team of all time this season.

But I feel for you, my best friend. Yeah, Sondon's up there. You could probably say Leon Edwards, Usman won. Usum cruising, about a minute away from rewriting history

as we know it in a lot of respects. and then he gets kicked in the face. So those are two examples up the top of my head, but this one felt more Ankelyif Craigie than Son and Silva-e. 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 rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries,

deliver those too, along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats Now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness

is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence. While Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress.

Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross-training treadplus at one peloton.ca. Ani, hello. Sorry to hear about your car, man. I hope it gets fixed. And so what did I want to talk about? Man, I just forgot. Okay, fine.

So about UFC 290. Okay, before UFC 290, Yes, I got my train of thought back. I do not know if there is any other fighter whose fight I've been looking forward to. It makes me nervous. As in whenever there is a Max Holloway fight coming up, it makes me extremely nervous.

As in like, I root for Max Holloway so much that, you know, usually when it's leading up to the fight, you know, there's media day, there's, you know, interviews with Max Halloway. interviews with all the fighters, but I'm so nervous that I'm not even watching the interviews. That's how nervous I am. And I am excited for the fight, but I dread it, Mike. Like, this is one of those fights that I dread.

Like, seriously. Like, I'm so damn scared. And another thing that tears me apart is I've met Arnold Allen. Like, I met him in Manchester last year. He's such a sweet person. Like, we had this really nice conversation about Iron Maiden. Like, he's a huge Iron Maiden fan. It was so nice.

But, man, like, I'm, I have to watch Max Holloway versus Arnold Allen. I think, man, it's, it just breaks my heart. But anyway, why is the UFC building UFC Mexico and international fight week? Like, there's Alexander Wolkenovsky versus Yaya Rodriguez and Brandon Moreno versus Alejandre Pantoja. I don't mind that card. I mean, both of them are really good fights, but isn't UFC looking to go to UFC Mexico? And are they planning to do that?

And do we have anything on John Jones with a steep amoeych? As in, like, Dana White, I think, like, he changes his opinion more times than he changes its clothes, man. Like, the other day he was saying Francis Angano left because of John Jones, and now he says, John Jones just disappeared. It's like now he's actually, you know,

spying in the way that it's John Jones's fault or whatever. Yes, that's all I had. Thanks. Thanks, man. Yeah, the Holloway, our Allen fight is interesting. Again, like when it was booked, I love the fight in a vacuum, just wanted something different for Arnold,

only because as of right now, unless, I mean, I've watched almost, I've watched so many fights on these guys over the last few days. Unless something just really changes my mind. Like if Max Holloway just looks like Garbo on the scale or something, I think Max is going to win this fight. I feel pretty good about picking Max here. Arnold's really good, but this is one of the things that kind of worries me about the fight. I think Max matches up really well with Arnold.

I think the fact that this is a five-round fight helps Max a lot because Max ain't going to slow down for five rounds. Arnold has had the tendency to slow down late in fights. And Allen can crack, man, but Holloway is just one of those guys that you just cannot get out of there. And I don't think Alan is the guy to do it. I don't think Alan's the guy to get him out of there. And I think the longer this fight goes, the more it favors Max.

I think Max is going to end up winning this fight. But I could be wrong. and Alan could have his crowding moment, but I get it if you're a hallway fan. It's a weird fight. It's a great fight. There's a lot of respect for Arnold Allen. It's almost like a win-win for fans

because you love both guys. I think this is a tough hill to climb for Arnold. I could be wrong, but let me see what the odds are. Yeah, the betting odds are kind of with me on this one. Minus 185 for max. I'm having right around minus 200. value I think is probably on Arnold, but it's, I get where you're coming from.

I get where you're coming from. The International Fight Week stuff, I don't think they're building. Look, Dana talked about this at the press conference. I had heard some things as well. Mexico City is probably unlikely for 20203. There's just too many logistical red tape areas to leap over at the moment.

I could see potentially 2024 something happening kind of like how I feel about UFC Africa it ain't easy to get there you can't just be like all right we're going to go to Africa we're just going to go to Mexico especially after like post-pandemic

and everything going on it's not going to be easy and Dana admitted at the press conference like they've sort of dropped the ball in Mexico they've effed up so I just unless something crazy happens I just don't think it happens this year. So we got Volcanovsky versus Yair. And I think most of this is coincidence,

if we're being honest, with the Mexico tie, because again, look at what's headlighting 289. We have Amanda Nunes versus Giuliana Pena 3, which I don't want to take anything away from either fighter, but very few people outside of Amanda and Juliana and their camps want to see this fight again. And I thought Giuliana was really interesting on the MMA hour. People still calling it a fluke. I'm not one of those people. I think Giuliana caught a man in Duna is on the right day. And it's not a fluke.

