MMA Fighting - HOAM | What Happens If Sean Strickland Beats Israel Adesanya At UFC 293?

Episode Date: September 1, 2023

Not a lot of people are giving Sean Strickland a chance in his first UFC title fight against middleweight champion Israel Adesanya at next Saturday's UFC 293 in Sydney. But in a crazy sport like MMA where anything can happen, what will the 185-pound division look like should Strickland pull off the upset? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck gives his thoughts on what could happen if Strickland were to win, how surprising it would be, and if he doesn't pull it off, who could be the guy to dethrone Adesanya at 185. Additionally, listener topics include the UFC heavyweight division and what the fallout could be of the UFC Paris main event between Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac, Rose Namajunas' weigh-in for the co-main event against Manon Fiorot for her 125-pound debut, the Contender Series contract winners for this season, the UFC 293 lineup as it stands, Sean O'Malley's superstar potential and why there have been only a handful of major stars in MMA, 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: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster, The Downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. The Vox Media Podcast Network. September 1st, welcome to September, everybody, 23, and welcome to another edition of Heck of a Morning.

We are live on the NBA fighting Twitter space. as you can hear the show in its entirety, shortly thereafter, on the MMA Fighting Podcasting Network. Hi, everybody. I am Mike Heck. Hope everyone's having just the best week ever. Hopefully the weather is not as hot and gross where you're at. Hopefully, things are starting to cool down and you're feeling nice.

Here in the United States, it's the kickoff of a long weekend. But not for the UFC. They are in Paris, France, or UFC Paris going down tomorrow. early day MMA everybody early day MMA just the way

we like it I believe let me just double check make sure I'm not full of crapola the first fight

starts at 1230 and that is the truth 1230 p.m. Eastern time 4 UFC Paris 3 p.m. main card

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6 fight main card will be wrapped and packed by like 6 p.m. Eastern, you get the whole night ahead of you. And that's the way we like it. It's the go-home show for UFC 293,

which will see Israel Adasanya defend the middleweight title against Sean Strickland. That card has 12 fights. Not the best pay-per-view card of all time, but a main event that I think will build up in anticipation as the days go by. But we're here to talk about whatever the hell you want, ladies gentlemen, it is Friday.

We can talk about UFC Paris. We can talk about the fact that all the fighters made weight. Cyril Gaon waited at 250. Sergei Speevac, 256. Manon Fioro, 125, Rose Dame Yunis, 125. She looked pretty damn good on the scale. Everybody made weight. No issues.

We had almost an issue. Zara Firen weighed in a half pound over on her first attempt for her 140-pound catchweight fight with Jacqueline Cavalcante. stepped in on her second attempt made weight. So 100% success rate. We are good to go. It's free for all Friday. We can talk about whatever the hell you want.

So let's go. Brian, kick us off on this free for all Friday. Hey, Mike. How you doing? Good. How are you, thanks? I just had a quick question about the main,

or actually the co-main event. Do you think that Rose is going to like fill into her 125 frame? Because she's like definitely put on some muscle. That's for sure. and I feel like Rose is really dangerous when she wants to come back. And, like, there was really a good exit for her to kind of just, like, not really fight again if she didn't really want to. And I think this is going to be, like, kind of the nastiest thug rose we might see in a while.

Do you think, like, she could actually kind of make that run up with, like, the Blanche fields? And just take out Monon tomorrow night. Just curious about that. Thanks, Mike. Yeah, she looked really good on the scale. I remember when this whole 125 thing came into motion. I'd spoken to her and she said she wasn't even thinking about fighting. This is probably August, September-ish of last year.

And she said she wasn't even focused on fighting. She wanted to do some grappling competitions, some jih Tjitsu matches just to like do it because she's always wanted to. But the thing she wanted to do most was she wanted to lift weights. She wanted to do some power lifting. She wanted to put on some muscle. And she certainly looks like she did. that she looked real good at 125 she's still going to be a little bit undersized compared to man in fioro but you're right rose isn't going to fight unless she's motivated to do so she could

like she's talked about a million times she could just hang out on the farm and be a farmer and be totally happy with that and just train on the side and exercise and work out and power lifted, she'd be as happy as can be. She doesn't need to fight. But she's doing this for a reason. She's doing this for a reason. I think she wants new challenges. I know that that Valentina Shofchenko fight is something that she would love to have at

some point in her career, not because it's like animosity, just because she wants that challenge. So this is a good step. This is a good step. I think from a betting perspective, unless you're going to like, propet, Mannon, Fiora to, like, win by decision, I think all of the money-line value in this fight is on Rose. You're giving me, like, plus 165 against anybody?

I'm probably... I think that's worth taking a look at. I think a lot of people are looking at the size, discrepancy, and I don't think it's going to be too, too much. But, I mean, unless Mannon just screams her, I feel like Rose is a really good chance to win this fight. Now, have we seen Manon wrestle and have success there? Sure.

but does she want to play with fire? Because Rose is a sneaky, sneaky, sneaky on the ground and off of her back. So it's a really interesting fight. And yes, I see a comment, Valentina and Rose have trained together before. Yes. But that doesn't mean that's not a fight that Rose would like to have. And if she wins this fight and Valentina beats Alexigrasso, the UFC is immediately going to pivot to that fight. What are you think Rose going to say?

No. of course she's got to take that fight. That's a legacy fight if there ever was one for Rosami Unit. So big spot for her. Let's see if she can come through. If she wins, she's getting a title shot. Stinks for Aaron Blanchfield. If she loses, that's where things can get real interesting.

So we'll see what happens. I like the fight. It's the most interesting fight of the weekends. It's way more interesting than the main event to me. We'll see how. plays out tomorrow in Paris France. Abzwalia, hello. How are you doing?

Good, good man. Yeah, so I just got two things I like to address. I'll start with the heavyweight division. You know, as we know, we have a very beautiful main event for the France card, Spivak and Garn. I would guess, hypothetically, I wouldn't speak on Spivok's case if he were to win on Saturday because we know he's a close contender for the title shot down the line. But in Garn's case, if he would have win this fine convincing fashion, what will be next for him?

