MMA Fighting - No Bets Barred: Does Israel Adesanya Still Have Enough To Beat Nassourdine Imavov at UFC Saudi Arabia?

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

The UFC is heading back to Saudi Arabia. After taking a week off following UFC 311, the world's premier MMA promotion returns to Riyadh for its second event in Saudi Arabia, this time headlined by a middleweight matchup between former two-time champion Israel Adesanya and rising contender Nassourdine Imavov. And No Bets Barred has you covered with a full betting breakdown of the card. Host Jed Meshew kicks things off with a brief look at how he did at UFC 311 before diving into this week's card. Topics discussed include whether Adesanya still has enough juice to get past Imavov, what exactly will the middleweight bout between Shara Bullet and Michael "Venom" Page look like, the latest bet on The Climb, and more. Tune in for episode 115 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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We had ourselves a nice little one-week break following UFC 311. I guess we didn't. The MMA world still had other things going on. There was a PFL, there was BKFC, there was the ill-fated GFL draft. But nothing for No-Bets Bard that week, despite the fact that the PFL event ended up being, Pretty darn good.

But we are back at it, and we are back at it in a major way, ladies and gentlemen. That is right. This weekend, UFC Saudi Arabia coming live to you. The UFC second trip to Saudi Arabia headlined by a middleweight matchup between Israel Adisina and Nasrudein Imov. And we will jump into that in just a moment. But I do want to make sure you all know what this means. By my calculations, ladies and gentlemen, we will now.

have a UFC event every week for the next 12 weeks and maybe more. The UFC schedule right now, as far as I can see it built out, it's through April 12th, UFC 314, which goes down in Miami, Florida. No official main event for that one, though there are rumors, but we got four coming at you in the month of February, five coming at you in the month of March, then April's hidden you. we are doing a whole lot of fist fight watching in the next 12, 13, however many weeks it ends up being. Before we get to that, I do just briefly want to talk about 311, just since we haven't,

and not talk about what happened. It's so old at this point, but just mention what happened on our betting count. Because another very, very modest week finished up about a half unit, which puts me just under one full unit for the year. only two events, but positive is positive. We take it. More importantly, though,

the climb continued. That's right. UFC 311, Jailton Almeida was our climber. Leg 7 of the climb to 30 in a row, the parlay of $100 to turn that in to $20,000. Still a long way to go, but our climb bankroll is now up to $560 after Jelton Almeida gets it done against Sergei Spivak.

we will have a climb this week, ladies and gentlemen. I think that I didn't choose the best climb choice. Honestly, there's a climb. There's a climb option out there that I think would be extremely, extremely likely to hit. But we'll get to all that in a minute because we're going to cruise right into Saudi, too. UFC, Saudi Arabia going down this Saturday morning for East Coasters and the American audience. 9 a.m. on the East Coast is the start time. main event, as I mentioned before, Israel Addisina taking on Naserdin, Imov in a middleweight contest,

five-round middle-weight contest, and it's a pretty big one, y'all. Sort of an odd fight, if you think about it in some ways. Not the fight that I think many people anticipated as he would be willing or interested in taking, given where he's at in his career, coming off two straight losses, you know, both in title contest, certainly, but two straight losses. Nassar D. Imovov is just not really at that level of acclaim, but willing to put his position on the line.

And theoretically, if he wins this, Imov is on a good run himself, a three-fight winning streak right now, most recently. Picked up Unanim's decision win over Brendan Allen. Also, T.K. O'Jared last year, those two kind of got him into this top seven, top five, depending on your ranking spot at middleweight. still a pretty young guy for middleweight as well and he seems to be surging right now this is a very

interesting matchup because i just don't know what to make of izzie right like izzie is the question mark for me in this fight because it's it's how much does he have left in the gas tank like that is really the the consideration for me i i think we saw a pretty decent performance from him against Drickus 2 plus C in his last fight, obviously. But I also think that some of that is a trickus 2 plus C style. He's very much in your face pressuring constantly. That plays into what Izzy wants to do. We've seen over the last several years, frankly, that Izzy has started to show signs of

decline. He is definitely not as good as he once was. He is more open, not even open, more wants the fight to come to him as opposed to grabbing the fight by the horns. and against the guy like DDP, he can have a lot of success because DDP will just take the fight to him, even if ultimately DDP kind of overwhelmed him in the end, he could still look good in those early rounds. Imov, a bit of a different customer. He certainly works at a little higher rate.

