MMA Fighting - HOAM | What's Next For Alexander Volkanovski If He Beats Ilia Topuria At UFC 298?

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

Alexander Volkanovski will look to pick up his sixth successful defense of his featherweight title against the undefeated Ilia Topuria in the main event of Saturday's UFC 298 card in Anaheim, Calif. Should "The Great" live up to his moniker once again, will he stick around at 145 pounds to add to his impressive number of title defenses, or could he make a permanent move up to 155? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses the stakes of this weekend's main event, Volkanovski's future with a win, and the impact on Topuria if he does suffer his first loss. Additionally, listener topics include the new main event for UFC Atlantic City between Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot, the UFC 300 main event still being up in the air, the UFC at the APEX moving forward, if Paulo Costa would earn a title shot if he defeats Robert Whittaker on Saturday, Henry Cejudo putting his career on the line against Merab Dvalishvili, 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

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 reprise his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-by journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking,

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Betterment is full of ideas to help you reach your goals without having to babysit your investments. They help their customers invest so that they can go live their lives. Go to betterment.com to learn more. Investing involves risk, performance not guaranteed. podcast network. All right, everybody, it is Thursday, February 15th, 2024, and it is indeed a heck of a morning. We are live on the NBA fighting Twitter space. We hear the show in its entirety shortly thereafter on the NBA Fighting Podcasting Network. What's going on, everybody? I am Mike Heck. Hope you're all doing just unbelievable today. We are on the eve of the eve of UFC 298.

what a main card it is. I think it's going to be a super fun watch. I think the timing of this card could not be any better because it's been a pretty slow start for the UFC in terms of the in cage action. But I have a hard time believing that this card is not going to deliver the last... I don't know.

I think there's something to like about almost every single fight on the card. I know there's not a lot of star power, like on the early prelims, but, man, the last six fights are interesting. The stakes are high. Love the main card opener between Fluffy Hernandez and Roman Coppiloff, the Marab, DeBalbhawish-Henri-Sahudo fight, completely flying under the radar. All anybody seems to be talking about is this Henry Suhudo, Captain Eric, crap, which is just ridiculous. We knew it was phony baloney.

And that's pretty much what it was. I know Captain Eric is denying that. But seem pretty, pretty phony baloney there. The stakes are raised a little bit more. Henry Suhudo saying, it's all or nothing against Marab. He wins. He continues on a road to try to get back his Bannabwe title.

If he loses, he's done. And that one just completely flying under the radar. Ian Machado Gary versus Jeff Neal. What a fight that is. Very, very interesting. interesting Robert Whitaker, Paul O'Costow, completely flying under the radar. And then what a friggin' main event. Alexander Volcanowski versus Ilya Taboria.

Can Iliot Teporia back up the trash talk? Or will Alexander Volcanowski continue his dominance at 145 pounds entering 2024 in unfamiliar territory coming off of a losing year, yet undefeated at 145 pounds? It's very rare on this program. We get to react to some breaking news, but we just got some from the UFC. I don't think it's a real big surprise that UFC Atlantic City on March 30th has a new main event. Originally, it was supposed to be, at least according to the announcement from Data White, Vicente Lucay versus Sean Brady. That fight was never a done deal.

Brady never signed a contract. Brady was dealing with some injuries. And now Aaron Blanchfield versus Manon Fioro has been elevated to the main events. There was just no other fight to really put in that position. And there you go. I love that it's five rounds. The stakes are incredibly high. You have to imagine that the winner's got to get themselves a title fight.

It's a huge fight. It's a huge fight for this division right now. So kudos to them. They get to do it in front of a crowd. And it should be a lot of fun. So, let's go to the peeps. Let's go to all of you. And we will discuss all of this in much more, whatever is on your mind.

And we will begin with Velo on this Thursday. Velo, are you there? Yep, yep, I'm here. What's up, man? What's good with you, Mike? I watch the show all the time, man. It's actually fucking crazy that you. up to my shit. Appreciate it.

Of course. What's on your mind? Shit. Me and my boy, we, we made our, we made our picks at the beginning of this week. We going with Vogue, even though we know how crazy Tuporia has been going. And, but like, we still, we're still giving an edge to Tuporia, but like a little bit of an edge, but we still think Vogue going to come through. Like, there's no way somebody that dominant is going to fold to somebody who's, like, just still fresh to the game, you know? Yeah, man, I look, I'll break the fourth wall here. As you all know, when it comes to the watch parties that we do, we, G.C. and I like to play some wagers.

G.C. puts his wagers on every card. I just do them for the watch party for content purposes. I have some exposure on this fight. I have, this main event goes over one and a half as a parlay piece in a pack. in a passive parlay. I also have a bet on Volcanowski straight at minus 125. And I also put a little sprinkle

on Volkanowski by KOTKO, DQ at plus 250. Look, if Ilya Tupori goes out and backs up everything he said, I would not be surprised. Like, I won't be stunned by that. But until I see Volk

falter at 145, I can't bet against the guy. I just can't. The same, like, we were literally having the same conversation about Jaeer Rodriguez in July. You remember that? Everyone was like, oh, from a stylistic perspective, Volk, Volk might be in trouble here. Yair with his style, like, I think he's the guy to do it. And Volk just trucked him.

That fight was not competitive at all, not even for a minute. And Teporia is incredibly talented. I think he's just scratching the surface of how good he is going to be. And no disrespect to Josh Emmett, because Josh is a very good fighter. But man, what a leap from Josh Emmett to Volcanovsky. Like, they're, I don't know. I just think it's a little too quick. I would like to see Tepori have one more.

Like, I didn't want to see the Holloway fight, but if you did Yair or you did, if Loyav or you did you know, Ortega or somebody like that, even like a Calvin Cater or something. I would have been, you know, a little better. Not say, like, Cater, I meant, I thought Cater won that fight. I still think Cater would win that fight if they fought again. But this is just a big leap.

And who knows? This could pay off really for it. And if it does, he goes out there and beats Volk. I mean, he is going to be a star, like a massive, massive star. but I think Volk, I think Volk's just handling this all very well. The video he put out about him being too old was incredible. I love his attitude this week. I think he's going to do it.

I think he's going to do it. I think Toporia is going to learn a very valuable lesson. And I think, I think I heard Ariel Hawati say this on the MMA hour yesterday, that this feels sort of like a GSP Matt Hughes moment, where GSP got in there with Matt first time, loses the fight, wins a couple, gets back, and then finally becomes the champion and the welterweight that we knew he could be.