Because obviously, he's not going to get a title shot any time soon. He's forfeited twice. If John Jones and steep every tie by November, we know that it's most likely Aspenon Palvich are going to fight for the vacant title eventually. So could you see Garn maybe fighting Elmita, if Elmita were to win against Curtis play down the line. Like the winner of that fight, I should say.

Let me know that. And the second thing I just want to address, actually, this is a little bit more about basically the topic about Star Palme, the UFC. Like, this is just my opinion. Like, recently seeing how Sean Ameli winning the title

and, you know, becoming, I guess, actual true stuff for the UFC. And in a way, saving the UFC's ads from probably lacking a star. I would like to address this. I've seen a lot of the journalists, some of the fighters, and just even Dana White, like, you know, and even fans just how they like to limit the idea that the UFC can't grow bigger than over it is, you know, and even just the fact that there are certain fighters who are built for their superstardom and success. As much as they can also be great athletes, I don't just say they can be a star within the sports of the combat sport world alone. like they can actually be true global megastars that as famous as some of the other biggest

athletes that other sport fans are now in the world or even you know famous musicians and actors and i think the ufc have not uh exactly given like day in the wine in particular is not really given a great platform to encourage some of his biggest fighters to the outside maybe connem of greg and ronda ralzi from in in the past as far as i know but hopefully we can see that maybe changing a little bit. It also, I think, comes down to some of the fighters, because from what I can see, Sean O'Malley, he does care about being famous,

and there's nothing wrong with that, but he also knows he's how Mark the movie is. When you look at something like Hamza, who I think has to, who is the closest thing we have to call in terms of that raw star power and, you know, seeing how people actually want to watch him, he doesn't quite, he embraces the fame, but I guess he doesn't care too much to the point

where he wants to be, like, flaunting watches and shit. But, you know, I think the UFC definitely, should care about their star fighters more because they do make the biggest money on the day and I think they truly bring every type of fan, hardcore, casual and new fans, and seeing as how the sports

growing more global, seeing us how more people gain to mixed martial out, I think it would be really good to see them take a page of book from other sports like F1, tennis, you know, soccer, golf, basketball, you know, these are like the NBA,

the PGA, you know, all these big leagues that have created global stars. I would like to see UFC do the same because we can see MMA fighters do other things like maybe their interest into fashion. They could become, you know, a successful war for L. Williams or Kanye did in the sense like they did for hip-hop. Well, that we can see more MMA fighters who might be

solid and acting do that. That's just my view. Let me know on your thoughts on that. Have a good day. Thanks, fan. So I'll start the heavyweight question. I feel like the winner of this fight is going to fight Tom Aspinall next.

and from what I understand Aspinall is going to be in London. He may already be there. But he said after his London win, I'm going to Paris, I'm sitting cage side for that Sierra Gonserge Spivak fight. I'm going to get in the cage. I'm going to fight the winner.

And I think the UFC is going to give him that. And I'd be stunned if Tom Aspinall doesn't get into the Octagon in some way, shape, or form with whoever wins that fight. And like, Everyone's just throwing Tom Aspedal into this title fight. And, like, I get it. Like, dude's real good. But he's also just, he put a whoopin on Marche and Taibora in a stylistic dream fight for him.

Dude was on a long layoff. They put him in a hometown fight against a very winnable opponent, very beatable opponent from a stylistic perspective. And he did that. I'm not ready to throw Tom into a title fight yet. I'm not, I'm, his ceiling is really high and I'm excited. I'm not 100% sold on him yet. So I think if he fights a Cyril Gondor or Sergei Svivak and is able to do what he did to Marching Tibera,

I mean, he beats Smiak already, but if he fights Cyril Gondon, it just ices him in round one, like that is he's ready. Dude's ready to go. I think the jails that all made, this is all going to depend on what happens November 4th. Because I feel like John and Steve-Bae, John's going to win. Steve-A's going to retire.

John's probably, I don't know if he's going to retire, but he's going to take a hiatus, I would assume. I wait to see if anybody can emerge as a potential star, which is your second point. I'll get to that in a second. So if Jailton beats Curtis Blades, they're going to do Sergey versus Jelton for the vacant title. Like anything besides that doesn't make any sense at all.

So they'll do that And then we'll kind of see how the rest plays out They'll do Asphidal versus Gone perhaps And if God wins And the winner will fight the winner of that And then we'll see what can happen with John If he wants to come back and find himself

An immediate title fight. So heavyweight's kind of a mess with this 2-95 main event But it's also kind of interesting At the same time because you're seeing all these new names climb up the ranks and get on nice runs So as far as the star thing goes like look, we have to understand something.

Outside of our bubble here, MMA is a baby. MMA is a baby. Very rarely does a UFC card or a UFC fighter pass, like what Jedbushu likes to call the mom test. Like, very rarely do I get text messages from friends that are like, hey man so excited for this al-germaine sterling henry sehudo fight that never happens and then i'll have friends who will text me like oh what do you think's going to happen with

jake paul and nate dyes like that weirdness somehow passes the mom test shot o'malley is kind of getting there Connor is obviously passing the mom test ronda rousey obviously passing the mom test brock lesnar passed the mom test we have to understand that it is very difficult to cross over into a mainstream sporting atmosphere. It's very difficult, especially in a sport as sort of lowbrow as MMA. It's still a baby very,

as much as we think the UFC is massive, and it is in our world, compared to the other entities you named F1, tennis, WTA, PGA, NBA, UFC in any organization in combat sports is nowhere near them. Nowhere near them. Like the distance between the UFC and everybody else in MMA, like multiply that by five.

And that's where like the NBA and all these other sports are compared to where the UFC is right on. The UFC has been very successful. And they're printing money hand over fist. But when it comes to people knowing who these fighters are and knowing what this sport actually is, it's so far away from those other sports. So there is a path for this, but the fighters who have found success, yes, they've had promotional push, but in most cases, they have established themselves outside of the sport before they even got to the UFC.

Ronda Rousey was already a pretty big star before she became the first UFC women's champion. Brock Lesnar was a huge star in amateur wrestling, huge star in pro wrestling before he came over. Connor did it himself. This is the UFC put the push behind him. They gave him the right fights. They put him in the right scenarios. And Connor just ran with it. Connor is a unicorn.

