MMA Fighting - LIVE From Las Vegas | Kevin Holland, Glover Teixeira, Ryan Clark, Carrot Top, Urijah Faber, Adrian Yanez, More

Episode Date: July 2, 2022

The UFC stars, and other celebrities, came out in full force on Friday at the UFC X Fan Expo in Las Vegas and MMA Fighting was there to speak to them. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck chats with Kevin Holland, Glover Teixeira, Adrian Yanez, Chris Curtis, Jens Pulver, and other UFC athletes. In addition, conversations with former NFL defensive standout Ryan Clark, and comedian Carrot Top ahead of Saturday's UFC 276 event. 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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What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Next here in Las Vegas, and you all know this man sitting to my right. It's been a long time, my man, since you and I've had the chance to talk. I remember when you were just coming up in the UFC and we were doing these interviews. All the time. Look at the gold.

Look at the glass. I mean, you're just crushing the game right now. How does it all feel all these years later? You know, it feels good. I still feel the same. I just feel like I got a little extra ching in the banking account. A couple extra cars to drive, you know what I mean? So life's good.

Life's good. Can't complain. I'm down in weight class. It means I'm a little bit skinnier, but I'm still sexy, baby. I'm still sexy. Are you enjoying the new eight class? Because you said one thing that you said to me, me a couple of years back that I was remembered is I want to go to 170, not because I have to,

but because it'll give me some more discipline. You feel like that would change your game altogether. Do you feel like you've accomplished that? That's exactly what's happened. You know, having to be 170 means I have to put in the cardio a little bit more. It also means that I got to eat healthier. It also means that I might sleep a little bit more. I have to do heat retention. This and this, that, this and this and the third. You know what I mean? And all these things put together, just makes for a better Kevin Holland. It makes for me to be an actual professional athlete instead of just being a guy who wants to just show up in scrap. So if I'm a better athlete, I'm not getting tired. I'm doing things better. I mean, overall, it's good for a business.

Tim Means for forward. Is that the best of your career? I mean, I don't know. I mean, people say that. I still got taken down that fight. There's been fights where I've never gotten taken down. You know, there's been fights where I've done things amazingly. So, I mean, yeah, I mean, it's good, though, because he's a vet. Nobody, I don't think I've ever fought anybody with more fights than him. So, yeah, that's pretty cool, too. You've actually gotten the attention of Wonder Boy Thompson recently. Did some interviews, asked about some different opponents, and he mentioned two names, Machupejeda, and yourself. So you got the man's attention.

I feel like that's a fight a lot of people would like to see. Your thoughts on that, is that something you would be interested in? Yeah, I would love a Wonder Boy fight. You know, I seen him earlier, and he was like, you young guys, and I was like, 29 years old. I ain't that young, you know what I mean? So I think I'm the oldest out of all the young guys coming up. So I think I make the most sense, not just for us. not just for Wonderboy, but for any of these guys.

Like I said, I could be a good first fight. I could be a good last fight. There's holes in my game. I'm still looking to improve. Take my time improvement. I put holes in people's face. Do you feel like 170 has gotten itself back into a really superior place? Like, for a long time, the division was really interesting.

We saw a lot of title defenses to the Robbie Lawler days. Then we saw Uspen kind of take over. There's still some big fights. But I feel like the insertion of yourself, guys like Shemaiah, guys like Shafcott-Rakbanaf, I feel like the division is starting to turn the corner and look different. Brady as well, yep. Daniel Rodriguez is another guy. Ian Heinrich, I mean, Ian, not Ian Hiner's.

Ian Gary. Ian Garen, he's undefeated. A lot of excitement at 170 right now. I feel like we're turning the page a little bit. Do you feel the same? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like I left 85 and that got a little boring and now 70 is fun. Yeah, I might just need to stay at both.

You're gonna bounce around? I got to bounce around. Yeah, I feel like you're not fighting as much as you would like. Mick? I need 285 fights this year. I only need one more 170. I need 285 fights. fights. Give me Chris Curtis.

Give me Strickland after Curtis. I'll take them. All right. All right. Why those two guys in particular? It makes sense. They're buddies. It makes sense. Getting one's head, getting the other's head. It's all bread. You know what I mean? So you knock down one, you try to knock down the other. You want to take out two at a time? Why not? It makes sense. All right. And when do you want to come back? If it's 85, we can do it this weekend. You know what I mean? If it's 70, you know, August sounds great. August sounds fantastic. August sounds wonderful. Hell, I think KS is ready to fight now. I think he just got

done being married, so he's ready to fight. So we can do Kiyazza, Warner Boy doesn't want to do it. Yeah, that's going to make a lot of sense. Last thing, since you've been in Vegas, every time you end up traveling to a place, it seems like every month you're doing some heroic deed. Anything happened in Vegas that you've had to thwart thus far?

No, I've been inside. I've been inside. I ain't been outside. I've been inside. So trying to stay inside, trying to stay out of the way, trying to stay away from crime, trying to stay away from that type of time, you know what I mean? Yeah.

I mean, how many crimes can you thwart, Kevin? I mean, you're... Honestly, it's what you guys know. You know what actually gets out to the media. You guys don't know half of this shit that I do. You know what I mean? If you think about it. You know what I mean?

You know what they call Fort Worth? Forth. We don't know what they call? You know what the nickname for Fort Worth is? No. You know? No. What is it?

It's called Murder Worth. It is? Yeah. I've been there. I'm surprised to hear that. Yeah. Yeah. What part did you go to?

I went to, like, the stockyards. Yeah. I've been to Billy Bob's once. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're nice places. But that's not what we're talking about here.

Seven Street used to be nice, and now it's going to a shit hole. You go to Deep Ellum, Dallas. Dallas. Every time you go to Dallas, there's always a shootout on Dallas. You know what I mean? There's been more shootouts on Seven Street than there's been this year than there's been in the past five years. This year combined. I don't know what the hell's going on.

