MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje 2 For the BMF Title At UFC 291

Episode Date: May 18, 2023

Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje will battle for the second time inside the octagon in the main event of UFC 291 on July 29 in Salt Lake City for the BMF title. While the premise is there, why is the BMF title on the line, and should the UFC have been more creative with it if they were going to slap a gimmick championship belt on a fight that doesn't need it? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to Dana White's announcement of that massive bout in the lightweight division, along with the rest of the revealed lineup, along with the UFC 292 announcement for Boston in August. Additionally, topics include Francis Ngannou's new deal with the PFL, his boxing options, the potential short turnaround for the Robert Whittaker vs. Dricus Du Plessis winner to face Israel Adesanya in September, Alex Pereira vs. Jan Blachowicz at 205 pounds, 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

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. The Vox Media Podcast Network. It is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the FAA Fighting Twitter Spaces as you can hear the show, and it's a entirety. Shortly thereafter on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. Happy Thursday, everybody.

I am Mike Keck. Thank you for joining us, whether you're listening live, you're listening after the fact. We appreciate it just the same. Boy, did I miss a big news Tuesday? Man, got called into the old jury duty, and they brought us in, and then they brought us into the courtroom,

and then they told us the judge had a stomach bug, and they sent us home at, like, 10 a.m. And said, you got to come back. tomorrow. So came back yesterday and did the same thing all over again. And they did the random number selection and then you stand up and both sides of the table have to agree whether or not they want to put you on the jury. The state of South Carolina was like, yes, let's put them on when they called my number. And for some reason, the defendant's side was like, nope, excuse that dude and I didn't jump up in celebration but deep down deep down inside I was like yes

because that means I could do this show on Thursday that means I could do BTL on Thursday because if that didn't happen I wouldn't be here today and I definitely wouldn't have been able to do BTL so this works so great so I missed Franconganu signing with the PFL I know the great Alexander Kaylee hopped on in, took the tag and reacted to all of that. I have thoughts. I gave a lot of my thoughts on the podcast network. We did a little roundtable after Francis was on the MMA hour. It was myself at Shaheen Alshadi and Stephen Morocco.

And we deciphered everything from different angles and asked some different questions. And then we get the Francis news. And then several hours later, on the same day, Dana White, goes on social media and says, hey, come back here in 30 minutes. I got a bunch of news for you. Which, by the way, should not be a surprise to anybody in this room right now because some people are like, yeah, they're just going to leave this alone. And I'm like, no, they're definitely going to respond with something.

And they did. Dana White jumps on social media, goes live and announces UFC 291, July 28th, Salt Lake City. Main event, Dustin Poiray versus Justin Gichi two for the BMF title. I don't know why we're doing the BMF title. The fight rules on its own. We don't need the gimmick. I know Jed Michoud loves the gimmick, but like doing different gimmick. It doesn't have to be like we did the BMF thing. It's over. Mazadol won the fight. They said it's a one-time thing, never going to be defended, yada, yada, yada, if you're going to do it, just do something different. The violence weight title, I saw some people suggest.

Like, that's money. That's what you should do. Just create different titles. I'm cool with that. We don't need to go back to the BMF. Well, we don't need to do that. We're also getting Janbovich versus Alex Pereira, who hops up to 205. We get Tony Ferguson, Bobby Green, Stephen Thompson, Bichel Pereira, Derek Lewis, Marcus Ruggiero de Lima.

We get Michael Kiesa versus Kevin Holland. And we are also apparently getting Paulo Costa versus Iqra Elisgarov, which was the biggest stunner of all. And I only say that, I don't say that in a negative way. I say that in a positive way. This fight is incredibly fascinating to me. And I just didn't see this one coming. I was ready to give Vikram Alaskarraf a big step up in competition.

Maybe the number 15th rank guy suggested like a Brad Tavarish type, but throwing them in there with Paul Costa, I did not see that coming for a mile away. But I friggin love it. Absolutely love it. And I am intrigued by that. So that's July 28th. And then he announces the UFC's official return to Boston, Massachusetts, August 19th, the TD Godin, which hosted the Celtics utter collapse last night. It was awful.

And I don't really need to get into that. I'm sure somebody will. But apparently we're getting Alchemy and Sterling versus Sean O'Malley is the main event. Aljo had some different things to say leading up to that. So I'm curious how that's all going to get worked out. And Zhang Wei Li is back in Boston. She will actually compete in Boston. The last time the UFC was in Boston, she was brought in as a guest fighter.

And she got to go visit Gillette Stadium. She got to meet Tom Brady. She was super excited about that. And she gets to fight in Boston. Now she'll defend her Straway title against Amanda Lemoche. And then Dana announced, officially announced the return. turned to Sydney, Australia, coming up in September. So there's been a lot of news.

And then Connor McGregor, the new Conn-Mer-M-Megger documentary series, dropped on Netflix yesterday. I actually watched it when I got home from jury duty. It was good. And M.AFighting.com, we were featured a lot in that. Alexander Cayley's face was in it. Conn-Mor-Gregor's retirement BS. I remember that, that breaking news video that we did.

My voice is in it and like three, three different episodes. Jose's in there. His voice is in there. Pretty good doc. Pretty good doc. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. We'll see what this all leads to as far as present day in the future.

But as far as, you know, just going back and seeing his reaction after the Habib lost, his reaction to Habib retiring, all of that. It was pretty fascinating stuff. It was pretty fascinating stuff. So if you haven't watched yet, highly recommend. it. It's a, and it kind of goes by quick. It's four, four episodes. I thought it was really good. But those are some of the things we can talk about. We can talk about Saturday's UFC card. I understand if you don't want to talk about Saturday's UFC card. We'll be watching,

surely, but let's go to you, see what you have to say, what is on your mind. Let's see what questions you have. Ebswalia, kick us off. Hey, how you doing, Mark? Good, how are you? I'm good. So I have a few questions I want to ask about today's topic. So I'll start off with the 291 announcement. I'm really shocked at some of the fights that we got released, but it also makes me really excited to see that the UFC is really putting time,

effort into making the best fights for the fans. But how many of those five do you think will retain without possibly getting canceled? And who do you see winning between Dustin and Justin? My second question is regarding Australia hosting the U of Sydney, do you have any inside news and possibly why they never hosted one in Melbourne? Because, you know, I mean, based of what I've seen a few years ago that did come to Melbourne two times. I think there was a really huge success for that particular city. So I'm not sure if you could provide any insight that would be great. And just my third question, regarding Hamza, actually.