I think that on that night, Juliana just beat her and beat the hell out of her. Took her best shots, walked through him. Manda got tired, and Giuliana beat her up and finished her and won the fight. Amanda made the adjustments, and we saw what happened in the second fight. I expect seeing very similar in the third fight,

but it's just one of those weird fights are just like, eh, I feel like we don't really need any more resolution here, but this is where we're going to get. So we have to fill this other spot for International Fight Week. Who better than Brandon Marino to do it? Brandon's over like Rover right now, especially after the Figgy win, Fit putting them away.

Pantosia's the right fight. Boom. There you go. that's what we have. As far as the the Jones-Stepe thing, this is the fight the UFC still wants from conversations I've had.

It just, July just seems like it wasn't going to happen. July, unless something massive changes, it ain't happened in International Fight Week. John kind of alluded to that after he beat Cyril Gaon, sort of said July might be too soon, after all the work you did, the comeback, everything that went into it, March and July just seemed like it might have been a bridge too far,

but then John pulled the social media card, Steepa, where are you at, why are you running? And then Steepa is like, I'll do July, just fine, pal. We'll see you then. So I would say September, October. Well, maybe not October because of Babi-Dobby, but early fall, September, August? I don't know. But July is kind of out of the running for right to second.

So this is why we get Moreno Pantoja. That's probably going to be the two title fights. Unless maybe they want to turn Izzy around real quick. And then do you want to do three title fights on the card? Do you want to risk it? Because it looks like they want to go back to London again in July after the International Fight Week card. I was told they were going to do two people for years in July. I think it's the 22nd is the London card.

The 29th was, that's what, like, at least a week ago was slated to be the second pay-per-view card. But now Dana said, nope, I want the 22nd to be the pay-per-view card. And you have to assume that at this point, it's probably going to be Leon versus Colby headbinding that one. But who knows? Like I told you on the show, when those reports came out, I wasn't saying they were wrong, but they were premature.

They were premature. To say that that fight was both sides are on board and that's what was happening, was not true. No decisions are going to be made until 287 was over. But now I think cooler heads will prevail. That's probably the fight we end up getting. But we'll see what happens. But, yeah, again, unless something crazy happens, I would not expect John Jones, Steve A. Meitchitch on the International Fight Week card. let's go to Four Corner Sports.

Hey, Mike. Are you in here? Yep. So I actually wouldn't mind seeing three title fights on the International Fight Week. I think the person that could possibly do it is, is there are anastanya. And obviously the question is, who should you fight? I mean, I mean, I think it was an area to put it out there as a shot stricken as maybe like a dark horse. I don't know how you think about that.

I know he came off a win over the guy that Calvin Gasson always can never get into a fight with, forget his name, he was on the top of my head. And I know he will support in December as well. But I don't know. What's your opinion on that? I mean, I know Strickland and Sean, you know, going to be like each other and that whole, I think he was there for last year on International Fight Week. when Sean was trying to get underneath

his skin, so maybe that can work out if they can't go to the drinkage that season is up. But I wanted to ask you, why is Brandon Voiego and Matthias Nicolau on the damn Freeloms on USC Kansas City? I feel like this could have been

perfectly suited for maybe a Colman event. I get it. It's their flyways, but I feel like this fight rules. I feel like the winner of this fight more than likely gets a title shot. I didn't see it on anybody that time, so obviously I know the Golden Rule.

It's not official, but it does seem like it is a rumor. Connell Cop versus Davis to Higaredo, what are the opinions on that? And how many fights does Minel Cop need in order to get himself a fight? Because that's a fight I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, Nel Cobb versus Brandon Moreno. I feel like that would be bombers.

All right, Mike. Thanks. And I have a blunt. Yeah, Roy Val-Nicholao should be on the main card. I have no idea why that's not on the main card, but I don't know. Maybe things will change. Maybe things will change. The people revolted and got Casey O'Neill, Jennifer Mai on the main card for 286. So maybe the revolution will work again and get that fight up there. But I don't know. And again, some fighters just like, probably don't even care because of the fight nights.

They're like, all right, my job's done. We're writing it out early. It's all the same kind of thing. It's not a pay-per-view. It's all on the same network, on the same sort of stream. So it's like, who really cares? But I get where you're coming from. This fight should be higher up on the card.

It should have more of a spotlight on it, no doubt about it. I did see the rapport from the great C.C. Legaspi about Manel Cobb versus Davis and Figurato. Seems like there is smoke to that fire, but we have not fully confirmed that fight yet. So stay tuned for that. Could you do Izzy versus Strickland? Yeah, you could.

I mean, that's something I've thought about, just to add a little spice to this thing. And again, you know, there's this big sale and this big merger that is not finalized yet, but you can get three title fights on, the card that is going to have the biggest spotlight on it. It's not a bad one to have on there.

That thing's going to build up. I mean, the build to that fight's going to be awful, too. Got to be fair about it. The build to DDP is going to be awful. This one's probably going to be just as awful, if not more awful. But John Strickland stole the freaking show last year at International Flight Read. The dude stole the show. Stole Media Day.