Something in there. Maybe because people are back outside. I don't know. You know what I mean? But it's wild where I live. You know what I mean? I could give you a story right now. Probably make you tear up.

I mean, we're here. No, there's no reason to. Because if I do this, you guys always say, oh, he's doing it for the media. No. It's just life. And you guys are all living this beautiful life. And I need to move. I move to a nicer neighborhood, and I still deal with shit.

You know what I mean? So maybe I need to move to the woods with Ben Asper. Yeah, get up to the mountains, man. Yeah. You'll hike up a little bit. Then you can stay inside. You don't have to really thwart anything. Then I might start hearing about tigers and bears eating people, you know?

So it's always going to be something wherever I'm at. I live an interesting life. So the story that you're not going to tell me. Never going to tell you guys. Is it the best story of all? Of all the stories we've heard, is this the one? No, I don't think none of them are good. I think all of them are horrific.

You know what I mean? It's like the guy who would stole somebody's car. If it was your car, you wouldn't like the story at all, especially since the car got totaled. Yeah. And then the person that you told of the car, the car into was somebody's work vehicle. So I don't think either people liked that one. If you were at a sushi bar eating with your family and somebody came in there open fire,

I don't think you would like that either. You know, you probably give you PTSD for going out to eat. So think about the people in the bar. if you've seen an 18-wheeler flipped over, which you probably had before. You're probably seeing cars on the side of the road, crash and stuff like that. You probably just keep going, right?

Like, somebody's going to come get them, they'll be okay. No, I just so happen to pull over. You know what I mean? But if that was your buddy, that was pulled over in the 18-wheeler and if something happened to the 18-wheeler, nobody got them out. You'd have been like, damn, what the hell? So everybody's like, oh, you're super,

or you're this. It sounds fun until you think about the people in those situations, and it's not so fun. You're just being a human being and doing the right thing. Yeah, just doing the right thing. So, I mean, it'd be nice people are like, man, I'm proud of you for doing the right thing. Instead of people being like, oh, it's superhero skits. It's kind of like, damn, we're pretty fucked up to the people who are in those situations, you know?

Everybody in that bar, that night got PTSD from that shooting. You know, my uncle, he don't even like, he's like, we go places now. If he's licensed the arm, if he ain't got his thing with him, he's backs against the wall, he's looking around. I see it, bro. You know what I mean? So, yeah, not everybody deals with things the same way. Well, we're going to change the narrative right now, Kevin. It would be nice.

We're not talking about superhero. I'm proud of you for being a good human being. and doing the right thing. Thanks. And that's all that matters. Hopefully, this is the trend we need to be setting right now, okay? Yeah. Not superhero doing the right thing.

So if something happens, you see a truck flipped over or anything like that. Get out the car and help. No, you keep going. Keep going. Do what you normally do. I don't want you guys to get hurt trying to do what I do. I'm not being honest. Well, listen, enjoy the time.

Enjoy the time inside. Enjoy the rest of the fight week. And maybe we'll see you back in August. Who knows? Maybe we'll see you in the Octagon on Saturday. if crazy things happen. Yeah, I'll be there. All right, thanks, Kevin.

Thank you, brother. I'm here with Mr. Glover Tashira. Busy weekend for you, my man. Of course, Alex Paheda. Got a big fight coming up tomorrow against Sean Strickland. I mean, reunion of Kevin Holland and Glover and Shera here. But talk about just looking at things. You just had a huge fight with Yuri Perashka,

one of the most memorable fights we've seen for a championship in a long time. Now Alex is getting ready to fight Sean Strickland. Talk about how you're able to shift focus so quickly. We, you know, we train together for the fights, you know, like we spot a lot, we train a lot, grappling. We do all the training together. Two weeks ago, went to Singapore to train, to fight there. And I come back, I just keep my eyes on Alex, man. We are good friends, and it's people say that a lot to me.

Kind of like they give me a lot of credit for, to come back, because I was good. back in the gym a Wednesday after the fight. But it's something that I love to do it, you know. For me, it's fun. It's like a hobby. People ask me, what's my hobby? I'm like that, you know? Yeah, absolutely.

For the people who say that maybe it's too soon for Alex to have fights like this, maybe it's too soon for him to challenge for the title. What do you say to those people? Because he's fighting a guy in Sean Strickland, who's at a great streak. and if he wins that fight, Merritt alone, and on top of the storyline, if he gets Izzy, it's there. It's certainly deserved. Some people say he hasn't earned it.

Maybe he deserves it. What are your thoughts? What do you say to those people who feel like maybe this is too quick of a push for him? I don't know, man. Who does people? You know, like, they didn't like, well, Jerry. You just find a guy like that.

and he was a tough as can be you know I was winning in the fight but he's a tough can be and he got back and he won the fight the thing is like you gotta tell me Alex is not ready to fight with Adesanya the guy that you tell me those people tell you the Alex is not ready to fight Adesanya fight for the title the champion is the Adesanya The guy that he beat twice. You know what I mean? So he's not ready for him. I don't know.

I don't understand. You know? The guy is already, man. He's proving. He's got to go against Strickland right now. Strickland is no joke. You know, I see this guy. I believe that Strickland could be a higher test than not the signer, you know?

You think Strickland is? For Alex. How so? Just, you know, just. In the way, Strickland is no joke, man, because he's not a champion, but he just have a volume of fight, you know, and he's a fighter. He's a fighter. The Sunni is just going to, he's not going to, like I say, again, we have a way to see it could have more because strictly is the guys, they're probably going to pressure, they're going to pressure more than other side for sure. could be better for Alex, could be worse.

You know, I'm just saying that looking Strickland and not the sign for Alex right now. I say, we're confident we're going to pass both. But I say that Strickland is tough than not the sign. I think it's trickling can beat that this sign. I was just going to say if there's two, if Strickland and Alesson. Yeah, I think you can beat the design. Yeah. Thanks so.

