MMA Fighting - HOAM | Tom Aspinall Is Absolutely Right About UFC 304; Plus, Jose Aldo's Future After UFC 301

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

Tom Aspinall agrees with the U.K. MMA fans that the upcoming UFC 304 pay-per-view event in July should cater to the local market, as opposed to the U.S. fanbase — and he's absolutely correct in that assessment. But will the UFC change course to satisfy the Manchester fans as it relates to the card's start time? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses Aspinall's recent response to the fight night schedule and why the UFC interim heavyweight champion is spot on. Additionally, listener topics include Saturday's UFC 301 event, flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg's chances against Alexandre Pantoja in the main event, whether or not Jose Aldo will be making the walk to the octagon for the final time against Jonathan Martinez, the hidden gem on Saturday's fight card, the UFC middleweight division, the BMF title, and more. You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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April 30th, 2024, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the NBA fighting Twitter space. You hear the show in its entirety, shortly thereafter. on the MAA Fighting Podcasting Network. What's going on, everybody? I'm Mike Heck. Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Hope you all having a great week.

It is UFC 301 Fight Week. I can hear the anticipation amongst just the emojis and everything I see on Twitter. Everyone is so amped. They saw the fiery first face-off between Alexandria Pantosia and Steve Urseg

up on the mountaintop. The comments have been incredible after that face off. So yeah, that event is absolutely happening this week, for sure. In addition, this past Saturday was absolutely insane. We had the UFC.

They were doing UFC things. They were back at the world's most famous apex. It was about as second fiddle as the UFC could possibly be on a weekend because BKFC just stole the weekend. They stole the week. They stole Saturday. They stole Sunday.

It was all about BKFC. It was all about knucklemania. Mike Perry just iced out Tiago Alves very quickly did in 60 seconds. Lorenzo Hunt tried to be. become a three division champion fell short and rothwell just kind of destroys todd duffy who got hurt in the fight and then we found out freaking connor mcgregor is a now part owner of bkfc like it was just the best bkfc just knows who they are and they double down on that it's incredible how well they did on saturday it's incredible how well they do in general

and now with Connor in the mix, Jesus. They are in a very, very good spot right now. Yeah, Connor and Mike Perry and some of the other names. They need to get a few more names, that's for sure. But boy, are they in a great spot. Knucklemania ruled. It was incredibly fun to watch. And when BKFC does it big, they do it really big.

It seemed like usually, with like UFC pay-per-views outside of 300 or even like the fight night events that have like a 10 p.m. main card when you get to like 12, 12.30, you feel like you've been watching fights for 19 hours. But with BKFC like it was like 1 a.m. just short of 1 a.m.

when that card ended. It didn't feel like it. It just went by so quick. It was awesome. A plus night for BKFC. solid night for the UFC wasn't great. It's not a card we're going to ever go back and watch again. Alex Perez, great bounce back performance.

He needed it. Bogdan Guscoff was the MVP of the card, in my opinion, with the Mike skills and the fight skills. Karine Silva wins again. She is fun to watch. Janada Denise with the nasty knockout of Austin Lane. Good win for David Onama, but he missed weight. Euros Medich, nasty uppercut.

knockout of Tim Means, Victor Henry, gets the finish of Hanayya, and then other things happened. Shout out to Casey Lydon's teammate Chris Padilla, short notice,

submission win, didn't get a bonus, which I thought was a bunch of BS. But it was, I mean, this played out pretty much how you expected it on Saturday outside of like a couple of upsets.

Just wasn't great. If it's not one, we'll go back and ever watch again. But good win for Alex Perez and there you go. Now it's on to UFC 301 and then we're going to St. Louis and then we'll be back at the apex again. So get excited

for that on the road to UFC 302. All right. Let's get to the calls. Let's get to you all. And we'll begin with Four Corner Sports. Go ahead, Four Corners Sports. Hey, Mike. So I don't know. I felt like I wasn't expecting for the fights

to finish that quickly. It was good game planning by Alice I saw that Big Marcel announced that, I don't know if it's official on the enemy fighting, but that Alex Perez is going to be fighting to gear Ulaanbeko. It seems like he's going to be taking, he's going to be taking what, like that Kevin Holland approach that he did in 2020, you know, just take fights every other month. I don't know if somebody, you know, went into his ear and told him that, hey, you know, you, you, weren't active for so long,

it would be in your best interest to fight as much as you can. Because I felt like if you would have lost against Matthias Nicolao, I felt like the UFC would have given him his walking papers for inactivity, pulling out on fights, which I know they don't really like. And then also last time he ended up winning

was during the pandemic, during the, I think that was the Amanda Nunes, Felicia Spencer headliner. I think there was like U.S.E. 250 or something like that. I just want to know, like, what do you think he goes from here if he ends up getting a victory over Ulaan Bekov? And for 3.01, what are you giving it in odds that Vecenzel Ersake ends up pulling off the upset just because, I don't know, the vibes are feeling like it's leaning towards Ersake, you know, pulling it off?

