MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Sean O'Malley's Title Win — and Why Things Could Get Real Weird At 135

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Sean O'Malley is the UFC bantamweight champion of the world after knocking out Aljamain Sterling in the second round of the UFC 292 main event in Boston. While Aljamain Sterling wants a much-deserved rematch, and Merab Dvalishvili wants his opportunity, neither is probably going to happen with the long-standing rivalry with Marlon Vera taking center stage — which could be the beginning of a brand new era at 135. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to O'Malley's championship earning finish, his superstar status, and why meritocracy could be out the window for the foreseeable future. Additionally, topics include where Sterling goes from here and how he could realistically find himself in another title fight, or get a second shot with O'Malley, where the title change leaves Dvalishvili, Henry Cejudo, Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan, and others, UFC 293 in Sydney headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland for the middleweight title, Mayra Bueno Silva announcing she failed a drug test stemming from her stoppage win over Holly Holm, 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

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It is Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023. It is indeed a heck of a morning, mostly for Sean O'Malley. We'll get into that in a minute. Thank you for joining us live on the M.A. Fighting Twitter space. You hear the show, and it's a tired of shortly thereafter on the M.A. Fighting Podcasting Network. I am Mike Hack. Hope everyone had a great weekend, having a great start to the week.

I'm not going to lie to you. I can't lie to the world. I am a little bit tired this week. It was a long week last week. Got to Boston on Tuesday. Enjoyed all the Fight Week festivities. And then had to catch a super early. flight to New York City on Saturday.

Had a drop-off by rental car super early in the morning. Got a couple hours sleep in New York, headed on over to the watch party, had a great time, woke up, did on to the next one of the day. Kay, flew home, rested a little bit yesterday, but this has been a crazy month for your pal, Mike. Fight week in Dallas. Home for a week. Fight week in Boston. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Love covering the sport. love being where all the action is happening. It was super cool to be back in Boston. The energy levels were at an all-time high. The vibes were in the air, as I continued to talk about, as I said on the preview show, People's Pre-Fight Show said at the beginning of the watch party, the vibes were in the air.

And no matter how you felt, stylistically, about the main events for the Banimoy title between Al Jermaine and Sherling and Sean O'Malley, no matter how 99 other fights were going to play out, if they fought 100 times. It just felt like that night, that building, everything coming into it, how the vibes were feeling, that this was going to be the night that Sean O'Malley was going to become the Bannon White champion. And lo and behold, second round, less than a minute in, Al Jermaine Sterling got a little too excited. O'Malley stepped back, landed that

Bing, bang, boom counter. Down goes Al Jermaine Sterling. Follow-up shots. Aljo was doing a pretty decent job defending. O'Malley was landing some hammer fists. But for the most part, I would say like half of those shots didn't land. And then he stood over Al Jermaine and landed a massive right hand, which busted open his eye.

And referee Mark Goddard had seen enough. And welcome to the Sugar Show, ladies and gentlemen. then Sean O'Malley is the UFC Bannamway champion of the world. A couple of things I want to say right off the bat. A lot of people were not thrilled with the stoppage. They thought it seemed too soon. I have no issue with the stoppage whatsoever. And this is somebody who never bets on MMA,

but because I was on no-bets barred, I did have some exposure on Al Jermaine Sterling. I have no problem with the stoppage whatsoever. I thought Mark Goddard gave him time to try to get back up and let him kind of compose himself. It was that big, huge right hand that cut Aljo open that did it. I thought Mark gave him plenty of time to recover, if we're being honest. Like, Mark could have stepped in right when that right hand landed the way Aljo fell and

stopped it right there. And I don't know if anyone went out a big problem with that. But it was just Aljo was defending himself. I get it. But to me, no issue with the stoppage. You don't understand why Mark's getting a ton of hate for that. And honestly, this band. weight division is upside down right now. It is upside down and it's got to get real weird.

It's going to get real weird because now you have a bona fide superstar as your champion, a guy that's going to call the shots, a guy that sure he wants his legacy to look really good, but at the end of the day, this dude wants to make a floppy billion dollars. And he's going to do everything in this power to do that. That is why this rematch with Marlain Verra is going to happen. I know everyone's saying December, Sean O'Malley wants December, Cheetah wants December. That is the fight that is going to happen. Whether people feel like Marlon Vera deserves it or not, that is the fight's going to happen. I've been telling you from day one, Marlon needed to stay on that card. If Marlon wins and Sean wins, that is the fight that is going to be made. And we're going to

get it. And we're probably going to get in December and it's probably going to be the main event, even if there's another title fight because Sean O'Malley is a main event guy. He is tier one star. He is at the big boy table. And if he wants to fight Cheatera in December, he's going to fight Cheatera in December. A lot of people have been asking me, a lot of people ask it on to the next one, a lot of people have been hitting me up. Why is Al Jermaine Sterling not going to get a rematch? You seem very, very sure that he's not going to get an immediate rematch. I would be flabbergasted. I would be absolutely shocked

if Al Jermaine Sterling gets an immediate rematch. And I'll raise you one. I will be stunned if Sean O'Malley ever fights Al Jemaine Sterling again. See, that's the thing when you say things because we talked about this a lot as well during the build. Sean O'Malley did everything he could to put Al Jamein Sterling over the entire time. Maybe he talks a little smack. Maybe he says some things.

fine. But the way Sean O'Malley presented himself throughout fight week, the man who he was fighting is the greatest band and weight of all time. That's what he kept saying. He's the greatest band of weight of all time. If I go out there and land the big shot and knock him out, what does that make me? And the way Al Jemey's

Sterling sort of approached fight, yeah, he kind of talked about O'Malley's skill set and his striking ability and his countering ability. But the way Al Jermaine Sterling kind of treated this fight was like, I'm just going to run this dude over and then move up to 45 and bite Alexander Volcanowski.

That was the whole thing. This is my last fight at Bannamway, and I'm moving up to 45. So when Sean was asked about the rematch, he's like, I thought that dude was moving to 45. That's what he said the entire time. He's going to run me over and move up to 45. And then he is just completely no-sold Al Jermaine Sterling getting an immediate rematch.

And honestly, I don't think Sean's ever going to fight Aljo again. You know what? I'm not going to say that. There is only one way. there is only one way, ladies and gentlemen, that Sean O'Malley will fight Al Jermaine Sterling again. And that is, if Aljo goes to 145, runs off some wins, somehow becomes the featherweight champion,

and Sean O'Malley runs off a couple of wins. I could see a world where Sean O'Malley will try to win a second belt. And if Aljo's the guy holding the belt, he will gladly fight Aljo again. Other than that, that fight is not happening. That fight is not happening. I just don't see it. And I know this sounds, for Al Jemaine Sterling fans, it sounds ridiculous because Al Jemaine Sterling deserves a rematch.

If there's any former champion who just lost their title that deserves an immediate rematch, it's Al Jermaine Sterling. The problem is the biggest star in the history of the division is now the champion, and he's got leverage up the wazoo. And if he says, I ain't fighting this guy again, I'm not going to be able to do it any better. it's kind of tough luck for Aljo. And now this division is super weird. Because now Maro Vera is getting a title shot. He beat Pedro Munoz. Some people thought Pedro won that fight.

It was very, very close. And then we have Marab, who's kind of hanging out. Henry Suhudo's doing his best to try to get a title fight. He ain't getting it? Not right now. Maybe if Sean goes out there and beats Chito and Henry still yapping, maybe he'll give Henry a shot because he kind of likes the matchup. But I feel like Marab, it's going to be tough.