He is not really like a huge, I'm going to pressure, I'm going to put the pace on him. And so I am, this fight could go a lot of ways. You could convince me if Izzy still has some juice left, then this should be a, pretty naturally advantageous matchup for him. I think the kicking game in general should be a huge decider. Imov barely ever kicks. We know Izzy likes to hold range and sort of chop down. But if Izzy's even slightly declined, if he is just not willing to be active,

Imov might simply outwork him. And so I decided to bring back an oldie but a goodie, ladies and gentlemen. That's right. I decided to have a little fun here and open up to our friends chat GPT. Chat GPT is in the news a lot. We'll deep seek and all of that going on. But for our purposes, chat GPT is 21 and 13 when picking fights. And while this is not the sort of toss-up matchup, we usually like to put to the chat GPT test,

still felt minus 155 the current odds on Izzy with the comeback on Imovov plus 135. That's close enough. Let's see what the futuristic robots have to say. And the robots had to say this. Adasania's precision striking and ability to adapt ultimately secure his victory. But Imov's relentless heart and pressure earns him respect from the fans and pundits like. Chattebti officially says that this will be 4846s across the board with a 10-8 round in there for Adisania. And so I am going to back that.

I will take Israel Adisina minus 155, a straight-up play. Also, the action I am much more confident. in. If you kind of got it on my breakdown, I think this fight is going long. Izzy wants to go long. Imov, very durable dude in general. I think that this is, you could take a lot of the over options here, and I'd feel good about them, but I went the safe as possible. I took the over one and a half, minus 700. I have that, that is leg one of a three leg over under parlay, and we will get to the next two legs as we move through the card. Speaking of, moving through the card, the co-made event Shara Magamatov, aka Shara Bullitt, taking on Michael Venom Page, aka MVP,

in a three-round middleweight contest. And we all know the story on both of these guys at this point, right? Shara Bullitt is undefeated in the UFC, undefeated in his career, but 4-0 in the UFC. Coming off, one of the best chaos of 2024, the double back fist knockout weirdness over Arm in Petrosian at UFC 3. 08. Certainly a dude that the promotion is behind in a fairly substantial way, limited in where he can compete, but they like him. They like what he brings. They've liked him since day one. This is a, you know, winnable fight for him against a big name and in a location of the world where he should do very well as a fan kind of supporter. Michael and Page on the other side, we also know came from Bellator. Never won a belt there. Probably should have. the Logan's story fight was nonsense. One in one in the UFC coming off the unanimous decision lost to Ian Machado Gary in their fight. And the questions for me are largely around MVP.

How does he look moving up to middleweight? He's obviously a long dude. I think he may even be taller and have a bigger reach in this. But he is not a particularly thick or wide middleweight in that regard. He is a well-to-weight. Same token, we've really never seen him get outstreet. truck over a prolonged period. We've seen him get caught.

Obviously, the Lima K.O., he got caught. But in protracted kickboxing bouts, his style is so difficult for opponents to navigate, to get his leaping in karate distance management explosion style. Kevin Holland had absolutely nothing for him. And while I'ma Chado Gary actually had more success than I thought, ultimately he won that fight because he was able to scare takedowns, not because he was winning the striking exchanges. Sharra Bullitt in a similar boat, like he is not, he is not a grappler. He doesn't really do a lot of it. And when you do it to him, it is bad. We are going to get a striking battle here. And it is just a

question of how does that play out? How does that unfold? Part of me wants to say that maybe MVP gets it done, but I am just so not certain about the size. And Shaw our bullet is a natural middleweight. I think he has certainly a little more power and a lot more volume. And so he may have some issues navigating the space. And maybe MVP comes out and dances around him. But I think Shar is a clean enough striker to have enough success to get his hand race. He's a minus 175 betting favorite. And perhaps this is a bit of a reach.