So I think the style make fights, you know, I think the other science is going to beat Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, kind of near it, you know, and getting Alex beating Strickland, they're going to fight. It's going to be big for fight, right, big for sale, big for motion. But fighting-wise, I just think Strickland is a fighter, man. It's a difficult fighter. It's no joke. I mean, Alex and Sean have stolen the show. show this week. A lot of focus on this fight now. Not just because of just the match of itself and what it could mean, but Sean was so over at the press conference, but just looking at

numbers and most of the interest on this card, even though there's two title fights, is on this fight. So it's a massive one in 185 pounds. Last night, Glover, as we sit here, it was the UFC Hall of Fame, and we saw Habib go in, we saw D.C. go in. And for the fight that went in, We saw Cub Swanson versus Du Ho-Choi get enshrined into the Hall of Fame. You've got to believe that in the next five years, your fight with Yuri Brahasker is going in the Hall of Fame. How could it not? What a classic that was. Yeah, that was a beautiful fight.

I remember watching that fight with Cobb Swanson. Soon as you talk about it, it's like I saw Cobbs Wantsker yesterday in a hotel. And soon as you talk about it, you remember the fight. You never forget those fights, you know. It's like, oh, I remember where I watched the fight, man. I wasn't this play. And also, yeah, you know, hope so. I mean, for me, it's like, I'm just doing things, you know, I'm just fighting.

Having a great time, you know what I mean? Is the re-true, on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident are you that you're going to get the rematch? I'm confident, you know, I hope I got the rematch, you know, the way I fought. I think I deserved the rematch. You know, but we see, you know, I'm confident. I'm confident that the kind of guy's hard to say. I say 10, you know. Let's get it, man.

I don't think about anything else. I think this fight should happen for everybody, for the fans, for, like I say, no one is going to talk shit about that fight. Now. You they say the rematch is on. I don't think anyone is going to say, oh, man, really, you know, except maybe on or, you know, Anthony Smith or something. Maybe.

That fight's amazing. Last thing, talking about coaching, the hobby, getting back at the gym as fast as possible. Even after you won the title, you were back at the gym as fast as possible. You're cornering fighters at amateur fight shows not long after becoming the light heavyweight champion of the world. So curious how things are going over at the gym right now,

any standout amateur fighters really standing out to you because you guys are busy all over the New England scene with these fights, ammo, cage titans, CES, other promotions of such. What has it been like just seeing these young guys trying to make their way up to where you and Alex are right now? Like I say, I love this, you know, and I enjoy this. Sometimes I want to be...

to do all the things and kind of got stuck a little bit, a guy fighting here and there. But you think of the big picture. The big picture. You put the work now and the success comes later. You know what I mean? And right now we're just planting the seeds. We just watering the little seeds in the end, see what's next, you know?

There you go. From one New Englander to another, it's an honor to talk to you, Glover. Thank you very much for the time. Hope you get the rematch, man. Sitting beside a Vegas legend. Yay. Carrotop joined us at the UFCX fan. People don't think it's Reba.

It's not Reba. It's Caratop. How are you, sir? Are you enjoying yourself here at the X-O. I am. You know, I got a little bit into it. But when this whole thing moved to Vegas, kind of like when the hockey team moved here with the Golden Knights, I really, really got into more into hockey because it was so in front of me. And same with the UFC when they were their headquarters here.

I got to meet, you know, Dana White and everybody. And so it's cool. It's a really, it's an amazing sport that really just is huge. It takes off. You know, I mean, and so many people that love it. And it's fun to watch. What's your favorite thing about watching the UFC and just being a part of these events? Well, the fact that it's so brutally real.

Like, you know, when I was a kid growing up, they always said, wrestling's fake. You know, there was like Hulk Hogan those days, and they would say it was fake, and you watch it and you see how they, you know, they did the little moves, and it's kind of fake. This is not fake. This is like the real deal. So it's really fun to watch the action, and you can hear it. You can hear them get hit, so it's intense. And the guys are all in better shape than any of the other one.

You mean like there's no fat UFC guys. They're huge. They're all ripped the shreds. And it's scary as hell. Thank God I'm a comedian, not a wrestler. I feel the same way covering this sport. I'm glad I'm on this side of the camera not doing the end of the octagon. Are there any specific fighters that are just must watch for you?

I'm sure you just enjoy watching all of it. Yeah, they're all, they're all really good. They're all different. There's styles in there. And they all... I like the ones like this guy up here. He's already injured. He's already got a broken hand

and he's going to go up there and fight. It's crazy. We've had some come to the show. It was pretty cool. Who is the girl... Hey, who is the girl that came to the girl fighter? Misha Tate. Misha Tate came to...

Oh, there you know. So that was really cool. And she comes backstage and says, hi, she's like this sweet, beautiful girl, soft-spoken. And then you see her work and you're like, oh, my God. Like, right?

She's like so pretty and she goes out there and beats the crap out of this job So world champion for sure yeah so what have you what have you been up to in Vegas? You still you still doing the darn thing man The Luxor every night we have a show every night for six nights a week except Sunday and we've been here 17 years so it's been fun yeah I've seen a lot a lot of things happen and change in the sound it's great and this is great too I mean it brings so many people to to Vegas and even like this weekend people are packed people all here to see fighters Yeah, it's great. Is it surreal to continue to keep doing your love? Because a lot of people don't get to do that in life.

Yes, it is. There's never a night goes by that I can't believe I'm still doing this after all these years. Literally, because you think about the day you started, like literally, the first night you get up there and you try to tell something funny. And then you think it's been, you know, 37 years. You're like, holy moly. So, yeah, 1985. And, you know, in 1985, I didn't think I was in a, I didn't think I'd even be able to do it. alone this many years.

So it's great. It's great. This is really a good time where you kind of enjoy it too. You kind of soak it in and like, wow, this is really great. And you're in the right place, Vegas, this fight week.