I kind of feel like this is what we might see with Diliate Tuporia. If he loses to Volk, it's not like he's never getting another title shot. In fact, he might get a title shot right after this if Volk decides to go to 155. Is anyone going to complain if they do Tuporia versus Mobsar of Loya for the vacant belt? No. No one's going to complain about that.

I would love to see that fight. So, yeah, that's what I have right now. But again, I would not be surprised at all if support is who he says he is. I've been very high on this guy from Jump Street. But there are some tendencies. There are some openings for Volk. And he is probably the smartest fighter in the sport pound for pound right now when it comes to infight adjustments and game planning and all that.

So cannot wait for that fight. Honestly, I cannot wait. It's my favorite fight on the books right now. Crying Belly. What's going on, Mike? What's that, brother? Look, man, it's... I kind of wanted to come on here, not to really rant,

but I just want you to follow me for a second, right? I've been thinking a lot last week, came on here, told you that Daniel White. And, you know, before... It's really a shame that the UFC, that 298s in a few days, and the UFC's making everybody linger and hang on to what the 300 main event's going to be. And it kind of leads into this weekend with Vogue and everything because, look, I really think that the UFC fumbled the bag.

You know, they're sitting here looking for a fight. And you know what this week? or um ufc 300 should have been volkenowski versus islam too and that's what i really think that that's that's what would have um completed the the card because you know um it's a shame that the two 98's in a few days and they're releasing you know they're making everybody uh think about you know, what's going on. You have these social media pages that are, that, you know, we're talking about it. I mean, we're talking about it.

That's what it is. The Super Bowl ad was supposed to come. You had Dana White going there talking about a dude needing a new arm or something. I don't even know. I was, I was disappointed. It's a real shame, though, that you have Connor McGregor that he's been in the testing pools. I've seen like pictures and whatnot and then you have

he comes on here he comes on interviews time and time again and he keeps on like like he just keeps beating around the bush and given you know just bad answers

bad and far and if it comes with like a contract extension issue if that's the reason why they don't want to book them like that's just so like selfish in my opinion, and I think it's just bad. It's bad, and I hope, I really hope they get this thing figured out with McGregor

because it just makes me so angry that they can't get this guy a fight. And, but yeah, just back to 298, though, I really think that, I really think the UFC fumbled the bag by, it should have been Islam versus, uh, uh, Vogue 2 at 300. Now they're scrambling, looking for a fight. That's going to be... I mean, I've caught a love versus marijuana. Like, that's not going to really get...

99 and 298 is going to be better. So, let me know what you think, man. Have a good one. All right. So a few things there. One, I cannot wait for this frigging main event to be announced. because I'm so free. Like, I just, I'm done talking about it.

And I'm not saying that to, like, dog, you. It's just the whole scenario because I agree with you. What are we doing here? What are we doing here? And, like, we knew what this is going to be, right? We knew that Connor wasn't going to get the spot for a number of reasons. Even though Connor wants it, and it's right there, and it made all the sense of the world, the UFC doesn't look at things that way.

They look at things as, look, 300's going to get a mill. anytime we put Connor on a card, it's going to get a mill. So we're going to try to get multiple bites of the apple. But when you do that, you put yourself in these vulnerable positions. And the UFC has been in these positions many times before. They've had to cancel paper views because they weren't able to book made events. They've had to do it multiple times. And I just don't, I don't understand what's happening right now.

I don't understand what's happening. I truly hope that tomorrow, when they do this Q&A or whatever, that we know what the main event is, that it is announced. And if data goes up to the fucking press conference after 298 and just mumbles his way through the announcement, I'm just going to be like, what are we doing here? What are we doing? And there's a lot to this too. first of all, you're right. This whole thing has buried $298. And for all the shit Dana likes to say about the media,

we're just trying to bury the company. We hate the UFC. Guess what? Nobody has put this card over more than us. Nobody. We're doing a way better job putting this card over than the UFC is. It's not even close. It's not even close.

How much better we are promoting this card than the UFC is. We are putting this thing over. We were talking about Volkovsky-Tiporia as the best fight on the books for 2020-4 right now. The UFC ain't doing that. Instead, Dana's going on Howie Mandel and staging a walk-off 30 seconds into the show. Like, that's what we're doing with our time. Come on. This is the shit that annoys me.

And people say, like, oh, you guys hate Dana and you hate the UFC. No. we want the UFSI to do the thing. It's right there. This whole made of a thing. It seems like DDP and EZee is right there. It's so simple. And yes, I understand, like, if you announce Leon Edwards versus Hamzaa Chamaev,

like if that fight gets made and that's the announcement, like that's a, wow, didn't see that one coming, and I get it. And I will give the UFC some credit that they are at least trying here. Like it seems like they want to do something cool But it's just too late It's just too late When we're asking about UFC 300 back in like October and November What was always the answer?

I'm not even thinking about 300 right now I'm focused on this Dana White all of a sudden turned into Bill Belichick Oh we're not thinking about 300 We're on our way to the apex We're only thinking about Saturday at the apex This is what happens when you don't think about that stuff And now think about this.

It should be DDP Izzy. Whatever DDP wants, just give it to him. Whatever Izzy wants, just give it to him. I'll tell you what, if they end up announcing Leon Edwards versus Belal Muhammad, it's going to be tough scenes. And at the same time, this just kills Bilal Mohammed if they announced this. Because through no fault of Belal Mohammed's, he is going to get the brunt of the shit if they announced

that is the main event. And it's not even his fault. It's not even his fault. You know what Belal Muhammad has become? Do you ever see the movie Bridesmaid? Bridesmaids? And Kristen Wiggs character is having this like hookup relationship with John Ham. And John Ham has her like fifth on his hookup list.

That's who Belal Muhammad is right now. Belal Muhammad is the guy that like if John Ham can't score at the bar, they call Bala Muhammad. Like that's what he's become. And if they announced this as the main thing, event. Like, this is what Bilal Muhammad looks like. He's the last resort. He's the last phone call. He's the, what are you doing at 3 a.m. text message? It's ridiculous. And I feel for the guy. I do. I truly feel for the guy because he deserves this shot. And now you're putting him in this

position? Like, what the fuck are we doing here? Like, he's, people don't like Bilal anyways. He can't get over with the people. The UFC certainly. isn't helping. The UFC certainly doesn't want him fighting for the belt for some reason. And now you're going to bury him potentially by announcing he fights for the belt in the main event of UFC 300. You know what they could have done? They could have announced Leon versus Ballol as the main event in December and then built the rest of the card around it. Or at the same time they announced the Holloway-Gaichi fight. If they just announced Leon Belal there, yeah, it kind of would have been flatulets and church to some people. But at least

like we were prepared for it, and you're building around it. And now if you put Leon and Belal in this position, Balal is just going to get buried, and it's like not fair to him at all. It's not fair. And the fight is going to be a competitive, high-level martial arts fight, but it's also going to be, I think we understand what this fight's going to be. It's not going to be Holloway and Gate. Like, Holloway and Gates, you're going to blow the fucking roof off. And then we go to Leanna-Belaw, which is going to be

fine fight. It's going to be a chess match. And then we just leave the event being like, okay, that was fine. But man, Gachi Holloway was great. I don't know. I really hope it's DDP as E. Like that is a fantastic fight.