He's a unicorn. Shot O'Malley can get there. It's just a matter of like, how do you want to do it? Like Max Holloway is a, when we think about crossover stars, like, Max Holloway is a pretty big star outside of the UFC. He's into the gaming. A lot of people that, like, there are people I work out with who know Max Holly more from his video gaming and his streaming

than him as a fighter. I've had people say to me like, oh, that Max Holly guy's a fighter. Oh, I thought he was just a video game streamer. I love that guy. Max is doing a great job. It's just so tough, man. Like the promotion can only do so much for you. they can put you in these situations,

but you've got to do it yourself. You got to get out there and do it. And Sean does it. Sean at least goes out there and does it. He's out doing his podcast. He's got multiple podcasts, hanging out with the Nelf boys. Like those guys are getting them over and helping.

And Sean knows what to do in those situations. He's got Snoop rant about him. He's got all these celebrities talking about him. Like, it's just a matter of like getting there. And not everybody has that. Not everybody has that. There's five tool players. Like I talk about, we talk about wrestling.

Like MJF is a five tool player. Dude can wrestle, looks good, in great shape. He's an athlete. Dude can talk his ass off. That dude is money. And there are very few MMA fighters who have all that. Who can do it all. Who can fight their ass off, can talk, can sell, can advocate for the promotion.

there aren't a lot of them. There just aren't a lot. It's not in their DNA. Not saying that there aren't any out there. There are people that I've spoken to who are on the come-up who can be those people. Like it's taken Volkanowski's like the best fighter in the world. And even he is not like a massive star right now. He's getting there.

But he's what's Volk like a tier two at best star for the UFC? And he's the best fighter in the world. at worst, the second best fighter in the world. It's very tough. John Jones is a guy who is getting the rub. Like, Dana is giving him the rub now more than he ever has. Like, when John was getting in trouble and he was taking all that time off, was Dana calling him the best fighter in the world?

No. But Dana also understood that fans wanted John back. And when he came back, there was so much buzz for that card. And John just wrecked Zero gone so fast. He had no choice but to give in. And now everything he says about John, unless he's joking about him going out in Vegas for a night, is just he's the best ever.

He's the greatest ever. Dana is who he is. So you can't rely on Dana to do it, is what I'm saying. The sport just isn't as big as like, it's just not as big as people think it is that are in this bubble. It's big. The UFC has done an incredible job.

But go to the grocery store. the grocery store and be like, hey, you're excited to watch Cyril Gahn fight Sergei Spivak tonight? Just walk up to 20 different people. And if you could find one or two people that are like, don't look at you like you're absolutely insane, then you got something. But if I went to the grocery store right now and asked 20 people who shot O'Malley was, I might get like five or six. If I ask 20 people who Connor McGregor was, they'd all know.

It's just, it's very tough in this sport. Very, very tough. Boxing is the same way. How many megastars are in boxing? Not a ton. CV, hello. Nothing from CV. Unwrap holiday magic at Holt Renfrew

with gifts that say I know you. From festive and cozy fashion to Lux beauty and fragrance sets. Our special selection has something for every style and price point. Visit our Holt's holiday shop and store or online at Holtz. rentfruit.com. Black Friday is here at IKEA and the clock is taking on savings you won't want to miss. Join IKEA family for free today and unlock deals on everything from holiday must-haves to cozy at-home essentials, all the little and big things you need to make this season shine.

But don't wait. Like leftovers at midnight, our Black Friday offers won't last. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca. slash Black Friday. IKEA. Bring home to life. How about Cole? No, Mike. Yep, I got you. All right. Well, college football is starting this week.

I just want to know since it's spring for all Friday, like, when it comes to tailgating, what are your, like, what's your ideal tailgate looking like? What's your favorite light beer? What's on the grill? Who's your team? That's all I got, man. Have a hell of a weekend. Stay cool.

The tailgate, I'm pretty, pretty lax. when it comes to that shit. I'll eat pretty much anything that's cooked on the grill. I'm a classic burgers and dogs guy, but there are some people really do it up, but they do the pulled pork, and they do the chicken and the steaks and all that good stuff, and kudos to all of them.

It's awesome. But I'm down for whatever. In the tailgate situation, I'm not a snob when it comes to food and or bevies. So I'm pretty good either way. if I'm tailgating, I'm probably going to drink a light beer, Miller Light, probably my go-to, maybe a couple of budd lights. If I'm sitting at the bar, that's not my first choice.

I'm not a huge drinker anyways, but those situations, you know, I'll drink a couple of budd-lights. As far as teams go, it's so weird, man. Like, when you come from Boston, there's just not a lot of college football there. Like, it is, if you go, like, I'm in South Carolina now. is like it's fucking college football craziness down here like every house in my neighborhood has some sort of flag or some sort of emblem in front of their house during college football season whether it's South Carolina or Clemson or you know there's a lot of all apparently there's a lot of Ohio state fans down here there's they just love their college football like I've

spent some time in Dallas and like people love their college football down here. I remember going to this place when I was visiting my family in Dallas. We went to this piano bar just outside of Dallas. And people were like giving, we're tipping the piano players. I mean hundreds and hundreds of dollars so that they would play their alma mater's fight song. Like they were at a football game. And I'm just like, man, these piano players are like brilliant.

Let's have like the Oklahoma fans like try to outbid the UT fans. And let's have like the SMU fans try to outbid the TCU fans. Like it's insane. It's insane. So like the only college football like the only college football team like anyone really cared about locally was BC because they're really like they were the only like actual like legit D1 program for college football. Like UMass I think was one double A for a minute. They might be one now. Like, BU doesn't have a team.

Like, there's not a lot of teams. Like, most of them are like two or three, like, D2, D3 teams. Like, obviously, Harvard is a big one and all that. But I was always, like, a Notre Dame guy for some reason. Maybe it was just a household and the Irish heritage and all that stuff. Like, my mother's maiden name is McGrath. So we all wore the sham rocks. So I guess, like, Notre Dame is probably, like, the only team that I, like, really watch at this point.

but I guess that's like a good thing. I can just sit down and watch a day of college football on Saturday and just watch it. And it's fun as hell. It's so good. It's so good. Especially when we get to like the conference championships and we get into the bowl season.

