MMA Fighting - No Bets Barred: Can Carlos Prates Earn A Ranking At UFC Vegas 100 Or Will Neil Magny Add Another Upset To His Resume?

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

Fresh off the heels of UFC Edmonton, the world's leading MMA promotion heads back to the APEX for a historic event: UFC APEX 100, headlined by a welterweight matchup between Neil Magny and Carlos Prates. And No Bets Barred is back to break it all down. Host Jed Meshew runs solo this week to break down this legendary event with all his favorite plays. Topics discussed include Prates's incredible run through 2024 and whether Magny can pull off the upset yet again, how much does former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt have left in the tank, the return of "Brazilian Killer" Nicolas Dalby, and the debut of Jed's boy, former two-division ONE Champion Reiner de Ridder. And speaking of ONE, they also have an event taking place this weekend with ONE 169 going down on Friday, headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug. Jed also breaks down the big fights from ONE, plus the latest edition of "THE CLIMB" and more on this week's episode. Tune in for episode 107 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

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. What is up, y'all? We are back for another edition of No Betts Bard. And it's a big one, ladies and gentlemen, UFC Apex 100 bells and whistle sound effects. Yeah, that's right. A hundred events will have now officially taken place in the world's most famous Apex this Saturday. it is headlined this event by Neil Magnetigan on colors of Prattice in a welterweight contest and it's a twofer because we've also got a one championship card

happening one championship 169 a card that is both near and dear to my heart and that I hate with a fiery passion because that card was supposed to take place in Atlanta Georgia I was supposed to attend that card I was supposed to get to see my boy anatoly malikin take on Rugrug in the main event and then one did it's one thing. I'm not here to speculate about the, I don't even want go to that road. One move the car just taking place in Thailand, but it's actually sneaky, pretty good. There's certain big names. It's a very big name, certainly for one event. So I'm going to talk about that at the end, but we're going to start the same place we always start. And that is with a very brief recap of what happened last weekend. Last weekend was good old UFC Edmonds.

And in your main event, Brandon Moreno did the damn thing. Got back in the win column. Took a UD over Amir al-Bazi. I've talked enough about how that fight went, how this card went on other programs. So check out our post show. Check out BTL this week. It drops on Thursday. I'll be on there.

I'm sure I'll talk more about it. But for me, a couple of big things happened. One, winning week up almost two units, not quite. So still in the black for the year, inching back. We suffered a big loss a few weeks back. We're trying to climb back up. And speaking of the climb, ladies and gentlemen, leg four of the climb hit. If you don't know what the climb is, we're trying to string together 30 consecutive bets,

specifically the climb bets look like minus 500-ish thereabouts. Last week, the bet was Marina Obazi over one and a half. We also had a bet on Derek Lewis-Denise, not going to decision. that fight fell off, so only one leg of the climb completed last week, but we are now four steps down, 26 to go as we continue, our inexorable march to $30,000. So good weekend overall, and I thought about this weekend. Apex 100 tried to get the inimitable Connor Barks to come back on.

Just, you know, it seems fitting for us to do an Apex 100 show. We talked about it so much. our schedules simply could not align. So this will probably be a fairly quick episode as I'll just be sort of running through my bets, quick mentions on each fight. And that's it, ladies and gentlemen, let's get right to it.

And right to it is the Walterway contest between Neil Magny and Carlos Proste as your main event for UFC Apex 100. Honestly, a better main event than Apex 100 deserved because Carlos protest is gangbusters. This dude is having an absolute, murderous year in the UFC since coming to the promotion off of contender series. And I'll be honest, his contender series run a perfectly fine performance, but I did not rate him

that highly. I thought he could be a fun action guy, but not sort of a dude who's going to make a massive impression. And I couldn't have been more wrong. He has overachied that expectation for me considerably three fights this year already, three finishes, three bonuses. Guy is going to be on the all-violence team 100% at the end of the year, which is come right around the corner.