He stole the press conference. God Izzy riled up a little bit. And again, as we say, this is not Bellator Strike deserves and strike meritocracy from all the records and conversations it's a tough hang giving a guy

who has lost two out of three fights and was knocked out brutally by the former champion a title shot when the win he has is against a guy I don't even think is ranked anymore and it was at 205 on short notice kind of tough

but again none of that matters by the time you get to that fight people are going to be talking about it strickland will give you plenty of bulletin board material plenty of stuff to build promos with could happen wouldn't shock me that

if this is going to fight on that card it's probably that fight I don't think he's fighting Hamzad on that card from all indications and by the way, don't say like, oh, Mike Kirk reported this. No, nothing is done on this, on this fact, on this aspect, but the UFC really, from what I understand, the UFC really wants Hamzaa versus Paul Costa on that Abu Dhabi card.

That's what they want. Not done, nothing's set, anything of that nature. That's what the UFC wants. Now, plans could change because we have a new champion and all the merger and all the stuff, who the hell knows. But I feel like Hamzat's not going to get a title shot right away. You might as well strike, get the cost of fight done.

I just wish we didn't have to wait until probably October to get it. But that's where we're at right now. Joe, hello. Hey, Mike. So I was really happy to hear the news about Pereira moving up to 205. I think I'm so glad we got the easy fights, but I just have a hard time believing that 185 wasn't affecting his performance. And I want to see, I think he's a good enough personality,

a good enough fighter that I want to see him kind of carve his own way healthily at 205, then make another cut that could affect his performance down to 185 for sort of what would be probably a last fight at 185 for a title shot. But with that being said, what do you think of Pereira versus the winner of Walker Smith? I say that mostly because I want to see the kind of like Looney Tunes, Three Stooges-esque physics that could occur with Pereira knocks out Johnny Walker. What sort of ridiculous slapstick reaction that would get? And then also, is he against DDP?

I think people are discounting. I don't know if you saw this, but DDP's head coach came out and said that he got some form of nose surgery that it's going to allow him to breathe better in the octagon and that he was only getting 8% oxygen prior to this nose surgery coming in. So with that in mind, what are your thoughts on DDP versus Izzy, DDP possibly beating Jorge Mosvedal's knockout record and knocking D or Izzy out in two to three seconds? given his 92% increased oxygen intake. Thanks so much, Mike. Have a good one. Yeah, Pereira. Look, it's better for Pereira right now to go to...

Look, you're going to miss out on the bag with Izzy, but again, it doesn't mean you can't get it. Pereira ain't going to be waiting long for a title shot at 205. He's probably going to only need one win and he's going to get his shot. And who knows? They might just give him the title shot. They might just give it to Pereira. Jamal Hill, obviously the UFC wants Jamal Hill to fight Yuri Perashka.

That's the fight that everybody wants to see. That's the fight I want to see. Well, let's just say Yuri has been too optimistic about his timeline for a return from an injury that Dana White said is the worst shoulder injury he's ever seen in his entire UFC career. Yuri seems to think he'd be able to fight this summer. Doesn't seem like that's the case because we don't have any fight announcement. Well, let's just say like

Yuri ain't ready. It doesn't seem like Ankleif is on the UFC's good side right now. Doesn't seem like they're in any rush to give Yanni Blocko a title shot. Kind of feel like Alex is like the next guy up. Kind of feel like they would go Pereira over any of those other guys if Yuri can't go. And if Pereira wins.

the belt and Izzy wins another fight or even if he doesn't. Now you can do the trilogy up there. So this move because even he said, like it's not because I can't make the weight. Does it affect his performance? Perhaps we don't really know.

Because Prerner looked pretty good up until the moment he got knocked out. We all thought he was about to knock Izzy out until he got clipped with that overhand right. But Prairie making this move unless to me, he ain't making this move unless he's got a massive fight on the horizon. So the UFC must be telling him

and maybe Dana kind of like planted those seeds. Eh, I think he's probably going to 205. Why? Why? It just seemed like such an easy thing to say unless there are doubts that Yuri Pajasca is coming back to fight as soon as Yuri thinks he is. It's so fact so.

Here we go. Pereer is going to get the shot. against Jamal Hill. Maybe he becomes a... Can you imagine that, though? Alex Pereira makes his UFC debut in November of 2021. And in this world, by the end of 2023,

Alex Pereira could be in the UFC record books as a two-division UFC champion. Like, that is just insane. Absolutely insanity. And the DDP thing, look, said the same thing about Justin Gachi. That's why... They said the same thing about Justin Gaitzzi, against Raphael Paziv.

We have a, Justin Gajou can breathe out of his nose for the first time in his fighting career. And it seemed to work out good for him. But, again, it's not the gas tank in DDP looking tired in fights that makes me think Adasani would be a minus 600 favorite. It's the way DDP fights. It's the way DDP fights. He leaves himself wide open to just. get clipped. He's chaotic.

And that has been to his advantage in a lot of his fights. But Izzy ain't going to just sit there and not make him pay with the way DDP just kind of puts, keeps his chin up in the air. I just don't think that fight goes well for DDP. At least right now.

