MMA Fighting - HOAM | Reaction To Wild UFC 296 Press Conference, Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington Near Melee

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

The UFC 296 press conference saw a lot of trash talk, mostly between headliners Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, with the welterweight title challenger saying some things that many believed crossed the line. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck reacts to Thursday's wild press conference, Covington's comments about Edwards' father and taking shots at Stephen Thompson, how Thompson was able to somewhat disarm Covington, what is and isn't over the line when it comes to fight promotion — if there is anything — the UFC 296 co-main event between Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval, Ian Machado Garry being forced to withdraw from the card due to illness and the potential impact of it, the welterweight title picture depending on who wins the main event, 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 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

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but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible.

To the Vox Media Podcast Network. December 15th, 2023, 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 M.A Fighting Podcasting Network. What is going on, everybody? I am Mike Keck. Hope you're out having a fantastic week.

We are on the eve of UFC 296, and a lot has happened in regards to UFC 296 since we last spoke. We did not have a show yesterday because of everything going on. We did the show Tuesday. We did a BTL Q&A edition yesterday, myself and Jed and Casey.

But we're back to the show. today. And since we last spoke, UFC 296 looks a tad different. We lost the Randy Brown Muslim Salikoff fights. We also lost Ian Machado Gary. Namonia.

He is out of his fight with Ficente Luque. People just rip in this kid to shreds. And it's been a wild month for Ian Machado Gary. That is for sure. It all started on Wednesday. Did not show up to Media Day. People

had their own speculations. Jesse on fire, who produces content for YouTube, actually broke the news on Twitter that Ian may be out of the fight, and Chale Sonnen released a video, a little short clip on his YouTube channel saying that Ian was out, and then show you there after that. Dana White confirmed it himself. So tough loss. That was a fight I was really looking forward to. that was a fight by the time we got to Saturday if Ian had done Media Day and did the press conference, I actually think that would have been the fight

everybody was going to be talking about more so than even the main event if we're being honest for a number of reasons. And now it's no longer happening. Ian just getting clobbered left and right. I mean, the dude's sick. What do you want?

I mean, we got to take Dana and the UFC at their word. We don't do that often, But when it comes to stuff like this, and if Ariel's coming out and reporting things after conversations with him, Ariel isn't wrong. So he's not just going to throw things out there willy-nilly. So it sucks. We'll see what happens. But as Jed pointed out on BTL, if there's a card where we can lose a fight or two, even like a big one, it's this card because it's so ridiculous. We got Edwards versus Covington, which we'll get into in a second.

We got Pantosia versus Royval, which nobody's talking about, but is going to be the best fight on the card, in my opinion. It's the Intercontinental title fight, if you will. That fight's going to rule. They were super respectful at the press conference as you expect both guys to be, and that fight's going to be incredible for as long as it lasts. We do have Shafcott, Rachmanov versus Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. Divisional stakes galore in that one, depending on how it all plays out. And then the fight that was super polarizing when it was announced and then kind of fizzled out with all the Ian Machado Gary drama, Patty Pimblit and Tony Ferguson, they ramped up pretty significantly at the press conference. And I feel like after they face off one final time today, I feel like this could be the fight everybody's going to be talking about and thinking about even more so than the main event.

So a lot going on. We did have the press conference yesterday, which normally I try not to watch them live because more oftentimes than not. And it's tough with these press conferences because you can't have it both ways. There's really no middle ground for the most part. It's either just super ridiculous or it's like UFC 295 where it was so boring to some degree. like there's nothing that happened and you kind of want to hit that middle ground yesterday's press conference was certainly not what ufc 295s was colby covington that outfit i mean jesus christ unbelievable and i don't know if that's a good unbelievable or i mean look if you're trying to

steal headlines you certainly did and you know colby just kind of went after everybody goes after wonder boy of all people and wonder boy i think actually did the best job probably I've ever seen when it comes to Colby because he just kind of played along with it. He just kind of no-show, kind of like no-sold it, fired back at him.

And Colby said some ridiculous things about him and his dad and the karate ban and all that crap. And Wonderboy just kind of like played it off. And Colby just kind of left him be. I think Wonderboy kind of painted the picture on how you just kind of subdue and verbally unarmed Colby to some extent, but not everybody learned that lesson because it just kind of got worse.

Him and Tony Ferguson's back and forth was one of the most psychologically fascinating things I've ever seen in my life because it went from, you're a bitch, you've lost six in a row, F you, all this stuff, to go America. let's beat these English people. And they became like instant friends after like screaming, upset at these at each other. It was just so weird and fascinating at the same time. And then him and Leon kind of got after it a little bit.

Colby taking shots at Ian Machado, Gary. Even Leon kind of laughed at some of the early things that he said. And then things got dark. We saw Colby. Sometimes he sort of stung. He stumbles on his words. He gets a little frustrated. And then he kind of goes to his, his kind of ace in the hole. And I think the whole line of,

because it's just so, it was so weird. And I was driving. So I had, I had the audio going through my Bluetooth on the way back from the Jake Paul Wayans back to my parents' house. And I heard the line and I almost had to pull a car over because him and Leon are going back and forth, he's going to send Leon to the seventh layer of hair, and then it became seventh layer of hell, and then he basically said, and I'm just paraphrasing this because it was so bad.

He said that, you know, you go say hi to your dad in there, and of course Leon reacted through a bottle at Colby. Things got a little heated, and boy, that was tough, man. That was tough. even as a guy who has come on this program and has come on other programs, I've had a relationship with Colby for years,

talked to him even before he was in the UFC, talked to him when he started off in the UFC, when he was having a hard time getting ranked fights, all sorts of craziness. But the last, like, few years kind of been up and down because Colby, sometimes, like, look, sometimes you say things and you do things in the news, and when you work for a website like this, People are going to write stuff up about it.

People on the website are going to have opinions about things. Like maybe Colby doesn't deserve a title shot or he has to beat a ranked dude in a long time. He's only got a win over like one act of fighter on the roster. Like these are all real things. These are all real things. But because those are out there, like I get blamed for him. But it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. We know why Colby's getting this title shot at the end of the day.

I've never really kind of stood against that. But man, Colby said some. some really shitty things, and I thought this is pretty bad. And I know there are people out there who are like, oh, you know, it's fight promotion or don't watch and all that. That's your opinion. And I could have mine. I could have mine.

That was pretty bad. That was pretty bad. I totally understand why Leon reacted the way that he did. It was just tough scenes. It was tough scenes. And then Tony and Patty again after it was just, there's like a perfect line of chaos. for these press conferences. This one went way over it. And I know some people really enjoyed it. There were parts of it that I liked and there was parts of it that I thought sucked.

But this is what you get with Colby. You just never know. He's unpredictable. And I thought for the most part, outside of, I didn't really love the Wonderboy stuff, but I kind of loved what Wonderboy did to kind of disarm him. Did not like the Leon line there. And then, Colby just had a shtick, and I thought there were certain times where Colby actually did pretty well, but man, that line was too much. And I am super curious to kind of figure out how that affects this fight. Will Leon remain calm, cool, collected, or will Leon just have rage in his body when it comes to Colby? When he sees this man in the Octagon, he gets to put hands on him.

