MMA Fighting - HOAM | Tony Ferguson's Interview With Ariel Helwani, Weekend Recap

Episode Date: October 3, 2023

Tony Ferguson joined Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour to discuss his highly debated UFC 296 matchup with Paddy Pimblett, and it seemed like Ferguson was a lot more realistic and reflective than we have been used to seeing as of late. On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses his takeaways from Ferguson's interview ahead of his bout with Pimblett, where "El Cucuy" would go depending on the result of the fight, and why all of the pressure is on Pimblett to win. Additionally, listener topics include rumored matchups, Matt Brown's comments about Colby Covington should he lose to Leon Edwards at UFC 296, Canelo Alvarez's outstanding performance on Saturday, Cedric Doumbe's viral finish at PFL Europe this past Saturday, why ONE Championship needs to focus on being themselves and not how they stack up against the UFC, and 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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First show of not 20, 23 of October. And somehow the recording efforts are very low, but we will fix that in post. But hope everyone had a great weekend. Hope everyone's having a great start to the week. Obviously, we did not have

a UFC event. Over the weekend, we did have a one championship event, stamp fair text. gets the job done is the brand new one strawweight champion after finishing ceo he can and what a what a performance it was she has officially gotten over the hump she is someone that is getting to must watch tv she probably is already there but what a performance from her obviously it was an emotional event because we found out that

Angela Lee announced her retirement from the sport that that fight would be for the vacant championship. And it was just an emotional night altogether. But Stan Fairtex getting it done, dancing out there, getting it done, getting the finish, nasty kick to the body. It was just ferocious. She just, she has leveled up in a big way. What a performance from her. And then obviously we had the big boxing match. Canello versus Charlo.

Canello just put the wood to Charlo. What a performance. I think he answered a lot of the questions. A lot of the people were saying, he's declined. He ain't the same guy. He's not that good anymore. He's right for the picking.

And nope, didn't happen. Canelo put out a vintage performance. 11 rounds to one on my card. And what a friggin showing from him. And we'll see where he goes from here. boxing when the big fights happen man are they big and they just feel big and i wasn't really sure how i was going to feel about it until we got to like 30 minutes before the fight actually was about to begin and and i was like all right this is this has the big fight feel

ready to go ready to watch it i'm excited there's the most excited i had been and then canello put on one hell of performance so we could talk about any of that stuff we can talk about what's going on in the world of mixed martial arts. The UFC is back at the world's most famous apex on Saturday for UFC Vegas 80, which took a little bit of a hit. Let me just pull up the card real quick. One of the fights I was looking forward to this entire month, not just on this card, one of the fights I was looking forward to this entire month,

no longer happening at 135 pounds. The great Marcel Dorf reported last night and broke my freaking heart. We confirmed it last night as well. Montal Jackson out of UFC Vegas 80. Chris Gutierrez will no longer fight this Saturday. However, he will fight Al-A-Latang-A-Lee next Saturday at UFC Vegas 81. Man, that one just crushed me. I was looking forward to that fight.

That was an Otno point. I'm still taking the Otno point. It's just a shame, man. Like, Montel Jackson, to me, for the last five years, he's been a guy that I've been telling everybody. Like, watch over this guy. Watch over this guy. Once he gets to these big fights, he's going to deliver in a big way.

And he got this opportunity in a big spot. And he just can't stay active. He can't. I don't know what it was or what the situation is. Some people reporting it's an injury. Weren't told for sure last night when I confirmed this information. But just a bummer, man. he's so good

and yet all these roadblocks all these speed bumps to get to these big opportunities and Gutierrez being the gamer that he is will fight next week but that's a bummer man that was a bummer so now we're down to

12 fights on this card Grant Dawson versus Bobby Green the main event we got Joe Pfeiffer back against Abdul Razak al-Hsan Alex Marono versus Joaquin Buckley I saw a lot of people like shitting on this card. Look, it ain't the best, and we lost the second most compelling fight on it, in my opinion. But it's still pretty good. Drew Dover, Ricky Glenn is going to be fun.

Baleep Linz versus Iwan Coochalaba. You know, that one's not going to the cards. Bill Algeo, Alexander Hernandez will be an interesting fight. Caroline Colvo Kavich, Diana Belbita, Johnny Munoz, Orichie Lang, Kanaka Marata versus Vanessa Demopoulos. That's going to be fun. Maneus, Mateus Mandunka, Montana de la Rosa, J.J. Aldrich. That'll be a little grind fest right there. And it's not bad. We've had way worse apex cards than this one. But boy, if we got Gutierrez Jackson, would have been much better.

So, all right. Let's go to you guys. Henry was first in line. So we will begin with him. Henry, how are you? Hey, Mike. Yeah, I'm good, man. I hope you enjoyed your weekend off.

It wasn't bad. It wasn't bad. We did some pumpkin patching. It was a good time. Did you hit the links? Did you hit the links? I have a rib injury, so I can't really rotate that way, but hoping, I'm going to try it out tomorrow and see how I feel. Damn, rib injuries are no joke, man.

Yeah, I just wanted to see if you caught the Tony Ferguson interview yesterday on the MMA hour. First thing first, a video interview, which is a huge set for Tony. And also, he kind of seemed, I don't know. a lot more less unhinged than normal. Obviously, you had the normal Tony ranting and he'd go on his long-winded answers and stuff, but just seeing something different about him, and it was good to see. But yeah, I was just wondering, where do you think he goes from here with a loss? Like, does he stay in the UFC just to put over younger guys?

Do they cut him? Does he go to BKFC and does it end, sadly, like a Bigfoot Silver type situation? Yeah, just that's why I'm wondering. Where do you think Tony Ferguson goes of a loss? And what did you make of the interview? So I'll be honest, I had the day off yesterday. I did watch a good chunk of the show. Obviously, I watched the Dylan Dennis interview because I wanted to see what's going to happen there.

I did see some clips. I watched probably seven or eight minutes of it live. But then most of it I caught on the clips thanks to our wonderful social media team for putting those out there. But from what I saw and from what I gathered in our Slack channel, it seemed like Tony was not unhinged. I think that's a good way to describe it. It seemed like he was very, I know, he's very focused.