Mike. Now that the Costa fight seems to have dissolved for now. And maybe possibly we might see him fight Usman in Abu Dhabi. If he wins that fight against Usman, does that really put him in a title shot against the winner

Leon Lusikov? Because, you know, we just saw the Burns fight with Bilal. Bilal's been supposedly the next Taru shot winner, but wouldn't, I'm sure the UFC would definitely push Hamza before Bilal because he

brings the money and he has he's definitely a much more intriguing fighter to watch so you know how do you see how would you see that whole scenario playing out thanks man that's what i have to say have a good day so i don't know if that necessarily means he's going to fight kamar usman and if that is the case and dana has said this many times that fight's happening at 185 or it's not happening at all i don't think they're going to risk it i don't think they're going to risk it with hamzaa shama if after that weight miss. Like, what's the point? Just do it at 185.

Who cares? Like, who really cares? Like, if Usman wins that fight, he's in a much better position than he is at 170. Much better, coming off the two losses to Leon. Newer face in the weight class.

Middleweight's going to be really interesting over the next couple of years. I feel like that fight, if it happens, is going to be a 185. They could do the winner of Costa, Garoff in Abu Dhabi against Hamzaa Chamaif, depending on how that all plays out. Because there's history with both guys.

There's definitely history with both guys. Him and Costa have had this social media feud for a while. They had the running in Las Vegas. They don't like each other. And it seemed like that was the no-brainer fight to make for Abu Dhabi. And Alaskarov, his one loss in MMA is to Hamzat Shemayev. and Hamzaa Shamaif has put over Alice Garep many times saying that he is the toughest guy that he has ever faced in his entire career and that includes Gilbert Burns or anybody else that he has stepped inside the octagon with. So there's a story there with both guys would not shock me if they pivoted in that direction.

And then the other thing with Hamzad is we just don't know what is going on with him. We have no idea. He says, and he's ready to go. He says he's been offered a bunch of fights. Other people have said that's not really true. we have different plans, yada, yada, yada, yada. We just don't know. He's such a mystery right now.

So as far as Shemayev goes, I honestly have no idea what's going to happen. But we shall see. As far as the Sydney news goes, look, we've talked about this many times before. Ariel's talked about it a bunch of times in the M.A. hour. It's not just going, like there are certain places the UFC will go because they want to go. Boston being one of them. Dana loves going to Boston. He's from the area.

having a card in Boston means a lot to him. We knew that was coming. A lot of the places that they go, especially ones that are running live events with fans, the areas are paying the UFC to go, Salt Lake City being one of them. That's why when you hear the announcements, Dana is saying we want to thank this board and these people

because they are paying for the UFC to come and have an event there. It's just, it's no different than WrestleMania. It's a little different because WrestleMania has these big stadiums and they do 70, 80, 90,000 people. But it's not like, WB is like, ooh, you know what would be a cool place to go to?

Let's go to New Orleans. No, it's because that area is paying them. They're outbidding other areas in order to get them there. So if the UFC is going to, has the choice of going to X, Y, and Z or going to Salt Lake City, which is going to pay them a bunch of money

to host an event, that's where they're going. And I assume that's what Sydney is doing. They are paying them to come and host an event. Not saying they won't ever go back to Melbourne, but that's kind of what they're doing, especially with these international events right now. And then obviously the arenas and the area is hoping to boost their economy

by having people come to their events and spend a bunch of money locally. And then the arena wants to make money back by selling out the arena. and selling tickets. And some of the tickets are a little pricey, which some people have said. But that's the nature of the business right now. The UFC is absolutely on fire and places in cities, whether domestically or globally,

they're going to pay the UFC to come to their city or town because they're on fire right now. And it's good for the UFC. So it happens when you get over a certain threshold. for sure. The 291 card is great. I mean, look at it's on paper. It's friggin amazing. How do I view Porie Geci?

Boy, probably Porier, but I don't know. That's something like I'll have to dive into a little bit more. But that fight's awesome. It doesn't need the BMF title, though. Come on. We don't need the BMF title. Unless the Rock's going to be there. The Rock's going to be back.

If the Rock is going to return to Salt Lake City and wrap the belts around the waist, do it. not, then what's the point? Tristan, hello. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? Okay, that's good. I want to talk about, so I was talking a little bit

to AK about this on Tuesday. So with McKenzie Dern, I saw a little bit of her press conference, she was talking about what was going on a little bit behind the scenes, which is a little bit concerning because I don't know where her mindset is heading into the fight against Angela Hill.

Again, UFC is behind her. They want to see her challenge for a title, but we're going to have to wait and see. And what I want to get into this is the relationship between the fighter and the coaches of actually listening to your coaches if you have a great team and just executing what the coaches are telling you

because I think you'll find more success that way. And it also tells me a little bit more about the fighter of are they evolving? I'm always more interested with a fighter when they lose because in their next fight, have they learn and have they become better over time, right? So, like, you know, you talked about it with,

if you believe in a fighter, then why would you ever be off them? So, for example, like, you're still high on Armisturiken. So Armisturikin had lost to Matu's Gamron. But you were like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not off on Armine. He's just going through some stuff right now, and he's going to be better for it, because you've been on him since the beginning.

And that's the thing that's funny with MMA fans. It's like, even like you guys were talking like, yeah, now I'm off, I'm off on J. Muniers. I'm like, okay, but, you know, he's fighting Paul Craig. And if he goes out that melts Paul Craig, then you're like, oh, hold on a second. Is he great again? He's good again?