And now he has an opportunity to take a UFC ranking in his first year in the promotion. Neil Magny holding number 15 for the UFC, so he is still right there. And Prattice is a big, big favorite to do so. The odds right now, depending on where you look, protest minus 700 minus 750 and the comeback on Magni plus 550. So Magny's a big dog here. And part of me says that that's a lot of value on Neil Magny. I do not believe Neil Magny is going to win this fight,

but Neil Magny has a history of success as an underdog. Nine and nine in his career as an underdog. I mean, you just bet him blindly as an underdog odds. Neil Magny has made you a good return on your investment thus far. Doesn't win them all, but he is certainly competitive. That being said, last time out, that started to become a concern for me. Because, well, the time before, yes, he did defeat Mike Malott. It's because sort of this miracle comeback.

We talked a lot about that the week before with Mike Malott, obviously, competing at U.C. Edmonton. He rebounded fights Michael Morales this August and just gets steamed. steamrolled. And I like Michael Miles a lot. I think the kids got a bright, bright future. But when you're talking about a guy in Neil Magni who is 37 years old, a lot of mileage on him, just so much mileage on him, against top shelf competition. This dude has been fighting very, very good fighters for like a billion years at this point. I mean, almost a decade where, frankly, it is just a list of names of people you know, not getting any days off. And that takes a toll

on you. And outside of the incredible Mike Malak comeback win, if he doesn't pull that off, then he's lost three in a row. His last win is a questionable split decision over Philip Roe. I don't think he deserved that decision. And then if you take that out of the equation, his last good win, real, true, honest, no issues or qualms about it when is the Daniel Rodriguez submission in 2022. So, just, Just pointing that out, there's a reason this line is that high. I consider Prattis, frankly, to be a leg of the climb this week. And then I decided, I'm a little scared by Magny's pinch it for pulling off upsets.

I still do want to be involved in the college protest game. Frankly, I would like to be involved in the callers protest by finish game. Magni has been finished in nine of his 12 losses. Five rounds gives even more of an opportunity. but you're just not even getting a good price there. You're looking at minus 300 for protests, you know, by knockout sort of that line of things. And I mean, that is certainly better than minus 700, but it's not that much better. When we're starting to get into that big a price, the difference is negligible.

Give me, let the conservative approach apply for me here. And so what I've done instead, taking Carlos Bratis, I've put him in a parlay with one other fighter on this UFC card. I got two parlayes this weekend. One is on the UFC. One is in one championship. And we'll get to the second leg of that parlay. But for now, we're going to move on to our co-main event of the evening.

A Bantamweight contest, Cody Garbrandt, former Bantamweight champion, taking on Miles Johns. Garbrandt, a slight underdog, plus 130, Miles Johns, minus 150. And I got to be honest with you guys, you know my feelings on Cody Garbrand. and I've made no bones about it. If you've listened to this podcast for a while, if you've consumed any other MMAFighting.com, great website content, you know that I'm looking to fade Cody Garbrand at any point in time. And I thought for sure, Miles John's only minus 150.

Terrific, I love that price. And then I dug in a little bit, and I like that price a lot less now. I think Cody Garbrandt is not washed. It's weird, right? Because you watch him compete, and there are times, there are moments when he has, he shows you what made him a champion. He shows you he still has something in there. But it does feel like there are just a lot of other times where he doesn't have the same trigger he used to. And my read on that is that it is, it's all a confidence game that he was brimming with confidence as the undefeated fighter coming up to be the champion.

And when that was taken away from him violently, repeatedly, he's never gotten back to the, that space in the way that he needs to be to operate full bore as, you know, quote unquote, no love. Miles Johnson, on the other hand, it's just rock solid fighter, rock solid fighter, a guy who's going to hang around that top 20, 25, you know, win more than he loses in, in that sort of area. But just nothing jumps out of the page. And this is clearly the best opponent he will ever face depending on what version of

Garberant we get. It's the biggest step up in name value. And he has just not done enough to make me say Miles Johns, I feel wildly confident, especially because I do think he's going to give Garbrand the fight Garbrand once. Like this is going to be a striking affair. And Garbrandt's got really fast hands. John's not a huge hitter. It can hit, like has some power, but not monstrous in that regard.

So maybe Cody Garbrant can be a little more confident his ability to strike without getting knocked out here. And if Cody Garbrandt is feeling confident, he's feeling the flow, he's going to come and he's going to deliver a good performance. And so all that's really just to say, I actually think this fight is lined pretty well. I would have Miles Johnson stilled as a favorite, but it wouldn't be by much. I don't feel like I have a great read on what exactly will happen. And so I can't feel great about any bet here. And so for the co-main event this weekend, I have opted to just pass. Moving on, feature about the evening.