We don't need to overthink this. Like, why are we banging our heads against the wall? Let's just make this fight. What are we doing? If I had a guess, they're going to go that route. They're going to do DDPism. but I have no insight to this this just seems to be my guess

I don't know I hope we get this answer soon for the love of God because it's taken out of life of its own Lee go ahead I think it was the card of Valentina versus way back

I was just wondering because I've been watching every card since then like when did you actually start following the sport and you know watching every event So yeah, have a heck of the rest of your day. So I, I mean, I got into it during like, I mean, obviously I would watch like casually. Like if I was out and like I was at a bar or shooting pool or something and it was on like I'd watch it. First event I ever bought was UFC 40, Tito Ortiz versus Ken Shamrock because I was a big WWE fan.

Ken Shamrock leaves WWE to go back to UFC to go fight Tito and they built the thing. up really well. So I bought that one. And then I would just kind of watch casually. Once the ultimate fighter started, that's what I like really started to get back into it. Love the show. Back then, Diego Sanchez was just such a wacko that I just, I had to watch every Monday. And then the finale happens and the UFC start to explode. And I started to get into it. But it's as a lot of you know, if you've been fans for a long time, it comes sort of in ebbs and flows, right? things are happening like chuckledell's just ethering people and then father time catches up this guy comes in there he's on a run then father time catches up we're seeing matt hughes lose

to everybody there's just like a lot that was happening and i was just like eh i don't know if i like have it in me to just keep up with everything and then once i started i mean i was paying attention to everything i was reading everything i was reading everything my fighting and, you know, keeping up with everything. It's kind of like how I am with, like, Monday Night Raw right now. Like, I'll watch once in a while, but I will always jump on the internet Tuesday morning to see, like, what happens the night before. And that was kind of what it was with the UFC.

Until I started talking to the fighters. Once I started talking to the fighters and talking more about the sport, then I was all in. That was it. That was probably in 20, end of 2014, heading into 2015. and then probably by like early 2015 February 2015 it was off to the races that was it. They had me. They had me from there.

And it's just been different and different and finding new ways to do things and make the sport digestible. But I also feel like one of the things I've learned like covering the sport, especially getting to Ambe Fighting, is that there aren't a lot of people like covering the sport or at least from a like a pundit perspective

that are telling you the truth, that are being honest, that are like saying what they feel like you do in every other sport and like every other broadcast desk, every other show. And I don't feel like a lot of people do that. And I feel like that's something that we've done pretty well.

It's like we just tell you like it is. There's a certain expectation we expect from the UFC, the number one organization in the world, the ones that built the sport to what it is today. And I will give them credit till the day I die for that. But, you know, if an apex card sucked to the Leox, we're going to tell you it sucks. Just like on an NFL show, if, you know, the two shittiest NFL teams are playing each other on Thursday night football, they're going to be like, this game's not very good.

Maybe find something else to do on a Thursday night. You know what I mean? So, but I, trust me, I love the sport. I want the sport to grow and be the biggest it could possibly be. But, yeah, long story short, late 2014 is when I was like all in and I haven't really missed much. They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Well, why not make it a limited edition Grooney Smith apple vitamin snack pack from Grooons? This isn't a multivitamin, a green scummy, or a prebiotic.

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and find gifts and inspiration to suit your holiday style at Sacks Fifth Avenue. Let's go to J-Mack. What's up, J-Mack? How are you doing today? Good, how are you? Good, just wondering if you saw that I don't know if you talked about it, I just got on,

but that Dana White interview with Howie Mandelry walked out on the set, did you see that? I did. As Rihanna likes to say, work, work, work, work, work. It's a work. There's no doubt it's a work. Howie's show is pretty new.

What a way to get some headlines. He certainly did that. Dana will be back on with Howie. That'll be like his biggest episode. Like, come on. We know what this is. We know what this is. Let's go to four ounce sniper.

Hey, Mike. Can you hear me? Yep. Hey, first things first. Heck of a morning to you and all the listeners. I don't know if you already talked about it. I took a phone call for about five to ten minutes, so I might have missed it. But if you could, could you just give you your thoughts on the whole Henry

Sehudo situation, him talking about retiring if he loses? if I was betting on him, I would have cashed out that bet so fast because I hate hearing a fighter discuss that, you know, they're on the verge of retiring, but they still are, you know, planning on competing either that weekend or in the near future. So, yeah, just your thoughts on Henry possibly retiring if he loses, but also if he wins but isn't guaranteed a title shot afterwards, do you think he, you know, competes one more time or do you think that would be it for him? You think it's title or bust essentially?

Or what are your thoughts on that, Mike? So the Sohudo thing is interesting. I mean, I think once this fight was booked, that was my initial thought. It's like, man, like if you're Henry, you just have to do this because this is your last chance. This is your last chance to get a title shot. And unfortunately, you have to go through MRAB to do it.

But at this point, like, if he loses to Marab, like, what else is there? There's really nothing else. A move to 45 makes absolutely no sense. There is no one who is going to look at Henry Suhudo as a viable title threat at this point. There's so many guys in this division who deserve the opportunity more. And this is why I hated him getting a title shot right off the bat. And I don't want to go back through this whole revision. visionist history of the Henry Suhudo come back and how much I hated it and how much this whole

thing was this is just awful by the UFC throwing him into a title fight because now we're in this position where it becomes oh it's do or die blah blah blah blah blah I will say this though it has made this fight more interesting to me now a lot of times you look at fighters and you you think like eh you know maybe this is my last one maybe it's not and when I hear that then I'm like all right, fade, fade, fade. Fade it up. But a guy like Suhudo who has been so competitive all of his life, a guy like that needs to find chips, however they can do it.

And if for Henry Suhudo, it's, listen, I'm going to go one more. If I beat Mab. You know, great. If I lose, I'm done. Like, he's at least realistic with this notion. Because he's screwed up this entire thing. Once he left the UFC after beating Dominic Cruz, it just all fell apart for him.

