MMA Fighting - Jon Anik Talks UFC 295, Reacts To Jon Jones' Withdrawal, Ngannou vs. Fury, More

Episode Date: November 6, 2023

UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik joins MMA Fighting's Mike Heck to preview Saturday's UFC 295 card, talks Jon Jones' withdrawal, Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title, Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira getting promoted to the main event, Francis Ngannou's future after his fight with Tyson Fury, Islam Makhachev and Khamzat Chimaev's wins at UFC 294, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

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

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, The Downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose

to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now, only from Audible. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. Hello, once again to the great John Attic, a very busy man. He will, of course, be on the call

for UFC 295 at the Mecca back in Madison Square Garden, two world title fights, both very interesting title fights in their own ways. But not the top of the fight bill we were expecting. We'll get into that more with the play-by-play voice of the UFC and a magical mustache as well.

John, how are you? That mustache is incredible. Happy Halloween, Mike. I'm having inside desires to bring the mustache back for the first time in several years. No, I'm going as Luigi tonight for Halloween. My five-year-old son is going to be Mario. And we're just going to attack Bocca Raton, Florida tonight. My mustache will probably not be there for UFC 295, but you just never know.

You never know. You're a mystery, John. You're always a mystery. And we'll get into that card, of course, the changes, November 11th, all of that. But first, John, let's go backwards a little bit. That is a Mokachev guy. It's pretty good at this fist fighting thing, is he not? What a performance against Alexander Volcanowski less than two weeks ago as we speak to

cap off UFC 294. And I know there's a lot of talk about the short notice and all of that, a lot of questions about what could Makachchev possibly gain coming out of this rematch with Volkanowski. And to me, he gained a lot from this win. He's the consensus MMA fighting number one pound for pound fighter after this performance. What did you make of Islam showing and being able to put a lot of the questions about the first fight with Volkanovsky behind him? Well, part of the downside for Islam Akashib as the champion in accepting this fight on short notice is that almost no matter how you win, people still can lay the foundation for a third meeting between you and Alexander Volcanowski because this one was

accepted on short notice and Volkanowski really was not in shape at 181 pounds. And perhaps that was a wayward decision by bulk to accept this fight. I think his wife and his daughters and his bank account would respectfully disagree with that sentiment. But Islam Akashiv is the man, right? That's what came out of my mouth when I punctuated the call, right? And still and with style points, Islam Akashv is the man, right? I never plan what I'm going to say. That dude's the fucking man. He the pound for pound king going in. He is the pound for pound king going out. I think the style points certainly are useful for Islam Akashiv. But I think when all is said and done historically, his lightweight resume is going to hold up with anyone else's. And I can argue now with you today

that his win over Alexander Volcanowski, two of them, is probably the biggest singular win that either he or Habib Nurmaoghometov has. Now, Habib certainly has some scalps. Connor McGregor, Dustin Porre, Justin Gasey, credentialed lightweights. But in terms of all-time greatness, I think a lot of people would put Alexander Volcanovsky above those guys, and Islamakashev has beat him twice. And yeah, dude, I could go on and on about Islamakashv, right? Like, accepting that fight in Australia as his first title defense and then accepting this fight as his second title defense.

And, you know, doubters are going to say what they want to say. Oh, he still doesn't defend it against a true lightweight. But there's no doubting Islamov. I'm very happy for him and the coaches and everybody else. Yeah, now it's either Oliver or Gaichi and can't complain about either of those options. I mean, Olivera earned this rematch with Benile Dere after the Benial Daryush win, and it's unfortunate with the cut and everything. Justin Gaichy's right there too.

And there's no wrong way to eat this Reese's on this Halloween, John. Either way, I'm good with both of these guys. Yeah, both can lay claim to a title fight. If I was Justin Gaichie's advisor, I would say just lay back and chill and wait for that undisputed championship opportunity, which you have so earned. you go out and do that to Dustin Porreier in that setting with respect to Max Holloway and everybody else. Justin Gagee needs to bide his time. But Charles Oliver is the rightful number one contender. The manner in which he ended, Benile Dar Eush's winning streak makes him impossible to deny.