Unless Sean just is like, I have to fight this guy. It's going to be tough, man. Like, it's got to be super tough for some of these guys to get a title shot. Maybe Corey Sanhagen gets one when he comes back from his injury. But this division is in a very weird place. And if the hangover of what happened at lightweight, when Connor McGregor won the title, if you didn't like that,

you're probably not going to like what's about to happen at 135. Will the division get more spotlight than it ever has before? Absolutely. But we have to prepare ourselves for a world where meritocracy is out the window because Sean O'Malley is a prize fighting champion. He's only going to fight in the biggest money fights that he can get. And there's going to be a point if he runs off a couple of defenses where it doesn't matter who he fights.

But right now it kind of does. Him fighting Marlon Verre is the biggest fight. in the Bannamweight Division's history. It is. Sean is a crossover star. Casual fans know who he is. He passes the mom test, passes the friend test.

If I get texts about a certain fighter, he passes the test. It's beyond MMA fans. And Chito Vera is kind of the same way. Cheetos in that spot as well. So things are about to get really interesting. I'm really curious to see where Al Jameen Sterling goes from here.

Pretty stay at 35, sure. But I honestly think he should just go up to 45. Go up to 45. And it really just depends on what Al Joe's thinking right now. Does he want to go up to 45, make a run? Does he want to run off like four or five wins and then get a title shot? That's cool. But if he just wants to get in there and get back to a title fight, I set out onto the next one.

Some people agree with me. Some people thought I was out of my mind. Focus all of your attention, not on Sean O'Malley. Focus all of your attention on Max Holloway. Call that dude out. Get after it. Because if you want to get to Volk, you got to beat Max. You have to beat Max Holloway.

And he may lose that fight. And a lot of people feel stylistically that Al Joe is going to be a big trouble in that fight. I would probably pick Max to win that fight as well. But if Sean wants to just jump the line and get right into a title fight for a chance to win that belt. Fighting mobs are a lawyer for Bryce Mitchell or Calvin Cater isn't going to get you there. And the timing works out because Max is getting ready to fight Korean zombie on Saturday. It's probably going to win that fight. And then you kind of figure out where Max is going to go from there. Max ain't getting a title show as long as Al-Zaljean of Volkovsky is the champion.

So Max can just play the stopper rule. And it's an interesting fight. Those two guys fighting, If I told you two years ago that Al Jemaine Sterling is going to fight Max Holloway, you'd think I was crazy. But let's open things up. You do Marab versus Sohudo. O'Malley's going to fight Cheeto, and we'll just kind of see where the division goes from there. But Bannamway, it's going to be real, strange and weird. Big star at the top. What a win for Sean O'Malley.

And I'm going to echo something that Ariel Hawani said yesterday. He's the dude. He is the dude. He went out there and knocked out Al Jermaine Sterling. He's the Bannamway champion. He has earned that. title. The road wasn't as difficult for him as it was for others. Sure, but that's all out the window now because he went in there and did what he said he was going to do. John O'Malley is the Bannamweight

of the world. He beat arguably the greatest Bannamweight of all time. He did the damn thing. He shut up a lot of people. He proved a lot of people wrong. Welcome to the Sugar Show. John Wei, what a performance from her. Just dominated Amanda Lemos. This was some people were hitting me up saying this is this is like Amanda Nunes beating Giuliana Pena the second time like in their second fight no no this is this is way worse this is way worse look at the stats look at the stats in this fight I understand that there are moments where you're like oh mandolamos has this choke on maybe she gets her I didn't feel like she was really in that much danger anyways and then she just put the boots to Amanda Lemos should shout out to Amanda Lemos for her toughness her ability to withstand it and make it to the final horn. But Zhang Wei Li is the real real. And Straway has gotten real interesting again. Not that it's ever really gone away,

but things are about to get real fresh. Zhang Wei Li versus Janjan in China is a massive fight for the UFC. It's a massive fight for this division. And it's a massive fight for that part of the world. So if they can do it in China, that is unequivocally the fight to make. but if they can't get China, I feel for Janjonan,

but she's getting skipped over because there are very few fights on my radar that I am more fascinated in than Zhang Wei Li versus Tatiana Suarez. When that fight happens, I don't even know what I'm going to do. I'm just breaking that one down

is going to be really, really fun. It's just an incredible fight, and I cannot wait for that fight. to happen. Cannot wait for that fight to happen. It's so interesting. And if there's one fighter in this division right now who I think can beat Zhang Wei Li, I don't know if she does, but can, who I would at least somewhat hesitate to pick Zhang in, it's Tatiana Suarez. It's Tatiana Suarez. Ian Machado Gary just runs over Neil Magni. That fight was not competitive for one single seconds, 3024 on one of the judge's cards. I know some people.

are like, eh, you kind of had a one-legged dude, you should have taken Neil out. I'm not opposed to that line of thinking at all. I kind of thought Ian would have got a little more shine had he finished Neil in the third round, but look, you can't do it much better than that. That was pillar to post. Ian Machado, Gary, called out Wonderboy.

I liked that fight. I think that fight makes sense. I know Dana White went to the press conference. It was like, yeah, we called Wonderboy, and he turned it down. I think there's probably more context to that, But I think if the UFC called Wonderboy back and said, look, water under the bridge, we'll pay you for the Michelle Pereira scenario. You just fight Ian Machado Gary at MSG.

You get to fight in New York like you wanted to. We can't give you the Uspin fight right now. Go fight one. Go fight this guy on the come up. Do you do it. And if you win, I'll give you the Uspin fight. We'll give you a fight to maybe get you that title shot. and I know Ian said that, oh, I don't want to fight New York because of the taxes.

UFC will just pay him more money, and there you go. I think that's the fight to make. Nice way from Mario Batista. Marlon Vera, we talked about it's probably getting a title shot. Chris Wyman loses in his return, but he deserves a lot of credit for getting back in there after that injury and getting to the final horn. The tough fights were fun. Kurt Hollabobeau back in the UFC officially.

Triangle Chokes Austin Hubbard. Brad Cotonow, Cody Gibson. one of the best fights of the year. Katona officially gets a contract. Dana White said at the post-fight press conference that'll probably give Cody a contract as well. Andre Patroski, Gerald Mearshart, very middle-weighty, middle-weight fight,

but it was a super fun, middle-weighty, middle-weight fight. Natty Ice is the real deal. Just one-way traffic over Andrew Lee. Karine Silva execs a little bit of revenge on Marina Morose. Gets the submission victory this time. So the Silva Parlay cashed for those who did it. And 2902 was a it was a roller coaster. Prelims are awesome.

Main card had some fun fights, but it just seemed like it kind of dragged for a minute, but all that means nothing after what Shotomalley did, knocks out Al Jermaine Sterling. Normally we have a lot more reactions during these watch parties, but just like the old song says, they went and saved the best for last, and shot O'Malley is the dude.

So I see a lot of people lined up. We have a lot to talk about. So let's go to the peeps and see what the people. have to say. Derek, we start with you. Hello. Hey, how's it going, man? So I'm a big Jed Mishu guy. I might be the biggest Jed Mishu guy in the Midwest, and I agree with a lot of his takes, but I disagree with his take during the post-fight show. He said he thinks that the Banimate Division could end up being awful after Sean defends his belt against Cheeto, and December. And I just think that this division's too deep for that. I think there's a lot of intriguing

matchups. Him versus Corey. I mean, who doesn't want to see that? You've got the Marab's storyline of him trying to avenge his buddies loss. And I've seen multiple clips on Twitter from Sean's podcast. He's a big Izzy fan. And he likes Izzy because he's active and defends his belt. And I think Damon Martin had a good quote. He said he thinks Sean's just going to be a less problematic McGregor. He might not, you know, reach the level of stardom McGregor has, but he's obviously doesn't, he's not as problematic. So I just wanted to know your thoughts on my refute to Jed Michoud's claims. Thanks, man. Yeah, I mean, I get where Jed's coming from and I'm closer to Jed's line of thinking than I probably am to most.