Is it going to change the way he approaches it? Super curious. But I think, I think Cole, just knowing Colby the way I do, I did not see that line coming. I think in his eyes, he won because he got Leon to react the way that he did. Now, it could be a good thing, could be a bad thing for him. But he did get Leon to react and bite. For the most part, Leon wasn't really reacting. He was kind of shrugging him off.

But that line sent him over the edge a little bit. I don't blame him. but pretty uncharacteristic of of Leon. So I think in Colby's eyes, he accomplished what he wanted to, as dark as it was. He did what he wanted to do. So that's my take on it. Let's talk 296.

Look, it is free for all Friday. I get it. I mean, we can talk about whatever the hell you guys want, but I assume most of it's going to be about $2.96. Get a lot of people lined up. Let's kind of keep these rapid fire today. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to have opinions on different things when it comes to 296. So let's try to keep these kind of short and sweet if we can.

So let's go to Lee to kick us off. Lee, what's up, ma'am? What's up, Mike? I come of a morning until you. You too, my friend. Hey, so I've been thinking, one, I'm going for Leon for 296, but Dan has been teasing a super fight. What if you took the BMF title and put it on a line? because Jesse is not going to say no to a Kobe fight.

And then you have the World to Weight title and the BMF title. Same night, UFC 300. Do you think that's even a possibility? I know Kobe will have to win. But I just think that would be like a crazy fight and two titles, a BMF, Walterweight title. Then all the storyline, you can go from there. But yeah, I just want to throw that out there.

I'll go more to you, Mike. Do Colby and Gagee? Yeah, 1-7. both belts. Damn. Interesting. I mean, I don't think Gaits you would be opposed to that. But man, can you imagine,

geez, can you imagine how Belal Muhammad would react to that? Not only would he get skipped over, but he gets skipped over by a lightweight. And I understand he's the BMF champion. I know he's super exciting and all that, but like, boy, that would be, that's a tough one. I mean, that would be the most poor, all thing that could possibly happen.

Unless like Dustin Porre gets the Colby fight instead and fights for the Walterway title, who's coming off of a knockout loss, which, by the way, if you've been following the sport for a long time, not out of the realm of possibility if the UFC thinks they could sell this fight.

So I don't think they'll go that route. If they did, it'd be super weird and oddly fascinating. Because, Colby's not a big welterweight. He doesn't really cut a ton of weight. It seemed like listening to him at the media day, and even at points to the press coffers,

I was like, he sounds a little like dry-mouthed, which is not typical for him. So I don't know if he just, like, lifted a lot of weights and put on some extra size, and maybe the cut was a little more strenuous this time around. But Colby's talked about moving down to 155. a bunch thinks he can make it without issue. So I don't know.

Maybe you do it at one. I don't know. I don't know how that would play out. But I don't think they'll go that route. And again, we talked about this on BTL yesterday. We've talked about it on this show. Like, what is a super fight? Like, what is actually a super fight now?

Champion versus Champion to me is not a super fight anymore because we've seen it a million times now. We've seen it twice this year where a champion moves up and fights for a second belt. Twice this year. This used to be a year. Unicorn. It'd be like the Olympics. Every four years you get a champ versus champ fight. And now it's like every year we get at least one, sometimes multiple. And you know what, you know what team I'm on. I'm on team, stay in your division and run off a bunch of title defenses. Like I was kind of half joking when I said this on BTL yesterday. Volkadovsky versus

Toporia like might actually be what a super fight is in 2020. because it's the champion of their division fighting the true legit number one contender. Like the next guy up. That is so rare now. That is incredibly rare. But is a super fight in 2023 just big names? Like one of the fights I threw out,

someone brought up on the show a couple weeks back. Like, what if they did GSP versus Anderson Silva? Like, is that a super fight? It'd be kind of like way too late for it, but nostalgia-wise would be kind of interesting. I don't think the fight would be all that compelling once it actually plays out, but I don't know what it could be.

Honestly, I have no idea. I have no idea. But to answer your question, I don't think we're getting Leon versus Gaetie, but that'd be super weird if we did get it, and sometimes weird is good. Let's go to average avenues. Go ahead, sir.

Hello. it has what's on your mind I just want to talk about the Cody Garber at Brian Callagher fight and I just didn't just hear your take on what Cody's approach is going to be because like last time he was sort of a bit

a bit patient also a bit sort of timid I thought to timid like a bit afraid to get hit and I just like Brian Callagher is kind of like a bull or so I was kind of curious on what you think he's approach might be Um, that's a good question. I, because I don't know.

Cody's been, his career has been so weird. Comes into the UFC, is undefeated. He's knocking dudes out. Has one of the all-time great championship performances against Dominic Cruz. And then just gets, just gets wrecked by T.J. Dilloshaw, multiple occasions. loses a bunch of fights, goes down to 25, gets knocked out again. Rob Font pieces them up.

Just losing fights left and right. Then he gets Trevin Jones, which, look, all respect to Trevor Jones. But we saw the match and we're like, all right, we know what the UFC's trying to do. They're trying to get this guy a win. And that was not a fight that anybody's going to go back and watch again.

It was not very good. So I am curious how this fight's going to play out. If I'm Brian Kelleher, I'm coming out swinging for the fences. Like, just come out and chuck them and just see how Cody reacts to it. Because he could, like, if he, like, I know Kellerher is more known for the submission threat than the knockout threat. But Cody, man, Cody's chin has been sussed for a while. It's just what happens in this game.

you get cracked a bunch, get knocked out a bunch. Things start to go. You get a little bit older. Things start to go. And I'm not saying this like shit on Cody. It's just the way of the beast. But if I'm Keller, man, just come out chucking him and see if you can land something. And what a story would be.

I feel like not enough is being made about Keller her in this fight. This dude had his career almost ended with the neck injury that he had. Somehow he defied the odds. and long layoff, he's coming back, and he's getting a chance to fight a former champion. Like, what a friggin moment it would be for him. If after everything he's gone through, he comes back and beats Cody,

he goes out there and finishes him? Holy shit. That would be an incredible story. So it's a good fight. I kind of thought, we were talking about on BTL yesterday, I kind of thought they would move that one up to the main card and not the Emmett,

Bryce Mitchell fight. I get honestly, obviously I understand why they bumped that one up, but I think I thought maybe the UFC would be like, no, I don't know if we want to like do the final ESPN prelim with Cody again because they tried that with the Jones fight and the fight wasn't good. So I assume that's what's going to be the featured prelim. I haven't looked at the updated card, but yeah, it's an interesting fight. I think Cody, I don't think Cody is going to come out as As patience as he did last time, I think he's going to come out. Not reckless, but I think he's going to come out more aggressively. But if I'm Kelleher, I'm matching that.