I just think that the way that, you know, these three, I know that he hasn't fought the caliber of Pansoja. but I don't know, something just tells me that he's going to end up getting, you know, pulling off like some type of highlight rail. All right, thanks, Mike. Thanks, man. We haven't confirmed the Perez fight, but if Marcel's reporting it,

I assume it came right from Perez's team. It's typically how it works. If you go through Marcel's history of breaking fights, a lot of them come from the same team, at least one side of it anyways. So if Marcel's reporting Alex Perez is fighting anybody, I would believe it. But we haven't fully confirmed.

that yet. It's a little too early to even reach out to anybody to confirm that news. But I assume that that's the case and fine. I mean, it didn't really do much for me. But this is kind of like the fight he was going to get. He wasn't going to get anyone in the top five. He wasn't going to get probably anybody in the top 10, if we're being honest. I don't even know where Bullen Becoff is ranked in the UFC rankings. He's 12. Yeah. I mean, that's pretty much where I would have put him in terms of his next fight.

I know Perez is ranked five. But like the matchup I had chosen for him was the winner of the Tetsu Ro Taira Josh fan fight. Like I feel like that's a good win over Mateus and Nicolao. Very good. Needed it. It saved his UFC career. That's for sure. I don't think it like would have ended his MMA career because someone would have snatched him up because he does have

a name and like pfl would have picked his ass up at a second but yeah keeps him in the mix but he has to sort of defend his spot right now that's where he's going to be how long that lasts maybe another fight he's gonna be he's probably going to be in the spot for this fight and maybe one more so he still might have to fight the winner of tyrant van after this or he just kind of kevin Hollins that just fight six times this year, which never hurts. What do you do that? That's how you get over,

especially in the UFC. So, it was a good win for him. You know, he needed it. I like Alex a lot. I've been interviewing him for a long time. He's, you know, he needed that one real bad. So it's hard to not be happy for him. That's for sure.

And then on 301, I'm telling you right now, I'm going to have a bet on Vinnie Siggs on Saturday. I don't even know if I believe he's going to win, but it's just all vibes. And it's just a gimmick at this point. Like, what a free, like it would just be one of the funniest things that has ever happened.

If Vincenzo Erzeg, a la Vinnie Sig, just goes in, like, as the 10th ranked guy in his fourth UFC fight, it becomes a UFC champion before Belal Muhammad. ever fights for a title. Like, it would just be insane. It would just be nuts and kind of hilarious. No disrespect to anybody. It's just the story and the vibes of it all would just be very funny.

And I think Vinnie Singh's has a chance. I mean, people think I'm crazy because of how good Pantosia is. If Vinnie Sinks can keep this on the feet, he has a damn good chance to win this fight. he's got that he's got that that life fight changing power man all he needs is one his boxing is so good he's gonna be the better striker than pentosia

pentosia pentosia's the better mixed martial arts no doubt about it but if this becomes a striking affair and ursig can stay on his feet he's got a real good shot of win of this fight so i'm waiting for a prop to drop for ursig by knockout hasn't dropped yet on draft kings but i can assure you come Saturday when I'm in New York for the 301 watch party,

there will be a bet on young Vincenzo Erseg to become the Flyway champion. It's probably going to be a dumb bet, but I don't care. I don't care. Jen Bishu put this Vinnie Sigs out into the universe, and as a team, as a website, we are going to collectively just go all in with our friend Jedbushu. So, yeah.

I think Vinnie six is a shot. If this is a stand-up fight, he's got a real good shot. Riley, go ahead. What do you think of the Michelle Pereira fight? And if he wins, do you think, or like if he really just runs through Potiera, like he has his last two opponents, I think, at 185? I think this is his third fight at 185. Do you think he deserves a top 15 matchup?

I know that he was fighting Muradov before this fight and he pulled out. I'm not sure if he's in top 15. I don't think he is. But do you think he deserves to fight a top 15 fighter if he runs through him? I think he looks incredible at 185. And his only two losses in the UFC are, is the DQ versus Diego Sanchez. And then he lost versus Conley when he gassed out. So I feel like he's a really good prospect.

and I'm excited to keep seeing what he does. Thanks, Mike. Yeah, I mean, he's been at this thing for a hot minute. When did he freaking debut? I mean, it was a long, it was a while ago. He made his UFC debut in 2019. So this is year number five for Michelle Pereira. He did lose to Tristan Connolly.

And, I mean, he, on, like, record. lost to Diego Sanchez, but I think anybody who watched that fight understands what actually happened there. Although, and I stand by this, Diego made 100% the right decision. Just a veteran savvy move. And he gets a win, even though he just, I mean, he just, he got run out of the building in that entire fight. He had nothing for Michelle Pereira, but don't break the rules. Don't land illegal knees. If you land an illegal knee, you lose.

and that's it. It's crazy. Like the amount of shit. Like, Michelle, it was just a weird situation, but Michelle Pereira deserved that win. He beat the hell out of Diego Sanchez. But, yeah,

I like him at 185 a lot more. And he could probably thank Wonderboy for that. Because if Wonderboy had taken that fight with Bichel Pereira, Perra probably wouldn't try to stay at 170. So he could thank Wonderboy for that. But since then, first round finish of Andre Petroski.

first round finish a bitch of Kalo Exechec and now he gets Ehor Potiaria and I'll tell you what after what good old Ehor did to Shogun in Shogun's retirement fight Michelle Perey goes out there and does work

he's going to look like a freaking star so yeah does he get a top 15 guy maybe it's kind of a it's an interesting division but who knows if he makes quick work Fluffy Hernandez is out of the

fight with Roman Delizze and from conversations I've had and even from his Instagram post, he wants to come back later on the summer. Maybe we do Michelle Pereira versus Fluffy Hernandez. Is anyone going to be upset about that fight? I don't think so. Does that be a damn good one?