So, like, that's the thing. If you don't believe, if the only time I believe when you don't believe in a fighter, if they're not learning, they're still the same thing. Then you're like, okay, they're not listening to their coaches, that relationship. I don't know, maybe it's not strong enough, behind the scenes or you just can't execute. So like this is going to be, that's what the interest for me in McKenzie Dern is like,

is she learning and is she going to involve? Is she going to get better? I'll be going to see something different because if she goes out there, melts Angela Hill and wins and looks like we all thought she would be, then, you know, then you're like, okay, she's actually learned and she's actually getting better because the thing is, you know, if you have title aspirations, you got to love this stuff and you got to take. take the losses with the wins and just be better. That's my whole thing of, and that's always how I'm interested.

I know everybody's usually interested in headlines and things of that nature, but I'm interested in the exes and the mental side of it. And if that fight is going to get better, because again, you know, not everyone is going to make it and be a champion. Others will because they've got better. They've evolved. They've learned. And that's why it's so important.

like I'm always interested when you interview coaches Tyson Chattnerer Eric Nixon these guys because I want to understand I want to understand what they're seeing and then if the fighter is going to apply to it you know Anthony Fluffy Hernandez just talked about it like I'm not going to go in there against enemy Shabazzian reckless I'm going to listen to my coaches to me smart about it and then we'll see who wins at this point so there's no process of of that the coach and fighter relationship as well as The fighter evolving.

That's what I've got to say, my thing. I mean, yeah, it's an interesting dynamic. I mean, Eric Nixick and Tyson are two of my favorites to talk to when it comes to to evolution in the sport because you look at guys like Calvin Cater, you look at guys like Ralph Fon, and then with Eric Nixick, there's multiple different names that have gone through there that are just incredibly talented. And sometimes they can get over that line and sometimes they can't. you know, seeing Cody Garbrandt there and seeing how he's going to be able to bounce back

when he gets into his next fight and, you know, seeing how Edmunds Chabasian handles Anthony Hernandez. Like, these are interesting things. And with McKenzie Dern, like, she's obviously evolved. Like, her striking is much better than it once was. It's not great, but it's much better than it once was. The thing that really hurts her, and she's just so. good at what she does well. Like she's incredible and she can beat

on any giving day she can beat a lot of these girls at 115. She can. But can she beat the upper echelon of this division? I don't know. And this is what this fight is going to

signify to me because she loses to Marina Rodriguez. A lot of people thought she lost to Tisha Torres at UFC 273. She lost a Janjanan and now they're giving her Angela Hill, which is a winnable fight for her. It's a tough fight because Angela Hill is a dog,

but it's a winnable fight for her. And the UFC is putting her in these positions to try to come through on the other side, but eventually you're going to have to test her. It's just so tough because Angel Hill is, Angel Hill is a really good takedown defense, but McKenzie Dern isn't really one that's just going to shoot takedowns on you. She's going to get in close.

She's going to trip you, and then she's going to get on top of you, and try to smush you and submit you. Like she's really good at that. The problem is what if she can't get that submission? And that's what we saw in both the Marina Rodriguez and Janjanon fights. She could get an adorned position, but she just looks for the sub when she could just punch you in the face.

That's one of the big holes in her game is she doesn't know how to use those positions to her advantage. If she can't get the sub, like she just keeps going for and going for it, but she doesn't throw a ton of strikes to open herself up. Or you could have made it like in the Janjanon fight. There were openings where she just could have just punched her in the face a bunch and maybe got a stoppage, but she doesn't do that. So these are questions I have because at some point when you're facing the upper

echelon of the vision, they're just going to be like, look, she's probably going to get you down at some point. Just don't get submitted and you could probably win this fight. And you have to imagine that what Angel Hill is going to try to do. Now, will she add new wrinkles? will she shoot? Will she do more of a traditional wrestling takedown style? That's a question I have.

And if she does get the takedown, if she can't get the submission, can she get it back down? Can she inflict damage while on top? If she can't get the sub. These are the types of things I need to see evolve in her game. And I'm sure her coaching staff, Jason Perlowe, et cetera, I'm sure these are things that they're trying to tell her.

But at the same token, we're not fighters. we don't know what this is like. Your bread and butter is your bread and butter. And when you have, when your bread and butter is as good as McKenzie Derns is, you kind of fall back on that. It's just comfort. But if you want to become a world champion, you have to add those extra wrinkles to her game.

And if she goes out there and takes Angela Hill down and goes for a rear naked choke and can't get it and she just starts dropping elbows on Angela Hill and gets a stoppage in that way, that's going to open my eyes a little bit because these are just, little pieces that she's missing. These are little pieces that she's missing. I know she's gone through a lot personally and all that, and you have to overcome that as well.

That's going to be in the back of her mind 100%. But if she can add these little wrinkles to her game, she's a problem. She is an absolute problem. But without those, I don't think she can win a title. I don't think she could beat the top three to five fighters in this division. But if she can figure that part out, boy, she is, She's a handful. She's a handful.

So I want to see if she can add those wrinkles to her game. If she can, watch out. She could beat anybody. But I do have those same questions. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. What? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo? Great idea.

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with the sort of reactions that Anthony Smith is getting. I'm not taking anything personally, but, you know, it's like in the recent episode of the Believe You Me podcast. He was just reflecting on his loss. And it was really sort of, I mean, you know, it was like he was very, very honest with himself. And his analysis was really nice. And then he just went on to say, I mean, most of the times, you know, what these trolls usually say doesn't really bother me. But this time I'm actually angry. But I don't say anything wrong. to anyone. I don't, I mean, I'm a good dude, I take care of my family. That's the way he was speaking. And I felt so bad, as in I'm so heartbroken for the way he was just reacting. Like,

he was saying that he puts his body on the line for the people and like he just doesn't understand that the society has turned into this thing where he just, you're just comfortable shitting on people you don't even know who actually have a meaningful life and they're trying to do good for their family and for the family and for the themselves as well. So what I wanted to do, Mike, I would like you to go on a rant right now. And I live vicariously through you because I don't have the, as MJF says, the oratory expositional skills like you. So if you can go on this really nice rant on those trolls right now, I'd feel really good, Mike. And about the card, I think this is a good step down and

competition for McKinsey Dern, it would be like a litmus test. If she cannot handle Angela Hill, then I don't think, but then I don't think she'll be able to handle any of the top strikers in the strawweight division. And something for you and AK for on to the next one, whether McKenzie Dern wins or loses, I think her next opponent must be Jessica and Raj. So yes, that will be all for me and I look forward to the rant mic. Please indulge us. Thanks, buddy. Yeah, I wouldn't hate that fight.