He was a guy that's trying to figure it out. I'm not going to say he figured it out, but I think he's in a place where, not for the most part, but for a good chunk of it, he seems to be realistic. Seems to be somewhat realistic. And I think he understands

what this patty fight means. And I know he keeps saying I'm far from done being a fighter and all that and maybe that's true. But you have to imagine if he loses to Patty, he's not getting another fight in the UFC. Maybe they keep him around for one more.

Maybe they do like a UFC 300 fight with a Joe Lose on or something just to kind of ride him off into the sunset from the UFC. I think he probably still fights. I don't know where he ends up going. Maybe PFL takes a shot at him. BKFC certainly would take a shot on him.

He seems perfect for what they're trying to do. So, but yeah, I, I liked what I saw. It wasn't him yelling and screaming and saying, hey, when I win this, I'm going to go fight for the belt or anything like that. I didn't hear any of that. If you said that, then I missed it. But I think it's a guy who understands what is at stake here. And one thing that kind of confused,

me was one of the portions I did watch live was he said that oh I'm back with my old team now back with the old team haven't been back with the old team for a long time and I thought he said he was back with his old team before the last fight like I thought he said something similar so I don't really know he's still a mystery to me in a lot of respects but playing armchair psychologist at least from what I saw from the interview I wasn't worried totally And this is a winnable fight. And like the more the more I think about this fight,

the more I get it. Like I understand why this fight's happening. This is a fight Tony can win. It is absolutely a fight Tony can win. But it is absolutely a fight that he could look really bad at. It's a fight where he could do very well in the feet in the first round like he's done in his last couple of fights. It's a fight that Patty can take over down the stretch

and just take him down and sit on him and end up kind of choking him. before it's all set and done. So it would be just, it would be incredible if Tony won this fight. Like what a moment it would be. I'm not saying this is, you know, because I don't like Patty or anything like that, but it would just be another example of the UFC

trying to set things up in the way they want, only to have it just ruined. Kind of like what Strickland did with Israel out of Sadia. It just goes in and ruins all the plans. I'm just going to throw him in there, give him a spotlight fight, something where he can shine, he can style on Sean Strickle, and then he can go fight DDP, and then maybe he goes some fight Hamzad,

and then Sean Strickle's like, nope. Not feeling that at all. This is my world. I'm going to go beat the hell out of this man. Don't doubt me. But it would be just crazy if Tony wins this fight. But my whole issue with the fight is, it's not really an issue.

which is I'm very curious to see how Patty handles this because his stock has dropped a ton from the Jared Gordon fight, not just from the fighting itself because most people feel like he lost that fight. Patty and maybe his family and his teammates are the only ones that feel like he won that fight. He was very respectful towards Jared Gordon. He did a lot of stuff and, you know, the whole thing with Ariel, which I don't really care about. I'm not really going to get into that.

I think we all understand what that is at the, point but he kind of took his eye off the ball the stock from how people view him as a personality dropped a ton and i'm very curious to see how he handles himself in this fight does he go all does he go full all in heel here and just rip tony to shreds and just accept that he's just not going to be a liked fighter and just go in that way because you can make a lot of money doing that you can be a you can make a lot of money as the heel or does he go in and be very very very respectful of Tony, very respectful of what Tony has done, very respectful of the resume, talks about how much this fight means to him.

If he could stay focused all fight week long and not veer off track into other things that don't really matter. And then if he wins, if he doesn't, you know, twerk over Tony or, you know, make it a big deal. Like, if he doesn't do like the Vitor Belford after he knocks out a Banderhawleyfield thing, like he just won best fighter of all time thing, then I think this could be a moment for him where things kind of change a little bit, at least the narrative around Patty can shift.

But this is a very important week for Patty and all the pressure is on him, all of it. Tony has pressure more for himself and maybe more for his UFC career. But this is a, this is a must win as it gets for Patty Thimble. But he's got to win. He's got to win this fight. And if he doesn't, it is not. not going to be good. It is not going to be good.

But Tony, if Tony loses, he's probably done in the UFC. Not saying he's done fighting, but he's probably done with the UFC. Toe Kalo. Honestly, I want to say, I think we have a new top 10 fight of the year candidate that happened this weekend, which was surprising to me since, yeah, we only had like Cates warriors. And I don't even remember. Yeah, PFL Europe, sure.

No one in USA could watch that, so that's the thing. But yeah, in Cage Warriors, the Luf, and I forget what the other guy's name was, that fight was amazing. So if you haven't seen it, go to UFC Fat Pass and look it up. It's amazing. And other than that, at the end of the Dillon Danes interview yesterday, Ariel said that he felt that it was that we got a lot done through the interview and I'm not sure what because listen I don't believe a single word that comes out of Dylan Dennis's mouth so it's hard for me to say that those 75 minutes of talking was anything constructive at all. I don't know. if you can illuminate me towards what we actually got, like, what did we learn from that interview?

Because I didn't learn jack shit. Sorry. So if you can illuminate me on that, that would be helpful. Thank you. I mean, I don't know what to say, really. It was what it was. Like, they went in there, they had a, they did their thing, and it was. Like, what did you expect?

There's not much we could really expect to learn from a Dylan Dennis interview, especially a 75-minute one. But it was funny. I thought the lie counter was hilarious. Honestly, what I learned was, and look, I'm not 100% sold on anything at this point. However, I am convinced that Dylan is going to show up. I am convinced Dylan is going to show up and fight Logan Paul. And I think the percentages went from like 75 to 82% confidence that he's going to show up and fight Logan Paul.

So I guess that's what I learned. And something else, like I, this is something that I think a lot of us who have listed to Dylan Danis and kind of heard him do interviews the last couple of years and say things and how he acts in social media. There are layers to this man that we just don't know. And Ariel tapped into a couple of those a little bit, but he didn't really want to get specific on stuff. But there's a story with Dylan that's to be told, where he's just going to let his guard down and just unload all the things that he's been burying.

And I think once that happens, we are going to not have a whole different outlook on Dylan Dennis, but I think we'll understand him more as a person and maybe understand why he acts the way he acts. but yeah I mean this wasn't meant to be like a let's learn all about Dylan danis interview this is just let's put more of a spotlight on the fight and him and Ariel are kind of just hilarious together in the weirdest possible way the fight you're talking about with cage warriors Luke Riley against Alexander Luce and yeah dude that

fight's friggin nuts when this show's over go watch it go to you have FACC fight pass. Cage Warriors 160, Luke Riley, Alexander Loof, they just beat the shit out of each other. And then Riley comes out

like a madman at the beginning of the third round. It just throws everything he has left in the tank at this guy. It just lighten him up, hitting him a million times. Louf's trying to fight back.

