MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Ontario Banning UFC Gambling, Potential Sterling vs. Cejudo Title Fight

Episode Date: December 2, 2022

On Thursday, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario announced a ban on gambling on UFC fights over "integrity requirements." Is this news a one-spot thing, or is it the beginning of a massive snowball rolling downhill in regards to the continuously growing world of MMA gambling? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck gives his reaction to the province of Ontario's decision and where things could go from there. Additionally, listener questions include Aljamain Sterling confirming he'll defend his title against Henry Cejudo next, Conor McGregor's potential comeback, Stephen Thompson's future if he loses to Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Orlando, ONE Championship, and much more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: 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.

Friday, December 2nd, 2022, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live a little bit earlier on the M.A. Fighting Twitter Spaces. And if you miss anything, you can hear the show in its entirety on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. Hope everyone's having a great week so far, having a great Friday. I am Mike Heck. The UFC Orlando Wayans just wrapped up. Main event is official between Kevin Holland and Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. They were the first two gentlemen, first two fighters to the scale.

So they are good to go. Jack Hermanson, cut it a little bit close. But he made Wade at 186, the old Boxer Redemption, shines through as he prefers to face short-notice opponent Roman DeLidez. Matt Schnell initially missed weight, and then he shaved the glorious locks off of his head. Shaved head, bald Matt Schnell, could become a new mythical fighter in the MMA space,

ends up making weight at 126. And even if he didn't make weight, you can't fault the attempt because he did everything he could. That's for damn sure. So good on Matt Chanel, he gets it done. One hiccup on the scale. Phil Rowe did miss weight by two and a half pounds.

Not sure if that fight's official as of yet. Maybe it is, but it probably will be. There'll be some sort of fine, I'm sure. So Phil Rowe will be. take on the returning Nico price. I'm sure Nico will get a couple extra bucks in the old bank account.

So Phil Roe's a massive welterweight. I don't even know how the hell he makes 170 most of the time. He's just gigantic. But who knows? Maybe it's just a bump in the road and he can get that all figured out. If not, he'll still be

a pretty reasonably sized middleweight if he wants to go up to 185. But that's why with Nico Price should be a lot of fun. but it is Friday so we can talk about UFC Orlando and on this show Fridays are free for all Friday there's no agenda no real topics

I mean technically there really isn't topics on the show anyways because you guys just ask whatever the hell you want anyways but we could talk about MMA we could talk about not MMA we can talk about gambling shenanigans I mean maybe we don't because apparently M.A. Media is not talking about it or covering it in any way. But it is free for all Friday.

We could talk about my horrific sports takes because apparently people like to go back into time and pull up my awful sports takes because I took a big proverbial negative spin on the Buffalo Bills after the New England Patriots beat them at home last year and they only threw the ball twice. I think it was. And they just out-tuffed and out-man the Buffalo Bills. And it just was a horrible... All I'll say is that that happened to the Patriots at home, I would understand that sort of take on the other end.

But it got brought back up a year later. I've been taking a little bit of a beating for that. But I came out. I said I was wrong. Clearly I was wrong in January when the bills went to New England beat the holy hell out of them. So look, I'm not. I'm a stubborn prick.

I can't be right all the time. I'm wrong a lot. That case I was definitely wrong, and I didn't think it'd be brought up a year later, but I take it on the chin. If you're wrong, you're wrong. I wouldn't trade the history of these franchises for anything in the world. Proud to be a Patriots fan through the good, the great, the awful. And I've been part of some awful, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm not the youngest person in the world. I'm going to be 40 in February. I bet a part of six Super Bowls. I bet a part of some really shitty sports franchises, some really bad sports seasons here in New England. We have been heartbroken more times than not in my lifetime. So it is what it is. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

But let's go to you guys. We'll talk about whatever the hell you want. Toke, kick us off, my man. What is on your mind on this Friday? How are you? Arias last time it's tough to it's tough to make a second

second go with that but I'm going to say this I am impressed with how you can throw that much money after one guy and then not promote them at all you talked about it yesterday it's Roberto Soldidge

so I've seen promo videos of Putschenowski's fight in two weeks in KSW. I've seen promo promo things with Brandon Frickin Vera, who doesn't even, it doesn't even what's his role anymore? He's not the champion anymore. He's not a draw. What is he to you won? I know he's on this card as well. You're promoting him and you're not promoting probably your best commodity at this point. And KSW, has put Shianowski opposing his upcoming opponent two weeks from now on top of a skyscraper in Krakow,

or whatever, sorry, whichever Polish town it is. This is insane. How can you be this bad with money? How can you be this bad with promoting? You just signed an Amazon deal for not billions of dollars, but you know what I mean? I mean, this is, this is your job. What, what, what? I'm sorry, I just, this is, I don't have any more points than that.

What is your job if you're not going to promote your biggest commodity? Have a happy Friday, Mike. Yeah, man, I don't get it. They're, I mean, they are just fumbling the bag everywhere. You would think after the PFL card, this past Friday and the momentum that that card garnered. And look, you can say negative things about the PFL. They do a lot of things wrong.

There's no doubt about it. But at least they try. At least they let people know that they're doing things. One doesn't. They just assume because billions of people watch our product, they all know. Roberto Soldeach was one of the biggest free agents of the year. Hardcore fans all know who this guy is.

Everybody was in play for this guy. We've been talking about Roberto Solich on this show almost the entire year because his free agency period was going to begin in the summer. We're all wondering where he's going to go. And he did interviews with everybody. From Ariel to me, junkie, everybody. The guy was out there. Met with the UFC.

He got offers from everybody. One gets them. one wins the pony and I'm sure they paid him an awful lot of money to win said pony he's making his debut tonight and nobody knows nobody knows

nobody knows that RDR is fighting tonight nobody knows it's just so silly how an MMA promotion that claims that they are number two that claims that they might even be number one

overall because of the amount of people they reach are just so bad at this. They're just so bad at this. Come on, man. Tell the people. Tell the people these things are happening so we can watch.

You know what people are going to watch? They're going to watch the freaking icon FC card because people are fighting backstage of the way-ins. And by the way, for anyone who says that that was staged, you're probably wrong because Joe Penafiel is that dude and always seems to get in some kind of skirmish every time he fights. So I don't buy that it's a promotional tool at all. I think that that was 100%

legit and 100% real. I would like I know more about that card than I do about the one card. And that shouldn't be the case. It shouldn't be the case. I knew a week ago that Micah Miller was fighting Stephen Seiler in a tough rematch tonight on that card. But most people who are tapped into this space. Most people, a lot of people in this room didn't even know that Roberto Soldezsche's fighting tonight until yesterday maybe or the day before. It shouldn't be that way. It should not be that way.

It's friggin stupid. Their whole we're fixing weight cutting thing is just an abomination. I don't get it. I don't know how they're making money. I mean, they're signing deals and apparently they're okay with that, but I mean, the UFC They put on these fight night cards. And typically, let's be honest, they don't care. They know people are just going to watch.

They just have to fulfill an obligation. They're going to get a bunch of money. It's all good. But at least they have built their brand enough that it doesn't even matter. One hasn't. One absolutely has not. Now, there's a certain group of people who fall everything they do and kudos to you. But for those of us, especially here in North America,

who are trying to keep up with everything that's going on in the M. space. It's very difficult to do. And you did a great job with the Demetius Johnson-Maris fight. When you ran that rematch back, that Amazon card, you promoted the hell out of it. You promoted the hell out of it.

And people watched, and it was an intriguing event, and you were trending, and people were talking about it. And because of the success of that card, you just stopped doing it. I don't understand it. I don't understand it. Let's go to AA on this Free For All Friday.