It appears that Dern has her sight set on Rosnam Yunus, but why wouldn't she? But yeah, either of those would work. Look, here's the thing about trolls and stuff like that. They're everywhere. We saw it with the Francis and Ghanu deal. There are people trolling Francis for the deal, and there's just people you're never going to please. That's just it. If you saw that

Francis and Gano deal and everything that he got and how happy he was and you still found something wrong with it, then there was nothing that Francis could do that was going to make you happy. It just wasn't going to happen. Even if

Francis re-signed with the UFC was going to fight John Jones, yeah, those people would have been happy, but at the same token, they would have been like, ah, see, he fumbled the bag, he came crawling back to Dana, there's no doubt about it. And there's just, that's just the nature of the business. Now, are we, there's a difference between critiquing a performance and just being an

asshole. And there are people who are just assholes. They will sit there and they will rip on Anthony Smith and they will say that he sucks and all this stuff. I'm not going to do that. But at the same token, this just tells you how far MMA has come. Because this isn't just an MMA singular thing. This is every sport that has a widespread audience.

Like Tom Brady gets it all the time. Derek Jeter got it all the time. All the big names in sports get it all the time. You have a bad game, you're going to get shit on. That's just the way that it is. I was not impressed with Anthony Smith's performance on Saturday. He did not look good. I also don't think Johnny Walker looks spectacular in that fight either.

I felt like Johnny Walker could have finished Anthony Smith and he didn't. And that hurt him. That hurt him. And I love hearing the fighters insight about the toll that sometimes it takes because it's honesty. I just think there's a difference. You could be critical. You can be critical. But I think there's a difference between being critical and being just a complete dick.

and there are just people out there that no matter what you do or what you achieve or how hard you work, there's just going to be dicks to you. And for some reason, this fight in particular, the reaction has gotten Anthony riled up. But here's what I'll say. And I've said this before and I'll say it again. Anthony Smith has won fighting.

This guy has won fighting. Did he lose to Johnny Walker? Sure. But the fact that this man worked his way up and got a fight with John John John. Jones and fought for a world title. And still, all this time later, with the ups and the downs, headed into a Johnny Walker fight with people saying, hey, you know what? If this guy wins, he might just get a title shot.

This guy has won. This guy has won. And I don't talk to Anthony as much as I used to, but I was talking to Anthony long before he got into the UFC the first time. I was talking to Anthony when he was out of the UFC the first time, it was grinding away on the regional scene, talking to him a little bit when he got back. back to the UFC and then just started winning these fights and showed that heart and showed that determination, fights where he was getting lit up and it would come back and get a finish

late. Like Anthony Smith has won MMA. He doesn't have to do this. He does not have to do this. He has a very bright future outside of actual fighting. He's got the podcast with Bisbing. He's on the, he's great analyst. I mean, spectacular.

And eventually he's got to get his shot to sit cage. with Brandon Fitzgerald and John Anick and some of these other color commentators to call fights and he's going to be great at it. He's just biding his time. He's waiting for his opportunity. And you know what? I think of the UFC offered him that spot right now,

I think he would consider retiring. I think he would. But I think he's just biding his time and waiting for that opportunity to arise. So he wants to fight. He didn't look great. He wants to keep going. He doesn't want to go out like that.

Who is anybody to say that he can't? I don't know. I think we, there's just going to be, there's just going to be people like that who are going to shit on you no matter what you do. Like even if Anthony Smith like won that third round and he'd out a split decision, people still would have shot on him.

If Johnny Walker knocked out Anthony Smith in the third round, people would have shot on Anthony Smith or shout on Johnny Walker. Like no matter what, what the result is, there's going to be haters no matter what. and you just got to deal with it. You just got to deal with it. And I don't like it. But it's just the sport has grown exponentially.

The UFC is in the position that it's in. They're on fire 100%. But with that comes new audiences, new eyeballs, and people who think they could do it better, even though they can't. That's just the way that it is. People shit on me all the time. People shit on AK all the time.

People probably shit on your tweets. once in a while. It's just how you deal with it. And Anthony's one of the good guys in the sport. And nothing I say in any kind of a rant is going to take away those people who are just going to shit on you no matter what you do. And it's unfortunate, but social media, you can say whatever you want and there are no repercussions. But that's just how it is, guys. It sucks, but that's just how it is.

It's a whole new world. CV, hello. Hey, Mike. Heck of a morning. Glad you're back from jury duty and glad to hear that you won't be selected for any more meetings or whatever. But yeah, my question for you is UFC 293, so said they're targeting it for Sydney. So I think it's safe to assume that Adisania might headline that. I know they have Whitaker and Duquesi as like the number one contender fight,

but don't you feel like two months is a quick turnaround for that? And basically my question for you is, who do you think, assuming Arisaena headlines 293, who do you think he ends up fighting in that card? I know we kind of have like a mini, I don't know if you can say that, but like a mini middleweight Grand Prix. I mean, we got Strickland and Mago Medov, and just got Costa, Alex Girov.

