MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz Press Conference

Episode Date: May 11, 2023

On Tuesday, Jake Paul and Nate Diaz went face-to-face for the first time since their Aug. 5 boxing match was announced following a press conference in Dallas. With how everything went down, did the presser do anything to get you more excited for the fight? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to the press conference, and gives his thoughts on how everything went down. Additionally, listener topics include the latest slate of UFC main events, Jiri Prochazka's potential return to fight Jamahal Hill, what a plan b could be for the light heavyweight division, the UFC 290 lineup in July, Amanda Nunes' legacy, the UFC's return to Boston in August, Merab Dvalishvili's viral theft of Sean O'Malley's jacket, Jailton Almeida vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik this Saturday at UFC Charlotte, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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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. 11th, 2023, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the M.A. Fighting Twitter Spaces. You can hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. Hello, everybody. I am Mike Eck. I hope everyone's having a wonderful week. We are knocking on the door of the weekend. We are knocking on the door of a couple of mixed martial arts events. We have Bellator Paris, otherwise known as Bellator 296, going down tomorrow. Main event, Gagar Busasi versus Fabian Edwards. We have a first-round matchup in the lightweight Grand Prix. Mansar Barnoui versus Brent Primis, Doug. Douglas Lima. Back in the cage, he will take on Costello von Stenis. And those are some of the 15 fights that are on the card.

And then Saturday, we have early day MMA, which just puts a big-ass smile on my face. 1130 a.m. Eastern start time for the prelims. They're in Charlotte, North Carolina, ABC broadcast. Main event, Jarzini Rosenstrike versus Jailton Almada. we have Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker. Rest of the main card, Daniel Rodriguez, versus Ian Machado, Gary. We have Carlos Ulberg, Ehor, Potaria,

Tim Means, Alex Marono, Matt Brown, Court McGee is on this card as well. Carl Williams-Chay Sherman, Cody Stamen, Dougal Sildo Daj, Adj, Natanzani Levy, Pete Rodriguez, that fight being rebooked. For this card, Gian Kim, Mandy Boeum, Gabe Green, versus the hometown hero,

you will, Brian Battle and Jessica Rose Clark, Tynara Lisboa will kick off the festivities. So we can talk about all of that. We can talk about the fallout still of UFC 288. We can talk about that whatever you want to call it,

press conference on Tuesday between Jake Paul and Nate Diaz. And I wasn't going to watch it because I just didn't really want to, but I ended up watching it. I went against my better judgments.

And yeah, as my best friend likes to say, paraphrasing, if you will, that was a press conference. And that's about it. It did nothing to hype up the fight. I understand it was like this is an on sale ticket type of thing. But this is like the first time these two guys are together. And it did nothing. to enhance any excitement for this card.

Nate just seemed completely uninterested in it. Jake tried his best to rile Nate up and Nate wanted nothing to do with it. We had Derek from Better Media, just make a complete asshole out of himself, and then he put out this apology, which was absolute bullshit. That shit just drives me insane. So that was that. we will have a BTL today and it's going to be a good one.

Jed Mishu versus Brian Campbell. He is back on the program and he is excited to join us and I am excited to have him back on so it should be a lot of fun 12.30 p.m. Eastern time for Btel. All right, let's go to you guys. We're going to run this

and keep this going until about 11 a.m. Eastern and then we're going to try to probably cut it off right around that time. So let's get after it and let's start with Four Corner Sports. What's up, buddy? Hey, Mike. Can we set up Casey Leiden with this fucking schmuck from Better Media?

I mean, it's kind of ridiculous because I agree there are some people out there that were saying that, you know, why are you going to set up, why are you going to ride up for Nate? He's the one person that you probably wouldn't want to do that because, one, he doesn't walk around with any bodyguards. This guy walks around with like a army of, well-trained what's called black belts and you we already seen what happens when um you know when shit hits the fan so i mean that was stupid on his end i really didn't watch it just saw the

highlights and i saw the apology whatever it was it was BS but uh i wanted to talk about um this weekend's fight um one fight that intrigues me a lot is um i am achado gary versus uh danio rodriguez I don't know. This is a giant step for Ian Gary, but if he's able to get past Danny Rodriguez, my whole thing is how far is the U.S.C. going to catapult him into the Walter Reed Division, just because I feel like the higher,

as soon as you get into the top 15, you know, top 10, they might be able to expose Ian Garry, and I know the UFC, you know, see something in him. I know he has a lot of times. talent, but you think this might be a little bit too quick for him to, you know, chew off? And then also, um, Jelston Alameda, uh, D'Zio Rosen Strike, how long do you see that fight lasting? I know a lot of people probably going to be betting the under one and a half. If Jailson Alameda is unable to, um, submit or able to get, um, Jarzino out of there early,

do you think they will be able to see some type of holes from Almeida? And lastly, what's your thoughts and opinions on Cetric Dumbay signing with the PFL? I know New York Rick talks about him a lot and say that he was a star and said something about, you know, some promotion wasn't going to have to sign him because, you know, this guy is killing it. But what's your opinion on him signing with the PFL? All right, thanks, Mike. Smart move from the PFL, that's for sure. Bellator should have been all over that. And I don't know at all whether or not Belator took a shot at him, but PFL did it.

