MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Dana White Announcing First UFC 300 Title Fight

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

UFC CEO Dana White has announced the first title fight for UFC 300, with the expectation that there will be more on the way as Zhang Weili will put her strawweight title on the line against Yan Xiaonan in the promotion's first all-Chinese world championship bout. While some are excited about the matchup, there are other fans who didn't seem all that enthused by the reveal. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to the 115-pound championship fight announcement, discusses why it's a very good addition to the card as it stands right now, and what could be next for the winner. Additionally, listener questions include the rest of UFC 300 and how it will look, the importance keeping expectations realistic, what could headline the event, why UFC 297 could have some impact on what the UFC 300 main event could end up being, and much more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking,

What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer,

but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible.

To the Vox Media Podcast Network. January 11th, 2024, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the MMA fighting Twitter space. You hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter on the U.S. MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. What's going on, everybody? I am Mike Kek. Hope you're all having a great week.

Things have happened since we have last spoke. I'm still a little shaken up by the Bill Belichick news. I'm not going to lie. It's not that I like, I don't know how I feel about the Bill Belichick news, but that's not why we're here. We're here to talk about MMA. But I don't know.

Maybe we'll talk about that tomorrow. If you guys want to know my exact feelings on that, since it will be a free for all Friday. But we do have some news to discuss because Dana White jumps on an IG live to promote that Power Slap, the ultimate fighter-ish kind of show that they do on Rumble for the Power Slap stuff. They're doing a thing. And he's like, give me 20 minutes and I will announce a title fight for UFC 300. And then, like, a minute after that, he goes on the UFC Instagram and does a live for the UFC one.

Same thing. We have to use the UFC stuff to promote power slap stuff, which is absolutely ridiculous. It drives the insane. And it said, sometime within the hour, I will announce the UFC 300 title flight. And I waited around for an hour, then an hour and 20 minutes, hour and a half. And then I was just like, eh, I'm not waiting. anymore. I'll wake up and I'll find out what it is and I'll react on this show the way I normally do. And it turns out Dana White eventually finally announces the first title fight, at least we assume

the first title fight for UFC 300. It is a strawway title fight between Zhang Wei and Jan Jonan, which is a very good fight to have on this card. Would it have been better to do it in China? Absolutely. why didn't we do it in December? Maybe we'll find out in the next couple of months when these fighters start doing interviews, when Dana gets the chance to talk to some media again after an event. But that's the first title fight.

Dana has said that he's going to announce a couple more fights later on today, and we'll see what comes from that. But I like the fight. I think it's a good one. Probably the feature about it, I would assume. This could be a three-title fight card. we assume Leon versus Belaw will probably squeeze in somewhere

whether that's the main event or not I'm not sure there's still a lot of pieces to put together to fill out this UFC 300 puzzle but Zhang Wei Li versus Janjongan is a good fight it's a

it's a good little supporting cast kind of a fight and it should happen should it happen at 300 and not in China I mean if If it's not happening in China, I would say 300 is probably the second best bet. International Fight Weeks probably like a close third, but I like it.

I like the fight. We do have Tatiana Suarez getting ready to fight Amanda Lemoche, so we have that to look forward to, especially if Tatyana Soor's wins, we assume that she's going to fight the winner of that fight. I will be picking Zhang Wei to win that fight, although Jan Jhan Jhanod is a very good fighter. I am very happy that it is not Zhang Wei Lee versus Alexa Grasso. I am very, very happy that it's not the case. I understand some people wanted it. They're intrigued by this.

And truth be told, I am somewhat intrigued by that as well. But just not now. We don't need it right now. I think you know my stance on this. We have seen way too many champ fights. Seen too much of it. We don't need it in this division right now. We don't need it in 125 right now.

Both these women, Zhang Wei and Alexa Grasso, have their own very compelling challenges ahead of them. Janjohn-on for Zhang Wei Li, Tatiana Swares for Zhang Wei Li. On and on we go. 125. Alexa Grasso has no shortage of challengers coming her way.

She might be one of the busiest champions in the company with all the up-and-comers that are coming up at 125. A lot. A ton of them. She's probably going to fight Valentina Shepchenko at some point. in that trilogy fight, which I think is the fight to make. We do have Aaron Blanchfield fighting Manon Fioreau at UFC Atlantic City. The winner of that fight, certainly next in line.

The loser of that fight is probably like a winner two away from getting back there. And then think about all the other super live contenders that are there right now, the Natty Isses of the world, the Karinezile Silvas of the world, all of the Macy Barbers of the world. And on and on we go. Both of these women are going to be supremely business. in their own divisions. So I am very, very happy, very happy that we are not getting John Wiley v. Alexei Grasso. So that's what we have for UFC 300 thus far. Dana says

to get announced more fights today. We'll see if that happens and we'll see what those fights are if he does come back out and announce more fights. But let's hear from all of you, shall we? It is a Thursday. And by the way, BTL 1230 p.m. Eastern time. Or if you're listening to this on the podcast network down the road. You can listen to BTL after this, I guess. 1230, lots to discuss. Jed will be back. Brian Campbell from Morning Combat will be joining us as well.

Always a fun time when the three of us get together and do a little MMA fighting, MK, cross-promotional shenanigans. So I'm looking forward to that at 12.30 p.m. Eastern. But right now, let's go to you all. Mikey, kick us off. So, yeah, I just want to just go on a quick little random. of just, it may not be a huge contingent, but you know, with MMA fans, it's always the vocal minority that makes the loudest noise. I just want everyone to stop being so jaded about the

placement of the Jan Wei Li fight. As you just mentioned, if you weren't going to have it in China, the literal best place to put it on is UFC 300. People talk about, you know, oh, the UFC doesn't give Jean-Wey Lee enough respect and all this other nonsense. Well, guess what? They're putting her on their biggest card historically of all time. It's the 300th UFC numbered card. You have 300 UFC pay-per-view. What more do you people want? And now suddenly you guys are going to conveniently act like,

oh, it should have been in China. Well, yeah, sure. But are you American fans going to try and wake up at 5 in the morning to watch that pay-per-view? No. So stop lying. UFC 300 is perfect. It's in Las Vegas.

You know, even if it's not International Fight Week, Vegas is an international city. Like, come on, man. It's next to California. A lot of Asians and Chinese people around both the year in Vegas and in California. It's perfect. In fact, I would prefer it over China. You know, especially when, like, come on, man.

Like, y'all need to stop. Like, God, be happy for once in your miserable lives. You know? Like, Jesus. Yant Wang Zhang Wei finally gets her, like, super. Now, we can debate about whether she should be the main event. I know you don't think she should. I'm not saying she should either.

I'm just saying it would be nice. I'm just, I mean, if she's one of the best fighters in the world. So, but again, like, pick a lane, y'all. You know what I'm saying? Oh, oh, why Lijian doesn't get enough attention? Okay, we're going to put her on UFC 300. But she's not in China, so that's dumb. I'm like, what?