I just want to ask, too, like, out of those two fights, if someone, like, manages to get, like, a spectacular finish, do you think anybody out of those four fighters can jump the line over Whitaker and DuPecere to fight a designer? Thanks. I mean, maybe, but, I mean, we're talking the same two-month stretch for all of those guys. They're all fighting in July. So it is a tough ask

It is a tough ask, but Whitaker Kind of seems like a guy that We'll go in there and get a win and want to turn around quick and fight for the belt Like this is what do you want it and We'll see if he gets it And if Drickus wins Hopefully he can turn around because that's a big fight But yeah and I think that's kind of part of why they're putting all these different fights together

Autostani's got to fight on that card There's just no doubt about it but it's just a matter of how you how you put it together but i i agree with you it's a little bit of a risk trying to get these guys to turn around in two months but some fighters like to go from camp to camp and and get after it and you put a title shot and a chance to sell out a big building in australia and get a bunch of pay-per-view buys because you're fighting out of sonya with the title like especially for drickus that's like life-changing money for that guy so yeah it's kind of TBD. It's one of those things

where we're going to have to see how that Whitaker-D-plus-E-fite plays out. But it just seems like Dana's just going to give the winner of that fight. And either way, especially for the locale, if Whitaker wins, like that fight's gigantic for Sydney. And if Drickus wins, he will be

like the ultimate heel to Izzy's baby face. Either way, you can't really lose. But yeah, that's a lot to ask. Especially for Drichus. You've got to go from Robert Whitaker to Izzy in back-to-back fight. in a two-month stretch, damn, that's a lot. But I think with the title and the money that comes with it,

I think they'll be more inclined to do so. But it's definitely something to think about. That's for sure. Let's go to Matt. What's up, Matt? Matt, are you there? Hey, I was just trying to call and talk about this stuff with Francis just a little bit. So I'm honestly, I'm so happy that he got the bag.

Like, I'm so happy that he's going to be making money and he's going to have the ability to go box. The only thing that really disappoints me about this is his level of competition. I think that I was really excited to see him still competing against the likes of people in the UFC, these more and more up-and-comers, you know, with John Jones, and even, I forget, as Jelton Al-Meda. I mean, those would be some good fights to watch in the future. And for me, with him signing a PFL, it's kind of like watching some of these Saturday football games. They're just not worth watching just because the level of competition is not there. And I feel like to me that's the only disappointing thing about this whole entire Francis Escapade.

So I get where you're coming from. I get it. Like we look at it as, well, look at the PFL heavyweight roster right now. Like he's going to fight anti-Delijah, who cares in some people's eyes. by the same token, what this deal does is it is going to give the opportunity to other big names to fight Francis Ganu for $2 million. Like, he ain't going to fight John Jones over there. Like, we don't know what some of these contracts look like right now.

Like, I don't know how many fights Steve A Mietichich has left. Like, what if he goes and fights John Jones and loses? And that was like the last fight on his deal. You don't think Steve A is going to be interested in going over to the PFL and fighting France and Gano for $2 million? You bet your ass he would. What about like, there's other names in the UFC. What about like Derek Lewis? I mean, look, we know how the first fight went.

But I think there are people out there that are like, hey, I kind of want to see him do it again and like do it right. What if Derek Lewis is out of the UFC in seven or eight months? So you don't think he's going to go over there and at least talk to the PFL for the chance to fight Francis for $2 million? A lot can change between now and 2024. Just because the PFL roster looks as it does right now and they have a season going on doesn't mean that they can't go out and get some of these other names because they already have this money invested. When Francis fights, the guy he's fighting is going to make $2 million minimum. So they have this money put aside. they have this money planned out.

The opponent could be anybody. It could be anybody. So all I'll say for right now is let's just kind of wait and see because this could be an intriguing time. Every heavyweight on planet Earth that is free from a contract

is going to go to their managers and say, get me that Francis fight. Get me in there to fight Francis for $2 million. And that's a lot of, of potential names that could come up. So just because the PFL roster looks as it does doesn't mean that these are the guys that are definitely going to fight Francis. It's got to because we don't know what things look like in other promotions right now

and where their contracts sit and all of that. So this is going to be an interesting time. Like Francis has an MMA home and that's great. But this story continues on because, I mean, most guys and gals, that are on the cusp of free agency, they ain't going to be so quick to re-sign with the UFC when they see the kind of deal that Francis just got, especially if you're a heavyweight.

Now, are they going to get the same deal Francis got? Probably not. But still, there's that $2 million price tag just hanging over that everyone's going to want a shot at. And there's a lot of big names out there. Like Fabricio Verdum would do it. I'd love to see a guy like Ben Rothwell get that fight.

Like, I know that's not the most intriguing matchup on the planet, but love to see like some of these wily vets who are just good people get these opportunities. And he's got a name attached to it. So a lot can change. A lot can change. So I'm cautiously optimistic. My biggest questions are not from the Francis side. They're from the PFL side. Like how can you do that? Like how can you afford all of this? And what if, what if Francis loses his first fight? Like what like how can you make money off of this? That's these are the questions I have. Like this is a potentially monumental deal.

But to say that it's monumental right the second, I think it's a little too soon to say that. This is one of those things that the story is going to continue on. And I hope it works out for everybody. But I have questions and this is a big-ass risk for the PFL. This needs to work. It needs to work. let's go to doxy clean.

How you doing, man? Good. Great. First of all, I want to start us off by saying, let's go Panthers, first game tonight. And second of all, I want to know,

I saw that Ray Longo said he had no knowledge of Aljo accepting the fight in August. If that's the case, who do you think Sean is going to fight or do you think Sean is going to step back and wait for Alja to fight until maybe just September, November area? But that's all I have.

I just want to know your thoughts on us. Appreciate it. Yeah, I think that was kind of the announcement that got people a little puzzled because Aljo was literally in the studio with Ariel the day before it and said, look, I'm not saying that I'm not going to fight in Boston. I'm saying that I have to go and see this person next week. And if I can start training next week, then I could probably do it. And then Dana comes out and just flat out announces it. So I've obviously talked to people about this. A lot of it's off the record.

so I can't say a whole ton about the specifics, but I mean, just, and this isn't really like me going into like crazy detail here, but when you saw some of the matchups that were booked, like your first thought had to be like, huh? They got this dude to sign the client? Look, I mentioned Paulo Costa versus Alaskaroff at the top is like a weird but like really oddly fascinating fun. Paul Costa was on the MA hour not that long ago and said that they're heading in the right direction,

but he doesn't have a new deal with the UFC yet. And he didn't fight Robert Whitaker because of the money. And now they're offering Icramal Scaroff. That seems a little funny to me. And we haven't seen Paulo respond at all. I haven't seen anything from him on social media. But would it surprise me if, like, a good chunk of those fighters have not, signed contracts to compete, it wouldn't surprise me at all.

Wouldn't surprise me at all. But I think they're going to, look, the UFC does this a lot. They do this a lot. They just announce fights. They put some pressure on. And I'm not saying that's what's happening here, but there's been precedent set that we're going to put a little extra pressure on you. We're going to get the fans to react.