But who knows? But interesting stuff. Breer might be just getting himself title shot. What's up for on? Hey, what's up, Mike? Heck of a morning. So I haven't listened to Otno yet, so I'm pretty sure you guys already matched made for Alex Pereira. I thought I had the perfect pick until I heard you guys talking about maybe he fights for a title soon at a light heavyweight.

But what do you think about him versus Nikita Krillov? I mean, Nikita, I think, what does he rank, number six or seven? He's a contender right now, and then you can just rush Alex Pereira and try to get him a quick title shot. Yeah, I mean, look, he ain't moving up to 205 to four. fight Makita Krilov when he's got the biggest fight he could possibly have next at 1805. The UFC would figure out a way to make that fight happen. But I just don't, he's not going up to 205 unless he's got something ahead of him and it ain't Nikita Krilylov. A.K's, my, my suggestion was just do the trilogy fight and get it done now at 185, but maybe I was wrong

about that. Maybe I didn't think enough about this. Where, why are we? rushing Pereira so quickly. And then we realize maybe it's out of just necessity. Because the UFC ain't, they're just not going to give Ankelaia if a title shot. Angolae might be the best light heavyweight in the world right now, but he ain't getting

rushed to a title fight. Dana-Oye was not happy with that Janbojovich fight. And I didn't think it was that bad. I didn't think it was that bad. It ended in kind of a sour note, but the first three rounds are pretty compelling. It's pretty compelling, like, first 65% of that fight. but it doesn't seem like these guys are in any rush.

And with the Yanni Blako thing, he seems serious about it. He's telling people like, I ain't joking. I still don't know how he makes 185. He said he can make it three to four months. How the hell is that guy going to make 185? He's 40. I can't even make 185 right now. And I ain't nowhere near the size of Yanni Blocko.

So, I mean, if you can do it, God bless them, but why do it? Why do it? I like to AK suggestion. It ain't going to happen. But if we're just like having fights for fight's sakes, Pereira versus Cleo Roundtree is just ridiculous. Do Pereira? Like, oh, that's just, that's just wild. We can keep the story continuing on of Cleo Roundtree taking out all these elite kickboxers.

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So we haven't been able to get him in. Let's see if we can get him in now. Hello. I think, I'll ask a question. I think, what about Megumei and Kulav and Alex? I think Megu Megamegov and Alex would be really nice. Then, I'm going to be really nice. I also think, you know, I don't actually feel Costa is a good opponent for Kamsat,

but I really feel Kamsat literally finish Kastah. But I feel Wittaker would be a good matchup for Kamsat, you know, to really know if Kamsat is really, really good. You know, I think Widdaker is a good opponent for Kamsat. But right now for Israel, you know, I think, you know, I think Strickland should be given a fight with maybe victory, you know, then after that, then maybe Strickland can fight Israel, you know. Yeah, man, but again, this ain't Bellator.

This is the UFC. None of that. We don't deal with merit. We don't deal with earning your right for the most part. There's a story already. The UFC could already build a promo for Israel, Adasania, Sean. Strickland right now. And let's be clear.

As a fight fan, do you really want to watch Sean Strickland fight Marvin Vittory? That might be one of the all-time, just tough hangs. That might be the middle-weightiest middle-way fight of all-time, Sean Strickland versus Marvin Vittory. Homs out Whitaker would be great, but I think the UFC is too smart to not make that fight. Because I think honestly, if there's one guy who I would, And I wouldn't confidently pick him over Hamzat. But if there's one guy that I think I might pick over Hamzat Shamaif at 170 or 185,

it might be Robert Werdecker. It might be right. It might be good old Bobby Knuckles. That might be the tough stylistic matchup for Hamzot. And that includes Adasanya. And the goal here is to get Hamzat to a title fight. So you chuck him in there with Paul Costa. Those two guys are going to steal the show all week long, the entire build.

ahead of that Abu Dhabi card. And there's a lot of people who feel like Hongzad might have his hands full of Paul. I don't know if I'm one of those people, but there's a lot of people who feel that way. But yeah, look, that's the fight. Those two guys hate each other. There's beef.

Again, UFC can build a promo already with the material they have with those two guys. So, yeah, and Strickland Vittori, God, that would be a tough build, too. And I just don't think the fight's all that compelling. I think it's just a, that would be a tough one to watch. We'll go to Abs Waya, then we'll go to Mike. So I have two things I just want to ask.

The first thing regarding on Saturday with the Max Holloway, Arnold Allen. So let's say obviously Arnold Allen wins. He'll obviously wait for a title shot between Yaria and Alex. However, do you reckon if Yaya were to beat Alexander Wakanowski on July, and obviously they'll run a rematch back in possibly Mexico, So should Arnold just wait out a title shot or should he fight maybe Brian Ortega just if he's willing to do a tune-up? And my other question is regarding Bilal Muhammad, you know, we know that he wants to fight Kamara Rusman. Do you think he's really shooting himself on the foot by, you know, screw up that promotion he had with trying to fight Colby Covington.