And then you see Luke Riley just exhausted, slowly climbing out of the cage to go celebrate with Patty and Molly. It was just insane, man. Gudos to Luke Riley. Yes, we did a PFL as well.

PFL Europe, but again, the U.S. didn't get to watch it. Cedric Dumebe comes through like a madman. That was, I mean, look, I shit on the PFL, and boy, do they deserve it, because they do so many things wrong. But the matchmaking there was brilliant. Because they took a guy with the same, MMA record who was not good at all to fight Cedric Dumebe. This guy is not good.

He's not a good fighter. He was like 3 in 3 as an amateur and got a bunch of cream puffy wins before that fight. And Cedric just killed him as he should have. It was perfect matchmaking. This might have been the best matchmaking PFL's ever made because it looks good on paper. But if you really understood who these two guys were, I didn't expect Cedric to win in under 10 seconds, but I expected him to just annihilate this guy. And that's exactly what he did.

Came out with the mattress. Everything about it was great. It's just unfortunate that no one got to watch it. But the fortunate thing was the moment went viral, went on social media. He just absolutely annihilated this guy. But this was absolutely perfect matchmaking. You got this guy over. You did it in Paris. You just screwed the pooch by not being able, by not allowing. your biggest audience to watch the fucking fight. It's craziness. It's absolute craziness. And some people,

for a little while on Saturday before we went pumpkin patching, I was watching a little bit of it. Because we got a media link so we could cover it. It was, I mean, I felt like just the first two hours of it lasted seven hours. it's just like the pfl could be in the u.s they could be in washington dc they could be in florida they could be in paris they could be anywhere the pacing is so bad it's just a nightmare it is a nightmare it should never ever feel like a chore watching fights and when you watch the pfl it feels like a chore it feels like work watching a pfl card because the pacing is so bad and you can't tell me that they don't know this this is like

the number one complaint that everybody as a whole has watching the PFL is that the pacing is so awful. I mean, it is really, really bad. They got to fix that. They got to fix it. And they have to allow these big moments to happen where everybody can watch it. Like you, you want to be taken seriously as a player as a number two spot, but yet we can't watch these events that you hyped up, you've been hyping up centric doom base since you signed him. And then we get to this event, nobody can watch it in the United States. Like, it's insane. It's absolutely ridiculous. You got to be better. Got to be better. I'm Nilai Patel, editor-in-chief The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other

problems. We've talked a lot about generative AI on the show lately, which is a very big idea that is causing quite a few problems. And one thing we keep hearing about over and over again, is that generative AI is causing a lot of problems in schools. There are a lot of people out there, including many of the listeners of the show who email us, who are worried about the obvious problem, students using chat GPT to cheat on assignments. But when our team went and poked at the story, they found that the issues in education with AI go a lot deeper, to the very philosophy of education itself. If this technology becomes more ubiquitous, we'll have courses created by AI, graded by AI,

with submissions from students absolutely generated by AI. So it begs the question, what are we even doing here in higher ed? This episode is presented by Salesforce. Support for this show comes from the audible original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left.

Roscoe Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser 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 uh dylan go ahead i was gonna originally get on here and just kind of bash the pfl for not letting me watch it over the weekend because uh i don't know if you remember probably not but like a month ago i called and was like wanting you to talk about the lazy king something because i was so excited for his uh debut and so uh i didn't get to see the match live of course and then after piecing together, like, through social media, like, highlights, and then I found the Post-Fi interview. He said that he was going to enter the tournament in the 155 division, which I thought was weird since he, like, coming from Aries,

he was the 170 and 185 champ. And I think he definitely has the frame for it, but I was kind of wondering, like, since he has so much experience at 170 at least, like, entering the tournament where you're going to, like, take a lot of damage on your body and stuff like that, like, and quick turnarounds. Like,

I just wonder if maybe that might be a mistake to enter a lower weight class instead of just at 170, but I don't know, I don't know if you have much thoughts on that, but that's all I had. Thanks, Mike. I mean,

I saw that. I mean, he's 28. And the good news is he's got, what, like six, seven, like six months until the new season. starts. So if he could take the next six months and slowly start getting his frame

down closer to that where that cuts not horrible and he's walking around at a decent weight, I think he could do it. And I think he just wants to accomplish something else because he's won a welterweight title. He's won a middleweight title. If he does it at 155, I mean, look at the guys he'd have to beat to get there. So I think just the bigger names, the tough, the tougher competition for him name-wise is that lightweight. Lightweight's the best division in the sport. So, I mean, if that's what he wants to do, go get it. But unfortunately, we're just not going to see him until the new season starts

because he's going to have to spend the next six months getting his body weight down to where it needs to be. But if he's going to try 155 for a full season, then he's got to do it now. He's got to do it now. So it'll be interesting to see. But yeah, he made quick work, did it in less than three minutes. He was there even odds for that?

He was a minus 1,200 favorite. So that fight went exactly the way we thought of what would go. And came through with the first round finish. Someone told me that they bet on Cedric Dumeigh, and they got him at minus 200. And I was like, oh, my God. I wish I saw that because I would have probably jumped the shark on that in a big way.

That might have been the best value steal in MMA betting the whole year was getting Dune Bay a minus 200 in that fight. He should have been like a minus 900 in that fight. And still the might have been value there. So whoever got him at minus 200, hats off to you.

That was really, really smart. Yes, four out sniper. Hello. Hey, heck of morning. How you doing? Good. Hey, just real quick, I wanted to ask you about the main event this weekend.

I wanted to ask you about the matchmaking between Bobby Green and Grant Dawson. I thought Grant might be getting a little bit of a bigger step up than Bobby Green. But, I mean, I guess that's best neither here nor there. Assuming he goes out there and whether he gets a finish early in the first couple rounds or whether he dominates his way to a decision, who do you like to see him fight next? Who would you like to see him match made up with? That's all right. Hmm. I mean, I'll have an answer on Sunday if he wins, but it's tough to say, man.