I don't know if that he says this division could get awful. And I don't know. I mean, it was, to be fair, like 3.30 in the morning where he was at. And we just had an emotional dump from what we just saw from Sean O'Malley. I think what he was meaning more than anything was that Sean is going to be able to call the shots. And for those looking at the Bannumweight Division like it always has been where it's next man up, you're the dude, you're the number one contender.

you get the title shot, I feel like those days, at least for now, are not over, but they're on postponement for sure. Hence, Cheeto Vera getting a title shot after beating Pedro Munoz and after losing a pretty lopsided decision, I know it's in the books as a split decision, but anyone who thinks Marlon Vera won that fight against Corey Sanagan is absolutely off their rocker. But that's just what we're at right now. Sean O'Malley is not here to, to be the greatest Bannonweight champion of all time. He's here to become the richest Bannamweight champion of all time. That's why he is already throwing out the Gervante Davis stuff

and going into boxing. And he said it, he has said it a million times, said it on first take yesterday. A lot of people are in the fight game. Sean O'Malley has always been in the fight business. And he's in the business of making as much money as possible. So he is going to take, not the Colby route,

but he's just going to fight the guys he wants to fight. The fights he feels are the biggest drawing fights. Those are the ones he's going to push for. And what is he going to say, no? It's just got to be weird. Now is he going to have to eventually fight some of these guys? Sure. But everyone's like, oh, he's going to go fight Omar and Ahmadine Badoff.

No, he's not. Why would he do that? Why would he go fight Omar? Mara at least has a story so we could do something there. But I feel like Sean has the power to be like, no, dude. I'm going to go fight somebody else. That's just where he is right now. He is, he's a star. He's a star. And we saw when Connor won the lightweight title. Never defended it. Was like, no, I want this thing. I want this thing. So I think where Jen was alluding to was kind of

comparing to when Connor won the lightweight title and then he went into boxing and fought Floyd. And then we didn't see him for a while until he came back and fought Habib and all that. another interesting thing that you said was like the that one of the big questions I have coming out of this is what you said that Damon said that he is a he he could be a less problematic Connor McGregor and I hope that's the case I hope that's the case but that fame that superstardom it can change people hasn't changed everybody but it can change people and right now, Sean is not where Connor is in terms of superstardom, but he's damn close. He's knocking on the door. If there's one guy on the active roster, and this includes Israel Adasani, who I think

is a big crossover star as well, if there's one guy on the roster who in the next year and a half, two years could get right next to McGregor or like slightly right behind him, it's Sean O'Malley. It's Sean for sure. And the UFC sees that as well. That's why they put the finish on YouTube and social media. That's why they put the whole fight on SportsCenter. That's why they did all these different things. They see what they have here, and they're trying to capitalize on it.

So a lot of questions coming out of this. You feel for Al Jermaine Sterling, because he kind of almost was forced into taking this fight on this specific date. But at the same token, if you're the UFC, you are loving life right now. You are loving life. Because you're massive star.

is now a champion. And you can do so many different things with them. So things are going to get interesting. I'm not going to say that the division is going to be awful, but it is going to get really weird. And I have a feeling we could be living in a world where Shot-O-Malley could be champion for a hot minute. And we could be seeing some interim title fights

to kind of make way for all that. I think Sean's going to fight Cheeto. And if he wins, he's probably going to take some time to see if anybody in this division can make a move. And get over. That's where we're at right now. So, yeah. So it happens when you cross over and you become that big name and that big star.

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hello. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? Yes, sir. Perfect. Well, heck of a morning to you, man. Hope you enjoyed the time in Boston. Man, that card was awesome. I mean, you see the flag in my background of the picture, Arizona Native here, so only right, I got to come in and talk about

Sean O'Malley. I mean, just curious, you know, just how many defenses you think he can actually rack up. And then I know it's obviously a little far away, but how do you actually see that fight between Vera and Sean going, you know, if you think it gets a finished decision, you know, who wins there? And I guess just kind of just a little side note or just a thought I kind of had. But, you know, Al Jameen, when he was champ, you know, we couldn't see the Marab fight because they're friends. He had already beat Corey before winning the belt. and now Corey's injured and lost in the last fight. It just feels like basically Aljo was leaving 135, you know, if he beat Sugar

because there was no other fights left. So, you know, I'm just kind of curious on your thoughts. You know, you just think, like the Bannonweight Division just got so much more exciting. I feel like guys like Corey Sanhagen are now going to stand out, you know. Other up-and-coming strikers and things like a Cheeto, maybe even, I mean, I'll just throw like an Adrian Yana, just something in the terms of just anyone that's exciting. know, that's striking coming up. And maybe guys like Umar and Marab, I'm curious if you kind of think they just got pushed back a little bit.

I mean, Sean Amali is such an exciting fighter. I feel like people want to see him in firework fights. So, yeah, just kind of curious, just your thoughts kind of on his rise, what happens, you know, on that Vera fight and just what you think this division looks like going forward. Thanks, Mike. Yeah, like I said, this division go a number of different ways. it's all depending on what Sean wants it all depends on what that man wants that's why he's getting the Cheeto fight

it's such a massive fight now both guys have very passionate fan bases and it's just going to be a gigantic fight I think he can beat Cheeto Vera I have to probably look more into it we really didn't get much and here's the thing about Sean O'Malley still even after winning that fight we still don't know how good he is

what do we actually learn in this fight. We didn't learn anything. Really? We didn't learn anything that we didn't know. That Sean's a great counterstriker and you can land that shot on the chin

and if Al doesn't get takedowns, he might lose. And like all that played out, right? But in terms of Sean getting deep into fights and having to weather storms and all of that, like outside of the Peodorian fight, we don't know how good he is. We just don't know.

It's, and that's what makes, this so interesting. Like if he just goes out there and melts Cheeto, we start to get a little more. But like what's so fascinating about Sean as champion right now is that we don't know what his ceiling is. We know what his ceiling could be as a star, but as an actual fighter,

we don't know how good he is yet. I don't think we've really ever known. And that is so super interesting. Now, if you're Umarama Magamade off, this result absolutely kills you. Because he was getting ready fight Corey Sanhagen. If he goes out there and beats Corey and Aljo had won this fight, they might have just

thrown him right into a title fight. Like he might have got a vacant title fight or even if Aljo's like, wanted to stick around for one more. He could have just got himself right into a title fight. Like it's just crazy to think about. And I don't feel like Corey Sanhagen got hurt by any of this. I think the injury actually kind of helps him. Would he be, would he have gotten the next shot?

no, because Cheetah would have got it. But I think the time off, and if he could just stay in the media and stay in the spotlight and do interviews and say things about what happened, and Sean being champion, but putting him over in like the right way, I think that's an interesting matcher,

but I think honestly, I think Sean can see some value in that one. It just depends. If Corey just stays kind of hidden and doesn't do much and stays out of the spotlight, not good for him. But if he could stay somewhat relevant in all this, I think he's a guy

that Sean would be interested in fighting. I really do. And for Aljo, honestly, if he's going to stay at 135 for one more fight, there's only one fight that makes sense. And I don't think it's going to happen right now because of what's being discussed. But if you're going to do one more fight at 35,

you want to get one more in there before you move up. The fight that makes all the sense in the world is Dominic Cruz. Because when we talk about who the greatest band and weight of all time is, it's those two dudes, right? Right? That's the conversation. It's Dominic for what he did, his resume, or is it Aljo for what he's done and what he's been doing? Let's settle it. Let's have the fight for the greatest band and weight of all time.