Because if I were the UFC, I would have probably made that fight or maybe a fight with Gilbert Burns. I think it would be good for to see who's the next number of contended between those two after Colby Wesleyan is done. Let me hear your thoughts. No, because I just don't think Bilal had really any chance of getting the Colby fight, and I think you realize that. Even with the beef and even with the John Anick stuff and even with the Law getting over, he had no chance getting that fight.

So let's go for Usman. And that's smart. Balala is starting to learn. Bilal is starting to learn. That is exactly the fight he should. be shooting for right now. Usman coming off of a loss, coming off now two losses.

He's a former champion. He's considered in a lot of people's eyes the second best Walterweight of all time. That is prize fighting. That's the Colby Covington book of prize fighting right there. You take the biggest name who's on a skid,

who has merit to his resume, and you fight that guy. If you beat that guy, you'll probably get yourself into a title shot. Now, Gilbert Burns, on the other end, kind of shot himself at the foot with his whole with his post fight stuff

I'm not fighting unless I'm the backup I'm not fighting unless it's for the belts or release me and of course it appears as I said on onto the next one not a good call and he's kind of backed off that city he's sort of trolling

most of the time anyways so what was the point of that like what was the point of all that he should have went right for ball ball's there he's making head lines, get the Colby shirt on. He should have called for Belaw right there and then. So now I feel Burns is out of this mix because of how he handled everything.

Bilal, there's a good, I would say this is a pretty decent chance Bilal gets that Usman fight. But if not, you go with, if you're Bilal and you can't get Usman, Ousman, Ousman's going to be out for the rest of the year or something. You try to pivot your way back to Gilbert because you don't want to fight Shafka-Rakman. You don't want that to happen.

But maybe Gilbert kind of talked himself into fighting Shafkar at bottom. I don't know. I don't know. We'll see what happens. Mike, call out. Hey, Mike. What's going on? Echoing morning to you. I'm just coming off the high UFC 287 down in Miami. I mean, I was in attendance. It was crazy.

But my question is more on, I think Pajara should go, when he goes up to 205, I actually like the matchup. I don't know. I came in kind of late. Of Alec Alexander Rackage and then put him up there. Everybody keeps talking about this. Stint trilogy. I don't mind a little bit of breathing room in between fights.

I kind of want to see him go up against rackage and then see what that comes up to and then get a title shot there and then maybe possibly try to set up double champ Izzy at 205. Paeta looked kind of, I saw him in the fighter hotel. He looked kind of drained. I don't think that man can make 85 again. And then besides that, is nobody talking about DDP versus Strickland to see who would get the actual number one contender, and then maybe

Izzy takes, even Izzy can take a light heavyweight fight in between, even if it's like a top 10, top 15 type of guy, a round tree there, just to kind of put something in that middle space, and then fight the winner of Strickland, DDP, in like

October, November, in MSG. Maybe, I don't know. Again, Pereira's not, like, I just don't see Pereira moving up to 205 to fight Rackage. Why would he do that? What's the point? He has a multi-million dollar fight ahead of him. Even if the weight cuts too much, he could do it one more time and make a big bag of money.

But he's going to move up to 205 to fight Alexander Rackage. I just, why would he do that? No. I don't think that happens at all. I think Pereira is going to fight for the title. He's going to fight for the belt. I just don't know why else move up. Rackich ain't going to do it.

But does anybody really care? You're going to give up the big bag to go fight. I don't know. I mean, I blame myself for not leaning into this a little bit more and being like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. Maybe Yuri's just not ready to fight, so they're just going to give him a title shot. I don't know. I don't know what they're going to do. I could be wrong, and they'll just throw them in there with somebody.

But we were talking, like, we were literally talking after Pereira beat Adasana. Let's just give him the title shot. Let's just have him fight Jamal Hill right now. Avenge the loss for his fallen brother. We're just talking about this, like two months after he won the middle-way title. I don't know. Strange times, my friends. Strange times.

Alan, hello. You hear me, Mike? Sorry. All good, I got you. I'm at work, man, so you might hear a radio in the background. I guess my pick from like two days ago for the Siamese boxing match between the Paul brothers and the Diaz, brothers ain't going to happen. So my question, if we're trying to get Paheda on a fast track to a title fight or just trying to build a resume, and I apologize that this has already been brought up,

why not put him against the loser of Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker? You have name value, recognition, you have a ranking. I don't know, I think it could be a good segue for him to push up the rankings, maybe fight one more time before putting them into a title fight. I just don't think Paheda has the experience other than knocking out Strickland and fighting Izzy. I don't know. That's all I got. Thanks, Mike.

Right. But he didn't have the experience. Again, I mean, look, I get where you're coming from. I would love to live in a bellatorish world where if a guy's going to move up, you've got to earn your right. I get it. But in Pereira's case, he is sitting on the precipice of the biggest fight he could possibly get right now. The biggest fight he could possibly get is right there for him. It's right there.

Do you see the crowd? They did a massive gated MSG with this fight. They did even bigger gates in Miami with this fight. And now it's one-one in the UFC with both guys knocking out the-y-up. other. A third fight between these two guys is ginormous. It's huge. It's huge.