Like, Jesus, you guys are going to find something wrong with everything all the time, and it gets so tiresome. Anyways, that'll be all, as always, be kind of one of the other guys. Later. Look, I agree. I didn't see a lot of backlash, but honestly, I wasn't really looking for it. I just wanted to see what it was. And I didn't even go on Twitter to find out the news.

I went to ammaefighting.com. It's a great website. And lo and behold, it was right there for me to see. So I didn't have to go on Twitter and see reactions to anything, which is nice. Look, China was the best bet for this. And they had planned to go to Shanghai in December, and we all thought that the reason they were going to Shanghai was to put this fight on. And I will say, I'm cool that it's at UFC 300. I think it's a damn good opportunity for both women to fight on what, at least in our minds, is going to be a tent pole event.

It's going to be one of the most historic events for the company. 100, 200, 300. It's a very big deal to be a part of this card. And it's look at the lineup so far. I know we don't have the main event. I know it's not full, but every fight on there is frigging good. There is a storyline to everything. And there are a lot of compelling matchups on the books right now, all five, six fights that have been announced.

This is a damn good card. Would I prefer it in December on the fight night card, which I would assume was the plan? That would have been incredible. Would have been incredible. And I would have been happy as hell to wake up at 5 a.m. and watch that card and then watch these two women fight at like 9.30 in the morning Eastern Standard Time. I would have been thrilled about that. But that didn't happen. And there's probably a reason that didn't happen. One, maybe both of these women were not ready to go, which is why we moved

the entire event to the world's most famous apex and did the, and did the whole thing there. And Song Yidong got a big moment. So this is good. This is good. It's not easy. to go to China. It's not easy to just be like, you know what? Let's just, when should we go to China? Let's just, we'll throw a dart and just book a trip to China. It's not that simple. And do we want to wait to like, I don't know, we don't even know when they could get back there, September, October. Do you want to wait that long for Zhang to fight? And guess what? Guess what? If Zhang Wei wins his fight, they could still go back to China. They could still have Zhang Wei headline. We could get Zhang Wei versus Tatyana Swar as a lot.

in China. That's pretty damn cool too. That's if Tatyatta beats Amanda Lamosh, which I think she will. So we could still go to China and still do it with Zhang Wei Li. We did it before. I think if we had the choice, do you want to wait until the second half of the year for Zhang to fight just so they can do it in China? Or do you want to see Zhang possibly fight more than once in 2024? I vote for the latter. I want to see Zhang fight at least twice this year. She's not the most active fighter. I think she only fought once last year. She fought in August after beating Carla Sparza the previous November. I'd like, we might get to see her twice.

We might get to see her twice because of this. And I will vote for that all the time. Just don't do the Alexa Grasso fight if she beat John John. Now, if Amanda Lemo beats Tatyana Suarez, maybe we have a different kind of a conversation. but again, I don't think that's going to happen. And we have to see what's going on on 125 as well in terms of timing and how to make that all work. But yeah, I like the fight.

I like that it's on 300. It certainly isn't going to be the main event. But who gives a shit? It's going to lead in very nicely to whatever else they have booked up. And I think this is actually a really good fight. I like the matcher for Zhang Wei Li. I think she is a hoss. And I think she is like as good as there can be a fight.

be in this sport right now and i think it's going to be really really tough to beat her and jang we lee versus tautiana soraes is a fight i have to see sometime this year but we have to get through 300 and tattiana soraes his fight first so we'll see what happens but i have no no issue at all with it being on the ufc 300 this is the second best bet uh let's go to octagon blog Hi Mike. There is 16 hours difference between Las Vegas and Beijing. So the UFC is gambling, marketing technically, that this card UFC 300 will break all records because only a certain percentage is needed in China to watch this fight to break all records. China is a 1.4 billion country. So that's, I think, the main reason to put this country. as late as possible because the 16-hour difference. I want to hear your take from that angle. Thank you and good luck, Mike.

Thank you. Yeah, I mean, look, outside of when Zhang fought Jessica Andrade's to win the title, most of her fights are in the US. Most of her fights are around the same timeframe. And if you listen to Dana White after every single one of those fights, he touts how many people in the United watch the fight or talked about the fight on their social media channels.

Like, John Wei Lee is a freaking superstar at China. Zhang Wei Lee is kind of superstar at a lot of places. Trust me what I tell you this. I was in Boston for UFC 292 fight week. Zhang was over like Rover in Boston. She was outside of Sean O'Malley and probably Chris Wyman. Zhang was the most popular fighter on the card.

I mean, people were cheering her like crazy. So she has appeal. She's starting to learn English. She's getting a lot more fun in that aspect. She's starting to say fun things in English and getting over in that sense as well. She knows what to do. And she's very, very popular in China. And she's going to do big numbers.

So I don't think that matters at all. Even if they threw her on like 299 or 298, I think it's going to be the same thing. But yeah, this certainly helps the global attention span of UFC 300 to put someone like Zhang Wei, someone is popular and can generate views in China and other parts of the world. It's very, very smart. It's very, very smart. But I think she does the same traffic in that area, no matter what card she fights on, for being honest. But yeah, it's a good little addition, and Zhang Wei is very, very good at fist fighting. So it's a good addition to the card. And who knows? Jean-Gronan could be a very interesting story here. She goes out there and beats

Jean-Lay-Lee, then she gets a lot of that popularity as well. She's probably going to get a lot of views in her own right going into that fight. Barbarossa. Barbarusa, are you there? Hi, Mike. Hello, Sarah. I just want to ask you about the Islam situation. Do you think that he's really injured like Dana said, or he's just putting him on the shelf and hoping that he fights?

in Abu Dhabi again because I don't believe that if he don't fight in March he's going to fight in summer and the risk that he doesn't headline the Abu Dhabi card unless Hamza become a champ or anyone from that region thank you Mike so I mean I I don't know why Dana would say he's dinged up if he's not. I mean, I know Danes' things that are wrong all the time, but usually he doesn't mess around with that stuff. So there's probably some truth to that. However, Islam Makachev went on Twitter yesterday and sort of laid out a plan and said

June 8th. I don't have the tweet right in front of me and I'm not going to look it up. But he said someday in June, I think it was June 8th. He's going to fight Justin Gachie. and then November at MSG, he's going to fight the Oliver Serucan winner, and then he's going to fight again in February. So he's already sort of laid out his plan for what he wants to do in 2024 in the beginning of 2025.