Just do that. But as we've been talking about for the last couple months, it seems like the UFC is pivoting towards maybe a Dominic Cruz, Figggy Smalls fight. Not sure when that's going to happen. I know there were talks about possibly doing it in November. I don't know if that's going to happen in November at this point, but I still feel like that's the fight, the direction that everyone is leaning towards at this point. Please don't say, oh, Mike checks in the fight.

They're going to fight each other. No, it's not done yet. But it seems like that's the direction that everybody wants to go. So I don't, like, this is really nothing more for Aljo to do right now. Should just go to 45, tackle a different challenge. Maybe you win the featherweight title. Maybe Volk moves up to 55. That title becomes vacant.

You get thrust in there. maybe you win the belt. And then maybe you can get that rematch with Sean. Sean could come up and fight you. So yeah, this is going to be a very interesting time at 135 pounds, my friends. CV, hello. Good morning, Mike. A heck of a morning.

Just a simple question for me. Who do you think out of these two former champions eventually becomes a champion again, whether in their current division or another division? Um, Kamar Usman or Al Jermaine Sterling. Thanks. Oh, God. That's, it's a tough question. I would say, man, it's so tough.

Because it's not going to be, like, the only way it's Usman is if Colby beats Leon. That's the only chance he has. Because as long as Leon is the champion, Usman's never fighting for the wealth weight title again. And middleweight is so interesting right now with Hamzok going up there. and some of the rising contenders and Paulo and some of these other names, I just feel like Usman, and Usman's not going to fight Izzy anyways, those two guys aren't going to fight each other because of their relationship. I mean, maybe a slight, I mean, ever so slight lean towards Al Jermaine,

because I feel like if he does go up to 45 and runs off a couple of wins, he can get into a title fight. And Usman, like, and Usman has, if Colby doesn't beat Leon, If Colby doesn't win the belt, Usman's not getting a title shot. Again, he's not. So, I'll lean Sterling as it stands right now, but it all depends on what Sterling does next.

If he stays at 35, then it's not going to be him. But if he goes up to 45 and tries to go on a run, I don't think Sterling, like, I don't think they're going to make it super easy on Aljo. But I do think that if Al J, it is a fresh, matchup for Volk and he ain't there now but if he goes up and like beats if he goes up and beats max holloway in his first featherway fight he's probably getting a title shot so i think the path is clearer for aljo but it's not like uspin can't get there but he needs a lot to happen so i'll lean

al jo it's a great question um it could be neither we could be living a row where neither fights for a title again. Call, hello. Hi, Mike. I just got one thing for you. Like, I watch the fights on the central time zone, and I'm not even, I don't even have the worst of it, but like, I'm watching it with a group of fans. And I'm like probably the hardest of hardcores. And I'm watching it with fans who aren't total casuals. And we're all kind of having a hard time staying up till 1230 to watch, to wait till the main event starts without having to like abuse a number of substances. So I just want, I just want your thoughts, like, what the hell is happening with this? Is this going to change?

And I cannot wait to wake up at like 5 or 4.30 this weekend with a cup of coffee to watch Aaron Blanchefield beat the hell out of Talia Santos. So that's all I got. Thanks, Sam. Is it going to change? No. Luckily, I mean, look, a couple times a year we get, even for pay-per-views, we get some early ones. Like the London card was early. The pay-per-view in Mark.

March. Abu Dhabi's going to be early. Don't mind that at all. It's pretty sweet. But yeah, for the most part, like this is what we're going to get. Now, it doesn't happen all that often these days that we just get four straight decisions in the main card.

And I think the way that this card was kind of laid out, we kind of knew Vera Pedro was going to a decision because those guys are just so goddamn durable. We felt like Mario Batista de Man Blakshia was going to the cards. But on paper, most people thought Ian Machado Gary was just going to run over Neil Magne, and he did over a longer period of time. But I kind of didn't see that fight getting out of the second round. And it went off.

And it looks like at certain points Ian could finish Neil at any time. Anytime he really wanted to, he could just keep kicking him in the leg and finishing him, and he didn't. And I think a lot of people thought, no matter who won the co-made event, either Jacques was going to get her out of there in the first three rounds, or Amanda was going to land a big shot early and get Zhang out of there and catch her. That didn't happen. It looked many, it looked like on multiple occasions that jog was going to go in there

and finish Amanda on motion. That didn't happen. So I think it was just one of those things where we were very, like we felt overly confident that we were going to get two finishes heading into the main events. And that's not what happened. And occasionally those things are going to go down. So, yeah, it seemed like it kind of. kind of dragged.

And especially doing those watch parties, you're just looking for that moment to react to. And we're very close a few times, but we never really got one until Sean landed that right hand at the second round of the main event. So I think all in all, watching these pay-per-views, I don't think 288 was kind of a tough one

because we had five rounds of Belal and Gilbert and that went to the cards. and then we had five rounds of Sterling and Sohudo, and that went five rounds. But I don't think we were really surprised by either of those. I think we kind of knew what 288 was going to be after all the hiccups and all the changes. But for the most part,

I think we were pretty spoiled by the pay-per-views. And the cards, like, 291 was, we got the main event, like, real quick at 291. It was nice. But it's not what happened here, unfortunately. I don't know. going to happen with the Sydney card, which just took another hit because we found out Kikar, France is not fighting metal cop anymore.

So, yeah, we'll just load it up with fights that have finishes and you won't get any complaints from me. But I understand where you're coming from. And shout out to the European folks who have to wake up, who have to deal with it way worse than we do. Copper. Go ahead, sir. Hello.

Can you hear me? Yep, I got you. Okay. So I had a couple things I wanted to just go over real quick about the Banimate Goh debate. Al Jermaine has four title fight wins and all of them there's some sort of stink of controversy. Pieter Yan, the first one, illegal knee, split decision the second time, T.J. had one arm. Sehudo. If Derek Cleary gave him the fifth round like you should have, the clearest round in the entire fight,

Henry's Hudo would have been the Bannamweight champion. While Dominic Cruz, he has seven title fight wins. I know they're not like the most exciting always, but it's still just a larger body of women if you're including the WEC championship. So I wanted your thoughts on like that when you, because those are things that nobody's brought up in that goat debate recently. And it's been kind of infuriating to me because they just want. to either totally dismiss the controversy of Al Jermaine's defenses.

And also Keith Peterson, I don't know if it was just a bad night for him, but there was the multiple low blows from Brad Tavares. I think if you have multiple low blows, even if they're clearly accidents, which, I mean, he threw the exact same thing twice, how much of an accident is it really? he should have been taken a point and also he should have just stopped that Ian Machado Gary fight there was like four different times in the third round

where Neil was totally out of it yeah I kind of agree with you honestly I thought that fight was going to get stops in the third round but it didn't and there we go most times we get no nonsense and there are times we get lots of nonsense and well we kind of got lots of nonsense

from Keith Peterson The Cruz Aljo debate, I mean, look, in a lot of people not discredit the WEC run, and they shouldn't. But I get where you're coming from in that sense. He had some, you know, beats Faber, beats Beatrice Johnson in a win that aged very, very well. And then he was just gone for three years, came back and just annihilated Mitsugaki, won the belts against T.C. DJ Dillishaw, which by the way, if we want to talk about controversy, a lot of people felt like TJ won that fight, like, and a lot of people still to this day feel like TJ won that fight. I was there. I thought TJ won that fight, but I understand that the better thing

probably happened because we got the crowning moment, the comeback, all of that. Then he fights youriah Faber, which a lot of people didn't feel like he deserved that shot at that point, but we understood why we got it. And then he loses to Garbrandt, loses to Sehudo. beats Casey Kenny in a close fight, beats Pedro Munoz in a close fight, and then gets knocked. And he was looking good against Cito until he got knocked out pretty bad.