Very lucky to be in the best spot you could possibly be in for entertainment, comedy. One last question. I'll let you go, man. If there is one fighter, or not fighter, but if there's one person, if the UFC called you to say,

hey, Karatop, we just want you to have one fight. You can pick it whoever it is, past, president, or future, to get in there with. Polly Shore. Polly Shore? Why? We're just buds. It'd be fun to see us. It actually might be,

they're probably a good foot fight because he'd be like. So it'll probably be fun. I'd probably beat the crap out of him. I think you'd be like a minus 200 favorite in that fight, Caratown. Maybe we'll see Caratown versus Pauly Shore in an octagon near you. I appreciate the time. Yeah, man.

Continue success, man. You're really doing the darn thing. Thanks to all your fans watching. Cheers, brother. Your business doesn't move in a straight line. Make sure your team is taking care of. through every twist and turn with Canada Life savings, retirement, and benefits plans. Whether you want to grow your team, support your employees at every stage,

or build a workplace people want to be a part of. Canada Life has flexible plans for companies of all sizes, so it's easy to find a solution that works for you. Visit canadalif.com slash employee benefits to learn more. Canada Life, insurance, investments, advice. UFCX here in Las Vegas sitting beside Ryan Clark, How are you doing, man? I'm good, man.

This is cool. This is my first time ever coming to the Expo. Got to see D.C. getting inducted into the Hall of Fame last night, man. Did a show, our podcast, DC and R.C. with him and Kavid. You know, two Hall of Famers that made a career smashing people in the UFC and a guy that spent a lot of money watching him. And so I felt like he was the perfect show.

Yeah, I was going to say, because watching DC up there, obviously you're a broadcast partner in crime right now. Obviously, you got the shout out. Yeah. But him admitting the towel thing. What a story. Best part of the night. Best part of the night.

Even before when he started to say he's going to be totally transparent, I just expected him to cry again because he's always crying. You know, and so like that's what I thought. And to admit that one, the whole world knew. Like it's not like we didn't see the towel totally bent down. The guy went from 206 to 203, right? Like we know you cheated. But the fact that he admitted it and admitted it on that stage, man, was super cool.

Yeah, I thought that was fantastic job. Were you disappointed Habib didn't join you in D.C. and some dancing during that post-fight show? I was, but I wasn't going to fight him a lot of it. Right? So I was like, oh, well, if Hebe doesn't want to dance, then it is what it is. Yeah, completely agree with you. That's a smart move in your part.

Obviously, on Saturday, two huge title fights, Israel Adasanii versus Jared Cananineer. This has been my theme to a lot of people I've talked to about the fight. I feel like Jared Cananier is not getting enough respect heading into this fight. No, he's not. Listen, anytime you get an opportunity to be in this position, you deserve respect. whether it's Robert Whitaker, whether it's Kelvin Gastilum, whether it's Paul Locosta, to get to this opportunity to fight for the championship against Israel Adasanya, it means you're a bad dude. He's coming off of a total, not even like demolishing of Brunson, just really crushed him, right?

And a fight that was the number one contender fight for the next fight to finish that fight in the manner that he did and now have an opportunity to fight Izzy shows what type of fighter this man was. And we sometimes forget, dude fought heavyweight, right? So to be in the 185 in the middleweight championship is a testament to his hard work, how great of a fighter he is, and I'm excited to see what he can do in the main event. And you being a guy who has been part of many incredible athletic battles over the year, some rivalries, from competitive, some more personal, I think we got a little bit of both. We got a happy medium in the co-main event between Alexander Volcanovsky, Max Holloway showing up this week,

all sorts of fired up. He's got a different fire in his belly. And the last time we saw Max Holloway, this fired up, was after he heard. heard Calvin Cater call him a freshman when Calvin thought he was the senior. And we saw the performance. Here's the varsity. Yeah, we saw the performance that Max Holloway had that night. This fight rules.

I don't care that Volcanovsky's beating him twice. I'm ready to see it again. Your thoughts on this rivalry. This is Baltimore, Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers two years when we went to the Super Bowl. We played that team three times. All three times, it was extremely competitive. All three times, both teams thought that they could win. It's the same thing with Alexander Volcanowski and Max Holloway.

The other piece of it is, Neither of these guys are scared. They both understand who their opponent is, and they both come into this fight believing that they're the best fighter at 145 in the entire world. And truly, when you watch them fight other people, you really see it, right? Whether it's Yaira Rodriguez, whether it's Brian Ortega, the Korean zombie, no matter who it is, they totally destroy the other fighter. So this is the only fight to make for the championship,

and I think we're going to get another classic. Yeah, I love this fight. I feel like I spoke with John NIC the other time. he feels like we're going to see a fourth, maybe a fifth. Yeah. Finality probably won't be completed. I can't wait. On Saturday.

I can't wait. Last thing, I have to ask you this because you're standing right in front of me. You're kind of knew it, like you're, you've been an MMA guy for a while, but now you and DC doing the show, get your feet under you. Have you noticed a backlash like you got after the Chris Brown and Michael Jackson comments? Because no, there's never been. There's never been any backlash as harsh as that one was, um, even when I started M&A and everybody, M&A and everybody hated.

me. It wasn't that bad. You know, and it was so crazy, man. I do a podcast called The Pivot. We were about to do an interview with the Breakfast Club. And I'm talking to Channing Crowder about how talented I think Chris Brown is. And I just said kind of in conversation, I was like, Chris Brown's probably more talented than Michael Jackson. Just give for him. And he goes crazy. He's cussing me out. And I was like, if this can elicit that type of response from him, I should probably tweet this and see if anybody like backs me. Well, out of the million people that have responded. Two of them backed me, so at least I'm not alone. Hey, well, you got, you got somebody with it's a small island, but it's an island nonetheless. So the R&B singer Tink agrees with me,

and he just started an R&B podcast. So I think I'm going to join him so I can have one ally. That's a good way to look at it. Ryan, I appreciate the time, man. Enjoy the rest of the fight week. Enjoy the fights on Saturday. Thank you so much. Jen's Palmer. The braces aren't hiding it. I'm trying. Jens Pulver. How are you? How are you enjoying this experience here? I love it. I'm having a blast, as always. I just, I just can't be how big it is. You know, I mean, every year I'm like, wow, it's big, but it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. But this year, to be able to be a part of this,

as far as I'm over there going to commentate the fights with Nick Merks and Tim the Tapman. So because I'm part of Twitch.tv slash UFC, I'm going over there commentating the UFC video game. So I'm excited. I'm really excited. 10 years ago, if someone told you you'd be here doing a lot of the Twitch stuff with the UFC,

seeing how the world has changed on that end, and you would be one of the faces of it, would you believe me? Yes, because now would have never have stopped, because I'm still world famous for one thing, grinding Grand Marshal when Matt Hughes was getting ready to fight hoist Gracie, and I couldn't, and I didn't go. And he's like, what?