It just all fell apart for him. If he waited like two more title defenses and did it, he would have been in a much better position, but did it too early. Then he comes back and we knew he was going to come back. But yeah, honestly, I think this fight's going to be incredibly competitive. I do have, what is my Marab bet? I know I have a Marab bet.

I have a bet on Marab by decision at minus 135. But honestly, like, I would look, like, Henry Sehudo, like, if I wasn't going like a proppy bet, like, if I was going to bet on this fight, I would bet, I wouldn't bet on Sehudo to win. But I like that plus three and a half number. Because I think, I think this could be a 29, 28 across the board. There's going to be a lot of clinch grappling. Henry Suhudo is much better getting off the fence than Jose Aaldo is or was when Marab fought him.

And I think the fight's going to look kind of like the Aldo fight. But Sehudo's better and he can hit. Dude's a hitter. Still a hitter. So I do think it's a good fight. But if Henry wins, he's getting a title shot. I guarantee fucking team he's getting a title shot. Especially if Sean O'Malley wins.

Sean O'Malley will go all in on the Suhudo fight. he will go all in on it no doubt of my mind and if Cheeto wins I still think that's the fight they're going to make so yeah and then on the other end

that's where things get real interesting Marab wins I don't know if Sean fights him next I really don't but if Cheeto wins then he'll fight Maraub I don't know it's just a weird situation

it's 24 in the UFC and that's the world we live in, my friends. Let's go to Cole. What's up, Cole? Good morning, Mike. So when you started the space this morning, you said that the Sehudo Captain Eric thing was totally manufactured, but I don't know if you realize this,

but your interview with Anik is kind of the missing piece to this puzzle. So that countdown clip of Sehudo being like, I'm letting you go, that was filmed in December, Captain Eric said. And your interview with Anick had to be, what, two and a half weeks ago, probably, maybe two weeks ago. So that's not Anick looking at the, and the countdown was released on Sunday. That's not Anik looking at the countdown video and then saying it's looking like he's making changes to his corner. That's Anick getting the cornerman from Sehudo by the UFC.

That's him getting his prep sheet or whatever. So I feel like it was real because Captain it was real since December because Captain Eric has been training with Paula Costa and Patricio and Brazil or wherever he's been. He hasn't been with Sehudo. And it's totally Sehudo backpedaling after all of this backlash. It 100% is. Like there's no way Annick says it's looking like Sehudo's making changes to his corner in your interview with him and not talking about Captain Eric. There's no way he's not talking about that. So at one point, Captain Eric was taken off of Sehudo's cornerman list. So I feel like the second

I saw Ariel's tweet being like, if you ever, anyone who ever believed this, you're a Mark, whatever, whatever he said, I think your interview, it's a victory lap for you, your interview with is the missing piece to this puzzle. He was off the corner list at one point, and now he's back on 100%. What do you think about that? So you're right, and that was one of my takeaways

from the conversation with John was him saying, like, the corner looks different, and he even revealed it on his show when they were talking to Ray Longo about it. He listed off the names, and this was, I think they recorded this on Monday. Captain Eric was, wasn't on the list. And I don't know if he is on the list. I honestly don't know.

I don't know how, like, if and how you can change that at this point. Like, once you put out who's in your corner, like, can you, you could just change it, like on a whim for no reason, other than like, ah, we fooled the people because of the video we did on countdown. So I don't know. I don't know. And you're right. I obviously thought about that. What I mean that it's phony is that that conversation was phony. Like the whole thing to do it on camera like that, like it just looked so staged. And I'm not saying that Henry and Captain Eric didn't have a prior conversation that may have gotten a little bit more heated than that moment. But there's no, like, it's just, there's just nothing that seemed real about that moment.

it just looked really staging to me. And that's all. And then to play it off like, oh, we got you. Polly Shore style and entourage. I'm like, you didn't get anybody. Like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You look like an asshole. Like, you looked like an asshole the entire time.

It's so dumb. Like, that's like, it's just the unfortunate thing. Like, the big headlining thing about Marab versus Henry, was a fake firing Michael Scott style. Like, what are we doing here? It's just lame. And it sucks, too, because, like, Henry's so thoughtful at Media Day and stuff.

And then this is, like, the whole conversation. Like, ugh. Just so stupid. Jay Stat, hello. Hello, Mike. Heck of a morning to you. What are your thoughts on Roman Coppulov versus Anthony Hernandez? And also your thoughts on Ian Gary versus Jeff Niz.

That'd be all. Thank you. I love both fights. Man, Hernandez Coppulov is such a good fight. It's a great main card opener. This is the fight that just screams open up the paper room. Because it ain't going to the cards. Either Hernandez is just going to run him over and tap him and just grind him out until he puts him away.

Or Copulov's going to defend a takedown and just land a bolo on him and knock him dead. So I think Hernandez is going to win That dude's gas tank is ridiculous His pace is unbelievable at 185 pounds But he is He's kind of chiny a little bit Kevin Holland beat him up

And I know that was a different time That was years ago But I think Hernandez is just He's on one right now And coppilofs looked real good but Hernandez, to me, has just fought way better guys. And while I think Coppulop is very good and exciting and non-middleweighty,

neither of these guys are going to be contending for the middle-weighty, middleweight title anytime soon, I think almost like to some extent, but not exactly the same, kind of like Joe Pfeiffer versus Jack Hermanson. I just feel like Hernandez has just fought better guys, has been in bigger spots, And Roman's taking this fight on relatively short notice. He's looked real good, but he hasn't beat anybody fantastically great. So I think Hernandez's experience will be the difference here, and that fight's going to be incredibly fun.

So I think Hernandez, that's finish him, but if Coppilop boops him, it wouldn't surprise me. And, dude, he and Gary Jeff Neal's going to be really, really interesting. I got Ian Gary winning, though. Ian Gary's, like, on his game, he's going to win. A guy at Four Corner Sports. is actually the first time somebody actually mentioned Ian Gary's name. Because it's funny, in December, he was the story, and now he may be like the fifth or sixth

fighter, the people are actually talking about on this card. I actually wanted to talk about Paula Costa, you know, saying that he might actually win. You know, if he defeats Robert Whitaker, he gets a title shot. I don't know if it's justified. But if that is the case, Um, you know, and if the rumors are true that it's going to be DDP versus Izzy, I'm not saying it for 300, but, you know, for a future date, who would you want Costa to fight? Would you care for the rematch between Izzy and Costa? Would you, or would you want to see DDP versus Costa?