And I think as a former champion and decorated at that, he deserves to get the benefit of the doubt. I feel like he didn't get the benefit of the doubt. Charles did not in terms of the court of public opinion, right? Like some scar tissue maybe has built up over his historically unbelievable UFC career, right? And things can happen in training, especially close to the fight. And it is what it is. So yeah, Charles won Justin 1A and good problems to have it 155 pounds. I think the fortunate thing is that Islam is going to get back on the horse and defend. He's just a big lightweight so he can't, you know, make the weight every six weeks. But hopefully we see Islam Kachev in defense first quarter, 2024. And of course, we got the return of Hamas.

al-Chamayev after a year away. More short-notice shake-ups. He's supposed to fight Paul O'Costa. We saw the nasty elbow infection for Borasini. That was just, I can't get it out of my brain. But in steps, Kamar Usman on short notice. And boy, he gave good old Hamzaa hell of a fight, didn't he? That was crazy, man.

You watched the first round, and Hamzaa Jemai looks like the greatest fighter we've ever seen. For five minutes, no one has ever done that to Kamar Usman. Usman finds a way to get it done. in the round two makes this fight really interesting. And then when Hamzant needed to dig deep, gets the takedown and seals the win. A lot of people thought it was a draw,

but crazy fight, man. What did you think of Shemiah's performance? In hindsight, we know about the hand and all that stuff, but that's a crazy fight. Well, in your answer lies part of the rub when he had to dig deep late in the fight, he was able to do so. Perhaps I have been overstating him as this cardio king.

And I still think it's going to be interesting to see him get extended and fight over 20, minutes. I think in totality he has earned a championship opportunity. It's a little bit clunky in terms of welterweight and middleweight. But Kamsat Chimai is an absolute force, right? As somebody who humbly sits in that chair and calls the biggest fights in the world, there's just something, something undeniably special about his presence, about the way he fights, about the way he trains. But if you're not getting, you know, worse, you're getting better. And if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. And I think he will absolutely make use of these 15 minutes in terms of

how he can improve his cardiovascular base. I think he deserves credit for fighting through the injury, fighting the late replacement, Kamar Usman. Obviously, there's plenty of credit to go around for Kamara, who I think was in probably better shape than Volkanovsky to accept this type of fight. But I think the best is yet to come for Hamzachi Maib. I think these are valuable minutes that he's accruing. I do believe a lot of these middle weights are going to outsize him. And I think that's really going to be interesting, right? Thinking about somebody like Paulo Costa in there, just wearing on Hamzaa Chimaya

potentially, but man, this sport is really exciting when Chimai's in an active competition cycle, and hopefully this win over Kamar Usman is a precursor to just that. Do you feel like Hamzad is judged differently than any other fight that we've ever seen? Because even with Connor,

there was always like questions, right? Like, you know, what happens when he fights a wrestler or this or that? Like, he was judged in a different kind of way, he was such a big star. But if Hamzaad doesn't just murk somebody in three minutes, oh, he stinks, he's not that good, he's overrated. Like, I don't remember another fighter being judged the way Hamzat Shamiyaf is.

Can you think of anybody else that you can compare it to? No, I mean, certainly Patty Pimlet was underwhelming against Jared Gordon, but I certainly wouldn't compare him to Hamzad in terms of the overall potential, right? Even Shavkat Rakmanov against Jeff Nien, Neil, right? I mean, the betting line suggests that he's supposed to go out there and murk a guy who's in the top 10, right? And he didn't necessarily do that. But I could really, in a short-winded way, just say to you that Hamzat Shimaev is a victim of expectation. And he created that expectation. And pressure's a privilege, right? I mean, people say that to me all the time, right? As I'm getting ready for these pay-per-views, you know, pressures a privilege. And I think for Hamzat, it is certainly that. I think his show money probably respects, reflects that. So, uh, I don't know, man. I think it's really going to be interesting to see him against somebody like Sean Strickland, because even that guy, and I know you know Sean Strickland intimately, figures to dwarf Hamzat size-wise. I could be wrong. You know, I'm around these guys. I mean, Hamzot was cutting weight next to me on the morning in Abu Dhabi, and he was running backwards on the treadmill. The guy's an absolute force. But I was a little bit surprised to see him not just have cardio for days. I'm not asking him to be my Rob Dwalish Willie. But I do think there's a, there's a, There's room for growth for Coms out in the cardio department. And I'm not sure that I thought there was going in.

Yeah, no one is Marab. So that, yeah, no one can do that. I got to ask you about Francis, man. John Anick, the man who left the UFC is champion. He wanted to go box some big names. Wasn't given, to be fair, the royal exit, so to speak. He gets this fight with Tyson Fury. Nobody really giving him a chance.