He asked me last minute, he goes, hey, you're going to go to the fights? You're going to come to fight to him? I'm like, I've been grinding for the last two months ago. I can't do it. And I was like, no can do. So I couldn't go to the fight, but I've always, I used to play in the TWA letters back in the Silent Warriors. So I've always been a gaming fan,

but I never thought that somehow I'd be able to find that perfect melding, so to speak. I always tell me when I now that I do this Twitch.tv. TV slash UFC I'm interviewing people. I'm watching fights. I'm breaking it down. It's like a gym. You know what I mean?

I get to be a coach. We got a former UFC world champion passing on knowledge. And now we're going to start playing video games. And somehow I just put it all against. No, I can't believe I actually 10 years, you know, 10 years ago, I'd have laughed in your face. It's no way. It's just such a crazy thing to see the path you've taken to get to this point.

It's almost pretty. Like you seem so happy. I can't even begin. You're looses a goose. Yeah, I can't. He'd begin to tell you how my it's to say I'm in heaven it would be an understatement in that aspect I love what I'm doing I love this stream I love having guests come on on Saturdays doing the watch along I got Adrian Yanez coming on with me this Saturday we'll be doing the watch along for the

UFC pay-per-view and it's just I always assume everybody's watching on the radio so I got to talk talk talk talk talk talk and I have a blast doing it but then I'm watching fights of fighters fighting in Saturday's fights we break them down and then have interviews It's like I came through the back door and created my own ESPN-type show, and I still got the UFC banner to do it, so Twitch was the perfect platform. Well, I'm glad you're here, Jets, because last night we had the UFC Hall of Fame, and I couldn't help but notice that you were not walking that red carpet when you very well deserved to be walking down that red carpet.

What is this like for you? Because I know how hard you fought to get in there. The fans, it's been pretty much universal that you deserve to be in there. As another Hall of Fame ceremony goes by, what does that like for you? I let it go. You know, it always gets brought up. And here's the only thing I can tell everybody is thank you. Thank you so much for just the thought.

It means the world to me, you know, and it really does. And I don't think it'll, I don't know if it'll ever happen. I don't think it'll ever happen, but it's okay. You know, it's, but the fact that I'm still relevant in people's minds when they say, where is he? Why is he not in here? Thank you so much. It means the world to me. And, you know, it's, I guess, I don't know. Whatever I did, didn't do, I don't know, but I don't know, you know. But I love where I'm at. I'd say, I'd say it comes, if it doesn't, it doesn't. There's nothing I can do. I was going to say, does it almost in a way feel like you are a Hallfamer? Like, I think everyone's hearts and minds they feel like you are, but you may not have the trophy on the mantle, but considering the position you are at in life right now, considering that it's a universal opinion that you should be in the Hallfam?

Is there a small part of it? Yeah, it's like what my wife said. You know, it's like anything else. If you have to tell everybody you're a badass, obviously you probably not. But when other people are doing it for you, and that's that fine line I walk in is I don't sit there and go, I should be. I don't even like to retweet that, you know, like when people post, like on Instagram right now, everybody, you know, Jess Polar Hall of Fame. I don't even like to retweet it because I feel like I'm self-promoting. And I want to avoid that. But when it's other people doing it, again, it's humbling. And thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. But that's what I want that fine line. I don't, you'll never see me go, where am I? You know, I should be, I'll never, ever, ever do that. But again, I appreciate everybody. but I really love what I'm doing. The platform I'm on on Twitch with the UFC.

I'm in heaven. So if it happens, it's icy on the cake. If it doesn't, you know, when I did this, it was only legal in three states. There wasn't even the weight class. So I'm pretty happy I got to become Little Evil the way I am. Twitch.tv slash UFC. You can catch this man. Watch on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

On Mondays, we're recapping the fights on Saturday that we watched. Wednesday we do a WEC, and then we're using people with channel points can go ahead, and they can pick the fights we watch. Friday, we're watching Fights of Fighters Fighting in Saturday's Fights. Saturday we're going to do, we do the watchalones, but all at 6 p.m. Eastern, Twitch.tv. It's a blast. A role he was born to be a part of.

Jetsover, everybody. Manitory. Thank you, Matt. Mike Heck here for MMAfighting.com in Las Vegas live at the UFCX Fan Expo. and I'm sure a fighter who has a lot of fans, it continues to show after his victory over Tony Kelly, the one, the only, Adrian Yannas, kind enough to join us. Adrian, how are you enjoying the experience this far?

Man, I'm enjoying every single part of it, man, just seeing, like, the, because I used to come to the expos. Like, I used to come to the expos and just be, like, I used to be one of these people just walking around and, like, being so excited whenever I saw, like, a favorite fighter of mine. Like, I still got Sam Stouts, like, the hands of stone signature from him and all I said,

Dwayne Ludwig's, like, posters like, they signed, like, yeah, no, so I'm like, this is a surreal experience for me because I never thought I'd be, like, in the position I am today, like, and just, like, being the other guy. I'm the fighter that everybody wants to take a picture with, so I'm fucking ecstatic.