I didn't have too much action on this card, honestly. So I went ahead and took a shot on Sharble at a minus 175. 5. Moving on to the feature bout of the evening, it is a heavyweight contest. Sergei Pavlovich taking on Jarzino Rosenstrike that is former UFC heavyweight title, interim title contender, Sergey Pavlovich. He is your minus 305 betting favorite. The comeback on Rosenstrike is plus 275. Pavlovich, on that two-fight losing skid, right? Like he lost his interim title fight against Tom Aspinall, and then in his rebound fight, lost a unanimous decision to Alexander Volkov.

Versaursion Strike is on a two-fight winning streak. He took a split decision over Tai Tuva at UFC 305 his last time out. He has largely been up and down when one lose one in the UFC after his initial kind of early run into the rankings. This fight does not merit a lot of breakdown. I think anybody who has any rough idea of who these two gentlemen are, understands what is about to happen. Both men come to throw hands.

Somebody is falling over sooner rather than later than this one. And in my opinion, Sergei Pavlovich is the man who will get his hand raised at the end. I think he is naturally a much bigger person than Rosenstrike. He is just a heftier dude. I think he clearly has much more power and also is faster. Rosenstrike is maybe technically like slightly better. But I just kind of don't think that matter. and this Pavlovich is going to come in and he's going to kill you.

And unless you have a deep bag of tricks and some physical tools that you can use against him, I think you're going to have a really tough day in the office. And so Sergei Pavlovich, I actually drafted him. He is on my fantasy team if you were keeping up with the MMA fighting fantasy league season two. He was the second heavyweight I took after I took Jailton Almeda. He is my wild card. And so I think he is going to do a Sergei Pavlovich thing and get an early finish. and I'm so confident in it that he is also my climber for this week.

That's right. Sergei Pavlovich on a two-fight losing streak at the notoriously fickle heavyweight division. That's the guy I identified. That's the bet to put $561 behind and try and keep ascending the mountain. Minus 305 is a really good price for the climb bet, but that's why I almost didn't do it because I can see a world where this fails, but sometimes you just got to back your boys. Gary Pavelovich, I am supporting you. You can support me.

And we keep on moving down the line to a bantamweight contest. Between Saeed, Nirmagamatov, and Venetius Olavera. Nirmagamatov, your betting favorite, minus 170. The comeback on Loke Dog is plus 155. And I won't bury the lead here, folks. This is my first underdog play of the day of the week, whatever we want to call it. I am on Loke Dog, Venetius Olivavera, because I don't think he should be an underdog. I think at worst, this should be a pickum.

Sayyne Numergometov obviously has the name Numercombev, but he is not of that same group, that same ilk. He is 7 and 2 in the UFC, full credit to him in that regard, and he's coming off a win over Mueh Gathorov, who is a credible opponent, but not a world beat by any means. Loke Dog, meanwhile, coming off a really impressive unanimous decision win over Ricky Simone. Ricky Simone is just a proven commodity, a dude who I think is certainly falling off a little, but Loak Dog beating him is pretty impressive, and that's on top of his unbelievable K.O. of the year runner-up or something in that that he had in his UFC debut. Loak Dog is a dude off contender series from 2023, who I liked. I wasn't in love with, but I liked. He has frankly exceeded my expectations with his performances. he is super dynamic, super fun. And I think that that's really kind of the difference here.