I'm matching that or I'm trying to be as aggressive as I possibly could be. Let's go to Brian. Hello, Brian. Hey, Mike. How are you doing today? Good. Good to hear. I have two things, one question and then just a comment.

something I see like a ton of MMA fans commenting, whether it's on here, the website, or YouTube, I'm so sick of people saying Colby's like funny or a good trash talker. Obviously, the dad's stuff, everyone knows that's crossed the line, but

I forget if it was Jed or CB who said it on no bets barred, said it best. He is like a fake Chale Sonan. He's like a worst Chal Sonan, like a Kmart version of a Chale Sonan. And I,

I'm really just so sick of him getting like any fandom. And I had to just get that off my chest. He truly just irks me so much for someone who just doesn't evolve in any sense of the game, whether it's his same Mike skills that he had in 2017 or even now. And his fighting game is pretty much the same. But once I get that off, my question to you is, who do you think Patty would necessarily go for after the Tony fight if he wins? it just seemed like he's not getting as much attention as usual.

Like I'd be curious to see if your numbers are the same on MMA fighting for him as they were before. It just seems like he's lost, kind of like Hamza, like lost a lot of his run he had there. So I'm just kind of curious your thoughts on Patty's popularity there and then kind of where he would go if he sadly does beat Tony. Thanks, Mike. Have a great weekend. Yeah, it's weird. Patty had a lot of buzz, whether positive or negative, coming off of that. Jared Gordon fight and then just being out for a year really sucked for him.

It really knocked some momentum down. But like I said, on BTL, Ian, Ian Gary getting sick, as tough as that is and getting pneumonia, probably the best thing that could have happened for Patty, because no one was talking about that fight. Nobody was taught, like, when it was booked and then for like a couple of weeks, like that's all anybody could talk about. And then the Ian Gary drama started and that's all anybody could talk about.

about and it's like people weren't talking about this fight at all and it was more wasn't even about patty was more about tony and the whole david doggins held week and how these two guys got together and all that like that's what the story became patty was like out of the equation all together but he's going to be back on saturday i'll tell you what man i i was there's a part of me that was just kind of, not hoping for it, but just thinking like, Patty should just go into this fight full heel and just be like, I'm going to retire this

dude the whole way. He hasn't really done that, but Tody kind of pissed him off at the press conference and he had some things to say, and I think he riled some people up, so I think some of that momentum comes back. And like I said, once these two guys face off for the final time today, I think this will be the one everybody's

talking about. Like this will be the Sean Strickland, Alex Pereira fight from that international fight week card that kind of stole all the headlines by the time we got to Saturday. And I think that's what's going to happen here. But yeah, we'll see how this all plays out. Patty's been right about this the whole way that it's kind of a lose-lose for him. But after all the trash talk and everything here, I kind of think he just has to, if he beats

Tony by decision, he gains nothing from this. Like, he really doesn't. but if he just goes out and wrecks Tony I think he does gain a little of something as far as matchups go I mean geez because obviously if he goes out there and beats Tony

the UFC's going to give him something but like I'm just trying to look at what's available do they give him a Dan Hooker I think they give him a name like they're they ain't going to throw him in there with Jail and Turner I tell you that right now

there's no friggin' way they're going to do that they're certainly not going to throw him in there with ben was santiini because that fight is going to go super bad for him do dariush do they give him to derriush and just be like hey let's see how you let's see how it goes and just kind of hope that maybe patty can just kind of build upon that negative momentum for derriush could that maybe they go that route i'm just kind of looking maybe they could do like a bobby green maybe would be a name, but a fight that's probably somewhat winnable. So I would say, I would say, Darius Hooker, Adi and Hooker are actually super interesting

because of how durable both those guys are. But it's going to be something like that, or Bobby Green. So probably like one of those three guys. Boating 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.

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your travel bug, but your taste buds too. That's the powerful backing of Amnesty. Conditions apply. Let's go to 4-ounce sniper. What's up 4-Ansn sniper? Mike, can you hear me? Yep. Hey, heck of the morning. I don't think I ever got

to hop on the show and ask you your thoughts on Tony trading with David Guggins. It seems like David Guggins would be the type of guy you need in your corner if you're trying to build that mentality become mentally stronger. And I don't know if that's

what Tony needed, I guess, for this fight camp. So I wanted to know, do you think Goggins being in his corner is actually going to help him? Or do you think it's just a matter of time before Tony is, you know, just done it out of the sport? I don't know. So I talked about this a couple weeks back when all this started. And I'm basically just kind of on the same stance as I'm on right now as I was back then, where it's like if there's one guy in the UFC where I'm like,

this guy probably doesn't need to trade with David Goggins and go through Hell Week. It's Tony. Tony's cardio's never been an issue. The dude trains like a frigging absolute insane person anyways. And he's just not, he's just so not your typical MMA fighter when it comes to preparation and working out and all that. So maybe there's like a part of him that was just like, I got to make, I got to take this to a different level, which for Tony, this is probably, the only thing that he could do, really. But on the other side, my whole thing was

it couldn't hurt. Like, I don't think this hurts him at all. I don't know if it makes him better, but I don't think it makes him worse, if that makes sense. I don't know. We'll see how it all plays up. Who knows?

Maybe, who knows? If Tony just goes out there, just Ether's Patty Pimblit, everyone's going to want friggin' David Gagin's coaching them or putting them through him hell week. I'll tell you that right now.

David Goggins will get like a nomination. David Goggins will be in the trainer of the year nominations for the 2024 World M.A Awards of Tony Ferguson beats Patty Pimlet. I fucking guarantee it. Guarantee it that David Goggins will be on the trainer of the year nominee list if Tony wins this fight. Not coach of the air, but trainer of the year. Garin fucking T it.

But we'll see. Let's go to Cole. Good morning, Mike. What's that, good morning. Morning? Yeah, more on that, like, how Jed would describe Colby as, like, a chale who's kind of just, like, not really in on the joke, like, without the nudge, nudge. I thought, like, did you not think when he delivered that Thompson line? I don't know, that was pretty good.

Like, as far as, like, him being in on it, him kind of joking about, I mean, I didn't think he was, like, oh, you're an absolute pedophile. I thought he was laughing about it. I thought it was good the fact that Thompson laughed it off too. I fucking popped for that. That was big. But yeah, my other question that was already taken, I know you've been talking for months about, like, how Patty is going to approach this press conference.

Is he going to be the respectful young guy against the vet? But I think he actually just played it perfectly. Like he kind of sat back during the press conference and waited for Tony to kind of take a dig at him and then went. I thought that was pretty good. Um, yeah, what's your biggest, what do you think the biggest narrative today on the scales is going to be this morning? Biggest narrative on the scales. So I'm thinking about that.

Well, I, I don't know, the whole, the whole, I don't know, the whole thing with Wonderboy, I thought was not shocks that Colby went there. Um, I think he's gone there before when I've talked to him. I still didn't love it. But again, I thought they kind of went back and forth pretty good. And then Colby was just like, all right, man, I didn't get anything out of this guy. And I think that's kind of how you have to approach him. You just have to laugh it off. You just have to laugh it off.

And that's a Wonderboy did. So. And they moved on, which is even better. You know, this wasn't a whole thing for 30 minutes. So I didn't love it, but if it's going to happen, you do it for 30 seconds, and then we move on with our lives. And it's not like the entire breast conference. Narrative on the scale.

I don't know if there's going to be really much to it. I don't know if I look at any of these fighters and I'm like, they're going to miss. Maybe Bryce, but Bryce doesn't seem like a guy who gets out of shape all that often. I don't know. I think it's probably going to have to do with the main event, though. I'm curious to see what Colby looks like. See if you put on a little bit of muscle. I think Leon's going to look gigantic.