Double A. What's up, buddy? How are you? Good, good, good. Taitoivas and us, Sergei Pavlovich. It's a top five, top four versus top five. For the winner, where does it put them, do you think, in terms of like, contendership? I know ties coming off a lot, and we've also got this whole John Jones, blades in Ghana, mess. I guess you can call it in March. I'm just curious on your thoughts on that. All right. Have a good day, Mark.

Everyone else, have a good day. You're all awesome. Peace. AA, always bringing the positivity and I dig it. Let me just pull up the MMA fighting global rankings for a moment if we could. Let's see where we're at. Let's see where these guys are both ranked at heavyweight. Taito Vasa number four, Sergei Padillich.

number six. I think there's probably more, I don't know, it depends on how you look at it. If you're looking for a meritocratic perspective, they get a jump up. If you look at it from who's going to draw more, I would say Ty probably needs this one more. Because let's be honest.

The fact that Tai Tui Vasa is a top five heavyweight, if you told me two years ago that Tai Tui Vasa was going to be a top five heavyweight, I probably wouldn't have believed you. And this is not taking a dig at the man. He just is who he is. He's a get-or-get-got kind of guy. And he's been getting a lot more than getting got.

And he's got the big wins. And this is why during this whole interim heavyweight title discussion throughout the year, I thought that Tai Tui Vasa should have been right in there. And had we known that nothing was going to happen with this division at all, John Jones versus Taito Ivasa would have been a fine fight. Because one else are you going to be able to get tie into a title fight, especially with how this division looks right now. Instead, you put them in there with Cyril gone,

and that's fine because you had other plans that didn't work out. But now you're throwing them in there with Sergey Pavlovich. I definitely, like, the betting odds are what they are. But I think Ty Tuvasa has a chance to beat anybody in the, not anybody, but I think Curtis Blades would probably beat him pretty convincingly. I think Ty is, I mean, Ty's got a chance to win. Ty definitely has a chance to win this fight. So I think this means more to Ty.

I think the road up to a title fight for Pavlovich is going to be a little bit longer, a little bit rockier. But I think Ty is just so over with the fans right now. He brings in views. He brings in viewership. I think Ty needs this one a little bit more for being honest. But I don't know. It's a good fight. It's a good fight.

As far as like actual stakes go, there's not a ton of them because we don't know what the hell is going on right now. We assume, and we talked about this earlier on Tuesday, like I said, talks are going pretty well on both sides for the Singano Jones fight. Nothing is done. We have nothing even formally offered or anything yet. But this is the fight that everybody wants. Engano versus Jones in March It all depends on Whether or not

Cooler heads will prevail in this Ngano versus the UFC thing Can they get his contract all squared away? All that But it seems like things are going pretty well And it seems like John's on board too So we'll see But until that fight happens

I mean You have to assume Cyril Gond Curtis Blades Would probably be the other fight that they would bake And then the winner of this fight is just kind of, what do we do now? Because they both already fought Derek Lewis. We don't know when Tommy Aspinall is coming back. I don't know. It's going to be interesting.

But I think Ty could get in the mix if he beat Sergey Pavlovich. That's for sure. Let's go to Joe. Joe, hello. Joe, are you there? I'm not hearing you. Jump back in. It will get to you.

With MX Platinum, $400, and 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. Unwrap holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you.

From festive and cozy fashion to Lux beauty and fragrance sets, our special selection has something for every style and price point. Visit our Holtz holiday shop and store or online at Holtrenfrew.com. Let's go to Alex. Alex, hello. just got to unmute yourself.

There we go. Hey, Mike. All right, Mike. So you're getting dragged on Twitter for your cold take. I want to give you an opportunity to put some shine in yourself. When were you right, MMA or whatever? Everyone has their one. We're like, I called it.

I was right. MMA or sports, whatever. Which one was yours? Oh, man. Like, in comparison to that, I don't know. Because most of my, like, really confident takes have been just wrong because they just have been

wrong. Glover Tashiro was like my most confident pick of 2022. From October of last year when Glover won the belt, I was like, he's going to fight Yuri and he's got to take him down, he's got to tap him in the first round. And so many times, I was like,

all right, I'm so right. And everyone thought I was crazy. I was so close to being right. I mean, I guess just off the top of my head, maybe And this probably isn't the best example, but I go back to this, just thinking about it, I have to dig a little bit deeper.

But I mean, with regular sports, I would say I was pretty beat up of my friends when I said the Red Sox should trade Omar Garcia-Para during the year that they ended up winning the World Series, that they should have just traded them and got somebody else because he was a negative Nancy. He was just sitting there sulking on the bench. And every time I said,

they're like, oh, he's a franchise player. I'm like, get rid of his ass. Because you have the core, you have the nucleus, you have a stack team. Just bring in another shortstop. It's bringing in a guy who can get the occasional base hit and can field a ground ball. And that's what they did.

And they won the frigging world series. As far as that may goes, and this, like, if you go back and watch the fight, it's not one that ages very well, but it happens. The only MMA bet, I ever made in my life was Frankie Edgar challenging BJ Penn for the lightweight title the first time, their first fight. And I bet on Frankie Edgar to beat him at big time dogg odds. And most people feel

like BJ got the big fat hose job. And rewatching it multiple times, you're right. But I said Frankie I was going to leave that arena as the lightweight champion. And people thought I was insane. And maybe he didn't win the fight all in all. But on that night, baby, the judges were on his side, and he won the lightweight title. And I cash the only MMA bet I ever made. Now, who knows if any of us will be able to cash MMA bets in the future. But that's probably the one, like the MMA take that I got a lot of crap for.

this is before I even started covering the sport but that's where I'm at that's probably the one Joe do we have you yes I can hear you Mike I give a morning to you how are you sir not too bad two quick comments my big call was Holmes Rousey I told everybody I knew she was going to knock her out with that kick

and don't cry about New England because I'm from Detroit where the Lions play bro so don't ever tell me about your hardship in New England please anyway MMA thing free for all Friday so I am I have a deep opinion that you know everybody complains about the roughing a lot which sometimes it's real egregious but if the refs all did everything exactly the same by the books

there would be no need for refs so I look at like the 10-8 scoring and how it was revised a few years back I'm sure you're very familiar with that and I think it was the space the other day it might have been you on YouTube but I recently heard you talk about like how refs don't want to take a point for grabbing the fence or for doing this or for doing that because they don't want to cost them the fight. But I'm high on the opinion

that if the refs took all the points they were supposed to, it would help the judges to use the new 108, 107 scoring system and help correct a lot of what we complain about. I feel it falls on the judges. I'm just wondering how you feel about that statement. Or on the refs. I'm sorry, Mike. It falls on the refs

to start the process. I'm just wondering how you feel about that statement. Yeah, I mean, I get where you're coming from. But again, a lot of refs feel, and I believe it was Herb Dean doing it. Maybe it was an interview with Helen Yee where he talked about this where he's just like, hey, if it's a point in a fight is gigantic. So unless it's like a completely egregious thing, it's hard to take a point. But I'm not at, like, here's the thing with with refing.

and the cheating and the fence grabbing and all that stuff. I'm not advocating for you to take a point every time. I'm not. I'm definitely not. What I'm saying is there should be some sort of repercussions for the cheating. So if Fighter A is going for a takedown against Fighter B, and fighter B grabs the fence and is not taken down, the referee should stop the fight and be like,

hey, you grab the fence, get on your back. And then Fighter A gets to get on top of him. Even in full guard, that's fine. But at least you give him credit for the work he did for the takedown, which he would have gotten if he didn't grab the fence. At least you're still near the fence. Fighter B has a chance to get back to his feet. If it happens a second time, then you bring him into the middle of the octagon.