So maybe that's the case. Maybe he fights Gaetchi in June and then fights the Syruccian Olivera winner in November and maybe we go there. Again, we don't know this. We don't know what's going on. you know as as jed and ak and i talked about when we reacted to dana dropping the lightweight fights what does this mean for justy gaiti does this mean that they're going to do it in march this means they're going to push islam until june does this mean that

justin gajie's going to fight max holloway and defend his bmf title at ufc 300 which by the way sign me the frig up for that and then maybe get him back in there to fight islam in june whatever. Maybe that doesn't happen. I don't know. But I think if they announced Justin Gachey versus Max Holloway, and I'm not saying that's what's being talked about, but that's kind of what some people are thinking could happen with Islam on the shelf because you're trying to figure out like what's a 300-ish type of main event. That's going to satisfy everybody. And most people feel like Leon Edwards versus Balaamah will not satisfy that. But if you do Justin Gachie versus Max Holloway is the main event and then do Leon versus Balaa.

and then do Jean-Wey Lee versus John John Don, and then do Olivera versus Armid Sarukian, and then something else there. That's a pretty fucking good main card right there that kind of has everything, really. So I don't really know. We'll see what happens. If they, hearing what the rest of the UFC 300 card looks like

and what it appears like on paper, I think that's going to tell us a lot, but at least this is what Islam says. Going to fight in June, not fighting in Abu Dhabi if he had his druthers. He's going to fight at MSG, and he's going to fight in February. So I don't know. Maybe they're banking on maybe Bilal Mohammed beating Leon Edwards and maybe Bilal could headline there, which would make that crowd pretty damn happy, honestly. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes.

What? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo. Great idea. Feel the fun with all the fun. latest slots in live casino games and with no wagering requirements. What you win is yours to keep groovy. Hey, I won!

Sporting will begin when passenger Fisher is done celebrating. 19 plus Ontario only. Please play responsibly concerned by your gambling or that if someone close to you, call 1866 5331-260 or visit Comexonterio.ca. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your

travel bug, but your taste buds That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Chad, go ahead. You just got to unmute yourself, my man. Can you hear me now? Yeah, what's up, Chad? Hey, what's going on, Mike?

I just wanted to talk about UFC 300. I am looking forward to it. I think fans need to manage their expectations. I do think it's going to just kind of be like a stacked all-around card, top to bottom, a lot of good fights. But overall, I do think fan bases are going to be disappointed just because I think fans are going to be looking for that marquee crossover commercial headliner, which just does not exist on the roster as far as availability.

If you go back to 100 and 200, both of those exceeded a million plus paper views. They had Barack Lesnar at the top of the bill. 200 did have DC and Jones, which fell apart at the last second, but the attempt was to have that, you know, commercial appeal. You know, Jones is not available. I don't think Barack's coming. You know, they're saving Connor for the summertime. So I don't really think it's going to have that commercial crossover appeal.

You know, fans are sitting here waiting for Engano versus Jones. That's obviously not going to happen. But I do think we just kind of need to be satisfied, the fact that it's just going to kind of be a top. to bottom card with, like you said, a bunch of bangers. They announced the women's fight last night. I do like you talking about Max and Gaichi. I think that will be fun. So I don't know, that's kind of, I just wanted to hear what your comments is on that. If you think that's where the card is going to go more in that direction, instead of having this kind of commercial cross over appeal, and I'll take my comments off now. Thanks. Yeah, I mean, so my initial thought for

300. This is how I would have laid it out, and I think this would have been more interesting. But this is also before Dana said Islam was dinged up, is I would have moved things around because of Ramadan. I would have done Islam versus Gaichi at 299. I would have moved Shot O'Malley versus Cheeto to 300. And then that could headline a three title fight card and then just stack up the rest of it with fun stuff. Like that's more 300-ish. I think people would be more excited for a Sean O'Malley, Cheeto Vera, rivalry fight headlining that card over Leon Edwards versus Blah, Mohamed. I don't think there's a discussion to be had because shot is a rising star.

Cheetah is becoming a star in his own right. The rivalry between them two is right there. Everything about it, you could sell the shit out of it. It would be massive and it would be huge. It'd be way better than Leon versus Bilal from a consumer standpoint. Leon versus Ballal is a high-level fight. It's a close competitive matchup on paper, but it is not going to be one that is going to draw attention

come fight week. Like, we're not going to get Bilal talking about Leon's dead family members or anything like that. Bilal is going to say a bunch of cringy stuff at the press conference to become the heel. There's no doubt about it, but it ain't going to go that far, and it's not going to be enough to drum up like a whole bunch of extra buys like Colby did,

whether you like what he said or not. So I don't know what they're going to do. I honestly don't know what to do what they're going to do. The fact that Connor McGregor and Michael Chandler is not headlining this event is a head scratcher. Because by all accounts, and from people I've talked to as well, Connor wants to fight at 300. He wanted to be on that card. And do you think Michael Chandler would have had any hesitancy whatsoever to fighting at 300?

of course Michael Chandler were to take in that fight. So the fact that that's not there is kind of shocking to me when Conner certainly wants it. I don't know. Like that would satisfy everybody, I think. But this is what the UFC does. They like to get multiple bites of the apple. And I'm not blaming him for that

because it just works for them multiple times. But would people prefer getting a stacked 300 card that doesn't have that marquee fight that you make? mention, but still get Connor two months later, or would they rather have Connor headlined UFC 300 for his big, highly awaited return? That's kind of what the fan base would have to figure out. $2.99 looks incredible right now on paper. Let me pull up that whole card. That whole card is friggin insane, especially with the addition of Dustin Porese versus Benoit Santini, which has quickly become one of my most anticipated fights of the year.

Shot-O-Mally Marlon Verra. Dustin Poyer Ben-Wasantini, five-rounder, Gilbert Burns, J.D.M., Curtis Blades, Jailton, Almeda, Piotr Yon, Song Yidong, Kevin Holland versus Michael Venom Page, Pedro Munoz versus Kyler Phillips, C.J. Vergara versus Asu Amabayev. Caitlin Chukagian versus Macy Barber, Matush Gamrot versus Jafiardo Sanjos, Michelle Pereira versus

Michelle Oleg Zaycheck at 185, and we have the debut of Rebellis Despagne versus Josh Parisian. And I think we understand what that fight is probably going to look like, or at least what the UFC wants it to look like, because I think they're going to do something

with this kid. He's a 6'7 heavyweight with, like, the biggest reach in the sport right now at 87 inches. He's a freak in like the best possible way. But like $2.99 is friggin loaded right now. But also if you go back to what UFC 199 looked like, that was a loaded card too. Even with the loss of Chris Wyden on that card

and we ended up getting Luke Rockhold versus Michael Bisping instead. A lot of people felt like $1.99 was the better lineup than $200. And it seems like that's how, a lot of people feel here. But the whole factor of 100 and 200 has something in common. No, it's not Jim Miller. Although we want Jim Miller at 300.

It was Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar did all the heavy lifting for 100. Brock Lesnar did all the heavy lifting for 200. And if even with John Jones fighting at 200, that thing was doing a million pay-per-views regardless because Brock Lesnar was on the card. Everybody wanted to see Brock Lesnar come back, what he would look like, all of that.

So even with John out, that thing still did a million pay-per-view buys. And it wasn't, no offense, it wasn't because of Amanda Nunes and Misha Tate. It wasn't because of Daniel Cormier and Anderson Silva. It was because Brock freaking Lesnar was coming back. And it was a terrible fight. It was a terrible fight with Marcotte.