We get into the national championship stuff. Man, it's so fun. It's so fun. Now Jed, like Jed Mishu is like he went to Georgia. Connor G. G.C. went to Georgia. So those two have experienced. those things much more than I have. I've been to a couple of BC

Notre Dame games. Been to a couple of UMass games. Like the one, I went to two college football games in my life. Like outside of those that were like, what the hell is going on here? One, I went to,

I don't remember who they were playing. But I went to a Texas A&M game. And I remember like the kickoff happen. And I sat down like I was at a Patriots game and I thought these people were going to murder me because I sat down and they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, I'm sitting down and they're like, get your ass up. We don't sit down here. I'm like, okay, did not know that. And the other game I went to was like one of the kickoff games.

It was Ohio State versus the University of Texas in Austin. And it was insane. it was nuts. I was like, this is crazy because this is a culture shock to me. Because I've just never experienced such passion for a college football team.

And it was nuts. People were like fighting everywhere. And I talked about this like, I would go to the Texas State Fair and like two of the times I would go there with like my cousin and stuff, it was like when the UT Oklahoma games are happening. And it was just like,

people were just fighting all over the place. I'm like, you guys are idiots you guys are morons and like we would go out like the night before or whatever to like a restaurant or something and it was just like Texas and oh you students just like fighting in the streets

you guys are insane for no reason just because they're like they're wearing oh you're an Oklahoma fan fuck you bam and there's fighting in the street it's wild absolutely insane but yeah

if you're down south you get it more than the people up north that's for sure. CV, are you there? Oh, CV. I don't know what's happening, buddy. How about Drew Zy, quattro? Hey, Mike. Can you hear me? I got you. How are you? I'm doing all right. So I just wanted to jump in coming off the back of Holloway zombie. I totally get Tuporia versus Volk is next. I'm fine with it. I'm looking forward to it. I just want to say that I think I would find Tuporia bulk more compelling if Tuporia beat Holloway. Because this is going back to 290. I think if the bulk that beat Yair shows up, he runs through Tuporia.

So just your thoughts on that. If they're going to do that, they would have done it. They would have already done it. What's the point of booking, like I understand like Holloway zombie and all that. But what's the point of you in booking that fight if, you know what I mean? Like, why book Tuporia versus Emmett? Or, like, just go right to that. But they did it.

And now Tuporia looks like the dude and he's young. And him fighting Vulcan losing is not the end of the world right now. Just let him see what he can do. You talk about stars? You talk about potential stars like Ilya, he's got it. he's got it all dude dresses like a billy he looks like a star

he oozes it dude can talk he's an interesting cat dude can fight he's got it and he's in a place where like the UFC has not been to so he could be another global he could be another big regional star for them

just give him the shot him fighting hot like if he fights max now this division gets delayed big times because Max Max isn't a dude that's going to fight like I mean he's fought a couple of times this year but Max is not a dude that fights like every two or three months

like he's not a four fight a year guy and Max and Zombie kind of beat the hell out of each other it didn't last long but they beat the hell of each other Max going through a whole lot emotionally right now with everything going on in Maui you would have to book that fight by like November.

And then they would have to be ready to turn around by February to fight Volk. I just think it's so risky. And what if Max wins? What if Max wins? Then what do you do? Then Volk's got nobody to fight? Because we're not doing the Volk.

We're not doing number four. No one's hankering for that. Now, if Ilya loses, if Ilya loses to Vol, Then you could do Holloway versus Tuporia. And guess what? What if Ilya wins? What if Lillia wins?

Holloway can get another fight if he wants one, or he can just chill. Volk, if he wants the rematch, you can get it. If Volk wants to take some time off, and you could do Teporia versus Max for the title. And then you still have it. It's a great fight. I'm not knocking the fight,

but I just feel like we just saw this with we just saw this with arnold allen i hated that fight hated it not because i thought it was a bad matchup but because arnold allen was like on his way up and you had like a chance here like if you wanted to get arnold one more win you could throw them in there with anybody else we threw him in there with max and now what like we haven't seen we don't even know what he's doing now so i understand like i just think there's so many better options for max Like I think Max, if Alger's going to go to 1.45, Holloway versus Alibaldane Sterling makes all the sense in the world to me.

Let Vol get his title shot. Max can still be a litmus test in a very interesting fight with a lot of stakes and storylines attached to it. And then we can still go back to Max versus Elio. But to do it right now, it doesn't make any sense. To me. But we got to go with the title fight first. Got to go with the title fight first.

Like the performance Ilya put on Josh Emmett wasn't enough to make you be like, damn, this guy's real, real good. He pitched a neopurfect game against the guy. And he showed like different wrinkles of his game. Showed he can go five rounds and just keep putting it on people. But they should have just went, like if that was the fight, they should just went to that right after. They should just said, no, why we're not, let's not do the Josh Emmett fight.

Let's just do Ilya versus Max. Like, if that was the fight we got last week, fine. And I still wouldn't have been thrilled about it. But once we saw Ilya fight and have that performance against Josh and he got all the buzz that he got, like, and then Max has another fight, and Ilya is already, it Volk's already expressed his interest in fighting Ilya. Like, let's just go. Let's just do it. Because they're not going to have Volk for much longer in multiple ways. I think eventually he's just going to be like, all right, I've done everything I can here.

Let's go to 55 full time. And even then, like, how many more Volkanowski fights you think? think we have. Five? Six at the most? I think he just wants to fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and fight and and just build that bank account up so he can just be done. He could just say, all right, I'm good.

I saved my money wisely. Now I can go cook and do a bunch of stuff outside of the sport, make a whole bunch more money, and be with my family. Folks, not 25 people, but I really hope they don't do that. Even date, like, I don't know. It'll be interesting, but I think they're going to go right to the title fight. ZV. Can you hear me?

I got you. Perfect. There's times a charm. Since it's free for all Friday, and I know you guys got the 293 watch party coming up next week, and like you guys said, it's an unbelievable card. Just a suggestion. Have you ever guys thought of just opening up the lines during the show?