55 is just a juggernaut. There aren't a lot of guys at 155. Let me just pull up the UFC lightweight rankings right now. There are not a lot of guys at 155 who are going to be like, yeah, I'll fight that dude that are ranked. I'm trying to like look at it right now. Moikano's a teammate. I'm not saying they would never fight. Jalen Turner, I don't know what his future looks like at 155.

RDA, I still don't know why he's ranked. Parvola's got a fight. Diego Fahed is interesting. Dan Hooker would be interesting. Sarukian would be interesting, but I think Surukian deserves to fight ahead at this point. Zeeves out for a minute. Gamrot, ATT guy, much like Grant, but not saying the those two guys could ever fight.

I don't think he's going to get a whole lot better, honestly. I know Grant's happy with the name. Bobby, he said he wanted a name or a ranking. He feels Bobby is a big enough name. He gets a main event spot, so I know he's happy about that. I would, honestly, I would say he's probably going to end up getting, like a CDF type,

maybe the Frivolta, Ben-Wassantini winner. somebody like that I think the best he could hope for is Dan Hooker honestly because I don't think he's getting any of these other guys maybe Gammonaut if those two are willing to fight each other but he's not going to get any

he's not going to get anyone in the top five I think Hooker's probably his best bet I think if he goes in there and lays waste to Bobby Green and just focuses all his attention on Dan Hooker he might get that but yeah he's he's in a tough spot he's in a very tough spot it is not easy to move up this division

when you don't have it all Grant's a great fighter he does have a good personality I've been interviewing Grant forever since he's a one and oh pro when he was like a 20 year old phenom I've been interviewing him but he's just not super over just yet but you know

give him a main event spot against the guy who people like it could help so we will uh we'll see where he goes but i have to see the performance first but i think dan hooker is as best as he's gonna get which is not fair but that's late wait

what's up as well yeah yeah so uh i just have a few things i want to ask i'll keep it quick uh just want to start off with the federate division um what for what would you be interesting Brian Ortega next. And also just to add on, I saw a rumor,

I think it's a fake report though, but there's a rumor that Mavsa and Arnold Allen signed on to have a fight. Even if it's fake, I'm definitely curious to see that fight and see how it goes. It's a very interesting fight for two highly tired

prospects who will rule the future of his vision. The next thing, I just also wanted to touch on the little bit, just a lightweight and you know seeing with this weekend's fight um obviously um i see grand dorson win this fight i don't see any angle of bobby green winning but if bobby green was to win i'm definitely interesting like in the fact that you know the lightweight division is kind of in a very stale position right now because a lot of the top five are just the same guys have been staying there

or just guys who are inactive and trying to maintain their spot not take the tough hardest fight and give some of the newer guys' chance, you know. So I'm definitely curious to see, you know, alternative scenarios that happens. And just one final thing. This is kind of just the thing I saw Chhatri was talking about regarding one's popularity around the world. A little bit around here, I want to say,

and also about the PFL. You know, I just want to say, as someone who loves the sport of mixed martial arts, and as much as I'm someone who definitely appreciate some of the fight night cards that one and Chachar himself have hosted, in terms of Muay Thai, the Brazilian Jutsu competition tournaments. You know, he's definitely very delusional in the fact to even mention and compare himself to the UFC

or even his standard of being next to Dana-Wai in terms of how he's grown the sport. Like Dana-Wight, in every single metric angle, he's cleared and overcome every obstacle and, you know, hard situation. And he's grown his sport to the highest caliber. You can say what you want with the guy? He's done some corrupt stuff, but he's also a great fucking promoter, great boss. He's done a lot of things that are unthinkful that most commissioners in any sport, all right, any sport.

Maybe minus David Stern have ever done. You know, he's grown to sport to levels. Many people who in this industry can even comprehend things beyond of even trying to do. Like, you know, I just recently went to Singapore, like about six, seven months ago. I have a lot of friends there who went to mixed martial arts. I even went to attend the MMA, the famous MMA

gym, Evolve MMA in Orchard, right? Orchard City, there's a gym there. And I asked people like, just randomly, hey, you know, how big is one FC in Singapore, Asia? Is it as big UFC? And, you know, truth and behold, USC is much bigger. I was seeing people around, like,

you know, literally wearing UFC jerseys or caps and whatnot. You know, I never saw a single material pro for one FC. I saw maybe just a billboard for, like, one their four. fight nice that week but like you know and just a touch on pfl like pfl i kind of like the method but i also think they're just they're just highly trying to glaze and overharmed themselves as all you know what the we're trying to be the next big competition to the ufc you know yadriad this and this trying to get these fighters like to me man come on do your own thing

promote yourself the right way make your fights entertaining you can't live off the hypercala harrison and francis and garner and cedric you know that's not going to last you You need to actually build fighters. You need to learn how to market yourself. If you even, you know, like the UFC has gotten fucking big support from celebrities and whatnot. I have yet to see one FC get that kind of same support or PFL. Until I see someone as famous as a Hugh Jackman, support one FC or PFL. I don't want to hear shit because clearly they're not in the same league.

You know, like, and, you know, this is, again, as someone who loves mixed martial. So I'm not trying to bring, like, in the sense, any disrespect. And I do appreciate what a board organization doing. But, you know, they have to be real-release. Like, Chatur, you know, that guy needs to worry more about paying his fucking taxes and taking care of the company because he has bigger problems to worry about. That's all I have to have a great day, man. I know it's a bit long.

I don't like to be too long, but I just had to let that out there. Thank you, sir. Hang tight. you asked me to ask about something and I am asking about it now and maybe I will have an update for you in a moment let's see

Brian Ortega I like the Calvin Cater fight I think that makes sense if we can get something before the end of the year I think that'd be cool I know Calvin thinks he'll be ready to come back for the end of the year or can do it early next year that's a damn good like apex main event

I think that fight makes a lot of sense I think Calvin thinks that makes a lot of sense I think Calvin want to be challenged by a guy with the grappling pedigree of a Brian Ortega guy who's fought for the belt I like that fight I think that fight makes a lot of sense if you did Bryce Mitchell versus Brian Ortega I'd be fine with that but I don't think Bryce is going to get a huge step up

honestly I actually like the Bryce Mitchell Mopsar of Loyaf fight but there are a really rumors going around that Bob Zarb Loyap is fighting Arnold Allen at a DPD. So I've reached out to some folks. We'll see if I get any kind of response on that. Dawson Green will see what happens. I know Dawson's heavily favorite.

