MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To PFL's Rough PR Week, Carlos Ulberg Getting Jamahal Hill Fight At UFC 303

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

The Professional Fighters League began 2024 with a ton of questions and momentum following their acquisition of Bellator. Less than halfway through the year, the perception of the organization is in a much different place — and more so after a week of bad PR, most notably due to Donn Davis' comments about Kayla Harrison. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to Davis' comments about Harrison, multiple fighters calling out the promotion for different reasons, Gegard Mousasi threatening legal action before getting released a day later, and the lack of buzz amongst the MMA community. Additionally, listener topics include Carlos Ulberg stepping in to face Jamahal Hill at UFC 303, Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad 2 at UFC 304, Aljamain Sterling's next opponent, Dustin Poirier's prediction of knocking Islam Makhachev out at UFC 302 next weekend, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco 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 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian

in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. It is Friday, May 24th, 20204, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the NBA fighting Twitter space.

You can hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter. on the MMA fighting podcasting network. What's going on, everybody? I am Mike Hack. Hope you're all having a fantastic week. It is a week that's sort of light on the mixed martial arts action. I mean, Falc Copposa, he will lead you in the right direction of something to consume and watch. There is a couple of good boxing cards.

We do a misfits boxing, Paige Van Zant, B-Win. So if you're looking for some MMA representation in the boxing world, you'll have that on Saturday. And this is just kind of a news and notes week because we are on the road to UFC 302, which goes down in just eight days. I'm pretty excited for this one. I know it's lacking a little depth outside of the top two fights,

but I do think it's going to be a fun watch. And I think this is one of those cards where we look at the top of the bill and we're just like, yeah, I think we're going to be okay. I think those two fights are very important. They have significance. They have stakes, and there's a lot on the line in both of those fights. Also, big week when it comes to news and things to talk about. Obviously, Ryan Garcia and his B sample coming back positive.

So we'll see how that all plays out in regards to the Devin Haney win. a lot going on with the professional fighters league. We'll get into that, I'm sure. And we have a new co-main event for UFC 303. As we confirmed yesterday, UFC officially announced it a few hours after. Jamal Hill will remain on the UFC 303 card headline by Connober Gregor and Michael Chandler. And stepping up, almost sort of predicted it.

Carlos Ulberg gets a massive opportunity to fight a former UFC light heavyweight champion. This is what happens when you do the thing, guys. Sometimes you just right place, right time. You get what you want. And Carl Sleberg gets this massive opportunity in about a month's time. So we can talk about that. We could talk about PFL.

I'm sure someone's going to bring it up. So I won't go on my high and mighty rants just yet. I will let you guys give me the hot tag, because I'm sure one of you will do that. we will begin with our good friend left lane m-m-m-a what's up left-lath-lain don't-man was on mike can you hear me yes sir all right well i'll just start there because oldberg and hill obviously being announced pretty crazy stuff i guess i mean well people kind of were hypothesizing what they thought would be the replacement and like people thought like

you might fight i never really was high on that idea or like i would have liked it but i never really expected that in a year he's probably going to fight alex I was thinking maybe like a bog down or something like that, but no, the Oldberg fight makes sense. Didn't take much damage against Menafield, obviously. And I've seen a lot of polls and stuff, people chucking up polls who they think is going to win. And I'm seeing Hill slightly favoured. I'm pretty sure the betting odds were like even money at Open. Personally, I think Carlos Oldberg is going to smoke him.

That's my opinion. I think Jamal Hill's defense is not that good and it's been exposed by multiple strikers, not just Alex Pereira. It's been like, that's why I think a lot of people picked Pereira going into that because there was so many examples where you could go back and watch his fights and just see Jamal Hill

with his hands behind it, with his hands at his waist, just opened the shots. And his fight, he just got caoed by a left hook. He's about to fight Oldberg, another guy who's caoing people with a lot of left hooks, or just a lot of hooks in general.

So I don't think it's a good matchup for Hill. And I still think we're forgetting that he literally only fought like a month ago and it's going to be a 10 week, 10 weeks between like those two fights. And again, it's not some grappler. He's not fighting, even like I wouldn't favor him to read Uncle Life, but at least that's not a fight where you're worried about him just getting shined on the feet. But now you're looking at this fight, coming off a KO loss, fighting another KO guy,

don't think it's going to go well for him. I mean, I don't have much else to talk about. You know, I was thinking of like saying some other stuff about the card next weekend, but I'll probably save that for then. A couple of fights. I'm really looking forward to Coppilov Elmada for the less hardcore fans that aren't too sure about that fight

or that think it's only a two-fight card with the main and co-main event. You're not entirely wrong, but I do think there is still some little nuggets of good stuff on the prelims and stuff. So yeah, looking forward to that fight. And Oldberg versus Hill is a great scrap. I think Oldberg's going to win by K.O. in the first.

But that's all. Thanks, my. Thanks, man. So right now on Draft Kings, Jamal Hill is a slight favorite at minus 120. As you know, we do the watch parties. Draft Kings is a big part of that and put a little shekel or two down on some of these fights. I got to tell you, I'm probably going to pull the trigger on Jamal Hill at minus 120,

and I'm probably going to go pretty hefty on it. Look, I think Carlos Oldberg is a good fighter. I think what he's done over his last six or seven fights has been pretty damn impressive. the thing about Ulberg and these wins are, he just keeps fighting guys who, like, and I don't, and he's taking full advantage of it. So I'm not taking anything away from him at all.

But it just seems like every fighter that he gets in there with, they look at him and they say, you know what? He's this great distance striker. Let's just attack him. Let's just run full bore at him and turn it into a brawl. And then he just knocks him out. Like, he does that all the time.

Look at Alonzo Meadowfield. Alonzo Meadowfield just darts in and tries to take his head off. And Oldberg is like, all right, bet. I'm just going to knock you out with one punch. And that's exactly what he did. It was, I don't think Jamal Hill is going to fight Alberg that exact way. I kind of feel like Alberg is going to fight Jamal Hill that way. And I think that would probably be a mistake.

Because Jamal is a hitter, man. Like, I know he got knocked up by Alex Pereira, but any single human being in that division is getting knocked out by that punch as well, including Carlos Holberg or anybody else. He hits you with that left hand. As Jedd likes to say, he boops you like that. You're done. You are done. And I just, this is by far. I mean, this is such a big step up in competition.

And I think if Jamal Hill just fights very smart, he should win this one. I'm not going to say running away, but he should win this one. pretty handling because I mean, Jamal's just been in there way better guys. He's got a skill that, you know, Alberg has improved upon. Because Hill can grapple.

He can, he can grapple. He can wrestle. He can take you down. He can do all these different things. So as long as Jamal Hill doesn't go in there and start saying, hey man, I'm going to out kickbox the kickboxer and has a different approach that he did the Alex

Perrier fight, I think you should win. And I like him at minus 120. I think that's a steal. again, I'm not trying to disrespect Carl Sleberg because I could be dead wrong. Maybe Jamal Hill goes in there like Menafield did or like Nikolai Megamariano did or Tafon and Chukwe did

and just goes in there and just tries to sprint across the cage and try to knock Carl Soltberg out and get him uncomfortable. But he seems very comfortable in those situations and I don't understand why all these fighters that get in there with him feel like that's the best course of action. So yeah, good opportunity.

man 303 needs a boost though I mean come on this is international fight week and Ulberg being in there certainly fun and it keeps Jamal Hill on the card but on it like look at this card right now

we got Connor and Chandler and that's big we get Jamal Hill Carlos Ulberg in our rankings Ulberg's not even ranked right now Cub Swanson Andre Feeley is the third most interesting fight on the entire card right now

It is. Michelle Waterson, Gomez, Jillian Robertson, Carlos Hernandez, Ray Seruya, Joe Pfeiffer, Mark Andre Barrio, Myra Bueno Silva, Macy Chiesa, Riky Samoen, Venetius Oliver, Peyton Tablets Back,

gets Yonis Gamori, Andre Arlowski, Martin Boudet, is on this card, and Charles Jor Dianz Silva. This is International Fight Week. And I understand Connor and Chandler are going to do a lot of heavy lifting here.

