MMA Fighting - HOAM | Who Has More Pressure Ahead of UFC 280 — Charles Oliveira or Islam Makhachev?

Episode Date: September 15, 2022

With the UFC’s next pay-per-view event just over a month away in Abu Dhabi, a lightweight champion will be crowned in the main event between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. While both fighters would love to have the title wrapped around their waists at the end of the card, who needs it more between the two high-level 155 pounders? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck answers questions about the pressures on Oliveira and Makhachev, along with the stakes involved long term. In addition, listener topics include the UFC’s Oct. 29 targeted headliner between Calvin Kattar and Arnold Allen, Khamzat Chimaev’s future at welterweight and middleweight, Leon Edwards’ options, where Conor McGregor fits in title conversations, rules not being enforced enough 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

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Thank you for joining us. We are still dealing with some of the hangover effects, if you will, from UFC 279. We have UFC Vegas 60 coming up on Saturday. fun main event at 135 pounds between Corey Sanhagen and the surging song Yadong. We got Cheetah in Jaguani versus Gregor Rodriguez and the co-made event. Andre Feely versus Bill Algio, the featured bout. We get to see Joe Pfeiffer make his UFC debut. Tanner Bozer is back for the first time in over a year.

Damon Jackson, Pat Sabatini should be fun. I mean, this is not, let's be honest, it's not the greatest card of all. time, but it's not bad. We have definitely seen worse fight night cards in 2022. So it should be fun. And it's at a very doable,

very normal, which should be the norm sort of start time. 4 p.m. Eastern for the prelim, 7 p.m. Eastern for the main card. We wrapped and packed by like 10 p.m. Eastern. It's exactly what you want to see for a fight night card.

And then guess what? we get a little breather from the UFC. We get a week off. Of course, Bellator will be back with a card in Dublin, Benson Henderson versus Peter Quilly, Joel Romero versus Melvin Manhuff on that card. But the UFC schedule is going to kind of lighten up slightly for a little bit because we got a week off next week from the UFC.

And then we have the card. headlined by, excuse me, McKenzie Dern and Jan Jahn, then another week off. And then the card, headlined by Viviani Araujo and Alexa Grasso. And then it's on to UFC 280 between Charles Olivera, Islam Makachev for the vacant, lightweight title in the main event. And we just found out yesterday that October 29th, that fight night card, which will likely be at the apex, will be headlined by a big one at 145 pounds between Calvin Cater and Arnold Allen. And I have been quite privy to this matchup.

I'd be happy to talk about how this all went down and played out throughout the week. And if we're being honest, the story of that fight, the story of that fight goes back a lot further than just this week. This is a fight that the UFC has been trying to put together for a long time, probably since the end of last summer, this was something that the UFC was hoping to try to put together. And finally, as of right now, we're going to get it on October 29th for five rounds.

So let's go to you guys. We're going to go for a little under an hour. I got some things that gets to do from a parental side. So let's get into this. And we'll kick things off with Tristan Gordette, who is first in line. Tristan, hello. Hey, Mike, can you hear me? What's that, buddy?

Yep, I got you. All right. So, let me ask you a question before. I got a couple of things. My first question would be for Calvin Cater. So if the fight was announced, what was it, yesterday? So, like, that's what? That's pretty much a full training camp for him, I would think, for Cater, right?

I would think that because that's not until the 29th. So usually, but usually what, a full training camp is, what, two months? Usually eight weeks. So, I mean, did, did cater know, like, did cater know, like, it was in the works? Not to say he was done. So obviously, if he knew it was in the works, he probably started training right away to get ready for this fight to have a full training camp, I would think, in my estimation, if I'm looking at the weeks, since it's going to be October 29th. So, yeah, just want that, your thoughts on that. The second thing is, I really want to talk about this past Tuesday.

We saw the contendent series. We saw with Iqqaelskhov. I saw you tweeted right away. This guy's going to make waves in the middleweight division. I feel the same way. So now you have Ikram Las Ascarov. You have a bust Michael Metab. And then you have Bo Niko.

Now, I'm thinking those two, Ikrom Laskarov and Bo Niko are probably already are going to have fights hopefully start to be set up and materialized before the years ended, especially the fact that Icarman and take any damage was able to get his opponent with a Camorra, which was unbelievable. That man is going to be a problem and people need to know about that. This guy has already fought, he's already fought Shemaya. Now, Shemaya could not take that man down.

He just couldn't take him down. That's how good his takedown defense. is and his grappling is now he did get knocked out with enough for that you know that was really bad but then afterwards he's won four straight that man's going to make waves in that middleweight division and then you have obviously bow nickel so i'm expecting those two are in the works of possibly this is speculation this is not i want to make sure this is not reported is not reported i'm just getting the feeling that even though bow nickel is probably you know he's got his fight which would be the last card for the Dana White Contenicers that they have probably fights

probably trying to get fights in the works before the years end because there still needs to be there still need cards to be

filled up so I'm expecting ICrom and I'm expecting bowling in to get fights before the years end so because

and you know I want you also your take of how this middleweight prospect is coming up how that's

formulating from what it is right now because I mean listen middleweight division does need a little bit help so those three guys have to be guys prospects that got to be that people need to keep their eye on so I just want your feelings on that of how that the middleweight prospects is going to affect the whole middle weight division and just pump some new blood especially getting into the top 15 so just your whole thought about that your your thought about it from and what he's done I mean, your impressions of what he did on Tuesday.

And, you know, also, you know, we saw with a bus and then obviously Bolniko, how you think they're going to affect the middleweight division moving forward as far as young prospects is concerned. And then also just your thoughts for Saturday for the two fights to the main event and co-made event, Corey Sankey against Sangya-Long and then Chidi versus Robocop. Just your thoughts on the main and co-main event for Saturdays card. Thanks, Mike, and have a heck of a morning. Thanks, man. A lot to impact there.