They ponied up. He, I think he put out some kind of video or you're saying he was making close to or over six figures per fight for the PFL. So I guess PFL just has a bunch of money to spend. And wise investment. At least we think. Now let's see what the matchups look like. and we'll see how he performs on because I think he's in the tournament now because there's a whole bunch of failed drug tests we reported I think four or five names. PFL put out a statement that there's going to be a bunch more.

So yeah, timing is perfect. He's, I guess, going to make his debut in June when the PFL goes to Atlanta. So, yeah, good signing. I like it. I think I'll made a, I don't know, like you make a good point because Jarzina Roastrike, not a, he's not a terrible, like, defensive wrestler. And he's very tough to submit. I don't think he's ever been submitted in his career.

So there is a world where this fight could get extended a little bit, but I could also see Jelton just taking him down, mounting him, and just punching him in the face over and over again until the referee stops it. So I would say it's going, it's, it's going to end in the first round, early seconds. I think the under one and a half is a pretty good bet. I think it's at minus 205. So, but I think the Jelton train will continue to move at a ferocious pace. And I think he will have to fight Sergey Papovich next for either an interim title or vacant title.

And yeah, there's a reason why Jelton's. the headliner here. They're going to try to strap the rockets to him, I think. And I think this is this is the biggest test of Almeida's career. There's no doubt about it. This is the toughest fight he's had. But I think stylistically it's a really good one for him. And then the Ian Gary D-Rod fight. I was just, I'm looking at the betting odds right now. Minus 300 for Ian Machado Gary. That seems really high. I think he should be the favor. But minus 300 just seems awfully high. I know Daniel Rodriguez is not the youngest buck

in the Walterweight division, but the dude is still very solid. I like the matchmaking. I think it's perfect matchmaking. Let's throw Ian into some sort of fire and see how he handles it. And as I said, on onto the next one, after

Kevin Hollins win at UFC 287, winner of this fight's going to fight Kevin Holland next. Ian Gary wins. Ian Gary versus Kevin Hollins. A hell the fight. And if D-Rod wins, there's some history between those two guys. We could finally try to get those two guys

in the Octagon together. So I think the winner will get the Kevin Holland fight. But I like the matchmaking. I love how Ian Machado-Garry approaches these fights. I don't know if you guys saw the video, but there's a video that's been circulating on social media with

Ian walking up to D-Rod and shaking his hand and having just a nice conversation with the man. I love that stuff. And I like Ian Gary a lot. Really nice guy. I've talked to him at scrums and pressers and stuff like that, but I've,

and I've talked to him like face to face, like in person a bunch. Just a really nice guy. Very confident guy, but a very nice young guy. You don't see that a lot from fighters his age. And he's, he's the man.

I like him a lot. And D-Rod's the man too. J-D, hello. J-D. are you there? There we go. You there, good buddy. Yes.

How are you? Dude, I'm fantastic. I love the idea of either, quote-unquote, running back. D-Rod, if he beats Gary against Kevin Holland or Ian Gary going up against Holland. I think it's fantastic. In my opinion, Holland is the goat. I know he's not, but I'll always say he is. he's my favorite.

Anyway, question for you. Do you know who boots on the ground is for BKFC in Greenville or Charlotte this Saturday? We do not have boots on the ground for either card. You know, it's weird. I think they're in Greenville. Greenville's kind of a hike for me. So I'll bring you back in in a second, JD. But Charlotte's kind of a hike too.

Early card. I could do most of what I want to do, like here. So, yeah, it's just one of those cards where we're just going to just have everybody do it remotely. Yeah. And the BKFC card, there's just not a lot of meat on the bone for that BKFC card to go out there. Now, it's like Mike Perry, Luke Rockhole. Like if that BKFC 41 card was in Greenville, I would probably be there. Or if like Paige is fighting on that card, probably be there.

But yeah, not a ton of meat on the bone, if you will. What else you got, J.D? Anyway, I wanted to talk about it on Tuesday, but I'll keep it short. I think by the end of the year, we're going to look back on 2023 and see that Team Grosso has made a massive statement. We'll probably also say the same thing about Serolongo, but I think Team Grasso is going to be one of those teams. We're just like, damn, they made a fucking statement.

Anyway, just thoughts on that, good buddy. Thanks, and have a great day. You too, man, yeah. I mean, they're rolling right now. It's not just Team Grasso. It's like Team Mexico. They're just rolling. Everything is coming up in their favor right now.

And it's good stuff. It's good stuff. Diego Lopez is just super fun. I even said on onset the next one. Like I don't typically match me for losers of main card fights on post-paper-view

Otnos, but I gave him I want him Diego Lopez versus Charles Jordane. I think that's a fun-ass fight. And I want to see that guy back in there. I want to see him fight as much as possible. Super fun guy.

Super fun fighter. It's good on the feet. Really good on the ground. I mean, he had Mabozaro of Lov in all sorts of trouble. but yeah, fun dude, fun fighter, all those guys. And like I said, I got vibes. I got some vibes about the next pay-per-view.

I got some vibes. I'm kind of leaning or Rini Aldana right now. Might not be a popular pick. I might not jump over that line, but I'm edging there. I am edging over there. I'm telling you right now, but we'll see. Tristan.

How's everything, man? By any chance, did you listen to the ranking show on the, obviously, MMA Fighting Podcast Network? Great website, by the way. I did. I did this story. Okay. So when they were talking about the heavyweight, when they were talking about the heavyweight

and they went to Damon, shout out to Damon. God bless Damon Martin. he was like, yeah, I think Tommy Ashton was washed. I'm like, hold on a second. He's washed already. He's like, what, 30? He's just coming back injury.