And I talked about this before. I know Ariel just posted something about it as well. They got to get Ian Gary MVP on this card. I don't care if you have to make it a middleweight fight. It does not matter to me. If it's at 170 or 175 or 180 or 185, hell, do it at light heavyweight. I do not care.

Those two dudes need to fight on that card. Ian Gary has to be on the card. Do with MVP. They both have said they wanted it. both said they've accepted the fight what are we doing here we don't need like eing gary's not going to fight in manchester it's this card or you're just not going to see ian for quite some time so whatever needs to be done you've got to do it because this card needs some help it needs some help but yeah good for caros lberg let's see what you can do let's go to arnie palmy alert

Hey, what's up, Mike? I don't necessarily have any MMA related questions, but first of all, I want to say that Don Davis guy stinks. And my question is, um, so if you had to rank these Boston athletes, just personal favorites, accolades aside, to watch, no more Garcia, Para, Kevin Garnett, or Zadino Chara, who are your favorites to watch, one through three? Have a good weekend, man.

Man, that's a tough question. Nomar, Garnett, or Chara? I mean, KG's got to be number one. Because he's just, I mean, the man is a lunatic. And he was just so fun to watch. He gave it his all every single time. Dude just brought an intensity that just is unmatched. So I'll say Garnett won.

It's tough with Nomar because, I mean, when he came on, he was the first. fucking man. I mean, everybody freaking loved that guy. But then like the tail end of his Red Sox run was so sad because he just was like a big baby about everything

because he wasn't like the best George Stop in league. He was injured. He was dealing with a whole bunch of stuff. He was the cause for a lot of the Red Sox sort of internal problems. And when they dealt Nomar, that's when they were at their best

after they dealt Nomar. So I'll say Char. Chara, Nomar. Because Charra never left me with like, yeah, he made mistakes, but the dude played hard all the time. Never caused you any problems. You never were just like, oh, fuck that guy. And I think at times for every Red Sox fan, as much as we love Nomar, I think there was sort of that fanmanship in them. We're just like, all right, get rid of this guy.

I don't think we ever really felt that way about Char. We certainly didn't feel that way about Garnett. So I think I'll go that route. Don Davis gets the hot tag. boy don davis has hurt my feelings in a lot of ways he's he's soiled my soul in a lot of ways because there have been so many times on this program where i've just enjoyed talking about don davis because he's the most ridiculous man in combat sports he's wrong about absolutely everything but at least he did so in a hilarious funny somewhat naive kind of a way

and then he comes out and talks about this Kayla Harrison thing, which the quote is, I mean, everyone's seen it at this point where he's comparing, there's certain fighters that are like, there's certain athletes like LeBron James, and there's certain athletes like Kevin Durant. One stays and tries to change the sport, and the other leaves for the,

let me pull up the exact quote. I want to make sure I have this correct because it's freaking ridiculous. It truly is ridiculous. And I don't want to get this one wrong. Let's go to M.A. Fighting.com. Some people at the very, very, very top of their career are LeBron James, and some at the very, very top are Kevin Durant,

and they're both other worldly basketball players, but who they are is very different as people. One wants to lead and change their sport, and wherever they are is the best in the world. The other is a follower. who needs validation, and we couldn't do anything about that. This, to me,

just took Don Davis from being the funniest man in MMA to just maybe the most ridiculous man in MMA. Don Davis, as hilarious as he's always been, and as wrong as he is, almost all the time, has always preached, I will, you will never base, in essence, what Dana White is, I will never be that.

And what did he do with this? What does this quote do? Who did this quote remind you of? It reminded you of Dana White. That is a Dana White quote about a fighter who had success in the organization and then went elsewhere. Look at what he said about Francis Ngano.

Look at what he said about others. Don Dave is saying this about the woman who helped to build this organization to where it is today, the face of the PFL for since its inception, to say this is ridiculous. And for all the people who are just like,

well, I mean, all promoters do that. What did Don Davis do at UFC 300? What did he do? Did he say that about Kayla Harrison after UFC 300? Did he say, oh, too bad she left because she was afraid of Chris Cyborg? No. He said, hey, look at what this PFL fighter did in the UFC.

It's no surprise. Yay, Kayla, you're the best. And the reason you're the best is because you were with us. Where's that energy? Where did that go? And now all of a sudden, Kayla is a follower who needs validation? This is ridiculous. It is so ridiculous.

And now Don Davis just isn't funny anymore. Now I don't even want to hear it. What he has to say? And I watched weighing in. I'm not, you guys all know, I'm not a big weighing in guy. I think both Josh and John have improved in a lot of respects. But I don't watch the pod. I don't listen to the show.

It's just not my bag. I think it's gotten a little bit better from what I've been told since Bellator is, I mean, let's be honest, Belator is really no more. but they tried. Like they tried to get something out of Don. They couldn't poke and, like if I interviewed Don, you best believe there'd be a whole bunch of follow-ups, but they're not, they can't do that.

They're in a different position. But to their credit, they tried. And Don just spoke for an hour and said nothing. He said nothing outside of this ridiculous quote. I just don't, I don't really get it. I don't really understand. his thought process with this. It really makes no sense.

And it's just been a shit week for the PFL. Someone had asked me, we had already recorded our onto the next one Q&A show. It's going to drop on Sunday morning. But someone asked me a really good question after we recorded it and we didn't get it in there. And it was how would you grade

the PFL since they absorbed Bellator? And I thought about this a lot. and I'm going with a my first thought was like it's an F it's a straight F 100%. But then I really like sat down and I thought about it. The ins and the outs. What necessitates,

what constitutes this grade that I need to give. I landed on a C minus. I landed on a C minus. I land on a C minus for a couple of different reasons. One, Cedric Dumbay. He is by far the most, interesting thing they have going on right now. You need to keep trotting that man out in Paris.

I don't care who he fights. Just get him out there to do Cedric Dune Be things. And that's that. Just let him do his thing. He is the most interesting thing they have going right now. The other thing I will give them credit for is somehow with this roster and the fact that they have no buzz at all, they were able to put some extra. shows on and they're able to get Bellator TV deal in the United States with Max.

And from what I understand, this is not a power slap on TBS type deal where they paid them to have that time slot after AEW. It's not like TBS is like, here, please, Dana, here's a couple million dollars. Please run your power slap show on our network. No, it wasn't like that. This is different. Max pays them. to do that.

So from a business perspective, they have done okay. They're getting some viewers, they're drawing crowds where they're going, because they're very smart, going internationally. They're not drawing shit in the United States, but when they go to Paris,

when they go to Ireland, when they go to Europe, like, they're doing okay there, especially Paris. Paris is just, they shouldn't go anywhere else, if we're being honest.

And they got the TV deal for Bellator, which is huge. But outside of that, It's an F. It's an F. And if we're talking about buzz, they got none. I mean, just from where we were on like Thanksgiving to where we are now, all the intrigue, the questions, all of the stuff that they've been doing,

leading in, all everything, what are they going to look like at the end of the year? The co-leader stuff, all of it. It's, they've lost it all. They have truly lost it all. They lost their biggest star. their other biggest star for business reasons and now personal reasons

has not fought for them at all remember what we were Francis is there whoever fights Francis is going to get a guaranteed $2 million and we were having these fun conversations who's it going to be

who's it going to be and now we don't know Francis is ever going to fight in the PFO where's Jake Paul at got his MMA debut was going to happen like two years ago still hasn't happened what happened

to this Nate Diaz deal Oh, we offered Nate Diaz, $10 million to come fight or whatever it was. Nate sneezes on $10 million these days. That ain't shit to Nate to go fight for PFL. He even said it himself. He goes, like, I'm not even going to take $10 million from them to go fight in that organization. And then just look at the way that they are being perceived right now. Not just because of nobody gives a shit about anything that they're doing.

But the other thing is, now you have all these fighters coming out. saying, why am I not getting fights? Why am I not getting paid? What is going on here? Gaygard Musasi goes on the M.A. hour. He threatens legal action. Get me out of the contract or fight me. What are we going to do here?

Gayguard released the next day. They obviously have a little something there. So there you go. He's gone. We just saw the Hamasi story. I know there's a little bit more to that from like the other side of things. So I'm not going to really blame them too much on that. And then just like Chris Cyborg.

Why? Even Larissa Pacheco. Larissa Pacheco is like team PFL. She's been flying the flag. One of their biggest names right now coming off the win over Kayla Harrison. Even she's like, why am I not being contacted here? What's going on? Why am I not fighting?