Community was certainly happy. Got a big bag of money. Yeah. A lot of the fans thought he fumbled. And then he goes out there. not only is he competitive with Tyson Fury, he knocks down the lineal heavyweight champion of the world. And by pride rules, John,

I scored it for Fury both times I watch it, but that doesn't even matter. The scoring doesn't even matter. Francis won by Pride Rules. This is a great result, all things considered, because we still get the undisputed heavyweight title fight. Francis looks like he won the fight,

even though he didn't. And now the opportunities are immense for him. I know you watched it. What was going through your mind is this all played out? When he knocked Tyson Fury on his ass, What were you thinking? I was going crazy. I was disrupting children and everything that was going on in the household.

It was very exciting. And obviously it was at a time that was cool for us on the East Coast of the United States to be able to watch it. I'm so happy for Francis Ngano. It's a very sad day for me as a voice of the UFC when he left the promotion because I was just very excited to see and call the Francis Inganu era. The guy's life is a major motion picture. as I've said repeatedly on our UFC telecast, right? The average citizen in Batty Cameroon makes $1,300 a year on average, right? What he was able to come out of to become the baddest man on the planet by consensus is nothing short of unheard of, extraordinary.

He's an outstanding athlete. And I think lost in a lot of the big nature of what happened this weekend is that the desire for Francis Inganu to be great. And the discipline and the work ethic finally caught up to the first. physical gifts. You know, there was a time in his UFC career where that wasn't necessarily omnipresent. But I'm just so happy for this individual and his team because they bet on Francis. They should have bet on Francis Inganu, and they reap the benefits. As far as the fight itself is concerned, not unlike Islam Akashab and Alexander Volkanovsky. First fight close, even though I thought Islam won four rounds, right? So now you have a champion Tyson Fury who wants the

Francis Inganu fight back, even though he won it, right? And I would think that would be the inner monologue for Tyson Fury. Fury deserves credit for accepting this Engano fight and giving Francis the opportunity. But does this not lay the foundation for an immediate rematch and hopefully a $25 million payday for Francis Ngano? I would agree with you in terms of scoring the fight. A lot of people are questioning my round 10 score for Tyson Fury. So I got to go back and watch the last round. I didn't think either athlete did much in rounds nine and 10. But after round seven and eight, the fight was there for the taking for Francis Inganu. And I'm not sure that he took it. you know, buy the testicles in rounds nine and ten. But I don't know that we should be all that

surprised that he realized success. Like I asked Kenny on our show, Michael, why are we surprised that he had success here? I asked the analysts of the world. Is it that he was more defensively responsible and sound than you expected him to be? And for Kenny, yeah, a lot of it was rooted in just how sound he was and how well he saw whatever shots were coming his way. Furi realized some success with the jab. But just so happy for Francis Ngano and Eric Nixick and Dewey Cooper and Markell, and everybody else. And, you know, hopefully there's a world in which this man competes in mixed martial arts again because right now my appetite is actually more to see him in boxing to see how far he can take that to see him right now in MMA. 100%. Because there's no, there's no MMA fight right now

that makes any sense for Francigano, except for John Jones. And I know they're in two different promotions. And there is a world if everyone just got in a room and put their egos aside and just said, look, let's just make the biggest friggin' fight we could possibly make. Like, there's nothing stopping this fight from being made. But other than that, like, I don't want to see Francis Ngano beat whoever, like, fight whoever wins the PFL million dollars. Like, I've zero interest in that. What I am interested in is watching Francis fight Deonté Wilder or Anthony Joshua or even

Deonté in like a mixed rules match, which is being discussed apparently. Like, the world is this oyster right now. But it just, the one negative I took from this is like, man, Ingano Jones is, now a thousand times bigger than it was seven months ago. It is certainly that. And as a former boxing radio journalist, I would also submit to you that mixed martial arts is just a great sport with so much to offer that boxing just does not offer. And having said that, I still want to see Engano extract this for all he can.

Like Francis Ngano versus Deonté Wilder, bro. Are you serious? It's crazy. In a boxing setting. Forget, you know, the MMA thing. I'm not all that interested in that, very interested in seeing my man, Kenny Florian on any pfell call. But yeah, I would agree with you.