I'm like, hold on a second. Mike, you got to agree. You got to agree. Damon's trolling, right? You got to think he's trolling, right? I mean, like, you don't think he's washed. Hold on, hold on, hold on. I don't, I have to go back and listen to it,

but I don't remember Damon saying he was washed. I remember Damon saying he was washed. I remember Damon saying he was overrated. I don't know. That he's not, that he's a little bit overrated. That's that I remember himself. I don't know. You got to get AK in here.

I mean, AK's in here. Because like, because I think he did say those. And then here's the thing because like, Shaheen was like, wow. Everybody got quiet, but I could hear Shaheen say, wow. So I really, I think he used those words washed, man. And I was just like, because he was like, he was like, yeah, he's going to beat a couple of guys,

but he's not being the top dudes. And I'm like, all right. I mean, listen, it's Damien Martin. His opinion, he has the right to it. But I was just like, for a horror. I was like, already, man. All right. All right.

We'll see. But shout out to that man, man. He's not afraid. Shout out to Damien. He's not afraid. That man is not afraid. Just, I want your thoughts. If he said it, I'm a hyperbrivolunt.

What do you think of Tom Aspion overall? And then you said that you're going to have B.C. on BTL later on today. He was on his show on the morning combat and he was talking about the state of the of the UFC right now as far as matchmaking is concerned because

you know it's not looking great so far for the UFC from what he was saying because he was just like they're just mixed and matching the fights they had to take off you know next week you have

McKenzie Dern versus is Angela Hill headlined that card. Holly Holmes is headlining another card. People weren't too happy about that. They were losing their minds over that. So just overall, your take a little bit, of the state of the UFC, as far as matchmaking is concerned,

with these fight night cards and paper views, even he was saying with the pay-per-view, the International Fight Week, was, you know, you weren't getting blockbuster fights. I mean, it's great card, but not blockbuster. So just your overall thoughts of the state of the USC and what Damien Martin had to say. God bless that, man. Thanks, Mike.

Yeah, again, I mean, maybe I'm wrong. I don't remember Damon saying Aspinall was washed. He thinks Aspinall might be a little highly rated, maybe more than he should be. But we don't really know. Like, we would have gotten some answers to that question, had that fight with Curtis Blades, had like an actual ending, it just ended in an unfortunate way. So we don't really know. And now he's going to fight Marching Taibora, which is a tough fight.

but it's not, I still don't know if that's going to answer a lot of the questions. Now, could Marching Tybor go in there and do Taibor things? It's possible. But I think Aspedal's got something. I think there's something there. And until I'm proven wrong, I'm going to stay there. So I think I have him rated appropriately. Let me see where I have Tommy Aspinall ranked in my personal rankings.

Where do I have him? I have Aspinall number five. So I think that's kind of, yeah, I might actually have him higher than anybody else now that I'm looking at it. I will tell you right now, if Jelton Almeida, I have Jelton Almeida ranks number nine. I want to rank him higher. And if he goes out there and just melts Jarsigno like he's done everybody else, I'm probably going to bump him into my top five. Like there's a very, there's a chance that happens. The only reason I haven't ranked him higher is because I just haven't been fully convinced that he's a heavyweight.

Like, I guess he's kind of in on it now because he's getting these big fights and he's getting headline spots. But I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop or he's just like, eh, I'm going to go back to 205. And I don't know if he just needs to lose at heavyweight before that happens. But, yeah, I got asked him on my top five. There's something there. and I'm curiously how that Tybora fight goes. He's got to look like a star in London like he always does. And we'll just kind of see how it all plays up from there.

He's definitely in this discussion for the title, especially with John Jones's future up in the air. That's for sure. But it's kind of hard to say whether Damon is right or not because we just haven't seen him in a big time spot yet. Can he beat some of the top dudes? Don't really know. the only sample size you really got was

a few seconds of the Curtis Blades fight that ended in just awful fashion. I did pick Curtis Blades to win that fight ahead of time, but I was ready to be proven wrong. We just didn't get the opportunity to get the answer to those questions. And as far as the matchmaking goes,

I mean, look, we've been talking about this since I got to M.A. fight. There's just too many cards. There's too many cards and they all have to be 14 or 15 fights. And when that happens, you just don't have a lot of wiggle room. You only have so many people that are available to fight. And you only have so many stars on the roster. There's just not a lot of stars in the UFC. Like the UFC is they're comfortably floating in what they're doing right now because the UFC is a brand, and oftentimes it doesn't matter who's on the cards

because the hardcore fans are going to watch anyways. And then once in a while, John Jones comes back, the casual audience is going to be much more invested. Well, Connor comes back, it's going to be the same way. And a lot of these cards are like hardcore cards. That's just what they are. Like look at the next several main events for the next two months.

We got Rosenstrike Almeida. I mean, is that one that's like, That's like an apex main event, if we're being honest. Now, I understand why they're doing this because they want to strap the boots to Almeida, or at least try to. That's why it's an ABC card. They're going to put this guy at least trying with Almeida. And I can appreciate that.

