MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Colby Covington Being Backup Fighter For UFC 286 Title Fight

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

During Friday's UFC 286 official weigh-ins, Colby Covington surprised the MMA community when he weighed in as the backup fighter for the welterweight championship main event between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman, hitting the championship mark at 170 pounds. After a year of silence, is there any more behind the promotion's decision other than a just-in-case type of situation? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to Covington's out-of-nowhere appearance at the weigh-ins, and if he could find himself in a title fight when he returns to the octagon next. Additionally, topics include Rafael Fiziev being a heavy favorite against Justin Gaethje in the co-main event, where Israel Adesanya could go if he loses to Alex Pereira again at UFC 287, if Usman could go up to middleweight after Saturday's fight, where Belal Muhammad fits in the welterweight championship puzzle, 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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It is St. Patrick's Day, everybody. 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 short of their after on the MMA fighting podcasting network. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having a wonderful Friday, a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.

If you're going to celebrate the day, please do so responsibly. Don't make any terrible decisions. Don't drink and drive. Be kind to one another, especially those in the service industry, bartenders, servers, security, bouncers, all that stuff.

have fun enjoy it where you're green put a smile on your face don't get too shit faced and don't be an asshole other than that enjoy it all st patrick's day is a good time i enjoyed it very much i enjoyed it very much i enjoyed going out to celebrate and listen to irish music back in the day now not so much i like to take in a st patrick's day parade from time to time but my days of like going out and popping my first hop at 9 a.m. are long gone, long gone. Because this is the world of MMA and there's so much going on, including UFC 286 going down tomorrow,

early start time, which you got to love. We have the trilogy fight for the Walterway title, the rematch, the championship rematch, but third fight between the two guys. Leon Edwards, defending at home. against Kamaro Usman. We have Justin Gagee versus Rafael Fiziv in the Co-Mane event.

Those two fights are just incredible. Gunner Nelson's back against Brian Barberina. Casey O'Neill is back against Jennifer Maya. We have Marvin Vittori, looking to do Marvin Vittori things to the surging Roman DeLizze. A lot to like on the prelims, a lot of up-and-comers, a lot of debuts,

a lot of UK talent on the card. There's going to be some competitive fights. For sure, there is a lot to like on this card. The UFC 286 official weigh-ins are already in the books. Everybody made weight except for Malcolm Gordon, missed weight by three and a half pounds. But the fight will go on. 30% of his purse goes to Jake Hadley. And we even got a little bit of a surprise today.

There have been rumblings. There have been rumors that the backup for the main event would be Colby Covington. no one could really confirm this information. And in a sport that people cover where it is very tough to keep things under wraps, everybody did a damn good job with this one because Colby Covington was in London, weighed in at 170 on the nose. And there you go. It has created quite the stir that Colby was in London and Wade is the backup.

What does this mean? Does this mean he's next in line? I don't necessarily think that. However, if Leon Edwards wins this fight, he is certainly in play. There's no doubt about that. So we can talk about that. We can talk about UFC 286. We can talk about MMA.

And we can talk about whatever the hell you want. It is a free for all Friday. We sit back, relax, and we talk about whatever the hell is on our minds. And that's what we're going to do today. And hopefully we can get our good buddy toke in the chat to ask a question. Yesterday we did not get him through. Maybe today is the day. But the damn wheel is spinning.

So I don't know why it's not working. Toke try again. Maybe a difference. Connection. I don't know. Let's go to Anthony. Gets the first word. Hello, Anthony.

Yo, heck of a morning. I just want to call in, give a just a shout-out to this weekend. And exactly a year ago, I went to London town, and I saw the card with Patty and all of them. And it has a different vibe. That vibe was like, oh, these are our guys. You know, no one was really like a fight away from contendership or anything. But this one, I feel like this is more of your card style, you know. You're like the, what's that guy in Fogo, DeChal, who serves the steak?

That's you for MMA, you know, you only like the stakes. So, I don't know. I just wanted to say if you guys have a chance to go see any fights, not even just in England, like any country where fighting is in the culture, like Japan, Australia, it's just so much different than USA. Because I went to a couple shows over here, and like, it just doesn't even compete. So if you guys ever have a chance, go out there. And I just want to leave you guys with this.

Leon Edwards, he's going to smoke Usman. It's not even going to be close. I love the confidence. That could very well happen. This is one of those fights where it just seems like everything is in Leon's favor right now. Like all the momentum's in his favor. He has the knockout win. He's at home.