And then we look at Sterling's UFC run. And it's Cody Gibson. How about that? Hugo Viano gets a finish. Fights Mitsugaki. Got him out of there. Got Johnny Iroro out of there. Brian Carraway was a highly ranked guy.

Loses a splitie, loses a sputty to Hafeuola Sunsau. I think a lot of people felt like Aljo won that fight. Beats Augusto Mendez, who is Sean O'Malley's Jiu-Jitsu coach, beats Heden Burau,

former champion, takes the Mariah's fight on pretty short notice and gets knocked out. But then look at his run after that. Brett Johns, who was undefeated at the time, great win.

Cody Stamen was on a great run at the time, submits him. Jimmy Rivera had won like 20 fights in a row, beats Jimmy Rivera. He masterclassed Pedro Munoz. That was one of his best performances ever. Tap Sanhagen in 90 seconds. And then we get to controversy.

Look, there is no controversy in the Peuter-Yon fight, the first one. Piotr-Yon made the choice of drilling an illegal knee. And you can see in the moment where he pondered whether or not he should throw it. He was like, all, I'm going to throw it anyways. Need him in the face. Al Jemaine Sterling deserves no repercussions, deserves no badmouthing about that. Piotr Yan cheated and need a man in the face in round four and lost the title.

There is no controversy there. The splitting against Piotr Yon, I don't think there's controversy there either. Because he won, I thought Aljo clearly won that fight. Did he win it like running away? No. Did it get closer down the stretch? Yes, but I thought Aljo won that fight. I was very, I felt pretty good about saying,

all right, Al Joe just defended his title, good for him. Dealt with all the bullshit between March of 2021 and April of 2022, 13 months of bullshit goes in there and beats him. Then the T.J. fight. Again, you can't blame Aljo for that. you think Aljo showed up to Abu Dhabi saying, I'm going to fight this dude. I know he only has one arm.

I know it, but I'm just going to do it anyways. No. And you could, TJ was banged up, but Aljo kind of took that injury to the next level, if we're being honest, and then Alchard just killed him like you're supposed to.

Suhudo was a weird one because of the scorecard, as you mentioned, but I don't think there were very few people out there who thought that Suhudo won that fight. And it took a weird card, to get us to that level, but the right fighter still won at the end of the day. So I didn't think there was a ton of controversy there. It is a weird title rate. Like, no doubt about it. But Aljo's resume is super good, really, really good. Really, really good. And so is cruises. So, I mean,

look, if you want to put Cruz up there, fine. I have no issue with that. If you want to put Sterling up there, fine. I got no issue with that either. But I think there is a conversation to be had. I think there is a debate. I understand the WEC stuff kind of gets thrown out the window. We talk about it with Jose Alo all the time and his title run. Is he actually, in fact,

the youngest UFC champion of all time because he was still in WEC and when his reign began. There's all different things we could talk about. But to say, but Sterling deserves to be in that conversation. Only guy to defend his title three consecutive times, tied for the most title defenses

in Banimate divisional history, at least for the UFC, he's in the mix. He deserves to be in the conversation. For sure. Is it weird? Yeah, it's super weird. But he deserves to be in the conversation. I'm going to get to everybody, so please be patient.

But, I mean, when special guests come along, you got to bring him in. And he gets the best friend favorites of him. A.K., hello. Hello, my best friend. I had to hop on before I had to do some KSI. Ah, Fury coverage. I think that's what I'm covering right? But I feel like we're bearing the real lead.

I guess not of the weekend. I guess this news came out on Monday. Maya de Buenos Silva, the poor thing, testing positive. She announced it herself being Instagram. She tested positive for banned substance before her fight with Holly Home. Her triumph over Holly Home,

which I feel like finally brought some peace and order to the land of Bantamweight. but now I don't know we don't know if that's going to get overturned we don't know if Buenos Aires is getting suspended which would probably precipitate some sort of drop if not outright removal from the rankings Mike what do we what do we do with

what's going to happen to MMA's hottest division if this is the worst case scenario that Buenos Aires is suspended and they have to you know she was obviously going on half well I we don't know we think Pena Pennington one half of vacant title fight at some point but Buenos Silva had kind of muscled her way in there now she's out of it like what do we do what do we do everyone's i just want to ask the question

that everyone's thinking about thanks buddy um yes i saw that as of right now i am scheduled to talk to myri buenos sylva tomorrow to get more in depth about this so stay tuned for that honestly i i don't know what how long the suspension is going to be i don't think i my guess is it's probably less than a year and it'll be retroactive to when the test happened. Because it's not like she would, I don't think she, let me, let me pull it up. I think it was like an ADHD type of thing. But I just want to pull up the thing and, and have the context of it all before I give my answer to all this.

And I'm going to ask Myra about all of this anyways tomorrow when I get the chance to speak with her. Deepa Grave to announce field drug test. I want to begin saying, I've never in my life taken a substance to enhance my ability in or out of the case. I've tested for substance that is consistent. With the prescription medication I take for my ADHD, I've been dealing with this disorder my entire life, and it affects me in a multitude of ways. I have provided a plethora of documents and explanations to Usada

and the Nevada State Commission detailing the disorder, the effects of the disorder on my daily life and my decision-making and the ingestion of the prescription medicine, fully cooperating with Usada, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC to make sure that all information is available, and I fully acknowledge the presence of the substance of my system. I discontinued this medication at the beginning of fight week like I always have in the past. So while it appeared in a small amount in my system, I am told by experts that it would not have

an effect of my in competition performance at that level. Please, before you make any judgments, understand I've been dealing with this my whole life. And I'm devastated that this has happened in my career. I look forward to coming to a resolution and putting this behind me. I look forward to fighting again for the best organization in the world. I'm the next champion. I am ready to fight. So I believe the commission meeting is either this week or next week.

And I know MBS is on the docket. And I feel like most times when fighters come out with statements like this, that there is going to be a suspension, but I don't think it's going to be like a super long one. So my first thought before knowing what the suspension is actually going to be is that this is nothing. This doesn't hamper anything. because even when Myra went out and finished Holly Holm,

I don't think she was sliding into the title fight anyways. I think the UFC already had Pennington Pena sort of on the wall. It's just kind of figuring out where it's going to happen. So I just kind of think it's just going to be a weird sort of asterisk attached to things, but it's not like she took steroids or anything. So I wonder just how the overall reaction is going to be. But to me, this actually. may have breathed new life into,

I can't believe I'm going to say this. This was probably the best thing that could have happened to Holly Holm. Because now she, she's kind of back in the mix again, which is super weird to say. But honestly, I think timeline-wise, depending on how long suspension is going to be, I don't think it's going to really hamper anything.

So, yeah, it's tough. And hopefully she doesn't get like a two-year suspension or anything, because then that's a whole different conversation. Toakal. So firstly, I want to say, Sugar Sean O'Malley finally did it. Oh, finally, he did it quick. But you know what I mean?

I apparently, I got a message from my friend who also is interested in the UFC, but it doesn't really watch that often. And he told me, apparently back in 2017, I said Sean O'Malley is going to be a champion. I'm not going to take credit for that at all because I knew nothing about fighting at the time.