And then, um, lastly, I wanted to talk about is, um, the whole Jeff Neal, I'm Machado, Gary. I'm very interested to see what, um, how Ian is in a look in training. and shoot the box and shoot the box with Charles Olivero. I think that, you know, we might see, like, a new dynamic from him. Do you feel like this fight might be, like, the fight that takes over, like, outside of the main event? Just because I feel like there's very little traction that people are talking about this fight. And, you know, Jeff Neal, this guy's always game. I mean, we still don't fight, Shafcott, where I was very impressed.

in his performance, even in a loss. And the way that Ian ended up knocking out Danny Rodriguez and his performance against Neo-Magdine, I feel like this kid has so much potential. But, you know, if he loses, then, you know, the downfall might be, you know, pretty steep. So I just want to get your thoughts on that. Thanks, Mike. So the Costa thing, I don't think he's wrong, honestly. I mean, well, let me preface this by saying.

If DDP is the champion, and let's just say DDP does fight Izzy and wins, Paul Kost is getting title's fight if he beats Robert Walker. Like, they're going to do it. Paul is over. It's popular. And he's never fought DDP. Like from a stylistic perspective, that is going to be, that's not a car crash. That's an 18-wheeler crash.

That might be the funniest. fight ever, like in the best possible way. Those two guys getting after it. So I don't think he's wrong. I don't think he's wrong. Now, if they do DDP Izzy and Izzy wins, cost saying getting a title shot,

no one's going to pay 80 bucks to watch that again. You know, probably get like Izzy Hamzot or something. So he'll still have some more work to do. But yeah, I don't think he's terribly wrong, especially if DDP's still the champion. Who knows? They can't get Izzy on board for 300,

and Costa just dumps, runs over Robert Whitaker, maybe Costa turns around for 300, and then DDP costs that 300. Is that like the worst made event ever? No. I think people would be kind of okay with that, especially if he runs over Robertiker.

The Gary fight, again, he's just so good. Like Ian Gary, whether you like him or not, if you don't like his trash talk, you can't deny that he's like a super, verbally talented fighter. Dude is real, real good. And Jeff Neal is real good, too. But I don't know.

I just think Ian is just, he's that guy. I just think he's the dude. He's that good. And if both guys bring their absolute best and they fight 10 times, Ian Gary's going to win all 10 times. And I think Jeff Deale's going to get a little emotional.

I'm sure the press conference is going to be real dumb when Ian Gary is a microphone in front of them. But I have a bet on... I'm a little exposed on Ian Gary, probably more than I should, from a betting perspective. So I went with Ian Gary minus three and a half points at minus 125. And I am also putting a sprinkle on Ian Gary by submission at plus 800, because something tells me that Ian Gary is going to try to go out there and submit

submit Jeff Deal just so he can be like see I told you motherfuckers I am the best grappler in the history of grappling you haven't even seen my grappling here he says best grappler in the world so I'm putting a little sprinkle on it I think he's going to try to submit Jeff deal like even if he hurts him with strikes I think he's going to try to still try to submit him just so we can prove a point so So that's just kind of, it kind of strikes me as that guy. So, yeah. And if he loses, it's going to be tough, it's going to be tough,

it's going to be a tough road for him for a little while. But he'll come back. And if he beat Jeff Neal, I would not be stunned if they gave him Colby next. You can absolutely see that fight being made. Let's go to Keelan. Mike, hey, how are you? Thanks for having me on. I'm a big fan of the show.

Thanks, man. What's up? So my question was, and I'm not sure if you've covered this or not, sorry, I was a bit late getting in. At the press conference, Ian Garry was asked about bringing an event finally to Ireland. And obviously, being Irish myself, I was very curious to get your thoughts on this. And as someone who's lived through and witnessed the rise of Connor McGregor from basically where he started to where he is now, I can't really fathom Ian Gary being the one to bring a card back if McGregor wasn't able to. So I was just wondering, what are your thoughts on that? Let me ask you a question.

How does, how does like that fan base view Ian Gary right now? Like, do they, is he over? Like, do people, like, actively root for him? Do they, like, what's the vibe like about Ian Gary over there right now? Well, that's actually an excellent question, Mike, because, you know, as somebody who is like an aspiring journalist in our space trying to get into the industry, I kind of have my ear to the ground and I am very curious about this myself. A lot of the fan base seemed to really not be as over an Ian Gary as maybe the American audiences or maybe the South American audiences even. A lot of the Irish UK fan base seem to be not necessarily embarrassed by Ian Gary, but I think a lot of this are more realistic in terms of what he's trying to do. And I completely agree with what you just said there.

He's a phenomenally gifted fighter. He is just genuinely talented. But I think the problem is that he's trying too hard to do what Connor McGregor did, and he's not as quick or as witty as McGregor was. and I think a lot of our fans see that maybe more for what it is than maybe in other parts of the world and I think a lot of Irish fans especially would more appreciate Ian if he was a bit more like Paul Hughes for example of Cage Warriors and what I mean by that is if he just let his fighting

do the talking I think he would go over a lot better over here and plus there's the whole stuff with what happened with Neil Magni I won't get into that because that's old news but to answer your question, I don't think he's as over here as he could or should be. And I think if he just let his talent do the talking, he'd fix a lot of that. Interesting. Yeah, I mean, look, I'm waiting for them to go back. You can't deny that, like, there are very few times being a fan of the sport and even covering the sport,

where I had direct fomo. and when Connor headlined in Dublin against Diego Brandau there was like no other place in the world at that time that I would rather event than in that building

like that was maybe the most electric fight card ever it was unbelievable it truly was watching it on TV like if you haven't if you're a newer fan

you have not watched that event I highly recommend you go watch it because it was basically like Ireland against the world and the Irish fighters did so well they're so over the fans are just on fire

and then Connor goes and melts Diego Brand out at the end and the place just went bananas having said that they've had a lot of events and unfortunately they haven't been spectacular events and they're not from the UFC they're from Bellator

and even the PFL has tried to go there and it almost got It just seemed to me like it almost got to the point where it was like, like, too much. Almost like, almost the fans like kind of got burnt out by like, lackluster events and just not great cards overall where the hunger was definitely there. And like, well, Bellator was going in there. The fans are on fire and going crazy. And then eventually they're just like, okay, another Bellator event.

