MMA Fighting - HOAM | Will Luke Rockhold Get Title Shot With UFC 278 Win Over Paulo Costa?

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

Despite being out of action for three years and being on a losing streak heading into UFC 278, could Luke Rockhold find his way into a middleweight title fight with an impressive win against Paulo Costa? On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck discusses the stakes involved in Rockhold's return fight this Saturday in Salt Lake City and his chances of fighting Israel Adesanya next should the champ be victorious at UFC 281 against Alex Pereira. In addition, listener questions include the impact of Shane Burgos leaving the UFC on the promotion, Jon Jones' potential return, Gilbert Burns saying that a fight between he and Jorge Masvidal has been verbally agreed to — as well as the response from a person with knowledge of the situation — the questions in the lightweight division, 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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we'll head to the M.M.A. Fighting podcasting network. So if you're listening there, we appreciate it. If you're live with us, I appreciate it. I am Mike Heck. Thank you for joining the program. It is a free-for-all Friday. We're starting a little bit earlier today because we have a very busy day, and we're a little short-stepped here at M.A.fighting.com.

A.K. is visiting beautiful Scotland right now. On a vacation, Shaheen Al-Shadi is now a dad, so props to that, man. So I'll be hosting the Way-In show coming up at 11 a.m. Eastern. Then we get the preview show at 3 p.m. Eastern. There's a lot going on. And I know how much hosting the Way-in show means to AK. So I have some gigantic shoes to fill in that regard. But I wanted to still do this show.

No excuses, baby. Doesn't matter what's going on. We have to open up this space. We have to talk about whatever the hell you want to talk about. And that's what we're going to do for the next hour or so. So let us not waste any time. Let's get into this thing. And we'll start with Tristan Gordettes, who,

Tristan, I would have to say you might be a little bit disappointed on this, on this Friday morning on the eve of UFC 278, because you joined the show yesterday. And one of the things you asked about was Miranda Maverick, and now she's no longer fighting on Saturday. So how do you feel about that, my man? sucks Miranda Maverick you know she said hopefully they could reschedule or she gets another fight so it is what it is it's a weight cut issue shena I don't know what's going on with that so um this is a

question I really wanted to ask you two questions I have um first question which weight class division do we have more questions to than answers I just want that I want to know your thoughts on that because I was thinking about that this morning. And then another question I had, I was listening to Damn Day We're Good with Jed Mishu. I think Sean O'Shaadhi was on Shaheen and also Damon Martin was on there. And they were talking about,

and I believe Shaheen was talking about an incredible story about the whole John Jones and D.C. Off the air on ESPN. That was funny, but it was like, it was, you know, it was crazy, crazy times back then between those two. And I'm, the thing is, I'm thinking about Connor when he comes back and he does, and if he faces Charles Oliver, assuming Charles Oliver wins. And I'm saying to myself, how nasty is this going to get as far as the press conferences and things like that?

And it's a catch-22 because for you guys at enemy fighting, it's great, you know, because it's entertaining and stuff like that. But then it's like at some point, you know, you're going to be there covering it and just, it's going to get to the point, it's going to get crazy and wild where you're just, you're just, you're going to get to the point, it's going to get crazy and wild where you're just, you're just, you're just, you're just. Just like... Oh, you muted, Tristan. Yeah, yeah, can hear me? Sorry. Sorry about that. Yeah, I got you.

I got you. Just to finish up that point, just like, are you saying yourself, Tom, we need Connor, Connor, Connor's entertaining and stuff like that, but you got to be saying yourself, this is going to get personal again. This is going to get wild again. Who knows what insults Connor is going to come with and everything, but it is what it is as part of it. So I just want your thoughts on that landscape.

We've seen ugly, ugly. face-all with an ugly back-and-forth banter, especially, you know, now Conner's back to who he is. We saw with the whole thing with Porriette, and he was, it's Connor being Connor. So just your thoughts on those two questions that I have, Mike. Have a heck of a morning. Everybody enjoy the fights this weekend, and that's all I got to say. Thanks, Mike. Thanks, buddy.

Yeah, I mean, look, Connor is the biggest star in the history of the sport. He has changed the way. the way the sport operates in a lot of ways. He has the pro wrestling model down, although he takes it to a whole other level. But you just never know. Maybe Connor has a, excuse me, a lot of respect for Charles Olivera. Maybe he comes back the way he did for the Donald Soroni fight because Connor was like for the Soroni fight and then the second Dustin Porre fight,

Connor was like a different dude. Very nice. He was very friendly. Like I thought him in Soroni were going to drink beers the night before the fight. They were that friendly. And then obviously, Porre beats Connor and Connor just tried to get that edge back that made him the star. Although things got a little ugly with the whole Porreau situation. So I don't know. It's kind of up in the air.

Connor doesn't need to do that. But maybe there's maybe. maybe a newer crop of fans who know who Connor is, saw what he did to get to the Floyd Mayweather fight, maybe on the back burner. But since the pandemic, a lot more fans have hopped on board, the MMA train. And maybe a lot of the newer fans haven't seen a UFC card with Connor McGregor ever.

So I don't know. It's going to be interesting to see when, you know, at this point, if he does come back, I expect him to fight sometime next year. I don't know what's going to happen. I do believe that if Charles Oliver beats his on Machachev, Connor will have a very good chance of getting that fight. But Connor's got a lot of options right now. He's got a ton of options.