He's in incredible shape. Is Usen doubting himself? How is Usen going to be able to bounce back from getting viciously knocked out for the first time? It just seems like everything is in his favor. History is in his favor when it comes to immediate rematch. The guy who wins the belt, way more often than not, retains the belt in the immediate rematch. Everything is in his favor. The only thing that is kind of an Usman's favor is that they have fought twice for almost 40 minutes,

and Kamar Usman has won just about every minute of them. So I don't know. It's a really interesting fight. I just hope it's fun. I just hope it's a fun fight. I'm really interested and I'm really fascinated to see how it all plays out. But I just hope it's fun. I just hope it's a fun fight.

But I'm excited to see the results and excited to talk about what we're going to talk about after. And I agree with you. And I'm with you. I would recommend that as well being able to travel internationally. I would love to cover a New Year's Eve card in Japan. That would be pretty damn cool. I'd love to cover a K. or even not even cover it.

Just go to a KSW show, a massive one in Poland. Those are things that I would love to do. That I would love to do in my career. Even being able to head up to Canada and cover a card alongside my best friend, that would be a good time as well. But I agree with you on that.

It's going to be interesting. I like stakes. I like stakes. I like all cards. I try to find the good in all of them. but this one is this one does feel different that's for sure for core sports hello hey so i want to ask gaichi's fighting on this card and ozman's fighting on this card and i was hearing btled yesterday and i remember i think you have said it that gaigi said that he's only been in one war which is

the olivera which is crazy to think because i mean the man's been in in so many different wars how many more fights do you think this man has left? I just think that if he loses, I mean, he might have maybe like one or two more fights left. I could see possibly Porriere, and I was jet on this one. I mean, I want to see him fight McGregor. I think that's going to be the most chaotic first round matchup that we'll ever see. And with Usman, I mean, do you think that he might go up the middleweight?

considering if Autosani doesn't you know get that one back get the W against Pereau in April I just want to get your thoughts on that all right thanks Mike and I see AKs in the chat

hello AKs in the chat hello AK and all right see you guys how many more frets the gates you have I don't know I mean he's got that war punch card and he feels like he's only had one sentence

so I have a feeling this one will probably take a notch off the old punch card as well. So I don't know. There's still a lot of fun fights for him. I don't think Feseev is going to blow the doors off Justin Gehji if he wins. I think it's going to be just a crazy-ass fight. So I think this would constitute as a potential war.

I don't know, three or four. I mean, I don't know how long you can do this. He loves doing it. And this is a guy who can actually breathe out of his nose now, which I'm very curious to see what that looks like. as far as Usman goes like I just don't know if there's any like if anybody's clamoring for him to go up

to fight for the middleweight title like I think there's other people that people would rather see get that shot over Usman Robert Whitaker would be one of them even Hamza Tchamayev another one if he decides to go to 185 like there's there's many more options in play that I think

people would like more than Kamaro going up to 185. I just don't think like Kamaro is a well-known figure, but he's not like, he's not like a big star. So I don't know if people are clamoring for that. I mean, it could happen, but I just don't see it happening. And if Usman wins the World's Owey title, I mean, he can go, he can fight Bilal. I don't think, I mean, that's not a massive fight by any stretch of the imagination, but that's a new fight. for him. It's a new challenge for him. And maybe

he can fight Hamzad at 170. Like I honestly think him fighting Hamzad is the biggest fight he can get. And Hamzad was on social media recently and said something to the effect of can't wait to take the belts from one of these guys. So maybe he's got to stick around at 170. I don't know. But

Hamzad is definitely the biggest fight for him. And who knows? Maybe McGregor will sneak in there? I don't know. But if I'm Usman, I am going right after the McGregor thing. Going right after that. If he wins, call O'Connor.

Connor, if you beat Michael Chandler, we'll see you at the end of the year. Go get that bag. Four out sniper. Hello. So, Mike, can you hear me? Yep. Hey, heck of a morning.

Sorry about that. You connect the time. When it comes to the main event this weekend, for either guy, whether Camaro wins or whether Leon wins, if the over-under is set at one and a half for successful title defenses, do you think they will go over

or under that one and a half mark? Boy, that's a tough question. Usman's tough. It really depends on who he fights. If he fights Hamzad, I'm picking Hamzot to beat him. So that would be under. If he fights Balal, I think he wins that fight. Man, so that's...

Usum, I'll say under, because he's either... He is either going to just try to go to 185 or he's going to fight Bilal. And even if that happens, he'll have to fight Hamzat. So, and I don't think he beats Hamzat. So I'll say under for Usman. And I also don't think he has like a ton of time left in competition. Like what he's even said himself?