He is the more dynamic fighter than Saeed, Nuregometov. Numergometov has just never jumped out of the page. He is the answer to what if somebody who is mediocre had the name Nirmamemadov? Because he's not even the Habib team. He just has it. And you factor in also, I won't lie to you guys. There's a little piece of me that's like, hey, it's not a great year to be in Nirmagamatov thus for.

far. It's not terrific. Umar takes the loss at UFC 311. Um, big favorite gets upset, loses. And then this past weekend, Usman de Mergamenevv, he escapes with a majority of decision win. Most people feel that that should have either been a draw or there are even a vocal number of people who think Paul Hughes should have won that. Not many people think that Usman won that fight. They may think he didn't lose it, but a very, a great performance for him, honestly, and just an ascendant performance from Paul Hughes in that, but two Nirmigrammer Gomettogs through the year, it has been a tough row to hoe for them so far. And now the worst of the Nermigrammer Gometovs, again, not part of the same plan, the worst of that name is now fighting somebody

who's really fun dude, exciting to root for a dynamic fighter and finisher. And so I am on Loke Dog this weekend. We move along to the final main card fight, or I guess, Other words, other way to say that the opening main card fight of the evening, a lightweight contest between Fores Siam and Mike Davis. And this is a sneaky gray fight, y'all. I don't want to sugarcoat it here. Ziam's on a four-fight winning streak coming off that Matt Frivolta knockout in September. And Mike Davis is also on a four-fight winning streak.

He submitted Natan Levy in March. I'm looking at my notes right now, March. He is sneaky good fighter. Mike Davis is kind of where I want to start this conversation. He has a couple of losses, but those losses have been to elite competitors. He lost to Gilbert Burns and he lost to Sadiq Yousuf. Those are obviously, you know, different weight classes for where they're even currently making there. The Gilbert Burns loss was at featherweight on Contender Series originally, which, you know,

Sadiq Yusuf, nothing to sneeze at in that regard. And Gilbert Burns, we all know Gilbert Burns was an elite lightweight. arguably still is an elite welterweight, certainly was an elite welterweight for a long time. Those are very explicable losses for Mike Davis. I just think he is a underrated great fighter. When I say all the time that lightweight is the deepest best division in the sport, it's guys like Mike Davis and Frosiom that really I point to more often than else.

Because I mean, looking at the Tapology rankings, Mike Davis is the 42nd lightweight in the Tapology ranking. Rankins. For us, Ziam's apparently 20, which feels a touch high, but he's on a four-fight winning sheet. Fair enough. If Mike Davis is the 40th best dude in the world in the weight class, you know, we quibble about that.

The point being, this is a dude who is a very well-rounded, very skilled fighter, a high level of activity, take down strikes. He just is so talented to be that far back. It speaks to the weight class itself. Ziam, but, you know, similar dude. though frankly I just think less talented. Maybe I just have never been able to get past the Terrence McKinney asswopin. McKinney ran him over in two minutes.

But he is just never quite solidified with me in a way that I think maybe he was supposed to. I don't know. It's hard for me to say, though. I, granted, the Matt Favola win was terrific. Claudio Pellas is also decent. Jai Herbert has had moments. but mostly I just think Mike Davis to me feels like he is the more proven fighter. He is your slight betting favorite minus 140 to come back on ZM at plus 120.

And so I am on Mike Davis for this one because I just think he's a really, really good fighter, man. He's not a really good fighter and then he'll probably never be ranked. But he is a dude who is going to give anybody he fights at 155 pounds a tough day in the office. And that takes us to our prelims, ladies and gentlemen. the one I you know I've heard the feedback from you all I personally love to have guests on sometimes I can't sometimes I can't I'll peel the curtain back it's largely to do with my schedule that week and how open I am flexible to record with somebody else versus when I just have to get it in this is one of those weeks but one of the bonuses to when I you know don't have a compatriot with me I can kind of zip through this because we we are halfway done and I think that that's only half a halfway done in card time, not in pod time. So we move on to the prelims here where Mohammed Naimov takes on Khan O'Flee in a featherweight contest.