And that kind of leads me to your first question. The division that has the most questions right now, to me, I mean, Bannerweight's kind of a mess because we have all these fights coming on and we need to really see how they all play out before we could start matchmaking the division confidently. But to me, it's got to be lightweight. It's got to be lightweight because right now we don't have a champion. We don't have a champion.

We have a matchup for the vacant title, the fight that I am looking forward to the most this entire year, Charles Olivera versus Izzyl Mockachev. We don't have a champion right now. And then where's the division going to go depending on who wins that fight? Because like we said, Conner's coming back. something tells you that Olivera has Connor in his sights, especially at the fight being in Abu Dhabi, because you get this fight anywhere and it would have the same impact, in my opinion,

same interest, same intrigue, same questions about both guys. You could have done that fight anywhere, and it would have been exactly the same. But now we're going sort of to, it's not Islam's hometown, so to speak, but he's going to be the favorite here amongst the people who are going to be in attendance. and if Islam wins, what do we do? Because we have a good mixture right now of guys who have fought for the belt, guys who are very exciting, guys who the fans are very much behind, the Dustin Poriers, the Michael Chandler's, the Justin Gachis.

We also have been Neil Daryush getting ready to fight Matush Gamrod. And then we have other up-and-comers in this division right now, like Sarukian. What's going on with Gregor Gillespie right now? We got Fiziv. We got even guys. like Grant Dawson and Claudio Poyas who continue to win fights and have looked really impressive. So to me, the answer to most divisional questions

is 155, but I have a lot of questions about what this division will look like in the next year. How does Connor factor in? What happens with the winner between Porre and Chandler when that fight actually happens? From what I understand, MSG is not a done deal just yet for that fight.

And as you saw, we just saw that Carl Esparser versus Zhang Wei Li. That title fight is set for UFC 281 and MSG. So where does that leave Chandler and Porier? Does that card need that fight, especially if it's going to be five rounds? Do we want to do a three five-round fight card? Or do we just move it to December and then five-rounder if it's needed there? So that fight will happen before the year is over. I'm pretty confident on that.

The date is still up in the air. MSG is not 100% done. It could be December, the final pay-per-view of the year. So, yeah, to me, long story short, lightweight has the most questions. Let's go to Christian. Christian, how are you? Hi, can you hear me? Yes, sir.

Okay, so I kind of want, I was thinking about the Shane Borgov's interview. and if I'm correct, I think somebody asked about it the other day, and you were saying that it kind of like it doesn't really have a big effect. It's not going to have a huge effect on the UFC fighter pay, or is that where you're saying exactly? Yeah, I don't think, I don't know if there's more to this, so I'll keep you on, but I don't think this is going to be the thing that changes everything. Like Shane Burgo's, I know the UFC and Dana White,

Dana White very rarely admits that they screwed up and they made a mistake, but Dana has publicly set up multiple occasions that they screwed the pooch with the Shane Burgos thing. But I don't think Shane's a great fighter and he's super fun. He's obviously a fan-friendly performer. But I don't think, like Shane's not a big star. Shane's a great fighter. Any Shane Burgos fight on any card makes it better. There's just no doubt about it.

But he's not a guy's going to fight for a world title. He's not going to fight for the featherweight title. We're not going to see Shane Burgos versus Volcanofs any time soon. So while Data admits mistakes are made because he's a fan of Shane Burgos in his fighting style, I don't think all of a sudden, oh, no, we're going to start paying these guys more right now. Otherwise, they're going to go to the PFL. They have 700 fighters on the roster. They just signed five more fighters off the contender series.

And I like Haley Cowen a lot. she's she's a fun fighter she's got some good wins on her resume but let's be honest that was not especially after what we saw the first week of the contender series of season hailing cow would not have gotten a contract that week she probably wouldn't have gotten one the second week considering how the rest of the fights went so i don't think all in all this is going to be the catalyst of change if that makes sense yeah okay so this is what i was thinking um don't but don't you think that like being Because the, I guess because the, so the PFL, it's like, the, when they get guys like Shane Burgos, aren't those guys like kind of the foundation of the UFC?

Like how many really are the Adasanias and Ghanu's, the top of line? Like, most of them are going to be like Shane Burgos that are like, those are the ones that fill up the ranks, right? And when, like, when somebody like Shane Burgos takes a big step of being able to just openly say, like, hey, you know, I'm just evaluating my options. And I actually feel like the PFL was better for me. then aren't like all the other fighters eventually you know over time you'll see more and more and more of these fighters that really make up kind of the you know the meat of the UFC right aren't they gonna don't you think that it's gonna they're gonna like um see that what shame burgos has done and then i think you know taking a little further when when all those fighters have like like when those fighters

start kind of moving then that's when we'll see like somebody liking and gone or whoever like a big star that maybe is having kind of a dispute with the UFC, say, you know what, I'm going to take the big step and I'm going to become the star of the PFL. I'm going to move. Just wondering what you think about that reasoning, just trying to challenge you a little bit. So anyway, have a nice day.

Thanks, man. Now, if Francis leaves and goes to the PFL, I still don't think it's going to change a lot because, I mean, maybe in the long run, like, if we get Francis, like the big three right there, like if Francis, Adasanya, Usman, maybe Mazadol, they all leave and go to the PFL, maybe we're dealing with something here. I just don't think, like, Shoeface, like Antonio Carlos Jr. has gotten, has found a lot of success in the PFL. It's found a lot of success.