Like, what else do I need to do? The answer is not much. Leon, that'll be one. And then, man, it all depends on who he fights. Because if Mazadol beats Leon, he's got. to fight Mazadol, and I would probably pick Leon in that fight. I don't know if I would pick him against Burns. I'll say under for both, but probably more confident under for Usman than under for

Leon, because this could go a variety of different ways. It's just, it's division. Like all these divisions are kind of a mess right now. And now you get Colby back in there. I would probably pick Colby to beat Leon, but it'd be a good fight. It's tough. If Hamzad is in play for either guy in the near future, Hamzat's beating either of those two guys, in my opinion.

Viking, hello. What's up, buddy? So I want to know how much you earn in month, and where do you find yourself after 10 years from now? I'm interested because you're one of my favorite. you're a journalist because you're unbiased. So just answer me. Thank you, Mike.

I mean, I'm not going to tell you how much I earn a month. So I'm not going to tell you that. I do fine. I'm happy with where I'm at. I'm able to put food on the table and take care of my family. I'm very happy with where I'm at. But I'm not going to share that information. Where I see myself in like 30 years?

hopefully I have made enough of a dent in this sport where I can just watch it as a fan. I'll be a 70-year-old man playing golf and trying to convince my 70-year-old playing partners that MMA is a cool sport, and it was a fun journey, and that my kid is happy and healthy and married and has a house and is living his dreams,

and I'm helping him with that. I hope I'm not working by the time I'm seven years. I hope I am playing golf like every day and just taking vacations with the wife. Because I feel like the latter years are the ones that like we're going to spend the most time together because they're both just like so busy with our jobs that we get to like hang out sometimes. Like she just started. I told you guys that I got I got bit by the CrossFit bug like a few months back. And I finally convinced my wife to start taking class with me.

So this is the first week she's gotten to go. So usually I go in the morning, but now I'm going in the evening so that we can go together. So we're getting to spend a little bit more time together. But once like my kid's older and I'm out of like covering the sport from a full-time capacity, that's when like we're just going to, we're going to live it up. We're going to live it up. And I'm very excited for that. But I do, I'm very happy with where I'm at right now.

Let's see if Mikey can break the jinx here between him and toke. We just haven't been able to get either of them through over the last week. And this one is not looking good either. I don't know, Mikey. If you want to leave it in the comments, I'll answer your question. And if you want to leave it in the comments. I just don't get it. Dane, hello. Hey, Mike, heck of my morning. Hey, just wanted to look a couple weeks of head. Where do you think Izzy goes with the loss to Alex? Because I mean, I know if he wins, they're obviously going back to the well for that third fight. And do you think that would be in, uh, I'm a,

Budabi if he won that second fight and they went to the Trulogy. Thanks, man. Heck of a morning. And yeah, you're my favorite generally. Just wanted to follow up on what Viking just said as well, man. You do a great job. Thanks. Thanks, man.

I appreciate that. Two interesting questions. Man, if he loses, where does he go? I don't know. I don't know. It's a good question because he's fought like everybody. And it's just going to be weird seeing him fight. the Brendan Allen's of the world

and the drinkus dupluses of the world like those would probably be the types of fights he would have to take but boy that's tough if he wins yeah they'll run it back I don't think they'll do it at Abu Dhabi maybe if they go back to Australia that'd be when they would do it again

they'd maybe run back the trilogy in November or December I don't know it's tough a loss is going to put him in a really weird position but he wouldn't be like completely out of play as far as title contendership goes. Like he wouldn't be in a horrible place.

He'd be in a tough spot. But then Pereira's going to have to fight Whitaker or somebody like that and I would favor Whitaker in that fight. And I don't think beating the same guy twice in a division where there are actual contenders, some relevant ones would get Pereira an immediate rematch against Whitaker. So who knows? Maybe he gets right back if he just hopes Pereira loses the belt to somebody else.

He can get right back in there. So I don't know. But a win, yeah, they'll definitely run it back. When probably the end of the year, I would be kind of surprised if it's in Abu Dhabi. Because if that fight happens in Abu Dhabi, it's the main event. It's not Islam. And Islam is going to be set up to headline that card. For sure.

I would think. Let's try to get Ani in here. I think he might be defeated by the dreaded spinning wheel as well. 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.

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I don't know. Try again, Ani. It's not letting you through. Tristan, hello. Tristan. Hello, Mike. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes, I got you. Yeah. I wanted to go back because I was pretty surprised that Kobe Covington was the backup fighter for this fight. do you expect a fight announcement for his next fight coming soon, just the fact that he is the backup fighter? And then what is the percentage of who you think he's going to fight?