I hope I didn't screw up Khan's name, but I don't even care that much because I'll be honest, I don't care about this fight. Khan, the best thing about Khan is his nickname, which is Jengis, which is a, I mean, that's a way to commit to the bit, my guy. I respect you for doing that. Muhammad Naimov has had a little bit of success in the UFC's three and one. He is coming off a loss to Felipe Lima in June. But, you know, he is sort of the vanguard of the Tajikistan movement into the UFC. There are a few Tajik fighters. He is one of them.

And I think the most successful, unless I'm forgetting somebody offhand, I don't know about Khan, man. Like, he was a tough dude. and I'll be honest, I did not watch the Ultimate Fighter. I did not, A.K. was not able to get back in time to me, the One of Folle Alexander K. Lee about how good the Ultimate Fighter was. I wasn't going to go back and watch this. And so my experience with Conno Flee is his tough finale, fighting against Myron Santos, where he lost definitively.

So this is just one of those fights I don't care enough about. I'm not going to do the work to feel confident in a bet here. If you have one, Godspeed, wish you all the best. best couldn't be me though we move on to uh i mean it's a fight i have action on though i probably shouldn't have action on it for being honest so and i got more action on this than i need to have shemuel gaseyev taking on thomas peterson in a heavyweight contest gaseyev a sizable betting favorite minus three 30 the comeback on peterson plus two ninety five gosyev is two and one in the UFC. He is from Contender Series, of course. And in August, picked up a win over Dantel Mays to get back on the winning track after losing to Gilesia New Rosenstruck in March. That was his second fight in the promotion. He was headlining an APEC show against Gires Zia New Rosen Strike, which should tell you everything you need to know about the state of the UFC heavyweight division. Conversely, Peterson is one in one in the UFC. He lost to Jamal Poges in his debut. We'll talk about Jamal Poe's.

in just a little bit, but did beat Muhammad Usman this past July to get to one-on-one in the promotion, get back to Evenwater 500. Both of these dudes are 2023 Contender Series products. And as you probably know if you're listening to this by now, if you don't, certainly go check it out. The last couple of years, I started doing a breakdown of Contender Series after it happened. Who are the prospects to watch from this, from the, the latest season in the 2023 season.

I thought neither Gazeev nor Peterson were prospects to watch, frankly. Gaziev was in my JAG category or just another guy. Just a dude who maybe wins as much as he loses is nothing to write home about. Peterson, I gave a very, very slight bump up from that to the sort of next tier of heavyweight. Largely because he was young, you know, he was 27, I believe at the time, showed a little bit of something. obviously hasn't really delivered nearly as much as maybe he could have off of that, but both guys were just not that impressive. Ultimately, I've been saying I had action on it, so here's the action,

because it's not like I need to spend 10 minutes on this one fight. I think I'm going to stick with my initial impressions that Gasev and Peterson, neither of them are impressive, but Peterson has a little bit more upside, and especially when we're talking about odds this long, Plus 2.95 is a big, big number in a fight that's going to get real heavyweighty real fast. And so I did not put a full unit on it. I just went for a half-unit play on Thomas Peterson at plus new 95, just because, you know, I think that there is a little bit of value, even if I'm not massively confident. And then I do have a full unit bet, though, on the over one and a half.

That's right, ladies and general, we're bringing back heavyweight overs. probably not, you know, I mean, we're not bringing them all back, obviously. I do not have a heavyweight overbet on the Rosenstrike Pavlovich fight, as you probably guess. But in this instance, I think that this fight is going to be a heavy weighty, heavyweight belt. I mean, heavy weighty is what this is going to be. Gaseev and Peterson are going to, Gaseo is probably going to try and do something early. and then these two dudes are just going to be gassed walruses, just flopping against each other, maybe for the full thing, but certainly feeling over seven and a half minutes is safe, and the price on that's minus 150.