This is what we want. Try to make it happen. And I think they did that with the, I think we talked about it on the show when they announced Amanda Nunes, Juliana Pena. Not everybody was completely on board for that. It wasn't like signed, sealed, delivered. They just said it was happening. And this isn't new. The UFC's been doing this for years.

They announced a Chris Cyborg, Jermaine Durandmi fight. I think it was like in 2016 or something. And that fight was like nowhere near being done. But they announced it as if it was happening. So I don't know. ultimately I think the deal does get done. I think they will give Aljo a bunch of money and Sean O'Malley, I'm sure, is on board.

It's just a matter of getting Aljo on board. And there you go. But would it surprise me if people who had announced to fight didn't get contracts and were probably thrown off by the announcement? Probably, because it happens all the time. 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.

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Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress.

Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at OnePeloton.ca. Let's go to four-ounce sniper. Foreign Steiper, you there. Yes, sir. Hey, heck of a warning. I was just curious. Why do you think they brought back the BMF title?

I thought they could have, you know, renamed it or brought out an even new title, a newer title for Dustin Gaci and Descent Porier, something like most violent MF or, I don't know, something new. What do you think the reasoning was? And also, what would you come up with if you had to bring out a belt for those two? I'm completely with you on this. Like, it should be something different. It should be like the violence weight title or.

the most violent MFer. Like the BMF thing is just, it's over. It's just done. And if Nate Diaz isn't involved in it, it doesn't even make any sense because Nate kind of put this together and did it himself. So I just don't care about any of that.

Like, this is all just a gimmick. Now, I'm not against, like, creating new belts just to have fun. But, like, the BMF title, come on. like Mazel won the BMF title and then lost a bunch of fights. Like, did he really vacate it? It's just, I don't know. The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me.

It's just so weird. That fight like doesn't need it. I don't know. Create something more interesting. Like this is like, this is the ultimate fighter of titles. Like do something different. Let's evolve this a little bit. Let's think outside of the box a little bit.

At least they're trying with the ultimate fighter. they got Connor and Chandler involved so you know people are going to watch. But like, this show is going to be exactly the same. It's just going to be a little more animated with the coaches. The show is going to be the same. We're still going to see basketball jerseys. Connor and Chandler were probably up in some helicopter, dropping watermelons on the target on the coaches challenge.

Like, it's going to be exactly the same stuff. Dudes are going to fight in the house. Like, it's just going to happen. It's just all the same. and that's how I felt about the BMF title. I'm just like, ugh, I don't care. Like, I literally, that means not, like, that did nothing for me at all. It did nothing for me.

The fight rules. And I think it is up to us to create this title. Like, we'll create our own title. We don't need the BMF thing attached to it. We'll create our own belt. Maybe AK, by the time we get to the fight, we can create some kind of a poll or some sort of thing where the peeps can vote on what this title actually means and what it is.

But the BMF title, like, it's just a thing. It's a gimmick. And it's not even a good one. It's not even a good one when you've said everything you've had to say about the title to begin with. So I don't know. The fight rules, it should have, like, if you want to throw a gimmick on it, cool, but the BMF thing is just, it's just silly. JSTAT 503.

Hello. Hello, Mike. Heck of a morning to you. Yes, sir. Who do you think is the second best promotion? Is it PFL, Bellator, someone else? And also, I think the real baddest motherfucker on the planet is Parker Porter. Yes.

So it's funny. I was talking to Shaheen Al-Shadi about, like, the jury duty thing. And one of the things we talked about was, if I got selected, I need to tell people that I'm, I have to interview Paco Porter and that they'll just release me. They'll be like, oh, him? Get out of there. Go get that interview because I want to see it. But luckily, I didn't need the, I didn't need to use that excuse.

But I'm completely with you. And I was like, well, at least I won't. And when I got dismissed, I let Shaheen know. I was like, well, I was like, hopefully Parker is still relevant in three years when I get called back. And Shaheen was like, well, how dare you? And I'm like, well, look, he will have already been the UFC heavyweight champion. But maybe he'll retire by that. And there we go.

God, I didn't remember the other question because you dropped the Parker Porter Border bomb on me. Damn you. Crap. I will remember it. I'll get back to it. Damn it. A.K., send me a Slack message.

Brandon, hello. Hello, Mike. Can you hear me? Yes. Hey, Mike. How you doing? I just wanted to piggyback off a four-on-snipers question. I think the BMF title was brought in just so they can use. use it as a fake interim belt

to not piss off Islam and use it as an excuse to skip over Benil if he does beat Charles Oliverer. I just want to get your thoughts on that. Thank you. So I don't think that's the case. I think they're just giving these dudes a bunch of money to headline this card

because Salt Lake City is paying them a bunch of money and that's just a damn good fight. And it opens up title fights for the rest of the year. So Bineal's fighting a month and a half before that. And if he wins, I'm sure by the time Gachi and Porre fight, it's the probably will have already have announced that Islam is fighting B'Neil. But if Mniel doesn't win, boy, I don't know.

I honestly think that Volcanovsky is in play here. I do. if Volk goes out there and just beats the hell at a Yayae Rodriguez, which I'm not saying is a guarantee that fight I cannot wait for. I am just giddy about Volcanovsky versus Yaya Rodriguez. But if Volt just goes out there and just runs Yair

and Darius loses to Olivera, it would not shock me at all if they go back to the Volcanowski thing. but I just don't know if like Porre or Gaichi will we talked about this with the middleweights will they turn around in two months time and fight Islam?

I don't know. It's a lot to ask. I think Volk would do it. But I don't know. I don't know. So I don't know if it's like an interim thing. I don't know why the BMF title is a part of this. I have no idea.

I think the UFC thinks like the BMF title is way cooler than it actually is. Like you can just do a five-round fight with those two guys and like, we're all going to be happy. I don't know. It's all weird. I remember the other question. I'll get to in a second. El Nomada. Hello.