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Ah, Annie, go ahead. Good. How are you? Not too bad, not too bad. I mean, I don't want to bring down the mood of this session, but thoughts and prayers go out to Francis and Gano. And what pisses me off is? There are a couple of trolls on Twitter. It's like they're still, they're just making light of the situation and this is where I, I don't know, like I sent out a tweet to Aaron Bronstetter the other day. He said he wouldn't,

he wouldn't comment on it because he doesn't watch them. But there are a few of these content creators, like, you know, the MMA guru, there's these people like, you know, just, just trolls, you know, like who just want to shit on fighters, like who rather than being critical of fighters, like you are like when you say Al Jermaine Sterling just can't get it right on the mic or Bilal Muhammad just doesn't do the thing or like while you are in a way you know making it a bit humorous making it a bit you know lighthearted you're still being critical but these people just you know they just come up with violent toxic stuff man like I remember this video where MMA guru was like oh I hope Mirab Davaoishvili you know he can

it's paralyzed. And then, I don't know, someone posted the image of Daniel Kormier and Francis and Garno side by side saying who did it better. I mean, referring to something, I don't even want to get into that. So here's the thing like, what, I mean, we do have to ignore such people,

but shouldn't they have any repercussions? I'm pretty sure they don't, but it just pisses me off, Mike. Quickly switching gears, is this Jose Aldo's last fight on the contract with the UFC? Is that why he's coming back to honor his contract? If that is the case, why is he returning at Bantamweight? He could have done it at featherweight, right? I mean, is he going to stick around, you think? That's what I have, Mike.

And my sincere condolence is to Francis and Ghanu. It's good to talk to you again. And, oh, last but not the least, I'm not sure if I'll make it to Free For All Friday, but if I do, I'll talk about it over there as well. I'm running at 10K this Sunday, and I've raised about 70 pounds, 70 Great Britain pounds for cancer research. So it's going to be my first ever marathon, Mike. So wish me luck. Speak to you soon.

Hey, good luck to you, my man. That's really good. Really good stuff. Oh, man. The Francis, that shit just broke my heart. Like, I mean, honestly, just, it ruined my entire day yesterday. Because I just couldn't get Francis out of my mind. Just, I could not.

I just can't imagine, like, what he is going through right now. It just, it just wrecked me. And obviously, like, I'm, You know, I get good relationships with a lot of guys on his team who are very close with Francis. And, you know, obviously do Francis's child and everything. And just like, man, it's just awful. And anyone making light about this whole situation, like, go fuck yourself, honestly. I got no time for you.

And I'm going to bring it up. Like, I saw some people like making videos about it. That's great. But don't even give them any attention. attention. Like, don't give them any attention. Like, if you're, if you're using this platform and you bought the blue checkmark and you just post shit like that just so you can make money, like you're a fucking piece of shit. Like, you just are. So I got no time for you. And like, go fuck yourself, honestly. Um, the guru stuff, like, again, you know, the dude has

busted his ass and he's gone from nothing to something. So you got to give him credit for that. And I don't agree with some of the things he says and some of the videos he makes, but a lot of people watch his shit. Like, I mean, I don't know what to tell you. People watch it. Dude's putting numbers up like crazy. And if you don't like it, like you have a choice to make. you could just not watch it. I mean, that's, that's really it, uh, when it comes to that stuff. But, you know, I don't think he said anything about Francis, but, you know, one of the accounts did.

And you mentioned the Daniel Cormei thing like, what a fucking asshole. Like, just awful, awful, awful shit. Uh, the Jose Aldo thing. Uh, it is his last fight on his deal. Why at Bantamway? Because the UFC was probably, because Jose Al doze, so I talked about this as soon as his fight was announced because I knew that there were talks about him fighting on this card. And we just didn't know who it was.

I know there were rumors about Dominic Cruz. I know Dominic Cruz was an option. It never really got over the finish line, even though like some people were reporting that it did. And early on, like, Josie Aldo thought like when this whole thing happened that he might be fighting Dominic Cruz. But again, from the conversations I had, it never really got as far as like those reports.

And even Joseo, he had. has made it seem again from from sources but now he's fighting jonathan martinez and i think this is kind of like yeah jose you can come fight like this is a scrap you scratch our back we'll scratch yours you fight in rio because this card is a big stinkeroo in terms of business and selling tickets and pay-per-view guys and you got to do it at 135 and you got to fight this dude that's looked really good let's see what he's made of And for Jose, it's like, okay, bet, I'll do that. And you asked, does this mean he's going to be sticking around?