And Pereira made the weight. He's 185. Look, it's a lot of weight for the man to cut. But he even said, the man even said it himself. And Pereer doesn't seem like a guy who's, who lies. He said, look, I ain't moving up because of the weight cut. I'm moving up. Like, I could do it.

I'm just, I'm moving up for a different challenge or whatever. why would he just make the decision to move up if he's not in line for something huge? Like, Pereira fighting Anthony Smith? Like, yeah, it would be like a cool name on the resume, but is he moving up to 205 to fight Anthony Smith or Johnny Walker?

I don't think so. Like, I get it from like a fan's perspective, like, oh, we want to see this guy go get a win. But again, this is the UFC.

This is not Bellator. This is not the PFL. it's not one championship it's let's get the biggest fights on the books right now and the way the UFC is looking at this is how can we get how can we get to this third fight with Israel Adasania and how can we make it as special as can be let's give Alex Pereira a title shot right now at 205 and you best believe if Alex Perra wins that fight and wins the belt guess who he's fighting next is fighting Israel Adasania they're going to give Izzy a second chance at becoming a two-division champion.

I just don't see why Pereira would forfeit this huge, massive fight, which has already done like $20 plus million worth of box office, not to mention the pay-per-view buys, to fight Anthony Smith, who's not even headlining in Charlotte. I get where you're coming from. And I would love to live in that world. But we don't. We don't live in that universe.

We live in, let's, and look, there's this massive merger that's about to go public between the UFC and WWE. They want to make it look like they are making a floppy trillion dollars with every single event. This is what they're doing. And of course, knowing my luck with things, tomorrow they're like, just announced for international fight weed, Alex Pereira is fighting Alex Santa Rackage or he's stepping in to fight. Walker at UFC Charlotte. And then I'll be like, oh, you were right and I was wrong. But I just don't think

Pereira's moving up unless he's got something that's being discussed in a big way. Jay Statt, hello. Hello, Mike. A heck of a morning to you. You too. What is your thoughts about the Manal Cop

versus Davidson Figueroa in the works? And also, I think the third fight between Izzy and Alex will definitely happen at 205 once Alex beats Jamal Hill. I think that's going to be a tough fight for Alex, but I think Alex is going to catch him with something. And that's all.

Yeah, and I think that's kind of what they're looking at right now. I don't think Dane is, the way we looked at it in the aftermath of 287 was like, why just rush this man up to 205? Like, why just rush him up when you have this massive fight? when we didn't really take into account, oh, we need Jamal Hill to fight somebody compelling. And if it's not Yuri for Haska,

who would be the most compelling challenge for Alex Pereira, or for Jamal Hill right now? It's Alex Pereira. We have a storyline. Jamal Hill beat the hell out of Glover Tashira, retired the man, the mentor, the coach,

the head man for Alex Pereira. The guy who gave him the speech, you got to go knock this guy out heading into round five. And he does. Alex Perrette, there's a story there already. And it's the big, 205 just is not a great division. Like, look at how we had to end last year.

Look how we did to start this year. Just to put a belt around somebody's waist because the UFC fumbled the bag with this whole yeary thing. And I still, to this point, do not believe there is any shred of truth to Yeri's saying, you know what? I respect this division so much.

UFC, that he picked up the phone. It was like, hey, I will vacate the belt of my own. I don't think that's the case at all. Because it doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense. They left Francis and Ghanu hold on to the title the entire time he was a free agent, essentially. Or he was working on this deal with the UFC.

Knowing full well that there's a very good chance he ain't coming back. And Francis got to keep the belt. But all of a sudden, Yuri Perashka hurts his shoulder, and then that same day he can't fight, they're just stripping him of the belt. Just so we could have a main event

for a vacant title between Jan Belhovic and Magamana and Goliath? Like, what sense does that make? And now look at where we're at right now. Now look at what this division is. Jamal Hill had a performance of a lifetime, so it worked out great for him. now they're hoping

Eerie can come back just so they can do that fight and I love that fight love it absolutely love it hope it happens but if not the next best thing

is Jamal Hill versus Alex Pereira because of the story attached to it and because you have two dudes who could knock the other out like that is just way more compelling

than Angolaev or Janboehovich and Angoliath probably beats all these guys but he just Angolaevs just had kind of an it he got the Tiago Santos

fight for the sole purpose of going out there and running over that man and he didn't do it he beat an injured Anthony Smith and then he probably

should be the champion right now for being honest but fights Jan Bolobitch to a draw and now we're in this position it's just and now

those two both are kind of out of the equation because they had that fight that should have just been an interim freaking title fight to begin with. Ugh. They mishandled that whole situation. I mean, it worked out great for Jamal Hill because he shot a lot of people up with his performance,

but this is all just such a mess. 205 is just, it's just there. Yusuf, hello. Sure. Because I appreciate the comments. I agree that the situation at Light Heavyweight is kind of a mess right now, for sure. you know honestly personally speaking i'm not very high on jemal hill i don't think he's i don't i don't think he's the true champion as you know most of us know i'm not high on his skill set either