So I think it's probably going to have to do with the main event. But like you look up and down the card and I don't really see anybody that stands out that I'm like, ooh, they might not make it. So, yeah, I'll go with the low-hanging fruit and just go with a, the main event. Tibby, go ahead. Try again, my man. Hop out, hop back in. It's not connecting on your end.

Tristan, go ahead. Can you hear me? Okay, good. For everybody on here with Kobe Covington and Leon and Kobe talking about Leon's dead father and stuff like that, like, listen to game, man.

It's just shout out and listen. Shout out to you, Mike. shout out to Kamar Uzman shout out to Wonderboy, shout out to GSP. Like, nothing is off limits, man. They, they kind of, listen, I think Shannon Shep said the best. When you go low, you go to the basement. And that's how the fucking works, man.

Nothing is off limits. As long as I could get a reaction out of you, that's all that matters, because I need you. Kobe's like, I need you to pay, plop down my $80 so you could walk me fight and I could get pay per view points and things like that. nature. It's the fight game. And nothing's off limits. Religion, it doesn't matter. And it took me some time to understand this. Like, oh, like, you know, and I used to get upset about this and did withdraw me a reaction and wait how Kobe does. But, man, but Kobe is just like, man, I'm going with this gimmick. Whether you, whether you responded to it negatively or positively, I'm getting a reaction. And that's all I care about. Right. And Jed talked about on BTL. He's like, it's not good, but, but yeah, got a reaction out of you. And he's like,

like, oh, man, I don't, I hope he doesn't become champion. Because if he becomes champion, it's going to be like, hey, man, that's how it works. This is the fight game. It's just, and it's just like the WWE, like when the attitude area, I remember the situation where I think it was Edge, Matt Hardy, and Lita, that whole situation. And it was real life. And the WWE was like, yo, let's make this into a storyline in our organization. And it worked.

You were popping down watching Raw, watching Smackdown, watching like, yo, what's going to happen? I can't believe this is happening. But that's how the ratings went up, man. That's how WWE, in that attitude era, was one of the best eras in wrestling history. So, you know, people got to understand that.

He's doing, Kobe's going to do whatever he can to get a reaction out of you and for you to watch him, watch his fights, whether it's positive or negative. And that's what it is. That's why. And even it was kind of surprising to see Shaheen and Damien Martin draw a reaction because I know they know. And listen, in reality, it's awful.

I'm not, what Kobe's saying is awful. That's not, you don't do that. But it's just the game, man. I saw it. And I just shrug my shoulders like, all right. Or, you know, or like, if you look at Kamar Usman, Kumar Usman and Wonderboy did best, man. I never forget that. like, Kumar Oussman was looking at the TV when Kobe was saying all those racist things live on TV.

And it was really, really bad and really bad. And what did Kumar Usman do? He just laughed. He just like, I broke your jaw, man. He just laughed. He kept laughing the whole entire time because when those two fought after that octagon, what did Kobe say? Yo, you know, I didn't mean any of that. It's all business.

And Kobe, and Camaro was like, all right, man, cool. And that's the thing about it. Wonder Boy had a great reaction. He just laughed because Stephen Wonderboy Thompson knows. He's just talking, dude. I know what he's trying to do. It is what it is. My children's going, all right, because, again, there's no limits to the fight game.

And that's all I've got to say about that. Thanks, Mike. Look, you're not wrong that nothing's off limits in the fight game, but it doesn't have to be that way. You know what I mean? like here's the thing can you imagine if like draymond green

went to an NBA press conference and said that about somebody he had an issue with on the court can you imagine that what do you you think you think adam silver would have been like no man we got 400 maniacs here in the NBA

and the developmental program all fair no draymond would be fucking suspended and fined and same thing for major league baseball the NFL, all of those sports, there are repercussions when you say shit like that. In this sport, and in the UFC in particular,

there is, you're right. There is no, there's no line essentially that cannot be crossed when it comes to trash talk and fight promotions. But at the same time, doesn't mean everybody has to like it. And Dana White can come out there and be like, oh, you're a bunch of pussies. and all that stuff and, you know, stop being such a sensitive person or whatever.

And I've seen comments like that too. But it doesn't mean like everybody has to like it. We understand that no one's going to get punished for it, and that's fine. But it doesn't mean like everybody has to like it either. And we all understand, Tristan, where, what this is. We all get it. We saw it with Connor and Habib.

We saw it. Nothing was off limits. The darkest moment in the history of the sport was when Connor, through the dolly at the bus and almost ruined an entire pay-per-view event and what do they do to promote

the Connor McGregor versus Habib Mammagameda fight? They showed that clip over and over and over again. So you're right. There probably is not a line that can be crossed when it comes to fight promotion in the UFC. Totally understand. And fine. Like I've accepted

that too. But it doesn't mean as a person that I have to like it. Doesn't mean that Chehien has to like it. Doesn't mean that Damon has to like it doesn't mean anybody has to like it. If you like it, fine. I'm not going to sit there and criticize you for that. But if you criticize other people, I'm not saying you're doing this just in, but if other people are criticizing other people for being like, yeah, dude, that was a little too much. Like, I don't know what to tell you. You know what I mean? Like, you have, you can have your opinion all you want. You can think it's great trash talk and I'm not

going to sit there and be like, fuck you, dude, you're an asshole. It's just not, like, I'm not got to come on here and say that. But if I feel like it's over the line, fine. Like, that's my opinion. That's my opinion. If I would like to watch the sport where there's trash talk, but we avoid dead parents, like, I'm cool with that. And you want to bring up pro wrestling, yeah, the edge, Hardy Lita thing, that's one thing. But it's not a dead parent. They've tried dead parent things in pro wrestling. There's two that I can think about the top of my head. One was in ECW, and this wasn't a dead parent. They were doing a 10-bell salute for Tommy Dreamer's grandfather,

and Justin Credible came out, interrupted it, and basically told Tommy Dreamer, and I'm just paraphrasing here, I wish it was you instead of your dead grandfather. Like, said that, even the ECW fans are like, fuck this guy, and that place is just like, they don't give a shit about anything. And then WWE tried to do it too. I don't know if you're an old school pro wrestling fan. Big shows dad died, and like the big,

boss man, like made fun of him for it and like went to his dad's grave and like tied his gravestone to a truck and like ripped it out of the ground. Like no one was like, oh, this is great. I got to buy in your house salvation now because, ooh, big show's going to give box boss man his comeuppance. They're just like, why are we doing this? Why? You know what I mean? But again, just to reiterate what I said before, if you liked it, cool. Like if because of that, you're plopping 80 bucks down to watch Colby versus Leon. Okay. I ain't got to judge you for it.

But at the same token, if someone has an issue with it, don't call them pussies and soy boys and all this shit. We're allowed to have opinions just like I'm, and most of us will allow you to have yours. If you like it, great. If that's it draws you to the sport, fine. But it doesn't have to be like that for everybody. We don't have to be like, oh, that's a cold line, Colby.