Same thing. You're on your back. This time you don't have the fence to help you out. And if it happens a third time, then you take a point. just do that i don't understand why that can't be a thing and i know there's an abc meeting coming up in Vegas i think sometime in july i would love for this to be brought up just do that like i'm not asking you to take a point but to say that we can't do anything because we're afraid to take a point like you've got to be able to do something you have to be able to do something

and sometimes the refs come through and they look at replays they do different things and they make the right call but to have that mentality that well we're we don't want to want to want to take a point because it'll ruin the fight. That's fine. But you still have to penalize the fighter who cheated. And that's why we keep saying, like, just keep cheating because no one is going to stop you from doing it. So just keep doing it.

And I'll blame anybody for doing it because of the pay structure and all that. So I don't know if that's going to change unless there's just actual rule changes. Like that, I don't think that's that bad of a rule. There's some repercussions. you're not taking a point, unless it gets done three times, then you have to take a point. Then you have to take a point. Eventually, it just gets too ridiculous.

And then find ways with the kicks of the ding-ding, and the eye pokes and all that stuff. Those are a little different, obviously, because it can totally affect outcomes in different ways from a physical sense. But we just got to work on that. And the referees need to be a part of this. Like, how can we do this?

make other fighters happy, especially the fighters who are not actually committing the foul, but are trying to advance their position advantageously, but can't because the fighter they're fighting is grabbing the fence or doing something illegal by the rules to avoid the takedowns. As far as the judging goes, it's tough, man. Like, I don't think it's ever going to change, so I don't want to go on a diatribe.

I know a lot of people talk about open scoring, and I know Ariel kind of brought up us kind of run in our mouths a little bit about open scoring on the last watch party. And it was all a lot of love. But I don't think open scoring changes anything. Like I think it does in some ways. Like obviously if you know what the score is, like that can change some things. But I also know that in some of those Invicta events when they introduced open scoring, the teams, the fighters, they didn't even want to use it. Because they felt it would affect the outcomes from a mental perspective.

And that's fine. And if you want to introduce it, that's cool. But in terms of how people view fights and how people talk about the judging and all that, I just think there's going to be way more complaints than ever before. Because instead of just seeing them at the end of the fight and actually like getting a view of the scorecards and then complaining about it, instead we're just going to be complaining about it every round of every fight of every event. And that's just not a world I want to live in on social media if we're being honest. So there are a lot of changes that need to be made in that sense from the reps

and how they penalize to the judges and how they score, all of that stuff. And unfortunately, friends, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. And we're just going to have to live in this world. But we still get fights. And that's okay. Viking, hello. Mike. Good, how are you?

I'm awesome. I just like this time of the space. 10 p.m. where I live, and the things about, and one more thing about the BTL, that was Jade Mishu being honest about his favorite fighter ever. So I like that kind of Jets. I like that kind of Jad Mishu being honest,

not just a, not right. Leave the thing. How do you see the comparison between McGregor and Paddy and Paddy being the biggest draw in the future? And in addition to my question, Korn McGregor climbed his high platter by beating champions, a lot of trash stock being double champ, predicting his own fights. So, and Paddy is in the hardest lightweight division with the killers and fans will question him about his opponent eventually. And if he loses before becoming that kind of hype, he'll be in terms of the draw. Thank you.

Thanks, man. I get where your question is coming from, that's for sure. to me it's just it's tough to compare them because it's just different times it's just different times it's different divisions they're worn on ESPN there's not a million cards every year it's just different how they view draws in 2022 is much different than how they view draws back when Connor was on the rise now people knew who Connor was from cage warriors people knew who he was when he first got to the UFC and some of his wins along the way have aged really well like the max holloway fight no one really understood where those two guys would end up going

and with patty and maybe it could have been the same with connor but connor just kept getting the dust of porier fight was so big for connor because people knew who dust it was everyone had a lot of respect for him and connor just went in and did said what he was going to do and then went in there and did it and then he got the opportunity and at that point he was just so over you couldn't stop it. So you just had to give him one more chance. You had to get Aldo in the front row for the dead of seber fight. And you had to just create that moment. Patty, and at featherweight, you could kind of do it because Aldo was just such a dominant champion. He was beating everybody. People were just waiting for Connor to get his shot. I don't necessarily think people are feeling

the same about Patty right now. I will say this though. Jared Gordon is a big step up in competition. This is definitely the toughest guy he's ever fought in his career. So this is a big step up. It's in the United States. So I think they're going to kind of test out to see how the fans view him if he gets the same sort of following. Because the thing with Connor is that his fans traveled with him wherever he fought. And I was at the Dendeziever fight as a fan. And I wanted and I sat in a section with literally hundreds of people from Ireland who flew over to

watch this fight. And it was a nightmare experience because those guys were, I mean, those guys are just off their rocker. They were so frigging drunk, just frustrating. Kept putting hands on people, like not punching, but just like grab it. Like they just kept like grabbing my shoulders and stuff when Connor came out. And I'm like, dude, relax. Like, good on you.

And I can't be getting in fights at the TD Garden because my family members are like heads of security there. but I remember how much of a horrible time they had that night because they just kept throwing people all left and right. But Patty's just got to keep winning, man. And here's the thing with Patty. If he loses this fight, same with Molly McCann. And I know Ariel didn't agree with this,

and I knew some other people don't agree with this. I liked the Aaron Blanchefield booking because if Molly won, you could, I mean, you could have given her a title fight and know what have been blinking an eye about it. It might have been too soon from a meritocratic percentage, perspective, but her beating Aaron Blanchfield would have been a very big deal. And that's a win that would have mattered. And her losing, yeah, it stings.

Like she's not going to fight for a world title, but that's okay. No one expected Molly McCann to fight for a world title. Her two wins were against the two of the lowest ranked fighters in the division. She got a big step up with her. But guess what? When the UFC goes back to the UK, Molly's going to get a fight. She's heavily favored in. She's going to go out there and do work and she's going to look like a star again.

They're fine. Molly is going to be fine. Same with Patty. Same with Patty. Now, I don't people look at Patty a little differently than Molly. Molly's a little more over. More people just like her. Patty Garter's reaction, whether positively or negatively.

But I still feel it's kind of the same thing. If Patty lose to Jared Gordon, yeah, it's going to sting for a while. People are going to talk crap about them on social media. But you know what? changes that narrative, you go in in front of a crowd that supports you, and you go get a finish. And then they'll be like, all right, it's the Patty show again. Patty's in a division where, I mean, I've been pretty clear about how I feel about Patty's title hopes. I don't think they're there.

I don't think he's going to be fighting for a title. I don't think he's going to be a top 10 lightweight. But that's okay. That's fine. He could still be a star. He could still be a draw. if he loses, people are still going to want to see what happens in his next fight. Same with Molly.

Same with Connor. When Connor loses, people want to see what he's going to do next. I think he's fine either way. If he beats Jared Gordon, I become a little bit more of a believer that maybe he could be a top 15 lightweight. But I still don't think he's beating the Armand Syrucians or the Matush Gamrots or the Jalen Turner's of the world. But if he beat Jared Gordon, I think Jalen Turner is like the perfect fight to make for Paddy. because if he wins and we're like oh damn okay maybe this guy is better than we thought and if he loses jalen gets that bump he gets the rub and there you go but patty winning or

losing it doesn't matter it really doesn't matter he's still going to be over and it's just a different time right now there's so many cards to fill patty's still a name no matter what his record is it doesn't matter none of that stuff matters but i get where you're coming from the rise the popularity is pretty similar, but I think they're kind of different just with the timing of everything. Reps and picks, hello. Hey, Mike, how you doing? Can you hear me? Yes, I can.