Next week is McKenzie Dern versus Angela Hill. Injury, all of that. This is what we get. Same thing with the following week. I love the Kai Kar-France versus Amir al-Bazi fight. a lot of you can get jumpback in because i'm going to go to you next uh then we get nunez versus aldana that's not an eighty dollar fight it's just not after that we get middle-oity middle mates marvin vittori jared kate in the air that's an apex card following week we're back on the road

we're in jacksonville josh emitt versus ilia tipporia i'm i i don't know how many tickets that card's gonna sell i honestly have no idea and then we get shonald John Strickland versus Abis Maga Madoff. That's the July 1st card, which is apparently getting some other fights as well. Well, obviously it will. Then we get the Volcanowski-Rodriguez fight. I love that fight, by the way. I know it's on a blockbuster.

I know that's on a million pay-per-view-by kind of fight. But I think Volcanovsky is very close to breaking through. And that, like, out of all the fights you could make right now, Volcanowski versus Jaeer Rodriguez is like top three fights I am the most fascinated by because I think Yaya Rodriguez has a very interesting style

that can give Volcanovsky problems. I'm picking Volk to win that fight but I think this fight's going to be really competitive and fun to watch and then potentially we're getting a Hollyholm Myra Buenos Silva main event the following week. So yeah it's tough. It's tough.

I think the UFC is just kind of banking on let's get John Jones and Steepay in there because that's going to be massive. That is going to be a gigantic pay-per-view when that fight gets put together. Whether people love the matchmaking or not, whether people think Stepey deserves a title shot or not, doesn't matter. That fight's going to be humongous. If they can get Connor and Chandler sometime this year, that's going to be gigantic as well. Getting Izzy back in there, I think it's going to be important.

Leon Edwards, Colby Covington is going to be a big fight when they put that one together. they have these fights. It's just a matter of, I think a lot of it was when Dana made the bold statement that Colby was the guy, I think a lot of people thought July was going to be

John Jones versus Stepe, maybe Colby versus Leon on that international fight week card. And then Leon comes out and says, well, I'm not fighting until September, October, which is fine. I have no issue with that whatsoever. But I think the UFC had all these plans.

And now they have to realize that some of these, guys just aren't available. And they're like, oh, shit, what are we going to do now? And this is sort of the lineup that we get. Now, I love the international fight week card. I think it's loaded. It's great. We also have to take into account that all these fights probably aren't going to happen. We're probably going to lose one or two of them. In fact, they're still promoting Davis and Figurato versus Manel Cop when Davis and Figurato has flat out said into live interviews that he ain't fighting on that card. So I don't understand.

why that is even still listed on the broadcasts, like are even listed in the lineup right now. The fight, unless like Davis and Figurado is a magic healer, he doesn't seem like he's fighting. I don't think he's cleared to fight or even train at this point. So yeah, this is, look, there's going to be stretches. As long as these sorts of ESPN deals continue on and they have to put on 40-something cards every year,

we're going to get stretches that look like this. We're going to get stretches that look like this. I loved, personally, I loved the UFC 288 lineup. Losing Bryce Mitchell from the Mobsar fight, definitely stung a little bit, but I like the lineup. But even Aljo said, because Captain Eric said they did 700,000 paperbes on the MAARESA. No fucking way. There's just no way.

Absolutely not. And Aljo refuted that and said, eh, we'll be lucky to, we'll be lucky to do 250K. That's kind of the wheelhouse. That's like, that's the hardcores that are never missing a card. Like if you look at, like from the pro wrestling world, if you look at AEW and their ratings,

they ain't pulling big ratings. They're just getting, they're doing like 800, 850,000 viewers every week. Those are the people they're going to watch that show every single week. They're not losing. They're not gaining. But that's like the creme de la crem. That's like right in the wheelhouse. And the July 10th, UFC 280 Dan cart, it's going to be the same way.

It's going to do $250,000. Might do a little less because people want to save their money for International Fight Week. International Fight Week will probably do like a half a million. And then when we get to like John Jones-Stepe, that's probably going to float. worth a million. Conner's going to do over a million. But again, for the UFC, the paper view buys, for the most part, it's just cherry on top of the Sunday. A lot of these vent, a lot of these locations are going to now, they are paying the UFC to come. And then obviously they get a piece of the gate and ESPN pays them a chunk of money to, to broadcast the card on

their network. So, I mean, whether it does 150,000 buys or a million, it doesn't truly affect the UFC's bottom line all that much because they're getting a big sum of money to put their cards on the ESPN platform. That's the deal that they've made. So, and when you have deals like that, you can just chuck out main events and who gives a shit? You know what I mean? But it is kind of weird and there are certainly not a bunch of blockbuster main events. Some interesting fights that we will appreciate, but not a lot. We're going to be like, oh, we have to. Can't miss this.

Can't miss Sean Strickland, Abis Magamadoff. Such a weird main event. Such a weird main event. All right. So the lines are open if you want to hop back in. I know there are some people waiting. I went on a little diatribe there. But happy to get your thoughts about what I had to say, future match.

up that are on the books. Looks like we're going to get Grant Dawson, Demir, Izma Gulaf on that July 1st card. So that's a damn good fight. Is Magulov coming back for one more and he's got to fight freaking Grant Dawson? Good Lord. Good Lord, that's a tough one. Take a sip of my Dunkin' Donuts ice coffee. We still have the Jake Paul, Nate Diaz presser that we can talk about.

There's a bunch of shit we can talk about for good and for bad. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes. Ugh, what? Sounds like Ojo time. Play Ojo? Great idea. Feel the fun with all the latest slots in live casino games and with no wagering requirements. What you win is yours to keep. Grooby.

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With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. Let's bring Ani in and then we'll go to Toc. Ani, what's up? You too. So, my...