So double your action on this fight. I'm sure I will never come to regret that, not betting two things on a heavyweight contest. But what can you do? Sometimes the best gifts aren't gifts at all. Their experiences, journeys, something that unwraps them. This year, help them explore their past with Ancestry DNA. Help them discover where they come from and who they're connected to. Now with even more regions, exclusive features, and incredible detail.

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Hadzavik is up next in McKinney is a minus 400 betting favorite to come back on Hadzovich round plus 370 depending on the book you're looking at. McKinney, five and four in the UFC coming off the head kick knockout loss to Esteban Riebeovich in May. You know, we, if you were on this pod, you probably know who Terrence McKinney is by now. This is the definition of a getter get cop fighter, never seen a third round. He's coming into swing, bang, shoot takedowns. and he is not here to involve the judges whatsoever.

Hadzavik, not quite the same, but extenuating circumstances in some spots here. He is four and five in the UFC coming off a unanimous decision lost to Mark Jacase. However, that loss came back in 2022. It is almost three years since Hadzavik has stepped in the cage. And so given that, like, Terrence McKinney is a get-or-get-got guy. And so in large part, I don't mind just. just blatantly being like if they're big odds, just take a shot against him because those get paid out.

Not in this circumstance. I don't care how big an underdog Hadzovich is. He hasn't fought in three years. And he's going to get back in the cage to a dude who is going to come out and assault him from the opening bell. There will be no quarter given from right out of the gate. And so if there is such a thing as Ring Ruts, Hadswitch is going to have to solve it real fast because there is,

is a wild, monstrous animal coming across the cage at him, and you just got to be able to meet force with force. I don't know if Hadzovich can do it. What I do know is that Terence McKinney does not go in fights that last very long. He just doesn't do it. He's opposed to it morally fundamentally. I think, honestly, if you're falling at home with your own climb, it is the safer climb bet, the bet that I strongly considered instead of Sergey Pavovich,

is a McKinney Hadzovich under two and a half rounds. It pays around minus 600. So it was a little over the price. I'm usually targeting for a climb bet, but not that bad. I think it would have an acceptable. But because of that, I figured let's have some fun. Let's go with Sergey for the climb. But that is the under two and a half in this fight is leg two of my three leg over under Parley.

And like I said, I think that this is just formulae. McKinney's going to come out and this thing is going to be. very, very quickly, one way or the other. I don't know if the same can be said of this next one. This is arguably the most fascinating contest of the fight card that is not the main event to me. It is a women's flyweight contest between Yasmin Yazadavish and Myra Buenos Silva. Yazadavish, I absolutely but we're just going to plow ahead. Don't even worry about it.

Guys, Yazadavisish is minus 225 betting. favorite the comeback on myr-buyan Silva plus 200. He has an opposition three-fight win street coming off that bravo choke over Ariana Silva in November. Whereas Meyer Buena Silva, how the mighty have fallen. This was the betting favorite to become the women's bantamweight champion at the start of last year, lost the unanimous decision to Rock Al Penning then and then got T-KOed by Mason-Chison, Dr. Stoppage, but T-KO nonetheless.

And as a result of those two failings, MBS, who fought for a title at the beginning of last year, F it, I'm dropping down to women's flyweight again, heading back to 1-25, where I only had middling success, but I guess that's what we're doing. I don't know about the thought process there, but far be it from me to tell her what not to do, especially because it's not like she's even going to be that big in this fight. Asadophysis, she's a fairly large flyweight herself. Meyer Buena's Silva may be slightly thicker, certainly, but the other sort of tangibles, she's not gaining a massive advantage there. and it is just wild to think that my Buena Silva was the betting favorite to be the Bannamweight champion. Not a little or like almost this time last year. And now she is a two to one underdog against Yasadavish down at Flyweight.