I mean, I favor Corey Sanhagan to beat Song-Yadong, and I feel like more of the pressure is on Corey Sanhagan. This is, I mean, listen, every fight's a must-win, and I know it's kind of cliche to talk about a fight being a must-win or not. They're all must-wins. but I feel like Sandhagen needs this a lot more. He's on the two-fight losing streak. He's already, I mean, it was for an interim title. He stepped in short notice. But, I mean, this is a guy who a year and a half, two years ago,

we're saying this guy's definitely going to be a champion. And he's had a couple of setbacks. He definitely needs to win this fight. Song-e-dong loses. It stings. Kind of halts his momentum a little bit, but Song is still super young. And I mean, he's got a ton of fight experience, but he's 24.

He's about to be 25. So a loss stinks, but it doesn't really, it doesn't hurt him. Certainly doesn't hurt him as much as it'll hurt Corey Sanagan if he loses. So I lean Sanhagen to win. I just think he's got more. Yadong has more fights, but Sanhagan has more big fight experience. He's got more five-round experience. So I expect him to win a competitive.

competitive decision. It's hard to pick the co-main event because these two guys are just absolute animals, and they both have big power. Both can change the course of a fight with one shot. The fight's just going to be awesome to watch. So I have to look into it a little bit more. I'll probably watch a little tape on both these guys tonight before the preview show. Obviously, I'm familiar with both of them, but kind of a look at tendencies and different things.

So, I mean, that fight's just going to be great. The top three fights are pretty solid on this card, I would have to say. Middleweight is kind of, I mean, you could even throw Joe Piper in that mix. If Joe goes out there and just blows the doors off Alan Amadovsky, there's another guy. I mean, the most potent quote from the contender series this year is Be Joe Piper. After that first week when it seems like the show is off to a horrendous start, Dana White said, be Joe Piper. Come on to the show on Tuesday and be Joe Piper. and they're putting him on a main card.

They're giving him the opportunity to be under the spotlight. So you can add him to that list too. And Alaskaroff is good, man. He's real good. And he was real good heading into the Shemaya fight, but he fought freaking Hamzaat Shemayev. And the fight only didn't even last a half around. But he took a lot away from that one.

He's fought some good dudes, some guys with UFC experience, some guys who are in the UFC currently. He's solid. I'm not going to, I'm not going to, I'm going to slow my role a little bit. I think he's going to be real good. I just, I hopefully, they just, they just treat him accordingly. They don't just throw him into a big fight right away. But my biggest takeaway from that whole thing was poor Mario Susa.

Good Lord. Third appearance on the contender series, got a win on his first one, didn't get a contract, loses a second fight. And then they're like, hey, Mario, we're going to give you a third chance. but we're going to put you against a guy. You have very little chance of beating. And that's what happened. And it looked like his shoulder was ripped out of his socket.

So pretty rough stretch for Mario Sosa. Got a feel for the guy. But Alaskaroff did the damn thing and got it done. Now, with the cater, Arnold Allen fight. So I'll dive into this a little bit. I heard on Saturday, before UFC 279 started, I heard rumblings that this fight was being discussed. Multiple sources. We were far away from the finish line, but this was the fight the UFC wanted on this card.

Apparently, so this is all being in the works. I'm told that it's being discussed. It was formerly offered to both sides. But with everything going on with 279 and all the craziness, there was no way to really get any closer with it because they're getting ready for a fight card. The whole thing got shuffled up. It's not like they could just call the matchmakers to be like,

yeah, let's do it. Because there's a million other things going on. So Saturday rolls around, Sunday rolls around, Monday rolls around. and then Tuesday things start to get a little a little more real when it comes to the whole situation. I had heard that we were getting closer that the UFC had contacted both sides again about possibly doing it. And the one thing that was sort of a hold up was the date. The date was one of the things that was sort of being finagled around because it seemed like, it was a little too soon for both guys.

Looks like they wanted to maybe push it out a little bit, maybe doing in December or November, but at that point, all these cards were filling up, all these main event slots were filling up. And then we found out that we found out officially on Tuesday that the only real other open card that we didn't know about a main event or anything like that

was the one after the last pay-per-view, which is now going to be headlined by Sean Strickland versus Jared Canaanere. They rebook that. That's going to headline that card. So pretty much it came down to two things. Either figure out a way to squeeze this in on a pay-per-view somewhere, or if you want to be the main events, this is the date.

You've got to do it here. There's no other way to do it. So Tuesday, talks are going on. I heard that it's offered. I was told, quote, unquote, we're close. There were no formal agreements yet. Yesterday, things got a little more real. It went from, it's in the works that's being offered.

We're close to saying yes to one side definitely saying yes. And then the other side, like literally when Brett Akamoto reported per Dana White, I found out literally one minute before that, that it was a go. It was verbally agreed upon, no contract. So, and of course, I was, I went from the gym to softball practice. We were just smashing balls over the fence. And I go and pick up my phone and I see the text that it's done. And I'm like, all right.

And I see Brad had already tweeted out from Dana. But I don't really care about that stuff. But this fight's, this is not something that's been in the works for weeks. This has been something that's been in the works for less than a week. Started on Saturday. It was a slow roll. There's a little tiny snowball. Tuesday, the snowball started to roll down a tiny hill and it got a little bit bigger.

And then yesterday, it became a full-blown snowball rolling down the hill. And now we have it. So both sides are in. Contracts are not signed. This is it. So not ideal. Not ideal time-frame-wise. But at the same token, like I said, after Cater had that bad loss to Holloway,

this was the fight the UFC wanted. after Arnold Allen beat Sotiucy. This was the one. They wanted to do a main event. September, October, November, December of 2021. They just couldn't get it done. Allen's hand was a problem. He was trying to get cleared in order to make it happen.

It didn't. That's why we ended up getting Calvin Cater versus Giga Chikaze in January. And then Arnold had his fight in London. Cater fought again against Josh Emmett. Round and round we go. But here we are. there we go.

So that's the story on that. And listen, Cater's a guy who trains every day. He trains hard every day. Just look at his Instagram. Look at his manager's Instagram. Manager slash coaches Instagram. Cater's in the gym every day. Allen's in the gym every day.

So it's a month and a half, six weeks. These guys have probably been somewhat preparing for each other for a while now. It's fine. I think if both sides had their druthers, they would push this thing back a little bit, but there we are. October 29th, it's going down. It's great fight. It's the fight that should be made, and I'm in. I'm all in on it. This is a tremendous matchup. A big one for Iron Lound, big one for Calvin Cater. So, good fight. I love it. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes.