Okay, another PFL event. I don't know who half these fighters are. it's just I don't know I think they need this and I know Bellator's making their return in Belfast I think that's smart going to Belfast doing something a little bit different

going to a different part of Ireland could Ian be the guy to do it maybe what I think here's how I would do it Ian beats Jeff Neal cool then he do Ian versus Colby

he beats Colby then you go to Ireland. Give him a big name. Give him like a number one contender fight. Do a fight night in Ireland and have Ian headline and a five-rounder against you know, who the hell knows

who's going to be the guy at that time. Against a... Even if it's like a Bilal Mohammed. And look at the fan base right now. And again, this is really through no fault of his own. ball has just become like a heel automatically because of his fighting style and just i guess his overall personality and look i've been harder on bala than most when it comes to his road

to getting a title shot and had he been smarter with the microphone time i think he'd be in a much better position probably would have fought for the belt already but you put ian gary against belal mahomet in a main event in dublin ian gary is going to look like a freaking superstar because people aren't going to cheer for Bull all against Ian Gary. They're just not going to. So that would be my route. I could see it happening. I think Ian can be the guy.

It's just not there yet. Not there yet. He still gets some negativity to weed through. And I think if he goes out and beats Chef Neal and cuts a good promo afterwards and handles himself well, I think the temperature will go up a little bit. And if he goes and beats Colby and has a great, performance against a guy like that.

Temperature goes up even more. And then you put him in a high stakes matchup at the end. Load the card up with Irish and UK fighters. And I think you got something there. But not yet. We're not there just yet. Eugene, go ahead. Support for this show comes from the audible original,

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Good morning, Mark. I think of morning. Just have a few questions I want to ask. Firstly, with Robert Wooden-Coste. I'm really looking forward to that fight this Saturday. I think that's, in my opinion, any man's land. I see a lot of high ends for Costa. You know, he has really good leg kicks.

And I think if he can really effectively work on the body kicks a lot, he can cause Rob some problems. Rob, you know, I think Rob might really mix it up, maybe do a little bit of grappling, maybe just try to, you know, slowly break down Costa, maybe do what other Sanya didn't just go for the chaos. I'm curious though with Rob, if he was to lose to Costa, right, that we two in a row,

I think he moves off to light heavyweight possibly because he has mentioned this in the past, you know, about two, three years ago, or does he just stay in the middleweight division? Another question I have is, what are your thoughts on this fight? Dan Hooker versus Renato Moycano. Do you think that would be a really fun fight to make, or should Dan Hooker still fight the winner Bobby Green, Jim Miller? That's all I have. Have a great day.

I mean, I guess you could do that. I'd rather see Hanato fight Patty. Like, just, let's just do it. Do it now. It's a win-win for the UFC. Moikano wins. We're in a great place. The Patty wins.

It's a ranked win. Like, that's the fight. That's it. If they do Dan Hooker, fine. Dan Hooker, I would do, like, Santini would have been perfect. If they didn't go with, with Porre. But like, I don't know.

Elvis Brenner would be a good one for Dan Hooker. Like, that's kind of where he's at right now. Unfortunately. Let me see. There's actually, like, let me just look here. I know,

I know he's a little dinged up. But, man, physique, like, that'd be a great comeback fight for Raphael Paziv. be perfect that'd be perfect that's just kind of where Dan is right now he's just going to have to just go through these tests and he's like the perfect test for a lot of these guys so

but yeah they do Miller I mean Miller green's not bad either but we'll see uh look Eugene I think we have you now hey Mike uh heck of a Thursday thanks for let me try again um I had one quick question about superstitions. So everyone is responding to this photo of Ilya touching the belt in the photo promo shoot. It's got, I'm seeing a lot of threads coming up of other instances

of challengers touching the belt they had not yet won in front of cameras. So there's Lewis, Head of Gone, Gastilum, when Whitaker pulled out, and also he declared himself the champion. Can we think of any examples where someone's lack of superstition paid off besides McGregor? Thanks. I mean, McGregor's obviously the one I think of because he

freaking stole the belts multiple times from Josealdo. God, off the top of my head, I can't think of any besides Connor. But I think that's probably like the best comparison, right? Because it seems like even though it's I'm not going to say lazy,

but just kind of the easy answer. Everything Tepore is doing is Conner-esque. What he's doing heading into this fight is very reminiscent of how Connor felt about Joseo Alto. So, yeah, I don't know. Look, I mean, at this point,

with everything he's done, with everything he said, the whole IG bio and everything, like, just go, I mean, you're already all in. You might as well just do everything. like just go even more all in like buy back in and then just push all those chips back in the middle too you've already gone so far like you can't go back now so you might as well just keep going further over the line break all the superstitions you know go walk under a ladder cross paths of the black

cat step on the crack on the sidewalk all of it just do it all at this point you can't you can't You can't go any further with it. Like you just can't. You're already over the line so far that getting back is just impossible. Ethan, go ahead. Quick ones for you this morning. So first up relates to this weekend. I'm just wondering, card top to bottom, which fight do you think is going to have the most predictable outcome?

And which fight do you think is going to have the opportunity to get a little weird? And we might see something kind of out of left field. second one relates to kind of the MMA community reaction to the Hamzot versus Leon thing seems like people were kind of like are you kidding me like this doesn't make any sense so I'm kind of just wondering do you think people

are getting a little sick of Hamzot smash everybody schick and they kind of just want to see him fight or where do you think we're at on Hamzot right now thanks a lot and heck good morning so it's interesting when Ariel put this out and by the way like I totally understand where Ariel's coming from

and that's why like it's just sucks at this point when you want to like put out information and you have to preface everything like a thousand times because of like what could come from it it's just insane like Ariel's like trying to put out this information up like here's what I'm hearing none of this is done this is not in the works not targeted none of that and you get all these fucking social media sites they take this information like it's gospel and that it's happening and it's just stupid. Like, it's just dumb. Like, I wish we could just go back to a world

where you'd be like, here's what I'm hearing right now. I'm not saying it's a done deal, but like this is what I'm hearing could be happening. And then everyone just fucking loses their mind. 800 social media websites, like put out a graphic saying, oh, the fight's done, the fight's done. Leon versus Hamzaida, at UFC 300.

Like, what the fuck are you talking about? Just listen to what they're saying. Like, I know what you're trying to do. It's because of the social media thing now. Oh, impressions get paid. Well, that's fucking. stupid. And now you get, you just have to deal with it and it's so stupid. But anyways, I truly, I truly believe that the fight that will get the most reaction, if it's announced, is Leon

versus Hamza Tchimae. Because it's just, it's so random that, like, I think it would work as a 300 main event. Like, I think that's like the most 300-y main event of the options on the table, just because it's so out of left field, it just screams 300. I don't love it for a number of reasons. One, the last time Hamzat fought at frigging Welterweight, he missed by eight and a half pounds for a fight that he was going to win. I love Nate Diaz, love the guy. But he was going to get crushed by Hamzaa Tchamai.