Why? What's the deal? No one's telling me anything. So the unfortunate, so they might be handling things in their own way and maybe they're just sweeping things under the rug or they're doing. or they're doing things internally, and that's great. That's business. But you got to come out and say shit. You have to respond to stuff.

Like the Sabahamasi stuff, like come on and say it. If we're taking care of it, like take care of it. Don't just go and weighing in and just give like a kind of half-hearted answer. Tell us what you're doing. If Gayguard's wrong, explain why. Give us something because the perception of PFL, if we're talking about grades, the way they are being perceived right now, it's a cue. It's a cue.

And that might even be generous. They might be a why when it comes to that. It's just wild how much this has been bungled from day one. Nobody cares. And it's crazy. It's crazy. And I want them to do well. I really, truly want them to do well.

but Don Davis has this attitude and I've been saying it since Jump Street that they have already won the game. They're already there. They're happy worth where they're at. And they've won. And Don can say until he's blue in the face that, oh no, we're still working and in five years to do this.

This dude like six months ago was quoting Gandhi and saying we've already checked off two of the boxes. We're two thirds of the way there of being the co-leader in the sport because Dana White laughs at them and dismisses them. Don is so naive, man. He's so naive. He just needs to go out there and just say,

yeah, we're good. Fighters should come to us. And then just shut the hell up. Don't say another word. The perception of your company sucks right now. It's awful. And you know what? They're not the co-leader anymore.

I think it's UFC. It's BKFC at number two. because even at like just when Mike Perry fights for BKFC his two or three

fights a year get more buzz in those just weak buildups then PFL gets the entire year no one cares about the seasons no one cares about

the finale some people cared about the PFL versus Bellator thing we just wanted to see it they tried something fun but they like honestly

they just don't have anything interesting going on right now outside of Cedric Dubei just annihilating people. That's literally it. It sucks. It sucks. There's so much hope and so much promise. It's just fans are confused. Fans are overthinking things.

And it's not their fault because PFL has not laid out a foundation of what they truly are right now. Their season format's horrendous. It's a slog and a half. The Bellator shit makes no sense. It makes no sense. Catchy Mix is nobody to fight. Johnny Eblen is nobody to fight.

Who are probably your two best fighters on your entire roster? You're forcing Liz Karmouche to go through the season to fight the toughest people. Yet your homegrown talent Dakota DeCheva, who could be a star, you're giving her the easier matchups. And then you go on people's shows like, well, we don't dictate how the matchups are made. bullshit you don't. I don't believe that for a second. I do not believe that for one single solitary second

that there is no input at all from the promotion on Who Fight 2 during these seasons. Because I don't believe it. And if Don Davis wants to show some damn receipts, he wants to do a live showing of a matchmaker meeting on how these are all put together, I'd love to watch it.

But I don't believe him for one second. Not for a single second. and it's too friggin bad it's too friggin bad because they got something they could be interesting they could be fun PFL should be just a fun organization where you do fun things

that's the draw that's the draw you should be in a position where you're not compared to the UFC you should be your own thing it's fucking terrible man it sucks it really does suck

to see how much they have fallen off. It's so sucky. 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 groovy.

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Yep, I got you, ma'am. All right. Hey, you know, I want to say, happy Friday, and thanks for all the content that you and your team bring. I'm a big friend of y'all's. But, no, I just kind of need a more event about something. I think it's just ridiculous that Tom Aspinall is having to defend his interim belt. This whole John Jones and Stepe thing, I think I'd rather watch a power slap fight than watch those two. Just because we know what's going to happen, they're both going to retire.

And just kind of getting, I don't know if John Jones brings like Conner. money or something. I just don't know why he gets this special treatment. So that's all I just kind of need to share about I think it's annoying that Aspinall is defending the interim belt before Jones or anything. That's it, man.

Yeah, I mean, look, the UFC just, they just are who they are, man. Like, we saw Yuri Parashka get injured and they laid it out with a the whole thing of, well, Yuri has the samurai spirit.

So he does not want to hold up the division. So he has decided to vacate the title. When Yeri is pretty much publicly said like, it's not really how it went. So he basically gets stripped of the belt after an injury and then came back less than a year later. Okay. Then Jamal Hill gets hurt.

And he is no longer the champion. And the list goes on and on of fighters who are stripped to belts because they were injured or out for too long yada yada yada yada lauren murphy gets removed from the ranking she hasn't thought and what was it 15 months now and now she's out of the rankings altogether yet dominic cruz has been in the rankings like all this type stepe i think is still in the heavyweight rankings like what are we doing here it's so inconsistent and crazy but john here's what john jones does better than tom aspinall does. He

draws the casual audience. The casual audience knows who John Jones is. And when he came back and fought Cyril Gone, even though most of us knew exactly how that fight was going to go, it was massive. It was a big deal. The MMA, all eyes in the

MMA and combat sports world were upon Las Vegas that night and the return of John Jones. John brings that energy. He brings the sort of aura and mystique that Tom Assonal just doesn't right now. John is a star. He can add to their audience.

Tom can't right now. Can't, like, will Manchester sell out? Sure, it will. And Tom will have a lot to do with it because they support their own. But if I go to the grocery right now and I ask a thousand people who Tom Aspinall is, maybe two people will know who he is. But if I ask him who John Jones is, I bet 40% of them will be like, oh, yeah, I've heard of that guy.

Whether it's good or bad, he's a UFC fighter. oh, he's the guy that did a bunch of shitty things. I think there's a good amount of people who will know who John is. And that's what John brings to the table that Tom just doesn't. I would like to see Tom just ignore John altogether. And I think sort of ignorance is bliss when it comes to this. I think Tom Asimonov should just pretend like John Jones does not exist, that John Jones' title does not exist,

that he is the heavyweight champion of the world, and that his fight against Curtis Blades is a real title fight. And they just ignore John. Just say, look, John, that guy's afraid. He doesn't want to fight me. I'm the fucking champion. That's it. It is annoying.

It's basically why we do interim championships to begin with. Like, why did we even do an interim title if we weren't going to utilize them? So as much as we want to blame John, and sure, you can do that. John has also paid his dues. John is a star. And John can kind of do whatever he wants. so no one can really stop them. This is the UFC's fault 100%.

They didn't need to do this fight. They didn't need to do an interim title fight on that card. They just didn't need to do it. And now we're in this position. How could you not know we were going to be in this position? And here we are. And now Tom's going to fight Curtis Blades in a fight that's going to be really, really tough.

He might not even win. I think he will, but there's, Curtis is good. And Curtis certainly ain't getting the chance to fight John Jones. So, yeah, it's a tough spot. It's unfortunate. I'm hopeful that with enough time, they can build that fight, but Tom's got to get over in his own way.

And I think if Tom goes out there and beats Curtis and cuts a great promo on the mic, and then maybe gets another win under his belt, maybe he can get John. I don't know. But we'll see how it all plays out. I kind of don't feel like John's going to retire after the Stepe fight. I do feel like Stepe's definitely going to retire.

I mean, John's already talking about fights with Alex Pereira and all this stuff. I think he's going to stick around. Not for long, but for another fighter too. I can see it. Let's keep on rolling here. Trevor, go ahead. Yep, I got you, ma'am. Awesome. Great, great. Hey, I wanted to pop in a few weeks ago. I sent in a question to On the Nose and just had to mention that my youth pastor was

the one who got me involved in MMA back in 2009. And I'm going to my first U.S.C. event in Louisville here in a couple of weeks. And just want to know what to expect. I've always heard that MMA is something that's better to be watched on TV. What should I expect? I mean, I've got lower-level tickets. Second question, I just listened to the Chale episode of The They Were Good. In your opinion, do you put Chale into?

the Hall of Fame. I know you weren't on that, but I kind of wanted to pick your brain. He's my favorite personality in MMA. I keep up with all this stuff. And you and Ariel and Jad are right up there with him. But I just want to know your opinion on putting him into the Hall of Fame as an individual. And then last question, do we have an update on Khalil Roundtree? Is he suspended? Are they going to book him for somebody else going forward? Any kind of updates on that? Have a great memorial weekend. Happy Friday, everybody. Thanks, buddy. Enjoy the card.