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Conditions apply. Viking, hello. What's up, man? Brother. I'm good. What's going on? Everything is fine. Let me just get on the point.

I just want to ask about the pressure situation on the fighter for the upcoming fight against Charles and Markachev. I'm in Kaviv. It's talking trash about Charles, but for the fact, he has. has never fought any high level grappler or wrestler in his entire UFC run. Don't tell me IDA, he fought IDA. But just leave that fact aside. Again, Ali and Khabib Makachew are sharing their opinions about the fight.

And basically, it's a try to start part of the game. No big deal. But how it affects Charles Oliver if he takes that talk seriously, I mean the other people are saying the same thing for Makachew. And if Charles submits Makachew, because there is no way he's going to engage with Charles on standing. Because look, everybody is talking about the new Pakistani guy, Ikram. But in the past, he has fought against Hamzad. And Hamzat could not take him down.

that's the good part of him defending the takedowns, but you can't win a fight by defending takedown, especially against guys like Hamzad or Mahachay or Habib. Come on. Yes, he defended the takedowns, but what? He got knocked out unconscious. He was on the floor for more than five minutes surrounded by doctors and other officials.

They don't have fucking, they don't have, I'm sorry about the language. They don't have a chin. I'm telling you that. Just tell me how it's going to affect Islam if he lose this to Charles. Because if he wins, then he just beat another guy who is a Brazilian and has got hyped before the fight. And how the pressure game is going to matter for both fighters, Islam and Charles in the fight. Thank you, Mike.

Thank you, buddy. I mean, listen, I've talked about this for a while now. This is by far the most anticipated fight of 2022 for me. There's so many questions about both guys. And I like the question about pressure, because normally pressure weighs on one fight or more than the other on this big fight, but I actually think the pressure is pretty even here. Olivera coming off the weight miss, coming off the win.

He's not officially the champion right now. a lot of stake here for him. He's got some good favor to kind of earn back in a lot of ways. He's going essentially on the road here to fight Islam Makachchev in a place that he certainly doesn't want this fight because let's be honest,

you could put this fight anywhere in the world and it's going to sell out an arena and it's going to do really well on pay-per-view. But we're basically going, obviously it's not like Islam-Machachev's like hometown or anything like that. But still, this is a favorable Machachev type of scenario

and that's fine and Olivera should be should be very happy just to even be in this opportunity and no matter where it is going to do it and this is the fight that a lot of people wanted and we're going to get some questions answered here we are going to get some questions answered here

because during the build to all this like who is Charles going to fight who is Charles going to fight is Islam was one that a lot of people wanted, but still, when you look at Islam's resume, just doesn't have that notable marquee win that you would want to see before going

into a title fight, but that's obviously not his fault either because he's been put in these matchups, and for one reason or another, opponent falls out, you fight whoever's put in front of you, and he's treated all those guys accordingly for the most part. So

it's a really interesting fight. Islam can strike too, by the way. Go watch tape on both those guys. Islam can crack a little bit too. He's a very good counter-strike. His left hand is really good. And Oliver leaves himself open to some of those counters. And it wouldn't shock me if Islam had some success in the feed.

A lot of people feel like, oh, if they stay standing, Charles is going to run them over. I don't know if I necessarily buy into that. I think as the fight progresses, and Islam kind of gets his chin tested. The longer it goes, obviously Oliver is going to thrive a little bit more. He thrives in the chaos. But to say that Islam is just going to get run over on the feet, I don't really buy into that theory 100%.

I think Oliver is obviously the better striker. He's the more resumeed striker, if you will. But when it gets to the mat, that's what I'm pretty curious about. Because Oliver is like, go ahead, take me down. Okay. I'm ready for it. Jiu-Jitsu games real good. Mokachev's top control is incredible. That fight is going to hit

the mat at some point. There's no doubt about it. But what's going to happen when it does? That's it. There's just so many questions I need to answer about this fight and we're a little over a month away from getting those answers and I'm freaking pumped. I cannot wait for that fight. But I think the pressure is equally on

both guys. If Oliver loses this is not an immediate rematch type of situation unless it's like a full-blown split decision kind of robbery. Not real robbery, but if it's one that Dana White goes up to the press conference after the card and says, I thought Oliver clearly won that fight, maybe they go ahead and run that one back. But other than that, this is not an immediate rematch situation for either guy. It would be for Oliver if he loses a decision that he probably shouldn't have lost.

I can't wait to see it. The pressure is equally on both guys. trying to get that title back. Islam had to work his ass off to get to this point. Ended up getting it without getting a top five win. A loss hurts both these guys big time, especially where this division shapes up right now. So love the fight.

Love the pressure on both dudes. This is why we're fans, a fight like that. Let's go to Abswalia on this Thursday morning. Ebswalia, hello. Hey, so, man. Can you hear me? Are you on good? Can you hear me? Yeah.

Hi. So I've got two questions I want to ask you. The first one, I'll keep very brief and short. As you know, Hamsat just won on Saturday. Very spectacular win. And the way he did in dominant fashion was good. What do you think, how do you see the fight between him and Covington going if they fight or if he fights Costa? And my second question, I think this one is going to be a very important one because this is going to change the shape of the lightweight division.

But as you know, 280 and 281 have some important. lightweight fights that are coming up, Olivera, Islam, the title eliminated between Gamrod and Benil, and then we have Dustin and Michael Chandler. How do you see these fights playing out? And can you please give me a breakdown of, you know, whichever fighter wins, how do you see this happening? How does this change the whole division? Because if, in my eyes, if you see Oliver and Dustin Luz, that's the end of the death of the Kabib Olivera era, you know, because Islam, he's coming up. You know, then you have other people like Gamera. He's a young prospect that's upcoming.

Chandler might come in the mix. So I'm just curious on your thoughts on that. Thank you, man. Have good day. Thanks, man. Yeah, I mean, listen, Daryush versus Gamrodot should be a title eliminator, but I am not 100% sold on that idea. And it's for some of the reasons you just mentioned.