I just want to talk about the Amanda Nunez and Irene Al-Dana fight. I think, you know, we're just giving that card as in like, I know it's UFC's big return to Canada and we were expecting something explosive or something nice. I think having Amanda Nunes fight or just witness Amanda Nunes fight at this point in her career must be treated as something special. I mean, it might not be special in terms of paper views or viewership, etc., but I think Amanda Nunez fighting is special because we have no idea how many more fights she has left. You know, and her fights are exciting. As in like, I don't remember a boring Amanda Nunes fight in the last two or three years.

whether it is a one-sided beat down or a quick dismantling. There are moments like, you know, the Giuliana Pena winning, the way she won, the way she made Amanda quit, it was that special because Amanda made it that special because she was this unclimbable mountain. That's the reason it was special. And when she came back and she dominated Juliana Pena again, it was an entertaining fight. as in it, I wouldn't call it a dark fight. It was a really nice fight. Amanda Nunes is an exciting fight.

And I'm not going to say that it's a fight of the night level fight, but, you know, those fights which are a bit entertaining, something that, you know, most hardcore MMA fans and maybe a fairly regular MMA fans might enjoy, you know what I mean? So I think it's really special that Amanda Nunes is fighting in Canada. And everyone over there actually gets to witness the female, I mean, you know, or the go-out, if you know what I mean, at her best, you know. And I did have something else to say, but I just can't remember it. Oh, yes, I wanted to tell you about my dream.

You know, I had a dream yesterday that Dana White was so damn in love with slap fighting that he left UFC. and he made slap fighting completely independent, living in his delusional numbers, right? Wouldn't that be an amazing dream to come through, Mike? You know what I mean? That would be an amazing dream to come true. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, buddy.

Well, we know that's not going to happen. The slap fight thing is insane. Look, I'll say this again. If you watch slap fight, good on you. Like, that's fine. Dana loves to paint this narrative that like, we're all against it because he's a part of it. No, we're against it because we can't escape it or avoid it. Now, PowerSlapp was just like its own entity and just promoted its events and its cards on their own platforms.

I don't think the feedback would be as negative, but it's the fact that they're taking over the UFC accounts and it's like, it's just so stupid. It just drives me crazy. and Dana likes to pull up the, well, Logan Paul and Arnold Schwarzenegger put on a slap fight thing, and no one said a word. Well, it's because they didn't cram it down our throats. They put it on their social media pages. And if, like, those, if people wanted to watch it, they could. It's not the same. This is completely different.

This is completely different. But yeah, that whole thing with the social media numbers is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life. I mean, I get what you're saying with the Nunes thing. But to say she hasn't had some stinkers would be incorrect, at least in my opinion, that second Valentina Shepchenko fight was awful. That was an awful fight. I know that was over five years ago, but that was an awful fight.

The cyborg fight was great because it was just 51 seconds of just throwing haymakers at each other. The Holly home fight was cool because the knockout, Durandami fight wasn't all that spectacular. The Felicia Spencer fight certainly wasn't all that spectacular. Megan Anishin fight just kind of went the way everybody expected it to and then the Pena fights were fine.

Like Pena gets the big win and that was a huge moment and I've said this a bunch times since the rematch. The most compelling ass kicking I've ever watched. Outside, it's either one A, one B with the Max Holloway Calvin Cater fight. But this is probably a little more compelling because Pena at least gave the notion that maybe something big was going to happen. Yeah, and I think the win got taken out of people's sales, too,

when they booked the trilogy fight because nobody asked for the trilogy fight with Pena. Nobody did. Everyone, if they were going to do it, Aldana was kind of the name on the top of everybody's list. It took an injury to get her there, but I think this is a better fight. I think this is a better fight.

And I think Rina Aldana has a real chance to win it too. But I do agree. what you're saying, though. Like, we're only going to have her for so long. And to be honest with you, if you asked me, like, two years ago, if Amanda Nunes would be fighting in 2023, I would have said probably not. But she's keeping the train going.

And I like this fight with the Rina Aldana. We'll see how it plays out June 10th. Joe, hello. Some of the wonders of the world. And the first thing is how, And I'm surprised that this didn't come up on Tuesday, or at least I didn't hear it on the on the re-listening to the episode. How it's very rare that we see fighters get over when they don't fight.

But there's nothing that Mab could have done fighting that got him over the, that could have gotten him over the way that it got over on Saturday with stealing the jacket and all that stuff. nothing could have compared. So I'm just amazed that we finally get to see Marab get the shine that he needs to get. And that's just because he steals a thriller jacket from Sean O'Malley, and that's it. It's so strange.

And the other thing, I want you to explain the Great White to me. Alex Marono, I still don't really get it because it seems like he only fights young whippersnappers with no experience, or low experience, I should say, or veterans who are completely over the hill. I know he lost last time to Santiago, Poncinibio, which just showed that Poncinibio was not done yet,

but other than that, it's been Donald Seroni, and now Tim Means. I mean, all these guys that are so far past the, peak and I don't really get what he gets out of it. So he doesn't really, he's just a, hey, I'm going to fight the old guy's guy without doing anything else. And it seems a bit strange. So I want you to explain the great white to me.

And that was actually it, Mike. So have a heck of a Thursday. Yeah. I mean, I like Alex Baroto. I actually think he's actually getting better with the striking. His ground game's really good, but he doesn't really get to show it. that much. And to be fair with the Soroni fight, he took that fight on like a week's notice.