I don't think he's going to be sticking around. I think he's going to do this fight. He's going to get the fuck out. He's had boxing fights. He's been able to do some other things. But after this fight, and he's had to get permission from the UFC in order to do those things. So once he fights this fight out, there might be like a matching period where he can't, like, or some sort of non-competent.

not really sure, but once that's over, he can fight for anybody. He can go to PFL, he can go to freaking Risen, he can go to BKFC, he'd go wherever the fuck he wants. And that's most of the reason

why he is taking this fight. Because then he can be a legit unequivocal free agent. Like he can't go sign with PFL right now. I don't know why he would. Unless he's just going to pay him Bucco dollars. He can't really do anything without getting the UFC's permission.

So this is his this is what he needs to do to get free and clear of the UFC and, you know, if he thumbs up Jonathan Martinez proper and they say like, hey, how about you go fight for the belt to get Sean O'Malley? Then maybe he sticks around. But I kind of

feel like he's going to beat feet after this fight. So I will also have a bet on Joseo, though, on this card because he is an underdog. I already placed that bet. It's the only bet I've actually made this far. Plus 136. I got Josiah out earlier

today. I feel like he's going to win. Would I be like completely stunned of Jonathan Martinez one? No, but I just, it's Jose Aldo, man. In Rio, you can't bet against Josalda Rio, especially if you're getting plus money? Come on now.

Come on. Let's go to David. David, do we have you? Michael Eck. What's up, man? Great to be on home with you, buddy. All right, Jonathan Brito, decent-sized favorite this weekend for sure. Line feels a bit off.

It's an interesting fight. Brito's dangerous, and I know Jack Cheetah in Darts v. Heelwani, but I think you might be able to squeak out the decision, win for the Welsh in that one. Mythical Fighter of the Week, Young Hungry Teawood that knocked out Robbie Loller at 201 with a bomb from hell. MMA mailman out. Yeah, I like it.

Look. I honestly don't think 301 is like a awful card, but it's just like it's just what this is the card that like this is what UFC St. Louis should look like. Like this is what UFC St. Louis should look like, this is what UFC St. Louis should look like. This card. Any road show card like at a big arena, this is what it should look like. 100%.

Like decent fights. not a ton of star power like this is if this is a fight night card I'd be fucking stoked I would be stoked I'd be putting this card over like crazy if this is next Saturday

but it's not it's 80 bucks you guys spend $80 to watch this BKFC is going to be 50 million times better than this card Knucklemania is going to be 50 million times more exciting in this card

and that was $30 and you're getting a lot more fights. This is 80 bucks and it's not great. It's not great. There are a couple of fights that I absolutely love. Like I am intrigued by the main event, for sure, mostly for the Ersang side. It's Jose Aldo and that's cool.

But he's fighting Jonathan Martinez, and it's just a fight. There's no real stakes to it. Like it's a good win for Jonathan Martinez, but this is a Bannon White fight. this is the Bannamweight division. Even if he beats Jose Al, it's not like he's getting a title shot. He's still so far behind every, like, a ton of other guys.

That's, it doesn't do whole, it's a good, it puts him in probably like the top six or seven. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything in the UFC. Unless he cuts a scathing promo and slaps Sean O'Malley across the face. Like, he doesn't gain anything other than a higher number in a damn good name on the resume. Like Anthony Smith, Vitor Petrino. I mean, it's just kind of know, kind of think we know how that fight's going to go. Pereira, your Puerto Ria, Poteeria, and Paul Craig. There is a bet on who is going to have the worst callout of the night.

It's Kyle Barallio. It's probably like minus 900. He's going to do something silly and weird. And, I mean, play the gimmick, my man. but it's just not going to work out for you. The short Brito fight is a good one. I don't think the line's like too bad. And as good as that fight is, it just pales,

I tell you, in comparison to the heck of a main event for UFC 301. It is on the prelims. And it is in the best division of the sport, 155 pounds. The true and utter who is more for real fight, if there ever was one 26 year old absolute savages getting ready to battle it out Elvis Brenner versus Mick Tebeck Oraldei

good freaking googly moogly that fight is going to rule so excited for that one that to me is like outside of the made event and just to see what Josea looks like that's number three on my list

that's it that's the one that's the one cannot wait for it It's going to be an absolute bagger. Lee, go ahead. Hey, Mark, heck of a morning. You too, man. So I just had maybe like two quick questions.

One, what do you think the endgame is for the BMF title? And two, do you think there's any chance that UFC would book O'MA versus Marab during international fight week whenever Conner comes back? Yeah, that's my two questions. Have a heck of the rest of your day. It's the endgame for the BMF title. It's just kind of what it is now. It's just going to be shit, man. We got a, we got a paper review coming up in two months.

We don't have a main event. Yo, Max, can you put your BMF title in line against somebody? Cool. It's just there. And it's just like, it's a contingency plan, more or less. but you know i've come around on a little bit more just because like we're seeing it defended and i think it's it's at least cool and we know that when we book bmf fights like it's got to be like they're going to be chaos fights just a gaugie versus dusteporee justa gaitie versus

max holloway like max holley versus charles olivera would be a sick bmf title fight like i don't think that's a going to happen, but let's just say something weird happens. Let's say, you know, I don't know, September rules around. They don't have a main event for, well, that's a sphere, so they'll have the main event. But I don't know. Something comes up and they need a made event and all the champions are booked. Give Max a call. Because I don't know what he's going to do right now. There's, I don't know, Joe Rogan was saying something about Volcanovsky turning down Iliate turning down Volk for Perth. And I saw like DC made a video about that as well.