Is any UFC fan jumping on one of our shows clamoring for Shoeface to come back to the UFC? And this is no disrespect to shoot face because I like him a lot. He's a great fighter. And obviously he's found himself a home at the PFL and he's done very well over there. But no one's clamoring for him to come back. The UFC has Adasania locked up long term. Mazadal's locked up long term. Usman's kind of a question mark because we just don't know how much longer he wants to fight.

He has all these other things going on in his life. We got guys like Hamsat Shama if we're on the way up. So there are stars potentially emerging right now. But again, like, we need a lot of like big name. Like PFL's gotten a lot of big names, but most of them are either didn't have a lot of success in the UFC. Burgos is kind of a little bit different because he's just, he's just a fun addition to any card. And the fight with Billy Q, I just, I recommend everybody go back and watch that fight. Just watch it by itself.

Don't watch the card in order. Just go watch Shane Burgos and Billy Q on ESPN Plus or Fight Pass, pull up that fight by itself. It's phenomenal. it's phenomenal. And when you put it on its own island, it's a great fight. And this is a great move for Shane Burgos, because looking at the state of that featherweight division, Shane can do very well over there.

Shane could be a star for them. But he's also getting more opportunities with the PFL. He's going to be able to do some commentary, which I don't think he's in line to do with the UFC right now. So I think the Bergo situation is just a little bit different. But until like we get some massive names making that move, If I'm Francis and Ghanu, like I'm calling the PFL immediately if he becomes a free agent. Now, he misses out on the John Jones fight if he wants to do that because if money's going to be a big deal, obviously,

the UFC is going to pay a lot of money to make sure that fight happens. There's no doubt about it. That's where the UFC wants to go. Now, if they can't get him, Francis, is he going to be able to be okay with never fighting John Jones after this two plus year essential buildup to get there? I don't know. So every fighter, I think, is looking for something different right now. But, I mean, the PFL's definitely a player right now. They're definitely a player because they have money. They have this million dollar opportunity. But they also make a lot of mistakes. And we're seeing it right now. This whole move the entire tournament internationally. And now some of the guys who are favorites to win the

million can't get visas to go over there. That's a terrible move. That was a dumb move. And it cost guys some money and it left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. So, listen, options are great. I love having options. Bellator is an option, PFL is an option, even BKFC is an option. And if you're guys like Kevin Lee or you know, even Rashad Evans who have a name that still have a little bit of gas left in the tank, you got Eagle FC as well. So there are opportunities. It's just what matters more, what weighs more. The UFC is a brand. Just look at it. Just look at it. some of the cards they put out on paper.

They're not great to look at. Maybe they deliver and we get a UFC Vegas 59 and we have 10 finishes. But that still doesn't make it a great card. But it doesn't matter. The UFC is WrestleMania right now. I think pro wrestling stinks right now. There are some shows that have been, I think Ross has been a little bit better. AW had a good show on Wednesday.

They've done some good things. But all at all, I think today's pro wrestling has been junk. It's been really bad. But every year I watch WrestleMania. I don't care who's on it. I don't care who's wrestling on it. I don't care who the main event is. I'm watching it every year.

WrestleMania alone is a sale for me. Just like newer MMA fans and most MMA fans, they don't care who's fighting. They just see the UFC on their television screen and they're going to watch it. That's just how it is. Now, the further you get into the fanmanship, it gets a little bit different. But the UFC is not worried about the PFL. They're not worried about Bellator.

they're not worried about Eagle FC or anybody else. They are crushing it right now. And maybe if they lose some of their big stars, maybe things, maybe we talk about it for a little while, but all in all, like Anthony Pettis has had a rough go. We just saw what happened with Roy and McDonald.

A lot of the big names that they have brought over have not done very well. We'll see. Maybe it makes an impact, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. And this is a great move for Shane Burgos. This is a great move for the PFL. But in a year from now, you know, maybe we're out of show and Shane is coming off a big win and people are like, you know, what if Shane was in the UFC now?

But a year from now, so much will have happens that we're not even going to be really talking about this anymore. And I just think it's a good move overall for Shane. And I don't think it impacts the UFC's business whatsoever. I think it's just a great move for Burgos at this point in his way. career because he's not going to be a champion in the UFC. He's just going to be a guy who, and I've talked about this a lot, you can make a great living being in the UFC, being a Nico Price or a Burgos or now even the Nate Landwehr of the world where every time you see them on a card, it's just going to be sweet.

This guy's fun. This gal's fun. I can't wait to watch them. But at this point for Burgos, like, I don't really want to, like, he's still super, fun. He's got a lot of talent. Just the wars that this man has been in. And I feel like with the PFL, he can get some more favorable matchups. He doesn't have to get into an all-out rumble every single fight. So I think for Shane in particular, this is a great move. But I don't think this puts a big

dent in the UFC. It's got to all of a sudden, Dana White's going to show up at the press conference tomorrow after UFC 270 and be like, you know what? Shane leaving, we're going to triple everybody's fighter pay. So no one else can go to the PFC. They're 7 hundred fighters on the roster. There's still like six more weeks of the contender series left. They're going to sign 20 more fighters to 10 in 10 deals. Bo-nickel may be a little more, but you know where I'm getting at here. The UFC's killing it.

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quality of free. On-Ling on C4. C or in Magasin. Let's go to Jay.