Now that it looks like Hamzaat Sharmav wants in on this, And I guess Hamzat may be talking to Dana, maybe talking to his coaches, saying, I'm going to make 170, I'm going to make 170, I'm going to do it. So is it more likely, who do you see most likely Kobe is going to fight next? Do you think he'll fight, it's more likely he'll fight Hamzok, or do you feel he'll fight Dustin Pori at 170,

or do you feel that you might possibly fight Bala Muhammad? because those three, because I don't think he's fighting shop cut. I just, I just, I think that's out of the plans once, um, the fact that, uh, Hamzat had said that he wants to take the belt off one of those two guys.

So most likely in your opinion and in your thought process, who do you likely would see Kobe will fight? If there, if the expectation is, the UFC is going to actually announce who Colby's going to fight. Thanks, Mike. Have a great day. I think I don't think there's an announcement in play.

I really don't. I think he was just there to be the backup. But it tells me that he's ready to do something. So, I mean, I really think it all depends on who wins tomorrow. If Leon wins, Colby's going to try to get that title shots. And he is in play. And it kind of sucks for Bilal Mohammed because now there's potentially three guys ahead of him if Leon Edwards wins, which is insane to think about on the run that he's on. Because Hamza is ahead of him.

The Burns Mazdaal winner will be ahead of him. And Colby will be ahead of him. Because again, we talk about who deserves what and this and that. Even Belal understands that if Leon wins, he's probably going to have to take at least one more fight. His best hope is that Usman wins and calls him out. I mean, that's his best hope. And I think he might, he could potentially get that fight. But if Leon wins, Ballal is definitely not getting a title shot anytime soon.

So if Leon wins, Colby is going to try. for that fight. And if Gilbert Burns beats Mazadol, they might just go to Colby. They might just go to Colby. If Mazadol wins, they're going to go to Mazadol because of the

heat there. It's the anniversary of three piece in the soda today as a matter of fact. And if Usman wins, maybe they go Usman Bilal and they do Colby versus Hamza. I would love to see Hamzaa fight for the welterweight title.

but if I'm the UFC and I understand how much of a draw that Hamzat would be in a title fight, you cannot in good conscience throw him into a title fight without seeing him make weight first. You can't do it.

You can't do it. So I've been saying from day one, if Hamzat's going to stay at 170, the fight is Colby, and I think Colby understands that that's the biggest fight he can get. He's not going to fight Bala Muhammad, even though I would pick Colby to win that fight.

I don't think he's going to take that one. I think he would fight Hamzad. I think he would fight him. It's outside of him fighting Leon for the belt, it's the biggest fight he can get right now. It's the biggest fight he can get right now. You could have, like,

if you need a pay-per-view headliner, that could headline. That would be a big fight. And Colby could win that fight. Colby could win that fight. So that's what I want to see. But if Leon wins, Colby's going to go all in.

on that title fight against Leon. And if Gilbert Burns beats Jorge Mazadol, he might just get it. Colby is good at this prize fighting thing, man. You can love him or hate him. He knows what he's doing. He's not going to fight Shafka. He's not going to fight Balaal. I just don't think he's going to do that.

And I think he has a chance against Pomsod. I don't know if I would be confident enough to pick him, but I don't think he's getting the doors blown off of him. And if that fight gets out of the third round, or even the second round, Colby is a very live dog in that fight. Trying to get token, it's just not happening. I don't know. Between you and Mikey, it's some sort of jinx going on. I don't know.

So I'm sure Dana will be asked about Colby and his status and what him weighing in all means and how that all came together. because I'm pretty damn, I'm pretty damn interested in that. Let's go to unique stream. Maybe. Nope, it's not on you in either. What the hell? We're just having really bad luck?

Okay, so Tocke has gone the route of leaving a comment, which I appreciate. My question is, if you think Fiziv has shown enough since getting outstruck by Bobby Green to be this big of a favorite against Justin Gachie. Yes, but I definitely, I'm leaning Fiziv because I'm leaning on the future prospects more than anything.

But to say that Justin Gichi doesn't have a chance to win this fight is absolutely insane. Gachi has, Gachi has flaws. There's no doubt about it. And Fiziv, what Fiziv does well, plays right into those flaws. Fiziv loves going to the body, kicks, points. hunches and Gaichi has been sort of susceptible to those types

of movements and strikes and Fiziv just has really good foot movement and all that. So that could cause Gai Chi some problems. But Gachi has ways to win too. Fiziv is great when it comes to cutting angles and

avoiding devastating head shots. But he's susceptible to the body as well and to the legs and nobody kicks legs better than Justin Gachie does. And one of the thing that Justin Gachi can do, which he probably will, is he's going to try to get Fizib to brawl with him. Turn this into a friggin dog fight, which is what we're all hoping for.