It was awful. Go back and what, if you never watched that fight, I mean, I don't even know if I want to challenge you to go watch it. It was that bad. But Brock just brings a certain aura to the fight card. And I don't know. know if they have that star right now.

But be prepared for just a really stacked up high-level card. I think the big sell for me on 300 is that it is done right. And what I mean by that is the fight card is just half the battle. The other parts of it is what are we going to do to make it special? Are we going to bring back some of the old fighters? Are we going to honor them as well? or we're going to do a whole week full of fun stuff looking back on all of these numbered events

and the history of this company and the last 30 plus years by highlighting the fighters that got us to where we are today. That's the kind of shit I want to see on top of like a really fun card. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Let's move on. I'll try to hurried. Riddick or Heretic, are you there? Hello, Mike. So I'm Rithic, I'm from India. My English is not that good, so you have to bear with me. Sure. Am I audible?

Yeah, I hear you. Okay, so you just mentioned now that $299 is very stacked up. So how can U.S.C. 300 be compared with $299? I think $299 on paper is way better right now. how can a U.S.A. talk that, talk 299? And what is the mindset of U.S.C. putting $219 and so stacked up before 300? Now people are going to expect very much more in 300 because of the number. Thank you, sir.

Yeah, look, I think the previous caller was spot on. Like, we have to manage our expectations. And who knows? By the, like, look, the U.S.C. is not acknowledged in any way. the Connor McGregor Michael Chandler fight for June. Not nothing. They have said nothing about it. No acknowledgement whatsoever.

So could the UFC just be like, fuck it? Let's do, we're going to do Connor versus Michael Chandler as the main event? Sure. You think any of the champions on that card are going to be like, nah, dude, I don't want to fight on a Connor card. Of course they're going to want to fight on a Connor card. Are you kidding me? Of course they are.

I think Zhang Wei and Leon Edwards are going to be as champions. They're going to be like, nah, we want a headline over Connor. No. They're not dumb. They understand, like, what could happen for them in terms of paper viewpoints and stuff like that as champions. And I know mostly it happens to the main event. What do you do a card like this? I assume that they would get a piece of that as well.

And that's going to do over a mill. That might do, like, 1.5 by the time we get to that fight. because Connor's going to drum up interest, all the entire bill to that. So that could still happen. Who knows? But look, 300. Let me just pull up the whole card right now.

Like 300 as it stands right now, knowing that there's going to be more. Like, this is good. This is good. Jean-Wei Lee versus Janjohna. Yuri Prohashka versus Alexander Rackich, Charles Olivaire versus Armand Sarukin, which is A-plus matchmaking. Calvin Cater welcoming Al Jemaine Sterling to featherweight.

That is a super fascinating fight. And then we get Bo Nicol, who is on the rise right now that's trying to push into superstardum. He's fighting Cody Brundage. Five fights so far, like, that's pretty good. That's a pretty good lineup right there. Oliverer Sarucan is such a crazy fight. I love that fight so much. It should have been on 300.

I know there are some people who listen to this program regularly that are mad at me for even putting this out into the universe that the UFC should put this fight on UFC 300 that this should be the matchup to be made. And they did it. They did the thing and I love it. This is what we have so far. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Now let's see what the rest of the card looks like. If it's comparable to $2.99, are we going to be upset about it?

I hope not. If we get two cards in a row that looks similar like $299 and $300, we're really going to be mad about that? Oh, $2.99 should be $300 should be way better than $2.99. I don't think so. I don't think so. I think we're going to be like, holy shit. Like the next two payvaries are going to be frigging crazy.

So, yeah, I like the idea of managing our expectations a little. little bit. But yeah, I mean, so far so good for 300. We don't even know what the rest of the lineup is yet in 299 Zerdikos. Jay, hello. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? Yep. All right, so I'm having a hard time understanding the theory that the UFC is putting 299. It's really stacked to inflate Sean O'Malley's numbers. Because if the fight card turns out to how we expect it to be with all the fights being amazing, and let's say hypothetically that O'Malley loses or let's say it has not that great of a fight with Cheeto. When we look back, are we really going to say that the cards and numbers were really because of him

or because of all the amazing fights under him? So I'm still just having a really hard time with how this fight is going to, I mean, this card as a whole is going to really boost on Maui. When we see that this card is like ultimately stacked from bottom to top. And also my next question is, I saw a pretty credible MMA source say that Kiyochi Horaguchi apparently wants to come back to the UFC. I'm all in for that. I really wanted to see at 125. So if he does, do you think he has a potential

to maybe fight for a belt back in the UFC if he returns? All right. Thanks, and have him. Morning, man. He better. He better.

If they bring Horoguchi back, he better be fighting for a title, or at least getting a fight that gets into a title. You want to get, dude, holy shit. If they're doing this,

give me Kiyoji Horaguchi versus Minal Kopp if he beats Mateus Nikolao and the winner gets a title shot. Like, please give me that. Please. Oh, my Lord. That is fun.

Love that. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. I haven't looked like too much into that, but somebody to DM me a little while ago, and I'll get to the DM in a second. So you're talking about, like, rumor and innuendo and news and such and that stuff. The $2.99 stuff, look, this is, if you're going to try to build Sean

a star like you want to stack the carb right this is a problem that bellator was never very good at they would do like freak show fights and then they wouldn't like there was a time where belator would do like the freak show fight that got people to the dance but then they would load it with other talents to stack it so we could try to get other fighters over this is kind of doing the same thing but it's almost like the opposite effect this can't hurt shot o'malley at all shot is going to be attached to this. And whether Sean fights at any card, people love him or they hate him. There's no gray area. And if this thing does three million payperview buys, which it won't, Sean wouldn't get the credit for it anyways. That's just how it is. But this will be a,

I'm telling you right now, if Sean O'Malley on a card like this goes out and just dusts up Marlon Vera in spectacular fashion, I will, guarantee you he's going to come out come out looking like a fucking superstar like way more than the Al Jemaine Sterling fight. Way more. Because this is the one. This is everything for Sean O'Malley.