I will say this. Bobby Green has done the five-round thing before. Bobby Green doesn't really get tired. We've seen Grant fade in some of these fights. So to me, Bobby Green's game plan is survival. Extend this fight. Get this fight into the championship rounds. If he can steal a round within the first three, he's got a chance to win.

He has a chance. If he can just survive and win a round early, he's got a shot. He's got a shot to win. It's a nightmare of a matchup for him. However, the longer it goes, the more favors Bobby Green in my eyes. So just Grant is just go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And yes, he has looked good in third rounds since the Ricky Glenn fight. But how's Grant going to look in a round four and round five against a guy like Bobby Green who just doesn't stop moving?

Who knows? Grant could just kill him. Grant could take him down and strangle him in two rounds. It's very possible. If this fight goes long, it's going to get really. interesting in my opinions and then I'm with you on the whole one PFL thing I will say this though it's not PFL I'm trying to remember who it was who the hell was it who the F was it someone like super famous I'm not a big soccer guy so I've literally

no idea who like any of these people are honestly but someone should showed up to the PFL Europe card, who's like a very big deal. I know Luke Thomas was talking about it. Whoever showed up to the PFL card was, is a very big name and it's like one of the more famous athletes around the world. So I have no idea who it is, but apparently he's very, very popular. And apparently he's more, uh, Killian Mbapay. Thank you, New York, Rick. Showed up and that's a, apparently he's a very popular guy, huge soccer star. Thank you, New York, Rick. So there you go. They get some people, I guess it's a big deal getting a guy like that there. I don't really know who is, but a lot of people around the world do. So that's, that's a,

that's a big deal. But I'm with you on the whole thing with like, just stop comparing yourself to the UFC. Like the PFL in particular, Don Davis just says and does things that drive me insane. We spent 30 minutes on a BTL talking about that stupid graph he made about, about, like their popularity and stuff compared to the other promotions. And we just laughed at them because it's so dumb. Like you have a unique product right now.

You have to stop. Like you have to, to me, PFL acts like they've already made it. Like we are number two with a bullet. We've made it. No, you haven't. You haven't made anything.

That's the thing. You've got to keep chasing. You've got to keep hungry. And it feels like to me they're not hungry. They've gotten to where they've needed to go. We're tackling these different things. Like, we've made it already. And that, like, drives me nuts because you're not even close, dude.

You're not even close. How many pay-per-views do you think this world championship is going to get? How many paper views to do this? It's not going to do it. It's not going to do 100,000. It's going to be nowhere near that. I'm told the first one did, like, horrific numbers. Like, super bad.

And this card is not as compelling at all. You can't say you made it. You can't act like you have. You're not even close. You've laid down a decent foundation, but I'd like to see just a realistic attitude when it comes to this shit. And Chhatri is like the worst example.

Oh, billions and billions. Like we rag on that shit all the time. He just says like these outrageous things. And you know what? To me, the PFL, I mean, one has had one of their better years ever. I think more people have been more invested in what one championship is trying to do than maybe ever,

that maybe they've ever been. And the big thing is they're doing something different. They have to consider themselves. They can't compare themselves to the UFC anymore with the way these events are happening. And these are the kinds of things that have gotten them over. They have to stop with this, oh, we're the number two MFA promotion. No, you're the number one promotion of what you're trying to do. Stop focusing on the UFC.

Stop it. Focus on what you're trying to do. You're not the UFC. You're not the UFC. You have a completely different product. Watching a one card is completely different than watching a UFC card. Just be you. Just be you.

And I know you get questions like this all the time. And you want to go over and you want to cut promos and all that shit. Just say, we're not the UFC. The UFC is over there doing their thing. and they've done it well. We're over here doing our thing and it's completely different. Someone put it, I want to say it's MMA on point.

They're like, who is the number two MMA promotion? And I saw one in there. I don't think you could put one in that conversation. Like, yes, quintessentially, they are a mixed martial arts promotion because they're doing different disciplines, like individual disciplines at different fights,

and then they have MMA fights on top of it. But they are a different product than Bellator. They are a different product than what the PFL is trying to do. Just enjoy that. Just be that. Buy into that. Sell that. You're different.

You've got something cooking right now. Just stop comparing yourself to the UFC. You're not them. You're completely different. And even if you weren't, you're nowhere near them. So stop it. Cut the shit. Just be who you are.

And be the best you can be. let's go to Viking what's up Viking for effort Jedmish said that uh Dan Hooker left his

peace of soul in that jail internal fight so was he talking about that high kick thank you Mike

and uh for corner sports great YouTube channel by the way thanks a lot Mike thanks buddy I'm not really sure with Jedmanmanman

that. I will ask him. I will ask him what he specifically meant about that. But yeah, I know he's been super high on Jalen Turner and to see how that fight played out. He was like, yeah. Because I, I mean, there have been many podcasts about we were talking about like ranking shows and prediction shows and things like that. Talking about like who the next dude is that lightweight. We're doing like comparison numbers like this guy, this guy and this guy who's going to be the first one to win the title. And I know Jett has been super high on Jalen Turner and to see Dan Hooker. And to see Dan Hooker, just go out there and blast him and outlast him

and to see Jalen lose two fights in a row like that almost takes Jalen out of the discussion at least for a while so I know that took a piece of his soul honestly because he was so high on Jalen but I wonder if Jalen is

if his future is at 170 so he does I mean he's a monster of an individual man he's frigging huge so I'm curious to see what his next move is I really am. Ani, go ahead. Stop.