I'm, like, right here, just, like, live and living life right now, man. And you have so much momentum right now after the win over Tony Kelly. I have to ask you about this because the fight went exactly the way you predicted it would go, that you would get him out of there early, that things he said prior to the fight, we're going to get to you. But the talk has continued after the fight, Adrian.

Tony said you don't want him in a rematch. You want nothing to do with it. He's saying it was a bad way cut. I'm curious to get your thoughts on the talk after. I know you've responded to some things, but it just continues to keep piling on, it looks like. I don't really even like the bad way cut talk because I'm like, bro, I cut from 64 in five weeks, like from five weeks to 35. I was like, I don't want to hear that. I don't want to hear that is an excuse. It's a bullshit excuse. Like you see people like Al Jermaine cutting from 68 all the way down to 35. Like no I don't want to hear that excuses. We all go through this as fighters. So I was like man I don't want to hear that like you knew,

like you know all the way around like if you're a professional fighter you got to be you already know that cutting way is a part of this and if you and if you honestly if you would have came if they were to came to me and be like hey he's gonna have a tough cut would you do it at 40 I'd be like yeah 100% I would have done that 40 because I because even me being like man like it was a tough cut all the way down I would have been like yeah 40 would have been fine for me but it is what it is we kept it at 35 and like I made Wade like a professional but even after he was still calling me out still saying I wouldn't take a rematch with him trying to bet half his purse and I'm like trying to bet me

trying to be like I won't bet half my purse and he'll put in half his purse but I was like I already took 20 percent I know what you get like it's not life please you're not it's not even worth it so I was like but I would 100 percent take their rematch just because how much I don't like the guy feel like if the emce called you right now and say you want to fight him again there's no no 100% I'd do it I'd do it at 45 just so the way cut fucking the weight cut option would be like hey no don't you're not using that excuse if you use it again he's just a you know it could be an option through Adrian I mean listen and now look you you've caught the attention of a band that shot him Allie I don't know if you saw this but I asked about

the at the media day about you because he mentioned like possible names that he could fight next and I noticed that he didn't name you but he was very complimentary of your He thought you did a fantastic job. He feels like it's a fight that could happen right now, but when we last spoke, you felt like it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for him to fight you right now, but years down the line, this could be a tremendous rivalry at 135.

How do you feel about that? Like, do you feel like this is something that can happen now, or do you think this is something that we're just going to have to plant seeds and grow this garden of greatness in the fight sport? Oh, no, so for me, it makes the complete sense in the world to take that fight right now. Just because Shauna Malley, you knock out Sean Amalley,

you get like it's almost like a rug like and i'd be 100% honest when he says like he's the most popular fighter in the division he is not lying like i like i will i will give him credit on that he is the most popular fighter in the division even even like uh even with a good training partner of mine like a like a friend of mine and uh alger main he is more popular than alger main more popular than a champ more popular than peter yon more popular than the guys in the top five you know so as much as you want to be like he's like he's just the show guy but like He goes out there, he puts ass in the seats, and he's like that guy right now. So he also has a very fantastic fun fight style that fans love to watch.

And also, I bring that. So right now it'd be a great fight. But if he goes out there and starts his Munoz, like how he says he wants to go out there and do, he's not going to be looking back towards a guy who just got kicked out the top 15. You know, Umar took my 15 spot, so I'm like, I'm out the ranking. So I don't think he would want to fight that guy, especially if he's trying to make more money, You know, so taking a fight back. But for me, it makes all the sense in the world.

So, yeah, they'd be like, hey, next fight, Sean O'Malley, do this. Like, I'm signing that deal real quick. What if they put two contracts in front of you? Sean O'Malley, Tony Kelly. What do you sign in first? Oh, man. There's one that's for business and one that's personal. Man, I don't know.

That's a hard decision. That's a hard decision. Because I know even if I beat Tony Kelly again, that fight with Sean Amali. still going to be there. Like, as I go out there, I start Tony Kelly, I'm just going to pump up that, that Sugar Sean fight a little bit more, especially if he fights somebody else, too. But if he stays stagnant and he kind of, like, lets us see how the division goes, and I were to fight Tony Kelly again, it just makes all the sense of the world for me to fight Sean.

But, hey, I don't know, that's a hard one to pick. That's a really hard one to pick, because it's more, it's more like one's business, one's personal. I want to, I want to end the beef, but, like, not even end the beef. I just want to put, like, a, like, a, like, a, bigger stamp on it. I don't know. I'd probably go with Sean. That's a good one. Do you think Sean does go out there and do what he thinks he's going to do and just run over? Pedro's a tough opponent. This is a great test. I think Pedro brings some unique style to him. Plus he's a wily veteran. He's probably seen Sean many of time. Probably knows the ins and outs and everything about Sean Amalley to this point, especially with that team and he's got

behind him. Do you think Sean gets a done or do you think Pedro Munoz can surprise some people here? Man, it's one of those fights for me that it's a tough test. It's a, it's a test for the both of them. Sean Amalley, this is the toughest test he's face. Of course, his resume in the past, like he has fights where, like, guys are kind of on the way out. Pedro Munoz, everybody's been counting him out and saying that he is on the way out because he's kind of like, I think he's like one in, one in three in his last four. So it is kind of like, it is kind of one of those where, like, everybody's counting Munoz out.

But if you watch his fights, he's never, he's not the guy that's been out. He hasn't been getting knocked out like Eddie Wyneland or, or like Thomas Almeida. So it's like one of those that's like, he has a, he has a tough, granted chin that Sean Amalik has to do the most to try to crack it. But then you got Pedro Munoz who's just slick. He's slick. And he's also got those calf. kicks. He has power behind his hands. So Sean Amalley has his hands full. And if he doesn't respect that out of out of Pedro, he's going to get knocked out. But also, Sean Amali has that, he, like,

you can say what you want about him. But when he gets in there, he's laser focused. He's laser focused every some time. So I don't think he's going to take Pedro for granted. So I do think he actually, I think he gets a three-round decision. If he finishes him, I'm going to be super impressed. There you go. The breakdown from one of the top prospects in this division, Adrian Yanna is looking for a big fight. And who knows, if Sean O'Malley wins, maybe we get it. Maybe we get it. Maybe we get it, man. I would hope so. It makes my paycheck a lot bigger. Adrian, enjoy the rest of the week and enjoy the fights on Saturday. The action man joins me. Chris Curtis coming off of a hard-fought, pretty win over Hedolfo Vietta.