You know what I mean? so however you feel about fine but not for me not for me and that's okay Timmy do we have you now all right can you hear me now I guess there you go down all right so question before this week started the the guess the test for Ian Gary was to see if you could get past this week without any trials and be his opponent but now that he's pulled out do you think this is a failure of a week for him because I do thank you is it a failure man it's it's a really interesting question because like the first day I think of is like no because you can't control being sick and all

that and like I said like I saw like I saw the comments on BTL and all the stuff that he didn't want any part of it and all this shit. And look, again, the people who are saying he was sick and talking to people I've talked to who told me he was sick, dude's sick, man. Like the flu and then he got pneumonia and that his kid got it to or it seemed like he did. Like, come on. Like, give the kid a fucking break. Like, I know he says some things that not everybody agrees with.

But the guy is pneumonia. Like, he can't fucking fight. The dude can't fight. At the same token, I kind of understand the question. question because sick or not, man, the fight was built up so much because of these headlines and the story was about Ian and if you could overcome the adversity that it's almost like, I don't think it's a failure. I just think it's somewhat disappointing to a lot of people that like we're not going to get

the answer to that. And who knows what they do now? I thought it was super simple just to rebook Luke A versus just do Luke A versus Holland. Because Holland wanted that fight. Lou Geh wanted it too. Kind of surprised he didn't do it. So that just tells me they're just going to go ahead and rebook this one.

I saw some people are like, oh, they could just fight in January. I don't know, man. Nomania sucks. I've had it. I've had double pneumonia. That was like the worst couple of weeks of my life. It was horrible.

It was fucking terrible. You don't come back from pneumonia super fast. So maybe they do it in Miami. I think that would make a lot of sense. Maybe you push it back to March, throw it in their Miami card. Luke A. lives not that far from there. Trains not that far from there. Gary's got ties to that area, too. It'd be an interesting spot to host that fight.

So, failure, I'm not going to say, but I get the question. Get the question. I don't know. Timmy, you got more you want to add to this? One more thing I forgot to say was Ed Evans posted a video. I remember back when Ian versus Neil was going to happen, and Neil pulled out because he had an injury, and then Ian called him a pussy, whatever. So with that also factored in. And this situation and, you know, the whole tabloid news with his family. Like, to be honest, like, you know, if Neil's a pussy for pulling out, then he's kind of a pussy for pulling out.

But again, I'm not a fan of Ian Gary with all his, well, all his, well, all the things he's done to promote his fights. So I'm coming from a biased point of view. But that's just, yeah, that's just it. Thank you. Yeah, I mean, that, that's kind of an interesting point, too. Yeah. I'm still, I'm still like to say failure, but it's not a great look. all at all.

Like, it just isn't. Like, he's just getting treaded. And it's just not, it's not gonna get any better for him. Like, I think this is probably, this might be worse than him losing, honestly, like in the aftermath of all of this. Like, if he goes out there and, like,

if he went out there and lost the decision to Lucke, like, he's got to get some shit for it for a few days, and then we're just going to kind of move on to the next thing. But this, I think he's just kind of, I think he's going to have to, live with this one for a little longer. So I think this one's going to actually sting more and last longer than if he just went out and lost to Lucke. So I do get where you're coming from.

It is an interesting question. It's definitely an interesting question. But again, you could have your opinion about this. And what can I say? Four Corner Sports. Go ahead. Hey, Mike. So I know nobody has talked about it.

And you're right. This is one fight that nobody really has cared to mention. But there's two fights on the card that has really got my attention. It is Dustin Jacoby versus what's it called Alonzo Menafield. And then there's also the Co-Mean event. I'm very intrigued first with the Jacoby versus Menafield fight. Just because I feel like Menafield is brewing onto something. I feel like he can get himself higher, you know,

in the echelon of the light heavyweight division. How do you predict that fight goes about? And I heard, I saw on topology that that thing got moved up to the feature to prelim. I don't know if that's accurate or not. And then as for the coal main event, there's no way that I see this fight making the cards just because how crazy and how, what's it called, the high-paced bow fighters are. who do you feel has the advantage if the fight actually goes past the two and a half mark that draft king's um has for the over under all right that's what i got to say thanks mike yeah co-made event rules is probably going to be the fight of the night i would say if there are betting odds on what the fight of the night is this is probably minus 800 like it's flying under the radar but i think it's flying under the radar because people just know it's going to be a banger like in the most respect respectful way possible. This fight's not going to steal headlines. It's just going to deliver. That's why

this was Al Jermaine Sterling, Piotr Yon won on paper. Because we were talking about, you know, the main event of that card had like a ton of storylines, but everyone was like, damn, dude, like Aljo versus John. There's like no hype for this fight, but it's going to rule. Who knew it was going to end the way that it did and change the narrative of that rivalry completely? And maybe the entire career trajectory of Al Jermaine Sterling, as we know it, as he won the belt that night via disqualification. but there's no way that this fight becomes that. I just don't see a world where that happens. If it goes past the two and a half,

I have to favor Pantosia because he's been there. He just did it with Brandon Moreno, went 25 minutes with a really good dude, and just kind of beat the hell out of Brandon Moreno for being honest. So I think the longer goes, the more it favors Pantosia because he has the experience there. I just don't think it gets that far I saw I heard like

I listened to a couple podcasts and they're like oh yeah this is got to go to the cards like every flyway title fight I'm like you sure right Royval doesn't go to the cards all that often very very rarely and Pantosia as of late doesn't go to the cards all that often either

I know he just did but this fight's gonna be wild man it's gonna be wild I'm super curious to what Roy Val looks like and we want to talk about fighters who kind of like lost a little momentum. Like I, and this isn't even fair. Pantosia, like coming out of the UFC 290,

I mean, he was the bell of the ball. The post fight interviewed, Daddy, you're proud of me now? Like, hearing his story and everything that happened, like he had a lot of momentum. And then that's just what the sport is like. The sport is just crazy and it moves so quickly. But that fight's going to be awesome. I have a bet

I have a bet under two and a half on that fight I have actually placed all my bets yesterday and I have to add a little something to it because we lost the Randy Brown Muslim Salikov fight if you guys listen to know Betts Bar they cooked up a

very spicy over one and a half parlay and I love it absolutely love it jumped all over it Now I have to try to find a new leg for it. But I might just let a ride and maybe I'll just build a second one. So I don't have to cash out of it.

But Edwards Colby, Shafcott Wonderboy, Patty, Tony, Randy Brown, Muslim Salikoff, Josh Emmett, Bryce Mitchell, Adana, Hosa, Garbrandt Keller, all over one and a half paid out of plus 900. I think there's a strong chance that happens. The other fight, yes, looking at UFC.com, Manifield Jacoby does move up to the featured spot. I think it's the line, the betting lines are perfect. That's what Jacobi minus 270, I think it says. Minus 270 to come back on Metafield plus 220.

Perfectly lined. Perfectly lined. Jacobi is so durable. He's really tough. Dude went 15 minutes with Collier Roundtree. Dude survived hell against Iwan Kuchalaba. This is like psychopath Ewan. Dude is super tough to get out of there.

And I feel like that's the only chance Alonzo has to win this fight is if he gets just dusted out of there quickly. This fight goes long. I think Jacobi's just going to piece him up. I think we go to the cards. I got Jacoby winning by decision. That's what I have. All right.