Perfect, perfect. Just, I had just a couple questions for you. I know we were talking a little bit just about John Jones in the Ngano match a little bit earlier this week, but just curious, like, where is Steepai in this? I mean, I feel like originally people were talking about Jones v. Stepe if Ngano wasn't going to be there. Now it's just Johns Ingano,

and if Ghanu can't fight, now it's like Curtis Blades is being labeled as a second choice. I'm just curious like why Steepa isn't in the mix or, you know, just what is going on with that. And then this whole Krause gambling situation or, you know, just this whole UFC now new, you know, Ontario rules and things. I mean, just how far do you think this situation can go? Like we've seen fixes in boxing. We've seen NBA reps paid off to throw games. We don't even know really the situation that's still going to come out of this minaret.

Minter fight, but I've just never seen a commission ban all betting lines, you know, from New Jersey for a gym or ban all betting lines in a complete city for all UFC. And now they're kind of posing like the impossible mission of show us you can prevent this from happening again, which, you know, like, does any sport, like can any sport really guarantee they can't have that happening again? I just feel like it's crazy. It's just such a nuts situation. And I know I was seeing some things saying people aren't covering it or something like that.

So don't worry. You guys have covered it just as much as anyone else. I don't know why that was ever brought up. I thought that was funny. But yeah, just curious how much worse you think this can get. And that's all I got for you, Mike. Happy Friday, man. Thank you, sir.

So I'll start with the steep thing. So I had heard some things. I know Ariel talked about it on his show. They wanted the John Jones steepe fight for December 10th. They wanted it. John was in. Steepa, from what I had, it was a money thing, more or less for Steepa. I think Steepi's happy right now. Like I think Steepa is happy not fighting. I think, you know, he's a full-time firefighter. He's a dad. He's a husband. He loves the family life. He's not a big spotlight guy. I think he's content just not fighting anymore. I honestly do.

I think he's fine just not fighting anymore. Now, if you get it in Ghanu, you get a John Jones, that's different. But to me, at least, and this is the way I look at it, it comes down to money. And I think what the UFC did was like, hey, here's this fight with John Jones, do you want it? And he says, sure. And they say, well, we're going to pay you this amount of money. And he's like, no, I want this amount of money. And the UFC is like, no, take it or leave it.

And Steve is like, all right, I'll just leave it then because it's not worth it to me. legacy's fine he doesn't care about that he just wants to be paid if he's going to fight he's going to go through a camp and do all this again he wants to be compensated for it and i don't blame the man the man wants to stay home with his family man wants to be a firefighter and i get it so unless it's life-changing i don't think he like i'll be shocked if he fights again i honestly would not be surprised if we if we have seen the last deepa fight i could be wrong about that, but he just seems very happy

not being a fighter, unless it's like life-changing money. So I think that's kind of why he's out of the mix. They offered him the John fight. John was in. Seems that comes down to money for Steve A. And when you're happy with everything else going on in your life, why create headaches

if it's not worth it to him? And for Stipe, fighting John Jones for the amount of money the UFC offered him was not worth it to him. So I don't know if he fights again. We'll see. I could be wrong. Maybe the UFC comes back and throws him some more money and gives him an offer he really can't refuse.

But until that happens, I don't think he's at all interested in fighting. And good on him. And good on him. The Krauss thing or the UFC gambling scandal. This, the whole thing with Ontario banning UFC bets. this is a very big deal friends like this is a massive massive deal and it's weird and i mentioned this because i've ranted on the show about people's takes about how the anime media is not covering it and all that stuff and then i got into a little twitter back and forth with uh edwards kim

and then kill a shot jumped in and had his things to say nothing irksby more than seeing that. Well, the MA media is not covering this. Why is the MA media covering this? You have to understand. I can come on this show and talk about it all I want. I can tell you what I think, and I can give you my perception of things.

But my perception doesn't mean shit. It doesn't mean anything. Here's the problem. I can sit here all day long and say, this is James Krause's fault. right? I could say what everybody else is say it. I can say that. This is my show. I can say whatever I want.

I'm not going to because I don't know. I honestly don't know. I don't know what is happening here. And the problem is no one's talking about it. Like no one is talking. If I could show you my like text records and phone records and email records,

there are weeks, weeks full of mess. and phone calls being made to like everybody. And I have gotten many no comments, many were not commenting at this time, many read no replies, many straight to voicemails, many voicemails not returned. No one's saying a word. No one's saying a word. Now I understand ESPN reported on it. Yahoo reported on it.

And I, if you go back to the post-fight show right after the Minner, Nerden Beka fight, we talked about it. We talked about how it looked with the Miles Johns thing. We went on post-fight show and talked about it. I told you what I knew. And what I knew that day was the same thing I knew two days later. whatever basically what kevin ioli reported that day was basically what i was told by someone who wished to remain anonymous that it was it was more of uh james you probably shouldn't be out in the

public right now probably shouldn't be quartering guys while there's investigations going on wasn't like the ufc didn't suspend him or anything like that it was more of a the nevada commission's like not a good look bro so you should probably sit this one out. We've talked to many people from the UFC. They got nothing. They get nothing. I have one person from the UFC telling me,

like, we're trying to figure out the same information you are. And I'll try to get you an update. And there hasn't been one. I could sit here and just rip James Krauss to shreds right now. But what if I'm wrong? What if I'm wrong? What if for some reason? And look, does the perception not look great?

100%. This looks bad. But you can point the finger all you want, but what if you're wrong? What if you're wrong? And you don't have all the information. What if it wasn't Krause? What if it was like a teammate of Derek Minner or something? What if it was like a friend of his?

Family members, fuck other family members over all the time. It's the world we live in. It could be anybody. It could be anybody. We see, we're also seeing the TJ Dillow shot thing. Now there wasn't a ton of significant line movements in that fight, nothing like the Miner Nurt and Becker fight.

But T.J. Delosat basically fought Al Jermaine Sterling with one arm. And nobody knew until the fight was over. Or in the middle of the fight when his shoulder separated. And then we learn more about it. Like there's more to this. There's definitely more to it. And before any of this stuff happened, the UFC already put out that rule like,

UFC fighters cannot bet on UFC fights. You just can't do it. And some of the stuff Krauss has done. We've seen screenshots of his discord and some of that stuff. Doesn't look great. He's got the video clip of him in the MA hour saying he makes more money gambling than he did fighting. Doesn't look great right now. But again, we don't know.

We just don't know. Now, I can go back and just be like, well, in 2020, the UFC said this about gambling. In 2021, the UFC said this about gambling. That's cool, but all we're doing is just throwing out coincidental things, conspiracy theories, because we don't know. We don't know. And a lot of people like, this could be the Pete Rose of MMA. Yeah, it could be. But we don't know if it is.

We don't know if it is. looking at it right now, this is bad. That Ontario thing is bad. And I don't think until there is a scapegoat, until there is a reason, until the truth comes out, I don't think they're going to be the only ones. This could be a snowball effect where multiple states follow suit. It could happen. Like, this is not good. Like, we all are in agreement that this looks really bad.

But we also have no idea what's happening because no one's saying anything. It's just this whole, I even told Luke Thomas because he chimed in on the Twitter thing yesterday. Because he's one of the people that is saying, like, I don't understand why the MA media is not leaning into this more. And I get it. But we can only lean into it so much. because we don't have any information. We just have nothing. We have what we think it looks like,

but that's all we can go on. I have never in my career had more trouble getting an answer to anything. I can't even get anybody to answer. I couldn't get anybody to answer why Krauss, like just confirming Krauss was removed. Like I couldn't get anyone on the record saying, like outside of the UFC just saying

we didn't suspend Krauss, we didn't pull them, no one's saying anything. Like, I've never experienced this. I had an easier time from, I had an easier time with like the overall commission. Remember when the UFC was going to do UFC 249 in California

at Itachi Palace? Remember that? And the commission was like, we're not, we're not going to sanction this. What I'm going to sanction this card? And that was a big deal. I reached out to like many commission members, busted my ass, and finally got somebody to be like,

you know what? We're actually going to sanction this event. The event didn't happen until a few months later and they moved to Jacksonville because of everything going on. We can paint our own pictures as to why. But even I got like, even that was easier to get. It's easier for me to figure out what's going on with Francongano and John Jones right now

than it is to get anybody to say anything about this. It's crazy. It's crazy. So do I agree it's a massive story? It might be the biggest story of the year? Absolutely. But can we report on it without having any information? No, we can.