My appetite for him to fight some PFL heavyweight is not strong. So, yeah, I don't think the stars are going to align for a fight against John Jones. But, you know, whether the UFC cuts my check or not, I would submit to you our heavyweight division isn't fine. Fettel without him. Beautifully worded. Speaking of John Jones, he will not be fighting in Madison Square Garden. The nasty peck injury out upwards of eight months, fight with Steepay-Meich, off a lot. least for now. And I, you know, it's weird when this news was dropped, like you were one of the

first people I thought of because when you spoke about to me about John coming back, you talked about the mojo that he brings to a fight week. He's just one of those guys that he could be gone for three months or three years. When he shows a fight week and you sit down with him or see him, he just exudes greatness and you can't ignore it. And then there's steep A in play with the best heavyweight resume in UFC history. Historic matchup no longer happening when you found out that it was off. What was your reaction to the news? Not surprised with respect, right? I thought it was ambitious to suggest that John Jones after that type of extended layoff would compete at UFC 285 in March and then be able to turn it around again in early November. I just thought it was ambitious

with respect. You know how seriously John Jones takes all of these championship fights. No man nor woman has won as many title fights as John Jones, and that really is the only biggest record that actually matters. But I have to wonder aloud, was this injury preventable, right? Had he been in the gym for every minute that he possibly could be dating to that past title defense? And I'm not necessarily suggesting that that's the right recipe for success either, right? But I'm not surprised that this fight did not necessarily materialize. You know, it's certainly disappointing. This is our hardest ticket annually at Madison Square Garden. So I still think it's going to just be a rabid audience. And I don't think a lot of people are selling their tickets because we lost this fight.

But I do hope that they can make this fight and rather expeditiously inside of 10 months because it is a little bit muddy now with the UFC interim heavyweight champion set to be crowned here in the not too distant future. But I have to say it, I know we're going to get to Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich, right? I mean, is that not just a massive, massive heavyweight? fight in 2003, right? You can't help, but just smile. As an MMA fan, you know, like, you know, that fight is absolutely enormous. And without any buildup, uh, the intrigue is just through the roof on that one for me. I thought that fight should have been on this card anyways. It's kind of just like, uh, just in case something weird happens. We can just bump it right up and both guys would be

ready for it. But look, I, and you mentioned, uh, people bought tickets and they're probably not going to sell them at this point, but I know a lot of people. I'll buy it. Yeah. I'll buy them. John will buy him. I have never, not once in my UFC career. And two days ago, I crossed 12 years. Has there been this type of repetitive nature for a ticket? Right. And I can't provide him, right?

I'm turning family members down left and right. My wife's entire family is from up there. And I can't take care of any of these people, whether John Jones is on the card or not. So, yeah, I mean, obviously it's a legacy fight between John Jones and Stepe. And I know I'm getting a little bit animated here, Mike. But Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall, you can argue right now are the two best heavyweights in the world smack dab in the middle of their primes primal ready to kill and defend every three months. So, you know, I do like that there's going to be movement.

I love the fact that those guys signed on the dotted line and fascinated to see where the betting line closes and everything else with that fight. I hope I don't sound like a promoter, but I know you feel me on how big that fight is. This is the more competitive fight to me. Because like, no offense to Steve, but I just kind of felt like John, this is set up for John to like kind of take his place on the throne in a certain respect. And not that I was ever counting steepe out of any fight because that would be just dumb for me to do that. But this fight is great. The cashet isn't the same as Jones Meitchitch. I'm not that naive. But 12 days notice, we lose the original main event. I got to give the UFC a lot of credit

here. I can be hard on the UFC from time to time. But for all this to come together like this on 12 days, we could have done a hell of a lot worse here. And I'm honestly, I, I don't even know what else could have been done, realistically, that they could have done better than this matchup between Sergey Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall. I love it. The one downfalls that it's on 12 days notice, but Asinol seems like Volk, like ready to go. Like, I'm going to go in there and beat this dude. I love it.

And understanding that Tommy Aspinall is on the cusp of a UFC heavyweight world championship. So probably thinking it's a good idea to be in some semblance of shape before the heavyweight championship is on the line. Because if Stepe was the one who was out and John Jones was to remain on the card, who knows if they would have plucked Sergei Pavlovich or Tom Aspinall, even though Pavlovich was the backup. Real quick, Curtis Razor Blades deserves credit here, right? Has more UFC wins combined than Tom Aspinall and Sergey Pavlovich. Accepted fights with both of those guys, one and one against them, also accepted a fight against the third boogeyman in the UFC's heavyweight division, Jailton Alameda, who pulled out, of course, this weekend. I'm just saying Curtis Blades has headlines

seven times for the UFC, never had a championship opportunity. I'm not here to state his case, right? But I give him credit, right? Because there is not a long line of people who want to fight Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall right now. 12 and 1, I think, combined in the UFC, they put away everybody that has been put in front of them, essentially. Gosh, I can't wait for that fight.