I don't know if that's true or not. I've reached out to both camps. I haven't heard anything back as this is this morning when I saw all this. But like I actually wouldn't, I don't actually hate Tuporia turning that down for that specific card. Because why should he as the champion go and give Volk any sort of advantage at all by traveling all the way to Perth

to have his first title defense. It just depends on how you're looking at it. If he gets like a piece of the gate, I think he's insane. I think he's an insane person for not doing it. Because that place gets out in five seconds if they booked that fight. And that's probably going to do pretty well in pay-per-view.

So we'll see what happens there. I think he said something about Ortega. He'll fight Max Hollow, someone posted video like he'll fight hallway only if the bmf titles on the line like if these are things that he's actually saying and actually doing then i have to question it a little bit because what are you trying to do like he has the opportunity to become one of the sports biggest stars but he has to fight and he has to do it frequently and he has to keep delivering big performances against big names so we'll see what happens with all that uh could

they do shot of mali marav international fight week now Because that'd be, I'm going to say it's dumb. It'd be great for the fans who are going to spend upwards of $12,000 to go to that card. But they don't need to do that. Sean is, Sean's a main event guy. Like that fight could headline a pay-per-view. So they don't need to, as long as Connor is fighting on that card, there's no need to put any kind of title fight on there.

You got Kulio Roundtree and Jamal Hill. good damn fight. It's a pretty intriguing matchup right there. We'll see what the rest of the card sort of looks like. Typical Connor cards are not. It's like Connor and then a whole bunch of nothing. Or just kind of what you're getting for 301 with Connor at the top. So hopefully they build it a little bit better.

But there won't be any title fights. Could we maybe get Ian Gary Colby Covington perhaps? Doesn't seem like that fight's coming together right now. but who knows. But no, I'd be stunned to see Holloway Marab. I'm not Holloway. Jesus Christ. O'Malley Marab on that card,

especially if Connor's fighting on. Now, Connor gets hurt, Chandler gets dinged up, the fight falls apart. Can't happen. Maybe they give O'Malley a call to try to save the day, but, yeah, I don't think so. Don't need to.

Those guys can headline their own card. There you go. you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus powered by Peloton IQ, built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at OnePeloton.ca. When I got a great deal on a great gift at Winners,

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At these prices, could I find something for everyone at Winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting. Winners find fabulous for less. Let's see what else is going on in the wonderful world of mixed martial arts. Not a lot. Tom Asidol in the news jumped on YouTube and did a 60-second video. Answering a fans' question about the UFC 304 start time, how they're catering to the American fans as opposed to the UK.

fans. And I can tell you as an American fan, I'm not happy about the start time either. And they're catering to me. I hate it. I hate it. I was so excited they were going to Manchester because it was like, yes, they were going to get an afternoon card. But no, they're not doing that. I don't get it. Here's the Tom Aspen I'll have to say. Well, as an athlete, as a fighter, in all honesty, it doesn't make that much difference, probably for a couple of weeks before I'll have to wake up a train at that time, or stay up or whatever. I've flown across the world multiple times and fought on different time zones,

so it's not as bad as that. As a fan who wants to watch it live, I think it is absolutely terrible. I think, yeah, it's just not fair on the fans, not fair on the UK fans. Obviously, it's predominantly an American audience, so I understand that they want to sell to them. But why can't they sell to them in the afternoon?

Great question, Tom, which is our evening time. Why can't the Americans watch it in the afternoon? Again, great question. We can, and we would love to. We would love to. And the UK fans and Manchester fans, European fans, could all fly to this event, sell up this new arena. I mean, it's going to sell it regardless, mate.

We're very, very, very, very lucky to have a pay-for-you event in Manchester, very lucky. But UK MMA, let's put it on UK time. Well said by the interim heavyweight champion. And maybe, like Leon Edwards can come out and say the same thing. Like, what are we doing? here. Why does it have to be that way? I don't get it. I don't get it. The last time you were in the UK for a pay-per-view, it was an afternoon card, and it was glorious. Why, like, why do we have to do this?

Why do we have to do this? Why do Americans have to watch Leon Edwards, Belah, Muhammad, at like 1 a.m.? I mean, that's like, it's almost punishment, I kid, hopefully. But I have no, I have no problem with what Tom is saying here. And I do feel bad for the UK Fids. Like, they don't want to watch I mean, by the time Tom Asmel fights, whoever he's got to fight, it's going to be like five in the morning. That's craziness.

That's craziness. They could absolutely do this in the afternoon, and it would not hurt them in any way. The event will sell out even faster. They'll put a big gate together. And I don't know. I think it's going to do better on pay-per-view.

So, yeah, completely, uh, completely agree with Tommy Aspadol here and there you go. Uh, 4 on site if we want to try again, maybe it'll work. Uh, but it did not. It did not earlier.