I just saw him on Daniel White's Contented series and was just like, yeah, this looks like a champion. And then, yeah, now he is. That's pretty insane. What I want to talk about, though, is of course, or not of course, I always seem so negative. Anyway, Chris Wyatman. So this part where Dana goes out and say he should retire,

I mean, I kind of agree. I'm not sure I want to see Chris Whiteman fight again. But the problem is with him doing it as a promoter, he knows that if he retires, then the contract keeps Chris Whiteman in the company. Like, I don't know if probably Sunset Claus and all those things, but it keeps him in for longer without having to fight so that he can't be snatched up by other,

organizations. And maybe it's just me and my conspiracy theorist hat, but it seems like that this could be the UFC saying, hey, we don't want you to fight anywhere else. But please don't fight at all because we don't feel comfortable with it. We don't have any matchups that kind of fits the pay that we give you. So can you please just not fight? That's what it seems like to me. what your thoughts are on that. But I would like to hear it. Thank you. So I will say this. And Dana will talk about this from time to time at these press conferences.

And a lot of times it'll just be like, yeah, we got to have this conversation. It's time to have the conversation. You could tell. And it's not Dana's place to really say like, this guy should be done, this guy should be done, this gal should be done. But you could tell that he actually cares about. Chris. Like, it came from a place of compassion when he was saying this. And mostly because he got hurt again in this fight. And there's, you know, there's talks about a torn MCL. That's going to be another year before he's going to be able to fight again after overcoming

this injury. And I even said it on the preview show. But like the best case scenario of all of this is not a Chris Widman win, although it would be a cool moment. It's not Chris getting like knocked out or anything. It's Chris getting in there and losing a somewhat competitive decision because if he just came back and went through all that and was just like, look, I did it. Hopefully I inspired some people and then decided to walk away at 39. Like this is a triumph. Like, MMA retirements are rarely positive. And while Wyman was banged up and he's hurt and all that and we saw him hobble on the leg a bunch of times in that fight, he still made it to the final horn and made it to the cards.

And to me, like, that's, there aren't a lot of moral victories in the sport, and that's one of them. So if Chris wants to fight one more time, and I don't know what his contract structure looks like, I think the UFC is just going to give them one. And there's only one fight for me that it is. You just, I know it's a very rare thing. But bring back Luke Rockhold for one fight. Just do it. Just do Wyman Rockhold.

Let's just end this thing. once and for all. Double retirement fight. Call it a day. And let's just go. I also think that like if Wyman really wants to fight, like he's always been in good standing with the UFC, they've always had a really tight, great relationship.

And I think of Wyven just what's the UFC saying, like, look, if you don't want me to fight for you, that's cool, just release me from the contract. I think the UFC would. I do. This isn't, they're not going to try to hold Chris hostage. Where's he going to go, though? He's going to go to PFL, maybe go for the Millie.

He's just going to be part of paper, you do i don't know but it's almost like impossible to talk about right now because we don't know how bad the knee injury is from this fight we don't know when he'd be able to come back we don't know what the recovery is going to be like it's kind of premature to even talk about this but you did know it it's like if you watch that clip of him talking about chris wyman like you can tell dana like truly cares about him this isn't just like nah he's done it's just like please don't fight anymore. Like, I love you, man. I just don't want to see a fight anymore. And that was a scary fight to come into you, right? Any of us watching that,

we're like, oh, man, just hope that he's okay. So, yeah, we'll see what happens with that. But if you want to want one more, it's Luke Rockhold and nobody else. Welcome aboard Air Canada. Rocky's vacation, here we come. Whoa, is this economy? Free beer, wine, and snacks. Sweet. Fast free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land. And with live TV, I'm not missing the game. It's kind of like I'm already on vacation.

Nice. Air Canada. Nice travels. Wi-Fi available to Aero plan members on equip flights, sponsored by Bell. Conditions apply. See AirCanada.com. At Desjardin, we speak business. We speak startup funding and comprehensive game plans.

We've mastered made to measure growth and expansion. advice, and we can talk your ear off about transferring your business when the time comes. Because at Desjardin business, we speak the same language you do, business. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us, and contact Desjardin today. We'd love to talk, business. Work-Whorter sports allow. Hey, Mike. So I wanted to ask, you were there for media week.

Is it me or does it feel like Jean-Wei Lee is becoming the most beloved female fighter on the roster? I just feel like anywhere she goes, she's always getting a loud pop and a loud ovation. She got it in New York. It seemed like she got it in Boston. Anywhere

she is, I feel like she is a baby face. And the way that she ended up having fewer domination on Amanda Lemos, I mean, it was spectacular. I feel that she'll be able to run through Yang Jonan. Tatiana Suarez, I feel like it might go to distance, but I would favor Jean-Wei Lee.

And as for Sean O'Malley, I feel like we're going to be in an era where he's in a pick his fight. I can see fighters of like Rob Juan and Adrian Yanez, two fighters that have low so far this year. They can possibly, at some point in the near future, get in the octagon with Sean Amalli because he's going to take his fights. He's not going to pick a fighter like Umar and Mamgar Meryl.

I feel like fighters like him. I would even say Corey Sanhagan would not be in the mix just because I'm not going to lie, his last two fights have been very wrestling-oriented and a little bit boring. And I could just see Sean O'Malley looking at that type of fight and saying, you know what, this is not good for business. You know, I don't want to be having a fight where it's not necessarily for the crowd. So I feel like fighters like Sanhagen on the Margar Meadows, heavily lost this past weekend, like the biggest losers. And where is Peodor Yan?

I feel like Peodor Yan and Brian Ortega are like the two fighters that a lot of people have been asking about what's going on with them. I have heard nothing that of any Peodor Young news or Brian Ortega. That's what I got to say. Thanks, man. Yeah, Zhang is super over in Boston outside of Sean O'Malley. was the most overfighter on the card. Lots of love, lots of ovations, and Boston is super over with John. Zhang Wei Lee loves Boston.

And Dana White hooked her up with a little FaceTime call with Tom Brady and she loves Tom Brady. Last time she was in Boston, it was the last time they were, they had a card out there. There was that Fight Night card headline by Chris Wyman and Dominic Reyes. Zhang Wei Lee was one of the guest fighters did a media scrum and before she got to the fight she went to Gillette and met Tom Brady

and she was like the thrill of her life she was so excited about that. So yeah, she's super over. She wasn't always that way though. Remember when she fought Rose? She wasn't the baby face in those fights at all. So she's come a long way. I think the improvements in her game

and I think her just going out there and melting Carla Sparza kind of did a lot for her. Carla was kind of the heel and all of this because of how she won the belt in a lot of people's eyes. Not really fair, but the fight was awful. It was a bad fight, but she still went in there and won't the belt. And I think people just weren't. We're like, all right, let's just go beat her.

And it kind of got her over. So, yeah, and like I said before, Bannon White, it's just going to be super weird now. It just could be a super weird division. Sean is going to have a lot of say and what happens. And I don't know who the biggest loser. I feel like Umar's a big loser in this.

Sohudo's trying his hardest. And I feel like I feel like Suhudo is going to get a shot. So I don't know what Henry's going to do. Is he going to go fight Marab and the winner gets Sean? Because there's stories with both. I think if Sean has to say, he'd rather fight Zahudo than Marab. And that's probably the right way to go. And you mentioned guys like,

font and others, they got to get themselves over, man. Like, that's the thing. Like, Rob is a super fun fighter, but he's not, like, super over. Adrian's probably a little more over than Rob is right now. And who knows? I wouldn't rule Dominic Cruz out of this conversation at all. I feel like Sean would see that as a winnable fight. And I feel like Sean could paint a picture of, hey, I already beat one of the guys in the

greatest band and weight of all time discussion. why don't I beat the other dude in the greatest Bannon-Wight of all-time discussion? And if Sean wants that fight, you think Dominic Cruz is going to be like, no, I haven't earned that one.