I lost you. The other question, and I just remembered it, the number two promotion. The number two promotion. And then Daniel will get to you in a second. to me it's Bellator still, but like I can't personally, like I heard even Shaheen on the roundtable that we did

said this move makes PFL number two and I just don't think that's the case. I just don't think that's the case yet, especially since Francis isn't fighting for a couple of years, not fighting until next year. They're nipping on Bellator's heels. No doubt about it.

I think Bellator is the number two right now. the momentum is not where it probably should be at this point in the year. PFL has a ton of momentum. I think one has a lot of momentum right now. BKFC has a ton of momentum. I know that it's not an MA organization, but Bellator is just kind of there. But their roster is just so damn good that it almost kind of makes up for it

because their roster is still better than PFL's. Their roster is still better than ones, in my opinion. They have a case in like three. or four weight classes of having the best fighter in the world. Now, what can they do with that is another question? I don't know. But those two organizations are nipping on their heels and PFL has a ton of momentum right now. And I know a lot of people are like, well, let's wait and see until 2024 if they can keep this momentum going.

I don't think that's true. I think PFL has to use this momentum now. And what I mean by that is when these June cards come up, when they go back to Atlanta and they put these shows on, these shows have to be palatable to the viewer. And what I mean by that is, I cannot watch the PFL for 19 hours. I can't do it. Move these fucking cards along. Please, for the love of God, you're going to get a whole bunch of new viewers because there are people who saw this Francis news who are. newer fans that probably didn't even know the PFL existed. So they're going to tune in and watch your card.

And if we sit there and get a finish and then we have to wait 58 minutes until the next fight and then another hour and 17 minutes until the next fight and another 90 minutes until the main event, people are going to throw their televisions out the window. Don't do that. These next cards have to go smoothly. The action doesn't need to be spectacular. I'm not saying every fight has to be Izzy versus Calvin Gasolam, but the viewing experience needs to be at least enjoyable,

where there's no big lulls in the action. So this is a big year for the PFL. Like these things need to deliver. These cards need to be fun to watch, and they need to be easy to watch. Because it's tough. It's tough. When I'm not covering PFL, it is tough for me to watch it.

because I'll get in there and I'll start and then it's just like, oh my God, what are we doing? Even the last car. Watch Shane Burgos OAM fight. That was like the main event of the card. But guess what? Stay tuned.

We still like eight more fights. What is this? What are we doing? They need to use that momentum right now. But to me, it's still Bellator too. But they do not have the momentum that PFL and one have right now. That's for sure. And I love Bellator.

I want Bellator to get that momentum back. They have the roster. It's just a matter of getting people to want to see them. And the June card's really good, but just a matter of what you do after that June card. That's the thing. They just kind of like stay in place in number two. Daniel, hello.

Yeah, hi. Good morning to you as I'm from Germany. I have a question about Alex Pereira and Jan Plowich and my thoughts and your thoughts. don't you think that Alex wanted to have a third fight against EZ and the payday and anything but the UFC said maybe let's move on and we offer you maybe a good fight and the top five opponent in the light heavy rate so you can maybe get your chance for line up in the title so maybe that was the thought of the UFC

or how who came up with the idea that Alex go up in the in the division thanks thank you Daniel so I mean Dana like after UFC 287 Dana went to the press conference and said immediately like I think he's going to go up to 205 like don't be surprised that if Pereira goes up to 205 it was almost like they were kind of nudging him up there. And then Izzy goes up to the presser and just kind of no-sells it and says, look, I just knocked the dude out. Like, go win another fight and then come back to me. Like,

there's no need for me to run it back again. And then Pereira came out a few days later and said, I'm moving to 205. So Pereira is a big ass dude. Like, he's going to be a pretty big, light heavy weight. He's a massive middle weight. So for his long-term health, this is probably would the better move for him. Do I think there is another easy fight to be had? Certainly. But this is about as good as you can ask for if you're

Alex Pereira. And what this is telling me is that the UFC is hopeful in putting this fight together. The UFC is hopeful that Yuri Prakashka might be able to fight sometime in the fourth quarter.

Which if they if he is, Yuri versus Jamon Hill scratches me right where I edge. That is a great fight. But this is their contingency plan. If for some reason, Yere isn't ready to go, the winner of this fight is getting the title shot.

That's what I think. Pereira wins, he's getting the title shot. Bohovic wins. He's getting the title shot. Kind of screws over Magamette Ankelaif a little bit, but Magamette's probably going to have to fight get a win before he gets a title shot. Just the way the UFC views him right now.

So maybe you just throw ankle life in there with Johnny Walker and see who comes out of it. But stakes are very high in that fight. And if Pereira wins, probably getting title shot. So I think ultimately it's a good move for him. And guess what? Pereira beat Jan and then fights Jamal Hill or whoever and wins the light heavyweight title. And Izzy beats Whitaker or DDP or somebody else. You can do the trilogy fight at 205.

or the fifth fight, whatever you want to call it. But I think ultimately this is going to be a good move for prayer, but it's a damn good, nice, big test right off the bat for him. I toke. Dana White kind of threw in under his breath during his little announcement. I want to talk about Derek Lewis and Marcus Rocherio de Lima. Because for me, this is a fight where Derek Lewis has nowhere to go if he loses. And I know I'm not saying that he's going to get caught or anything.

I'm just saying this is kind of the bottom of what Derek Lewis can actually face with the name that he has. Because it doesn't seem like they're going to throw him in with Alan Bodeau or whichever random heavyweight that they can find. This is as random as it can get, though. That's what that's what I'm saying. So I'm just wondering, is this kind of the, okay, this is the last. chance for us to find a win for Derek Lewis. Do you see that as the kind of fight this is? Or do you just see it as, hey, let's make this card juicy and have Derek Lewis at a press conference and let's have some fun with it and just hope that this is a sloppor knocker. Because it seems

very random to me this matchup. But I would like to your thoughts on it. This is actually, this is actually an Otno pick for me. I don't get the point, obviously, because I have moved moved on from this since it happened, but I think it was after I don't know if it was the Pavilich fight or the Thai fight, I said Derek Lewis versus Marcus Ruggis de Lima is the

fight to make two big, bald-headed dudes just throwing hands at each other. And I think this is a fine fight. After Jarzino lost to Jailton-Lameda, I was like, all right, well, now we can do Derek Lewis versus Jarzino because that makes all the sense in the world, because those two are really just going to get in there and chuck them.