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Stop wondering. Start gifting. Winners, find fabulous for less. Let's get Ani in here, and then we'll go to Crypto. Hello, Mike. I mean, do we have you? Yes, yes. I was just waiting to not interrupt you. I really like the conversations I've heard so far.

And before I lose my train of thought, let me start with the one thing that I think I disagree with you with. UFC 295 press conference, I mean, for me personally, it wasn't that boring. And, you know, another thing that you might find crazy when I tell you is, I also didn't find UFC 267, if you remember, UFC 27 Jan Blahowicz versus Glover Teshera. That press conference said, I found that a bit wholesome as well. But with UFC 295, I think it was just competitive, you know, there was no trash talk. It was just competitive exchange of dialogue, you know what I mean? And that's what I like.

I also like trash talk, but, you know, man, sometimes I just feel that all these MMA fighters, it's just unfair to them that rather than just having to fight in the case, they have to deal with all of this. But hey, like, sometimes it entertains us. I did enjoy the press conference, but a few parts were just a bit too much. But as they say, it's fair game. And, I'm not sure, you know, if, but I'm not going to repeat all of it again. So that was there. And I think the people who think Colby has crossed the line with Leon, I really want to know what their thoughts are about, you know,

everyone speaking about Ian Gary's wife. I know, like, all the antics that Ian Gary has pulled, all the things that he has done, but you're still talking about someone's partner. like who you want to share your life with. And that is getting personal as well. I'm pretty sure they'll say that what Colby's doing is right, but what we're doing to Ian Gary is wrong, which doesn't quite add up.

And I'm excited for Pantoja versus Royval too. And AK, I know you're listening. You've denied me my ought to no point, but that's all right. I'm coming for the next one. Like he denied me my point, Mike. He denied me my point. Anyway, that's what I had in mind. I'm looking forward to the fights then.

Thanks, brother. Yeah, look, I think the Gary stuff's overlying too. But again, if you think it's great trash talk, good for you. Like, that's fine. Not for me, especially with him not there to kind of defend himself at the same time. But look, Ian's done some things. I get it. If you love it, fine.

Pantoja Royval is going to be great. And the 295 press, it's not that the 295 presser was bad. I mean, it was kind of boring, but there's just no energy. You know what I mean? Like, going back and, like, thinking about it, I don't even know if there are people there.

You know what I mean? Like, the crowd, like, brings something to it. like at least some buzz and that one just seemed like it was 20 media members and the fighters no Dana no nothing and I like I like Anik up there

more so than Dana at those press conferences I think Annick should do all of them I really do but there you go I'll bring my best friend in but let me just say this real quick about the Otno point if my best friend is denying you an Otno point

and you're coming to me to try to reverse that decision, I ain't doing it. I would never do that to you, my best friend, ever, ever, A.K. Yeah, I don't want to take up too much time here, Mike. Ani, we love you. We love you. But Mike, do you want to know the circumstance? I don't know why he would bring this up on the show.

Do you want to know circumstances under which the point was denied? Yes, I would love to. I'll read the DM exchange here. And again, Ani, love you. But you got to, why would you bring this up? Uh, he wanted an odd no point for he and this, this request came earlier this week. Uh, he wanted an auto point for McKenzie Dern versus Jessica Andrage. And it's like that might happen a month ago.

The moment is past. It's like, oh yeah, guys, come on if you want. There's no retroactive points. Once a fight ends, you lose all, not no point winning ability. Yeah. By all means, jump into the DMs and remind me because I've definitely gotten very bad. at keeping track of who has picked what fights and all that. But if it's a month later, guys, I'm sorry.

The Otno State has closed. It is locked again. We got to keep security tight around here. We can't just be throwing out points, whatever. And if we'll ask for them and they missed their deadline, you got to get the paperwork in. You got to get the paperwork in. Rules rule, Mike.

Thank you, my best friend. Thank you. Oh, sorry, buddy. Sorry. I thought, I heard silence and I thought you were done. My bad. Save your voice, A.K. We need you.

You're going to be talking a lot today. Of course, the UFC 296 live weigh-in show coming up at the top of the hour. And then AK is going to join us for the preview show as well. Which I think we're going to go live, like, right after the way-ins. I think we have it like tentatively scheduled for 230, but it might go a little bit sooner. So that'll be fun. That'll be fun. All right.

We got crypto. We got Eric. And I think we're going to probably wrap there. We'll see. Crypto, what you got? All right, Mike, you wanted rapid fire questions. But first, one thing, Mike, you didn't give me the amount of significant strikes earlier this week for Colby, the stat that I asked you about. So that's point number one.

I'll explain it to you. Yeah, I'll send you a message why I'm asking. about that, so I won't take up much time here. But my question for today, Mike, is if you're a Tony Ferguson fan, what is the best outcome in the fight against Paddy? Because we all know that if Tony wins, especially if this becomes a violent fight, he won't retire. I mean, there is no good ending for Tony in the UFC.

Let's be honest about this. This is not going to be a Robbie Lawler situation. So if you're a Tony Ferguson fan and you really like Tony and you've enjoyed all the amazing fights he has brought us in this last decade, so to say, or even longer actually, is the best outcome that Paddy wins a clear but a kind of competitive decision which might force Tony to at least consider. consider retiring. Is that actually the thing you should hope for if you're a Tony Ferguson fan? Because if he wins, Mike, this is just going to be a never-ending story until something really tragic happens. That's at least the way I see it. And don't forget the stats, Mike. Once again, I'm just going to remind you. Have a great weekend. And thank you for all the work you do. Thanks, buddy. I'll say 141 strikes for Colby.

That's what I'll say. Just willy-nilly. Best scenario for Tony fans. Because you're right, if he goes out there and rinses Patty, he ain't going anywhere. Jen said on BTL yesterday, the best case scenario was Patty just running Tony over in the first round. Like just clobbering him and just not, this fight's not competitive. Patty just rinses him in like 90 seconds. and that it's just kind of like he has to do it.

I think for me, I would like to see, I would like to see this be Tony's final fight. I think for me, I would like see Tony just in a blood and guts battle. And he just, I think it's him going out there, just having a fight of the night nominee with Patty and losing, losing a, like a super close decision. Or even like a, I suppose, like, I'm trying to, like, compare what I'm kind of hoping for.

Okay. Remember when Luke Rockhold fought Paulo Costa? Like, that fight was frigging ridiculous. It was, like, there's, like, no technical ambiance to it at all. It was just those two guys, like, just trying to beat the shit out of each other at high altitude. And Luke lost the fight, but delivered, like, a gutsy performance in a losing effort where people, like, applauded him and then he got on the mic and said, I'm done. And it was like, we even said, like, this is one of, this might have been the best retirement in MMA coming off of a loss we've

ever seen. Because it was like the perfect time. And of course, like two weeks later, Luke Rockald's like, yeah, maybe I'll go bare knuckle box Mike Perry, which is a terrible idea. But had Luke just walked away then, it would have been perfect, perfect retirement. So something similar to that, I think would be perfect. But again, I am concerned about like where Tony goes

because I kind of feel like fighting is just everything to this guy. I mean, I know he's a dad and he's a family man and all that stuff too, but that's kind of what I hope for. And I think if that happens, Dan will be like, hey, what else does this guy need to do for you all? Because look, Tony's never fighting for a title.