What else is happening in the world? Yes, a lot of people are commenting about Alex Perez and the quick turnaround. I think because, uh, I've known Jimmy for a little bit. It's not something he typically does. just kind of putting people on blast like that,

especially out in public like that. It's not really his forte, so something really got him pissed off if he's going to come out and kind of trash Ronda like that. That was pretty interesting. What are the rankings looking like? We saw Alex Perez jump up to number five. Nicolao dropped to number eight.

No big shocker there. Bannam weights. Jonathan Martinez got bumped up to 12. 12 for not fighting. Mario Batista got knocked down to 13 for not fighting. Ricky Simone goes up a spot for not fighting, and Pedro Munoz drops a spot for, guess what, not fighting. Rankings are just super weird.

And Domina Cruz is still ranked number 11. Domina Cruz still ranked number 11 at an 35-pound spot, despite not fighting for quite some time. Any other weird ranking? Look at Bogdan Goosekopf as a ranked UFC fighter. This is incredible. What a story. Now rank number 12.

What a time. Creative Silva goes up a spot to number 12. Women's 125. There you go. Okay. Talk about Marty's hairline. We already touched on that, and I ain't given that dude any time. Fuck that, dude.

I have terrible connection, but is Ismail Bonfim getting the perfect comeback fight for his situation against a 41-year-old coming off of a two-year layoff in Vince Bichel? Perfect? I don't know. Like, Vince is a dog, man. Vince is a dog.

He's a big underdog in this fight. But Vince is tough, man. Even at 41, he is, he's tough. She's a tough out. He is a tough out. So I don't know if perfect's like the right word, but be a good test. Like we'll, we'll learn a little bit more about about Bonfeme here because if he doesn't get Vince out of there early, he's going to be in, he's going to be in for a tough ass fight. Yeah, we haven't seen him in a while, but like, look at the guys.

Look at the guys he's lost to. on the tough finale he lost of Rostom Kov which at the time was like not all that surprising he got submitted by Gregor Gillespie and he got decisioned by

Mark Madsen at UFC 273 I was at that fight not a good one and it wasn't Vince Fichel's fault if you catch my drift but I mean look he's got some good wins Anthony and Jokawani

Damian Brown Wachim Silva, Roosevelt Roberts, Jim Miller, Austin Hubbard. Like, I can count Vince Fichello at all. So I don't think it's a perfect one. I think it's a good one. I think like any fight to try to bounce back from a loss like that is fine. But yeah, perfect is I would not say that. Riley, is Crane of Silva going to be champ?

I don't know. I'm not there yet. I don't like view her as like, okay, she's definitely going to win the belt, but I'm also, I'm also not at a point with her or she's just like, yeah, she's never going to fight for her belt. She's good.

She's good, and I think she needed that fight on Saturday. I think she needed that exact fight. I saw a lot of people be like, throw her in there with Natty Ice. No. No, that's a bad idea. I don't want to see that. Let her fight a vet, let Maddie Ice fight a vet. And when those two actually fight, let's make it as big as it possibly can be.

All right, we'll take two more. Abzwalia, we'll kick us off, and then we're going to go. So, Mark, Jacob and Mourden. Hope you're having a good day, man. I just have a few questions. Firstly, I want to ask you, with the month of June coming up for UFC, I would argue in terms of, the fights that we're getting for that month,

would you say this might be the greatest June? I don't know how to phrase this question, but basically this particular month of June that we're going to get this year, do you think this is the best, do you think this is the best EOC year that they've ever had at this particular month in terms of stacking up cards

and making some interesting fights that the fans would like to see or, you know, will be really fun to watch. And another question I have is about this upcoming Saturdays card. If Jose Alder wins and Boralo wins, what do you think would be next for them?

I'm assuming with Alder, he does decide to still stand the UFC after this. That's all I have a great day. All right, sorry about that. I think win, lose or draw unless Joseo is guaranteed a title shot and signs a contract immediately, moments after, and he has gotten 100% assurance that Sean O'Malley is going to do the same. He's gone. He's gone.

Josea Aldo can make way more money outside the UFC. He can go to Fyfer. He can go to BKFC and make way more money. He can go to GameBrett MMA and make more money. way more money, go to PFL and probably make way more money, he can go box and make way more money. Like,

Jose just wants, he just wants out. Like, that's why he's fighting. He doesn't want any ties whatsoever. He just wants to be free as a bird. And the only way for that to happen is he's got to fight out the rest of his deal. Because if he wants to even box anybody,

he has to get the UFC's permission. And that just seems annoying. So he's just going to go fight Jonathan Dines and then he's going to ride off into the sunset. That would be my guess. He's going to go make whole bag money elsewhere. The other question, is this like the best year at this point in terms for giving fans what they want and stack cards?

Fuck, no. I mean, we're, it's not even close. It's not even close. Why? Look at Saturday. Look at $2.97. Look at everything else we've gotten this year, outside of $290.9. 8, 299, and 300.