We talked about this when Dana first announced the title fights to start off the year. When he announced that we're getting Strickland DDP, Volk to Poria, and Sean O'Malley versus Marlon Vera. I said

and I stand by this, the man with the most to lose here is Sean O'Malley out of all these guys. And I'm not saying that if Sean loses to Cheetah Vera, like he's done. I'm not saying that. Could he get back to a title fight quickly? Sure. But all this talk

about being, you know, I want to be as big as Connor McGregor, or I want to do this, I want to go box Ryan Garcia. All of these things that could happen. None of it happens if he loses on March 9th to Marlon Vera. None of it.

none of it he loses it all and again it's not saying he can't get back to being a very popular a polarizing fighter in a fighter that draws numbers and gets social media hits and all that still could be there not saying he could never become a ufc champion again could still happen the ufc will probably push him for that but all these other things if sean wants to become a superstar he cannot lose to marlain vera cannot lose to marlain vera cannot lose this fight. It is all on the line for him. Everything. If he wants all that stuff, he has to win. He has to. So this is a very important fight for Sean O'Malley. And if he goes out there and knocks out Cheaterrera, holy shit, man, like he is going to look, he is going to come out looking

like gangbusters. He's going to look like the second biggest star in the company, if that happens. and think about it from this sense too. If Marlon Vera goes out and dusts up Sean O'Malley, as popular as Marlin is with the hardcore fan base, he's going to look like a star as well. And probably one that's going to be a lot easier to deal with if we're being honest. But I don't know if he gets to the levels that Sean could get to

if Sean knocks out Cheeto, but he's going to get pretty damn popular. So win-win for the UFC in a lot of respects. But if Sean, if they're looking for that next-level star, they need Sean to win and Sean needs to win if he wants to become that next level start. It's a very important fight. It's also a reason why I suggested let's just put Sean on 300. Like what better way to put him over or in Cheeto 2 than just having him fight a 300.

But look, $299 is great. Same as $199. We kind of have the same feelings, right? I loved $199 on paper. And that card, to me, and I'm not even talking about all the shenanigans that happen with, you know, some of my colleagues here at NBA fighting with Casey and Esther and Ariel, et cetera. I'm not even talking about any of that shit. I'm talking about, I can't remember. And this is stuff like I knew was happening because Ariel reported the day DS Conner-Bregor fight.

The rematch was happening at 202. Ariel reported the Brock Lesnar news. And both of those things got announced on the broadcast. And the fact that airily reported those beforehand did not change how I felt about either of those things one bit. It made it cooler just to see like how they were going to do it. And I honestly, I've watched a million UFC cards. I've watched a ton of these pay-per-views heading into 300.

When someone says, what's the most memorable pay-per-view of all time? What's the one that sticks out to you that you can't like, It's at the top of the list. If your grandkids came up to you and said, tell me about the coolest UFC pay-per-view you ever watched. It is UFC 199 without question.

Without question, it's UFC 199. Go watch the first fight of that card. Go watch the first fight. That was like a fight of the year contender. And then we went all the way up to finding out Brock was coming back. Even though I already reported it,

we got to see the promo video. We were like, Like, this is legit. We got to see Nate Diaz in the crowd, getting a huge ovation when they announced the Connor McGregor fight. What a moment that was. That was the moment we were like, damn, dude, Nate Diaz won. He won.

And then everything else that happened that night. The infamous Max Holloway moment where he pointed to the Octagon for the final seconds against Ricardo Llamas to Uriah Faber and Dominic Cruz fighting and putting that rivalry over. to Michael Bisbing becoming the middleweight champion. Everything that happened to UFC 1 to 9, 199 was unbelievable. And then 200, like, has its own story for good or for bad. But that whole stretch from 199 to 200 was unbelievable. Dan Henderson.

Dan Henderson knocking out Hector Lombard. Justin Porre, knocking up Bobby Green. Brian Ortega and Clay Gweed at getting after it. Benny Darius, just icing James Vic. Jessica Andraj, icing Jessica Penne. Sean Strickland was on that card, too. A pole race, Dung Yama, fight of the year contender to kick that thing off. Luis Enrique de Silva, nasty finish.

Like, it's such a good card. It was so good. And then 200 is just his own story, too. So maybe we get the same kind of feeling. And if that happens, sign me up. Sign me up. If you've never seen, by the, I'm going to go to left lane in a second, but I'm telling you right now, if you're a newer fan, if you are a newer fan and you have not sat down and

watched the entire UFC 199 card, do it. I'm telling you right now, go do it. It's so good. It's almost the perfect card. If you take all the shenanigans that happens out of the octagon, the in-octagon process. It was, oh my God, it was so good. So good. 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 tread plus at OnePeloton.CA. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering,

could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $39.99, how could I resist? This luxurious wool throw for my sister. This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss? Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard?

At these prices, could I find something for ever? Everyone at winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting. Winners find fabulous for less. Left lane, MMA. Hello, Mike. Can you hear me?

Yes. How are you? Good. How are you? Good. That's good. I've got a couple kind of, I guess, not even questions, more just like mini rants. I guess you could call them.

First of all, I wanted to talk about UFC 300. Obviously, today's announcement, Zhang Wei Li versus Jan Jan. I'm seeing videos all over YouTube. I'm hearing terms of. UFC 300 is ruined. I'm hearing terms of this is a disgrace of a fight announcement. And I'm just thinking what the actual, like, you know what I'm saying? I'm so perplexed by how people think this is like a bad thing.

Like people think like we can't have a women's title fight on UFC 300. Like, might I remind you, Amanda Nunes, there's Misha Tate, main event at the last, you know, 100 card and I know there were circumstances that caused that to happen but I just don't know if you look at that card it was a good card but like we had they have to chuck brock lesdon in a fight that the stakes really meant nothing they threw together corneavo silver which is cool but like they had a title fight on there with hoseldo but I think people's expectations of these hunt these 100 200 300 cards are becoming like they think we're going to get some fucking kabib gsp john jones Ghanu, Conover's channel, all on the same fucking card.

And it just annoys me to hear people think that the UFC is doing some sort of bad job. Like, if you look at the fights that are announced so far, none of them are bad. I'd say the quote-unquote worst fight that we have is bow-nickel simply because it's not competitive. But I don't know why people are complaining about 300. We've had five fights announced. Usually we're going to get 13, 14 by the time it's finalized. So I don't know. why people are complaining.

I think we just got to sit back, let the UFC announce what they need to, and then we can make our judgments once we have the full lineup. Because everyone's saying, look how much better, $299 is. And I'm like, we'll get, obviously, $299's got a full lineup. $300's got five fights.

And you look at $300, none of those fights are bad in any way. Like, it's so odd to me that people are just jumping on this so viciously to say that it's just terrible and getting so annoyed at this. announcement. So that's my one point. That's my major point. I just got another quick point. I wanted to briefly, because I couldn't jump on the other day, talk about Bonar Saint Denis first Dustin Poyer. And I'm just briefly going to say, I do think Buna is going to run through

Dustin. I respect Poree. It's a phenomenal boxer. If you're going to tell me they're going to stand, obviously, I'm picking Dustin Poree to win. But I think people have a misconception of Bunar, like he's just this brawler that this non-technical, Michael Chandler style of brawler that just doesn't know how to strike or defend punches. Like, he's going to grapple Poria and he's going to have success. He dominated Tiago Moisesu, Islam took to the fourth. Porre really hasn't had success against anyone who's offensively wrestled with him. Even Chandler came back after the first round of getting his head punched at the end of the first,

came back and almost 10-8 at him in the second. Like, Porre does not do well against offensive wrestlers. I am pretty confident Bonar gets it done, but those are my main points. I'm just so annoyed about everyone. I know it's not everyone, but this talk about 300, and somehow this is a bad fight announcement. Zhang Wei Li is one of the most entertaining fighters on the roster. So that's all I got to say.