Hey, what's up Mike? Jay, how are you? Yes, sir. Hey, so, I had two things asked.

One was, so I was reading the article in M.M.A. fighting about Cedric Duma and how he was apparently released from the UFC. But it turns out he just had a problem with like the France, I guess like their athletic commission over there. So like can you like give me more info on it? Like do they want him to do like more amateur fights or did he want him to like fight and like maybe a France promotion for something before he gets into the UFC or like why are they holding him back for some reason? And my second point is that John Joan keeps hinting that he's going to make his return in December. So do you think it's actually close to a done deal or do you think there's still like talks and works on that? So thanks, Mike, for everything. Have heck of morning, man. So to address the second question, John Jones and Dunn Deal is a sentence.

Those are phrases you don't use in the same sentence all that often. There's just too much happening with this man. And it's getting to the point where I've been very positive. I've been very confident we will see John Jones fight this year, but I'm getting to the point where until I actually see this man step inside of an octagon, I'm just not buying it. So, but again, I think Francis and Gano is the key to all of this because Francis has talked multiple times about healing up a little bit quicker than expected, right? And he's talked about maybe fighting at the end of the year. He's talked about maybe fighting early next year. So I think in the UFC's eyes, they're trying to get the road to Inganu Jones as quickly as possible. I think the UFC is going to go all in on that.

And if they can't get it, then they could do Jones versus Stepe. So maybe he comes back in December. I ain't all that confident in it. But I will say I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll see John Jones fight before the end of the year. But I feel like his return is imminent. It's just a matter of who he's going to fight. and that's the more sort of confusing part of this of this conversation the missing piece isn't gano going to re-sign with the ufc isn't gano going to be able to come back in December or January if not

the UFC can move on and do the interim title or do a vacant title with jones and stepe but it's a weird situation because this is another division that has a lot of questions because we essentially have this little mini tournament going on with blades and Aspinall, and it sucked how that all ended. We got Cyril Ghanu, Uvasa, coming up in a couple of weeks on that Paris card, and we have Romanov, who I think is just going to be an absolute killer. Pavlovich just got a big win over Derek Lewis. I mean, I want this to move forward because I'm excited about,

I'm excited about this division. I'm more excited about heavyweight right now than I have been in a long time because we have the Aspinals and the Bladeses and the Tuwivasas and the Gons and the Romanoffs who I think we'll fight for a title within the next two years. I'm that high on him. We'll see what happens. But I want John Jones to fight. I want this heavyweight championship picture to be clear. I need answers because I just want to see some of these other matchups, some of these other players getting their opportunities to fight for titles. on the first question with the Dumbay thing,

I don't have a ton of insight. I will have you know, and I've said this a million times, if we reported it on it on MMAfighting.com, then it's true. That's all I'll say about that. What this seems like to me is that whatever issues this guy has right now, that he needs to clear him up. And once he does, I think the UFC will give him a shot.

I don't think his, I don't think he'll, it's a, it's a, it's a situation where he's never going to fight in the UFC. I just feel like what's the point of bringing, like putting him on the Paris card makes all the sense in the world. That's a great place to debut him, obviously. But now he can't fight on the card. Like, where are you going to put him? So just let him kind of roam free. I think discussions will happen between the UFC and his team.

And once he gets all of his issues cleared up, I think he will fight. But right now he is not under-year-old. UFC contract from all accounts. We reported it. And if we reported it, we've done our homework. We're not just throwing things up into the world. We've done our homework. And right now he is not a UFC fighter.

He's just not. He can say whatever he wants and deny certain things, but he's not a UFC fighter right now. It doesn't mean he won't fight in the next six to eight months, but right now he's not a UFC fighter. And that's okay. He'll get his chance. He's just going to clear up what he needs to clear up. That's what sounds like to me.

Once he gets the issues cleared up, they'll probably recite them and put them on a card. Like if they go back to Paris, I would be stunned if he's not on it. Let's go to Vinny. Vinny, are you there? Unmute, right. There we go. I got you. Mike, how are you, Mike?

Hey, I just wanted to ask you real quick, your 11 o'clock or the Wayne show. Is that going to be on your BT channel? It'll be on our YouTube channel, yeah. The YouTube BT channel, right? because I was trying to look for it yesterday back and get into it. I don't know if I was looking under the wrong. It'll be the MMA fighting YouTube channel.

MMA fighting, what? YouTube channel. Our YouTube channel. It'll be live on that. Okay. All right. Sounds good. Thank you.

There's an easy one today. Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks, buddy. Yes, 11 a.m. Eastern, about an hour and six minutes from right now. We might even go live a little bit earlier, but, yes, we will have your way-ins. Jose is on site. Billy and Casey and Jose chiming in from time to time.

Let's go to Michelle. Hello. Yes, I don't know if you talk about this already, but I've been seeing that Masvedal versus Gilbert Burns is verbally agreed for December or the January 23rd card, which I believe is in Brazil. And I'm interested for that fight because I feel that is a good stylistic match for Mazvedal,

as I've seen that he struggled with wrestlers, namely Usman and Colby, and that's couple of fights. But I also agree, like, if it does lose this fight, it's probably four losses on the spin, and it might be in a difficult position. So I just wanted to know your thoughts on that match up and what might happen to Masvedal if he loses this fight.

Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Yes, I haven't watched the interview yet. In fact, I'm going to send a text about this right now and maybe he'll get some answers. But hold on. second. See, this is what we do when we're live on the air. Sometimes we have to ask questions and it's not like I'm doing this off a laptop, which I wish Twitter spaces would do that.