Because if Islam wins, I don't know. Like, it's interesting. Like, if Islam wins and Darius just blows Gamrodot out of the water, doing any other thing makes... No sense. Absolutely no sense. If Gamrot squeaks out a decision and you want to go a different route, cool. Like, you don't need to run.

Like, Gamrodot beating Darius is massive. But if he goes out and beats Sauru Kian and Darius back to back, he has a compelling case to fight for the belt. But you also want to make sure that the timing is right for him, too. So if he's got to wait for another fight to happen, that's fine. Porre Chandler's interesting. especially if Islam wins because if those two go out there and just have a crazy fight that we're talking about

if that's the headline coming out of UFC 281 over the title fights and anything else that happens on this card wouldn't stun me to see the UFC go with either of those two guys and when it comes to Olivera it would not stun me in the least if they went with Connor if Olivera wins it really wouldn't stun me it makes literally no sense from anything outside of just business,

but, I mean, from a meritocratic standpoint, Connor fighting for the title right now or any title whatsoever makes absolutely no sense. But if Olivera goes to Abu Dhabi, beats Islam, finishes him, and he wants that Connor fight and he calls for it, there's a chance he gets it. It all just depends on when Connor's ready to come back.

So I wouldn't necessarily, necessarily say that Darius Gamrod is definitely a title eliminator. It should be. But it might not be. We don't know what's going on with Fiziv yet. We don't know what's going on with Justin Gachia yet. Like I've said a few times already.

Some of these social media accounts are reporting that a fight for December 10th is close to being finalized, that's just not accurate. I've already debunked that a couple of different times, just talking to people close to the situation. It's just not happening. it might happen in the future. It's not happening December 10th.

And if it does happen December 10th, I would be shocked at this point from everything I hear in all indications. But lightweight is just ridiculous. It's just ridiculous. And there's just so many guys and so much talent. It's nuts. We'll go to four quarter sports

and then we'll tag in a head. What's up, buddy? Hey, what's going on? So I know I missed a show on Tuesday. I was disappointed. I kept on rewatching that Elise Reese Reese's Super Melly fight

Man, that third round really killed it because I was pulling in for Super Melly and I just felt that those takedowns, she's really going to be kicking herself looking back at the film because I felt like she had it. She had it round three the way that she started off. I don't know,

if it was there anything else possible for her to her work on outside of working on taketowns. I mean, what's your perspective on that fight that happened on Saturday. And I wanted to piggyback on what Viking M.M.A. was talking about, about the,

what was it, Islam Olivero? Now, I was getting a haircut, and my barber, he's Russian, so he's familiar with Dagestan, and he was telling me about the ensemble wrestling and, like, the history behind it, and I was interested because he was telling me, his perspective was

Islam is not going to have much fear, you know, going in, shooting in for takedowns, but do you think that'll make him more susceptible to getting submitted, whether it's choked out, armed, or anything of that nature? And what would be your

game plan if you were in Charles Olivero's corner? I mean, would you tell him that he needs to get to finish? It's because, you know, maybe you don't trust the people from Abu Dhabi, you know, giving him a decision in his favor? I mean, how would you, uh, how would you, uh,

coach Charles Olivera leading into this camp. All right, thanks, Mike. Have a good one. It's a tough question. Because I'm not a coach. I don't train. I haven't trained, gone to an MA gym and trained for a while. So, I mean, I only can go by what I see.

But if I'm, if I'm Olivera's team, I'm just trying to make this fight as chaotic as possible because that's where Charles thrives. He needs to get cracked to get going. and he's done it in his last few fights. You just thrive in the chaos. Do not make this a technical mixed martial arts boat. Try to turn this into a brawl with a bit of technique sprinkled on top. Force exchanges.

Let Mokachev get comfortable on his feet a little bit. Let him crack you. Let him get confidence up there. And then do your thing. That's what, I mean, just you don't want to like not be yourself. but you want he's he has shown that he can thrive in the chaos and all this talk about him being a quitter and all this stuff like i do not want to hear that word thrown out one time in the build to this fight i don't want to see one comment saying that this guy's a quitter

that he's a frontrunner anything like that i think he's answered all those questions at this point enough enough with all that he's gone in there with some of the biggest hitters in the sport most notably his last three fights with porreier and and Chandler and then freaking Justin Gitchie. I mean, he out-caused and out-man maneuvered a madman. He out-madman Justin Gaci. How many people can say that? How many people can say that they out-madman Justin Gachie?

Charles Oliver could say it, and he did the damn thing. So if I'm Oliver's team, I'm not like just swinging wild, but I am welcoming chaos as much as possible. And with the judges thing, I've gone back because when Brady and Bilal was booked, I said, good on Brady for taking this fight in Abu Dhabi. It's essentially a road game. And I didn't mean that. Some people took it out of context and it turned into a thing that I didn't really mean to say at all. But some people were arguing like, well, the UFC always brings their own judges.

there's never ever been a local judge for a UFC card at Abu Dhabi, which is just not true. It's just not true. Go back to UFC 242. There were local judges. That pay-per-view with Habib and Dustin Poyer, there were local judges.

There were local judges judging fights on that card. So to say that it would never happen, that it's never happened, it's just not true. I don't think that's going to be a problem here, but it's not because it's Abu Dhabi, it's because of just judging in general. We've seen some awful scorecards this year, whether it be in Abu Dhabi or Las Vegas or Texas or wherever these cards are happening.

We have seen some horrendous scorecards from some of these judges, some real bad ones. And that could, whether it's an Abu Dhabi or Brooklyn, New York or San Diego, California, if we get a, if we get a scorecard that we're like at the end of this thing, If we're getting sort of that same vibe that we have with like D-Rod and Lee Jingleong where it's like, oh man, this is like super close, but I felt Lee won, then maybe you run that one back if it gets like that.

I don't think that's going to happen. I think this is going to be, I'm not going to say one-way traffic, but I think someone's going to be able to implement their game plan better than the other. And whoever that is and gets that established quicker is going to win the fight. I don't think this is going to be a knockdown drag-out affair with multiple swing. I think the first five minutes could be interesting with maybe Islam testing all of theirs, take down defense and things of that nature. But to me, this fight's just, it's just going to be fun and it's going to be one-sided.