We can. Believe me. Trust me on this. There ain't a sponsor on the planet that is going to stop me from reporting on this. Again, with this narrative that the UFC credential pulling. You think I care about that? Do you on it? Like, look at my history with M.A. Fighting. Do you think I care if I don't attend or cover a UFC event in person? I love traveling and I love doing that. But I'm not even covering events anymore. Like, I cover Jacksonville

because I could drive there at an hour and a half. I got to do International Fight Week, which was cool because they did the Radio Row set up. But what have I been doing the last few pay-per-views. What am I doing next Saturday? I'm not going to Vegas. I'm going to freaking New York to sit in a studio and watch the fights of you guys. And I'm fine doing that the rest of my career. I could not care less if the UFC is like, we're banning my tech from covering our events. I do not care. I can still do my job. That's the one beautiful thing about the pandemic is that it taught us that we don't even need to be there if we don't have to be. I can still do what I do without being there.

I could not care less if they banned me. And why would this story ban me anyways? Their freaking broadcast partners reporting on it. They got more information than any of us do. They banned. I could care less about that stuff. But this is obviously going to be, this is going to get worse for it gets better, in my opinion.

But this is one of the big mysteries right now. Where was Dana White during France and Gano Siero gone? What was in the bag of Otmanazaitar in Abu Dhabi? What is going on with this gambling scenario? I would love to know. Trust me, I would love to know. And if I find out, you'll be the first to know. And I've been working on it.

Trust me. I have people attached to this situation that I've talked to consistently that won't return anything from me. anymore. I think I've hurt relationships trying to figure out some answers to this story. And it's not that even I was digging like too bad. It was just simple questions. And I think relationships have been kind of damaged because of it. So trust me what I tell you, we're trying to get some answers for you. They just aren't any to give you. Believe me, the rush is real with this one. They just ain't anything to it. This investigation has to close. We have to get some

results and then we can go from there but right now there's just ain't anything there's just nothing to it if you want to ask me about it we'll keep talking about it but this ain't a good look friends it ain't a good look this ontario thing is is huge news that's why we wrote it up that's there they spoke they put it out for the public to see they put it out there i'll take that all day If all these commissions want to do that, all these different levels of government want to come out and say those things, that makes my job way easier. That's the first real thing that's come out of this

was that until the UFC could figure out a way where everything's on the up and up, and it's proven to us, we ain't taking bets. And I feel like there's going to be more joining them, honestly. But again, I'd love to give you a, The tea, I just got no tea to give you. Neither is anybody else. So please, for the love of God,

even if it's misconstrued on social media, stop, stop with this narrative that we ain't covering it, that we're afraid to cover it, that we're afraid of the UFC, we're afraid of losing sponsors. That is horseshit, friends. It's not true. It's not true. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats.

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My focus is here is on Tracy Cortez versus Amanda Hebas fight. It's very interesting, especially from Amanda Heba's side of things. I think, at first I didn't like it. I didn't like that Amanda Hewis was going back and forth. I thought you know what?

Like I think she's better stay at Strawway and, you know, try to move up the rankings and, you know, see if you go make a run up the title. But I think, I think you've said this before.

You like it that she's going back and forth. And watching the past couple of fights, I've seen like the evolution of her where she's gotten much better over time. She's really trying to be well-rounded, especially with her striking. And I know she got knocked out about Miranda. Marino Rodriguez, but

she's, and even with her fight against Caitlin Chiquetay game and some people felt that she won that fight, you could just see the evolution that she's getting better. And I think this is going to be a great opportunity for her to keep going back and forth. Just as as much as it's done wonders

for Jessica and Drogh, right? Jessica and Drogh, I could fight at Strawreight, I could fight at Flyweight, go back and forth. And if she goes back to Strawraway, she's getting at some point she's getting a title shot, right? to run at the title. She stays at Flyway and gets the Wednesday.

Who knows she could be fighting for the Flyway title? So it's just what, you know, what's her outlook on Amanda Hebas is what she's doing, going back and forth and opening more opportunities like after this fight. Next year she said she wants us to go back down the storeway and take some fights there. But I think she always wants to have opportunities because she wants to fight. And it was funny hearing her at the post-fights, you know, the pre-fight, media day. She's talking about, like, she's got to be

very strategic here against Tracy here, but it was so funny, like when she hits the crowd, they're like a ruff thing, like, oh my God. That she's just like, oh, she gets crazy. And she wants to scrap, just like a Benio Darius or other fighters.

Every time they hear the crowd, everything goes out the window and they just want to brawl and put some entertaining and fun fights. So, you know, what's your outlook at what a man? he was doing, deciding to go back and forth through divisions and have fun that could be for her because you

can match her up with so many fighters. And just want your thoughts on that. Everybody had a heck of a morning and enjoy your Friday and the fights this weekend. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, man. I like what she's doing. She's, I mean, Amanda's a delight.

She's her personality's incredible. She's a fun fighter. She just wants to fight. She's not, like the Just Got Drive situation is is kind of interesting because with Zhang is the champion I mean there's still a story there like Zhang just we we almost didn't even

it's almost like I'm going to say the fight didn't exist but it was just she just blasted Jessica like that fight never really got going so while Zhang is a tremendous performance and she's blistered her I don't feel like a ton of questions were answered in that fight

so I still want to see it. I still want to see it. I still want to see it. If Zhang fights Rose and Rose wins, like they're one in one. She's right there. 125, I feel like there's big fights for her. Like, she's fighting Lauren Murphy. Big deal.

It's a big opponent. Someone who fought for the title not that long ago. But if she beats Lauren Murphy, like, do I think she's getting another title shot? Like this quickly after what we saw when Shepchenko fought on Drod's first time? Probably not. But she's just,

wants to fight. The opportunities are there. She's taking fights. Probably getting some Mullah to do so. And good on her. And I think that's kind of where Amanda is right now. Manda's not in any sort of title hunt right now. Her beating Caitlin Chukagan would have put her right in the title hunt. She gave Caitlin

a friggin' fight and a half. And this Tracy fight is, it's a good one. This is a really good fight. Especially on the undercard. This is the most compelling fight on the undercard for sure. Where the betting lines are? right now. They were like a complete pickum the last time I looked at it. Yep, still a complete

pickum. Minus 1-10s on both sides. It's a great fight. It's a great fight. If Amanda can stay on her feet, she wins. If Tracy, it will know pretty quickly how this fight's going to go. I think Amanda's take down defense is a little bit better than people give it credit for. She's improved a lot in that aspect. But if Tracy gets her down and holds her there for like three minutes in the first round, this is the fight we're going to get. But if Amanda could show some take-down defense and make Tracy pay for her entries,

it's Amanda's fight to lose. It's really interesting. Who can implement their game plan? Can Amanda stay upright? If she can, how is Tracy going to respond? A lot to like about that fight. I like what Amanda's doing right now. You offer your fight, take the damn fight.

Get that money. That's how you become a star. You take fights. You get out there, you let people see you. That's how it works. Henderson, hello. Hey, Mike, heck of a morning to you, man. You too.