And I'm not saying that Fiziv can't win a dog fight with Justin Gachi, but that's Justin's best chance to win it. Justin has a range kickboxing match with Raphael Fiziv over 15 minutes. It's going to be tough. It could be a tough night for him. But if he can somehow get Fiziv into a brawl where sort of technique and all that gets thrown out the window and he's sort of in close with him, then could be anybody's fight. But I'm not really surprised that he's that big of a – that Fiziv's this big of a favorite. Fiziziz has got a lot of momentum and a lot of buzz right now.

And stylistically, this is actually a pretty good matchup for him. But if he can stay disciplined and not a lot of – allow Gajee to lure him into a brawl. I think Fiziv could have a pretty good night. But that's a big if, because Fizizizu likes to brawl too. Cole, hello. Good morning, Mike. What's up?

I got to know, Mike. I haven't tuned in in a week, so I just got to know. Are you a big bracket maker when it comes to March Madness season? Oh, man. I haven't been in like the last couple of years. I used to do it all the time. I've had all different styles where it's like I study everything and watch as many as many games as possible and I still suck. And then there's ones where I'm like, all right, well, I haven't really watched much.

So maybe this will be my year. And I still suck. I just haven't. Yeah, I just haven't had time. time to really go into it. I do watch. I watched some of those games last night. Watch a lot of the highlights of the games yesterday.

And holy crap. When I was in high school, I skipped every single first day of the tournament. I would come up with some excuse. And I've had conversations by parents about this. You know, write fake doctor's notes and things of that nature. Me and one of my good friends from high school, we would always just bail out of school. and we would go to his house while his parents worked and we would just watch basketball all day long.

Those are some good days. And then like my junior year, my parents were like, eh, I don't give a shit. And then my senior year, they were like, I really don't give a shit. Just make sure you're not missing any assignments and don't get an F. So, but man, those are the days. I also have a really terrible,

and I've talked about this on one of my shows in the past. I have an awful tattoo on my left arm. It's supposed to be like a tribal band. I got it when I was 19. And the first day of the NCAA tournament that year when I was 19, we, it was like me and probably like eight of my buddies, we drove from Boston to Panama City, Florida for spring break.

And that day of what happened to be St. Patty's Day. And we went to a place, Boston College was playing in the first round of the tournament. So I think we went to, I don't know if it was a Hooters or like a Twin Peaks or something, but we went there to eat a bunch of food.

And I had a pretty solid fake idea at the time. And they had a deal where you could, they had these massive Killian's bottles. I mean, these were like, huge. And they were like six bucks. So I went ballistic and enjoyed myself that day. And then I thought, you know, it'd be a great idea. Let's get a tribal band tattoo on my left arm. And I had too many

libations that day that the artist only completed half of it. He refused to do any more because I was too inebriated as a 19 year old that day. So, yeah, not my proudest moment. I still have to look at that thing every day. My wife hates it. And I'm hoping that someday I could fill it in and do something with it. But it just reminds me that, hey, sometimes you make bad choices. And that was a terrible one.

But those are the glory days of watching the NCAA tournament. And I probably got into it for like another 15 years or so. It always did brackets. But last couple, it just creeps up on you. and I just forget about it. And then the first day of the tournament starts, I'm like, oh, shit, didn't fill out a bracket. Oh, well.

But it's just so fun. Those tournaments are incredible. Oh, Mikey, it's just not working, buddy. Chuck your question in the chat. I'll read it that way. Because for some reason, it just ain't working. Della Higgins, hello. Della Higgins, are you there?

There we go. Yep, I got you. Yeah, how are you? Hey, man. My only question for you was, I don't think the UFC's been to Atlanta since the gasoline. Is he fight? Do you know why they haven't been back and if there's any plans for them to come back to Atlanta? Well, I know Atlanta was, I forget which event it was.

They were targeting Atlanta for one of the cards last year and it just didn't happen. Or maybe it was this, wasn't my, I don't know. Atlanta was in play for one of these cards, and it just didn't come to fruition. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I think they'll probably try at some point this year, but if not next year.

But you get PFL. You get the PFL. There you go. You got them last year. You get them again this year. But as far as I haven't heard anything about them going to it. Atlanta. I get asked about Boston all the time. Haven't heard anything about Boston yet.

So, I mean, there's a lot of other places the UFC wants to go. I mean, they definitely, it seems like they want to go back to Canada. Looks like that June 10th card might be heading to the Great White North. But I've heard nothing about Atlanta. Outside of like some rumblings for one of these pay-per-view cards. All right, Shiloh. Any yes, we could try again. We are trying again, and it's not working.