I would say what to expect. I would just get there. I mean, it's kind of what you expect it to be. There's going to be some scoundrels about. Some alcohol flowing. Probably well before those people walk into the building. So just be cognizant of that. You might have some rambunctious people in there.

So just be prepared. But get there early and just kind of take it all in. I mean, just enjoy it. I think everybody should go to a UFC card once. Just experience it. And there's definitely a different vibe to it, especially when you get to a main event and like Bruce Buffer get you all fired up.

I think everybody should experience that. I wish the card was slightly better for you. But it's not bad. And yeah, just get there, watch all the fights, take it all in, and just enjoy it. And I think you'll probably come out being like, yeah, if they come back for a big pay-per-view, I'll go again, but I think you'll kind of enjoy the home viewing more.

This is like, to me, going to a hockey game is the best. NHL live is so good. It's just a different kind of experience. I like it way better than watching on TV. But M.M.A, like, I'd rather, I'd rather do the watch parties than sit cage side. As weird as that sounds. That's just kind of where I'm at right now. So, yeah, enjoy that.

What were the other questions? Cleal Roundtree. Yeah, he got suspended for two months. Could be more if Nevada wants to be sticklers about it, but the combative sports anti-doping, the UFC's program, game two months, I think it was retroactive to May 4th or May 9th or something like that. So as long as Vegas doesn't tack on anything else, he should be good to go by the summer.

July 4th, July 9th, I think the suspension will be up so they could rebook him, which is, I was wondering if they were just going to wait on the Jamal Hill fight, maybe push it back to like August or something. Well, then maybe make it a fight night main event or something. I don't know. But so we'll see what Cleo ends up getting.

Hopefully you get something. I kind of have a feeling like maybe let's chuck him to like ankle live or something, which will be. Kind of a nightmare matchup for him, but who knows? Maybe that'll be his big coming out party in terms of getting a title shot. And I'm trying to remember what the other question was. I'll remember it.

I will answer it. It'll hit me in the face. And then we'll get it to it. Go Dolph's Ted, please. Hey, Mike. Hope everything's going well. Just wanted to check in. Saw some Chris Barnett, rumor fight news.

I wanted to see if you heard. heard anything in regards to that. So Chris Barnett rumored fight news. Really? Is this something that he put out there? What I don't know?

I don't know if this is like something that's out there or somebody who's like reported a fight, but you know what? I'll try to, I'll try to let me see if I could find something out for you guys. Let me see if I can get something cooking here. This would be fun if we could break some news on the show. Sorry, multitasking. I'm trying to be the people's host here, trying to give you a little something, something.

I hope to see Chris Barnett, because he's just the best. He's just the best. We shall see. If I hear anything, I will let you know. Matt, go ahead. Got two things for you. I want to say that your pick for chaos on onto the next one was absolutely killer. Kelvin versus Drod.

Love it. Yesterday, Dan Hooker said something about him, Izzy, and KKF being on the Perth card. What do you think about that? It seems like Vinny Siggs might be back in the running. And also, last thing I want to leave off on, Michael, Michael, Michael,

when my precious Mavericks come up against your Celtics in the finals, we're going to beat your ass in six. I mean, I think you need to check your strain, my friend. make sure that's it's okay look here's the thing like if if you're a team right now that's about to play the Celtics like how could you not be scared to death how you're not be scared of the Celtics are beating the soul out of everybody and they're playing like kind of garbo they have not played like a great game yet in this entire postseason they've played like

very, like mostly average, sometimes slightly above average. And they might have like an individual player, like go off. But they have not had like a collective good win, maybe one, like this entire run. And there's winning all these games. They've lost twice or three times. I don't know. But they're just, they're running people over and they're playing like caca for the most part. like they're going to come together

and they're going to start smacking fools Indiana pissed that thing away in game one so badly I went in like one of our staff meetings and we were talking about that and I was like this series is over like it's done

Indiana might win one game but this ain't going past five it's done that was their chance to get some momentum and really get a strangle hole in the series now they're just done So it's been a It was like a tough first half to watch your six

They did not play well at all And then J.B started really getting going And they went on that 20-0 run And I'm just like, all right, I feel so much better now The second half is going to be the best And they just went out there and just killed them. So it'd be fun if we get to play Dallas in the finals. I would prefer that.

You know Dallas is red hot right now. But if the Celtics play like 80% of their ability, they beat anybody in the series right now. It's pretty damn good. It's pretty, pretty good. And I got off on this tangent and trying to think

what else you asked about. And I don't know. I forgot all about it. It's just one of those days, people. Very tired. But I'll remember all of them. Yes, and I agree. K.S. Williams versus

the D. Rod, Kelvin Gasolm, is a great fight. Go ahead, up, well, oh, hand tight up, well, I just remember the other question. Izzy KKF, Dan Hooker. Yeah, I mean, I could see that happening.

Look, Dana White came out and announced today that DDP was fighting Israel at Asani and Perth in the main event. I don't think there would be one surprised face in all of the MMA community. All, I mean, I'm not breaking any news here. This is the fight everybody wants. It's just a matter of getting pen to paper.

Everybody wants this fight. It's probably where we're going to get. Is KKKF going to fight Vinnie Sig's? Hopefully. Vinnie Sig's did take a little bit of a beating in his last fight, so we'll see if he's able to bounce back that quickly. I would assume that Vinnie Siggs would want to. Who would Dan Hooker fight?

Doesn't matter. Just throw him in there with somebody. Dan's fun as hell. Maybe Dan Hooker Ben Wassontadie in Perth. In Perth, that'd be badass. So yeah, I think all three of those guys would be great. All right, go ahead, Absalom. Good morning, Mark. Heckerwern.

Hope you having a great day so far. So I just want to keep it short with two, just two, three questions. I'll put the first two to clear real quick. Carlos Elberg wins against Jabal Hill. Does he get the title shot over Uncle I? Another thing, who do you have winning in seven Mabs or Timberwolves, based on how the series has gone so far? Now I do have this last question

I'll keep it brief but it's about the PFL discussion all I can say is the PFL, as you said they absolutely fumbled fumbled as far as possibly being the competitor to UFC they had all the cards right in their favor and place to do so if you look

at it they even had celebrity support I saw people like Kevin Hart with Kleeffe and I think quite a few big celebrity names actually following them appearing on their show you know they signed Francis and Garnu Jake Paul, you know, they had Kayla Harrison. Like, these were perfect fighters to actually build the

MMA, like the MMA version of WCW. We saw what WCW was. You know, they had Scott Hall, they had Ray Mysterio, they had Sting, they had, you know, NWO, I mean, fucking Hulk Hogan, you know, they have personality, and I feel that PFL has just not got that kind of style doing. You know, like Davis, like he, he's actually a CEO,

he's a businessman. man, he actually understands business. For him to fumble this marketing and not actually get the basic fundamentals and metrics right to successfully push PFL to a high level, it's very asinine and, you know, appalling. It's fairly sad. I mean, we all want to see a competitor that rivals the UFC in terms of rating metrics and popularity. If you look at the production PFL, it feels like an entrepreneur version of Brave CF and TIDAT FC. And there's no disrespect or digger at those two organizations.

and what they're doing for the regional scene is very wonderful and very fundamental growing the sport on that level and really find stuff. But I just definitely think the PFL could have done a better job because where they should have been right now was really on their way to being possibly at the top. But now we're probably got a whole setback for this MMA industry where it's going to take a very long time before we see

an Eric Bishop of MMA and we see a WCW that rivals on actually can put the UC into a, you know, really threatening position from a business perspective. That's all I have to say, have a great day, mate. I think Timberlves win game two tonight. We'll all over get a title shot. No. It depends on how he does it.

And, like, what's going on? I feel like Yuri's going to get the next one. And if you're Alex Pereira, like, and you just want to fight, like get whoever's available. If it's Yuri, go fight Yuri. You already knocked them out. If it's all very cool.