Whoever Soroni was going to fight fell out and he just kind of stepped up. Same with the Ponzo d'Ibio fight. I thought Marona looked great in the Ponzo fight. He was winning that fight until the finish and I gotta say I don't think

I think that was an early stoppage. I think that was a poor stoppage if we're being honest. Like usually I'm like I'd rather you stop it sooner than later. But in that case, I thought Marona was still fine. And I didn't love that stoppage. And I know Alex did love that stoppage either.

So I think he's, this is just the fights that he gets. A lot of them, he just steps in on like a week or two notice and steps in, does the UFC a favor. And I think this is a really good matchup for him. I think he's going to probably beat Tim Means. I don't know if he finishes him, but I think he beats him. and Marano is just a top 20 dude. He's a great, he's not a, he's not quite a gatekeeper. I get the UFC kind of use him that way,

but he's definitely a litmus test for the younger guys and a good solid hand to sort of have a vet versus vet fight. So I completely get where you're coming from, from that sense. And then Marab, with the jacket, was incredible. It wasn't just that he took, put the jack. It wasn't just the whole stealing of the jackets. The fact that they put it on and just stood there with that shit-eating grin on his face,

it was hilarious. It was just so funny, and Sean had no idea. He's just standing in between him and Elcho with the freaking jacket on. It was great. And then when, and then he jumps on top of the octagon. And then O'Malley was like, oh, he's got my jacket on. Oh, my God. And then that turned into a whole thing.

It was great. Morab's just a friggin' madman. Incredible. Let's go see. Then we'll go to Silent Noise and J-Stat and Zach. That's the order. CV. Go. Yo, Mike, heck of good morning.

Just three quick questions for me. First question. I need to get your vibes check for game six tonight, man. Boston and Philly. Personally, I think Boston wins because I don't trust Philly to close it out at home. Second, what are your thoughts on the, like I've been seeing, like, I know the Golden Rule, But like, fingers crossed, it happens in Boston in August. The rumor, Jamal Hill and Phraska fight, I think that would be a banger.

And third question, not only a question, but I saw Sirukyan got booked against, I forgot the guy's name, but I thought that was a really weird matchup. Because I sound like a casual here, because I don't know that guy, but yeah, like who is that guy? But that's pretty much it. the Celtics game look here's how I think it's going to play out I think the Southwakes are going to go in there and just routs Philly and then game seven will come around Southwicks will have a 20 point lead at halftime and they'll probably piss it away and lose last second for something stupid and we'll be left without any teams left in the playoffs we'll be hopeful that the Red Sox can continue to win baseball games but yeah I'm kind of my expectations have have dropped quite a bit when it comes to that stuff. That's for sure. Jamal Hill, Yuri, Perashka.

I don't know. I don't know. It all depends on Yuri and if that injury is where it is, but that's a damn good fight to put on that Boston card. We were talking about fights that I really want to see this year. I would say Jamal Hill, Yuri, Pashka is probably

in my top five to six. That fight's going to be great. So, yeah. It's a nice little one-two punch right there. Jamal Hill, Yuri, Pajka, now Jemaine Sterling, Sean O'Malley, sign me the hell up for that. Colby wants to fight on that card too. He wants to fight in August. I don't know if that's going to happen, but that's where Colby, if Colby had his druthers,

he would fight in August as well. So maybe they got something good there. And then the Surukion fight with Joaquin Silva, Netto BJJ. Weird one, very weird one. I was told that literally that was literally all Armored Sauru Kin can get right now. Lots of different fights are on the table.

Surukin said yes to all of them. This is what I was told from somebody. A lot of people on the other end are like, nah, I'm not doing it. And this is literally all he can get right now. And we talk about this a lot. Sometimes you can be really good and start to make moves,

towards becoming a star, and then it just becomes really difficult to get fights. Marab has been there. I think Shafka Rakhmanov is sort of in that position right now and will kind of continue to be, especially now with the whole Bala Muhammad Gilbert-Burds fight and everything that happened there. Yeah.

When we Joachim Silvas, he was out for a while, stepped in on short notice, got a win in his last fight, Got a knockout, which isn't really his style. But he did it. And now he's going to have to deal with Armand Sarukia. Yikes. Weird fight, but, I mean, literally, Armand, that's like all you can get. Goes from main events with Hanata Moikano to Netto BJJ.

Interesting turn of events. Silent noise. What's up, man? You're muted. I mean, you're living up to the monica right now. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rink on Uber Eats.

But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age.

Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for detail. 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. All right, silent noise, still muted. Let's go to J-Stat. Zach, you're on deck. What's up, J-Stap? I'm too. You too.

What are your thoughts about the Anthony Smith versus Johnny Walker fight? Who do you think wins that fight and how? That'd be all for my question, thank you. It's an interesting fight. It's an interesting fight. Let me see where the betting lines are right now.

I bet it's tight. It's a total pick-um. Minus 110 on both sides. I favor Anthony Smith, but it's a hard fight to read, because you just never know what Johnny Walker's going to show up. You just never know. Is he going to be the absolute chaotic madman?

Is it going to be more measured? Is he going to try to be, like, kind of boring? I don't know. But I like where Anthony Smith's head. space is at right now. I think it's a pretty big step up for Johnny, if we're being honest. So I will lean Anthony Smith to just sort of outlast Johnny Walker, maybe get a late finish. But that's one of those fights where nothing would surprise me.