Like, I know you guys talk a lot already. It's hard. I mean, you guys are opening up, like, the PACs. You guys are playing the EST game, but maybe in between fights, just a suggestion. I know it might be difficult, but if you guys can, like, open up the Twitter spaces, lines, you know, maybe like a heck of a night kind of thing. In between fights, that would be cool. But, yeah, that's pretty much it.

Have a great weekend. Thanks, man. Yeah, there's just no way we can do that. There's just so much going on. Could we take a couple questions? Sure. but I feel like we do a good job getting the peeps involved. We do the chat bets and all that.

And we do, I think we do a lot to get people involved. But maybe we could do some other stuff, but there's no way we could take it into multiple platforms. And like, it's just way too much. It's just way too much. We've been like kind of playing around with the idea of not a Twitter space, places per se, but because there's like a whole lot of time.

Like when, if you guys are just with us the whole time, like if you watch the watch party and then you jump right to the press conference and then you jump right to the post show, there is like an hour and a half to two hours of time between the time the watch party ends and the post fight show begins because there's just a million questions. Once Dana's up there, everybody has to ask Dana a question, right? So we've been kind of tinkering with the idea of like doing a quick like Q&A reacts like on a different social media. Like maybe on TikTok or on Instagram. Like basically when I'm walking back from the watch party to like where I'm staying that night,

like we just do like a live Q&A just a quick reaction like 10, 15 minutes. to wet the whistle for the post-fight show. That's something we're talking about. And maybe we'll try it in one of these next couple, but it probably won't be on Twitter spaces. But, yeah. Man, 293 is rough, dude. Look at this.

Adasani Strickland, Taitoivasa, Volkov, Justin Taffa, Austin Lane, Tyson Pedro versus the pleasure, man. like, you know, pleasure, man. Minel Cop, Felipe dos Santos. That's the main card. That's 80 bucks right there, people. Carlos Oldberg, Daun Jung, I like that fight.

Jack Jenkins, Chippe Mariscal, like that fight. That should be on the main card for sure. Blood Diamond, Charlie Ratkey, me. Shane Young, Gabriel Miranda. Me. Jamie Malarkey. He's fighting John McDessie?

interesting Nazarad hackparaas Landon Kinyes might be the weirdest fight of the year that might be the weirdest fight of 2023 why is this fight on this card why is that fight on this card

I don't get it Landon Kinyanez like got iced on in the first round of tough by Jason Knight 55 seconds so he's reward and look I like I like Landon a lot

nice guy but he gets rewarded with a paperview fight. Poor Austin Hubbard's like probably not even on the roster. He must be pissed. And then Kevin Josette versus Kiefer Krosby, keeper Krosby in the UFC, it's just a weird card. Now, to be fair, we were supposed to also get Casey O'Neill, Viviani R Ujo,

interesting fight. Manel Copp's supposed to fight, Kodkar, France, like that fight too. But, boy, this is, this is a tough one. this is a tough one. This is one where I highly recommend save your dough and we'll just watch the watch party with us. Just save your money.

And then we'll fire right back six weeks after that for 294, which is going to be a much better card. And then we get 295 a few weeks after that. This is watch party central for 293. We'll have a good time. So join us for that. Yikes. Paul felt us like,

This main cards, unbelievable. Yeah, what's up for on the server? Hey, heck of a morning. Speaking of weird matchups, I noticed Vulcan Osdemir is fighting Bogdan Guskov, or however you say it. His last five fights being a Vulcan Osamaer, his last five fights have been against top 15 level competition. And now he's welcoming a newcomer who I've been here and isn't all that great.

If he loses this, is this a situation where he might get cut? Because it seems to be he's been on a little bit of a skid. I believe he's, let me check. Yeah, in his last four, he is one and three. So if he loses this, are they going to give him another shot or is this it for Volcan? What do you think, Mike? Probably not. Light heavyweight is not a great division.

It's probably, it might be the worst in the UFC. It's just not a great division. And like, look at the top, it is an absolute mess. So there is value to having a guy who, can be real fun to watch. Like, if you want an example of that, go rewatch UFC 251 when he fought Yuri. That fight was absolutely nuts.

It was less than six minutes, but it was crazy town. And Vulcan was doing the damn thing in there until he got absolutely annihilated by a right hand from Yuri Brashta. And then his losses are to Magameneiath, who might be the best light heavyweight in the world. and Nikita Krylov is a damn good one.

So, and he beats everybody else, beat Alexander Rackich. His losses were to, look at his losses. Got finished by D.C. He got finished by Anthony Smith, who in 2018, that meant, that's a whole different ballgame than it is now. Dominic Reyes, which is a super close fight,

and Dominic Reyes is about to fight. for the title, knocks out Alir Latifi, who's really tough to finish. I mean, I think he's going to be fine. And just to be clear,

like he is fighting a newcomer, but he was supposed to fight Azabat versus Kanoff, and that's a whole different fight. Right there. So let me see what Bogdan's record looks like. Um,

he wins a lot, but it's not fighting the best competition in the world. Dude's a finisher. That fight should be a banger. It should be fun, but Vulcan should win.

But yeah, if you lose, I don't think he's going to cut. There's value to keep a guy like that on the roster to build talent at worst. Go ahead, Fort Court. Hey, Mike. So, yeah, I was looking at the paper review for next week, definitely putting my money to the side. I'm actually going to treat the U.S.C. Noche card

as a pay-per-view and have people over as opposed to the Adisania. It's unfortunate. The fight that I was really looking forward to the most was Kai Karo Francis versus Minnell Cop because I felt like that was going to be, you know, like the bangor of a card. But question, I wanted to know, is Judd Michoud going to be the host for the main event on the watch party just because he kind of put it out there in the ether

that he feels like Strickland's going to be able to get past the Adisania. and then will you put A.K. Lee on the watch party when the Pleasureman is fighting because I know that's one of his favorite fighters. And then lastly, just a little NFL, what do you predict your Patriots are going to be looking like this year? All right. Thanks, Mike. Oh, God. I don't know about the Pats, man. I don't know. They only have one quarterback right now. So, like, you got to hear what, like, my friends are talking about up north. Like, they are convinced that Tom Brady is going to come back that he's going to sign with the Patriots and he's just going to join the team. I'm like, you guys are fucking insane.