But we'll see. UFC 280. Golly, that card can't come fast enough. Ahead. What's up, my man? Can you hear me? Yes. Yes.

All right. Heck of a morning. Okay. Firstly, Mike, I've had an epiphany. Are you ready to hear it? I'm ready. Okay. Here's the thing, Mike.

You're like, you know, you're the man, but like, one thing I was disappointed is even though you talk about prize fighting and you understand it, you can be more wrong that Leon Edwards versus Usman 3 is the right fight to make. That goes against prize fighting for like the same reason. The thing is, is this. If Leon fights Usman again, I don't care whether he just got his Brazilian Jiuzman Blackbelt yesterday or whatever, right? Even British pundits, I'm talking Adam Cattrow,

Nick Pete, the guys from BT Sport. Even they want Edwards to fight Masvidal. Why? Because they know that that was like a one-time thing. Like British fighters, apart from Makayev and some other people, they don't respect wrestling. So they're just going to get out-wrestled. And that's what Uzman's going to do. And the reward of fighting like a Masvidal of even a Covington,

Leon versus Colby in Wembley is bigger and it will get Leon more money than Leon versus Usman. I truly believe that. And Hamza, Leon versus Hamza. But I'm going to give you another name, Mike. Leon versus Connor McGregor, March 2023, Wembley for the World Oweight title. This is why. Think about it's 155.

He's already won the 145, 155-pound belt. Connor does not like to cut weight. Even though he's made way all the time, unlike Khabib, who talked a lot of smack about Hamza, but someone else can touch upon that. Connor has always made weight, but he doesn't like it, and he's big now. So I feel like he doesn't want to put himself through that. So why not make him, let him fight at 170, you know, and they're the same management team. So you know Connor's going to be able to pull the strings, right?

Like it's paradigm management, but really it's Connor's management. Let's be real. So Connor will be able to pull the strings. So you might as well make that title fight. And February 2020, you do Colby and Hamza as the main event. Now, Hamza has multiple options and Calo Costa, Colby and other people. But Colby needs this fight. I realize that Colby needs to fight Hamza.

He cannot choose another route. If he wants to get the biggest fight, guarantee a title shot. So you do Colby, Humza at February 222. and like Leon Connor March 3rd 23 and you do the winners fight each other Madison Square Garden November 2023 right and lastly Mike what the hell was MMA fighting thinking putting Hamza pound for pound 20 position

when Colby wasn't there what in the world were you lot smoking last weekend it was crazy but he has beaten anybody yet I still am not that convinced on Hamza Kevin Hollard, Lee Jinglea, not Lee, sorry, Gerald Misha. He would have got finished by Gilbert Barnes if he was round four or five. He would have got beaten badly. I don't care what anyone says.

That's all I've got. Drop the mic, Mike. You know, I look forward to these calls. And oftentimes you make very interesting points. Oftentimes you give me something to think about. Oftentimes you can make compelling cases that you are right. and you're right about something, but you're wrong about a lot of things.

To say that Edwards-Uzman is not going to be a big fight is just insane to be. Leon Edwards kicked him in the frigging face and put him unconscious. And not just like a flash unconscious. Usman was down for a while. Usman didn't even know that the sky was up and the ground was down.

that's what happened. He kicked him in the face. There's no fluke. There's no nothing. He kicked him in the face. And this was one of the pound for pound guys. This was like, and a lot of people said, this is the best fighter on planet Earth.

And he kicked him in the face. There is no fluke. There's no nothing. This is a big fight. It's gigantic. It's a huge fight, especially in London. It doesn't matter who Leon fights. Leon Mazadol is fine.

but not now. Leon has all these fights in his back pocket. But Leon is a competitor. Leon is a competitor. He understands that people doubt what happened there. And most people do. You doubt it.

A lot of people are doubting what happened. A lot of people are still saying it's a fluke. It's not a fluke when you kick somebody in the face and knock them out. It's not a fluke. That is going to be a gigantic fight. And it's one of those fights that's going to age incredibly well, the closer we get to it.

Now, all Leon Edwards has to do to get these prize fighting opportunities is do it again. Is do it again. He's got his home crowd behind him. It's probably going to have 30,000 to 50,000 people cheering him on. There'll be some Usman fans in there, too. But if he goes out there and beats Camaro again, he's golden.

He can fight Connor. He can fight Mazadal. He can fight Shamiya. He doesn't have to fight Shemaiah. He can fight these other guys. He can still be the prize fighter. but you have to beat him again. If there's doubts, this much doubt,

and you just said it, if there's this much doubt, you have to do it again. You have to do it again. And it's going to be gigantic. The fans are going to go bananas for it. The build to the fight is going to be spectacular. And you want to know why it's going to be so good?

It's because they're going to build a massive card behind it, too. The energy levels for that fight card are going to be off the charts, are going to be off the charts. Now, I do agree with the Colby v. Shamiya fight. This is the one. Now, I understand if there's trepidation, if there's hesitation on booking Shemaiah at 170. But we have seen him make it before.

Like I said, I was in that room when he stepped on the scale in Jacksonville. He's a giant of a human being, but he made it. He was 170 on the nose. He didn't look like he was dying. He looked like tired like a typical way in, but he certainly didn't look sucked out. you just need some discipline that's why i love this robert whittaker idea go train with rob go hang out with robert whittaker take some of that stuff between whittaker's ears and try to morph it into your own brain and if he does that and he gets some of that stuff because from all indications

this is just a discipline thing it's just a discipline thing getting on the right track don't stay at the fighter hotel just do the right things eat when you're supposed to eat when you're nutritionist tells you to eat when he makes it for you like these are the types of things you have to do in these types of situations and i think he's learned that lesson i think he'll learn that lesson if they want to put him up at 85 to fight paul costa who the hell's going to complain about that but to me storyline wise you got to do the colby fight and i've been saying i think i think colby should take it i think colby should take it and i think colby would take it because again colby's a prize fighter. There's certain points where you have to just take the damn fight that nobody wants.