We could just do it off to do it off a computer. But maybe I'll get some answers here. Hold on one second. Sorry. To me, and listen, so I'll send the text, maybe we'll get some answers. To me, this is, I don't know, like, I don't know. I just interviewed Mazadol like a week ago. go. Okay. So I'm told from a source, just got back to me real quick. That is not true. Maybe Burns is maybe the UFC and here's like verbal agreements. It just depends on how you contextualize it. Right? Because you can go on Twitter and be like, hey, New York Rick's here. I can be like, hey, New York Rick, let's fight the UFC. And New York Rick could be like, okay. And like to me, that's like, oh yeah, me and New York Rick are fighting in the UFC.

we both verbally agree to it. Hey, that's not what a verbal agreement is. A verbal agreement is the UFC, matchmaker, Hunter Campbell, somebody high up calls you on the phone and says, hey, do you want to fight this guy on this date? Yes, okay, great. I'll get back to you.

Then they call the other guy, hey, do you want to fight this guy on this date? Yes, okay, I'll get back to you. Then we have a date. How does this date work? Cool? How does this date work? Cool.

All right, we're an agreement. That's verbal agreement. Verbal agreement is the UFC reached out to you and said, hey, we are fighting. You're going to fight this guy on this date, on this date. Both sides have agreed. They just haven't put pen to paper yet. Verbal agreements.

When you see headlines on MMA fighting, this guy versus this guy in the works. This guy versus this guy or this gal versus this gal versus this gal targeted for. It means that this is what the UFC wants, both sides are in, they just haven't signed the contract yet. Maybe Burns is just, maybe this is what Gilbert Burns is saying. We both verbally agreed to it on Twitter, but that doesn't mean anything. I just interviewed Mazadol two weeks ago.

And he thinks Gilbert makes sense. He thinks Connor makes sense. And what if Leon Edwards beats Kamara Usman? And what if they run it back and he wins again? Guess what fight they're going to make. They're going to make Leon versus Mazadol in England for the title. There's no doubt about it. They're going to go back to that three piece of the soda thing so fast to try to sell that fight.

And people will moan and groan about it and complain, but everyone's going to watch it because Mazdaal is a star. And the fight makes sense. But I don't think there's, I don't think there's, I think there's interest there. But I don't think there's, there might be like a tad bit of bit of smoke, but there's no fire to it at all. And plus Mazadol's trial hasn't even started yet. it's supposed to start at the end of the month. We don't even know what's going to happen with this whole thing, with the allegations, with Colby and all this stuff.

Like, we have no idea what's going to happen. So to say that this fight is something you should mark on your calendars would be way too premature. And I think Burns is, I think Burns might be a little misinformed here. Or maybe he's just looking at quote unquote verbal agreements in a different sense. But I just sent a text about it from someone who is asked. absolutely going to know. And from what I am told, there's no truth to that.

There's no verbal, official verbal agreement in place. At least on one side. Maybe on the other side they do, but not on one side, I can assure you. Because this person has never stirred me wrong. So, I mean, it'd be a cool fight, but there's just too much going on now to put a date on it. Mazadol's hoping he can get back at the end of the year, but he's not sure. could be early next year. And if Islam Makachchev beats Charles Olivera,

they could very well go to go to the Connor Mazadol fight. That's a massive fight. So, way too premature. So see? See what happens when you join this space? You ask questions. I try to get your answers, and we've done so right here.

Let's go to Juicy Bet. And then we'll go to Waheed, and then we'll go to Average Avenues. Juicy Bet, are you there? I'm here. Thanks for having me on, man. Yeah, I've got a couple of questions, specifically around the Aldo,

DeValishvili betting lines and kind of want to get your take. I mean, you know, we saw the lines kind of open up with Aldo, like minus 170. It's flip. A lot of sharp money came in on Marab. And now, you know, if you're following social media, you're seeing guys like Drake and Adasania posts, like their massive betting slips on Aldo. And just wanted to get your opinion on, like,

you know, now that betting is so much more, you know, so much more sort of in our face when we're watching these paper views. What do you think of, you know, seeing these kind of influencers post their slips before the fight and kind of how that influences? I mean, just so you know, like stake.com right now is offering a 3x payout if Aldo wins inside the distance, which, you know, and then you're seeing guys that they sponsor like, Trey, canada Sania post their betting slips for Aldo. So very curious to kind of get your take on that.

I mean, you know, it seems like betting, you know, betting on MMA is obviously, you know, getting more and more popular and, you know, getting guys like Drake to post that stuff. I mean, you can imagine how much public money is coming in on Aldo. So just wanted to get your take and any opinion you have on that, whether it's good or bad for the sport. Thanks, man. Yeah, I mean, listen, getting the sports betting community on board is massive. It's massive. Look at the, look at the impact fantasy football has had on the NFL. because nobody on earth, unless you're from these areas,

are going to watch the freaking Chicago Bears play the Cleveland Browns. No one wants to watch those games. Nobody cares. And I'm not talking about now. I'm talking about through the history, like the last 20 years of the NFL, the Cleveland Browns have been like stinking, like real stinky, real bad, like the laughing sock of the league. But when you play fantasy football, you're like, you know what?