Carolina Kovalkavich taking on Denise Gomez in a women's strawweight contest, and Kovokevich is a massive underdog, plus 390 for a koala bear, as I like to call her. Deniseie Gomez minus 460. And look, I have been riding with Kovalkavich for a long time.

I supported her in the Rosnamer Yunus win. I was backing her as an underdog there. and I just have kind of continued to back her in spots, not blindly. I think she is just a very underrated fighter, even late in her career as she is old. She's 39 now. She's still proven to have a lot of tools. Denise Gomez is young, has a lot of power, but I should not be at minus 460 favorite. That's right.

I'm backing my girl again. Plus 390 is such a big price for Kovalcovic. Gomez is younger. Like I said, she hits harder than Kovo Kavich, certainly, but Kovokovic has the advantage in volume. She is a more active competitor on the feet. And although she doesn't shoot a lot of takedowns, Gomez is so bad at it.

Kovo Kovovic has historically been able to secure a takedown or two in times, sneaky decent in the clinch. Wouldn't shock me if Gomez comes out here. And Kovo Kovovic is simply too old to compete. But Kovovovic has a great chin. I don't think she's going to get cracked and just sort of fall over like some opponents Gomez have. And like I said, I think she's just got that dog in her.

Even at 39, she's out here. I think she can muck this up. And she brings a ton of value at a price this big. If this were a straight pickum, I'm not betting it. And that's reasonable. But with this sort of line on Kovalkovich, give me a shot on my girls. My first straight bed of the weekend. And frankly, it's a pretty sizable one.

Not the bet itself, but the odds. Pretty, pretty big there. When I got a great deal on a great gift at winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $399, how could I 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 When it winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting.

Winners, find fabulous for less. Moving on to a fight. This is a fight happening, and spoiler alert, I will not be spending a ton of time talking about it. It is Ricky Terseos taking on Bernardo Sopage in a Bantamweight contest. Terseos, your underdog plus 250. Sopage, despite making, I believe this is his UFC debut. I can't actually remember that.

If that's a lie, edited out. I'm looking at my notes here. No, because he got killed by Venetius Oliver March. That's right. So, yeah, I just don't care at all about this fight. I don't want to be involved in it. Tosio's a fun fighter, but it's not a very good one. And I don't think Sopage is either.

I will give Tertio's credit, his wins. They have at least coming against real opposition. The same cannot really be said of Sopage, whose wins are all regional. But I'm not betting Ricky Terseus as an underdog. There's no reason to make that bet. For me, if you're on it, Godspeed, good luck, but not for me. A middleweight contest is up next.

Gerald Mearsharth taken on my boy. It's a weekend of my boys, people. Rinié de Ritter, aka the Dutch Knight, a.k.a. Hiney to hitter, aka the former one championship champ champ. He is making his UFC debut. This is the moment I've been waiting for for a long time.

If y'all have listened to our ranking shows in the past, just me talking various things. I'm shouting out this guy because I love him. He is a deeply fun fighter to me. That is not the same as saying he is an amazingly good fighter, though I do think he is a good middleweight. But he sparks, joy, as Marie Kondo would say.

And Gerald Mearschart is basically a really bad version of him. Like that sounds a bit dismissive, but it is my feelings on this. And that's why Mearshart, big underdog plus 250, RDR minus 275 thereabouts. Credit to Mearsart, I will say, he's got a little bit of that Magny in him. As an underdog, he's seven and nine. So he wins almost as often as he loses when he is. is a when he is priced as the underdog and returns money for you because he's usually a fairly decent sized one in those spots uh rdr obviously don't have a ton of of betting options on him

betting history but back to my point being rdr's just going to win this fight he is basically a better version of meershart he's like he's not a great striker meershart is neither i would actually say rdr is probably a quote unquote better striker not certainly not a dangerous one one. But RDR is a very dangerous crappler. He's very good crappler. The only guy who's beaten him is Anatoly Malikin who, newsflash absolute savage,

three division champion in one. This dude, I'll talk about him a little bit, but yeah, there's no shame in losing to a guy who is naturally much larger and also a monstrous, monstrous man. I think Mirashart just doesn't