How are you, sir? I'm feeling great, man. I'd be a lot less happy had I lost. So yeah, I'm feeling great right now yeah you stuffed like 487 takedowns in one fight man dude this is like 20 for 20 i was more shocked than me i did not think he never shoot that much and like i thought he had like four in him before he broke mentally they like had a takedown number 14 i was i don't think he's gonna quit i think he's gonna keep shooting it's like uh not the uh fight we plan for but hey you know hats off to were you surprised by that because you figure oh hell yeah i thought i thought he had four maybe five in him that he'd break mentally and gas and then like i said me wrong Take time number 14. I'm like, holy shit, man, he's not done. He's still here. So, you know, that

caught me off guard. But hey, we didn't die. I didn't get strangled. And it worked out great. Is there more value in winning like that as opposed to? I mean, listen, you've come out. You have two-meadishers. I wanted my 50-K. Like, yeah, all my value was in that knockout that I didn't get. So, like, thanks a dollar for being, like, you know, decided this show was grit this fight. But, you know, I guess we've shown some people that we can wrestle. We're better at wrestling. We worked in wrestling a lot. So I guess there's just. value in that, but I would have rather had 50K. Were you at the press conference yesterday?

No, I was in the gym, but I watched it. And my, oh my God, I almost felt bad for Izzy. Like, I'm watching it, and I know he can't hear me. I'm trying to coach Izzy, like, bro, I've known him for years. Don't engage him because you're just feeding it to, like, the more you engage him, the worse it gets. Like, he's like a T-Rex. If you play dead and just stop moving, he'll lose interest.

But, like, you can't engage him. He feeds on it. I felt I've never seen his he looks so uncomfortable. I felt fucking terrible for him. Yeah, Sean, just seeing Sean, he's over, man. He's over, like, we're over. He got a huge, huge response from the press coverage from all the fans. He's even yelling at them and, like, calling them names,

calling them losers at certain points, and they're still cheering him. They're like, I love this guy. Just know that, like, you all have created this monster. So when it gets out of hand, and this inevitably explodes on all of your phases, all of you created this. Like this was, I've been in the background for years.

Like, guys, don't feed into it. You all created this monster, and I can't wait to see like when this inevitably goes just horribly wrong. How do you feel he matches up against Alex Beheada? I've been vocal insane, man. I think this is a really dumb call on the UFC's part. Like, it's a big gamble. But, I mean, what does prayer I have?

Like five fights? In MMA, yeah. You're got five MMA fights versus like a 30-fight veteran, like Jitsu Black Belt. like one of the hardest working guys in this sport. Like I think it's a bad, bad matchup. I think Sean can pretty much beat him anywhere. I think Sean can probably outpoint it if he wants to.

I think Sean can take him down and strangle him. I think Sean just make it miserable for 15 minutes. I think Sean can beat him pretty much everywhere he wants. You are the action man for a number of reasons as you've laid out. But one of the reasons why people attach you that name is how active you are. You'd like to get in there and do your thing. This one not a quick finish. This one was a hard-fought battle.

You're stuffing 20 take-down. It was a grueling fight. How quickly do you think you can get back in? I mean, I have to fight today. I'm trying to fight in August if they'll let me. I was back in the gym on Monday. I've been back to my first four week of practice. I didn't take any time off.

There's no vacations. If they'll put me in Utah, I'm down for that. If they got something at the end of July, I'm down for that. I want to go. I'm broke. I'm not broke, but I spent too many years being broke to where I'm still afraid I'm going to be broke. So I'm just trying to stack as much money as I can the fastest way possible.

So if something happens in Utah, somebody needs to fight. Like, I'm down, man. I'm trying to fight right now. There's a couple of people who have called you out. One, you seemed a little stunned by, so I'm going to get your reaction on that. One might be stunning to you, so I'll reveal that later. But Joaquin Buckley calls you out. Nobody gives a fuck about Joaquin Buckley.

What did you think about that, though? It's weird, but once again, I don't give a fuck about Joaquin Buckley. Why? I just don't. He doesn't. He's a snake, man. He's a snake. He does snake shit.

He's known for this. We extended a hand to him, and he also can kind of spit in our face about it. So that dude can die nameless. I don't need to go around following the Detroit Urban Survival Guide to get people to talk about me. Like that's how he stays relevant by doing dumb shit. You know, that's his thing cool, but like, you know, he's just, he's clout chasing. That's what he does. Disinterested.

And then earlier today, literally sitting in this chair, a young man who you may know, a guy who has fought at 85 for a while, he's had some success at 170. He said, Mick, Sean, I want to Two fights at 185 this year. First one against Chris Curtis. Second one against Sean Strickland. He thinks you're like dominoes. If he knocks one down, he can knock down the other.

Kevin Holland. Kevin Holland's always butt hurt about, he's one of the most butt hurt people I've ever met in my entire life. It's absolutely insane. But fuck him, like, whatever. Nobody's afraid of Kevin Holland. Fuck him too. Why do you feel that way, though?

He's always butt hurt. He's always butt hurt about something. Like, he's butt hurt about Sean. Because Sean punked him out in the PI. I'm like a bitch in front of everybody and now he's mad at me about it. I was the one trying to keep the peace, but he's gonna be mad at me. Like, don't be mad at me because Sean makes you like a bitch.