But Colby probably also understands that the biggest fight he can have right now is with Hamzat Shamaath. And if I'm Colby, the way he fights, the amount of volume and output, the amount of energy he puts into these fights, I actually think he matches up with Hamzat, okay, not early. That first round is going to suck for him. to get chucked around. But Colby's also a very durable guy. If he could survive that onslaught, he's got a chance. He's got a chance.

But it is so difficult to get out of that first round with him. And I don't care what you say ahead. I'm going to open up, I'm opening up my rankings right now. There are people who do not have Shemayev ranked in their pound for pound at all. I have Shemiah higher than anybody. I have Shemaiah higher than anybody. Like way higher. I have Shemaiah in my top 10.

And you can shrug on me all you want. But this guy might be the best fighter in the world. We don't know yet. We don't know yet. But from what I've seen, he's got me convinced. Beating Gilbert Burns so early in his career is a huge win. And he learned a lot from that. fight. But if he

beats, if he goes out there, fights Colby or Paulo Costa and wins, and does it decisively, like he's been doing to most of these guys he fights, this is going to age well. Now, we have to also keep in mind that I think pound for pound is stupid.

I hate it. I hate the pound for pound list because people are dumb when it comes to how to react to the pound for pound list, because people have their own definitions for it. They look. guy was like, well, if you shrunk Francis and Gano to a flyweight, how would you match him up against Demetrius Johnson? It's so stupid. That's like, that's not how you do it. That's not how

it works. That's why even before Usman fought Leon Edwards, I put Volcanovsky as my number one guy. He's earned it. Adasanya has earned a top three spot. Inganu earned a top three spot. All there has earned a top five spot. And I've had no problem putting a Leo. on Edwards above Kamara Usman on that list. What sense in the world does it make for me to rank Leon Edwards higher than Kamara Usman in the welterweight rankings, but all of a sudden I can't rank him higher in the pound for pound rankings? Some people are just insane.

The reaction to these pound for pound rankings were unbelievable. And I have no issue throwing Hamzad on that list. Do I have to, because you can't look at it as like, well, this guy missed weight. It doesn't matter. It's a pound for pound list. It's a pound for pound list. I didn't make Shemaya by number one, Walter Waite. But Shemayev could win titles in two divisions right now.

How is he not on this list? He could, I would pick him. If he fought Leon Edwards tomorrow, I would pick Shemaiah to not just beat Leighan Edwards. I think he'd run over Leon Edwards. If he fought Israel Adasadia, I'd pick him. I would pick him to win. I'm not as confident in that one as I would be against him, Leon from a stylistic perspective.

But I would pick him to beat Adasania. I would pick him to be Pereira. Usman would be the trickiest one, but I would probably still pick him to beat Camaro right now. I think this guy is that good, and he's only going to get better. So there you go. I agree with a lot of hid.

I don't agree with some of it. I'm fine with my list. I will stand by my list. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $39.99, how could I resist? This luxurious will throw for my sister.

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Let's go to average avenues and wait for a minute. We got five people waiting and I'm going to get to all five of you and then I'm going to get out of here. Hello, average avenues. Good. I've got a question for you.

The few flights that over the next coming weeks you can name as many as you want that people should be paying more attention to. And just by the way, Charles Oliver is the champion. Officially or not, we all know he's the champion. I just want to point. I agree. Oh, sorry, I thought you're done. No, I agree with you.

I agree with you. And I think the UFC's treating him the same way. Listen, you got to do something. You probably should just find them. And they should probably should just give them the damn belt because you're the promotion and you could do whatever you want. You can just give them the belt. You can give them the belt today if you want to. You can just go and give them the belt. Here you go, Charles.

You're the champion. No one's going to bat an eye about it. no one's got a bad an eye about it let's see let's look at this card um fights to look forward to that aren't getting enough attention i assume

I think we're going low-keeping Damon Jackson Pat Sabatini is going to be awesome on Saturday love that fight uh Aspen Ladd Sarah McMahon high stakes high stakes now I'm always a little timid when it comes to Aspen Ladd fight weeks uh Tony Graveley Javid Bashar out

should be fun we'll see how Maria Agapova bounces back against Jillian Robertson. I actually think she's got a very good chance in that fight. And then let me see. Let me look at the October 1st card real quick. Don't really love the October 1st card for being honest. Like the main event. Brandon Allen, Christop Jocko, the battle for the middleweightest middleweight championship.

Brown, Trinaldo, sure. Barcellos, Trevin Jones, should be fun. Jarzino Christakis shore. A lot of New England representation on this car. We got Randy Costa back in against Squito-Kinetti. That should be fun. And Sodyk Yusuf, not fighting this Saturday. He's fighting October 1st against Don Channis, who has an incredible story.

I've talked to Don quite a bit over the years. This guy, if he had gotten a call like three years ago, it wouldn't have stunned me. But I think overall for his growth. in his potential in the sport. I actually think it's good that he got to grind away a little bit more. He got to learn a few more lessons along the way. And this is really good. This is really good.

It's a tough draw. Definitely a tough draw for your first UFC fight, but Don's good. And he's paid his dues, and he deserves this opportunity. So that's just a few that I'm looking at over the next couple of weeks. Let's go to Henderson. We're going to go, Henderson, Zeke, Mikey, Annie, and then we're out of here. So what's up? Points, maybe stuff to just mention or think about.

And the first one, one thing I love in MMA is that there's like, you can still come up with new, completely new things, which is much rare in other sports. And Aldana's like upkick, body shot, knockout. That is pretty new. I wouldn't say, obviously, people have tried it before. But I love things like the Von Flew, right? Like Von Flew, such a random character in MMA.

on a tough season, wasn't even on the original cast, gets this move named after him. So I think we should call it the Aldana upkick if people go for a liver shot from the ground. So that's just a point. I just think that would be cool. And Aldana's more than Von Flew, like, she's a real contender,

but that would be cool to have a move named after you. And then my second point, I was listening to some of your past episodes, just about like you were talking about cheating and like there's really no reason people shouldn't cheat because you can't nobody's ever punished and even when you're punished you can normally just take the one point and then just win the fight so i was thinking maybe solutions and one thing i thought of was what if refs could just take half a point so like whenever

you get caught grabbing the cage or or an eye poke or something just take half a point and it won't destroy the whole fight especially in a three round fight but if you get another foul then at least it's a full point and maybe the rest will be more willing to take a point if they could just take half a point. I don't know. Anyway, thanks. Great show. And I just wanted to hear what you thought. Thanks, man. I love the idea for Reni Aldana. I think she'd like that. The cheating thing, yes, you're spot on. And I remember when we first, we were first talking about the cheating thing. We were talking about before the Tim Elliott fight. And then we really got into it after the Tim Elliott fight because Tim Elliott literally went on a live microphone and said that he cheated.