So, sorry, buddy. I don't know what it is. Edward, hello. Hello, Mike. I hope you're doing okay. I just have a question. Did you see that Kobe Covington was the backup fighter? And what makes you think they chose him over Ballal?

And does that automatically mean that he gets the shot next? Thanks, man. Yeah, we talked about that a bunch. do I think that automatically gives him the shot next? No. I think of Oosman wins. He's probably not getting it. If Leon wins,

I wouldn't say he's, I wouldn't feel completely confident he gets it, but I would say he's in play. I would say he's in play. And I think he's the backup because I don't know. I don't know why he's the backup. There was a good little surprise.

a little bit of extra buzz on the card. I mean people are excited for it but this I mean compare the going into buzz for this card to 285 like it's not even on the same planet the buzz for 285 like everybody was fired up for that.

People are like interested in this card but like this is the second pay-per-view in like a two week span went pay-per-view, fight night pay-per-view. It doesn't happen all that often. And then 287's coming up in three weeks after. And that card is frigging stacked with a lot of star power. So I think getting Colby in there was a nice little surprise.

Got people talking. But if Leon wins, I think Colby's in play. He will absolutely do everything in his power to try to get that fight. And if Gilbert Burns beats Mazadol, I think Colby's got a really good chance to get in the fight. I don't think they'll go to Gilbert. I think they'll go to Colby. But if Mazadol wins, all bets are off.

And if Uson wins, I don't think they'll go for a trilogy fight. Even though the two were competitive, and I would love to see those two guys fight again. Their second fight was not all that long ago. So didn't see that coming. Did not see that coming. Hopefully Colby does like a media scrum tomorrow. I would love to hear from him and just hear what's on his mind and what he's thinking. in if a lot of the persona is still there.

I don't know. I'm trying to get Jim in, and it's not working. Damn you, Twitter spaces. Let's try to get crypto in here. See if that works. It's not looking great here. What the hell? If we can't get you in, just throw your question in the chat, and I'll read it.

I'll try on you one more time. I know he left this question in the chat, but if we don't, get through, I'll read his question next. Yeah, it's not working. Shit. Let me just check and make sure it's not on my end. It's definitely not on my end. Let's see

what we got. Let's go to Ani first. Do you think Leon is thinking only about his headshot dead moment? How would this affect him in this fight as he was losing convincingly up until he didn't?

I don't think that's a case I don't think that's the case I mean that's a huge moment in the history of the sport it's the reason he won the fight and it's the big talking point it's the biggest question about Kamar Usman is whether or not he can bounce back from that

so I don't think he's thinking just about that I mean just look at the guy look at this guy he's in the best shape of his life he's taking this very seriously because a loss is a loss is devastating for Leon Edwards let's not get a twist

a loss is bad for Kamara Usman but it's not horrible because Usman's legacy is pretty much set I don't think it changes all that much if he beats Leon Edwards he's been heavily he was pretty heavily favorite to do it

at 278 and in this fight win or lose Kamara Usman is going down as the second best Walter rate of all time it would have taken him like five more five six more title defenses for him to be gsp in my opinion and i didn't think he was going to get there i thought all that chatter was incredibly wrong but being the second best welterweight of all time is pretty damn good it's a pretty damn good place to be so if he loses this fight he's still the second best welter rate of all time so doesn't it doesn't affect his legacy all that much will probably take him out of title

contention forever at 170, more than likely because there's not much else to prove. But if Leon loses this fight, I don't know where the hell he goes. He probably gets fed to Shafkat. Or you can do the Mazdaal fight then too. But, I mean, just think of how long it took him to get a title fight to begin with. It's got to be an incredibly long road to get him back to one if he loses this fight. So I think Leon's taking this very, very seriously. He's got a lot of confidence.

And like I said, I think everything favors Leon right now outside of the actual fight. Like the betting odds have Usman for a reason. They fought for almost 40 minutes. Usman won 95% of those minutes. But I think Leon's taking this fight very seriously. Gets a title defense in London. I mean, that's passive. And if they want to do a big stadium, he has to win this fight.

uh jim mike i was surprised colby's back of fight i'm guessing the media didn't have an idea either or else we would have heard it i'm wondering if two fighters would be informed since it impacts prep a bit and how much advance known as colby would get for this role i'm sure colby had some sort of advance for this um remember there's all that talk about whether or not usman could even fight if the hand injury or whatever and then all that was kind of cleared up so i wonder if colby was just kind of the plan all long. But again, I don't really know.