Just look at it. Look at the slate. It's been tough. It has been tough. 300 was like the ultimate palate cleanse. And what made 300, and 300 was incredible. So I ain't taken anything away from 300. And we told you the entire time it was going to be incredible.

That it was the best card they ever put together. Top to bottom. Like matchup for matchup. There's never been a card better than 300 on paper. in my humble opinion. But it also came at a time where they have just given us dog shit most of the time. And like, it just couldn't happen soon enough.

And it came and it delivered and it was awesome. And then we go back to the apex. And now we have this pay-per-view. Like, come on, man, 2016, like, nothing is ever going to be 2016. It's never ever going to be 2016. 2016 is the best year in the best year in the history of the sport

it's the biggest year in the history of the sport and it's never going to be get better than that it's never never ever ever just everything that happened so no it's not close it's not close it's not close

it's too many events there's no stars like the UFC's on fire and that's great like they're doing good doing really good business sure but I mean look

like the St. Louis card like I went to a fight I went to two fight night cards in Boston three of them two of one of them is headlined by Connor McGregor one was headline and this is a fight night

one of was headlined by T.J. Dillishaw versus Dominic Cruz for the Bannamway title like those were fight night cards we're getting title fights on fight night cards now we're getting

we're getting Alex Perez versus Viteus Nicol out in a empty warehouse. No, no, no, no, no, no. And we'll see what the new TV deal brings. Maybe that'll all change, but not expecting it to. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if we got, like, less of a break between cards. Sternerslager, go ahead. Hello. Who deserves a title shot at Middleweight next?

I mean, we have Israel-Ad-Sahna on the sidelines likely is going to get a title shot because it's Israel-A-D-Sanya, but the UFC have made a weird decision to put Polo Costa against the number one contender and Rob against Hamza, which is like, I think he's around number 10. After, I'm assuming, Izzy and DDP go at it,

who's next for the title? Thank you. I don't know. Depends on who wins the title fight, and look, if Hamzat wins in any way, he's getting it. Like, he's getting it. Even though it's tough because we just don't know what's going on with his travel issues and everything going on. We know something's going on. We just don't know exactly what that is.

It's got to be Hamzad. If Hamzaa Shemai goes out there and rinses Robert Whitaker, you have to give it to him. Have to. Like, that's insane. That would be incredible. But that's where we're getting. And we're getting Sean Strickland versus Paul Acosta, which is a fine fight. I mean, what else could they have done?

Once they booked Rob versus Humzat, like you had to do that fight, right? Like, does anybody want to watch Sean Strickland versus Jared Cannon here again? No. Like, those are the two of the bigger names in the division. So, yeah, I mean, it's five rounds. It's a big co-main event on a huge-ass card with two. two major stars at the top. It's a good fight.

It's a good fight. And who knows? Paulo Costa could go out there and just beat the hell of Sean Strickland. Like, we don't know. So we'll have to wait and see. We'll get through June. Again, Hamzad actually has to fight. And it's not easy to get him into the cage.

But I think with it being in Saudi, it should happen. And Robert Woodker's really good. So, I mean, the way Dana described it, not that it's etched in stone, because we've seen this before, but Dana said this is the number one contender fight. So the winner's getting a title shot. So I would say Apollo Costa beat John Strickland. And shit.

Yeah, it's going to be tough because, like, they could sell all. They could sell pretty much all these fights with the exception of Izzy versus Costa. It's hard to sell a fight where it's so one-sided. I mean, is he obliterated Paul O'Costa. There wasn't a second of that fight that was competitive. So that's a tough sell. I think the UFC's probably aware of that, even though Paul is much more popular now that he was when they fought.

But it's a tough sell. It's the reason why we never got the rematch team, McGregor and Aldo. Like, come on. It's the reason why we never got, even though they could have done Ben Asker and Jorge Mazel all again. Like, they could have just rebooked that if they wanted to down the line. and Asking would have taken it, but like, what motivates Mazdaal

do you want to take that fight? What would motivate his to fight Costa again after he just, he wrecked him? So, yeah, it's tough. But to me, my guess is, my guess is the Whitaker Hamzaa. If Hamza wins, he's getting it for sure. He's getting it for sure. All right, last one.

We'll go to Snorten. Hello. Thank you for having me on. I just want to say thank you for MMA fighting for allowing me to speak. So, yeah, the middleweight division in UFC is pretty dense right now. You've got Gerard Cannon in here, Strong Strickland, Paula Costa. You've got a lot of good fighters right now. Right now, Izzy is taking a long break, which he deserves. He's cleared out the division coming off a loss of Sean Shrickland. Right now, it's a little bit mixed. You've got Drickers, who's the champion. Yeah, it's a little bit weird at the moment with Drickers being a champion.