Domina's going to take that fight in a second. And there you go. Like I said, things are going to get very, very weird. Meritocracy is officially out the window at 135. The division I've always called the Intercontinental Division is now in a higher place

with a big star running it. Bantam-Made has never been in a more, interesting position because they've never had a big star at the top. Bannamweight is now an official main event division for pay-per-views. Sean O'Malley is not co-main eventing to anybody right now.

He's not. And if they book him in December and they book, let's just say they book Yeri and Alex on that card too, I know Yerian Alex is the bigger weight class, but they are co-main eventing to Sean O'Malley

and Cheatera vera. That's it. So the next two years are going to be real interesting. Well, forever long, Sean O'Malley is the title four. And then with Ortega, I don't know, we know what happened to the Ieir fight. I think he was getting ready to return and then he injured his shoulder again. That's word around campus. So he's going to be out for a hot minute, I think. I know Calvin Cater said when he's ready to come back, that's a fight that he wants.

I like that idea a lot. I think that makes a lot of sense. So we'll see what happens with that. We'll keep on going. There's three more people in mind. We'll get to your boy. We'll get to Dillon. We'll get to go.

Your boy. Hello. Hey, Mike. This is your boy, Corey, out here in Denver. I'm going to go a little off topic because I know this has nothing to do with 292. But I got to ask, what do you make of the Logan Paul, Dylan, Danis, John? I don't follow either one of those guys and they're all over my timeline. Do you think there's ever been like a pre-fight trash talk that has ruined a marriage engagement?

Anyways, that's it, man. Thanks. Yeah, it's, uh, I don't know. Dude has to show up now. I mean, the press conference, I believe, is just about to start. So, uh, and I believe Dylan is there for the presser. So he's making this interesting in some respects. There are people in, like, different parts of life who are now, like, totally invested in this fight.

And I don't know how to feel about it. Like, KSI is going to fight Tommy Fury, and I feel like Tommy Fury is going to win. And then this fight is just super weird. Like, I just don't see a war where Dylan Dennis has any chance of winning this fight. So maybe this is just his way of just getting Logan all pissed up. But, like, this is pure boxing. And I just, Logan's not a good boxer at all. but Dylan Danes doesn't throw punches ever.

So I don't know. I think it's going to be a super big deal because Connor is going to be involved. Connor said he's training him. I would assume Connor will probably be in the corner to make this as big as possible. I don't know. I'm still not even convinced this fight's going to happen. I think the fact that Dylan is here for the presser is huge. But I still, until they're in the ring, I still don't believe this fight's going to happen.

I just, I don't know. I'm more confident in this fight happening than the KSI won, but it's still Dylan Danis, and until he walks into the ring on fight night, I just don't know. Viking, what's up? Hello. Hi, Mike. Hey, buddy.

So the con is testically is not going to show up, I think. So with that, I'm, I just want to talk about the UFC 2903, Australia. I think the card is very mediocre. The core main event should have been in a title fight instead of that they booked a title title as Alexander Horikov. I mean, this co-meven is not even for the number one contender and people have to pay significant amounts for a pay per view and they deserve to get a co-main event as a title fight.

And the title Iwasa and Alexander Wolcov, they just doesn't have that hype behind them right now and not even a winning streak. I think Wolcov is on the two-fights winning streak, but still doesn't matter. So what do you think about the UFC 293? card overall and the and do you think the

co-main event should have been in their title fight. Thanks a lot. Thanks, man. The problem is there's just like you have to understand where some fighters come from. It's just, first of all, this event was kind of like cobbled together.

We knew they were coming here, but we didn't even know what the main event was until, what, like a week and a half ago, two weeks ago. And it's happening like three weeks from now. we're all wondering like what's going to happen are we going to get Izzy versus DDP and I think that was the UFC's arrival plan

and we have to keep this in mind as well this is pay per view buys for the UFC it's cherry on top of the Sunday because they're getting paid so much money by ESPN and all the other broadcast partners to host these cards

Sydney and that whole area they are paying the UFC to come there right they're making a whole bunch of money just to host an event there. On top of that, they sold the building out without even announcing a main event.

Like, we weren't even sure if Izzy was 100% going to fight on the card, and they still sold it out. And to cobble a fight card together and spend so much time wondering, like, who's even getting a headline? Because at first, it was all in on Izzy, DDP. DDP wasn't going to be able to do it,

which goes back to the week of the show where I was like, why the fuck is Robert Whitaker fighting DDP right now? Because the timing of that fight was awful. We knew that neither of those guys were going to be able to turn around and fight Izzy. Luckily, Sean Strickland fought the week before. There's at least something there. They get Izzy. There's just no way you were going to get a second title fight on that card in that short amount of time.

So look, this is a local card. Taito Yavasa is still super over. people still love Ty. He's going to go fight Volkov. That fight probably ain't getting out of seven and a half minutes. It'll set up the main event nice. We get Justin Tafas and Lane fine. This is just about, this is the Izzy card.

This is the Izzy fighting at home card. And Izzy's a big star. And the beauty of this is, if you don't want to spend $85 on it, you don't have to. You don't have to. But there's not another pay-per-view for another six weeks after that. five, six weeks. We don't only get another one until October 21st.

So you get a little bit of a breather, and you know Abu Dhabi's going to be loaded. So I get it, man. I get your comfort. Right now there's only 10 fights in the card. And let me just tell you, if it stays at 10 fights, I will be a happy camper. 10 fights is perfect.

That is a perfect number, especially on a card like this. You get Tyson-Pager on the card. Medell Cop versus Kai Karfrancis is a sick fight, but now it's not happening. We got Felipe Dos Santos as MA fighting for support it last night. Against Minel Cop, at least Benel Cop gets to fucking fight. I mean, this dude has just had so much bad luck.

Carlos Ulberg is a rising star. Jack Jenkins looked really good in his last fight. Him at Chippe Mariscal is a ridiculous fight. Blood Diamond is fighting on the card. Shane Young's on the card. James on the card. This is a let's get our region over. Let's get a bunch of local fighters.

Let's get the crowd going crazy. kind of a card. So it ain't the best. It ain't the best. I still feel that this will do better than 288 did. The Sterling Sohudo card. I still think it's going to do better just because of Izzy. And Sean Strickland is going to do his damnedest to get Izzy riled up. The press conference is going to be crazy. The face officers are going to be nuts. The build to that fight is going to be kind of ugly, but it's going to get some casual appeal. So I do in the end, think it's going to do fine. Well, people want to spend $85

on it. Not really sure, but don't worry. You watch the watch party, because that's still going to happen. And we'll tell you what's going to happen. And we'll have a good time eating some Tam-Tams and Tim Tams and watching Izzy do his thing. Dylan, hello. Hey, you got me, Mike? Yep. Hey, I just want to very quickly just

complain about something for just a second. And hopefully I don't come across as too much with Kermudgeon. but all right it's saturday night the main event is among us is 292 omalian omalian aljo they meet in the middle of the ring it's electric like i'm out of my seat at home and then all of a sudden some gibronian in an event staff jacket just starts pushing omali back and ruins the moment and it was so annoying to me and then i just thought about it was like these guys are always so annoying like what a big when happens they're like don't stand on the fence don't don't sit on the side of the cage

it's like can we get these guys a memo just to chill out like o'malley and aljo we're about to fight for 25 minutes they they knew that they're not going to attack each other in bruce buffers announcement like just let the moment happen but that's it hopefully i don't sound like a break sorry thanks my no that was uh that was actually like a really cool moment um but at the same token And I'm sure that guy was probably told by someone from the commission to just be like, all right, that's enough. Like get them back over the line. Let's get through these intros and get it done. But we did get that moment.