I got the wide receiver for the Browns. I got freaking, you know, whoever. I get somebody from the Browns. I'm going to watch the Red Zone channel. I'm going to watch this game because I'm down 15 points. Now I'm going to watch it. And I feel like with some of these cards that the UFC put, like some of these fight night cards that aren't that great on paper,

betting just makes it so much better. Now, there is some interesting parallels to this when you have fighters betting and you have, which I'm totally fine with, by the way. We obviously have betting content on our website that people seem to dig. Like Drake, sometimes you have guys like Drake and Drake's luck has turned around, but Drake had the dreaded Drake curse for a while where he'd make these big bets on fighters and they would just regularly lose, like really badly. So I got to the point where just like anytime Drake bet on something,

people just go against him because that was the swing of things. But the betting lines on this has been real interesting. Joseo that line just continues to move on draft kings. Joseoaldo, a plus 115 dog, it's 10 points more than it was yesterday. There is a ton of value on Joseo a plus 115.

If Joseo Alto is a minus 125, there's a ton of value there too. I think this matchup, I think Aldo matches up really, really well with Moro. what's going to be, and I'll dive into this a little bit more in the preview show, but this is how I see this fight playing out,

and I'll try to make this as short as possible. I think Jose Aldo is going to beat the hell out of Marab de Wallis, really, for the first eight or nine minutes of this fight. I think Marab is going to try to take Jose Aldo down, and he is going to pay dearly for it. And if Marab can survive, getting cracked, because as good as Marab is, and as energetic as he is,

and how much he tries to go for these takedowns, how ruthless he can be in that aspect, how aggressive of a grappler he is, he is very hitable, very hitable. Mara Mara Mara Marais almost put his lights out. And if that fight was stopped, no one would have complained about it. But it didn't.

Maraub came back, got a good comeback win. Jose is going to piece him up in my eyes for a while. Jose's got incredible takedown defense. He's the much better striker. Like, this isn't even close. And Marab can crack a little bit. He's a little wild in there. He's not your typical technical striker by any stretch of the imagination.

But Jose Aldo is, and he can crack. This guy hits real hard. So how I think this fight's going to play out is that Aldo is going to defend takedowns for most of the fight. Maybe the end of the second round, Marab lands a takedown, maybe lands a couple of punches before the horn sounds. And then I feel like Jose Aldo fans are going to sweat it out in that third round. Because I think Marab is going to take some of that momentum into the third round.

Eventually he's going to get Alito to the ground. Although is going to probably huffing and puffing a little bit. I don't think the elevation is going to play a huge factor in this fight. But I think it plays a tiny one. And if it affects anybody, it's going to affect Jose Al though, especially if Marab continues to chain, take down defenses together. If he gets Aldo to the ground a couple of times, and he has to try to work his way back to his feet.

I think that's going to play some, I think that's going to play a little bit of a role in this fight. But I think Aldo's going to hang on. As long as he doesn't get finished, I think he wins this fight. I think he wins. I think he wins. And I think I think Jose fans are going to sweat it out a little bit. And I think in the end, we're going to be screaming two things.

One, Jose Aldo should be fighting for the title right now. His next fight should be for the belt. And two, Marab de Walsh, Willey, is a problem. and give this guy a little more seasoning and a few more fights, and he's going to be right back. I think stocks, both stocks will rise. I think all those just matches up really well here. And I think Marab, being as hitable as he is,

leaving himself as open to strikes and counters as he is in these fights, I think this is going to play a huge impact on this fight. I think that's the biggest difference maker here. I don't think it's the Marab and the takedowns. I think it's Rob, durable. enough to get through a tough first half of this fight. And I do feel like Marab's going to have moments down the stretch, and I think it will be a little scary for Aldo fans and Aldo Betters,

but I think Aldo is going to win. And there's a very good chance Aldo gets them out of there in the first two rounds. But if Marab can get to the third, I think it's going to get interesting, but I think Aldo will hold on to win a decision in a fun fight. I don't want no bets barred Jed and GC we're both saying when this fight's over

you're going to feel like you made the easiest bet possible I don't think so I think this is one that both sides are going to be sweating out but I can't wait for this fight it's the intercontinental title fight on this card all right ahead

we got about 20 more minutes at Hid how are you? Indeed. So, Mike, I've got your next headline for a heck of a morning. Are you ready? Yeah. Let's go. Every time you say that, we don't use it, but go ahead.

Oh, my goodness, Mike. Come on. But, like, okay, so the headline is as follows. Is there deep-rooted corruption between the UFC and the fighters managers? The reason why I'm saying this year is because, Luke, like, you know my stance on fighter pay. Like, I think everyone's being a bit whiny about it. it's the UFC's own company. But Luke Rockhold said something that was interesting.

He said that the UFC and certain managers of fighters that manage a large amount of fighters, the UFC and the managers are colluding together so that the managers like manipulate the fighters to like accept low pay. And in return, the UFC like will have a good relationship with the managers and maybe even get money. And where it gets super interesting is there's an older, there's a former UFC fighter called Nathan Quarry. And he's involved in a class action lawsuit against the UFC. And he tweeted out in response to Rockhold that during that lawsuit, it was disclosed that there were actually emails between the UFC and the managers where like it basically proved Luke Wright.

So like is there corruption? that that's something super interesting. And then with Aldo and Davalishvili, I agree, I think Aldo's going to win. But Aldo messed up. He said he was going to take a fight in Brazil for the title. Who's going to go, like whoever the champion is, why would they go to Brazil?