But it's a good fight. It's a good fight. And I understand why a lot of people feel that this should be the main event. Zach, hello. Hey, Mike. How are you doing today? Good, I agree. Good, I just want to get some context

on the Nate Landware Dan Egey fight. I saw on a couple different places that it looked like it was being fought at lightweight, but then a couple other different places that's being fought at featherweight. I wanted to see if you knew which weight class it was being fought at, and also if it is at lightweight, why? And also just get some, also on our Celtics, you got to get rid of the Dumerism, and you win by 40 tonight, win by 50 on Sunday.

Then on to probably Miami. Thanks, Mike. God, I hope you're right. I mean, I hope you're right. See, here's the thing, and I've talked about this on the show many times before. Since getting this job with MMA fighting and, like, the scheduling of all the cards and everything, like, I have, it's not that I've, I've stepped back from, like, being completely obsessed with Boston sports. It's like I still pay attention and I watch what I can. But sort of taking the week and a half off that I took was like right smack in the middle of the playoffs.

So I dove back in and my heart was just shattered by the Bruins. And I hated the fact that they had to play Florida in the first round and now Florida is probably going to win the Stanley Cup. Like that's just a really good team. But I hope you're right. I hope you're right. I did see it during the 288 broadcast. They posted the 289 main card and it said that fight was that lightweight. That is a mistake.

That is a mistake. Spoke with multiple people about it. It is taking place at 145. And there was some fight. David, look, the UFC makes mistakes on these graphics all the time. If you watch Dana White's announcement yesterday, they said Brandon Moreno versus Alexander Pantoja was for the Bannamway title. So it's a mistake.

It's going down at 145. It's a feathery fight. No worries there. Let's try to get silent noise back in here. Are you there, silent noise? Yes, I am. Hi, Mike. I have a number of questions for you.

I hope that's okay, right? Yeah, is that okay? Yeah, I mean, don't go for 10 minutes, but yeah, you can ask what you want. Okay, I think I'll do five minutes. Okay, first of all, first of all, do you think that John Jones fights again after Stepe? And when do you think that fight is going to happen? Because we literally have heard nothing from John Jones or nothing from Stepe

since that happened. That's number one. Number two, right? Do you think Yeri will come back from injury quick enough for the fight between him and Jamel Hill to happen? And I don't know if that has been scheduled already. you know, all, and if that happens, where does that place Alex Pereira in the whole situation, you know, which connects me back to Israel, Adisonea?

Do you think Easy is running away from a third fight with Alex Pereira? I think so, right? I think that he knows that that fight, he won that fight, but he knows that, you know, Alex is probably the better fighter. Do you have that same opinion or do you think that, um, you know, Alex is, Alex has gone to 205 and he's gone for good. And the last question is, Figuero is on the prelims for the International Fire Week. Do you think that's, you know, how do you go from being a champion,

I think just last year to being in the prelims already this year? What's going on there? I found it quite, you know, shocking. Thanks, man. So, look, again, And I talked about this earlier. I don't know why the UFC is promoting Figuero versus Cobb. The fight is not happening.

And unless something magically changed, even our own gear, my crews reached out yesterday when we saw that graphic and Figgi told him literally he's not fighting. He's not fighting on that card. He's done interviews and done video interviews saying he's not fighting. He's not going to be cleared. He's injured.

He's not fight. So I don't understand why that fight is on the card. Having said that, being on that prelim, not too bad. because not only is that prelim going to be on ESPN, it's going to be on ABC as well. You're going to have a lot more eyeballs on that fight than the main card. So not a terrible place to be. Let me see if I can remember all these.

Jamal Hill, Uri Prasca, I don't know. Honestly, I don't know. What's going to happen there? Uri is kind of the wild card with all of that. Would I love to see that in August? Absolutely. Do I think we will? I'm like 50-50 on it with like literally no insight.

This is just all vibes. And where Pereira fits in this, I think if Yerey can't go, they're going to get Pereira the title shot. They'll get Pereira Jamal Hill because that fight is ridiculous. And it's ridiculously interesting with the striking of both of those guys. Now, with the whole Izzy thing, I mean, what is this? I don't think Izzy's running away from it. I think Izzy would, if the UFC offered him Pereira again on a big card,

I think he would do it. But it seems like the UFC already has plans. Pereira said he's moving to 205. He said that himself. And he wants to go to 205. He's a massive middleweight. He cuts so much weight to get to 185. Like how many times can he do it?

And I think he could have some success at 205. Like I said, they have plans for his E right now. They're doing the Robert Whitaker, Drick's DuPless C fight at UFC 290. And Dana said it yesterday as well, winner that fight. Fights out of Sanya later this year. Looks like they're planning to go back to Australia,

and they'll do that fight there. So not a bad place to be. And you know what? If for some reason those two dudes just beat the hell out of each other and whoever wins that fight can't make it to whenever that card is going to happen, you can slide Pereira right back in there. So they have options there.

And with John Jones, do I think he's going to fight again? after the steep fight? No. I mean, maybe not forever, but he's definitely stepping aside

for the time being unless Francis comes back, which who the hell knows what's happening with that whole situation. He's not fighting Sergey Pavlovich. That fight probably doesn't inch them at all

unless they give him a big bag of money and I don't think they will. He's not going to fight Jailton Almeida. He just wants to make a bag and get out. So, and

all accounts the plan is November for that card or for that fight MSG and it'll be gigantic let's go to Coach Mark Coach Mark hello you just got to unmute yourself hey yeah hey man

thanks for having me on sure I love what you guys are saying I really love the 288 card and I thought it was great for the women's strawweight division but I had a question why does everybody want to fight bulk

I look like Sehudo Sterling I love the matchup they made with Rodriguez, but why is everybody looking to fight Volcanovsky? Well, I mean, Volk in a lot of people's eyes is the number one fighter in the planet. And both those, I mean, Sehudo said he's coming back just to fight just to get to Volk because he wants to become the first ever three division champion.