And I do think the UFC will be able to unmutty the muddy the muddy water when it comes to the championship and the pecking order and all of that. No pun intended on the pecking order. Hopefully, John Jones gets healthy. with the pectoral. But like, do you think we see John Jones before International Flight Week, 2004? I sure as fuck don't.

If you can't fly a UFC 300 and that would be really optimistic, then you got to put them on International Flight Week. It doesn't make sense to have them in June or May. Like, it's either April for 300 or it's International Flight Week. This is the only, we're going to blow it up. We're going to do it. We got to do it big. So if it's not MSG or not 300, it's got to be International Flight Week.

So I'm with you on that. And I do think it's probably, it sounds like a retiring, bout for for steepe and john but i know dana white has publicly expressed hope hope that one of them would defend because uh that'd be damn exciting to see the next breed of heavyweight take on john jones or stepea on their respective way up we get this great fight but now john new main event for the vacant light heavyweight title yurie perashka versus alex perrera the stakes added to it are obviously great with the belt. But these two guys in a cage fighting each other

and Maxis Square Garden, this is freaking magic, John. There is no other fight. And then included John Jones versus Depe, I am not, there's no other fight that I'm more excited for than this one. And now it's the main event. So Mick Maynard was so excited at the possibility of really just matchmaking, I think, Uri Prohazca against anyone, but Uri Prohazca against Jamal Hill before Alex Podata was even in the light

heavyweight division. you know sometimes i look forward to the time that i retire and i can just be a professional fan and rogan calls us professional fans because when i sit here in wax poetic about a matchup between alex padeda and yuri prohazca i hope people don't suggest that it's because the promotion cuts my check like can we put a better fight together on paper if i put it back on you how explosive is the potential for that light heavyweight championship fight now under four and a half rounds would seem like a pretty good bet for me if this fight goes 25 minutes the episode nature of it could just be historic. So I'm very excited to see these guys obviously match their

skills, particularly on the feet. But there's no doubt that Yuri Prohazka and Alex Paneda, they both just have an appetite for training and for grappling and for the clinch and getting better and cardio and their true martial artist. And yeah, I think it's a great showcase for the light, heavyweight division. And hopefully we get some clarity. It's been a weird 24 months for the 205 pound division. For sure. And it obviously, we get. to see Yuri back in there. He got to the title very quickly in the UFC. John, if Alex Pereira wins his fight in just 11 pro fights as an MMA fighter,

obviously we've got the kickboxing pedigree, but this is totally different. He will become a two-division UFC champion in just 11 professional mixed martial arts boat and can do this in the same building where he won the middleweight title against Israel Adasania a year ago. He has broken the rankings. He's broken pound for pound already when it comes to those. kinds of rankings. Where would this rank amongst just feats of accomplishment that you have seen in the sport? Because in all of the parameters in which we judge these things, this makes

absolutely no sense to me that this is a possibility. When you talk about combat sports legends and crossover, Kayla Harrison, Henry Sohudo, certainly Israel, Adasania, Daniel Cormier, representing the United States Olympically. Alex Podeda would be a combat sports legend, bona fide. Like Kenny Florian went on the Anakin Florian podcast this past Monday and said

Francis Ngano was now a combat sports legend and he lost his fight this past weekend. I think Ken Flows right. Francis Ngano crossed the threshold this past weekend with how competitive he was against the historically great Tyson Fury. Francis and Gano is a combat sports legend, right? And some people would probably not say

he's there yet if Alex Podeta you know, becomes a two-division UFC champion. Does it not speak to the mixed martial arts appetite, right? The appetite for knowledge, Glover Tashara, certainly a key cog and all of that. But I wouldn't put it past Padena. He's just a great dude, right? I mean, I could harken back to our fighter meetings, right? Two guys who, and I could include Alexander Volcanowski as well, right?