and and clearly you know i think eerie is the real champ but um i guess with alex going up to 205 um it does kind of create a problem i guess with yury as well too because you know if they want to make that matchup right away, Pereira and Jamal Hill, then Yuri is going to be waiting in the wings. And I think, honestly, once he's ready to go, I think he'll beat both Jamal Hill and Alex Pahara. So it's, you know, and in terms of the actual matchup, I think if it was, you know, Yeri was a champ currently,

then, you know, the Pahara versus Yerri matchup would be absolutely lightening. compared to the one versus Jamal Hill. But I understand, you know, they want to get the beheada the belt, you know, right away type of thing. But I think it's kind of pushing the can down the road because once he's ready, he's going to be wanting that belt. And if they do Adasania versus Bejara at 205, then, you know, what happens to Yuri at that point?

So, you know, I would have, I think in a perfect scenario, it would have been Yeri versus Bejara. at this time, you know, if he was ready, and he was still the champ, obviously, but unfortunately that's not the case. So, anyways, yeah, I just want to hear your comments there, number one. I had another quick one or two on the lightweight division.

Charles and Darius fighting in a few weeks here. If Charles wins, do you think the UFC has an appetite to see the rematch of Islam versus Charles? Personally, I think it doesn't sound to me like a compelling matchup, to be honest. obviously if it was benil that wins then you know right away you slot him right away with Islam but the rematch of Charles versus Islam

I'm not sure if there's a big big appetite for that so you know what do you think is next for Islam if Charles gets the gets a victory in a few weeks thanks Mike Justin Porier I think it's Dustin Porier I think Dustin Porier I think Dustin gets the title shot if Charles wins because you're right there is

there's not going to be a big appetite for for Olivera not yet anyways some people want to see look there's a lot of olivera fans out there and those people would love to see it i just don't know a world where that fight goes any differently i just don't even the bill and i picked charles olivera and i even said the entire bill to that fight everything on paper screams to me that islam machochev is going to dump truck charles olivera everything everything all the tape study all the watching back of the fights, everything told me that Isamakachev was going to run over Charles Oliver.

That this was a horrible stylistic matchup for him. And I ended up going with Oliver because I picked against him too many times and his chaos factor. Maybe he would land something crazy. Every time I think he's going to lose, he finds a way to win just, and it doesn't make sense that that title run didn't make sense in a lot of respects just because it was so magical.

And I just don't know if that fight goes any different. differently. So, and I think the matchmakers probably look at it the same. So I would say Dustin Poria would probably get the title shot. If Darius wins, Darius gets a title shot, the world will be right again. I agree with a lot of what you said about the 205 stuff, but I do disagree with you about Jamal Hill. I think this guy is the real deal. I wasn't completely sold on him. And I understand that Globert Cheshire was, you know, 40 something years old. But this is a dude that went hammering tongs with Yuri Parashka. It was about to beat Yuri before he got submitted.

And Jamal just beat the brakes off him. Jamal beat him up everywhere on the feet, on the ground, everywhere. This was, there was the Jamal Hill coming out party. And you could feel how you feel about him being the champion and how Yuri kind of got screwed in the situation, which I think is true. Like I said before, I don't think Yuri was like, you know what, UFC? I'll vacate the title on my own merits.

I don't think that happened. I don't. And it's such a weird situation. We never know the truth, but that's just how I feel personally. Jamal got the opportunity. I don't blame him for it. But after that performance against Glover, the way he hammer and tongs,

it just dominated Glover. I want to see him fight Eerie so bad. I want to see that fight so bad. I think it's a super compelling fight. I think Jamal Hill is really good. Is he the best light heavyweight in the world? Right now? Time will tell.

I don't think so at the moment. But do I feel better about his potential of being the best light heavyweight in the world after that performance against Glover? You're damn right, I do. And I think he's got a shot against Yuri. But those names right there, that's what makes us all interesting.

So it makes this all interesting. Jamal Hill versus Yuri, fun as hell. Jamal Hill versus Alex Pereira, fun as hell. And if Alex Pereira wins that fight and Yuri's not ready to come back, He goes and fights Izzy. Whoever wins that fight gets to fight Yuri Pajshka. We could be living in a world, friends.

Or we get Israel-A-Shania versus Yuri Pahashka. Can you imagine that shit? Sport is a wild place. Our imaginations run wild. Longer? Hello? Are you there? Just got to unmute.

Longer are you there? Let's go to Zeeke. And then we got to go. Zik. My man, Mike. Broadcasting from spring break basketball camp, I would be nice and sweet. First thing first, fantastic job by Nate Diaz, get in the bag. I really don't care how that fight goes.

I will watch it, but I really could care less for the actual action. Honestly, in my opinion, I would love to hear yours. Secondly, talk about this weekend. Max Holloway, kind of going into maybe his first ever low-key main event. This is the first time. Max Holloway is in the main discussion of a fight week that he is fighting in. Thank you very much, my man, Mike. Have a heck of a morning.