I'm excited for the card tonight. I'm a big Wonderboy fan. And one thing that I noticed hasn't, a lot of people haven't really been talking about. I doubt because people don't follow Wonder Boy as closely as his fans do. But he's been having the worst time making weight because before the Burns fight, he actually got hospitalized. He was like puking all over the U.S. see backstage on the other fighters. And then before the ball fight, he was feeling so sick.

Like, even his pre-like fight videos, he was like, had no voice. And he keeps saying, like, I'm working on it, but just being older, it's so hard to make weight. So I think he made weight this morning pretty easily. He showed up early and he was actually a pound under, I think, what he needed to be. So hopefully he has that under control. and if he does, we might be seeing a Wonder Boy that we haven't seen, maybe since the Lucke fight, one that actually made weight cleanly.

So I wanted to know what you thought about that. And also, either way, win or lose, could you see Wonderboy just moving up? Because who wants to make weight at 40 years old, really? So I think he could have a lot of fun fights at one division up. All right. That's it. Bye. Thanks, man.

Thank you, sir. Yeah, he looked good today. He looked good. I saw some of like the Instagram posts where he was all toweled up and covered up and sweating his ass off. Wonder Boy's a big dude, man. He's a big guy. He's like 200 pounds. So that is not, and he's, I've talked about it with him for years.

That is not an easy weight cut for him. It is not an easy weight cut. But he made it pretty good today. He looked good, looked fresh. I don't know how it's going to translate into the fight tomorrow, but. Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe we get that version of where he fought Vicente Lucke. Maybe we get that.

I don't know. But we'll see. And as far as him moving up to 185, yeah, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility, but I think it depends on the matchup. Like, he ain't going up there and fighting freaking Hamzot at 185, that's for sure. But he's talked a lot about fighting Nick Diaz and stuff or, you know, if Robbie Lawler wants to do it at 185, like fights like that, I think he would take up at 185. but it makes no sense for him to go up there and fight Drickus Duplassini.

Maybe he wants to run a back with Darren Till today. I don't know. I still think Wonderboy won that fight, by the way. But I don't think he's, like, I don't think he's going to retire or anything like that if he loses to Kevin Hahn. I have my official pick on the preview show at 3 p.m. Eastern, but I'm back and forth on this one. I'm back and forth on this one. one day I wake up and I think Kevin's going to win next day I wake up and I think Wonder Boy is going to win

a certain narrative I keep seeing is that well Kevin Hollins is going to take Stephen down a bunch of times okay give me like give me the history of that give me the history of that yeah I got taken down 10 times in those last two fights but it was freaking Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad

like these are guys who take people down for the most part that's what they're known for. To take you down, they beat you up on the ground. Look at the rest of his career. Matt Brown took him down five times in his second UFC fight. Tired Woodley took him down once in the first title fight, once in the second title fight.

How many times have you been taking down his UFC career outside of that? Zero. Zero. And he's been in there with guys who took shots at him. Patrick Cote. Jake Ellenberger, Johnny Hendricks. Those guys took shots at him. Even Mazadol.

This is 2017 Mazadol. This wasn't BMF champion Hoaree Mazadol. He shot takedowns too. Couldn't get him down. Thompson's tough to take down, man. He's tough. And Kevin Holland ain't a D1 wrestler. He ain't Gilman.

He ain't below Muhammad. I don't think Stephen Thompson's take down defense historically is being taken to account enough. But I also don't think Kevin Holland's going to be stringing takedowns together in this fight. When Kevin Holland says I'm not going to shoot on him. I'm going to fight him. We're going to stand up for as long as this fight last. I believe him.

Do I think Kevin's going to try at some point? Yeah, probably. But do I think he's going to attempt like 15 takedowns in this fight? Absolutely not. Which is it makes this fight interesting. I'm looking at this from a, I found 20 bucks. but magically I can only bet on one guy based on the odds. I'm putting it on Wonderboy.

I think there's value plus 1 to 45. I think he can win. I think this is a 25-minute stand-up battle. I think Wonderboy can win this fight. The one thing that concerns me, he's going to be 40 in two months. And if there's anybody that's undefeated, it's father and mother time.

They're always undefeated. But how will it translate in the octagon? We shall see. Let's go to MMA locker room. Hello. Hey, what's going on, Mike? How's everybody doing today in this MMA community? What's going on, man?

How are you? Good, good, man. Love everything you over there doing at the website and everything. But just to speak on this main event a little bit, I got some little things that's going to kind of sway me on the other direction. I bet Kevin Holland when he opened up at a minus 110. One of the reasons why is because I've been betting them pretty much, I would say the last six fights that he had.

And a lot of those times you had to bet him at like a minus 180, a minus 220, you know, a big juice price tag, you know, and right now we're getting him pretty much at a pick them price. So, you know, I actually like that price tag right there. Now he's at a minus 160, minus 145. I don't like that if anybody's taking a stab at that price now. Just because of this, Wonderboy showed he has the fight IQ, the fight resume to where if the fight's not going his way, he can.

make the adjustments mid throughout the fight. Kevin Holland is not the same guy like that. If one thing's not working for him, he's going to go back to that over and over again. He's not going to be able to make the adjustments. So I can kind of see Wonderboy doing those little quickie sidekicks, two jab punches and getting out the way real quick by the time Kevin Holland tries to counter and he's just dancing around him. So that's the only thing that kind of scares me off this fight is the fight IQ of Stephen

Wonderboy Thompson. I think that he knows a good enough game plan to put together to win at least three rounds against a fighter like Kevin Holland. But could be wrong, could be right. Hopefully I just get it right for my fight. Thanks, man. You're not wrong. Like, from a betting perspective, I think all the value in this fight is on Wonderboy. At plus money.

Holland, listen, how could you not like Kevin Holland? Guys, a great personality, fun-ass fighter. dude is a G, he's a gamer. But, I mean, like I said, I've made one bet in my MMA life. I cashed it. I retired right then and there. But is Kevin Holland a guy you can trust your money with at minus 170? I don't know.

I don't know, especially in a matchup like this. Now, could Kevin Holland just knock Stephen Tom. Thompson dead. It's possible. It's possible. I think of a finish comes in this fight. It's coming from the Kevin Holland side. But Stevens friggin' durable, man. Dude's durable. It's only been knocked out once. And it was by Anthony Pettis, that crazy Superman punch. But the way that fight was going, Wonderboy was looking pretty good. He won like the first nine minutes of that fight. and then Petas knocked him out. I think he beat Darren Till.

He got dropped at one point in that fight, but he was fine. And this is like Darren Till fighting at Walter Waite. He fought Tyrone Woodley, who's one of the big hitters twice, got dropped, but didn't get finished. Like, especially that first fight,

that one that was a draw. The fact that Wonderboy didn't get stopped in that fight just goes to tell you just how durable this cat is. But again, my biggest concern is just is he just getting up there too much I don't know the St. Gilbert Burns and Bilali's fighting

you look back on the Jeff Neal and the Vicente-Luke fights and you feel pretty good but again, that was two years ago the Jeff Neal fight it was over three years ago the Luke fight he hasn't fought in almost a year since the Balala loss

I get why there's pause but I do think if you're looking at this from a dollars and cents perspective, I think it's hard to bet on Holland here. I just think there's value on Wonderboy. I think this fights, I think it's close to a 50-50 fight. So I think there is value on Wonderboy. All right, let's end with you ahead. You keep showing up and then you keep disappearing and you keep showing up and you keep

disappearing. What is it ahead? Huh? It's because your internet connection is stinky. Looks like it. The wheel is spinning. Come on ahead. Ooh.

Freaking ahead. I finally, after all these shows and all these months, you keep coming on this show and you say, hey, Mike, I get a headline for you. And then we finally use one that you give us. And then you come back to the next day for a follow-up and nothing. Yeah. Yesterday was a tough day.