If it's Clayle Roundtree, fine. But after that, like, you're probably going to... And you can't even blame Pereira for this, because Perreira ain't out here on Twitter calling out John Jones. John Jones out here calling out Alex Pereira. If you're Alex Pereira, there's got to be a party that's like... I mean, I don't know if it's going to happen, but we should probably wait and see if it does, right?

that's the biggest fight Alex Pereira can get right now and that includes a trilogy with this your honor to Sanya. So it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out but I don't think Oldberg gets a title shot unless he just, it's one of those things where Pereira is like I want to fight on this date doesn't matter who it is

and the only guy available is Carlos Oldberg. I kind of feel like the winner will probably have to fight Ankelaif next and I think Erie's going to end up getting the next shot. The PFL thing, I disagree with some of the things you said this whole thing that they were well on their way to like being a competitor is just not true

they're so far away it's not even funny but the way that Don talks about is like oh we're we're nipping at their heels we're we're three years away from becoming a co-leader no you're not no you're not and will really hurt them and Don just won't admit this because I remember he was on the MMA hour

and he gave one of the worst answers in the history of the MMA hour the antitrust lawsuit going down the way that it did it killed them it basically put them in a position well they will never catch the ufc because the ufc won that battle they may have lost some money but they have won the battle because no one's going to get behind the behind the scenes no one's going to see any of the documents released we're not going to see any more text messages we're not going to see how the managers were involved. We're not going to see the shady dealings behind the scenes

with all the fighters on the roster. They came out of this like gangbusters. And on top of that, while they may have to spend all that money, which to them is a drop in the bucket, considering how much they're making right now, they don't have to change anything when it comes to their business practices. They're not a monopsony.

They're not a monopoly. they are nothing. They are just the dominant force and nothing can stop them now. There's nothing else stopping them at this point. PFL, that whole thing killed them. That was horrendous news for PFL and for one and for every other organization

that's trying to be a global brand. Terrible. And when Don Davis has asked about it on the MMR, he said, well, this just goes to prove that PFL is the best place to come fight. What the fuck are you talking about? Do you understand the MMA space at all?

Like, I could not believe that was his answer. Could not believe it. I should have believed it, but that was his answer. With all of it, it's insane. It's really insane. They're so far away. It's just all these, like, empty promises. Oh, yeah, this is happening on this state?

Really, is it? where's Francis? We know what France is doing, and Francis can take all the time he wants now. But let's just think about it from this perspective. They let Francis go box Tyson Fury. And if you're PFL, the best thing that could have happened to you

was that Tyson Fury did to Francis what we all expected Tyson Fury to do to Francis. Box them up, beat him up. Francis might win a round or like make it to round seven and we're just like glad you got the bag Francis glad you got it

and then he could go fight MMA and he would have been this like big star after he got the big thing like he had so much momentum and then the Anthony Joshua fight happens PFL could have they could have easily like not stood in his way

but they could have just been like all right man you want to go boxing Anthony Joshua that's great like I want you to make all the money I get it, but you've got to give us a fight first. Give us a fight first. Then you build some momentum on the MMA side. They didn't go box anything, Joshua. And that fight, he got brutally knocked out.

And unfortunately, like, a lot of the buzz that he accumulated just went away. It just vanished. And a lot of the momentum that promotion had because of the back of Francis and Ghanu kind of went away with it. And it's just, it's crazy. It's wild. Like, we're not even sniffing a Francis fight right now. Like, we're not even, like, thinking about one. Penn & Ferreira goes out and knocks out Ryan Bader.

Francis, like, doesn't even get into the cage for a face-off, doesn't do anything. It's just like, okay, I'm out of here. Peace out. Thanks for the cheese. Thanks for letting me come to your event. No buzz. Just no buzz. Jake Paul, no fight.

Manusarano, no fight. Paul Hughes. he will fight Paul Hughes like for PFL Paul Hughes is going to be in the PFL for a few fights and he's gone this is a

this is a let's secure the financial future for a little bit and then I'm going to the UFC he's going to go to do exactly what Kayla Harrison did he's going to go probably win a couple million and he's going to beat feet on out of there and I kind of feel like that's how most of the stuff is and now you have all the fighters coming out

and saying a bunch of shit about your promotion when you have said from day one, we are the fighter-friendly promotion. Really? Really. Now, there are some fighters who are going to buy that. You know, the Derek Brunson's of the world who have experienced both sides of things. I'm sure Derek's being paid pretty well. Derek seems to be the only person defending Don Davis in this whole thing with the whole

Kayla Harrison thing. But it's just a bad look. Even if it's not meant to come off this way, the perception of it is just awful. All of it. They are frowned upon right now. They're a roll of the eyes promotion. And I will give them credit. Don has done a good job from a business standpoint.

Getting somebody to buy Bellator to stream in the United States is crazy. Did not see that coming. I thought they were going to have to spend their own money to find distribution. They got Max, a very popular streaming company, to buy into them. And that's fucking huge. Like, that's a big deal. It's a pretty lucrative sort of relationship they have there. It's pretty damn good.

Didn't see that coming, especially for a product, which, let's be honest, outside of Cedric DuBay fighting in Paris, who's a PFL fighter, nobody cares about Bellatory now. It's just, it's worse. It's in a worse place than it was before PFL bottom. It's crazy. So, yeah, they were never called. close to being where the UFC is.

They're actually, they were so far away at the beginning of this, they're actually somehow have found themselves lapsed two or three more times since November. You know, if they're making money from a business perspective, cool. But as far as like how MMA fans view them, it ain't good. It ain't good. And sometimes perception is the best gauge,

in all of this. And Don just needs to go back to being funny Don. Go back to being funny Don. You know who the darling underdog was? Do you guys remember this? Especially the longtime fans. You know who the darling underdog was?

It was Strike Force. Strike Force was always the darling underdog. Strike Force is always the company that everyone got behind. Strike Force is the company everyone wanted to see succeed. And they got some buzz. and they got some momentum to the point where the UFC bought them. Strike Force was the darling underdog.

And look at the stars they produced. You're telling me PFL, you cannot look at me with a straight face and say that PFL has gotten more buzz or like any buzz compared to what strike force was. I would laugh at you. I would laugh in your face. So my advice to Don Davis is be more like Scott Coker.

I know Scott ain't the big flashy headline guy, but Scott was a big reason why Strike Force became what they were, why fighters always enjoyed fighting for him, why fighters continue to enjoy fighting for him, and Scott also shows you how you're supposed to act when a fighter leaves your promotion for another opportunity. You don't say, oh, he's Kevin Durant, oh, he's the Braun James, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

He's going for the easier thing. and doing this and doing that, and whatever other stupid shit that he said. What did Scott's Coker say after Michael Chandler signed with the UFC? What do you say? Good luck, Mike. We'll be cheering for you.

I think Don could take a couple lessons from that. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. 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 details. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless waste. 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, we got Tyson, four-out sniper, and Ka. Then we've got to go. Tyson, go ahead. Hey, what's up, Mike? I just got two quick questions. My first question is about the Tom Aspinall,

Curtis Blaze fight. I was kind of late to the news, and I think you kind of touched on it in past episodes about Cyril Gahn possibly getting offered that fight. And to learn that Cyril Gahn actually got offered that fight, it kind of blows my mind. Like, do you think he was offered that fight simply because of his European roots? Because, you know, he's had two bad losses in undisputed title fights. Like, if you go back to the Francis fight, he lost, that was a grappling match. he lost Francis beat him grappling.

And then you go back to the John Jones fight. That fight was over in the blink of an eye. So it just kind of blows my mind that, you know, he was offered that fight over Curtis. And then my second question is about Islam. So I saw a graphic the other day. I can't remember where I saw it. But I was scrolling on social media.

And I saw a graphic that listed all the current MMA champions. And, you know, it said that if Islam beats Dustin Poirier, he would have three title defenses. and they were having a goat conversation. Mike, do you think people should chill on Islam being the lightweight goat? Is it too early for that conversation? Yeah, that's all I got for you, Mike. Enjoy the holiday weekend.

Yes, very much so. I mean, look, is he on his way to, like, getting in that conversation? Sure. But he ain't BJ Penn and he ain't Habib. He just isn't. Not yet. Does he have the capability? Does he have the skills?

Does he have everything you would look for in a guy that could be in that conversation? Certainly. Certainly. But we also have to keep in mind, and we have to look at this realistically. Islam's road to the belt, from a resume standpoint, does not stand out like most others. And I will say this again. That is not his fault because he was booked in big fights, the baniel deriushes of the world. and then for one reason or another,

all these big fights fell apart. Islam being the company guy, was like, throw me anybody, I'll bust him up, and that's exactly what he did. That's the Bobby Greens, et cetera. That's what he does. That's what he did.