This ain't a wonder boy situation. This is it. This is it. I mean, Tony going out there getting a moment and like finishing Patty, it would be huge. The place is going to go crazy. But then we prolong this. And where do you go from there?

Unless he's just like, I'll fight at UFC 300 and do one more. Then it all depends on the matchmaking. Do Jim Miller, do Joe Lozahn, something of that nature. And then I'm okay with it. But if he says he like finishes Patty and then

says, hey Islam, I'm coming for you. Then I'm just like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Stop it. So we'll see. But that's, that's what I would like to see. Eric, go ahead. And Tertia is not getting like

the really respect in their name. They're not typing that up, but that fight's going to be sick, and I think Liam might be Colby by decision, but I don't know, so thanks, guys. Lose, lose for Tony? No.

I mean, you can't fall much further, if we're being honest. So, I agree with Patty when you said it's probably lose-lose for him. Not complete, I don't know. It's tough to say, because, again, I mean,

you either love Patty or you hate him. And that's a good split. The 50-50 split that his manager talks about, 50% want to see him win, 50% want to see him lose. If you're going to be a fighter that's going to make money for the long term, Patty's got something that could do that for him. But just a kind of a matter of time and we'll see how it goes. But, yeah, I don't think it's a losers for Tony.

I think it's more of a losers for Patty. Tony loses like, hey, we knew, like, look at the betting lines. While most Tony fans are kind of prisoners at the moment, like, hey, you know, this is, and look, of all the options that are available to him, this is as good as it can get for Tony. It's a fight he could win, and it wouldn't shock us. It's a fight where, I mean, who knows, Patty could knock him out, but Patty isn't like a big knockout artist. maybe he doesn't take a ton of damage. Maybe he just gets kind of dropped once and then gets tapped. You know what I mean?

So, and Patty's a big name. Like, if you threw him in there with like Benoit Santanyi, this is so much worse. So much worse. But Patty, like, if Tony wins, like, we wouldn't,

it's not of the realm of possibility, but will we be watching that fight, even if we feel like Tony's going to win, like through our fingers, in between our fingers, like hoping nothing, terrible happens. Fuck yeah.

I don't think anyone wants to see a Chris Gutierrez-Frank-Edgar moment tomorrow. But that could also happen. So, yeah, lose-lose-no for Tony. Because people are expecting him to lose anyways. Octagon blog, final thoughts. Go ahead, sir.

What are you doing? Wonderful. Yes. I like to talk about Ian Gary. There's a lot of things going on behind the scene around this athlete. He tried to act.

His wife is very aggressive. I like to hear your take, Mike, because this is a good sign because the media is paying too much attention to his private life. We are fans of MMA and the martial arts sports. And it becomes too much gossip.

So I like to hear your take as a reporter. Thank you and good luck. Yeah, look, I've talked about this enough. Really, I mean, like I said, Ian's always been really good to me. His wife's always been really good to me. They've both been very nice. They have, I have no issue with them. I don't know anything.

So, I mean, what can I say? What can I say? That's part of the reason why I was like so looking forward to this fight, was just to see like how Ian could bounce back from this. Like we saw the hype video, you know, a message to my haters, and now the fight's not happening. We're just not going to get those answers. We're going to have to wait a while for them. But like, look, I mean, on all these shows, I haven't touched any of that stuff.

It's not in my business. I ain't get to go there. When it comes to the gym stories and stuff, totally get it. Totally get it. Leon saying that, look, we told him to leave. He was late for practices. never showed up on time, didn't show up on time, brought cameras into the building, like, that's a problem.

I totally get it, totally get it, all of that, totally get it. But the personal stuff, the family, I ain't touching it. Haven't touched it, I'm not going to. So, yeah, that's really all I'd say about that. So we'll see what happens at the end. if we get bounced back. Tristan had a comment. Just want to let you know

it was not my attention to go after Damon and Shaheen about their right on how to feel. You're right. I apologize. I came up. Just want to lay around. No, I never said that,

so you don't have to worry about that. I never said you were doing that. Never said you were doing that. I was actually taking it in a different direction because I was agreeing with you that there is no line. There is no line.

All is fair and fight promotion. That's how the UFC has based their business. They don't care about any of that stuff. They really don't. We're 600 maniacs. This is the fight business. This is how it is. That's the UFC stance on all of this.

I will pretty much guarantee you that after the event, Dana is going to be asked about that line in particular, and that's what he's going to say verbatim. Look, I don't give a shit. It's free speech. You can say whatever you want. This is fight promotion. These are all fucking maniacs.

So he's going to say. So you're right. But to me, I don't have to like it. And if you like it, great. That is your prerogative. And I ain't going to shit on you for it. But if someone doesn't like it, don't shit on them. You like what you like.

You don't like what you don't like. That's how it should be. You're never going to hear me say, To anybody who calls it. Oh, Colby. Colby killed it at the press conference A-plus, love the Lee-A-Mond. I'm not going to be like you're a piece of shit. I'm going to say, okay, that's your opinion.

Not for me. And that's fine. All right, we'll get one more in there. Do we have Halzmer? Hello? Hello? Who do you think will be next to the title show if Leon Edwards merges to beat Kobe Clinton this weekend?

Probably. God, I mean, it's tough. I'm going to say Belal Muhammad because I think I think Leon like if Leon wins, his next fight is probably going to be in the UK. I know

there's Dana talk to TNT Sport about expanding the UK run past London, maybe going to Manchester. I guess Manchester is building a new arena that's opening in April. If the UFC goes there in June or July, it doesn't matter who Leon fights. You could throw them in there with anybody. Throw them in there with

B'all. That's fine. Like, it doesn't matter. It's all about Leon and that fan base. That's what it is. So I'm going to say B'all, I understand that Shavkot could make a very compelling case. I also understand that Wonderboy could make a very compelling case as well if he goes out there, knocks out Shafcott. But, man, if Wonderboy wins and then jumps over Belal and gets a title shot like Jesus Christ. I mean, it'd be kind of, I don't know. I was going to say it would be kind of funny, but it's not. At this point, like what else is Ballot to do?

At this point, like, Jesus, what else is this bad have to do? Just give him a shot. Come on. But if you do it in London, then it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's Shafcott. It doesn't matter if it's Colby. It doesn't matter who it is. It could be Wonderboy.

It could be anybody. throw him in there with Balal, he'll look like a star. You throw Tom Aspinall in the co-main event to defend the interim heavyweight title against whoever, maybe the Jelton Almeida, Curtis Blades winner, and then we go from there. If Colby wins, boy, oh boy, that's where things could get super weird.

But kind of talking myself into things on VTL yesterday, the UFC is going to Miami. If Colby was willing to turn around and fight in March, And headline, maybe Belal does get a shot. Because Colby gets the headline in March, in Miami. Maybe. But if that isn't on the table, then I don't think Belal is going to get it. But we shall see.

All right. I see two of you lined up. This is going to be the last two. Make it super duper quick. All right. Looks like you just have one. Viking. Close us out, my man.