Like, it's good to have hope, but that ain't happening. That's not happening. But I don't know. I have no expectation of the Patriots. If they win five games, like, great. If they win 10, that's a bonus. they somehow sneak into a playoff spot, like, that's a freaking miracle. I don't know what the hell they're doing.

So I'm just going to watch and hope for the best, you know. I can't allow myself to get too attached to them because I did that with the Red Sox this year and they're breaking my heart. I'm like, oh, this is it. Like, they're really good. And then they suck. And then, oh, maybe I was wrong. And they're actually a pretty good baseball team.

And then they just piss away a lead to the Astros and get blown. out of the water. They lose on errors. They lose on dudes just getting with base running mistakes. Like how they're even still in this race is insane to me. It's absolutely insane. Let me look at this No-J card. Grasso Schifchenko 2, yes, you get a free title fight.

Cortez, Jazz DeVezias, I like that fight. Kevin Holland, Jack Della, Madelena, sticks out like a sore thumb on this card. as is Roman Copulov and Josh Friend. Then we got Edgar Chiraeis, Daniel Lacerda, Zell Huber's back against Christianos Gagos. I like that matchmaking a lot. Padilla and Nelson, Levy and Reyes,

Raoul Roses Jr., and Terrence Mitchell, Loopy, Elise Green, Yasvin Lucindo versus Josephine Knudsen, which good for Josephine, man. She was like the head scratcher on the contender series.

It's like, we're just signing everybody, but all of a sudden, like, she's not good enough when she's been like, she looks like maybe the most UFC ready talents that they've signed, and they didn't sign her, but they did. And now she's going to just chucking her to Yazoo Lucinda, which is freaking wild, man. But yes, that card is better than 293, for sure. Marshall's buyers travel far and wide, hustling for great deals on amazing gifts. So you don't have to. They've bagged this season's Italian leather handbags.

Designer. Hand-picked the finest sweaters from the rest. Ooh, cashmere. Landed makeup palettes from the brands you love. Rushes too. And hustled all those wishless topping toys. So plush. Our buyers have got you covered.

Marshals. We get the deals. You gift the good stuff. It's the matcha or the three ensemble Cado Cephora of the FACC that I just just niche that me energize so much, It's the ensemble. The format standard and mini

regrouped, and the envelope and the embellage, too beau, who is practically to give to do this offer. But I'm sorry

the summer Fridays and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez. I'm, I'm sure. The most ensemble of the fadow

of the fadowow beauty, Way, Cifora collection, and other parts of the video. Procurre you these formats

standard and mini, regrouped for a better quality price, on line on C4. Ormagas

or Magazin. We got three in line here. We'll take all three of you. We'll start with Bull. What up, Bull?

Bull, are you there? All right, not connecting. Let's go with Chase. Chase, do we have you? Hold on a second. All right, go ahead, Chase.

Hey, we've been like first time, long time. With the Volkov Taito Vasta fight, I think Volkov's going to win that one with the heavy weights on this weekend. He's actually Volkov in the lineup. He's only lost to, like, the top dudes, but I don't know. Where does the win get in?

Thanks, Mike. Have a good one. Thanks, man. Where does it get him? Good question. Let me see. The problem is, like, Volkov's, like, filed everybody. She fought Ramana, Rosenstrike, Aspinall, Tibera,

gone, Overee, Walt Harris, Curtis Blades, Greg Hardy, Derek Lewis, Redoom, Struve, Nelson, Johnson. Dude has fought everybody. I would say maybe the loser. Maybe he fights Sergei Smevac either way. Sergei Svec's not a bad one. Yeah, it's kind of it. J-Lamato loses to Curtis Blades.

Maybe that. Yeah, this is not a lot of movement for him. So I'll say probably like Sergei Svvac either way. Win or lose, we do Volkov versus Sergius Vibak. Someone says you're not sold on Aspinol. Are you nuts? Listen, I'm not saying I believe in his talent. I believe in his talent.

He's really good. And when I say I'm not sold on him, it doesn't mean like I'm not sold on him as a talent. It means I don't know, like, I can't go all in on him just yet. he's got like he's beat good guys but let's look at aspinall's run and as well as well has done what he's supposed to do right let's look at tommy aspinall's run

since getting to the ufc jake collier alan budo andre erlowski spivak good win the volkoffa was real good good the curtis blade that's like the one that hurts the most is the curtis blades fight Because we just couldn't, we never, like that was the one.

That was the one where I was going to learn everything I needed to know. He goes out there and just wrecks Curtis Blades. Like, I'm in. This dude is going to be the champ. Like, convinced he's going to win a title. Convinced. There's very few guys who are going to beat him, and it's going to take the perfect day at the perfect time.

The marching Taibo win was great, but I didn't learn it. anything. I learned nothing new. He's got, I got to see him just be a top guy. And when he got his chance, it's unfortunate. We did, we just didn't get to see that fight play out. It was just the knee, he heard his knee and all that and it was nasty and it just sucked on multiple levels. I'm sold on him as a talent. I'm not sold on him just yet that like this, because there are people saying like this guy could be the greatest heavyweight of all time. Maybe, but I just, I'm not ready to take that plunge just yet.

Like, I'm super high on Jailton Almeida. And I, like, I, like, I'm not 100%. I got my high on them, but I'm not like, this dude is about to change the world. He beats Curtis Blades, yes. Then we have, like, beating Jarzino was great, but we knew how that fight was going to play out. We knew how Tom Asseville, Marching Tybor was going to play out. We knew it. All of us knew it.

I didn't see one person on the planet. Even Martin Tiber's like cousins weren't picking him to win that fight. I mean, I don't know that for sure, but that would be my guess. Everyone knew how that fight was going to go. If it got out of the first round, if Aswell didn't finish him in the first round and it got to round two, like that would have been shocking to most people. Now you go in there, if Cyril gone wins on Saturday, you get in the octagon, you set up a fight, you go out there and you ice Cyril.

okay let's go you beat a former champion interim champion i'm in you got me we'll get to daniel in a second um back to the comments dan some respectful pushback i know the contender series has been signing a lot of fighters however this season seems to be a collection of killers they all deserve to be in the league maybe it's at an unethical way to get challenge for cheap but the level is so high this year. All right. Let's take a gander at this, shall we? Let's take a gander

at who has gotten contracts this year. And I will say, it is nice to see that Dana's tightening up a touch. It's nice to see that he's tightening up a touch. Because we've gone through some of the earlier seasons and some of the performances that would have

definitely gotten contracts in the modern era of DWC. that didn't. Okay, Kevin Borjas, Victor Diaz. I like Kevin. I like Kevin. He's a good fighter. Was that a, holy shit, we have to have this guy performance?