Obviously, that's not going to happen now. But Al Jermaine Sterling is a gigantic bantam weight, and he has said many times before, that you can't make this cut that much longer. He even said after he made weight for 288. He goes, man, that cut was harder than I thought. He'll do one more time to get that big bag of money against Sean O'Malley. And then after that, like, you have possible contenders, but you've, at that point,

have already, like, broken all the records. So there's really not much for you to do. You become the all-time title defense leader for the division. You're on an island by yourself with the most consecutive title defenses. You have the longest winning streak in the history of the division. Resumé is incredible. You probably cement yourself as the greatest bannam weight of all time, or at least you're in the discussion more than you've ever been.

There's really not much else for him to do at that division. He's not going to fight Marab. He already fought Corey Sanhagan. Chito Vera lost his last fight. I mean, there's just not much else for him. I don't think he's going to stick around, wait for Umar and Amalgam Adolf to win a bunch of fights. Like, after that, like, you just go to 45.

Now, do I think they will throw him in there with Volcanovsky? No, I don't. I think they're going to make him work for it. I don't think they're going to do him any favors. I mean, that's what I think, as of right the second. Now, it could be wrong. He could go in there and put an absolute beating on Sean O'Malley and get over huge.

And then maybe they do do that fight. But as of right now, Sterling's a nice guy, he's a great fighter, but he's not a big draw. So I just think there's bigger fights for Volk right now, and time will tell. But that's kind of where everybody's at. And then I heard Ali Abdel-Ziz say that when he was asked about an Islam-Machachev rematch, that that fight does nothing for Islam-Machach, could not disagree. more. I think that fight does a lot for Islam Makachchev because there's doubts. There's doubts about that fight. There are still people who come on this show and go on other shows who think

Volkinovsky won that fight. So I think at some point, they're going to have to run that back as long as both of them keep winning and keep defending their titles. But I don't want to see that fight anytime soon. Give me a year, 18 months. If both those guys just rattle off three, four wins, then we could do it again. But yeah, Sterling's just running out of options at 135. YMVC, close us out, my man. Hi, Mike, heck of morning. Thanks for having me.

A quick question for you. With John Jones and Steepi kind of being up in the air, do you think they're going to make Sergei versus Cyril gone? Wanted to get your thoughts on that. Thanks. Have a heck of a morning. They could do that. I don't hate that idea.

but my my thought is the same as it was when they bumped the jailton almeda rosal strike fight up to the main event of saturday's card i think if jailton goes in there and just runs through jarzino they're going to do sergey versus jailton it's either going to be for an interim title or if john jones does beat steepa and walks away it'll be for the vacant title like that's what i think they're going to do But Cyril Gond versus Sergey Pavlidge is interesting. But why, like, Sergey gains zero from that fight. Gains nothing.

So I don't know if he would take it. And that's a tough, like, that's kind of a tough stylistic matchup for Sergey. I think Sergey has the power. Sure. He's got that one hit or quitter power. Or as Jose likes to say, he's that, not one hit or quitter, but one hitter to change the tone of an entire fight. and then it's just a death by a million lunchboxes

is how Jose likes to frame it. And Cyril Gahn is an excellent striker in his own right. So I just don't think the risk reward is necessarily there for Sergey Pallelich. But if they do Jailton Almeida for an interim title or a vacant title, risk reward is there because he ain't fighting John Jones. John's not taking that fight. Even though I think John would do really well in that fight, I think John would not even play around with Sergei.

He would just go in there and tackle him and just do what John Jones does as a top position grappler. John isn't going to mess around and try to strike with Sergey Pavlovich. So, yeah, it's kind of, well, maybe that answer changes on Saturday. If Jarzini Rosa strike beats Jailton Almeida, then maybe they try to do the Sierra-Gone fight. But I honestly think if Jelton goes out there and handles his business on Saturday, they're going to try to do him and Sergey. It's kind of like the next in line, next in wait thing. Because if John beats Steepa, I think he is going to say,

I'm out unless Francis comes back. That's what I think is going to happen. And then we need another fight. And then Stepe's probably gone as well. And we need something else to do. So let's cry a new champion with our two surging contenders. And that's an interesting matchup. Classic striker versus Grappler.

So there you go. All right, we are done. We'll be back here tomorrow. We'll do it again. Probably in the middle of the UFC Charlotte Wayans. And then we'll have a preview show for UFC Charlotte tomorrow at noon eastern. Noon Eastern. So join us for that.

It should be a lot of fun. And we'll have the people's pre-fight show nice and early on Saturday, 11 a.m. Eastern. to get you ready for UFC Charlotte, post-fight show, onto the next one, all that fun stuff. And don't forget, BTL, 12.30 p.m. Eastern time. Be myself, Jed Mishu, and Brian Campbell,

from Morning Combat, so that should be a lot of fun. So thank you very much. See you all tomorrow. Have a great rest of your day. And as always, have a heck of a morning.