Dumb points of view from other people in my eyes. But thanks, Mike. Yeah, like, I, again, when I found out about this, I did not find out about it on Twitter. I went to the website. So I didn't get to see the reactions. But why would anyone complain about this? I don't understand.

I don't get any backlash at all. Like Danny didn't say I'm announcing the main event for UFC 300. He said, I'm announcing a title fight. I'm announcing one of the title fights. So we're getting more. We're getting more. This is fine. This is fine.

And like I said earlier, I ran off the lineup. It's pretty damn good so far. All the fights are compelling. They all have storylines, all of them. But this is not the whole lineup. We're not done yet. we're not done yet. The other thing is, as we talked about throughout the show,

people have to tamper their expectations a little bit. I still am puzzled by the Connor McGregor Michael Chandler booking. Why is it happening in June and not on this card? Don't understand that at all. But that's okay. We can change that. And again, it doesn't mean that Dana could not come around and be like, you know what?

Fuck it. We're doing Chandler McGregor at 300. And then none of this matters. None of it. and then just like the rest of it like I will say this though I will say this so far the UFC has done a nice job

but I also feel like this the way they've kind of treated this it's almost like it came up on them fast when that's not the case go back and listen to any Dana White press conference

following an event or scrum after a pay-review anytime Dana is asked about UFC 300 in any way whether it's with the MMA media or the Nelph boys or anybody else, he no sold it. Completely no sold it. Eh, not worried about that at all.

Why? Why? Why are you not worried about it? Even like October November, it was like, yeah, I'm not even thinking about 300 right now. What? Come on. Come on.

And that's like, that's an issue that I have with the UFC. There are people who DM me all of the TV. time, like, you're so negative about the UFC. You hate, you hate Dana. What the fuck are you talking about? When I see a major organization, or I see somebody who can do the thing, not consistently do the thing, yeah, I am allowed to be like, we know you can do the thing. So just do it.

Just do it. It gets like, you watch what happened with Robbie Lawler last year. It was the greatest thing I've ever seen. I almost cried with the whole Robbie Lala retirement. It was incredible. That whole event, UFC 290 was fucking awesome. All of it was great. Everything was fantastic.

They went the extra mile. And fans noticed. And we noticed. And we put them over for that. We know they can do it. It is not wrong to ask for it to be done more than once. Or more consistently. We know you're going to the apex.

We know not all the cards are going to be. good. But for paperviews, like, let's go. Let's make him special. Let's make him special. And no selling the idea of 300 for so long. Like, why? Why? Why is that the reaction? You can't even say like, dude, we're going to stack this thing. Wait until you see what we have planned. And eventually we got to that point. But it took forever to get there. It took forever to get there. So that's like my only great. But look, so far, so good. How can you complain about anything that has been announced so far. Zhang and Jan is a big

fight. It's not the main event. It's a big fight. It's one of several title fights. Yuri is fighting on 300 against Alexander Rackich. Good fight. Charles Oliver versus Armin Sturukian is fucking awesome. Calvin Cater versus Outwein

Sterling is awesome. Bo-Nichael on the card. It's great. You're trying to build a star. He should be on this card. None of these fights are bad. None of them. We don't even know.

This is a third of the lineup. We're going to get like nine or ten more fights. So we've got to chill out a little bit. We've got to chill out. So far, this is pretty goddamn good. And it's going to probably get better, guys. I'm trying to get Ethan in, but we're getting the wheel of doom. Ethan, do we have you?

You're just muted. Hello? Can you hear me? Yes. What's up here? All right, cool. So I got a question for. I was listening to one of your shows the other day, and Jed had a take saying that he thought Duplese versus Autosania was a bigger main event than Pereira versus Autosania 3 for the light heavyweight championship.

So I was just hoping to get your take on that. I don't know if I really agree. I think there's heat there, but I feel like the storyline with Autosania versus Pereira 3 is just way bigger than what we've got with DuPlessi. So yeah, thanks for taking my question and have a heck of a morning. Yeah. I have to go back and listen to what exactly he said. I don't know if he said it's bigger or if it's just more interesting to him. But again, I don't remember the exact wording that he used.

I don't know. Honestly, I kind of feel like the main event, 4300 at this point, unless they're going to do something nuts, unless they're going to do a Gaichi Holloway, BMF title fight or something, which after Islam's tweet yesterday saying he's fighting Gaichi in June or that's what he wants, kind of feel like if he's going to say that, there's probably a little bit of smoke to that. Then maybe I think a lot hampers on what happens next Saturday.

Because if Sean Strickland beats DDP, like, it's going to be big for him. And if DDP beat Sean Strickland, it's going to be big for him too. And if I'm Israel-A-Sahnia, I am going to Toronto. to watch that fight cage side, and I'm getting in that octagon with either guy, for sure. Now, we don't know what is he's thinking right now. We don't know when he's planning on returning. I will say this, though,

and I'm not going to get into too many details or anything like that. I would be... I'm not going to say it's, like, completely out of the question based on what I'm hearing. I'd be kind of surprised of Alex Pereira fights at UFC 300 at this point. I know he put out a thing that he's back and all that stuff, but from what I'm hearing, I don't know if it happens. It could happen.

I don't know. It doesn't seem likely at this point. But, again, anything can happen. Maybe we pull rabbit out of that. I don't know. It doesn't seem like he's going to be fighting at 300, at least from what I'm hearing right now. So you could do DDP Izzy,

which would be a pretty freaking cool main event for UFC 300. You could do the Strickland's Adasani rematch, which is fine. There's ways we can go. I don't think we're going to get a main event for $300 until after $297 at this point. Because I think there's a very real chance that the winner of that fight, if they're able to make a quick turnaround, which you know Sean Strickland will be able to do, DDP, possibly, I think they're going to be watching that fight very closely when it comes to how we're constructing this 300 lineup, is what I'm trying to say.

So I don't know what's going on with Pereira. It doesn't seem like he's going to fight a 300, but who knows at this point. I'll address one other thing that I saw yesterday that I got asked about a million times. Again, if you're new to the show, let me remind the longtime listeners about the golden rule of fight announcements, especially with high-level names and all of that. If it's not on our website, it ain't real, or at least fully real. saw reports yesterday about Amanda Hebas versus Rosemianus, May 23rd. It is on our website.

And there's a reason it's on our website because it's not done yet. It's not even fully agreed upon as of yet. Is it being discussed? Yes. Are we at the point where we are comfortable saying, yeah, that's in the works. It's all agreed. We just need the contracts? No, we're not.

because it's not done yet. And when we get to that point, you'll see it on the website. Am I saying it's not going to happen? No, I'm not saying that. Is this the fight the UFC wants? Yes, this is the fight the UFC wants. This is what do they want. Is it to a point where we're going to report it and say it's happening?