Can you hear me? I can hear you. It's been a while. How have you been, Mike? I've been good. What's going on? Well, I've been on a vacation, and I don't have any questions today. It's just, I just want to talk to you and see how you were doing, and just, I don't

have any questions, really. It's just me getting back into the mix of heck of a morning, BTL, onto the next one. so yes i have nothing much to add i mean it's just hello that's it nothing much appreciate that buddy it's good to hear from you welcome back to the fold i'm doing well i hope you're doing well also and hope you had a good vacation man hope you had a good vacation if you went somewhere fun four-course sports go ahead hey mike so i saw that you guys posted on the Twitter feed on enemy fighting that Matt Brown said that if Colby ends up losing and forgive me if you spoke about this or not that he finds it a very hard time for him to return back to fighting just because what would be left for him

I mean you always say that he's a prize fighter and he's four for titles you know the two losses against Usman this will be his third title opportunity if he does lose two. Leon, is there even really a opportunity for him to, I mean, not an opportunity, is there even, you know, another fighter for him to go out there? I mean, I guess Connor would be one, you know, thing, but I was really thinking about it. I was like, yeah, I don't really see Colby, you know, sticking around. I mean, he was comfortable being away from the sport for about 18 months. I mean, I'm pretty sure he'll be comfortable stepping away from the sport again if he ends up losing to Leon. And, yeah, one of my, um, yeah, one of them.

my Otno picks was Bryce Mitchell versus Brian Osega. I don't know how likely that is to happen. We'll love to see it just because of the judicious of Ortega versus the grappling of Bryce, something that I think that would be very intriguing. And then is there any news of a back-up fighter for the men's flyway title? I'm just curious to see if you heard anything. All right. Thanks, Mike. Thank you, sir.

Yeah, I did see the headline. I haven't read it yet. I know you could listen to it if you would like, because I know Matt Brown is on Damon's podcast, Fighter versus Ryder, so you can check that out. I don't know if I agree with that. Obviously, I mean, just look at 2023. Look at how Dana and the UFC just revere Colby.

All Colby had to do was show up in London and make weight, and he got a title shot. Now, think about some of the other back of fighters who have stepped on the scale and have not received that title shot. There you go. They look at Colby in a completely different way. So if Colby goes out and loses to Leon somehow, if the fight is somewhat competitive, and Colby has talked about this with other people, he's talked about this with me for the last couple of years, Colby thinks he can get to 155. he thinks he can do it without a problem. So Colby going to 155, which would be,

which would be tough, man, it'd be tough. If he just was like, man, I'm going to go to 155 and they jumps everybody and gets a title shot, which wouldn't surprise me, but it could happen. There are still fights for him. I don't know if like the welterweight thing sticks around, but I don't know. He's in an interesting spot.

He's probably not getting a welterweight title shot again because he'd be 0 for 3 if he loses to Leon. Well, one for four, if you count the RDA interim title fight. He's also getting up there at age. He's not a spring chicken. So, I don't know. I get where Matt's coming from. I still think there would be fights for him.

And I think Colby could just find his way to those fights if he really wanted to. because, I mean, look, if you got the UFC taking your back like they have with Colby, you're never really out of it. So, I don't know. Ortega Bryce would be interesting. I just don't think Bryce is going to get that big of a step up. I don't think it's going to be that big of a step up after sneaking through Dan Ege. It's a good performance.

I thought it looked good. But I don't know if that's like, oh, we got to give him. a top five guy after that. So we'll see where Bryce goes from here. Support for this show comes from Volkswagen. As the U.S. gets ready to host soccer's biggest moment on a worldwide stage, Volkswagen is helping people discover new terms and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the U.S. From deaf and power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal,

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Connexonterio.ca. Let's go to King Katz. Hello. Hey, Mike. How are you doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm good.

So I kind of jump. I've been in and out doing some stuff with work. So I'm pretty sure that no one has really talked about Bellator 300. I mean, that's this weekend and that's pretty big. I mean, we lost Ryan Bader, but I mean, that's not, no offense. I mean, there are three other title fights, you know. But, you know, that's a big fight. I saw that you were on the Bellator podcast with Big Marcel, but could you just talk about,

like, if you had to choose between watching Bellator 300 and the UFC card, which one would you choose and just talk a little bit about the title fights that are happening at Bellator 300. Thanks, Mike. Thank you, King Cat. Yeah. So I was on the Bellator's own show with Marcel and Santiago. I was asked about the Beta-Picell fight. I got to be honest with you, I don't know.

I haven't watched it back, so I don't know if that even made air or whatnot, but. losing that fight is not a big loss, if we're being honest. At least the way I saw it. This one just screamed super boring Bader decision to me. Like, I know Littin Vassell has been really good, and he's been dynamic and he's got some big finishes, but it just felt to me like Ryan Bader's just going to try to tackle him for 25 minutes. And I don't really need that on this card, if we're being honest.

So I saw some interesting screenshots. because Corey Anderson had said like, I'll do it. And someone had tagged Ryan and something and said, like, you know, fight Cory Anderson. And he said, like, Viacom didn't want to pay the money or something. I don't know what's true or what's not. But still got three title fights. Liz Karmush, Elima Lama and McFarland.

Maybe the last fight for Lima, M McFarland. I'm not sure. These two have been kind of plotting this out for quite some time and is worked out. And they're going to fight each other. And I kind of think Liz Karmu she's just going to chuck her all over the cage. But who knows? It depends on which Liz Khameru shows up. Cyborgs and Ghanu, like this just kind of feels like Chris should win.

But if there's one fight on this card where I have like weird Strickland-O'Malley vibes, it's this one. Like I think if there's an upset to be had, it's going to be that fight. I'm not calling for it. I'm not predicting it. But there's just a weird juju to this fight in a lot of respects. And then Usman Ramaga made up Brent Primis is, I think it's going to be fun. I think it's going to be more competitive than people think it's going to be.

But Usman is going to get his spot. He's going to finish Brent Primus at some point in this fight. But I think Brent's going to be gay, man. I think the first like two rounds are going to be really competitive. I think if Brent Primis studies a lot of the Mike Hamill Usman or Magamato fight? I think he can have some success. Like Usman beat Mike Hamill and it was pretty clear

but he didn't finish him. Mike's a dog man. Brent's got to go nuts. Brent's got to go crazy. Brent's got to be the offensive wrestler here. He can't let Usman dictate where this fight goes. He's got to turn into like Bryce Mitchell here where he's just spam and takedowns left and right. He needs to become Colby. Like that's how he needs to fight Usman.