He became the interesting challenge for Charles. Here we go. Goes in there and thumps up Charles Olivera, who was unstoppable at the time. Even when it seemed like he was down, he would always find a way to win. then his two title defenses are against Alexander Volcanovsky, the featherweight champion, and then again against Alexander Volcanovsky, the featherweight champion.

Again, not his fault because Charles Oliver got hurt. And with the way the lightweight division is gone now, now he's fighting Dustin Porre, which what a story it would be if he beats his Almacchev, but if we're really looking at who should be the guy, it's not Dustin. I mean, it's not. Armand should be the guy. Even Dustin will say that.

Matush Gamrot probably has a better case. It's definitely not the one people would choose, but Matush has a better case. And before Justin Gates, Max Holloway is a better case after knocking out Justin Gagee. And the fact that Justin Gagy now has to watch Dustin Porey, who he just kicked in the face and knocked out, less than a year ago, fight for a title,

it's got to suck. Like, it's just got to suck. So, yeah, it's, he's on his way. He's certainly got the skill set. He's got a long way to go. He ain't BJ Penn. He's not Habib.

He just ain't. He's just thought. The Tom Aspenol, Cyril Gaon thing, yeah, I mean, from everything Tom has basically said is true. We heard the rumor in innuendo about it. Cyril Gahn filming a movie. that's where he is right now he just couldn't do it

and I think the biggest reason they wanted Cyril there I think there's two reasons one Cyril is much more well known than Curtis Blades serial has been in there with John Jones so based on that Cyril's also been in there with Francis Ngano

he's been in main events he's been an interim champion he's got more accolades probably a little bit more star power And let's be honest, from a stylistic perspective, what's really the goal here? We want to go to Manchester, whatever happens, happens.

But if we could have our druthers, we would like to send the Manchester fans home as happy as possible. What's the best way stylistically to do that? Give Tom Asphidal a fight with a name, someone who has accomplished a lot in the sport in a short amount of time but from a stylistic perspective a super good one for tom aspinall tom aspinall versus sir tom aspals is a minus two 30 favorite against curtis blades i would put tom as possible as like a minus 300 against cyril god

just based on how they match up so yeah i think gone was choice for a couple of reasons uh and i think part of it is they i think tom would kill Cyril gone in a fight. No disrespect. It's just Tom will get him to the ground and Cyril will be in deep, deep, deep, deep trouble when that happens. So, yeah.

Four on sniper, go ahead. Hey, what's going on? Mike. Can you hear me? Yep. Hey, real quick, I wanted to ask you about a quote I saw Dustin Fourier made, I believe. It's from a credible source, so I'm assuming this is, you know, an accurate quote. But it was something on the lines of he said that

his prediction for the fight was the ref, was going to be pulling him off of Islam. I guess he put him unconscious and, you know, I guess he's predicting a TKL. I like Dustin. You know, I'm rooting for him, hoping for the best, but I personally cannot see that happening. I actually think Islam could outstrike him

if that fight were to stay on the feet for as long as Islam allows it to stay there. My prediction is basically an Islam submission or TKL, maybe early in round two. Just wanted to get your quotes, or just wanted to get your thought. on that quote and how you think that fight plays out. Thanks, Mike.

Yeah, I mean, like, I saw that and I saw people like going crazy about it, but like at the same token, like, what do you expect him to say? You know, I'm just going to go out there. I'm going to fight hard, but Islam's going to kill me. He's going to take me down and just batter me. No. If Dustin's got to win, he's going to knock Islam out. Like, that's how he wins this fight.

It's not going out there and winning a five-round decision as much and as wild as it would be if Dustin Porre submits his Lomacchev, slaps the gilly on him, we know that's not going to happen. We know that's not going to happen. Dustin has to knock him out. And I think that's most people's opinions. So if he wins, that's probably how it goes. He does what he did to Ben-Wasantini.

BSD just ravaged him around the cage, got tired, and Dustin knocked him out. How do I think the fight goes? the way most people do. This whole, and by the way, the way the UFC is promoting this on social media is really bad. Like this is from the Don Davis School of Promotion. Could Islam Makachev silence?

Will Islam Makachchev silence the doubters again? The hell are you talking about? When was there doubters to begin with? With all of this. He's a minus 575 favorite. Silence the doubters. What are you talking about? I was like puzzled by all of that.

I was more puzzled by that than Porier's quote to, but I believe it was Ben Folks that he said that too. I think you'd ask me about what social media is saying about the retirement stuff. By the way, Dustin Porre has been saying

the exact same thing about retirement for like the last year and a half. Go back to any Dustin Porre interview when he's asked about retirement. Is this next fight year last? I don't know. I'm on the fence. every single one.

Every single one. So if he does an interview and he says like I'm contemplating retirement, like he said that in like every interview. Like he was just on Ariel's show. He said this is my last shot at the belt. Am I going to retire?

I don't know yet. I'll make the decision after. Win or lose. I'll make the decision after. Like he says this in all of the conversations. If Dustin Borey is one thing, he's consistent. This is what he says.

Okay? This is what he says. He's going to get asked about it again. He's going to give the same answer again. He's got to get asked about it at a meeting day. He's going to give the same answer again. It's going to be asked about it at the press conference. Guess what he's going to say?

Haven't decided yet. But if Dustin Porre wins this fight, it's insane. But my prediction is his, um, finishes Dustin within three rounds. I just don't see outside of him just let, outside of just the vibes coming together, like a Fourth of July fireworks display, this is

a horrible matchup for Dustin stylistically. It's terrible. It's as bad as it gets. So, yeah, I think Mockachachachep does Mokachev things and then we're going to get the fight. Again, if Dustin wins, it'd be the craziest thing I've ever seen. It really will be. It will be the craziest thing I've ever seen.

It would be the most feel-good story, and I'm not saying this from like, oh, I hate Islam. No, Islam is the fucking man. He's the best fighter. in the world. But if Dustin Porre in his last chance to become a champion, the last thing he needs to accomplish in the sport

goes in there and beats the unbeatable guy to win the belt, 11 months after getting brutally knocked out, I mean, come on, that's got to tug at all the heartstrings. It'd just it'd be the most feel-good moment in

MMA history. More than Michael Bisbing, more than other big wins, more than that's are, it would just be, there'd be nothing like it. There would be nothing like it. It would be one of the most memorable things to ever happen in the sport. I just don't see it going down that way, unfortunately. And I kind of feel like this is going to be dust. I don't know for sure. And again, no insight. I feel like this is Dustin's last fight. I think, I'm like, I feel like even if he wins the belt, like what else is

going to do? He doesn't want to fight Connor again. He's got enough money at this point because of the two conner fights. He made a whole bunch of extra money to fight Ben Wassonsohnty because he's a brilliant businessman. And basically held the UFC up, which was brilliant all the way around. Dude is fine.

He's totally fine. He's got all these sponsorship deals. Dude, he's in great shape. If he wins, like, what else is he going to do? Is he going to fight Arm and Sarukian? No. Why would he fight Arm and Syruki? The only other thing he could do

is maybe just give Gagy a shot and just do the noble thing. Justin, you were supposed to fight for the belt, so I'll give it to you. We're one in one. Let's settle it. I just don't know what else is there for him. And if he loses, like, really what else is there for him?

So it's going to be interesting. All right, we got like three minutes, so everybody go as fast as possible. Rapid fire. Cago. Mike. This is five. Mike.

Oh, Mike. What's up, man? All right. It's been a while. Okay. All right. It's been a while, but the king is back. I need to say some stuff.

So Leon Edwards versus Belal. UFC 304, Belal, no one remembers the name is what he's called right now. But it'll soon be Bilal remember the champion. Because I think Bilal beat Leon Edwards in Manchester. And not only do I think he beats him, I think he finishes him in three. rounds because if you look at a motivation like the Malau's talking about you know becoming the first Palestinian champion and if you have an internet connection you can anyone can see what's going on you've got mutilated kids all over social media is like kids all like completely destroyed limbs

everywhere and for Bala it's worse because he's Palestinian it will mean more to him and he's probably got more like he knows more because of like his family connections I I think he's coming in like a bat out of hell. He's training with the Khabib gang, the smash gang. We know he trained with them before Sean Brady and finished him. I think he's coming out of a bat out like a bat out of hell. And Leon's not taking him seriously. Leon's just like, oh, yeah, it'll be the same.