And the reasoning behind it, I completely gone. Like, I completely understood. Hey, I haven't fought in a long time. We have this stupid payout structure where it's wind show instead of guaranteed money. I'm trying to feed my family. I'm going to grab a freaking glove. If no one's going to call, then I'm going to do it. And I don't blame him for that.

And I'll blame anybody for cheating right now and grabbing fences and poking eyes and kicking ball. because why not? They're not going to stop you. They're not going to stop you. In our private Slack channel, when Humsat Shemayev and Kevin Holland was about to go down, I literally put in one of our Slack channels,

Kevin, cheat your ass off. Cheat your ass off. You got to cheat. You have to. Because what's the worst thing could have to happen to Kevin? grabs the fence a couple of times, pokes him in the eye a couple of times.

What are they going to do? Take a point away? after like five warnings, if he had cheated, he might have had a chance to win the fight. It's just nuts that we even have to be talking about this. And like to hear referees say in this sport,

opposed to any other sport on planet Earth, well, if I take a point away, it can affect a fight. If you call pass interference in the Super Bowl on the final drive when a team's up by three points and you're trying to score and beat them and you call pass interference of the goal?

Like, doesn't that affect the game too? You can't have it both ways. You can't be all on one side and just, you can't. You can't. You have to do something. Any other sport, they don't say, maybe they'll look at it and see if it's like actually the call or not. But for the most part, if it's pass interference,

whether it's intentional or not, it's a spot foul or a 15-yard penalty or half the distance to the goal. But at MMA, if you grab the fence, We don't want to call anything because that'll cost somebody the fight. Well, maybe they won't friggin do it anymore if you cost them the fight. Maybe they won't poke an eye anymore if it costs them the fight. Maybe they don't grab a glove or kick somebody in the balls or do anything like that.

Like maybe they won't do that anymore. Maybe we'll have less of this. I just don't understand this whole thing about, well, I can't call a fence grab because it will affect a fight. Okay. If you don't want to take a point away, this should still be repeat. repercussions for that. Now, I understand a fence grab is like a natural reaction. A poke in the eye is not really a natural reaction. Kicking somebody right in the nuts is not a natural reaction. But if you want, let's just say, I'll play your game, grabbing the fence is a natural

reaction. And I agree with you. So I'm not saying you should take a point away for a fence grab every single time. But what should happen is if, let's just say I'm fighting AK, because he's a cheater, if I pick AK up and I'm getting ready to put him onto the mat for a takedown, and AK, the cheater that he is, grabs the fence,

and I don't get the takedown, I don't just slap his hand. I don't just slap my hand away or his hand away and say, nah, keep fighting. No, it should be an automatic takedown. Not only should it be an automatic takedown, but to me, the first penalty

should be automatic takedown, you stop the action, you put AK, that cheater on his back. I get on top. Referee says go. I start the action again. Now, if this happens in the second round,

I'm going to shoot a double on that cheater, AK. If he grabs the fence again, not only is an automatic takedown, you move to the center of the octagon. You keep him far away from that fence as possible. And then if it happens a third time, you take a point. That way, we're not costing the cheater,

AK, the fight. I mean, we potentially could, because it at least has some repercussions. But if it happens a third time, you have to take a point. To do nothing makes no sense. So if your issue is, I don't want to take a point away

because that one point could change everything, fine, but there should still be repercussions. There should still be an automatic takedown. There should still be a positional advantage. There should still be all of those things. But yet, nothing's being called. And these fighters just grabbing the fence. And you know what?

good they should they should because no one's going to call it and teams in the gym should be practicing this if we're being honest because no one's going to call it nobody is going to call it no one is going to stop you from doing it we've seen such egregious refereeing over the last couple of years it'd be just super egregious letting so many things go without doing anything without taking away a point. It's insane. It's just insane. Any other sport.

A foul is a foul. A hold is a hold. A clip is a clip. Pass interference. Intentional file. Personal foul. There's repercussions for everything. If a pitcher throws four balls outside of the strike zone,

well, he didn't mean to throw balls outside of the strike zone. Let's give him another one. No. It's a friggin' walk. If you charge them on, you're thrown out of the game. Oh, well, that was a fun fight. We'll let him stay. No, there's rules.

There's rules. But in every other sport they're enforced, M.MA, they're not. And that's fine. But when people say, when people like me and Jedbushu are saying, just cheat your ass off, even coaches are saying the same thing.

Even coaches are saying it. This is the world we live in. So, yeah, Henderson, you got me, got me riled up. But yeah, cheat. Cheat until something's done about it. Good morning. How are you?

Good. I've been here from the top, so I got a lot to get off my chest. You just shut me up when you need to shut me up. Okay. I'm glad he is still in here. A heat, I got two things. I got a pick with you.

My bones. My blood has been boiling since he came up here. How? Why? Where? What world does Connor McGregor step back into a title fight? I understand Leon Edwards would love it. I understand Leon Edwards' pockets would love it.

But in no world that I live in, I mean, maybe I'm just, you know, it's critical here. He is a big draw. He'll always do the numbers. Connor McGregor's on a two-fight losing streak. Connor McGregor lost to Dustin Poir, who honestly might go out there and get starts by Michael Chandler. Who knows?

That might be a little step ahead. I think Dustin, you know, he's got a little bit of a dog in him, but let's move forward down the list a little bit. Hamsat Chimayev, I understand he might not be on your list. He's on mine. If he's not on your list, he's going to be. He's a freak. Kevin Holland could have brought a firearm into that octagon, and I don't think he had a chance.