If he stands out in space of this man, he's going to get annihilated. And if he lets Usman be the offensive wrestler, he's got to get choked out. He's got to get submitted. But Brent is the aggressor. If he can win the first round, if he can get Usman on the ground and lay on him and steal around, it's going to be interesting. I do think Usman over 25 minutes is going to catch him with something and get him out of there. But I do feel like this fight's going to be more fun than a lot of people think it's going to be. so yeah bellator 300 man it's happening and if i have to choose between the two cards i'm picking

the bellator card but there's just so many fights how many fights 16 fights 16 fights sarah mcman's in the prelims on this card we have davy on franklin slim trebelsy that's like one of those fights where i don't even know if it's going to happen because of everything going on with slim. I mean, there's some decent fights on the prelims. Henry Corrales, Kai Kamaka is going to be awesome. That fight's going to be really, really fun. And then just the rest is just a very bellatory, bellatory, bellator card. And we'll see what happens. Let's go to Amber Gambling. Hello, Amber. How are you? Good, good. I have a question. It's a little more data analytics driven, and I don't know

you have to answer, but I thought I'd hop in and ask this morning, is there any place I can find data on strikes per minute? I've been looking around qualitative and quantitative analysis. Also, just want to say, I appreciate your show. I love to watch you on ESPN, and I wish they would let you talk more than they do. That's all I have to say. Thank you, Mike. Wow, thank you so much. I know

the UFC stats they have strikes Landed per minute Strikes attempted per minute I think Strikes absorbed per minute So they have some different stats Like I'm not a big analytics guy

Like sometimes I'll go to them for certain things Like for instance Let me bring you back Are you there? Yeah I can hear you And I think what I was looking for more was, like, individual, like, when they mark it down on the score card, is that how they work the, like, the strikes per minute? And I noticed that those are absorbed. I don't want to make it too difficult. But I just, I didn't know if there was any other sources other than maybe Sherdog, Tapology, and JolfC stats. And then, of course, Fight Matrix, too. But if not, no big deal, I just wanted to say thank you also. I really do like you on ESPN. And again, I think you bring the most to that. So hope you continue there.

I wish I could. I mean, maybe one day I'll be on ESPN. I'm not on there now. Yeah, I mean, honestly, like, they do have individual stats. Like, dot per fight, though. I think it's just career statistics. Let me just tick a candor. I'm talking about UFC stats.

Yeah, I think it's just like the overall, like career-wise and like just striking percentages and such. So, yeah, like I said, I'm not a big, like, analytics guy. There are certain things, like, I will look analytics for. Like, for instance, AK's here, so he knows about this. There's going to be a fun damn they were good coming out very soon on Habib Narmaga Madoff. And boy, do we have a lot of fun with stats with that card, with that guy. Good Lord.

Some super fun statistical that information when it comes to Habib and his career and some of the performances he's had. so but yeah i'm not i'm sure if like you dug deep you could find something a little more analytical i guess something a little more accurate than ufc stats but that's probably the best you're getting get honestly at this point but hey you might have just found a niche that needs fill in here in the mma space maybe someone with that kind of info could you get on that and change the game that'd be nice that would be nice daniel go ahead my man hey mike i'm i'm working on to you um hope you had a good week off from fights i know i'm ready for flights to get back though i'm just kind of curious uh just more of a general question just on french m m ms i mean it just

feels like frances really emerges a place where m ms is growing i mean obviously doom bay's performance i mean i know uh i mean even frances and ghani you know having his ties to france i mean we of Cyril Gahn and Benoit Saint-Deneer in the new Venom commercial. Obviously, the event there that they had. I mean, I don't even think I've ever seen a fighter yell out another opponent's name when Dumbay was yelling out Jordan and the whole crowd was yelling out, you're dead. I mean, it just feels like that country has just blown up in terms of MMA.

Just curious, if you think we're just going to keep seeing the rise of French MMA and if we'll possibly see a champion at some point. Thanks, Mike. I'm sure we will at some point. we also have to remember that MMA wasn't legal in France until 2020 so while it's been legal here for a certain amount of time and we've watched the sport be born

and then slowly grow up into where it is now like MMA in France is a baby like it's a baby here it's a baby here compared to a lot of the major sports like UFC is getting ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary and that seems like a long time look at some of the other major sports.

Like, they're nowhere near where those other sports are, when it comes to how long they've been on in the history of the sport and all of that. But in France, like it's, excuse me, it's like three years old. And they've been waiting for it. They've been wanting it. Fans are hankering for it. And now they got it, and they are appreciative as hell.

They ain't taken any of it for granted. And they've just been the best crowds. Like, they have emerged as, like, the place to be in terms of just fired up crowds. Like I remember when they went back to London after the Pan, the UFC went back to London after the pandemic, and it was, they were just on fire. And then the ticket prices were way too high.

And we saw the last card when you couldn't get some of those maniacs in there to make all that noise. It was a dead crowd. And then they go to France a little bit while later, like less than two months later, and they blew the frigging roof off that place. So the popularity, I think, is going to grow. obviously with time we talk all the time about the evolution of the sport how you know kids instead

of playing t-ball and youth league basketball are training m-m-a and getting want to be ufc fighters instead of professional baseball players or whatnot sure they'll probably be a champion at some point i don't know when but yeah the sports the UFC is going to continue to go back there pfl's going to continue to go back there valetor's been there a bunch however long they're around they'll probably end up back there even if PFL absorbs them and they remain their own promotion

they'll probably end up back there like how could you know the aesthetics of them being on television and hearing that crowd like it just makes events better it's like pro wrestling you have a hot pro wrestling crowd it just makes the event better so yeah I do think it'll continue to grow I do think the electricity

will still be in the air will it continue with the UFC? Yeah, but we know there's going to get to a point where the ticket prices are going to get astronomical and some of those people are going to get priced out, but it doesn't seem to matter. They're just ready. And it's been pretty cool watching those crowds, man.

It's been unbelievable. Paris is a crowd of the year, for sure. Cole, go ahead. If Chelsea Chandler is the Daniel Jones of MMA, the way they're both always running for their life, who is the Mac Jones equivalent in MMA? That's all I got. Wait, say it one more time. If Chelsea Chandler is like Daniel Jones the way they're both always running for their life,

who's the MMA equivalent to Mac Jones? Oh, God. Who's the MMA equivalent to Mac Jones? Golly. It's a real good question. It's funny, like, the first thing that came to mind was Sage Northcott because he had, like, a really good rookie year, and then he just fell apart.

So, I mean, that's kind of Mac Jones. Had a really good rookie year, and then he has just been absolute dog shit since. I mean, he was so bad on Sunday against the Cowboys. Just so horrendous. I have to think about this. That's a really good question. I need to find a fighter who came out, like,

won his first, like, three or four fights, then got a cusp top 15 fight, lost, and then would lose three more in a row, but then look great, and then lost, like, three in a row again. And then when we thought we'd come back, he would lose badly again. I don't know.