I had no idea. I had no idea Colby was going to be there. I heard rumblings that he might be there, but I couldn't confirm that with anybody real. But, yeah, even with like the rumblings, I was still shocked

to wake up this morning and find out that he weighed in. But I'm sure both fighters knew. I'm sure Leon was well aware of it. And I'm sure Oussman wouldn't have given a shit if he had to fight Colby again. because he's already beaten him twice. Let's go to my best friend.

Hi, AK. I made it through. You made it through, yes. I heard your plight. I heard your plight of having some technical difficulties this morning. So I just wanted to see if our best friend power could break through. It always does. I could have no internet and it's so it would work.

That's just kind of scary. But yes, you're correct. I hope I've taken the lid off. I hope maybe we've kicked down the door. Maybe we've reopened the, the gates and the rest of the listeners can get in. I'm glad people are writing in questions and comments, but hopefully people after me can get in.

I know you've had some people getting in, so it's any idea, no ideas yet. What's up, right? No ideas. It's a Twitter space this thing, that's for sure. This thing needs an upgrade, apparently. Waxy. All right. I will come with a question, though.

Again, I did just want to make sure to check to see if I could get in, but I will come with a question, because we're going to have to discuss this as a group over the weekend. and next week anyway. In the event that Kumar Usman wins the trilogy, I guess you could say, if you want to extend it that far back and gets the bell back,

how are we feeling about him like pound for pound? We've had some pretty heated and confused pound for pound discussions over the last year just because all the wacky upsets we've had. It's weird because I think Kamarro, I want to say he was number one or number one number two. He was number one anymore.

I think Volkanowski, I think we had already put Volkanovsky ahead of him. in the consensus rankings when uh when leon came with the upside i could be wrong it might have been the leon upset that knocked kamar out of there i'm pretty sure volk was already number one uh right now he fell pretty low kamar i think kamar actually has fallen out of our top five has a double check but like what do we do i mean theoretically he should like get a top three spot back right if he kind of writes this wrong again i haven't made up my mind yet i haven't really looked that far ahead i'm not sure what have you thought about it at all what's

what's uh kamar's pound for pound status going to be on your on your ballot if he does get the win back in like in a relatively convincing way. Thank you, my best friend. Usu will be number five on my pound for pound if he wins this one. I have him at nine right now. I have Makachaf, Volcanowski, Inganu, Jones, Pereira, Edwards, Adasania, Sterling, Usman. Olivera. That's my top 10.

That's where I'm at right now. Usu would go above Pereira probably, but he won't go above Jones. Certainly won't go above Inganu. and he's not going to go above Volkovsky or Makachiev. So I think he'd probably be number five. Number five or number six. But yeah, number five is pretty confident. That's where I would put him.

And if Leon wins this fight, he will be number five as well. Because I have Edwards at six. Edwards or Trump Pereira if he wins this fight. So that's where I'll have him. I can't in good conscience after him getting knocked out like that, put him above Jones and Ganu, Volker, Machachev. I can't. I can't do it. But yes, top five, sure.

That's where I will have him. He's still top ten. It's not bad. Let's try to get crypto in. If not, we're going to have to go the comment route. Yeah, it's just not working. I don't know why. I have no explanation for any of you. Because most people are getting through and it's like three or four can't. Yeah, so if you got questions, we could try to get through.

if not, we're going to leave them in the old chat. And we'll go from there. Crystal, DM me and said that I was cutting out. It's because my wife tried to call me. So I had to, like, do the old hang-up thing. She never remembers when I do shows. So that's probably why I cut out. Because when the phone rings, it just cuts you out all together.

So let's pull up. We'll go for a couple more minutes. We are going to do a preview show at 2 p.m. Eastern. It'll be myself, Jed Mishu, in The Great Shaheen Al Shadi. So join us for that. We'll talk more about UFC 286. This card's pretty good.

I would say it's a B card. It's a B. Main card's real good. Edward Zusman's obviously interesting. Gay Chief of Eve is incredible. Gunner Nelson, Brian Barbarina, there is a piece of me that just believes that Gunner's just going to tackle them and submit them real fast.

But Brian's a dog, and I feel like I feel like Brian could surprise some people in this fight. I am intrigued about the return of Casey O'Neill against Jennifer Maya. Vittori DeLizze is interesting. Jack Shore going to 145 or going back to 145. He has fought at 45 before. I think it's like first seven pro fights we're at 45 before going to 135. Fights mock one of mayor Connie.