No, I didn't think so. Peyton Talbot, I like him. Good showing. I like Reyes Cortez as well. He's got more of the Five Tools style. He's fun to watch. Understood him getting a contract. Tom Nolan.

absolutely deserved one. He was sensational. He is a fucking problem. So he deserved one. I liked what I saw from Cesar Almeida. He's at that age. You kind of have to give him a shot. But Chia Machado, man.

Like, that, he should not have gotten a contract. Come on. Should not have gotten a contract. If he fought on week four, he didn't get one. He ain't get one. Week two.

Grigaroo, yes. Mora, yes. Hyder Amil. Missed weight, by the way. I like him. I don't know if he should have gotten a contract. Asian looked good. Al-Sawadi absolutely deserved a contract.

Absolutely deserved contract. Super good fighter. Super good. Week three. Puello, yes. He beat Robbie Ring. I like Robbie. ring a lot.

Elliot got a contract. Zachary Reese, yes. Knutson looked really good at her fight, and she didn't get one. It worked out for her, but she didn't get one. And I was like, what are we doing here? Oki was definitely getting a contract. Thomas, don't call me, Jefferson Peterson,

deserved a contract. Prattis deserved one. And I think, look, I'm not like, I think, I think this past week was perfect. The three fighters who deserve contracts got contracts. For sure. The fighters, for the most part, they're showing up. But there are certain weeks where we're just like, we're going through it. And even like the modern era where we think like, oh, well, you know, most of these fighters

are going to get contracts. Like, did anyone, I didn't see any. anyone tweeting out. And I'm not saying this to like dog Kyle Machado at all. But like how many people were like, oh yeah, got to sign him? I didn't see anybody. Everybody was like, no, he, not today, my good man. And then even he was, he got one because Dana was in a good mood.

Like, I love the contender series. Like it was my favorite thing the UFC has done in the last six years. I loved it the first like two or three seasons. And if it stays like this where Dana just is tightening up a little bit, like I'm cool with it I'm cool with it but when we go back to the days of like oh all you're going to do is like win a fight

and you get a contract like what's the point of the show just sign them out right like what are we doing here so I agree with you like the talent has has gotten better as a whole but I still wish the show had like there's thresholds to cross it's not just about what Dana's

mood is on the day. Like, did Dana go to the casino and win $500,000? If so, you're probably all getting contracts. If it takes a beating at the craps table or the black, the blackjack deal, whoop that ass, you might not get a contract, even if you look sensational. Like, it shouldn't be like that. Uh, Daniel, what's up? Hey, Mike, can hear me? Yeah, I got you. Perfect. Perfect. Well, heck of a morning, man. Happy Friday. Um, yeah, to kind of bounce up the contenders series, I pretty much agree with pretty much everything you're saying there. Last week did have a couple good winners there. I did just want to also mention, too, just because I remember yesterday was actually the first time I caught BTL live.

I'm always on here in the mornings just because I'm on the West Coast driving to work here, so these early morning spaces work out. But I got a chance to watch BTL yesterday and thought it was pretty good. Thought my boy Jose should have got the win, though. So I will definitely be tuned in the next time, but I had to throw in my opinion there. Other than that, I really just had one thing to throw out just for this Izzy Strickland fight, not I guess for this fight, but just more Izzy. How do you think Izzy's reign is going to end at 185?

You think someone's just going to take the bell? You think it's a Hamzat. Do you think, you know, does he go up or something? I mean, just curious how you think this kind of all ends for him at some point. Thanks, Mike. That's a good question. It's a good question. I don't know.

it would be I mean to Jedd's point it would be this would be like the most hilarious year in UFC history if Sean Strickland somehow went out there

and just beat Israel Adasania ania won the title like what a fucking world what a crazy world this would be right that Sean Strickland the guy that the UFC like didn't even want in this fight

just shows up and wins the title like that would be absolutely insane and it would be kind of funny it would be kind of funny I know like I know a lot of people feel a certain way about Sean Strickland and do I agree with a lot of the shit

he says of course I don't but like I ain't here to dog on the guy like the dude is a fighter uh it takes a kind of a crazy individual to do what this band does and I don't think there's like a fake thing about him. Like some people think it's like a character.

I don't. Like I've heard people like compare him to Colby. And like no, Colby is a character. Like this is this dude. Like this is who this guy is. And I can tell you from like people that I've talked to, Sean is that way all the time. even in the gym, even when the cameras aren't on.

And anyone who is, like, trained with him only raves about how great of a teammate he is. Like, he's, like, I'm trying to figure out, like, he's not like the captain of the team, but he's like the, he's like the enforcer of the team. I remember Eric Nixon was telling me a story about Max Roshkhov. and Max Roshkhov is infamously known for his fight with Austin Hubbard in the UFC.

Get signed early. Has a great record on the regional scene. Grappler enthusiast, like super good grappler. And the way like it was, it looked in people's eyes, like he was just going to get fed. Like Austin Hubbard is just going to get fed to this young kid. And Max had him in some tough spots. Austin got tired and started putting the boots to. him and then Max was just like, I'm done heading into the third round and like Max took

such a beating for that like so badly. And I remember I got like the first interview with him afterwards and like it went crazy. Like it was on the ESPN bottom ticker like some of the things he said. And it was just like, I don't know if I'm ever going to do this again. And then Eric like convinced him to come back to the gym and And Eric basically told him, like, dude, come back. Like, I really wanted to come back. But, like, you're going to have to deal with Sean Strickland, man. You're going to have to deal with this guy.

And he goes, just going and deal with it. And as soon as he walked into the gym, Eric told me that Sean just ripped him a new asshole. Like, just called him every name under the sun. Basically, he did everything he could to get Max to quit. Would spy with Max? It was like, no, no, no, no, I'm sparring with him. And we'd just beat him up. and just make him pay for what happened that day.