And then he said he's going to retire. That was the dumbest thing he could have ever done. Why would the UFC ever give it to him? And lastly, Luke Rockhold, he's pushing 40 and giving little high school insults to Paulo Costa. It's ridiculous. But that's all I've got for you today, Mike. Thank you, buddy.

Interesting questions. I see where you're coming from. I don't know if I don't know if corruption is the right word, but I get where you're coming from. There's certainly some favors. I don't know if it's corruption, but I mean, listen, the UFC has...

great relationships with certain managers. It's clear. You can see it. You can see how certain managers talk about Dana on social media can, you know, all these things. Like it's clear that there's something to the point where if you have a good, if a manager has a good relationship with the UFC, it pays off better. Like maybe, I don't know. Like I haven't seen the contracts.

Like there are people who are covering the lawsuit. and in contracts that the UFC puts out way better than I ever will. So I would suggest you go to them. But look, I've been covering the sport for a while. And there are some managers that have great relationships with the UFC. And there are other managers who don't have great relationships with the UFC. It's out there. It's public knowledge.

I don't know if corruption is the right word. But some managers and their rosters get treated a little bit better. And that's it. we've seen certain management teams, you know, bring up a lot of talent, short notice fights. But it's spread out a little bit more, too. Like if you really dig into it, we're seeing short notice opportunity fighters coming from not just like one or two camps or seeing them come from multiple camps as well. So there are certainly some managers who have great relationships with the UFC better than

others, and there are some who don't have great relationships with the UFC. but I totally get what you're coming from. I don't know if I'm the guy to really break down the contracts and, you know, the legal ramifications behind it. I'm honest enough to know about myself to know, like, what I'm knowledgeable with and what I am not. That is something that I'm not knowledgeable with. But there are people, you know, John Nash,

Eric, I forget his last name, McGraken. There's plenty of people who cover this really, really well and have way more knowledge about it than I do. But I get where you're coming from. I don't know. Maybe there is corruption. I don't know. I just don't know enough about it to feel confident to say that word and feel like there's truth to it. But maybe there is.

People who believe there is. People who know more about the business side than I do. But I just don't have enough, I don't have enough pieces to this puzzle in front of me to to be able to say that confidently. But, yeah. Mayonnaise, face McFlanigan. Then average, you're going to you next. Good, Mike. How are you?

Good. Shoot. I should have been thinking about a question. Okay, how about this? The press conference, I think I agree with that other guy what he was just saying. Luke Rockhold throwing around little baby insults. But honestly, who could be more annoying than Camaro? Uh, that's my only comment, I suppose. Have a good day, Mike. Sorry, I don't have more prepared.

It's all good, man. Yeah, the presser was, I didn't watch a lot of the presser. I watched a few minutes. I wanted, like, if it started right on time, which I never, I don't even know why I go in preparing for these things to start on time, because they never, ever do. This one seemed like it took a really long time to get rolling and, Rockhold, from what I watched, I watched like the first exchange which was Rockhold in Casa and Rockhold was trying to get some pops from the crowd

but there were certain things that he said that got a reaction maybe not quite what he was looking for but got a reaction and then there were certain things he said that was like crickets. And I've said this in the radio industry before because I've worked with

very talented people who like would co- host our morning show. And they thought they were like the funniest person in the world and they would say things into a live microphone that they thought were hilarious. And it was just stunned silence. And I remember when Mike, the guy who hosted the morning show would play back the clip for me. And the joke was said and the reaction was nothing.

And I remember I looked at him in his eyes and I said, oh boy, that is a reaction that I would never want to hear. That's a sound that I never want to hear. when I say something at all that is meant to give off any sort of emotion. Crickets is a rough thing. And there were certain times where Luke said some things that got no reaction

from the crowd at all. Policost, I thought, handled it pretty well. That fight is way more interesting than it should be. But it is super interesting. I'm fascinated by it. I have no idea what's going to happen. I feel like Paul Koss is going to knock out Luke Rockhold at some point in the first round.

But I also understand how aggressive Luke Rockhold is if a fight gets to the ground and he gets on top. That dude is a bad, bad dude when he is in top position on the ground. And if it gets there, Paul Koss is in big trouble. But can Luke get there? Can that chin hold up with the strength? strikes of Paul Costa. I just don't know. And it's one of those things that I'm going to have to see it before I can believe it. But we could be talking in the next 48 hours about a world where Luke Rockhold is the number

one contender for the UFC middleweight title. Isn't that insane? Like if Luke Rockhold goes out there, it just bolts Paulo Casa tomorrow night and Israel out of Saudi beats Alex Pereira, that's the fight. And it's crazy to say that into a live headphone microphone. But that's the world we are going to be living in, ladies and gentlemen. If Luke Rockhold beats Paul Acosta, despite everything he has said about the UFC, and Israel Adasani beats Alex Pereira, that is the fight.

It's insane to say that out loud, but that is the world we live in. Yep. All right. Average avenues 11. Yes. How are you? Very well. very well.

Just two quick ones. What would be next for Dominic Reyes if he loses his next matchup? And secondly, your thoughts on the Robbie Lola and Poncinibio fight. Okay, thanks. And yeah, I'm back in Jose Aorta as well, so it should be fun. Cheers. All right, thank you. If Dominic Reyes loses to Ryan Span, I don't know, man.