I got heat from like so many people for the whole, gambling thing, for the whole Buffalo Bills take, for the whole heck of a morning episode asking the McGregor Loboff question, like I wrote an article trying to sell you that fight. At this point, people, you understand what this is. We do a show. You guys ask questions. We take the compelling questions. One ends up being more compelling than the next in some way,

form or fashion, and that's just how we headline the show. That's all. All right I head This is it Do or die my man Hopefully we have you Otherwise I gotta get going

The wheel Continues to spin Internet connection junk I see you waving bro I know it ain't on my end Because we've been taking calls for the last hour I'm trying to hit I'm trying

But car cacks Coming in to save the day All right Okay so my question is So Conner wants to come back And we all know that it takes six months For the use all the things to be clear, right? So my question was,

Is there any specific reason it's six months? Like, you know, if they need multiple tests Or is it just how long the test take? Or is it both? That's probably a combination of the two. But that's just, that's the rule. That's the rule. If you get out of the pool, you need six months to get back in.

I mean, Henry Suhudo just did the same thing. now the UFC is able to use exemptions if they like they've used them before yeah i mean they use an exemption for brock lesnar and didn't work out too well because you end up testing positive for that fight anyway so but they could use it on connor they could use it on connor connor said he just has to test twice and he's back in now is that true i don't know only a few people know the true answer to that question, but if he comes back to the pool in February and he passes a couple of tests, the UFC would probably just be like, all right, good enough for me. But again, I think the six-month time frame might actually work out well because

it's got a lot going on. He's probably still healing up a little bit. That was a nasty injury he had. That was like a really, really gnarly bad injury. And maybe he just needs more time. So if he comes back in the pool in February, he could still potentially fight in the summer. He could book a fight. He just can't compete. So let's go ahead. I think I said the name,

and I have a feeling you're going to say the name too. There you are. Yes. Like you just wait and you let, like, to try and let me in. You're very kind, Mike. But the thing is, unfortunately, I can't be kind back

because I'm coming on here. I'm sure you saw yesterday, Mike, be honest, right? When you saw the Henry Sohudo News, did you think I was going to come on here and rub it in your face? Yes or no? Yeah, of course I did. Yeah, you'd be right.

I'm hella petty. Sorry, Mike, sorry, not sorry, but I'm hella petty. In your face, Mike, it turns out, I'm getting what I won. The rest of you lot in the group aren't. Listen, but we're just, In regards to Al Jermaine Stirling versus Henry Sohudo, here's the thing.

Like I was actually willing to meet you halfway, Mike, because here's the like, after thinking about it, Henry, okay, the way he left the UFC, yeah, maybe he doesn't deserve the title shot. But I've got to be real. Anything is better than having Al Jermaine Sterling as the champion. I wasn't going to say, I was going to say this yesterday, but then I saw Alia Quintan, I was like, I don't need to get into any beef or anything. I'm not going to, like, wind him up or anything like that.

So, but I'm going to be real, like, and it's not because I don't like Al Jermaine as a person. And I, I'm the one who defended Al Jermaine after USC 259. He took a knee to the head. I defended him when there were other people like, like Ariel, who were like, why is Al Jermaine taking pictures and stuff? I was like, that doesn't matter. Yarn need him in the head. But I've got to be honest, looking at Al Jamee's resume, I've said this before, like,

I don't respect the dude as a champion. Like, I just, and it's not just me. Vera feels the same way. Dillershaw was one arm. He had one arm and he went in there. And I'm just thinking, right, like I actually looked at the peyote yarn and Stirling rematch. And I'm thinking like this, if damage matters, then O'Malley won against yarn,

but then Yarn won against Stirling or a draw, but not Sterling winning. That's actually how I feel. and the thing is Al Jermaine yeah okay they're gonna fight Henry and Algeman are gonna fight I just think Henry's just too good of a wrestler

what's Al Jemine gonna do on the feet he hasn't got the skills and I'm not the only one saying this I'm not trying to disrespect him as a fighter okay other people are saying like Vera is saying this and the other point was about the Mazid al-T thing

from yesterday I've got to disagree because I honestly feel that with what you said because I wasn't disrespecting him as a fighter but like I want to like give my opinion on

how he's been acting and he's been acting really strange. He's been he's become what he always didn't want to become like this Ganssey he always used to be slick and funny but now it's like always trying to be threatening he's assaulting people like

Colby and he has zero accountability for that. He doesn't take any sort of blame whatsoever so I stand by why I said And I feel like fans should be able to criticize this idea that fans can't talk about MMA fighters, criticize MMA fighters because MMA fighters can beat them up. That's insane. That's like saying you can't criticize the government, otherwise they'll shoot you in the head.

Like that's crazy. You should be able to talk and speak freely about fighters as long as you're not like going past certain limits like family or fighting ability. I'm just talking about how they're acting. And Madadal acted poorly. he has acted poorly and Wonderboy and Holland I want to say is it over for Wonderboy if he loses against Holland is it over because it's a striker Holland that lunges in with his strikes that Kung Fu base it feels like he loses his balance you know and I just think

Wonderboy will take advantage if he loses it might be over if he wins I want to see him against a wrestler otherwise take him out the rankings like Sean Brady said drop the mic mic so with the Mazadol thing like I'm not disagreeing with, I'm not disagreeing with you that fans can say these things and have an issue. There are lines to be crossed. It's just fascinating that everybody just turned on them. That's the whole thing for me. This guy, like, this is the attitude he had when he became a star.

And he lost to the two best welterweights in the world. And everyone just dumped on him. It's just fascinating to me. It's just fascinating the swings the sport can have, not just in the octagon, but out of it too. Is Wonderboy Donovan, if you lose? No. Is it still a name?

There's 580,000 cards they have to fill. People still care about Wonderboy. They'll put them on cards. And Wonderboy doesn't have to fight. He's not doing this. I mean, if you're going to do something, might as well try to be the best that you can. out of it, but Wonderboy doesn't need to fight.

He just likes fighting. So, I don't think he's done. Still think there's fights for him. There's still value in him. He's just a good dude. He's the antithesis of people who don't watch the sport. You just show him Wonderboy, and you're like, oh, okay. Maybe I was wrong.

Maybe I was wrong. He's a nice guy. He's a nice feller. The Sohudo thing is just hilarious. It's just so fun. The whole thing is hilarious. Because, and we talked about this ad nauseum, how I feel about the situation. So I'm not really going to get into that.

But as I said after, on the post-fight show, and I said it on this show after UFC 280, there's only one person to blame for this. There's only one person to blame for this. And his name is Al Jermaine Sterling. this dude had the bag in hand and then he i don't know what he did he sprayed pam on his hands or something and as he's running away with that bag it slipped out of his hands and he just left it behind you had the chance in the octagon at ufc 280 to secure the bag and you didn't do it instead you did the whole whoever the UFC wants to give me

I'll fight him I can't believe he did that and then he tried to course correct himself along the way because I don't know if you listen to this show I mean no one talks about this more than I did literally no one talked about this situation more than I did and then he went and did subsequent interviews and literally said what I said went to press conferences and literally said what I said.

No one is dogging Sohudo's resume. Nobody is. Sohudo's resume is incredible. But the guy screwed the company over, and then he comes back, and we don't know if he's serious about fighting. We don't know. And Sterling started to realize that,

pushed for this O'Malley fight. But like I've said about Bilal Muhammad so many times, when the moment counts, you didn't do it. And that's what killed below a lot of the ways. As he gets on the mic after these big wins, and instead of calling for Hamzat Shemayev, which is the fight he should have called for two fights ago, he called for Koldi and Usman,

fights he had no chance of getting. And then he realized, ah, damn it, should have been Shemayev, and he does the interviews after. and then he gets Sean Brady instead of Hamzaat Shamiyaf, which he could have gotten had he called him out in the octagon.