And then Max started fighting back. And eventually, he got Sean's respect. And to people at Extreme Couture, like, you get that guy's respect. That's almost like, it's almost like being one of the coach's favorite fighters. Like, it's, there's just something about him

that draws people who train with him to him. It's wild to hear these stories. about Sean. It would just be, I mean, it would just be insane, wouldn't it? Like, I'm, like, I'm thinking about it. Like, Jed is almost ready to, like, pull the trigger on it, which would just be crazy. But, like, I am thinking about just how wacky this sport can be and just thinking about what this watch party will be like if Sean Strickland beats Israel out of Sanya.

It would just be insane. It would just be insane. Wow. I'm like, it would just be nuts. Can you imagine the post fight interview? What Sean Strickland? If he beats Israel and Asana,

wins the title? Oh my God. Oh my God. It's the same. It's crazy. Crazy to think about. But I don't think that's going to happen. I'm not counting them out.

Like, I'm not counting anybody out. And I think I've learned some lessons along the way. If Sean can get this real ugly and filthy and just get in his face and don't get him any space to breathe. He's got a shot. I don't think he's going to win, but he's got a shot.

He's got a shot. And he can put on that pace. He can go like that for 25 minutes, but he has to turn that volume and that stalker ability of his where he just can walk you down and get in your face. He needs to turn that up to a thousand. And if he could do that,

boy, but I don't know if he will. The DDP fight is interesting, but I think the safe answer is Hamzad. If Hamzok could beat Paulo Costa, I think Hamzad is just a, it's a real tough fight for Izzy. I'm real interested in that fight. But I can't get too excited about it

because, like, you just don't know what Hamzat's deal is. Like, I feel like this fight's going to happen with Costa, but then what? You know what I mean? Like, are we going to be able to turn Hamzad around in like five months to fight for the belt? If they go that fight over DDP? Like, do we have that faith?

I don't know. I'm not really sure. Yeah. But it probably harms on. I do feel like his time at 185 is limited. I think he's eventually going to make the move up. He'll fight Strickland. I think the DDP fight will happen next.

If it doesn't, we're making a gigantic mistake. And then maybe you fight Tomzat, potentially. And if he beat Tomzat, then he's, I would say he's gone from 185 because, like, what else is there for him to do? Let's go tackle a new thing. Especially if like Yuri wins the belt. Jesus Christ. Israel Adisani versus Yuri Perashka.

Good Lord. I'm real interested in zero 205. look like a year from now. Because we're going to get Yuri and Alex. We could get Izzy Alex in 205. So that's like, like if Alex wins the bell, like, I feel like Izzy could just pop right up and fight Alex. We do have Jamal Hill coming back at some point.

And that's going to be interesting. I know Jamal's mad at us because we haven't ranked fourth in our rankings. But I do, like, no matter how Jamal feels about us and the rankings panel, or whatever. There is no fighter I want to see back in there more than Jamal Hill. There are very few

that I want to see back in there more than Jamal Hill. Because I have to see, like, I learned a lot about him in that Glover to share a fight, but it got, like, I need, I want to see more. Like, I was so impressed by that performance,

like so impressed by it. That I just, I just have to see him fight. I have to see him fight Yuri. I have to see if this is it. I have to see if this is, if this is the guy we're going to get for the next four or five years. He goes out there and just does that to Yuri. He's the best light heavyweight in the world with a bullet. So there's just a lot to look forward to guys. Like we just got to get through these next couple of weeks. We get through this week. You got to get through next week. That pay-per-view. No-J UFC is pretty solid. We just kind of get through like the next like five or six weeks like once we get once we get to

294 like we're cooking with gas baby even the 20 like even the 23rd card we got fazeev and gamrott in the main event bryce mitchell dan e gay danny gay apparently it's about to have another child so watch out brys mitchell marina hodriguez michel watterson tim means and a Fialio. Like there's Charles Jordan Ricardo Hamos. That's crazy fight. Like, Miles John's Daniel Argetta. Brian Battle, A.J. Fletcher on that card.

Like that fight's insane. That's a decent fight night card. And then we're back to the Apex October 7th. No main event for that one yet. Just yet. We had Drew Dover, Ricky Glenn. Chris Gutierrez, Montel Jackson. What?

Joe Pfehr, Abdul Razak al-Hassan. Bill Algeo, Alexander. Hernandez. Like, that's, that's fun. What's the 14th look like? Sardique Yusuf, Edson Barbosa, Jonathan Martinez, Jonathan Martinez,

Jennifer Maya, Viviani Arrucho, Michelle Pereira, Mark Andre Barrio, Christian Rodriguez, Cameron Simon. No main events for those, but, like, Darren Elk and C.J. Brown.

And then it's $294, baby. Then it's $2.94. That card is going to be sick. And then we get a week off. And then it's Blades Almeida. Then it's Jones Meotich. We do have to take a trip back to the apex for Brandon Allen Paul Craig. And then looks like we're going to be in Minneapolis, December 2nd from everything I'm hearing. December 9, maybe in Atlantic City. And then December 16th's the last pay-per-view. So we just got to stay patient. We got to stay patient.

We got to stay up, stay positive. And I think good things are coming. I think good things are coming. But all right. We're done, everybody. Thank you very much. You are all the best. There's going to be a UFC Paris preview show coming up at the top of the hour

with my best friend, A.K. Lee, at the helm. I'm off the rest of the day. Jose Young's, I believe, will join him along with EKC. noon eastern tomorrow People's Pre-Fight Show Me and Casey take it your questions Until the first punches are thrown in Paris We'll post-fight show

AK&L be back on Sunday for on to the next one And then it's on to UFC 293 We will have boots on the ground In Sydney Jose Young's the world traveler Will be there There'll be media days and press conferences

There's even open workouts With this one How about that? So we're going to get a Sean Strickland Israel-Adasania press conference coming up as well. So that should be super fun. So stick with us, MbateFighting.com. We'll be back here in the space on Tuesday.

We will do it again. But until that, everybody, have a great rest of your Friday. Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy the fights. And as always, have a heck of a morning. To the Vox Media Podcast Network.