really have a lot of options to win this fight. And so, pretty simply, I was always going to back my boy. It was finding the right way to do it. Thought about just doing them straight minus 275. Figured in, let's have a little fun. Mertrard actually, despite being a grappler himself, been submitted eight times,

and I do think RDR is the better grappler. I threw a little half unit on RDR by submission plus 215, and hopefully that will pay off in a, you know, in a sizable, happy way for us. Moving on to the final fight of the main card, a women's strawweight contest, Luana Pinheiro, taking on Jillian Robertson. Robertson, minus 345, one of the bigger favorites on the card, Pinheiro plus 320, the comeback. And this is a really straightforward fight, ladies and gentlemen. Robertson is the biggest submission threat in this division.

She has the most submissions in strawweight history. by like two times the next closest person. If she can get takedowns, she has a very good chance to get the submission and if not, she has a very good chance to win the fight. Piniero will engage with Robertson and grappling. She always has. She's not a particularly good defensive wrestler.

So I think Robertson is going to get the fight she wants. The betting trends here, Robertson 9 and 3 is a favorite. When she is still as a favorite, she's cash in those tickets. Piniero never won as an underdog. This is all very, very straightforward. I think Robertson should get the fight she wants and should have a performance to go along with it. And so we paired her up with call those protests. Look, two, they're very big favorites, so it's not exciting in the price point we're getting.

Parlay them together for minus 2.30 or so, but worth it to me. And I get to back some people I feel reasonably confident are going to get their hands raised without exposing them to the climb in a way that I feel even more confident with somebody else a little later on in this episode. So that's your main card. But we are far from done because we don't not, we're not even getting to one yet. We got seven more fights on this card. And I'm just going to rip through them.

I don't have a ton of action. I still have a few, but a few of these fights will get a little short shrift. and I think you can understand and be reasonable why. But our prelim main event, this one, I mean, this one ain't getting short drift. It's Elizu Zelisky dos Santos taking on Nicholas Dalby in a welterweight contest and a rematch. These two originally fought in 2015. Dolby won a split decision. And the most important piece of that, that if you guys are longtime no-bets barred listeners,

If you're fans of me or Connor Birx or the stuff we've done, you know what I'm about to tell you. That fight, the Elisou Dos Santos fight, that was the night that the legend of Nicholas Dalby Brazilian killer was born. Five and O over Brazilians in his career is Nicholas Dalby, and it all started with the ZDS fight the first time around almost a decade ago. Now they get it back. Will this mean that if ZDS wins, will it derail the Brazilian killer permanently forever? Is this a fight for all Brazilians for EZD?

Not just as a, I want to defend our honor. I want to get this back for me and I want to end the reign of the Brazilian killer, but will this break Dolby's magic over the nation of Brazil and will subsequent Brazilians be able to come in and say, oh, I can defeat Nicholas Dalby now. We won't know. We will not know until the fight happens. But I don't think we're ever going to know because, frankly, Nicholas Dalby is going to get this win again. You don't need any more explanation.

Five and O against Brazilians, it all started here. It will continue to go because this man, when he is staring down a man from arguably the greatest nation, the most influential nation in the history of this sport, he has no. F's to give and no losses to take. Only minus 120 for Dalby. Love that action form. I'm taking the Brazilian killer, and we ride on. And we ride on to a guy I'm very excited about.

Mansour Abdul Malik taking on Dusko Todorovich in a middleweight contest. Monsor is coming off the latest season of contender series. listeners by now you know that I do a breakdown every year for Contender Series. And in this sort of draft grade prospect watch that I did, MAM was one of my favorite guys. He was not in the top, top, top tier echelon of guys who I would be stunned, blue-chip prospect guys, but he was a guy who graded as a first-round draft pick. It's a guy who you can expect a long, successful UFC career from.

I'd be surprised if he didn't have one of those. because he is all the physical gifts in the world. I mean, this guy can do everything incredibly athletic. And as a result, it kind of reminds me a little bit of Joaquin Buckley with sort of his gifts. And it will be about how we can put those together. If it takes some time, he's still very, very green, only six fights in his career at this point. But working with MMA Masters, good camp seems to have all the upside of something. not getting a softball.