Blaliyah Lee, he's only a little better. I don't see the fear in Leon's eyes to really take this very, very seriously. And you think about this, Belal has a year to train. He's had a year to train just like his teammate, Juliana Pena. who shocked the world, and I'm calling it now, Bilal shocking the world. It'll be the craziest thing. And the other thing, quickly, is Ilya, Soporio, Max Holloway, MMA fans are so fickle. 2019, you loved Max Holloway.

You hate Alexander Volcanovsky. You called Alexander Volkinovsky the fake champion in 2020 after that rematch. Then Alex does what he does. Then you loved Alexander Volkernowski. Then Ilya puts in his bio, the undisputed featherweight champ. You cry about it. Ilya knocks him out and then you still find a reason to whine about Ilya saying he's the most unlikable champion. Like he gives a damn what you have to say.

But it's just I think that the matchup, I called it, I'll knock out Alex. I'm going to call it again. I think I'll knock out Max because it's just not a great matchup. You need someone who's got heavy kicks, like who kicks like a donkey and is taller. But Ja'a Rodriguez would be the worst matchup except he's got bad defensive grappling. For Max, I just feel like Max does get caught. I'm pretty sure he's on the list for most significant strikes taken to the head. Like he's one of the top guys on the list.

He does get caught and Ilya sets it up. He hits like a truck and you say stuff like people, oh, you're going to catch him with a spinning back kick. I already watched the Justin Gaetie fight. He's smart and he's very sharp, very tidy. I expect him to knock him out and talk. Yeah, I expect him to knock him out. people just find another reason to hate Ilya or they're just going to jump on the Ilya train

and then disregard anyone else's opinion of anyone opposing Ilya because that's how MMA fans work. They just jump from one fighter to the other real quick. That's it. Mike. Drop the mic, Mike. All right. So the Belal thing, look, a guy who's just a plus 180 underdog is not, quote, unquote, shocking the world. Like, it's not in the same category.

It just isn't. This isn't Julian Epictica. compared to Bilal Mohammed of Giuliatopadia is insane. That is an insane take. An insane take. Because there are people who believe Bilal can win. There are people who believe Bilal can win this fight. The way I view it is, Leon's got to get Bilal out of there inside of three rounds,

or it could get real hairy for him. It could get real hairy for him. And the other thing that you also didn't bring up when it comes to motivation for Bilal Mohammed, from a career standpoint, it Blahaw, Muhammad loses, he is never, ever, ever, ever going to sniff another title shot again. This is it. This is this one and only chance to become a champion in the UFC. He will never get another opportunity.

Just like Leon Edwards, when he walked into the Kamar Usman title fight, everything was on the line. He was all in. he loses never gets another shot same with belal ballaul is going to be the sacrificial lamb for he becomes in i don't mean this this is just kind of how she was she because belal mohammed becomes the cately jukagian of the welterweight division if he loses this fight he is the litmus test for all the young

hungry up-and-comers that are vying for title shots that's where he becomes he's fighting the chafcots the hamzats the whoever, the Michael Morales is like this is who Bilal Muhammad becomes if he loses to Leon Edwards. Even if it's a controversial

split decision, doesn't matter. This is his one and only opportunity. And there's a lot in line for Leon too. Leon is getting more popular. Leon is a great story. Leon is the man in the UK. But if he loses to Bilal Muhammad, like his road back to a title shot

might take him. him forever. So there is a lot on the line here. I think stylistically Leon matches up great with Ballal. I think Leon's a better grapple than Belaw. I think Leon's a much better striker than Belaw. Bilal is a dog, though. He is a dog. And he's durable.

And the dude has just, he has a gas tank on him that is very tough to stop. And he's a very flowy guy. And I think Bilal could, hopefully when you like if you're if you're if you're a bala mohamma fan hopefully you're viewing this fight you know training with the habibs and and all of them that he learns how like learns how to attack with his grappling not just use his grappling to get takedowns land a couple of punches but just kind of hold somebody down on the mat we need bala like attempt some submissions getting to

fun scrambles like do stuff down there he'll be much more effective in the fight could he went like would i be shocked at boulah mohammed beat leon edwards no i'd be a little surprised but i wouldn't be like i wouldn't be shocked wouldn't be shocked it wouldn't feel like drunken suplice beating robert whittaker like that was like holy shit okay you're like all right ball's just really good and plus look at what's on the line for leon as well i mean we don't know if it's on the line but if connor mcgreg goes out and beats michael chanler leon might be fighting Connor McGregor next. Might be getting that red panty night.

Belal doesn't have to worry about that because Connor ain't fighting him. But Connor would fight Leon, so we'll see how it all plays out. Clearst values go. Mike, knew as soon as I heard that voice earlier, that would not be a three-minute call. So I had a quick question.

Don Davis, not going to be the guy, I think, that takes PFL where they want to go. So if they ask Mike, blank check, who is going to run the show. My obvious answer is probably Greg Hardy. Not Greg Hardy. Dan Hardy.

Yeah. Dan Hardy. Outside of Dan, who else do you think might be a good fit if you have the blank check? Oh my God, man. I don't know. Dan's obviously someone you have to lean on. But do you want, like, is Dan running the business?

Because I think Don has value there. Like getting these deals done with, like, I said, then them making money on Bellator, getting a streaming deal in the U.S. for Bellator where Max is actually paying them actual dollars, like that is, that might be the most surprising thing of the year in MMA. And they got it done. So Don obviously has, he's doing good on that aspect of things. If we're talking about like a Dana White promoter type deal, yeah, Dan's really good.

you know, chale doesn't hurt. I'll tell you who would be like a great addition as like a face to go to all the press conferences. And I say this about the UFC as well. I got to, I've interviewed a lot of fighters. Mostly, I mean, they're mostly positive interactions. But there are like, there's a couple out there who are like, it is just a delight to talk to these people. Like you just feel better when you're done every single time. Brandon Moreno is one.

Obviously, he is not the answer to this question. However, Yawani and Jacek would be incredible in that role. She would be spectacular in that role. The face of the company has a realistic mentality, who knows how to talk to the media, who knows to say the right things, who understands the space. And there's no way that you would not be excited for anything that's coming up in the PFL world than if Yohani and Jacek explained it. I think she'd be great.

I think the UFC should have brought her on. When Dana White doesn't attend events, Yon Jacek should be going to the post-fight press conference to answer questions. David Shaw seems like a nice guy. He's got some things to say. Nobody cares. They would care if you want to have something to say it all. So I think she would always be great.

I mean, Chale obviously is like a big name, but Chale is also a little bit controversial with his takes and things that he says. But Don is also, like, Don is, he's a character. the unfortunate thing is like he's he's he just sounds desperate right now and that's just not how you want to come off when you are in this spot trying to chase the UFC and just call this a chase is like not even the right word right now they're so I mean they couldn't chase the UFC if they wanted to they're so far away like if they if the UFC was walking right now and PFL hopped on a

on a jet plane. It would take them 10 years to get to where the UFC is, even that aspect. So they just got to be different. They got to be outside the box. They got to be fun. They get to do the fun thing. Outside,

they should be meeting with Dave, Feldman right now is what they should be doing. Because what he's done with BKFC in order, in terms of creating buzz. Like, BKFC is, to me, I, like, I know BKFC isn't MMA. Like, it's not an MMA organization, but there is a lot of MMA attached to it because of the names they have. To me, BKFC is two. Like, if we're playing this game right now, BKFC is too. There's way more interest in BKFC than BFL right now. Way more. Now you got Connor there? You freaking Connor McGregor is a co-owner.

Befiel don't have that. they got nothing close it's crazy it's crazy they have a lot of work to do and they need to understand they have a lot of work to do it just seems like the mentality especially up the top is that we don't have a lot of work to do we just do what we're doing but the reality and the perception are two totally different things how many times have you watched a pfl event and you're just like wow that was electric i can't wait for the next one There's been a couple, usually in Paris with Cedric Dumebe involved. But very few.