Like, don't handle that your, don't handle your own business. Don't drag me into it. I don't know why everything. Like, the same thing with Buckley. He's mad at Albert, so he's dragging me into me. Why do you all drag me into this shit? The peacemaker? Like, I'm like, bro, I am the neutral person,

and like, you all get havoc, your weird shit, you drag me into it. Like, leave me the fuck out of it. Like, go play Batman in the streets and shit. Like, go do what you're doing, me. make the fuck out of my face last thing Adasanya think he beats cannonair and if so we're gonna see Adasani versus strong struggling because people want to see that fight right now people are all over it I don't even like worried about the fight itself can you imagine the press tour

of honest I saw you're like I've been kind of pulling for Jared but I kind of want to see the Sean versus Izzy press tour he's like it's only a matter of time until Izzy stabbed him to death That's going to be the double conclusion. Easy's going to stab shot out of death on camera and we'll be like, all right, how do we get here? Then we'll have a fully documented trail of just this ridiculousness. So I'm all for it. I kind of want the Izzy Sean Press store.

Awesome. Chris, congratulations. Another great way, man. Great to finally meet you in person. Done too many Zoom interviews. Yeah, we've done some of him. I'm glad the era of Zoom is coming to an end. It kind of sucks.

So, yeah, get to meet him in person. He's very more handsome in person than on cameras. This is great. This is great. I got you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, man. Thanks. I'm sitting with the man who apparently is about to become a bobblehead. You're out of favor. Yeah, we got a bobblehead coming.

It's pretty cool. I think we have some, I'm not sure. I've been seeing a lot of little dolls of me lately. I don't get some for my kids. But the bobblehead is like collector's item, custom made signature series. And I'm pretty pumped about it. When you got into the sport,

did you think that one day you would become your own bobblehead? That was not what I was thinking about. But it's pretty cool, I guess, you know. Absolutely. So International Fight Week, this is something that you've seen and been a part of. But it's been a couple of years since you've had events like this. We get all the fans out here to meet everybody. What has it been like sort of being back and kind of normalcy?

And you're doing a whole bunch of different things right now. I mean, I'm just thankful that things are getting back to normal. For me, I tried to keep it as normal as possible throughout the whole scenario, which is very difficult. but to see the energy and the recognition and even these young fighters that have been in the U.S. that have never seen this kind of thing, it's really cool to see it all come to fruition. And the state of the Bandaway Division right now,

it's on fire, man. We got, looks like we're going to get Sterling versus T.J. Dilloshaw, which is a fight you would have put together if you were the matchmaker because we discussed this. We got Jose Aldo fighting Marab de Wallis, Willie. Song Yudong, who I know you're very familiar with, getting ready to fight Corey Sanhagan. We got so many fun fights coming up.

You just kind of looking at the landscape 135, what does that like to see for you? Man, it's exciting. I mean, we're looking at a bunch of killers all, you know, on their given day could be the best in the world. And it means a lot for the division to be that staff. I mean, it's always been a very stacked division. It's, you know, how many, you know, champions are in the weight class, even guys that were champions at 45s, and even 55s are like a Frankie Edgar. and, you know, it's pretty wild to see what a stack division it is and how much popularity it has given how late it was to the game in the big scheme of the UFC.

Does it make the itch for you to fight again any bigger at all? You know, it's funny. A lot of times I feel like I watch a fight and I'm like, man, I wish I was in there right now. I, like, got to do it, chomping at the bit. And other times I'm watching a fight and thinking, thank you. Thank God I'm not in there fighting right now. So it ebbs and flows, depending on the day. And on occasional, you know, if I've had caffeine or not, you know,

sometimes I'm just like, or I've had enough sleep. You know, when I'm feeling good, I'm like, I'm froggy. I want to jump. So Megan Olivie said something to us yesterday that I wanted to get your thoughts on in particular. We were at the Red Carver for the Hall of Fame, and she was asked, who should be in the Hall of Fame that isn't? And she said that there should be a separate wing for the day. WEC legends, the ones who sort of paved the way, like yourself and Jose Aldo and others, Joseph

Benavides, et cetera. Do you think we should do that, a WEC wing in the UFC Hall of Fame? That'd be cool. I mean, I obviously, not many people know the actual history, but the WEC was always under the UFC umbrella, and I feel like the UFC does take that into consideration. You know, people don't understand that I was almost 32 when they brought my weight class to the WFAC. to the UFC officially, but I was always under the UFC umbrella with the WC fights, and I was the current champion of the world at 135 pounds, the only place to have that. So absolutely there's a case for it, and I think that the UFC does keep that in mind. Same with some of the other organizations that they've conquered and taken over throughout the years,

like a pride type of, you know, history. They take that in consideration. Funny, I met Megan Olivi at the very first fan expo. She was working under Hawaii, who she was working with, but she's just out of college, and that's where I met Megan, and, you know, history goes on, but it's wild to see it where it is today. Yeah, W.C. Wing in the Hall of Fame. Yeah.

And part of International Fight Week, you and Cub Swanson in the Blue Cage, in the WEC Cage, man. Just one time, a little nostalgia. Talked to Cubby yesterday and I was like, hey, man, I got the call out. I never got the follow-up call out. I said, yeah, what's the deal? He said, oh, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. You got to test the weight.

Maybe it'll happen. I mean, if I fight now in 2003, it would be 20 complete years as a mixed martial artist. That's a little enticing, I got to be honest. Especially against a guy, Cub that I really respect a lot. That would be really cool. but you know you never know what's going to happen i don't have to fight i don't think he has to fight either so yeah yeah we'll make that happen you're grappling sunday right uh i think so yeah yeah we're gonna weigh in and and make sure we get all that squirt away tomorrow at ufc fight pass invitation check out

your eye favor that's right representing a1 combat right that's right a one combat uh if you're looking for a fight you want to get your uh you know a real feel at a top promotion on your way to the to the big goal we'd love to have you hit up the map Matchmaker.com, Chad Shepard. There you go. Your eye favor, everybody. Thank you very much. Show the rest of the week, man.

You got it. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything. Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember 988, Canada's suicide crisis hubline. It's good to know, just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder any time.

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