Yeah, I get where you're coming from. It's also just doing this card in Kansas City just, I don't know, it just seems weird. You get the guy from Hawaii fighting the guy from England in Kansas City, Missouri, just seems kind of, eh? And the ticket sales seem to kind of mesh that. I don't think they're going back to Kansas City anytime soon after this card, because it doesn't look at the ticket sales are going very well. But I get it, yes.

It's under the radar Max Holloway Fight Week because we're still talking about all this hangover from UFC 287. This might be, especially with Pereira announcing the move to 205 now, that this might be the most lingering hangover from a fight card that I can remember in a long time. And it's going to continue on.

BTL, we're going to be talking about 287, like the majority of the show. I can tell you that right now. It's just going to be me and Jed shooting the breeze, but we're going to be talking a lot about 287, the fallout of this, where this all goes, and it's got to be some interesting times. But Holloway Allen's a great fight.

Hopefully, by Saturday. And again, these are two guys that are just, like, got to be super-duper respectful of each other. Like, Max might come out and say, like, he's going to finish Arnold in the first round or something and use that confidence and that swagger. But Arnold's just going to tell, like, dry sense of humor jokes and be happy to be there.

Which is kind of refreshing, if we're being honest, for a UFC guard. But that's, yeah, just flies under the radar going from Miami and all the chaos to Kansas City, Missouri, where the barbecues are plenty and the fights are good, but the fans don't seem to care. I don't know. I'm surprised the ticket sales are doing what they seem to be doing for this one, if we're being honest. But does Max like to say it is what it is, brother? that. As far as Nate, Jake Paul goes, yeah, good

for Nate, man. Nate has won. Nate has one fighting. And this is, it's official now. He is, I mean, he's won the game. And he's going to lose to Jake Paul. He's going to lose this fight. And it's not going to be all that close

and competitive. But at the same token, even if Nate is not close or competitive, so what? Nate just needs one moment. Nate just stands to needs to land one good shot,

points. Ha, I caught you. And that's all we're going to be talking about. Go back and watch the Leon Edwards fight. It's so crazy. Like Leon just beats him and dominates him pretty much for every second.

Nate has some moments in the fourth round where it seems like the tide might be turning a little bit. But still Leon wins that round. And Leon's still kind of winning the fifth. And then Nate just finds that moment. Stings Leon. and that's all anybody talked about after the fact.

People were saying, like Leon doesn't even deserve a freaking title shot after that fight because Nate landed like five punches at the end of the fifth round. Nate has won fighting. He's going to make so much money with this fight. He's going to lose.

He's not going to get knocked out. He's not going to get finished, but he's going to lose a dominant decision. And who cares? He's going to make so much money. He's going to make so much money. And then he's probably going to, I don't know what he's going to do from there

if we're being honest. Does he end up back in the UFC? Does he do the Connor fight? I don't know. Just wait for Connor to leave? So they can do this fight outside of it? I don't know. But Nate is going to get a huge bag of money to fight Jake Paul

and not get knocked out. Pretty cool deal. And he's going to be a massive underdog because he's going to be massively undersized. Who cares? This is going to be one of those fights as MMA fans that we're just going to be like, we kind of know what's going to happen,

but we're just happy for Nate because he won fighting and he's getting this big bag of money and everything else if Nate just doesn't get knocked out like we're going to celebrate this. It's cherry on top of the Sunday. This ain't the Anderson Silva fight.

We're like, oh, please Anderson, for love of God, do it for MMA, do it for us. No, we're like, yay, Nate. Go to the bank and cash that big, big fat paycheck. You deserve it, brother. That's how we're looking at this. And any success Nate has is just cool, man.

That's awesome. That's how I feel about this fight. That's how I feel about this fight. The build will be fun. The face-offs will be fun. Press conference will be fun. It's just going to be fun. It's just weird fighting,

just weird fight stuff. And maybe Nate, who knows? And if Nate goes out there and beats Jake Paul, like that'd be the coolest thing ever. And if he doesn't, we don't expect him to. We're just happy Nate makes a big bag of money. And that's cool. This makes the whole Jake Paul thing much more palatable in my eyes.

But at least Jake's getting back to the MMA thing. And you kind of had to do it now, right? Because if you went back into the Tommy Fury fight and he loses again, then you kind of just lose all the luster for it. So, yeah, let's just celebrate Nate, get in the big bag. and let's see if you could shock everybody and it would be the coolest friggin thing ever if he did.

All right. So we're done. Thank you very much. We'll be back again tomorrow. Talk some more UFC, Kansas City and whatever else is on your mind. BTL, 12.30 p.m. Eastern. Me and Jed, shooting the breeze,

about all the stuff that we talked about today and more. And we'll probably take some questions afterwards. Who knows? We're just going to have some fun. So we'll see you. the YouTube channel in about 75 minutes from right now. As far as you wonderful people, have a great rest of the day. We'll see you tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. Eastern right here on heck of a morning.

The Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first, there, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.