It's a good question. My fight suggestion was way better, by the way. I suggest that Dustin Jacoby should be fighting Dominic Reyes because I just feel like you got, I feel like the UFC has more there with Dom, with, with Dustin Jacoby, Jacobi second stand with the UFC,

looking good, unbeaten since returning. The dude had to get a contract off the contender series, which is insane. And I just think it was a win-win type of situation. Like it's a matchup that Reyes should win, but if he loses, you have a great story,

backing it. I think Dominic Gray should beat Ryan Span. I think he has a very good chance to do so, but I have a lot of questions, obviously, because he's been brutally knocked out in his last couple of fights. I don't know how one bounces back from the absolute devastation Yuri Perashka put on him. But let's not forget, that fight was incredible. And Dominic Gray has had Yuri Praschka in a whole heap of trouble before he got spinning back elbow to death, essentially. So I think Ray should win. I think it's the perfect kind of bounce back fight. If he loses, I don't know, man.

I don't know. He's going to have to take a big step back. But who knows where his head's going to be at if he loses to Ryan Span and Madison Square Garden after all this time away? It's a good question. It's one of those things you're just going to have to wait and see. Like, if he loses, how does he lose? I don't know. It's a tough one.

It's definitely a tough one. All right, we'll take a few more. I got about 10 minutes to. go. Julio. Hey Mike, how are you? Good. So I asked this question last week when the stream lags, so I didn't get a chance to hear what you said. Just a little fun, silly question. So we all make decisions, right? Hard decisions. And we have that angel and that devil on our, on our shoulder telling us what to do and what not to do. With current USC fighters, who would you say is your voice of reason and the devil on your shoulder telling you what not to do or you shouldn't do?

Oh, yes, I remember this question now. I think my answer was Frankie Edgar would be the angel. I feel like Frankie would always guide me in the right direction when it comes to career, when it comes to side hustles, when it comes to taking things very seriously and giving them your all, having integrity, all of those things. The devil, I mean, it's got to be John Jones, right? It's the first one that comes to mind from me. Yeah, John Jones.

Let's go to Karzah. We'll go to Viking MMA and then we'll go to Beal and then we're going to get out of here. Karzah. Hi, I'm good. Thanks. How's you guys? Good. I just have one question. I just want to know is that Cabby back to the UFC fight or not.

Thanks. Wait, say that again? Cabi. Is Habibu going to fight again? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. No, I don't think so.

I'd like to see him in Olivera, just like the fan in me, the purest in me. But I just don't think it's going to happen. I think Habib is a man of principal. I think he's very happy doing what he's doing right now. He's making a lot of money. He's still getting a lot of sponsorship deals.

He's got his own MMA promotion. He's got a lot of fighters in his stable who are doing great things. Islamachachev. Multiple Namaga made-ups. Usma Namauga made up, my opinion, will be the Bellator lightweight champion in by the end of the year,

because I think he's going to beat a tricky pit bull. The man is, the man is very busy. So I don't think he's going to come back and fight. I just, I just don't see anything that it will entice him. Like,

even if Alvara wins like five more fights in a row, I just don't see, I just don't see him, because of why he retired, I just don't think he comes back. I think with something like that and a guy like Habib, I just,

I don't think it happens. I don't think it happens. If it does happen, I ain't going to complain about it. That's for damn sure. I just don't see it happening. We're going to go to Viking. MMA.

Viking! Hello. How are you? This night, BTL, great show, Jedmishu, with the great knowledge. I mean, I just want to see you and him fighting for the title. You know,

the Jedmish Chandler, his new name, Jadmich Chandler. You name him Jadmish Usman and I'm going to name him Jadmich Chandler because that was amazing drama.

And I'm not following Kama Rousman anywhere else. So I'm just not able to understand that why everyone is mocking him about T-shirt T-shirt thing. What is that T-shirt thing everyone is talking about and my other question is could henry saud or beat umma noamma

meadow if they fight thank you mike love you brother thanks buddy um honestly i don't really know much about the t-shirt thing if we're being honest i have no idea um yeah i don't really know That's a good question. I'll have to look into that a little bit more. Could Umar Narragamato be Henry Suhudo? Yes. Could Henry Suhudo be to Umar Namagamatov? Yes.

Unfortunately, that fight's not going to happen for multiple reasons. But it'd be interesting. I'd love to see it. Who knows? If Suhudo does fight somebody else, fights Cheeto or fights whoever, and then fights with a belt and wins, and Umar moves his way up,

then it could happen, but it certainly isn't a fight we're going to see right now. But I would give Umar a good chance to win. And Suhudo's freaking Sohudo. I mean, the guy, no matter how you feel about the man, the dude can fight his ass off. And he's really, really good. All right, let's go to Beal, and we'll go to Four Corner Sports, and we'll see if we have time for any more.

Beal, how are you? Good, how are you, Mike? Good, buddy. So I think just a. touch on the Kamar Uzman's shirt, the shirt thing, I think they're just making fun of him because he's not wearing shirts underneath his clothes. Okay, that makes sense. Which is kind of like, you know, if I had that physique, I'd be doing the same shit.

Hell yeah. But my question is, so I think one of the funnier things to come out of this Paulo Costa Luke Rockhold fight is the friendship between Patty and Apollo. And with that being said, what other, what middleweight, lightweight combo would you like to see them have a tag team fight with? Thanks, Mike. Have a good weekend. Enjoy the fights in a heck of a morning. Golly. Oh, man. That's a great question.