And that's exactly what Dana and the UFC wanted to happen. And then Hamzat blew weight by a lot. Nate gets the moment out against Tony Ferguson. The MMA got smiled upon Nathan Diaz that weekend. And it worked out great. And Hamzat still got over, even though he missed weight by a lot. And Kevin Holland's a freaking gangster who will fight anybody

for the right amount of money. Hashtag prize fighter. I still think that would get the most reaction and the most buzz. Hamzad is still kind of a mystery at this point. I don't know. I don't think, I don't know if people are totally sick of him, but I think we're getting there. But if they brought him back to fight at 170 for the welterweight title,

that'd be insane. That'd be nuts. But then, you're like, will he make the weight? You're playing with fire. And if he wins the belt, like, will he make it again? And if he does in defense a belt, like, will he do it again? Like, there's a lot of questions with it. But that's what makes it so interesting because it's so random.

most predictable fight on the card i mean it's kind of kind of a cheap answer but rinia nakamura carlisvara seems like but is uh locked in as you can get for good old rinia i don't know if he gets a finish he probably he might but i would say if he loses there would be one of the more surprising things that could happen what could get real weird. Probably Whitaker Costa. Like I think there's, I do think there's betting value on Paul Costa at plus 205. Because I do think things can get weird. I didn't go that direction. Perhaps I'm a sucker.

But I bet Robert Whitaker straight at, what did I get him on? I got him at my. Oh, no, I took the points. I took the points. minus three and a half at minus 125 because I think Rob's going to win. But could things get weird? Absolutely. So that's probably the one that probably has the best chance of getting weird.

Although Marab and Sehudo could get pretty weird too. All right. So we get Eric, then we got Matt, then we get Saul, and then we get to go. Eric, go ahead. Good, how are you? This is if, I can't see that Marab. I don't, I can't see Henry Sehudo

winning gets Mara. I think he's probably done after this. And I think the Duporia and the Vogonovina's fight is not going to be, like, not going to go to the judges. I think it's going to summon, I think Vobinowski is probably going to entertain. And then I think Paul is awesome. I think if Robert went to the beach Costa, do you think he's going to wait for Izzy, Blyssia if that gets announced? And, yeah, and Dana White needs to announce that 300 card.

Thanks, guys. I honestly and I've said I don't I think Suhudo is way is going to be way more competitive than people think I think Marab is going to win I have a bet on Marab by decisions but like just look at the odds right now look at the look at the point spread odds on this fight barab minus three and a half is plus money and Henry Suhudo plus three and a half is minus 145 the betting community and the odds bakers are saying this fight's going to be close. Like this line, at least to the gambling community and the sharps out there saying,

this screams 29, 28 Marab. Because I do think, honestly, I think this is going to look a lot like the Jose Aldo fight. But Suhudo's going to be able to get off the fence. And Suhudo can hit, man. Like, he can hit. He's a very good offensive wrestler. He's obviously a very good defensive wrestler.

Yeah, Aljo took him down, but he wasn't able to do a whole lot with it. So, I mean, I do think this is going to be close. I really think this is going to be a close fight. And I know the whole, people are kind of scared that, you know, when you hear a fighter saying the R word that, you know, you just fade him immediately. So who knows? He's a different cat, man.

He's been doing this forever. But doing this forever. And sometimes when you're at that point, you've got to put that extra chip on your shoulder. So I think Marab wins, but I think this is going to be a very competitive. the fight. I think if there's one guy in this entire division who can give him a rob trouble, it's a ticket to Hudo. But I don't know if that's enough. Matt, go ahead. Two

small things for you. So do you think the UFC is too big or too small? And part of the reason why I ask that is because they keep doing all these apex cards. I get it. I don't like being the same person that bitch is about apex cards. constantly, but they are annoying as hell. But it's like they cannot build names. I absolutely love the Marvin Vittoria versus Brendan Allen fight.

But who the fuck is going to pay to watch that unless Brendan Allen is selling out some like fucking VFA in Louisiana? Like he's not going to sell that place out as much as I love him. And then the other thing that I wanted to add to that is why is Val Woodb? burn versus the Obon-Elliott fight, just such a fucking banger, and nobody's talking about it. It's a good one. It's a good one.

Obon's just, Obon's a fun character. Like, I've loved his interview with Helani yesterday. Dude, it just seems salt of the earth. Everything about him, it just seems like, it seems like he just loves fighting. And he just love, like, he's in it for the love of the game. Like, it wants to do well, but it seems like he's just in it

for all the right reasons. And Val Woodburton is, you know, kind of a get-or-get-got dude. And he's not fighting Bo-Nickel on super short notice, which is always a plus. So, yeah, it's going to be a good one. Like I said, the prelims are going to be good. Not a lot of name value, but they're going to be good. We're going to have, like, a squash match here and there. I think there's going to be a bunch of finishes on the prelims.

Like, there's a lot to like here. the other question is the UFC too big or too small that's a great question I don't know I'd probably lean towards too big for like how you're contextualizing this because of the apex thing but I mean look at the end of the day

they have to put on these events they have to fill 42 43 cards a year and like you said Brennan Allen, Martin Vittori ain't selling out a lot of arenas. But at the same time, the UFC is on fire right now. They are on fire. And if they put Brennan Allen versus Barb Vatori in like a 7,500-seat arena in Louisiana, I think it would sell out just because of the UFC.

I don't think they give a shit who's fighting. They're just like, oh, the UFC is in town. And that's why I think, like, they could leave the apex. They could. they could even sell Brandon Allen Martin Vittory is a main event and people will buy tickets to go

they're not going to fill up you know the freaking Superdome they're not going to fill out of the Honda Center with that main event but it's probably like a college basketball place you know like a college basketball gym somewhere that fits 6,000 people

the UFC is just that hot right now but yeah from a business standpoint, like, if I'm the UFC, I'm never leaving the apex. Why would you? You know how much money they're pocketing? ESPN pays them a shit ton of money. And they pay them a shit ton of money for every event. And it is up to them how they want to allocate those funds. Some of it goes to production. Some of it goes to this. Some of it goes to that. But when your production is in-house and it costs you zero, you get to pocket all of that money.