Don't get me wrong. Duska Todorovich is not like a world beater, but this is a guy who deserves to have his spot in the UFC. He's here. He gets wins, wins as often as he loses. And so this is throwing Mansour right into, not the deep end, but he ain't in the kitty pool here. He's got to, he has got to swim.

And I think he is going to, again, unbelievable physical athlete, power, aggression, I think you can come out here, put hands on Todorovich. When Todorovich loses, it's almost all of them are by knockout.

And so at the price, I decided that it was actually worth it to, instead of taking this straight, get a little bit of extra value, go Monsor by knockout, minus 165. Hope that pays off. I think it will.

And that brings us to a welterweight contest. Matthew Simmelzburg. taking on Charles Radke. Simmel's Burger, a slight underdog plus 135. They come back on Chuck Buffalo, minus 150. This is an odd fight because Symbolsburgers on a three-fight skit. He's lost four or five careers and a bit of a free fall.

That being said, I don't, Chuck Buffalo has just never done it. Outside of the personal issues with things that he has said, you can go Google that, look that up. just, you know, fun, but never like, oh, wow, I can't believe this guy exists sort of fighter. Coming off getting absolutely obliterated by color's protest, no shame in that protest, obviously, a world beater. But I think Simmel's Berger is undervalued here. He is going to have a massive size advantage. It's like five inches taller, longer reach.

Simmel's burger is just a huge human being to be competing at Welterweight. and I think that that honestly is probably just going to be enough of a difference maker against the guy who isn't a difference maker in Charles Radd. He doesn't do, doesn't jump off the page in that sort of way. And so I think this is a get right fight for Simmel's Burger. I know the trends on where he's at or is daunting. But for me, Simmel's Burger probably shouldn't be an underdog here. And so plus 135, I'm going to take a stab at him.

Also, I'll be honest. I'll be transparent with y'all. didn't have that much action on this UFC card. I have a couple of bets on the one as well, but I didn't want to come out here, not have a guess this week and not have a ton of action. So maybe this is me reaching a little bit. I guess we'll find out on Saturday.

Closing down the home stretch of the UFC card here, Cody Stamen, taking on Demone Blackshear in a bantamweight contest, Stamen, the underdog plus 240, the comeback on Blackshear minus 275. both guys are on a losing streak right now two-fight losing street but stamen's a little bit worse as he has lost five of his last seven dating back to 2020 it has been a tough run for the spartan lately and i mentioned a size advantage in the previous fight of simbill's burger versus radke going to have another monstrous one of those in this one blackshare is uh huge and stamen never been a big bantamate and i've never been a big bantam weight and i'd particularly short reach, Blackshire is big, several inches of height, like a lifetime of a reach

advantage. Let me pull it up because I didn't actually take the note, but it is, Blacksharee will have an eight inch reach advantage in this fight. Yes, Stamen is the better wrestler, but, and Blackshare's not like a great wrestler, but that size advantage is just, it's a whole lot to, frankly, to over-courism common. So as a result of that, I feel really, feel really good about DeMone Blackshar's chance to win this fight. And I don't have anywhere to put him, right? Like, I kind of think he's a parley

piece. Maybe I'll just parley him up with Protestants and Robertson and see what that gets us. Yeah, actually, I just went and looked that up and that brings, uh, the Protest Robinson parley for me, minus 230 up to like minus 105 almost. So I actually think that that is just what we're going to do there and feel okay about that. So a little three-leg parley. I'm sure that will be the one that loses it for us. And so, you know, not the best thing in the world that's ever happened, if that's the case.

But whatever, yellow. I do really like his chances to get this win, get the fight done here and continue, you know, be the guy to end his losing street, particularly given all the surrounding things. Three fights left. Melissa, Mullins, taking. on Claudia Seguula in a women's bantamweight contest. Mullins, Nate Dixon, one in one in the UFC, just lost Nora Cornoli back in April. It's a state of the women's band and weight division that Mullins was or like previously was ranked.

I don't actually know if she still is or not. And so I'll just be honest, I wasn't going to go look up tape for Seguula. We got a lot going on this week, next week already prepping. I'm not betting on this fight in any regard. So whatever your thoughts on, they're as good as mine. I have not seen Seguula fight for one second. I will not pretend to, certainly not to give out betting advice. Penultimate one fight to talk about in this UFC card.