Now we're getting Derek Lewis, Marcus Ruggis, DeLima. Look, it's a fine fight. It's fine. This is kind of where Derek is at right now. This is pretty much his place. Just get in there. And I've said this a million times.

There are certain fighters who don't need rankings. They don't need big name opponents. They don't need title fights. They don't need all of the glitz and glamour surrounding it. Derek Lewis is one of those guys. People just want to see Derek. Lewis fight. You can throw Derek Lewis in there with anybody and people were like, cool, Derek Lewis is fighting. Awesome. That means we're going to get, like you said,

toke, the fun press conferences and a chance of it at a big knockout. But yeah, I just hope this fight's going to be in Salt Lake City. So this could be, this could be something. But Marcus Ruggiero de Lima is usually one of those guys that just likes to throw absolute hammers and Derek Lewis would be happy to oblige. So let's see how Marcus Ruggiero Delima handles this. Will he go in there and just have a slob knocker with Derek Lewis or will he try to take him down and wear him out in elevation? I don't know. But I'm hoping for the best because if that fight gets out of like the first round, boy, oh boy, is that going to get kind of ugly with the elevation and all?

But yeah, I like the matchup to prelim fight. Let's see if Derek can get back on track. I like it. is a rando one but I like it YVMZ hello hi Mike good morning two quick questions for you do you think it was weird that Bellator didn't offer a contract to Francis

do you think that was because he was already 50% in with the pfl wanted to get your thoughts on that and two who do you have this weekend for Devin Haney and Lomachenko thank you man Haney Lomachenko is fun fight I'm going to see what the betting odds are at with this fight Haney's a pretty big favorite

My initial lien was Haney but you never know So I'll go Haney by decision but I don't really know Lomachenko is such a wild card You never know What dude's going to show up But I think Haney kind of has I think Haney kind of has the edge in a lot of different aspects of this fight But that's a good one

it's going to be it's going to be a good one man someone jump what was the other question golly oh belator why didn't bellator offer francis anything a couple of different reasons

one they probably realized they just weren't going to be able to afford him two they're if you guys have been reading up on paramount and the money they're losing I don't know how much money they have to spend

necessarily and there's also talks that Bellator is up for sale. So there's probably only so much they can do. But at the same token, Francis had unlike one and unlike BKFC

nice things to say about Belator. So they came very professional. They had a conversation. It was very nice. There was no ask. There was no offer. And Belleter just kind of realized hey man, just wanted to kind of

introduced ourselves to you. We like what you do and go get that bag and Francis went and got that bag. So Ballotser probably realized pretty quick they were out of the conversation. They did have something to offer obviously with the Showtime boxing and giving them the

sort of a platform to box, but that's really it. They just weren't going to be able to match a PFL was going to be able to offer. Didn't seem like they're going to be able to match what one was going to be able to offer. It would have been a great name to have on their roster shore.

That was their big advantage in any kind of negotiation was, hey, we have this platform where you can box. And I think they realized that probably wasn't enough. Francis seems to want to box these massive names like Tyson Fury and Deontze Wilder and Anthony Joshua. And I just don't know if any of those are likely to happen. And that's like really one of my bigger questions about all of this is, and I understand some of the trepidation and some of the reaction to it.

Like this is great for Francis, but this is also not really a secret. We all knew where he was going. This was not a surprise to anybody. But I think a lot of people were wondering, where's the boxing news? Because it even seemed by the little teaser trailer that we were going to get some boxing news,

and we didn't get that. So my big question is, like, who is he going to box? And does it have to be one of those big names? Like, it just seems like he, wants to box. So just go box. Does it have to be Tyson Fury or Deonti Wilder, Anthony Joshua? Sure.

You'd love to get in there with one of those guys and make a big bag of money and test yourself. But what's the, like, why would Tyson Fury want to box Francis right now? Why would Wilder or Joshua want to box him? Just a really risk fight for all of those guys. I'm not saying that I would like pick Francis to win, but. You got big 265 pound dudes chucking leather at each other. You never know. And that's just kind of a risky proposition.

And then Fury kind of let him on a little bit. Did the little face off in the ring and everything and kind of got Francis going. And then he was just like, nah, I'm going to go back and just box dudes for a whole bunch of money. So like, does Francis have to box those guys? Or can he just box? There's a lot of money in this boxing game outside of those guys. I'm not saying go box boogie 6-8-4-3-2, wherever the dude's name was. But there's people out there that you can go box.

Go box for game bread boxing. They'll find somebody. I'm sure Jake Paul's promotion will, could find somebody interesting. If it's just about boxing and scratching that itch, then just go box. And if you go out there and you have a good fight and people are talking about it, maybe Fury, Wilder, Joshua will come and knockin. But I don't think they're going to come a knocking right now. I think there's other things they want to accomplish,

and I just don't know if the juice is quite worth the squeeze for the risk-reward factor for either of those guys. But that remains to be seen. I could be totally wrong about that. But to me, it's just one of my big questions is, why does it have to be those guys and does it have to be those guys? Can he just go box? And is that enough?

I don't know. James, we'll end with you. Oh, awesome. Put an exclamation point on this. Wait. Then I think I've been on your mic and I just want to... That wheel is spinning. So maybe not.

All right. So James, tomorrow you get to jump to the front of the line whenever you want to come in. All right. So we are done. BTL. Coming up. 12.30 p.m. Eastern time, about an hour and 23 minutes from right now.

It'll be myself. Jed Mishu, Jose Youngs. It'll be a nice little MMA fighting battle, some infighting within the site, which I'm very excited about. We'll talk about this. We'll talk about a lot of the stuff we talked about today and we'll get their sides of everything. And then tomorrow we'll be back here again at 10 a.m. Easter, we'll do it again.

We'll have a preview show getting you ready for that just spectacular UFC Vegas 73 card. And yeah. So get ready. But thank you all very much. It was good to be back. And have a great rest of your Thursday. And as always, have a heck of a morning, everybody. podcast network.