And, you know, you've got Robert Woodico coming off a win from Paula Costa. so it's a little bit mixed at the moment. I mean, yeah, it's a bit weird at the moment. So, I don't know. Right now, I mean, Drickers, I don't know. Like, it's a bit weird, but for my perspective, you know, you've got to mix it up. You've got bone nickel. I mean, I know a lot of people, you know, have mixed feelings about bone nickel,

but I reckon the UFC is going to try and fast try. track him, like trying to firestruck him to the title, which is completely understandable because they've done that with a few fighters. But, you know, it is what it is at the end of the day. You know, you can't say what, what, you can't say who's who. But, you know, they're trying to firestruck him. So it's a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. But look, at the end of the day, I'm just hoping for a good fight at the end of the day. I know I'm a little bit of a lot. I know I'm a little bit on the old little on the old little drink at the moment

but look I'm just hoping I know yeah all right say what you want to say but look at the end of the day yeah um drink as being a champion I mean the most relevant to do is the rematch with Sean Strickland

do it in Africa if you want or do it on the 303 304 whatever it is but you've also got kind of near versus Scripland, which I know a lot of people don't want to see, but is a total contention. You've got Robert Whitaker versus Hamza at Shemayev.

Whoever wins of that, he's going to get the title shot. And after Drifers comes off his injury or he's postponing, whatnot, he's going to get that contender, whoever wins between Stripland and not Stripland, sorry, Whitaker and Hamza. So that's going to be a good fight. and you've got Izzy who's coming off and Izzy who's laying off

which he rightly deserves because he's pretty much cleaned up the division so yeah whoever's going to win against I forgot with Bobby Knuckles and Hansa

who's going to get the total shot I do hope it's Homs Up because I think Homs Up's going to bring a lot of, he's going to bring a mixed bag to DDP and, you know, it's going to be a very good fight. But at the end of the day, you know, I just hope it's going to be a bang of a car. That's the end of the day. But, look, you know, I know I'm speaking of the piss and, you know, is what it is.

But at the end of the day, I'm just hoping for a good card. I know the middleweight division is a little bit of a mixed bag at the moment. You know, you've got Hamsat coming in, hot. You've got DDP, who's a gatekeeper, say where it is. But he's number one contender. You've got, you know, a lot of people in the middleweight division. But, yeah, I'm just, you know, hoping for a really good card. You know, Widdaker versus Homes up, whoever wins.

of that is going to get the next title shot and you know whoever puts on the good performance Izzy might come up and say look you know I'm going to come in back in the game and you know see who I'm going to fight but if Izzy's going to come back I think he needs to go and beat the number one contender whoever that's going to be that's going to be cool just get himself you know relax get himself back in the game and then he's going to go back in there

and go for a total shot boom whatever and then yeah so um Oh, it's going to be interesting, but look, I know I'm talking about me all. Awesome. Thanks, man. Yeah, dude. I mean, dude. I feel like we're just going around in circles here, but I appreciate you. Appreciate you calling in.

And enjoy the bevies, my man. Enjoy the bevies. What a call. Yeah, I mean, we just kind of touched on 85, man. Like, Sean Strickland's already booked. He's fighting Paul Costa, five rounds. in the co-main event of 302, so he's booked. Cannonair is also booked.

He's fighting, well, not 100% official, but it appears that the UFC is working on Cannonair versus Nassardine Embovoff in the main event of UFC Louisville. Told like not all is done there, which is why that hasn't been announced. But that's the fight they want for that card for some reason. I mean, when I think Louisville, Kentucky, I think, boy, we got to get Jared Kedineer in here in Nassardineemov for five rounds, right? I'm sure you're all thinking the same thing.

Yeah, we got Whitaker Hamzot. Is he's going to fight DDP? It's like you have to do it now. You cannot wait any longer. You have to do it now. And both guys want to do it in Perth. So just fucking do it in Perth. Like, let's do it in August.

Done. UFC 305. Let's go. get these two in there and let's have a good time Driggis duplica against like any of these guys is so fun Driggis versus

Hamzot is fun Drickas versus Strickle we've seen it but I wouldn't mind seeing it again Drick as Izzy's got to be super interesting because of the heat there like even Drickas versus Paula Costa in its own sort of chaotic way

like I said like middle weight is not lightweight It ain't bannam weight, but it is the money division this year. Like there's a lot of money to be made in the 185 pound division. There's tons of really interesting fights in headliners and pay-per-view main events and all sorts of things you can do 185. Bo Nicol, as you mentioned. He's coming up. You say he's going to get fast-tracked.

I don't think they're going to fast-track them. I don't think they need. Like, I think they're going to kind of, they'll give them like equal steps up every time. like Cody Brundage was a step up from Val Woodburn and Jamie Pickett

like we will find out if they are going to fast track him I said you know what let's just see what the man has let's throw them in there with GM3 litmus test

you beat Durham Mearshart like you're a top 25 dude you're a top 2025 guy and then we can go from there you miss some other games Anthony Hernandez Man, I wish this man could like stay healthy

You're supposed to fight Roman Deleads 8 UFC 301 Off the card Suffered an injury It's hoping to fight later on This summer So yeah, middleweight's fun You know, I said It's gonna be a top three division

For the UFC this year So there you have it All right, we gotta go Thank you all very much No show Thursday As you guys know We have shifted gears a little bit so we're not going to do Thursday.

Thursday is for BTL. So we'll have a BTL on Thursday, and then we'll be back here on Friday, and we'll do another show here. So thank you all very much. You're all wonderful, and back on Friday. Appreciate you.

Have a heck of a morning, everybody. The Vox Media Podcast Network.