Do you have one, Cole? You got one? Well, I thought of Sage Roethcott, too. I also thought of Mickey God, all the way he kind of just killed Z.M. Punk, and then had a decent career, But yeah, it's something to think about, I guess. Yeah, that's not a bad one.

That's not a bad. Actually, that might be better. That might be better. I don't know. It's one of those two guys off the top of my head. Mickey Gall is a really good one. Mickey just had, Mickey's always had, like, really good potential.

Maybe Alexander Hernandez. I think that might be the best one. I think it's Alexander Hernandez. Yeah. I'll go with that one. Panda, take us home. My man, Mike.

How are you? Oh, my God. Mark this date. Mark this date. October 3rd, Panda gets it on the first try. After Friday, I had to get on the phone with cricket wireless and just talk to somebody up top and you say, listen, this needs to be fixed. I'm trying to get on this a luxury show hack of a morning.

And I can't even voice my opinion because I'm trying to connect cans together in my kitchen to get on. but long story short, here we are. Mike, I got two questions for you. One was, of course, directed towards Mack Jones. Guy just kind of stole my spotlight before. How bad was that pick? He was running towards the sidelines, squared up towards the other sideline, fires across his body.

Oh, my God, it needs to be benched. Second, I'm going to fast forward a while down the road, almost two or three weeks from now, October 21st, Abu Dhabi. How does the Abu Dhabi... Harley not hit, Makachev, Chimeev, and Ankolaev, all sitting at minus 360 all in a row. Obviously, I'm rooting for Charles, but I do not think Charles has anything for Islam, especially when Islam gets him down, and Charles inevitably decides to pull guard if he can't get anything done on the feet.

Long story short, I like it a lot, Mike. Have yourself a heck of a week. I dig it. if you're asking me like which one I would pick that I'd be the most concerned about probably the Shemayev one but I'm not that concerned about it

because you just don't know like Paul's really good Paul's good he's a good fighter I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for like how good he is and he seems ready for this one so that I don't know maybe I don't know

I feel like Anka Laif I would be the most confident in. I think Anka Laif is almost a sure thing. No disrespect to Johnny Walker. I just think Anka Laif is probably the best light heavyweight in the world, but because he's not popular at all, and he hasn't been aesthetically pleasing to watch. I think that has hurt him in a lot of respects, but I do think you can make a strong case he's the best light heavyweight in the world.

And I kind of feel like he is. He's just, he doesn't have it. He's got the skills, but he just doesn't have it. Now, if he goes out and just melt Joddy Walker, I think that'll put him in the good graces of the community, for sure. But if he goes out and just wins like a 30-27 and just gets like eight takedowns and doesn't do anything, it's not going to do much for it.

It's not going to do much. I saw his manager Ali post something a little while, ago a couple weeks back. And he was like, I just talked to Ankelai. He said he's just going to run people over and finish him from here on out. That's good. Like, that's what he needs. He needs to go out there and finish guys.

And it started with that first main events he got. It just crushed him because there's a boring performance. There's a dominant performance, but it was a boring performance. It's one of those performances that Dana White's like, come on, man. What he said about Cyril Gone for a long time? Sierra was the boring guy, the boring fighter. So Ankleif can make some big changes here

to the way the UFC views him. Dana hated that Janbovich fight. Don't really understand why. Like, it wasn't the greatest title fight of all time. Certainly wasn't the greatest main event of all time, but it was a pretty compelling fight. To see Ankeliath just get chopped up and then come back and win?

Like, that was pretty gutsy stuff. I don't understand why he hated that fight so much. Is it what we're going to go back and watch a million times again? No, but it wasn't as bad as he said it was. So this is a big one for him. Islam, I'm probably second most confident in, but Charles Oliver is a wacky dude. You never know what's going to happen with the Charles Oliver fight. He looked really good against Padilla Darius.

I still think it's a horrible matcher for him, but you never know. and then Costa Shima if I mean two fucking wild cards man getting after it so yeah I mean it's probably gets a decent value on the parlay it's better than uh whoops better than betting them probably on all three of them individually if you're confident but yeah that's gonna be here before you know it friends is gonna be here before you know it uh I've asked about the mob czar of lawyers Arnold Allen fight that is being reported and rumored. I am told there's some smoke there.

It is being discussed. And that's really all I could say right now. Potentially early 2024. If it happens, it's not going to happen this year, I am told. But there is some smoke to those rumors. I will say that. but that's as far as I can go. Don't be like,

I don't make extra important. It's being talked about, okay? I'm just saying, I was asked about it. I'm doing my job as a person, as a host of this program, to try to give you answers.

And if it was bullshit, I would tell you it's bullshit. But this is not one of those things where it seems to be bullshit. So there's some smoke to these, to those reports. To say it is done would be inaccurate at this time.

But it is being discussed for early 2020. I am told. So maybe that's the fight we get. Maybe that's a main event of a fight night. Maybe it's at the apex. Maybe it's not. I don't know.

But maybe we'll get a day in a white announcement sooner or rather than later where you just screams with excitement. Announce in that fight and many more. So all right, we are done, everybody. Thank you so much. We'll be back on Thursday. We will do it again. Very busy day at M.A. fighting, as you know.

We got this show. We got BTF. and then Friday, we got this show, we got the preview show, to get you ready for UFC Vegas 80. We got Bellator 300 coming up as well. So lots going on this weekend in the World of Mix Martial Arts. So get excited for that. My interview with Stepe Mietich is on the YouTube channel,

so you go and check that out. It's not a lot of time. We only got like nine, ten minutes with the man. So I try to get his money. much in as possible. He is doing something pretty cool. Buffalo Wild Wings, chance for you and a guest to go see UFC 295 in New York. A full treatment, baby. Flights, hotels, the VIP experience for the fight. You just get a bunch of spicy wings and tag Steepa and Buffalo Wild Wings in them. You do that, you got a chance to go to UFC 295. So check out that conversation. It is on the YouTube channel as we speak. Thank you all very much.

We'll see you Thursday. Have a great rest of your Tuesday. And as always, have a heck of a morning, everybody. The Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first,

there, the last one. Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why remember 988. and a suicide crisis hubline. It's good to know, just in case.

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