Gaston Bologna is taking on Cortavius Romius in a men's bantamweight contest. Balanos plus 170. Romius's UFC debut, a big favorite or a considerable favorite, minus 195. And I'll keep this one brief as well because Romius was on this most recent season and contender series. He fought originally in 2023. He lost, I do not remember to who. This year returns, gets a contract. And I rated him as a day three prospect.

This is a guy with limited upside who I do not expect. expect to make a ton of waves be all that meaningful or significant in the promotion. And so I'm just not going to bet on him at this price. But at the same time, Bolognios has been a journeyman mid-level guy for a long time. There's just no right way to bet this fight as far as I'm concerned. And so I am not betting this fight. And that brings us to our first fight of the evening, the final fight we need to talk about on this UFC card.

It is a middleweight contest, Trashon Gore, taking on Antonio, Tricoli. Chocoli the underdog plus 165. Come back on Gore around minus 180. And it's a weird one because Gore hasn't fought in two years. He had a wrist surgery, a shoulder surgery. It's kind of repeated injuries that kept him out of the cage. Tricoli just came off something similar.

He fought back in June, but that was his first fight in almost three years after a substantial layoff and he got knocked out by shot a bullet in that fight so both guys in a very weird spot right now i've seen some people saying that there's some value on trocoli and i can understand the argument uh if i were fully confident uh in that in what version of either guy would show up i actually would say that chikoli has probably a slight edge in regard to he has fought hasn't been laying off but i just don't want to be involved in this fight it's a middle-way context. It's a middleweighty, middleweight fight to open up the evening. So I'm going to opt to pass on that. And that is USC Apex 100, but we're not done yet, y'all, because we've got

one championship, 169, mentioned it at the top of the show, and that it goes down this Friday on Amazon Prime you get to watch it. I would highly recommend you watch it. Like I said, I actually think it is a sneaky good card. And my breakdowns here will be very, very straightforward and simple, because if you go look at, not every book has odds up, a couple of them do. If you go look at those odds, you'll notice a recurring theme. And the theme is, holy crap, these are monstrous favorites for a lot of these people. And yes, it's a little belly action in that way, some really, really big favorites.

but frankly, I like a lot of the really big favorites. And let's start at the top of the order because this guy, I've mentioned him a couple times already, Anatoly Malikin, three division champion, the first in major mixed martial arts history. One or two other people have done it in like various promotions, but Malikin, for counting one as a serious major remade promotion, which it deserves to be considered as such an incredible achievement for him to do that, despite one also being. weird and there maybe could be some

asses there but this is a guy who should be fighting Francis Inganu, right? Like he is undefeated a murderous puncher not as big as Sergey Pavlovich but that same sort of death touch with I would honestly say better technique better ability better delivery system for his killer punches and he is taking on

Umar Khan who you may know as rug rug it is the best fight maybe not of the weekend because there's another fight on this card but it is a fight that I love Dealey because Rugrog is so fun because Malikin has been my boy and Malikin a massive massive favorite at minus 800 and I'll be honest at the UFC card I didn't love anything for the climb and I cited Yolo shout out to Alexander K. Lee who was like you should just do Malikin. It's good for the bit. Good for you. It's like you're right. Yeah, it's a little bit bigger than we really want price-wise, but whatever. Step 5 of the climb is going to be Anatoly Malikin because I believe he's going to get it done emphatically against Rugrog.

And then let's just run this down very quickly because I've also put together a big parlay, a one championship parlay with four legs to it and they are all the legs that you would anticipate. Malikin is one of those legs, but also taking place this Friday at 1st, one championship. We have Adriana Morayas making his return against Danny King Gad, not for the Bantamweight championship that Demetrius Johnson vacated, but, you know, Adriano Marias is the former Bannamweight champion. It's coming off the two losses to DJ.

I'm unclear why it's not for that belt. Nothing jumps out to mind, but he's a minus 400 favor. I think he's going to be Danny Kingad. I just, Danny Kingad is fought. a fine fighter, but this is a fight that he is, he just lost to you, Wakamatsu. You know, he's lost several times in one, including to DJ as well. There should be a get-back, get-right fight for Adriana Marais. So he is in the parlay also taking place.