I think it's pretty clear where the path to victory is for Jack Shore. Just make it forward. minutes. Make it four minutes and you're, and you win. Just don't get caught in four minutes and you'll win the fight. Chris Duncan, Omar Morales is an interesting fight. Sam Patterson, a lot of people very high on him taking on a really good undefeated fighter in Yanah Ashmas. Mohamed Mahayev taking on Jafel Filo. That's a really good fight. Jafel is good. He's a good fighter. And I just need to see I need to see Muhammad Mahayev do something Mahayefi to live up to sort of the expectations

people have for him. A 30-26 is just not going to do it here. I think he's like a minus 800 favorite. Something insane like that. Which I think actually might be a little too wide because I think Philo's is pretty damn good. Minus 800. He needs to perform like a minus 800. He needs to go out there.

it finished somebody. Lorone Murphy, Gabriel Santos. Spoiler, that's my low-key banger. That's my low-key banger. That's a tough-ass fight to come back to. Short notice, Gabriel-Santos is really good. That is a really interesting fight.

That's not getting enough attention. Don't sleep on Gabriel Santos. That dude can go. Excited to see Christian Leroy Duncan inside the Octagon. I think it's a pretty good, favorable match of him, Desko Tadorovich.

Jake Hadley, Malcolm Gordon, should be a lot of fun. Let's see if Joanne Wood can get back on track against Luana Carolina. I mean, Jesus Christ. She's had a tough run, but what a lot of people sort of forget is that

her strength of schedule has just been ridiculous. Since 2016, she fought Jessica Androge. She fought Cynthia Calvio, which that was in July of 2017, that loss means a lot, it's a lot different now than it was in 2017 because Calvio was a very highly touted prospect at the time.

Kalinda Faria, Ariani Lipski, and then Caitlin Chukagian, Andrea Lee, Jennifer Maya, Jessica I, Lauren Murphy, Tyler Santos, Alexa Grasso. Her last six losses in the UFC, Andrage, former champion, Calvio, Chican, title challenger, Jennifer Maya, challenger, Lauren Murphy title challenger, Tyler Santos title challenger, Alexa Grasso,

current champion. If she loses to Alana Carolina Carolina, there's just no coming back from that. That would be a devastating loss. That would be the worst loss of her career by a marathon.

Jai Herbert Ludovicline will be fun, because those two are just going to try to knock each other's heads off. And then Veronica Hardy back inside the Octagon first time in around three years taking on Juliana Killamilla

which should be a fun over Juliana Miller is just so fun to watch she's not here for she ain't getting paid by the hour she wants to go in there and just run people over and you got to respect that Tokes trying to get in I don't think it's happening

golly yeah not working sorry buddy the good news is we're going to try we'll try again on Tuesday so all right you guys are the best we are done more UFC 286 chatter

2 p.m. Eastern live preview show myself Shaheen al-Shadi Jed Mishu should be a lot of fun and then we'll have all sorts of on-site coverage for today Q&A possibly a scrum

with Dana White ceremonial weigh-ins find it all in MAAfighting.com on our YouTube channel and then my happy ass is awake 3 a.m. tomorrow morning. Off to the airport. Off to New York. UFC 286 watch party.

Very excited about that. People's pre-fight show 12.15 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow to get you ready for UFC 286. First punches will be thrown at 1 p.m. Eastern. At least that's when the broadcast will start. And we'll go until that happens. And then we'll have obviously the press conference. We'll have a live post-fight show after the fact. Watch party is going to start at 4.45 p.m. Eastern.

And we have some special guests along the way. Shaheen will join us for the co-main event. New York Rick will join us for the main event. And I am working on something spicy for the watch party. And it looks like it's going to happen. I am not going to announce this news just yet. I am not going to promote this just yet. because I've learned

I've learned lessons over the years that you can't over promise but if I had to make a hypothetical wager on whether or not this massive name will be joining the watch party I would bet hypothetical money

that it's going to happen so stay tuned for that it is in the works it has already been agreed upon now it's just a matter of this person showing up and I think I think this person's going to

I think this person's going to and it's going to blow your freaking minds and I'm excited for that so stay tuned I'm going to try to get one more person in here but it just ain't working I'm sorry it's not my fault my internet is

putting up astronomical numbers right now so it's a Twitter space this thing. So hopefully by the time we're back on Tuesday, 10 a.m. Eastern, we do this again. Hopefully everybody can get through where you don't have any issue. So we'll see at 2 p.m. for the preview show. Have a great rest of the day. Happy St. Patty's Day. Be kind to everybody.

Don't be an asshole to the servers, those serving, bartending. Don't be a jerk. And don't drink and drive. Have a wonderful day. And we'll see you for the preview show. Let's go. The Vox Media Podcast Network