No, it's not. And that's why it's not on the website yet. So that's just addressing a couple of things that I've been getting, and we'll see what happens with 300 and beyond. all go ahead mike i need you to help me out i've been thinking i'm a little insane because my friends are like giving me shit for thinking about my take here but ever since anthony smith was talking about jim miller trying to like maybe like in a fantasy fight with brock lesner i'm kind of the odd one out and thinking like that's not that crazy of a take like you're telling me if jim miller

and brock lesner are rolling like if they roll together you're telling me brock's smokes them. I mean, my friends think I'm just ignoring strength, but I don't think he gets smoked. I mean, Jim Miller is nasty on the ground, but I don't know. What do you think about that? And is there a world where he gets slept this weekend, Jim Miller, and gets hit with like a five-month, four-month suspension, like by the athletic commission? Is there like a 1% chance of that happening? That's all I got. Have a good day. Brock, Brock kills Jim Miller. I'm sorry. Brock has no slouch on the ground either.

Brock's just going to sit on Jim Miller and he could probably do whatever he wants, Jim Miller. Like, come on. Let's be honest here. Brock's got outweigh him by like 200 pounds and he knows what he's doing. This isn't Bradley Martin grappling with Jim Miller. This is Brock fucking Lesnar grappling with Jim Miller. This is a whole different can of worms here. Okay? Come on.

You're insane. you're insane. Now, if they, like, rolled and had a training session together, like, could Jim catch him one time? Maybe. But, come on. This is insane. Anthony Smith's take is just horrendous. It's so terrible.

And Jim had some fun with it at the, uh, at his media scrum yesterday. And I thought that was kind of funny. And he played into it. And as well, he should. As well, he should. Uh, and how dare you put that negative juju out into the universe? How dare you about Jim Miller getting knocked out so we can't fight at 300 against suspension? I like this matchup with Mowgli Benitez.

I think Jim Miller wins. I think he finishes Mowgli. Yeah, could it happen possibly, but I think Jim Miller is just the better fighter at this point, even though Jim Miller's up there in age. Mowgli is getting up there himself. I just feel like Jim just needs to survive an early storm, and I think he's going to get him out of there. and I think we're going to see Jim Miller

UFC 300, my friends. Let's keep this a positive show for the most part. All right, we got three people waiting. We got Rob, we got Abzwalai. We got to get Justin. We're going to get to all three of you. We're going to go rapid fire because I've got to get out of here. Rob, go ahead.

All right. Hey, Mike. So I've been thinking, you know, everybody's speculating on UFC 300. And how can nobody's talking about Paul Felder being on the card? You know, he's talked about. wanting to return and want to come back for that fight, but I haven't heard anything. Dude, I mean, let me just say this. I have no insights to this whatsoever.

Absolutely none. I've been pretty good with my predictions lately. I've been pretty good. And I'm telling you right now, this is not because I'm cheating or anything. I literally have no idea. I'm just going with my gut. My gut is telling me, my gut told me we're going to get Mazadal Diaz at a boxing match. By the way, not done, but being discussed.

It's in the works. It is being talked about. It's probably going to happen at this point. We just have eyes to dot and teased across and things of that nature. And I'll more on that once it's official and it gets announced and it ends up happening. I'll tell you more about that in the coming weeks. I feel like if Jim Miller beats Mowgli Benitez and I'm picking him to do so, we're going to get Paul Felder versus Jim Miller, UFC, Your Honor.

That's what I think. That's what I think. And when Dana says, wait till you see what we got to open this card, it might even be that fight. But again, no insight. Don't be like Mike Hicks reporting this. I ain't reporting shit. I'm just telling you what I think. This is what my gut is telling me.

My gut has led me in a pretty good direction here thus far with my takes in 2024. Jim Miller beats Mowgli Benitez. It comes out pretty much unscathed. That's the fight I think we're going to get. Jim Miller versus Paul Fender. Love it. Love everything about it. and I think it makes all the sense in the world.

All right? So, Wally, go ahead. Heck of a moment, Mike. I just have two questions, quick ones. Firstly, with Dustin Poy, if he beats Benis and Denise and puts himself still right back at contention, do you seem having rematch at Olivera or maybe fight Sarukian, maybe Gaichi a third time,

if he wants to get one last shot at the title. And my other thing is, regarding with UFC 300, I know you brought this up earlier, You're looking at the last card, UFC 200, and so far compared to this one, you know, touch wood, everything goes well, no fights get cancelled out. I think if UC300 goes on pace to get all the five three one,

and I think it should be a hundred and way better card. I don't think we'll get something on the level of a Brock Lesnar excitement level, but I think, like you mentioned, maybe Paul Felder returning will be a nice addition. You know, I would, in my own preference, like to see Rhonda Rousey or Yowel Romero make a comeback. And I know people hate this, but if we do have to live with Bilal and Leon being the headliner,

so be it. As long as this card is fully stacked and a lot of fan favorites or big names of fighting like Charles Olivera or, you know, people like Yuri Prasca, I think this car should be perfectly fine. That's all I have. Have a great day. Yeah, I don't think it's going to go over well, though. I just don't.

It's a good fight. Look, it's a fight that needs to happen. Belal has earned his shot. There's no doubt about it. But we have two guys who are not very exciting. Like Leon is not an exciting fighter. Ballal is not a very exciting fighter. It's going to be high level and competitive.

No doubt about it. But is that how you want, with how this fight probably looks and how UFC 296 just ended, right? And I know Colby gets a lot of blame for that, but Leon probably deserves some as well. Do we want UFC 300? the memory of that event

to be, yeah, that wasn't a great fight or that wasn't all that fun. You know what I mean? I want it on the card. I think it's a good supporting fight. Like, I think it's a good co-main event. But if we did like Gaichi Holloway or something,

I'm not saying that's going to happen. And maybe it won't. Maybe it will. But you think people are going to complain if Gaichi Holloway for the BMF title is the main event of UFC 300? Oh, Leon Belal should be the main event? No, no one's going to say that.

No one's going to say it. But if we get it, great. Like, it's not going to change my life. I'm still going to be in the MMR studio watching the fights with all of you in the watch party. And it's a good fight. Like, it's an intriguing matchup. It's one ball ball could win. But it's, it's, Tantosia Moreno from 290, it will not be.

It just won't. I think we can, we can all agree with that. I just don't feel like Leon is the guy. I don't know. I just, that just doesn't screen 300 main event to me. But if that's what we get, that's what we get. Poria beats BSD.

He's in a good spot. He's in a very good spot. I think you make a really strong case that Poria has the most to lose with these lightweight fights. Because, I mean, if he, here's the thing. And I think I talked about this a little bit on Tuesday,

and we talked about this on the reaction pot as well. if Dustin Porier loses this fight, it's going to be ugly. It's going to be in vicious and violent fashion. This will not be a decision where both guys are fine. Like, he's going to get battered if he loses this fight. He's going to get brutally finished

if he loses to Benoit Santini. And that probably takes him out of the title discussion forever. Are there still compelling in big fights for him? Probably. But in terms of him wanting to be champion, in this, it ain't happen. He's out of the title picture probably forever, especially at 155,

and now the UFC is trying to move forward with some of these young bucks, which I love a lot, and we've been screaming for this for three years now. If he wins, maybe he gets the loser of the Surukian Olivera fight, and if he wins that, maybe he gets one last shot at it.