And I thought that was super cool of them just kind of meeting on the outside of the middle of the cage. And I thought that was pretty freaking cool. But, you know, let them, they had their moment. And they got pushed back. Let Bruce Buffer and his weird Christmas. wrapping jackets, get everyone all fired up. And he did. And it made that moment even bigger for Sean.

So I didn't have a huge issue with it. We still got it. We still got those guys pretty close to each other. And I think the moment just kind of lapsed at that point. Now we just get through the normal shit. Let's get through Bruce's intro. And then we'll just get to fight. We'll just get to fight.

All right. Last one, I got to go. the fair play man to take us home what's that man to them two new stars when that fight at Nama bonus

then we'll come through that series I think it was cat on somewhere like that Katon and Kohl Ola Burger's somewhere did you watch that fight hello

wait say it again you were breaking up like crazy did you watch that fight that cat on and that Which one? Them two went that fucking ding-on. Until 92 at weekend. The ding-da?

At 292, which fight at 292? Them two were fating to game to UFC for contracts. Oh, the tough fights. Yeah. Which one are you talking about? Because there were two of them. Well, both of them were fantastic, won't they? Roughly.

Yeah. The Cotona, Cody Gibson fight was one of the best the year. It was incredible. Yeah, well, fucking, we're outstanding. I've judged every UFC fight for the last seven year, and I've only missed, then I've dropped to sleep twice. Once in Israel, I'd assign you fate, when they both come out, and it was 6 o'clock in morning,

and my eyes had gone, because I'd been up 18, 24 hours. And then, at last, set in eight, out, Jemaine Sterling, a fucking sugar show. Fucking hell, I couldn't wait to that sugar show. I'd been fucking waiting for that. for ages. I fucking felt a bastard sleep and missed him,

Spocked him out. I knew he'd knock him out. He's got some power. But he's going to have his hands full when he's got to defend it against Marabderish Philly or something. He's going to get his hands full, took a short.

No, wouldn't it as easy as he's going to get a stouture, I'll tell you now. Because he's a fucking... He's better than I'll join. is fucking Marab. What do you think to attack Sarukin fighting potentially

against Benil Darayoushti to crack into a top five? God, I hope they make that fight. Thank you the fair play, man. I hope they make that fight. Zerkien deserves that fight. He deserves it. Let's give him a shot.

Let's see what he can do. As you all know, I thought he beat Matush Gamrod. Yeah, that'll B.J., give him a little bit of a problem, but he still went back and finished the damn fight. So, yeah, I hope Sirkin fights Darius, and that'd be great.

You mentioned Marab. Look, could that fight happen, sure. Is it going to happen any time soon? No. Marab is not getting the first shot. It's going to be Cheeto, man. He's fighting Cheeto Vera. That is the fight.

Nothing else is going to happen. Unless Cheeto is like, nah, December's too soon. And O'Malley calls for somebody else. But it's going to be Cheeto. It's the biggest fight in the history of the division. They're going to make it. It's going to be an event, and it's going to be gigantic. That's it.

I feel for Marab. I definitely feel for Marab. I feel like he was probably the biggest loser of all on Saturday night. It's not fair, but I feel like, because if Aljo won, Marab's getting a title shot. Like, he's fighting for the vacant title. But Sean winning just flips everything upside down. And now the division is different. The division isn't going to be the meritocracy.

division. It's the Sugar Sean O'Malley Division. And whatever Sean wants, that's what's going to happen. So maybe man, it's tough. If I'm a Rob, I ain't calling for Sean right now, because he's not going to get it.

Call for Sehudo. Call for Sehudo. Go out there and fight Henry. You beat Henry. You're in a great spot. And someone mentioned like, Pierre Yan is another interesting name. Where's Peter Yan? This is the time. I know he came out and said, oh, the rematch is going to be great.

He's just not going to get it. Do Pierre Jan versus Rob Font. And you best, oh, God, Peodor Yan jumps the line too if he gets a win because of the story there. And Sean already knows he can beat him. So, telling you, it's going to get real interesting. All right, last one, and I got to go for real. Dominic, take us home.

Dominic, unmute. Yeah, I'm sorry. I came in kind of late. I didn't get to hear your entire show. And we're coming from a big O'Malley fan, you know, I really enjoyed 2.92. But I wanted to hear what everyone kind of has to say about, you know, the fact of, like,

I've been a UFC fan since it started, you know what I mean? And I watched it go through a lot of changes, you know. But I just want to know what some of the fans think, like, do you think that they should have let O'Malley beat him into oblivion when he knocked him out? Or do you think that the ref was, was right in what he did? Or is the UFC starting to get like lashback in controversy for letting guys get like really beat after the fact of getting knocked out? What do you guys think? Thanks, man.

No, I had no issue with the stoppage whatsoever. None. None. I think Mark Goddard gave him enough time. Got like the way Aljo fell, like after he got hit, he face-planned it. He was able to recover and stuff. And I think Mark Godd had gave him enough time. Omer's landing some hammer fist.

Aljo was still rolling around a little bit. But it was that one big shot he landed when he threw Aljo's legs over and got to the side and landed that right hand that cut Aljo open. That was it. That was the shot that ended the fight. I have no problem with the stoppage whatsoever. None. none. Could we live in a world where like, yeah,

maybe it could have gone a little longer shore. But I, honestly, I don't have a problem with it. I don't have an issue with the stoppage at all. There's no need for Sean to beat him into an oblivion. And if he doesn't land that big right hand that cuts Aljo's eye open, I don't know if Mark would have stopped it, but that was a big shot that Sean landed. And I think Mark was just kind of like, all right,

some of these shots are landing some are not but none of them are like massively endangering shots but that once that one landed mark's like all right that's it so no i had no issue with stoppage none zippity do do da all right now i'll get colin and then i have to go call what's up take us home can hear me mike yeah real quick uh what's what do you make of that judge score in the carine a silver round one how does that happen that's all I got. Oh, man. Yep.

I forget his name too because I know him. I've met Steve Rita. That's his name. I've met Steve many times, you know, just covering cards. And I've ring announced a bunch of local events and I've met Steve a bunch. Yeah, not a good look, man. Not a good look. I'm sure you got to talk into about that.

But not good. it looks even weirder when he's the only one to put a score down. So, yeah, not a great look. I don't know if Steve's going to be judging a lot more UFC fights when the promotion returns to Boston, which Boston was on fire, man. Like, they were on fire. I don't think it's going to be, as much as I would love to see that be a regular stop for the UFC, like a once a year stop.

I don't think it's going to be a once a year stop. But I don't think we're going to be waiting four years for them to go back. I thought Dana would actually be more excited to be in Boston. I don't know what it was. At the press conference, I like teed him up to like promote. Fuck yeah, Boston, let's go. And he just was like, nah, broke the gate record. Good to be home.

I was like, oh, man. Come on, man. This is why John Anick should have been up there. Danick would have went fucking bananas. But that's neither here nor there. All right, everybody, we are done. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

It's going to be back on the program. It's going to be back in South Carolina. We'll be back here again on Thursday. We might roll a little bit earlier than usual. We get a little something planned for the podcast network. And I am excited for it for sure. So stay tuned for that. So it might roll a little bit early on Thursday.

We got BTL as well to react to all this, where the band-of-weight division is going to go. and all that fun stuff. Shout up, by the way, to my man G.C. and New York, Rick. Just knocking it out of the goddamn park last night or yesterday on the MMA hour. The G.C. and Rick Show, the Rick and G.C. show, however we want to call it. Those two dudes just killed it. Super proud of those guys.

It was amazing. Congratulations to New York, Rick. I'm becoming a dad once again. Just good times all around, everybody. So thank you very much. Back on Thursday, we'll do it again. Have a great rest of your Tuesday. And as always, have a heck of a morning, everybody.