But Israel, Adasanya, Alex Padena, on time, and in attendance for every single fighter meeting, despite how high profile they are, despite how maybe hard it was for Elexpidated to get down to 185 pounds, right? I think the world of Poiton and wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get the job done. But what a fight, man. What a fucking fight. It's so crazy. It's so crazy.

We get Androgy Dern. Did I see Diego Lopez? What a year that man has had? Player coach extraordinaire fighting Pat 17 in the Maycard. Maffraveola versus Benoit, Antony, John Anick. Just light me up with that one because that fight friggin rules. That is, if there, I don't know if there's a better appetizer for a pay-per-view than that one. Except for maybe Gaichi and, didn't they open up a Gaichi Chandler or something?

Yes. Yeah, that was the open. So besides, this is a good silver medalist. Yeah, I love Diego Lopez and his star potential. Pat Sabatini, obviously a credential guy, but really excited to see what, what Diego Lopez can do with the showcase. but Benoit seek and destroy Saint-Denie. I'm trying to get the nickname to stick. You can throw it on the front end too, Buf, if you're so inclined.

Just make sure you get the pronunciation right on the back end. Ben-Wa-Sique and destroy Saint-Denie. Now, Matt, the steamroll of Revoltaire Valle is going to be on the Antiquin podcast next week. He's like family, obviously, with Ray Longo and everybody else. But do, Ben-Wa-Saint-D-D-E, man, like essentially a Navy seal in France. Who could forget his short-notice UFC debut? against Elyos-Alese de Los Santos, perhaps, you know, as close as we've come to seeing a fatality in recent UFC memory, right?

I say that somewhat tongue and cheek, but this is one of the toughest customers versed in every possible mixed martial art, and he's got the ticker to go with it. I'm such a huge fan of Benoit Santini, and you got to give Fribola a lot of credit for accepting a fight. Again, as the ranked party in which he will be the underdog, right? Matt Favola has made a career of beating guys that the bed. public and odds makers suggest that he won't beat. So it's an explosive fight.

It's bulletproof matchmaking. And all I can suggest to you is that there are plenty of people who are turning down Benoit Santini. And I would turn him down to seek and destroy. Yeah, he's a monster. Last thing for I let you go, John, you're a very busy man. But I saw some big news on the social media world. New website, johnannock.com.

Is that tremendous? My twin brother's wife, my sister-in-law, she created the whole thing. She launches it on Monday and then the Tuesday, the next day, she goes into emergency surgery, almost lost her life 32 inches of her small intestine removed. So I love my sister-in-law. I'm so thankful she's still with us, but it was an absolutely crazy week. And thankfully, you know, the Antiquempsych podcast listeners have come out and, you know, respected her efforts by buying merchandise at Johnannock.com. But yes, very excited to have a hub and a home base for our podcast merchandise. And it was a scary week in Abu Dhabi. And I think sort of

of every time I think about this launch for the rest of my life, I'm going to think about that total chaos that our family went through. But yes, we're very excited. And shout out to Joe Romero, our artist. We have six new designs, all of which can be had right now at johnannock.com. And we appreciate everybody supporting the show and supporting this guy, Mike Heck at MMAFighting.com as well. Well, one more sleep has become synonymous with the sport.

And you can get your one more sleep shirts at johnannock.com and all the other gear. I assume the shirt you're wearing can be purchased on the site as well. Select your fighter. The only thing you can't really do is get one of those hair treatments that seem to be all the rage. Johnannock.com does not have those. And, you know, you're a handsome guy. I just hope that you never decide to go with hair plugs. I think you look great.

No, I'm like my dad. My three brothers, all have full heads of hair. My dad, maybe I told one too many bald jokes. Yeah. I got, I got hit with the baldness. But you know what? I've just accepted it. It is what it is.

And I've saved thousands upon thousands of dollars on haircuts over the last six or seven years. Just bick it down. I spend maybe $30 a year on razors. This is the best, John. Shaving their heads the way to go. Well, I've been doing it since I was 14 years of age. I get my back waxed, right? I got YouTube commenters being like, Anik, it's finally not a choice.

Your hair's gone. Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, I mean, I would have the biggest Jewish afro you've ever seen within five days. That's why as soon as we're done here, I'm going to go lather this thing up and shave it off. Well, there you go. I don't have. Mine's just gone. But John, enjoy the lathering. Enjoy the build to the fight.

And UFC 295, excited to hear your voice for this big card, my man. Appreciate the time as always. Thank you, buddy. Good to catch up. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.