So from a marginal standpoint, they profit so much money being at the apex. So from that stance, like, why would you ever leave? It's clear they don't care what the fucking people think about the apex. Because they're just going to keep doing it. They're going to keep going back. And I honestly don't blame them for it. It's the whole thing about fighter pay at this point.

because we all want the fighters to be paid more, right? But fighters don't seem to want to do anything about it other than occasionally talk about it. So unless they care, why should we care? And it's the same thing with the apex guns. The only way to change this, there's two ways to change this. One, when they sign this new TV deal, whoever's giving them all this money has to say,

hey, we still want you to do 43 events, but no apex. You can still do the Apex for the Contender series and the Ultimate Fighter and all that shit, but no more. Or it is up to you to say, fuck this, I'm not, I'm canceling my ESPN Plus subscription.

I ain't watching this apex shit anymore. And that's the only way it changes. Other than that, they ain't changed it. And they shouldn't. And even then I don't think they'll change it. Because if you leave, all it does is just kind of hurt their negotiations slightly when they re-up the deal or negotiate a new TV deal.

But even then, like, they're still getting the same amount of money, whether 300,000 people watch the Apex cards or 2 million or 12. The check's still the same amount of money. So, but it's just soulless right now. The Apex is just soulless. Even Jack Hermanson, the nicest guy in the world. most positive guy on on earth is like nah I'm over the shit

I'm over it can't do it anymore but it ain't going anywhere guys I'm sorry to tell you unless the money speaks differently and I don't think it's got so go ahead just got on mute yourself

oh sorry about that hey Mike you're good so I got a question about the main event Alex versus Ilya so Alex has already cleared out the division so if he went what's the next fight to make and if elia wins the title what's the fight to make there too because you know i'm asking that question because elia has already kind of dismissed all the other guys like max and uh what's his name um

ortega so what do you think about that um hold on a second Sorry about that. Let me look at this. Because, again, there's this whole thing about Vol cleaning out the division. And I don't know if that's like all the way true. Yes, he beat Holloway three times. This is his sixth title.

This is what? He's had six title defenses. Half of them were Max Holloway. Beat Brian Ortega, beat Ayr, beat Zombie, he's fighting Tuporia, hasn't fought a Bloyev yet, hasn't fought Arnold Allen yet, hasn't fought Josh Emmett yet,

hasn't fought Calvin Cater yet, hasn't fought Gigacizade yet, hasn't fought Bryce Mitchell yet. He hasn't cleaned out the division. He's beaten some guys, but he hasn't cleaned out the division. In his title reign, he's beat four guys in his title run. It's not his fault. You can only fight who they tell you to fight. But there are guys. he can fight. Him and Mobsar is a good fight. I would watch that fight. Him and Arnold Allen,

I mean, he's got to get back in the wind column, but Arnold Allen should have just got a freaking title shot. Instead of throwing it, this is my issue with the Max Holloway fight. People thought I was crazy, but Arnold Allen had done enough to get a title shot. That would have been a fun fight. And there are guys coming in this division. The Lorone Murphys of the world, the Diego Lopez's of the world, they're coming. they're coming. So he could fight a lawyer. I have no insight to this whatsoever.

My hunch is if Volcanowski goes out and beats Dili Teporia, I think he's done at Featherweight. I think he will vacate the belt, and I think he will move up to 155s. That's what I think. Maybe he's just bored at 45, maybe he just doesn't want to cut the weight anymore. And I'm, by the way, totally fine with that.

Totally okay if that's what he wants to do. He wants to do another, he wants to challenge himself in a different way. Totally fine with that. As long as he vacates the featherweight title. And I kind of feel like he's going to. Kind of feel like he's going to. And then if lawyer gets to fight for the vacant belt to get somebody else. We'll take one more.

Octagon on a blog, go ahead. That I have to go. Yes, Mike. How are you? Secondly, well, I like to talk. talk to you about the lawsuit. We are in the middle of February and the lawsuit will be in April, I think. What if the UFC will lose this lawsuit against Kungley and all the other fighters? To my knowledge, they will be sold by endeavor to either Abu Dhabi or maybe to Saudi Arabia, Riyadhese. I like to hear your take. Thank you and good luck.

why would they do that? I don't think that's, I don't think that's true. Look, if there's, there's a good chance you're going to lose. They have infinite amount of money right now. Like,

they have so much money, it's ridiculous. They're fine. And even if they lose the lawsuit, it's going to suck. But they, their next TV deal is going to cover the losses.

Like, just the TV deal. Not, that has nothing to do with all the other stuff. All their sponsorship deals are massive. Like, they are just making so much money. And it's not like if you lose a case like this, you're just like, hey, you have to write a check for a billion dollars. No. You can pay it off over time.

Look at the NFL. They've been in lawsuits. They've lost lawsuits. They had to pay out, like, you look at the sums and you're like, oh, my God, like, how could they survive? And you realize, you're like, what are we talking about? Like, they're the NFL. They're the, like, they're the, like. And when it comes to American television,

they are the biggest powerhouse on planet Earth. Yeah, they're fine. They just pay it off. It's all good. So, yeah, it'll sting. Will it change anything? But, oh, let me look at this real quick. My buddy, Nolan King just tweeted something out.

Boardwalk Hall, advertising. Blanchfield Fioro is the main event for UFC Atlantic City. And they're also advertising Ficente Lucque versus Joaquin Buckley on that card. Interesting. We'll see how that all plays out. But yeah, we'll see how the suit goes. I have no idea how it's going to go. But even if they lose, it's going to be fine.

Like, they got money. They can cover it. And they'll cover it over a long period of time. Okay, I got to go. A lot going on. BTL. coming up at an hour's time as you hear my voice live. We'll battle it out.

New York, Rick, will join us. He will battle against Jed. We'll talk a lot of UFC 298. We'll talk 300. And then we're going to have a little Q&A round at the end. So it should be a lot of fun. So join us in about 58 minutes on the YouTube channel for BTL. And then tomorrow's going to be a busy day.

A heck of a morning. I think we're going to do it on YouTube tomorrow. I think that's the plan. Not 100% sure yet. And then we'll have the way-ins. I believe they start at noon Eastern. We'll have a preview show tomorrow. And then Saturday, off to New York,

People's Free Fight Show, watch party, post-fight show. Casey will be boots on the ground. So we'll have all the press conferences and the scrums and all that stuff. We'll have on to the next one live on Sunday. And then it's onwards and upwards to, thank God not the apex. We'll be heading to Mexico City.

I was trying to confirm this Buckley news. This Buckley, UK news, as this is all going on. And apparently it is. So how about that? Okay, so thank you. See, this is what happens. you have to balance multiple things. You hear the clack, clack, clack into the keyboard.

But thank you all very much. We'll see you tomorrow. Have a great rest of your day. Have a heck of a morning, everybody. Into the Box 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.