Hamsat Jemayev is just going to ragd doll people. The guy who's sweating is so hard right now, and I love him, it's Israel Adisanya. Alex Pereira is test number one, but Hamsat Chimayev is the SAT. Hamsat Chimayev is the L-Sat. Comes out to my of his everything. If he gets past Alex Pereira, it's, you know, what else can he do to hold off the welterweight division, the middleweight division,

until Israel's strap becomes available? Or they do do Leon versus Uzman. And, you know, we have a clear-cut winner there. Do I think Kobe should be that fight in between that time? Yes, but I just, I don't see it happening. Mike, maybe you could. or me into a different direction and say, okay, you know what, it is going to be Colby

because it should be that number one contender fight, but I don't think that's the case. In my opinion, Humsat Chamaev is not only a number one contender. He's a future champion in two, possibly three divisions. This guy could win the light heavyweight belt. Stop me if I'm crazy, but this guy's huge. He's massive. He rags all his people.

He does this for a living. So my two things are, I think Connor McGregor is obviously a huge, I think Connor McGregor's going to come back and he's going to get a great fight. Hopefully maybe it's even Charles Oliver. I know a caller just came in here and he said, Charles Oliver is the champion and I agree with you. There's obviously a champion right now and his name is Charles Oliver. And it would be so much cooler if Charles could bring that belt into that fight

and that press conference in Abu Dhabi, but that's just not the world that we live in. And I hope Charles does every single thing in the world to, you know, challenge Niko. Not a Niko. Challenge. Zeke, I got to let you go because I want to get these other two guys in, but I get what you're saying.

Yeah, man. I mean, I was not following you on the Connor thing because there is certainly a world where Connor can come back to a title fight. It may not be at 170. It could certainly be a 55, and maybe it will be at 170. Maybe Conner has come back to, like, the summer.

And who knows where things shape up at that point? So it's very possible. and yeah, Hamzat's a problem. He's got to get between his ears put together because he's got everything else. That's why I'm saying, like, go hang out with Bobby Knuckles and it's maybe not the worst thing in the world for him. Actually, I think it would be a great thing for him.

All right. Rapid fire, Mikey and Ani. Mikey, go first, because I got to get out of here. What's up? Just quick. First of all, please, please, can people stop complaining about calling? or Gregor, but then mention him at every turn for every fight that needs to happen. So, yes, it is not rocket signs to mention him against Leon Edwards, because he's always

going to be in that factor. But if you don't want to talk about him, don't mention them. I think just as an alternative, I think what I think when an ideal scenario could work for and alternatively for Usman versus Edwards, I agree with you that Usman Edwards should be the fight, but I think let Kamaru sit the rest of the year out, have him come back next July, at the International Fight Week and face Leon in the meantime, hopefully if, you know, things work out,

get Leon that title defense in England, probably against either Mazvedal or another contender so that way he can get a title defense under his belt and then the rematch with Usman is even bigger. You know, just sit, just shove Usman, let him rest because he got freaking cracked and let him rest and then run it back

international fight week. That'll be a really huge pay-per-view. As for Hamzat, the thing, the fact of the matter is there's just going to get to a point where you can, where people are just trying to underestimate him by picking out his opponents like, oh, who is he beating? Like, at the end of the day, watch the tape. Look at how this guy fights.

He's a great fighter. Whether you like him or not, he's a great fighter. I don't want to see the Kobe Cummington fight right now from this perspective. I still do, but I think Hamz has become the villain now, and I think you need to book him as a heel against, like a decent baby face, you know what I mean? So, like, get him another day. Like, I don't know, maybe have him fight. Stephen Wonderboard Thompson was something crazy like that.

Anyways, thanks, Mikey. Oh, my gosh. All right. How dare you? I'm not even going to respond to that, Stephen Thompson. We're all complaining about throwing Shafcott in there with him, and you want to throw Homsat in there with Wonderboy? How dare you?

Colby would actually become a baby face. All right, Adi, you got 30 seconds. I have to go. Yes, Mike. Thank you for this. I don't understand when people say that Leon versus Wiseman is not going to to be a big fight or is not going to get a lot of money. I think they assume that that is the only fight on the card.

They don't realize that there are others on the card as well. And another thing, this is the only question I wanted to ask you. Mike, do you remember when I sent you a tweet about Calvin Cater and Arnold Allen? Were you sitting on the news without telling me? And another thing, please lobby for Robbie. Robbie Lawler versus Tony Ferguson is the fight we have to see. Lobby for Robbie. Yes, AK will love that, Ani.

I mean, Robbie's got to fight Santiago Ponzoinibio, but yeah, we could do that after. That's for damn sure. I was not sitting on Kater Allen. For those who have, like, followed all the MMA fighting programming. On to the next one specifically, I've been telling you guys for like a year and a half that that's the fight the UFC wanted to do. They just couldn't get it done. Timing did not work. After the Calvin Kater Max Holloway fight, obviously Kater wanted to take a bunch of times.

off, which he absolutely needed to do. And Kada was ready to come back in the fall, September, October, November. He was cleared and ready to go. And that's the fight that the UFC wanted was with Arnold. And they tried booking it up for multiple dates, main event fight. And Arnold just couldn't get cleared. That's why he took the Giga fight. Then after this Emmett fight, that's the fight everybody wanted. That's the fight everybody wanted. That's the fight everybody wanted. It was just a matter of getting the date. So, like I said at the beginning of the show, it was Saturday, the day of UFC 279 when this fight became somewhat of a thing, at least an option. And then as the week progressed, Tuesday, snowball, Wednesday, the snowball rolled

down the hill, got bigger and bigger. And then Wednesday night is when both sides are officially in, still waiting on contract. So there you go. All right. I got to to go. I got a parent, teacher meeting. Got to jump on a Zoom right now. But thank you all. We'll be back tomorrow, normal time, and we'll, I'll make it up to you. I'll give you some extra time. We'll do the damn thing for a while. So Btel, 1 p.m. Eastern. It's Jed versus Shaquine Al-Shadi. Should be a lot of fun recapping 279 and talking about everything else going on. So until then, enjoy the rest of your day. We'll see you at 1 p.m. Eastern. And as always, have a heck of a morning. Media podcast network.