Actually, the co-main event, sorry, I was looking at the wrong bout order here. The co-main event for the one card this Friday is a one-bantamweight Muay championship featuring Rod Tang fighting Jacob Smith and Rod Tang, minus 500, considerable favorite. Pretty straightforward. Rodang, one of the very best Moitai practitioners in the world right now, one of the stars of one, a guy they clearly want to get over and want to get done.

I know that he lost a Superlek last year, I want to say that was. Maybe that was early this year. Lost to him not that long ago in Muay Thai, but that's Superlek, you know. It's fine. Jacob Smith, not of the same tier. Rodtank should get this done. He's leg three and leg four. Biggest favorite on the weekend. Cade, Ritolo, taking on Ahmed Muchdaba. I hope I said that right, Ahmed. I am very sorry if I did not.

Ritolo, a grappling Wunderken. He's only 21 years old now. He was originally going to grapple Mikey Musumichi. He pulled out of that basically after winning the million dollars at CGI. Because, oh, yeah, he's a 2024 CGI's champion. No disrespect meant to Ahmed Mushaba, but he's going to get rolled up. So, Kedritolo, that's four legs, pays out around a minus 120. We're in on that parlay. I feel very, very good.

If I had a guess, I would actually say Marias is the guy who's going to ruin that parlay. but I don't even think he's going to. And then the last fight I want to talk about, the fight I'm arguably the most excited about, because I am a special type of weirdo. Marcus Bouchesha, taking on Amir Ali Akbar in a heavyweight contest at one championship. Buccecha is Buccecha, billion-time ADCC gold medalist,

IBJJF Hall of Fame, or one of the most decorated grapplers in history. A guy who, I don't, there are no words to describe the career he has had. It has been extremely long and extremely successful. And he's one of the goats, you know. It's not the goat goat, but he's one of the greatest who have ever done it in grappling sports. And he's taking on Amir Ali Akbar, who I have a soft spot for because I find him a very amusing fighter to watch. A former world champion

Greco-Roman wrestler, a big lad, just a big fella out there, who got banned from wrestling for repeatedly popping for performance-enhancing drugs, has been sort of a really, really wonky

a fighter. Lost Antoine Malikin has picked up some wins. Most recently beat Arjamb Bueller, a fellow wrestler, because Bueller got red carded for timidity? Like, he just refused

to fight in the weirdest thing ever. This is an extremely bizarre, absurd fight. Almost even a throwback to the Halcyon days of pride. I love it a lot. And frankly, I am a believer that Buccecha has a great chance to win.

Al-Bari is a better wrestler, but this is going to devolve very quickly, and Bucce is certainly the better grappler. It wouldn't shock me if he's able to just kind of get a wonky weird takedown, finish it out, get a leg entanglement series, and it's not like either dude is blowing the doors off on the feet. So you're getting a little bit of a price here, which is just plus 125.

And so because I'm going to have the most fun watching this on Friday night, I had to get a bet down, give me the underdog, and add one more to the pile. And ladies and gentlemen, that is it. I was shooting for a 30-minute episode. didn't quite get there. You know the deal by now. When I'm doing these solo episodes, I'm going to try and keep them tidy, run through it, so you don't have to spend too much time just listening to Meetalk.

But next week, next week's the big one, ladies and gentlemen. It's the one you've all been waiting for. God knows I have, because we are talking about UFC 309. John Jones taking on Steve A. Meachich, heavyweight title, a fight that is miserable and bad, and a pay-per-view card that is extremely suss is the

generous way I'll put this but it is still a pay-per-fee-fif I week and on Friday another suss thing happening as Friday of that week Jake Paul is taking a Mike Tyson a boxing match so next week is a monster weekend

in combat sports and we will have a guest for that show we're figuring out logistics because we've got a lot of things happening I believe we're doing between the links on Tuesday next week because things are changing. So we'll see how we can fit all the pieces together. But I am excited for it.

I'm excited that you guys stayed if you did and you stuck around. You're hearing me right now. Make no mistake. I appreciate every single one of you that is stuck with this program. And that still sticks with it. And we'll try to keep delivering the hits next week and this week as well. Let me all.