I think maybe the pay-per-view and Kayla lost a Lurice at Pacheco, there was some buzz there. We were like, all right, that was pretty fun. But then last year's championship event was fucking terrible. It was one of the worst, it was one of the worst M.A. shows I've watched in a long time where I was just like, fuck me. This thing needs to end. It's been like 14 hours. They got a lot of work to do. And I'm rooting for him.

I really am. This is tough love. I've been this way with Bellator as well. And I'm this way with the UFC at times. I don't always give UFC praise. When it's good, it's good. When it's bad, it's bad. It ain't like that.

It's like that for everybody. Everyone gets the same treatment. But PFL's got to be so much better, man. So much better. Jamir, take us home. Give me something good. What I'm like, um, is Aljo's next fight going to be Mosa or Brian or Tate? And then my last one is why is Jed a shoe blocked on Twitter by Dana White?

I don't know. I honestly don't know the answer. I assume Jed probably said some shit to Dana at some point. Wouldn't surprise me. So, yeah, wouldn't surprise me. Who's Aljo fighting? I think he's going to end up fighting Mousaar. I mean, that's what I want to see.

I want the Mosaic fight. he wants Brian Ortega and like yeah but I want to see Movesar man like to me Movesar like to me Mobsar should be fighting for the belt right now like not above Max Holloway but like his next fight should either be at worse a number one contender fight

or he should be getting a title shot in my opinion I think he's that good I predicted him to be champion at the end of the year there's a bold pick but I did and I think he could do it. I think you could beat Ilya.

It may not be the most fun fight of all time, but I think you could beat him. And then just real quick, going back to Kaas' question about Max and Ilya, it's a lot of confidence coming in when it comes to Max Holloway saying that Max has just the cheat code of cheat codes, as Jed and I like to talk about all the time. You can't hurt him.

You cannot hurt Max Holloway. You can sting him a little bit. You can touch his face a little bit. But you cannot hurt that man. You can't. Justin Gachey hit him with everything he had. And at one point, like he made Max stumble a little bit. And then Max was cool, like two seconds later.

He cannot be hurt. He cannot be hurt. It gets a little frustrating when you hit a dude as hard as you can, when you're as powerful as these guys are. And he doesn't budge. and he doesn't get hurt. So, okay. All right, we'll go to Eugene real quick, and then I really have to go.

This has to be the last one. Go to Eugene. Thanks, Michael. Keep it quick. This was just reacting to yesterday's BTL. I feel like I'm still reeling. And as great as a host as you are, it's always fun to get the McFoly transformation into any one of his number of other characters that are slipping my mind right now.

So to that end, we've had Howan a Cell. Will we ever see something, another kind of WWE gimmick on one of these off weeks? That was awesome. Thanks, Mike. I hope so. Like, I'm always down for that. So people have been, like, I've been getting pushed for the last, I don't know, six or seven months by, like, Shaheen and others to, like, be pundit, Mike from time to time.

For some reason, people seem to like when that happens. but I also like hosting too I like kind of driving the truck and sometimes I just like to and mostly because I just want to put everybody I want to put the team over more than me so when I do like Pundit Mike

I feel like the spotlight is shined upon me more than I want it to when I want it to be shined on everybody else but once a while like it is nice to sit back BTL yesterday was a trip man it was a trip because as Jose said at the beginning I had

none of us had any idea of what was happening. Like literally no clue where he was going with any of this stuff. I felt like I was auditioning to be a WWF announcer

where like Bruce Pritcher would always tell stories that, you know, when I would interview a talent to come in

and do backstage interviews, I'd be like, here, interview this mop. Like, that's what the show felt like. I had no idea

what was coming. Jed, one million percent I had no idea what's coming. I knew we were going to play the swap. I knew we were going to do the intro the way we were going to do it. I knew Jose was going to be the host.

And the plan was I was just going to come in and surprise Jed as the opponent instead of Jose. And Jose was going to host the show. And we were just going to do a regular show with me and Jed kind of bantering about. And then Jose just took us into Bizarro land in the funniest possible way. It was great. So I hope we do more of that stuff. I don't know trying to think of like

how we could do it because like once the next one just kind of is what it is dams happen like once a month no bets barred like how do you do that do we just get people like losing bets all the time I mean like I don't know how to really swap it up like just have one of us host the MMA hour

shockingly at one point and then we just do like the total opposite thing I don't know but it was great it was great Jose brought a different energy that people really liked. People really into it. I had a good time. Everybody else seemed to have a good time. So, yeah, hopefully more and more.

I love the McFully reference, Mankind, dude love, cactus jack. The list goes on. All right, Henderson, you got like 20 seconds. Go. It was, why do you think the UFC is not doing a card from Memorial Day weekend in New Jersey and then doing a card the next weekend. What a missed opportunity. As everyone knows here, M.D. Doves is like the biggest holiday of the summer.

So everyone's headed out to the beach. But missed opportunity, I think. And how many gillies do you think Dustin goes for next weekend? See you, Mike. Great show. Bye. Thanks, man. Dude, there's got to be a line on that.

You have to. Over under two and a half? I'll say over. I think he should go through three. I think he goes for three. He's going to get taken out a bunch in this fight. In my humble opinion. And why is the UFC not doing Memorial Day weekend?

It's the schedule, man. You got to pick your battles. They want to do 42 cards a year. You have to remember like ESPN is involved as well. They're airing different things. Their production teams are doing different things. And when you're running so many different shows, you can take certain weeks off.

Because, I mean, just think about years ago. Always a New Year's card. Always a Memorial Day weekend card. Always a Fourth of July card. It was like guaranteed. And now we don't get any of those. I mean, technically, like, International Fight Week, like, falls either, like, the weekend before or the weekend after. Once in a while.

But for the most part, like, none of those really exist. Like, we can't mark our calendars anymore to, like, we're definitely going to have a card that weekend. or we're definitely going to do this, we're definitely going to do that. I don't know, man. Like, I ain't mad at it. I'm not mad about it at all. You know, I'm cool with it. It's nice to have a weekend off, like, especially a long weekend.

Like, I got to work half a day on Sunday, but I get a day off tomorrow. Like, I don't have to cover fights. I'm very happy about that. You know, like I said, half day, Sunday, and then Monday is Memorial Day. It's also my 12th anniversary. with my lovely wife. It's Murph Day for the CrossFit and exercise community. So that's going to be happening as well.

Doing that at 7 a.m. on Monday. It's going to kick my ass. But I'm ready for it. I've lost some poundage. So I'm ready to go. But yeah, I honestly, I couldn't be happy this weekend as no UFC fights. And like I said earlier, there's still, there's some boxing. if you want the weirdness,

misfits, Paige Van Zant is fighting. So you still get like a little bit of a taste of it. And then we get a little bit of a breather. Like we get, we get to get more excited for 302. Like I bet by like Tuesday of next week,

we're going to be so much more excited for 302 that we were if we just had like any kind of event. You know what I mean? And then like just think about how it leads it. Like we got, we got Lorone Murphi, Eddie Edson Barbosa. Cool fight.

Good moment for Luron Murphy. The rest of that car was Garbo on paper. It was pretty trash. Now we get like a week to breathe and build the anticipation for 302. And then we're just on like a run outside of the world's, well, not completely outside of the world's most famous apex, but still some fun stuff. 302. We go to Louisville.

Then we're back to the world's most famous apex. Then we're going to Saudi Arabia for Robert Whitaker versus Hamza-Ochima after noon in MMA. Let's go. And then it's Connor McGregor versus Michael Chandler. Like, it's a give me a good stretch. We had to take a week off somewhere. And I think this is the time to do it.

And now we have like June is going to be crazy. And then July will be probably pretty wild as well. And just think, well, what else do you have June 15? Get freaking Anderson-Silvin-Chil Sunnet are boxing each other. Nate Diaz and Jorge Mazel are boxing each other. Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are boxing each other. Like the next two months are going to be nuts. So my thing to the MAA community, enjoy the long weekend.

All right? Enjoy this time because things are about to get super weird and crazy. So thank you all very much. Gats to go. Appreciate you all. Great questions. Great conversation. We'll be back here on Tuesday after the long weekend, refreshed, ready to go,

amped up for UFC 302, Israel Machethev versus Dustin Porier. It's going to be a good time. Thank you all very much. I am Mike Tech. Appreciate you. Have a great rest of your Friday. Have a heck of a morning, everybody. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line.

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