Maybe he can get that February opportunity that Islam wants. Maybe he can be the guy and get one last shot at it. But he's got to win. He's got to win. He can win this fight. Left lane in M.M.A made a lot of great points about Sontanine and his grappling and all that.

But Sonsigni can get hit, man. He can get hit. He is a wrecking ball. Even with his grappling. He is very hitable. And if Dustin can weather a storm and get him, get to the championship rounds. Like, boy, is that fight super interesting.

It really is. I can't wait for it. Honestly, I cannot wait. That is going to be in my top three most anticipated fights list until it happens, for sure. Justin, go ahead. You're muted.

There you go. Justin. What's up? You're there. You're there. I hear you. Bitch. Justin.

Yeah. Justin, I heard you, man. I heard you. Try one more time. We'll try to get Nicholas in. For some reason, Nicholas can never get in, but maybe we got him here. Do we have you, Nicholas? Can you hear me? Yes. Yeah, beautiful. Just two quick ones before work here. Does Ariel care about the MMA virgin guru or whatever his name is? and why is Amanda He was never invited on the MMA hour? I just don't get it. That's it. I think she's been on. She's been on.

She's had to have been on. I don't know. I know when I did what the heck she was on a couple of times. She is a delight. There's no doubt about it. I don't know, man. I don't know. All the aerial questions. I mean, I don't know. I'm not Ariel. I'm not around them. I work with him. We talk from time to time.

We text each other and shit, but I don't know how he feels about this stuff. I don't know what the process is to booking guests. I don't know. I don't know. And the guru thing, I don't know. I don't know. Justin, let's see if we get you in to close the show here.

Do we have you? Unmute and we can go. Do we have you? So what if on the main cards or not main cards, just the whole car together. Is there any fights you wish that was pulled and put in place? Thank you. I assume you mean, is there fights we could, like, shuffle around?

No. I mean, there was one, but this is before Dana said that Islam was hurt. My idea for a hot minute was if this could happen because of Ramadan and the timing of that, was put Islam versus Gaichi as the main event of 299 and then move O'Malley Cheeto to 300. And I was all about that idea. I think that's a tremendous idea because we still get the Islam Gaichi fight right before Ramadan. And we get Sean O'Malley versus Cheeto Vera headlining UFC 300 as like the third of three title fights. I think that would have been tremendous.

But if Islam is really dinged up and it seems like he is, because like I said, Dana is wrong about several things, but normally he doesn't put out information about injuries and such unless, for the most part, unless there's spoke to it. And I assume there would be. And I'm sure as a promoter,

he would love to have his Lomachachat fighting in March or at 300. So now I really don't see any real reason for movements here. I think we're fine. Let's see how the rest of it comes together. Again, we're still super early here. I still don't know if they have a main event picked out yet, and I don't know if they'll have one until after 297,

because Sean Strickland and DDP are going to fight each other, and Israel Adasanya could fight the winner of that fight. Especially if DDP wins, I could certainly see a world where they try to do DDP versus Izzy headlining UFC 300. I could certainly see it. I could certainly see Sean Strickland versus Israel-Azania 2, headlining UFC 300. I can see that.

There's lots of directions we can go here, but I don't think we're going to get a main event. until after next Saturday. I think then we kind of figured we start to draw up a roadmap, so to speak. But I think 297 is going to have a lot to deal with here. Unless, you know, Dana's going to announce more fights today.

I don't think he's announced in a main event. Maybe I'm wrong. And I think there's a lot of things in play here. Again, as I mentioned earlier, Connor McGregor and Michael Chandler have said, hey, this is happening on this date. But the UFC has not acknowledged that at all. They haven't even acknowledged it's existing at this moment.

So could they pull the rabbit out of the hat and say, hey, this is the main event of the UFC throughout? Sure. Anything is possible. But I think the big lesson, I think the big lesson that we have learned today on the show, and I think it's an important lesson, is we need to keep our expectations at a reasonable level. if you think Brock Lesnar and Connor and GSP and Silva and John Jones and Rhonda Rousey and all the biggest stars that have ever happened that have ever come across our

television screens or computer screens if you're expecting all these people to fight out UFC 300 just because it's UFC 300 it's not going to happen it's not but if you're expecting a card with like three title fights and just a shitload of compelling high-stakes fights with a lot of ranked fighters and divisional meaning and significance, I think that's what you're going to get. And I think if we approach 300 like that, then I think we're all going to be happy with what we get, or at least satisfied in some way. And I still think we might get some weird shit. We might get a Paul Felder return. We might get like a wacky fight. We might get like a crazy return of somebody we're not even thinking about right now.

Like that could all happen. But if we keep our expectations at a realistic place and then we still get the crazy shit, like we're going to be way much, we're going to be much more happier. So let's just, let's just keep things even, all right? So far, so good. These are all good fights so far. All of them are good. Jean-Wey Lee, Janjanan, great fight. Yuri Phrashka, Alexander Rackich, great fight. Olivera, Sarukian, tremendous fight. Cater Sterling, great fight. Bo-Nickel, Cody Brundage.

I don't know if it's going to be a great fight or not. Might be a squash match. Who knows? Cody's a dog, man. I'm watching Cody Brundge fights since he was an amateur. This dude is a fucking dog. He has it in him. I'm telling you he has it in him.

I've seen this dude on the regional scene fight in absolute wars. Have all of his UFC fight? White's been must watch. Has he brought his A game every single time? No. Am I saying he's going to be Boett-Nickled? No. I'm not saying that.

But could he go in there hungry and give Bo a little bit of a pushback? Maybe. You never know. That's to make this sport so wonderful. All right? So let's just keep our expectations in a good spot. And I think we're all be happy when we get to April 13th for UFC 300. So with that said, I got to go.

We got BTL coming up in just over an hour from right now. watching or not watching listening live on the YouTube channel. It's going to be Jed, Brian Campbell for Morning Combat. We're talking Francis and Joshua. We're talking all the fight announcements. We're talking John Jones and Tom Aspidol. We're talking UFC Vegas 84, which we haven't even touched on this entire week, which, by the way, if you're looking at UFC Vegas 84, pretty good card. Pretty good card.

Pretty solid main card offer it. And there's some good prelims, too. So this is not bad. This is not a bad apex card. I'm digging it. I'm digging it. I'm excited. And we're going to get some fights back on Saturday.

We'll be back again tomorrow, free for all Friday. We'll have a good time. But until then, everybody, have a great rest of your Thursday. And have a heck of a morning, everybody. The Vox Media Podcast Network.