And he almost didn't get it at 280. Hey, Leon, where he at? And then he like, course corrected in the middle of his sentence and said, all right, Hamzaa, I'll fight you. And didn't even say his name. The wolf, I'll fight the wolf. And Sterling dropped, he fumbled.

The dude fumbled and he tried to course correct. And now we're getting Henry Sehudo, apparently. in March. Now I will say this. As a fan and as an enthusiast of the sport, I'm interested in this fight. I want to see it. And I've said it from the beginning. I want to see it. I want to see what happens. Because So hoodo is a tremendous wrestler. I still don't think Aljo gets enough credit for how good he is. And the thing about Aljo is he's just such a freak athlete and he's so big. He's going to be

be so much bigger than Sehudo. And that is, who knows? I'm curious how this fight goes. But let me tell you what my first thought was when this fight was booked. And this is not me being, you know, not a journalist or being an Aljo hate or anything like that. The first thought of my mind, when I saw this, I hope Sehudo wins so bad. I hope Sehudo wins so bad. I hope Sohudo wins so bad and then he gets on the microphone, and he says, one of two things. Because he's going to say this, people, I'm just preparing you. He's going to say one of two things. I'm leaving again unless you pay me more money.

Or two, I ain't fighting again unless it's Alexander Volcanowski. And I am going to laugh my ass off when that happens. And I'm going to come on the show Tuesday, much like I had took his victory lap today. I will take mine, and I will take mine for a month because this is my issue with the whole fight in the first place. Because this is going to happen, friends. This is going to happen. Henry Suhudo is not going to get on the microphone and call the Sean O'Malley.

He's not going to do it. He's going to say, hey, UFC, I'm leaving for more money or I'm not fighting ever again unless it's for the featherweight title. And I will laugh, laugh, laugh when that happens. Because it's going to, friends. And if Aljo wins, Suhudo probably ain't fighting again anyways. So for me, looking at this at this point,

I have found a way that this isn't all bad. Even Sohudo winning is just hilarious now. It's just the funniest thing in the world. Now, here's what I think happened. O'Malley, a lot of people are arguing, saying, well, O'Malley fumbled the bag, actually. No, he didn't. O'Malley didn't fumble the bag.

Because either way, no matter what happens, Sean O'Malley's next fight is going to be for a title. He ain't fighting Cheeto. He could fight Cheeto. If Sohudo wins, he probably will fight Cheeto for either an interim title or they will strip Henry Sehudo. Because if Sohudo beats Al Joe and wins the belt, he ain't fighting Sean.

I can tell you that right now. So Sean O'Malley's next fight's going to be for the belt. It doesn't matter who it is. And now Sean could take his time. He can let these two beat the hell out of each other. And he could sit back and wait. And he could do interviews and just get over and over and over. Headlines written about him left and right.

He's fine. He didn't fumble shit. It was Alja who did. I also think that Suhudo is probably not the first choice here. I know Dana said his name. I'm still not fully convinced that Dana said his name without being sarcastic in some way.

But I think, and I don't know this for sure, I have no insight to any of this, but it would not shock me at all. If Sohudo was the cheaper option here. Sean wants more money if he's going to fight for the belt. He's been saying this since day one. If he gets Sohudo in there for cheap,

and still accomplish, what a hid said is to be true, if you can pay more money to a guy who will probably lose or pay less money to a guy you feel is going to win, if you really want to take the belt off Aljo, well, then you're good. But I can't wait. I'm actually more inched in this fight. I'm, I didn't think I'd be this interested in this excited for this fight.

It took me some time. I haven't reacted. I said sigh. Because how of it all played out. This is kind of like, I guess, my Buffalo Bills take from last year. There's no way they're going to do this. Because I didn't think the UFC would be this dumb. But they're going to do it.

And I'm all for it. I've accepted it. Much like people had a problem with Volkanowski fighting Mokachev. Much like people are having an issue with that, you just have to accept it. vine positives in it and you realize it's the two best fighters in the world fighting according to the UFC pound for pound rankings but this this sterling sohudo thing I found a way to love it I found a way to love it because again if Henry wins it's going to be the best it's going to be the best

and I'm going to come on this show and just laugh I'm not even going to say anything I was going to go live and laugh when he says, I ain't fighting again, unless you pay me $20 gazillion, or I fight Volcanovsky. And I'm just going to laugh till I cry. And it's going to be the best show ever. So I'm in. I found my way into it because it's going to be hilarious. All right.

Let's get Australian talk in here, and then I really have to go. I've been lying saying I had to go like 20 minutes ago, but I really have to go now. What's up, Australian talk? Yeah, good night, guys. Thank you very much. You're talking about Volcanofsky. We can't wait. Let's bring Islam over here.

Let's see our little 145 and go to 155. Remember, he used to be a front row in rugby, so he used to get around in about 205, 210. So he's lost a significant amount of weight. I think he'll go okay with the strength against Islam. Sugar Sean, we want to see him with a belt. He brings the part. He's got a real type of rock star persona about him.

It's good. We want to watch his fights. But what about Bam Bam. And what about this Perth card? Any guys coming over? You're going to make the trip down under? Are you going to get a business expense? What are we going to do?

And is Kyle Sunning, the next president of the UFC. Thank you. for next president of c no because i think danaway will live us all and he ain't leaving that seat until the day he dies probably at this point even if it's like he doesn't want to do it he's just going to do it like to spite everybody else but no it won't be chill will we be in perth i don't know perhaps i don't know we'll see we'll see and then the uh O'Malley thing. I think he loses to Sterling, honestly.

And I think he probably loses to Henry, too. But it's a big fight. When he gets that fight, it's going to be big. And you cannot, you'll never be able to convince me that Sterling Sehudo right now does better on pay-per-view than Sterling O'Malley. Because Sterling Sehudo is a co-main event. That's a co-main event.

That's probably going on if they book, if they somehow book this in Gano-Jones fight, that's the co-mate event for that. Sterling O'Malley could headline a pay-per-view. Sterling Sehudo can't. Sorry. If they care about pay-per-view buys, So-Hoodo challenging Sterling is not a main event,

unless it has to be. But it wouldn't be targeted as a main event, unless everything falls through. With Volk, listen, when I say those things about Volk, people not being into that fight i ain't one of them i'm in i was in at ufc 280 i was on the fence a little bit but just the way this the featherweight division looks right now and i've i've defended volk the entire time on everything he said about give me somebody give me somebody somebody stand out no one has the only one who's done it is max holloway but at least we have an interim title fight someone could

standout. But if he beats Islam, I just don't see him going back to 45. Like, what's the point? What's the point of going back to 45 if you win the lightweight title? You just beat, you just beat the toughest opponent in the division. You just beat the hardest guy. You're not going to get the same amount of money, the same amount of intrigue fighting Josh Emmett or Yaiyer or Arnold Allen that you, that you're not. You're not going to get the same amount of money, the same amount of intrigue, fighting Josh Emmett, you would if you were fighting Dustin Porreier, Michael Chandler,

Connor, Gachey, all these heavy hitters at 55. Like the biggest fights for Volker are 55. If he wins the lightweight title, why go back and forth? You can still have the image of you winning both titles. You could say,

I want to be active, but why do that? Why put yourself through that when you can make all the money fighting at 55? And you just knocked off your title. toughest opposition. So we'll see what happens. All right, I gotta go.

Preview show, UFC Orlando, 3 p.m. Eastern Time. We hope you will join us. But until that, everybody, have a great rest of your Friday. And as always, have a heck of a morning. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

But first, there, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes.