MMA Fighting - No Bets Barred: Can Brandon Moreno Insert Himself Into Title Contention By Beating Steve Erceg At UFC Mexico?

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

The UFC is heading back to Mexico! On Saturday, the UFC returns to the CDMX Arena for UFC Mexico City, headlined by a flyweight clash between former champion Brandon Moreno and former title challenge...r Steve Erceg. Given the state of the flyweight division, this matchup has possible title implications and No Bets Barred is back to break it all down. This week, host Jed Meshew flies solo to dive into all things UFC Mexico City. Topics discussed include whether Erceg can stop his losing streak, Kelvin Gastelum's chances at pulling off the big upset against Joe Pyfer, which big prospects to back this week, the latest update on The Climb, and more. Tune in for episode 122 of No Bets Barred. Follow Jed Meshew: @JedKMeshew 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

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Starting point is 00:00:00 It was the night before the gathering and all through the house. The host rapid cozy cashmere throw from Home Sense for their spouse. Kids toys for $6.99 under the tree. And crystal glasses for just $14.99 for their brother Lee. A baking dish made in Portugal for Tom and Sue. And a nice $5.99 candle perfectly priced just for you. Happy holidays to all. And to all a good price.
Starting point is 00:00:26 Home Sense. Endless presents perfectly priced. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. What is up, y'all? We are back for another edition of No Betts Barred. I don't really know why I sang. Because why not, man? Like, we got some fights going on this weekend.
Starting point is 00:00:55 We're coming off. Actually, I lied. I know exactly why I was saying. You know why? Because last week, finally, we got a good win, not just a marginal, not just a how-do-do kind of a win, but UFC London came through four and a half big units coming down the pipe still behind by a mile this year down of 15-ish units on the air little over that actually but finally put some wins on the board at UFC London and we know why frankly we know why because the Chris Duncan Parley cannot miss two and oh the Chris Duncan Parley is and I will be betting it every single time, it is an option.
Starting point is 00:01:42 I hope they give it to us more. I hope we go to London three times a year, and Chris Duncan's, both of them. They're fighting there, and we can do it. But rest of UFC, London, solid as well. We missed our underdog play on Leon Edwards and missed by a lot. I was never remotely close.
Starting point is 00:02:00 Frankly, the Carlos Oldberg that we were so confident in, looked a little sketchy, but cashed our three parlay, sorry, one of our parlays we did finish. Oh, Guam Cutta Ladez. Crushed all my boys' parley, but we went in solo on Lonnie Kavanaugh afterwards because I still love Lonnie. And, as always, the most important thing,
Starting point is 00:02:20 the climb. We keep on climbing, baby, up La Montagna as we move into Mexico because Leon Edward, Sean Brady, over two and a half. Hairy moments there. Little, little scary at one point in time. But it was fine.
Starting point is 00:02:36 We made it through. Two and a half minus five. $1,500.13 legs of the 30-step climb are down. We are so close to the halfway mark. The bank roll. It is getting up there. If this is your first time here, thank you for tuning in to No Bet's Bart. Love to have you.
Starting point is 00:03:02 $1,160 is where the bankrolls at. The whole goal is to take one $100 bet and keep rolling it over until we, get up to 30 in a row in roughly 20k. We are at 1,400 right now. Very exciting stuff for the climb as we keep marching this weekend with one, maybe two. But we'll get to that in just a moment because this weekend, come Saturday, the UFC is on the road again. They go from London back across the pond and then down to Mexico City for UFC,
Starting point is 00:03:36 Mexico headlined by a flyweight contest between former champion Brandon Moreno and former title challenger Steve Urseg, aka Vincienzhou Erseg, aka Vinnie Sig's. You know we love our boy Vinny Siggs. The rest of the card, a little up and down action. I think the main card is pretty solid, certainly some decent name value there. The undercard largely, you know, Mexican fighters, given the hometown crowd. something to cheer for. A couple of other weird ones, but not a bad card overall.
Starting point is 00:04:11 Certainly something worth doing on Saturday, especially compared to what's coming up the weekend after this. But we'll get to that at the very end of the show. For now, you just got me this week. No guest as we charged New Mexico. And as you'll know, I'm recording this a little later than usual, which is why there's no guest. I had some scheduling conflicts this week, so flying solo.
Starting point is 00:04:33 But we'll have a little bit of fun here because I think there's some good action this. week for us to talk about and it starts right at the tippity top brandon moreno taking on steve urseg as we mentioned not really steve look at him not a steve that's a vincenzo if i've ever seen one that's a veni sigs if i've ever seen one brandon morano your betting favorite mine is 240 the comeback on ursag about plus 200 been some movement on this uh pretty obvious i think why moreno three and two over his past five coming off that unanimous decision went over meaalabazi in November. But two of those losses, a little controversial.
Starting point is 00:05:10 Two split decision losses, Brandon Royval and Alejandro Bantosha. I thought that he won, one, lost one, but I don't think that either scorecards are wrong there. So Brandon Merno could still be the champion right now in some people's eyes and feel like he was robbed. And they wouldn't be insane for believing that. Meanwhile, Steve Erseg, you remember he got that sort of improbable title shot sort of out of nowhere is defeated and then his follow-up fight t keel lost to kai kara france at ucc 305 so a two-fight
Starting point is 00:05:43 skid for vini siggs at this point in time burst onto the scene out of nowhere in at risk of sort of dropping off as quickly as he rose and i know usually we spend the most time talking about the main events because they're usually the big the best fights this is certainly the best fight this weekend i just don't have a huge breakdown here i I frankly think Brandon Moreno is going to win this fight. It feels like a very good stylistic matchup for him. Ersek has very good boxing. He's got a little bit of pop in those hands.
Starting point is 00:06:14 We like who he is as a fighter. I think he is certainly a top 15 flyweight. But Brandon Moreno is arguably, you know, the second best flyweight in the world. I think Pantosia pretty clearly deserves the right to be called that. But Brandon Moreno, still young, still really, really talented, very good. He looked exceptional against Amir al-Bazi and that sort of. return fight. Sometimes he makes, you know, maybe has a fight IQ error or lapse in concentration, but talking about a dynamic grappler, a dynamic striker, a guy who can compete in all phases,
Starting point is 00:06:47 mix things up really well. I think that he is just, he, 100 Pantosha is the best flyweight on earth, and I stand by that. Brandon Moreno is one B with him right there. The two of them are so close together. I think that he can do what Pantosia did, similarly against Diversa, extremely durable. I don't think he's going to get one shot. He can mix in the grappling that can give Ursaac some problems. Ersseg a decent grappler, but much worse off his back. And Brayneiro who's got the better kicks. I think he can just bring a more diversified game to the table here. And so I really like him. I got him at a better price than this because I bet him earlier this week when I was first looking at this. He was down at minus 200. He's up at minus 240. I still don't
Starting point is 00:07:29 mind the play at minus 240. Maybe if you wanted to do some sort of a bigger parlay along that lines, I think that's also totally reasonable. But for me, I'm just on a minus 200. I like the bet. I like Brandon Moreno to have a good day. Sort of fiddled around with maybe some props over unders here. But little shook just, Ursa getting lit up like he did against Kikara, France. Not really sure what to make of that.
Starting point is 00:07:55 So just going to, again, we're trying to claw back 15 units down. We're trying to make the smarter plays that we can. Not to say that they're all smart. frankly i got some dumb ones coming because you know me i always got dumb ones coming but not on this one let's just stick with the straight money action on brandon merino and we can move to it's called the co-main event feels more like a penultimate fight just because it's a little weird good solid fight doesn't feel like it has the same juice as a co-main event maybe the feature bout actually should be swapped in this regard but manuel torres taking on drew dober in a lightweight contest and the odds are pretty
Starting point is 00:08:34 and minus 1-10s across, you know, either side of it. Depending on the book, you can maybe find Dobre as a slight favorite. But very, very closely contested here. Torres, three and one in the promotion coming off, but he's coming off the TKO loss to Ignacio Bahamondez back in September. Dober, meanwhile, been in the UFC for a hot minute, ranked at one point. Two and three over his past five, though, and he's on a two-fight skid, lost both his outings in 2024, to Hanato Morcano.
Starting point is 00:09:02 and my guy, Jean-Silva. So, tough scenes. And look, I said I was going to do some stupid things. You know what's the stupid thing to do? Gmicks. And we love a gimmick here. Chet, GPT is one of the gimmicks that we love more than most gimmicks, frankly. And so we decided, hey, even matchup, you know, even odds.
Starting point is 00:09:25 Fight I honestly don't feel like super confident one way or the other. Let's turn the ball over to chat GPT who's having a, tough year at this point in time. Still picking historically about 66%, which you would be in love with, but it has consistently been missing this year. I'm going to give it a chance to get back on the right side of history. And Chat, GPD had this to say about the co-main event. It says the tour is going to come out fast, uses speed, sharp striking, push the pace early, and Drew Dober is, of course, willing to trade. We know what he is going to do, but the chin on that fella. We also know, look at it man looks like a young j lino out there with that sort of a jaw line he eats some clean
Starting point is 00:10:08 shots the chin holds up lands his own counters it's a back and forth first round but in the second round his experience and durability pays off uh Torres tends to be too aggressive gets drawn into too much of a firefight doberlands a big counter shot left hand short hook inside drops Torres follows it up, finishes this off with ground and pound to get the TKO in round two. And so with that, Drew Dober, minus 110, is where we got him. Straight enough play.
Starting point is 00:10:38 Chad Cheap-T says it so. Hopefully we get back on the winning track with Chat Cheap-T. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. It's just $39.99. How could I
Starting point is 00:10:54 resist? This luxurious will throw for my sister. This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss? Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard? At these prices, could I find something for everyone at winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting.
Starting point is 00:11:11 Winners, find fabulous for less. And now onto a fight that I'm arguably the most excited to talk about of all the fights this weekend, because it's such a curious one to me, a middleweight contest between Kelvin Gastilum and Joe Pfeiffer. odds have Pfei for a Z favorite minus 300 to come back on Gastilum plus 250 Gastilum two and three over his past five you know lost the unanimous decision or won a unanimous decision over Daniel Rodriguez back in June
Starting point is 00:11:43 sort of been bouncing around between welterweight and middleweight right like he just not doing things like he drops down to welterweight lose his Sean Brady goes back up to middleweight fights D-Rod, a career welterweight at middleweight, you know, gets that win. Seems like he probably is supposed to be a welterweight and just refuses to do that. Because losing to Sean Brady is no shame in that. We just saw what Sean Brady can do in that weight class. So a little undersized against Joe Pfeu is not undersized whatsoever. Four and one in the UFC.
Starting point is 00:12:18 Knocked out Mark Andre Bachio at UFC 303 last year. I just think this line is insane. Now, the line's much less insane than it used to be. Line moved a lot. When I looked at this at the beginning of this week, Pfefer was a minus 500 favorite. It's already come down to minus 300 at most places. But it should be no surprise to you that given how big he was, Gaston was a plus 400 underdog.
Starting point is 00:12:42 And I took a shot on that as soon as I saw it. That line was just far too big. The thing is Piper, you know, good story, good storyteller, a little bit of that it factor certainly believes himself to be the big swinging in the yard but i haven't seen a lot of that play out on the tape i think that he is just an athletic powerful guy and really leans very heavily on on his physical attributes and that can get you pretty far in this game but kelvin gastilum man's got a chin like a block of iron you know like you're not just going to overpower him like you do mark andre bar hill you know at gastilum can take
Starting point is 00:13:21 a licking and keep on ticking and so i think that the odds at particularly where I got them are simply way too high. Maybe Piper just goes to plan B, uses his wrestling. Kelvin Gasselam is obviously known as a wrestler, but not at nearly as good defensive wrestler as I think people probably think he is. And, you know, we saw Chris Widman just bully him on the ground. This is possible that Piper can do something similar. But I just think Gasselm is very live, even at these odds,
Starting point is 00:13:47 with being super durable and just Piper being a little bit limited in ideas you know, be a bit of a one-track line on how he's going to approach things. I like Calvin Gaslam as an underdog pick. I only have a half unit on it. It didn't go massive because it was plus 400. But I do think there's value there, and I wanted to jump on that as soon as I saw how big that line was. A couple of big lines in this fight card, frankly.
Starting point is 00:14:14 Like, let's just be real here. Some really big lines out there. And this next one is no different. A bantamweight contest between Raoul Roses Jr. and VIII. Vince Morales, depending on the book, you can get Rosas at minus 400. Morales, come back around plus 350. You all know it at this point. You know who Rao Rosas Jr. is.
Starting point is 00:14:34 20-year-old Raul Rosas Jr., no longer 19. Three-fight winning street. Coming off the unanimous decision win over Richie Lang at UFC 306, a nocha UFC 2 or whatever we're calling that one. Morales, two-fighted skid. Lost to my guy Elijah Smith back in February, Super Prospect Elijah Smith. this is what exactly looks like. Rosa's still getting that push.
Starting point is 00:14:57 I think this fight makes sense as a, look, you keep developing him. You keep giving him guys he can beat, guys who, you know, can just a slight step up. And I think Vince Morales is that over Richie Lang, make him work a little harder. I still don't anticipate him having any issues. The only concern for Rosas in this fight as far as I'm concerned, the altitude, Mexico City. We know it's up there. Rosas, Jr., has shown some weakness with. his cardio, particularly just the way he fights.
Starting point is 00:15:24 He's just dumping everything. So, you know, see if he can be a little bit more measured. But I think he is. I think he's learning. I think he's getting better. I still don't really see him as like a future champion. It just doesn't seem like that level of prospect to me. But they're going to give him every opportunity to develop properly.
Starting point is 00:15:42 This seems like one of those. And so it should come as no surprise then. This is Climbet Nouno. Check out that Spanish for you. UFC Mexico guys climb bet number one is raoul rosa's junior this is the 14th step on the climb it's a it's a big one for us now the only question is whether it's going to be one of two this week because there were a number of things i looked at this week as potential climbs i feel good about the ral rosa junior one i was talking to some people offline because if i lose i can
Starting point is 00:16:16 hate ral rosa junior forever he will just immediately be my enemy but i don't even think i'm going to lose. I'm pretty sure he's going to get it done and we can move on up. But we'll talk about the possible other climb step in just a moment here, because we're going to leave that up to the gods to decide. But before we get to that, we have another Bannamweight contest to talk about because David Martinez takes on Simon Olivera Martinez, another really big favorite. Minus 400 Olivera plus 300 Martinez, making his UCC debut at such a big price. coming off the most recent season of Contender Series, whereas Olivera is 0 and 2 in the UFC,
Starting point is 00:16:56 coming off a TKOLO's to Daniel Marcos in January of 2023. And that should tell you everything you need to know about this one, boys and girls. There's a setup fight. Oliver hasn't fought in two years. He hasn't won since 2021 on the Contender Series. You know, wasn't even a great Contender Series prospect. Martinez is young, dynamic, former Combate champion. This is a guy who I graded as a round one prospect coming off Contender Series.
Starting point is 00:17:25 I think he's got a good solid ceiling, but more importantly, a very high floor. He's already got some polish. He's already, he's pro-ready to hit the ground running in the UFC. I like what he can offer. And he, while we've had a couple of, you know, my guys, top-tier prospects have setbacks. Austin Bashie had a setback. Who had a setback last week that I am forgetting about? that dropped off in a terrible way.
Starting point is 00:17:52 I'm now looking at this because it wasn't last week. Sorry, it was the week before. And who was it? Why can't? Oh, D.R. Nargazev, but I wasn't really a drop-off. So I'm actually fine with that. Oh, is Osias Musasa. That's right, at the Vittori Delizze.
Starting point is 00:18:10 Guy I am still like, but, you know, you can have those sorts of, whoops, what happened losses? I think Martinez is actually uniquely, shielded from such things because he's already so capable. He's already such a developed fighter in that regard. I really like him get a win.
Starting point is 00:18:27 Not climbing with him, though. Instead, he is in a separate parlay. I got him a minus 375 for the parlay with one other leg. You'll hear about that other leg. Like deep readers of my work will know where that other leg is, but we're going to it in a little bit.
Starting point is 00:18:45 Let's move on to the final fight of the main card on Saturday. Ronaldo Rodriguez taking on Kevin Borjas in a flyweight contest. Much, much more tightly lined this one, Rodriguez minus 150 to come back on Borjas plus 125. Rodriguez, tune on the promotion, right? Tune on the UFC coming off the unanimous decision win over O'Day Osborne in September. Boras the opposite.
Starting point is 00:19:10 O and 2 in the UFC coming off at TKO lost Alessandra Costa in May. Boris was a 2023 contender series signing who is fine. had like a little bit of promise, but nothing spectacular, jumped off the page. He can strike a little bit, but I ultimately think Ronaldo Rodriguez just mix things up a little better, a more diversified game. Can strike, certainly a willing striker, but also can go to that grappling as necessary. This is probably a bit of a reach, frankly, but I kind of just wanted to have some action. I am very interested in Lazy Boy because I'm curious.
Starting point is 00:19:45 I just don't know what his ceiling, how good he can be. but there's something about him that makes me want to pay attention. I also, let me actually look this up. I believe somebody drafted Lazy Boer on our fantasy teams, if I am not mistaken. In fact, Mike Heck has Rinaldo Rodriguez on his fantasy team. So other people are in. I just kind of want to, I'm interested. I want to see where we're going.
Starting point is 00:20:06 I think, you know, you're getting a little bit of bump with Ronaldo fighting in front of the Mexican crowd. You know, things are going to be lit for him. I backed him a minus 150. Not the best but I've ever made, but hopefully it pays out. And now we move on to the prelims where Edgar Chiraz takes on C.J. Vergara in a flyweight contest. Shires, your betting favorite, minus 250. The comeback on Vergara plus 205. Shires, one and two with one no contest in the UFC coming off that loss to Joshua Van.
Starting point is 00:20:41 Vergara 3 and 4 in the UFC. Two fight skid. TK. lost to Ramadan Timorov in October. The fun thing about Chiraez is the delta between his competition is vast. It's one and two sounds bad, and it's not great. Those two losses, Josh Van and Tutsu-Rue Tyra. Those are top 15 flywates. Frankly, they're probably top 10 flywates, incredibly talented young flywates.
Starting point is 00:21:06 His win, Daniel Lacerda, the losingest man in UFC history. Like just a huge gap that makes it impossible to have any confidence in who, Gershires is what he brings to the table, what he genuinely offers, because he's lost to elite elite guys, and he beat just a terrible fighter. No disrespect, no Lacerda. I mean, you were disrespected, so if you're listening to this, I am sorry, but it is what it is, in the words of the great Max Holloway. Vergara also actually did beat Lacerda, but he did it more slowly, and he also lost
Starting point is 00:21:43 to Tyra, and he lost more quickly. So the MMA math would suggest that Edgar Shire is going to win. I don't care for these odds. This is just a full pass for me for the prelim main event. And we go to a fight that is not a pass because it is a middleweight contest. In fact, one of the two middleweight contests, the two heaviest fights of the evening, the feature battle between Gastleman Pfeiffer, and this middleweight contest between Jose, Daniel, funky, cold, Medina, and a Teba, Gauti.
Starting point is 00:22:15 Gatier, Gautier, your big favorite, minus 425 to come back on Medina plus 325. Medina, I went two in the UFC. United Obscission lost to Zach Reese back in August, whereas Gauthier making his debut, another contender series guy making his debut as a big favorite. And just like with David Martinez, he was a round one prospect for me from contender series. I comped him to next generation Melvin Manhuff. Dude is chiseled out of stone. Looks great getting off the bus.
Starting point is 00:22:47 And Funky Colt Medina is just not that good. Got a decent chin so maybe he can hang around and make things a little spicier for Gautier. But I like Gautier's chances. And so I paired him up with David Martinez for a little round one parlay. You know, just really top tier stuff when you get down to it. I've got two round one contingency series prospects. Might as well team them together. Look, I'm nothing if not predictable.
Starting point is 00:23:17 I'm sure many of you saw that coming. And, you know, it is where it is. Pays hour on minus 175. So, you know, you live. We accept it. I think it's going to cash. If they weren't in a week or week, that might be looking at, you know, climb bets for us, but not this week.
Starting point is 00:23:35 I already got one I feel good about. And another one I feel kind of good about, but I'm conflicted, which we will talk about. Not next. Not even next to next. And still, a little ways to come before we talk about that. But we keep right on rolling to a featherweight contest. Christian Rodriguez, Searrod taking on Melchizal Costa.
Starting point is 00:23:54 Cerod, your betting favorite minus 160 to come back on Costa plus 140. Cod, 5 and 2 in the promotion coming off, ruining my day as he took a unanimousition win over Austin Bashie back in January. My guy, Austin Bashie. Costa tapped Andre, in February with the guillotine choke looked really nice in that fight Searod known as the prospect destroyer right like he's he's just turning back these hot stuff prospects. Melkees-au-Costa not really that sort of an established guy been around for a little bit and
Starting point is 00:24:27 you know it's 28 years old coast is struggling on the ground at times seawad isn't like a world beater there which is kind of where this is I don't know this fight just feels really competitive to me um if I was gun to my head I'm going to pick Cod to win a decision just because of his composure's versatility. But I don't have a great read on this. And so this is one of the few just stone passes for me this weekend. Not passing on our next one, a women's strawweight contest as Lupi Godinez takes on Julia. Pallastry, Gaudinez minus 225, betting favorite to come back on Pallastry plus 200.
Starting point is 00:25:03 Plashtry 1 in the UFC, split decision went over Corey McKenna back in August, whereas Lupi, been around for a minute, ranked, you know, is on a two-fight losing streak, lost both their fights last year. But shows to Viena Genjiroba and McKinsey Dern, top seven women's flyweights, like two women who arguably will will or could fight for the belt in their next fights. There are no shame in losing to them. And I think that that tells the tale here. Pallastri is winning split decisions over Corey McKenna. Godinez is having a tough night against some of the very best in the world. she is just a better fighter,
Starting point is 00:25:39 brings more pressure, more pace, better grappling, can mix it up a little bit better. I think she's going to be able to get takedowns that she want them. Plus, she's never been finished. Honestly, if you look at this, the over two and a half is like minus 600 something, minus 650. That's not a bad climb piece if you are doing your own climb at home.
Starting point is 00:25:57 The over one and a half is like minus 900, so that's pretty high to climb with. But still, minus 650, very manageable. Is that something you're looking at? I am not going to do that. Just going to pass. But instead, I am doing Godinez by decision. Plus, she's never been finished.
Starting point is 00:26:15 Godine's not much of a finisher. I think she just wins on the cards. And you get a little bit better of her pricing. Get her down at minus 185. So even though it's probably not mathematically, right, you should probably just take the additional points to just ensure nothing wonky happens. I don't have any prop bets.
Starting point is 00:26:32 I figured it'd be a little bit fun. Let's do it. Godinez by decision minus 185. And that takes us to the big show, guys, because Rafa Garcia is taking on Vince Pichel in a lightweight contest. Garcia minus 485 betting favorite Vince from hell Pichel plus 370. Garcia, three and two over his past five. Submission lost to Grant Dawson. And we may remember that it was in fact Rafa Garcia who ruined our first iteration of the climb because the over one and a half was the bet that I had made.
Starting point is 00:27:07 I believe my words were something akin to. Grant Dawson doesn't finish people. Certainly doesn't finish them early. So Rafa Garcia, he's going to make it seven and a half minutes and lose a decision. TKO at freaking six minutes and 42 seconds and the first climb died on the vine. So we still have some issues with Lofa Garcia over that. That being said, Pichel is Vince Pichel. He's fought twice in the last five years, basically.
Starting point is 00:27:36 lost both of those to Mark Madsen and Ishmael Bonfam. He's 42. You know, like I said, barely fights. Can't grapple. Ravel Garcia could take him down and should easily win this fight. Everything in my head is suggesting that Rapha Garcia should be a climb bet this week. The only issue is that I am still mad at him for ruining the climb the last time. And so I've decided that what we're going to do is going to let the gods decide. I'm a long time listeners may remember. I used to have a bit with a magic eight ball, and I would ask the magic eight ball for guidance in situations.
Starting point is 00:28:13 I'm breaking out the eight ball again. If this were on video, you could see me shaking the magic eight ball, because sometimes we need those above us, the heavens to give us a sign. And this is a sign I need. Because if Rapha Garcia loses this fight, I will hate him forever, who will be my sworn enemy. And I don't want to hate him.
Starting point is 00:28:33 I don't need that. But that's only if I make him the climb. If I don't, if I just choose to pass, be okay. And so I'm shaking the Magic A-Ball and Magic A-Ball. Let me ask you, should I double-dip on the climb this week? Should I have Rafa Garcia as a second step for the climb? Because if we win, if we win them both, we are officially at the halfway mark of the climb. Should Rafa Garcia get that honor?
Starting point is 00:29:02 A shot at redemption, Magic A-ball. should he? The Magic Gateball says you may rely on it. So boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, Magic Gateball, it has spoken Rafa Garcia at minus 500, which is the price I can get him out in my book. He is going to be leg two of the climb.
Starting point is 00:29:21 That is double step in here. We're trying to elevate, escalate, accelerate our way up this mountain. Rafa Garcia, your chance at redemption. It's on Saturday. A couple of fights left. to talk about. We won't spend too much time because really we were building up to the Rafa Garcia
Starting point is 00:29:38 fight. It's Jamal Emers taking on Gabriel Miranda in a featherweight contest. Emers, big betting favorite, minus 320. Come back on Miranda plus 260. Emers, 3 and 4 in the promotion coming off the TKLost in 8 land were a year ago and Miranda 1 and 2 got knocked out by
Starting point is 00:29:54 Morgan Shahriy in September. Emers has gone loss win, loss win, loss, so he is due for a win but more importantly I think he is going to win this fight he can wrestle defensively he's the better striker
Starting point is 00:30:08 I think Miranda is probably in trouble he's pretty tough but I think that this is just a clear cut Jamal Emers is either going to get a TKO or just a clear decision price is really big if I had something else just laying around that I wanted to parlay him with I think that that would be
Starting point is 00:30:23 more than okay to tuck Emers into a parley but I don't so I'm just going to pass not even going to do like some sort of open parley and just pass, move on to the next thing. And the next thing is the first thing, aka the last thing for us to talk about, Markell Maderos taking on Austin, Hubbard,
Starting point is 00:30:41 Mederos, minus 200 betting favorite, the comeback on Hubbard, 1 and 2 in the UFC since coming out of the Ultimate Fighter, lost a split decision, Alexander Hernandez back in October, whereas Maderos is 1-0 and a big pause prospect who got a unanimous decision win over Lendon,
Starting point is 00:31:01 in February of last year, so a little over a year layoff for him. That being said, you guys know how I feel about Big Pause prospects. These, you know, they're my favorite guys. They are doing exceedingly well. Let me actually just take one second and pull up my list to see how well they're doing. 17 and 5, I believe now, a couple of losses recently. But the Big Pause guys, they're doing quite well, so I am still backing him. I think he's just a more dynamic strikeer, good enough wrestler to keep this fight
Starting point is 00:31:33 where once all snubber just doesn't really have a lot of options in this fight as far as I'm concerned. So Mark Almaderos, bet him straight up minus 200. Easy enough to kickstart my weekend, kickstart things as we get going. And ladies and gentlemen, that is it. UFC Mexico City. I think actually maybe it's just UFC Mexico. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:31:52 It's in the books. Arena CDMX on Saturday, March 29th. Should be a good time and we should enjoy it because then after that, next week is tough boys and girls april fifth we get Vegas 105 main event pretty good right josh emett laurel murphy that's a good fight pat sabatini joe henderson brittow isn't terrible and the rest of it is oh new new combatants for possible middleweighty middleweight championship brad davar's charlott getting after it and yeah uh not not what i call a good
Starting point is 00:32:28 fight card not what i call a good fight card Uh, so I don't know. I don't know what to tell you guys. We're going to be picking some apples next weekend. So enjoy this weekend when there is a good fight card going on in Mexico City. As always, I am truly honored that you take the time to listen to me. I will never, never take it for granted that you spend 30 minutes listening to my dumbass yap about stuff. And let's keep climbing, guys.
Starting point is 00:32:54 13 down. Hopefully we'll be at the halfway mark heading into Vegas 105. Fingers crossed. Thanks for listening. Love y'all. Unwrap holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you. From festive and cozy fashion to lux beauty and fragrance sets, our special selection has something for every style and price point. Visit our Holt's holiday shop and store or online at Holtrenfrew.com.

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