Go ahead, Viking. I have been so boring lately and today is not going to be something new. I lost my cat. I used to tell you pray for him and I lost him yesterday. I could have saved him. But I'm so sorry. So I just want to ask about your pet. Since when do you have your dog, whatever his name is?

And how you're bonding with your dog and how many years you have been living with your dog? Thanks a lot and take care of your pets, guys. You all are awesome. Then you never help. And they are awesome. part of a part of our life. Just take care of them. Adopt them.

Take care of them. Thank you, Mike. Please answer the question about your dog. Sure. Sorry to hear that Viking. It's tough. Shiloh the Wonder Dog. Look, I

was a guy who was never going to have a pet certainly was never going to have a dog it was never going to happen it was not not that I didn't like dogs just it wasn't a huge dog guy definitely not a cat guy

um it was never going to happen and then I got to the point like my son was kind of going through some shit um it was COVID time it's just kind of a weird time

where he just wasn't really like playing with kids just because he couldn't in Massachusetts like Massachusetts was so tough on all the laws and everything and then like the street we lived on there just wasn't a lot of kids his age so we were just like I'm gonna like give him something to do

so we can like play with something so we started looking into maybe getting a dog to like kind of boost him up a little bit and give him like some more social stuff and took a while um we ended up

I ended up stumbling on Shiloh on a website. And I was just like, looking at the description, I'm like, this is like too good to be true. Sounds too good to be true, but let's see what we can do. And then we went out and visited them and I fell in love with them immediately. My son really liked them. My wife was not so sure because it's a big responsibility. And like my whole thing was if we're going to do this, like it's got to be like, it's got to be like his dog almost.

And then we adopted him. And the rest is history, but it's funny what I was like, this can't be my dog. Now it's my dog. Like it has been my dog from Jump Street. He's the best. Like he is the best. I can't imagine life without him now.

We've had him for two and a half years. Don't know what the breed is. I don't know how old he is. He's a mystery dog. And he's the best. He's awesome. He's awesome. He's just,

I tell people this all the time. Like, his only issue is that he loves us too much. Like, we can't leave him alone at all. He freaks out. When I do all my work, when I do all my shows, I'm in Florida right now, so I'm not with the dog. But I would say 95% out of the heck of the mornings that I did this year.

Dogs laying right next to me. He's got those little bed right in the studio, right in the office, just sitting right next to me. He's the best. Yeah, I think he's four. Someone abandoned him. I don't know if he escaped, but he was a stray,

survived. I ended up in New York and we ended up getting him and the rest is history, but he will be the last dog I ever have. I'm pretty confident in that. pretty confident in that. Lady Di, hello. Are you there? Hey, I'm coming.

Hey, how are you? There you are. Good morning, you guys. Good to stumble onto your live here, your spaces. I'm in Colorado. I'm in my 60s and I have a son that's a sports anchor in El Paso, Texas. But we're raised here in Colorado, Denver area. But anyway, I just wanted to.

speak to the guy, feeling so sad about his dog real quick, because you know what, we just drove from Denver to Amarillo, Texas to get a puppy for the dog we have. Because as you know, dogs get old and they die and you have to put them down. So we had a black lab that we had to put down. And then the next one was my husband drove over the road for years. And so he got a snowser to go with them. And then we put her, just recently put her down. So before she died, we got another one, a snowser. So they are so cute, you know. But, okay, so then what happens is we have a little boy and he is all boy. I mean, I swear to God, he's like you guys. I mean, just that way. Well, we just picked up this little puppy that's nine weeks old. Colt, Colt! Hey, no, come here,

Lib, come here, Libby. Anyway, it was the best thing we could have done. So I wanted to ask you, how was your, when you did get your dog a little friend? Because that's what we did. It's like, that's his baby sister. And they are just, it's been four or five days now. And, yeah, kind of fun. So that helps to have the two, you know, have a friend.

and then we can handle it better. Yeah. Well, thank you. So we've been actually kind of thinking about that. We had a visit with the dog. It didn't really work. They didn't really mesh too well. I told the story about how I was working out at my CrossFit gym

and I was doing wall walks and a little, what I thought was a straight little mini Shiloh just licked my face. Imagine doing a wall walk. You're upside down and you're getting your face licked. And I'm like, what the hell is going on right now? And it was just this little dog

and we took them home. And they got along okay. But then we found the owner and it didn't end up happening. So we are looking at it. It's just a lot of work. It's just a lot of work. Like my wife is super busy.

I'm super busy. It's just, I don't know if we have like the time for a second dog, but it would possibly make life easier. If we have to like go out and run around for a couple of hours, I don't know. But we are, we're looking into it kind of casually, but I would say probably won't happen. But we'll see. But thank you for sharing that. Hallsberg, go ahead and then we got to go.

It was just... So, the Stephen Thompson and Shavkat Rackmanov fight, do you think once... If Leon beats Kobe and then Balal takes a fight with Leon, that Ian Garry could possibly take the winner of Shavkat versus Thompson and then they might get a title shot from whatever fight comes from that? Probably not. Could they pivot to Wonderboy if he loses, maybe?

but I think they're just going to rebook the luke fight that fight just makes perfect sense like that's the next sort of step up but boy Ian could have the traction Ian could have gotten even with the negative press if he went out there and just dusted up the Sente Leukee tomorrow

golly that would have been something that would have been something especially the whole literally like Jed laid it out perfectly the whole press conference would have been about Ian. That's all anybody would have been talking about coming out of that press conference was Ian. He's the focal point. Both both main eventors and three or four other guys. And he goes out and if he

dusted up Lucay, holy smokes, he would have gotten so much play. He might even have jumped the line. Like if Leon called for Ian and did it in Manchester, geez, Louise. Could have happened, but not going to happen this time. All right, we got to go. Thank you all. We went a little longer and I thought we're going to go,

but that's totally fine. And we got the Wayans show. Live Wayan show coming up in about five minutes on the YouTube channel. So go check that out. See how everything's going. See who's first on the scale. All that fun stuff.

All the Wayan drama we could probably get. Shortly after the Wayans end, we'll be live for the preview show for UFC 290. myself, AK, Jed Mishu, we'll get you all fired up. And then I get a hop in the car and drive to Orlando for

Jake Paul versus Andre August. There'll be the UFC 296 ceremonials. We'll have that on MA fighting. We'll have the seasonal press conference. That will be on MMA fighting. And then once Jake Paul, Andre August, ends, we'll get all the scrums.

and then drive to the airport, get ready to hop on a plane to New York for the watch party, baby. UFC 296 watch party, so excited. The cold open for the UFC 296 watch party is incredible. It is incredible. I'm told I may be able to tease it,

maybe preview it, maybe even just throw it on social media later on, just waiting for final word. It is going to be the most festive watch party you've ever seen in your life. We're doing the ugly sweaters. My sweater is the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen. So I'm super excited.

But strap in, buckle up. We're going for a ride. UFC 296 is coming up tomorrow. I can't wait. Thank you all so much. We'll be back on this program. Tuesday, 10 a.m. Eastern. We'll do it again.

Get ready for the way and show on our YouTube channel. Have a great rest of your Friday. And have a heck of a morning, everybody.