And I can't blame it, right? Like Hasidavish is she is going to work that ground game and she has been really effective in a run. Byrubna's certainly can grapple is a dynamic and dangerous threat in many areas. but we're so off put, just so off put by the 2024 she had. Maybe she gets back on track and I feel like I left something on the table by not taking an underdog shot at her. But I'm just not going to do it. Full-blown pass from me on this one, even though I'm legitimately extremely interested in

how this fight ends up shaking out. A fight I have no interest, frankly, in how it shakes out is our penultimate fight to discuss this weekend a featherweight contest between bald, Brad and Lucas Alexander. This one, in my head, there's a bet that should be made here. And I'll be honest with you, I'm just not making the bet. I just kind of refuse to make the bet. Bargdon Grad is making his UFC debut.

He was off the most recent season of contender series, where I did not rate him very highly. I had him as a day three sort of draft pick. in other words, just a guy, a dude who maybe fills a roster spot, maybe hangs around for a little bit, but nothing jumps out the page, nothing exciting or dynamic or really all that interesting about him, at least from what I've seen. Lucas Alexander, you know, he has not fought since 2023, but not for over a year, where he got knocked out by Jackassarie and also a blue weight for that contest. Like he, this feels like a setup for Bogdengrad, right?

It is a guy who has been out for over a year. Frankly, isn't like a great fighter as one and two in the promotion. Like, it feels like this is supposed to be a setup fight. But despite that, the odds favor Alexander, minus 120, come back on Bogdnagrad plus 105. I think if I was being entirely analytical, I would just put a bet down on Bogdngrad. and God and just say he's probably a little bit more talented, even if I don't think there's much there. And mainly one of the things I always think about when betting is what does the UFC want to happen? Because the UFC matchmaker is really good at their jobs largely.

And while sometimes you can look at bouts and say that's a win-win situation that bout is created because they won either fighter to win. Either fighter winning creates a story that they can build off. Sometimes you look at bouts and say, yeah, they want one of these. this is a fight for one dude. One dude is the A. One dude is the lamb being led to slaughter. In my head, Lucas Alexander is the guy who is being set up to fail here.

And as a result, I sort of want to back Bogdan Grodd. But I think I have enough action. I've got, what have I got down here? I've got six bets plus a climb plus a parlay. It feels like more than enough action for this particular card. So I pass. And that takes us to the opening bout of the evening. another heavyweight contest.

I know you guys were thinking, you know what? I need my life after a week off, three heavyweight fights in Saudi Arabia. Buddy, you're getting them. Don't worry. We are, because we are opening that 9 a.m.

show. You will wake up, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, ready to, you got your coffee, you're ready to take on the world, and then the snooze fest comes to town because Hamdi Abdallah Abdelahab takes on Jamal Pogs in a coin flip heavyweight contest. That's right, the odds,

minus one ten-a-side stone pick-ham however you want to do with it. Hamdi made his UFC debut feels like a lifetime ago because it was in a unanimous decision win over Dantel Mays, except that gets overturned because he popped for performance-enhancing drugs. He popped for banned substance. It might not have been a PED. He definitely popped for a ban substance.

Got a two-year ban from that. Then was eligible to return last summer but caught an extra six months for another failed test, but that failed test may have been ancillary kickback from the first field test. I don't really remember. I just know that he was supposed to be eligible, like, last summer and somehow had to kick all the way back until January at this point. Jamal Poges is two and one in the UFC, and his last win is the Thomas Peterson win that we spoke about previously. So this fight is going to be probably terrible if we're just being really honest. Hamdi is a former Olympic Greco Roman wrestler.

Went out in the round of 16, lost to a pretty good dude in Greco, and has had sort of this curious feels like he should be better than he is because heavyweight is so bad and he has such credentials. But hadn't got there. He's also still only has like three or four fights. He has not been many fights from him. So there's that as well. Jamal Poges is just not a great fighter.

And because I've talked enough about this fight at this point in time, I don't know who's going to win. Honestly, flip a coin wouldn't shock me if I either. I guess if I had to pick, I would probably lean Homdi just as the superior wrestler of the two. But I don't put a ton of stock in that. Maybe I'll watch some tape and decide I want to throw a bet down on Homdi. But I think instead what I would actually like to do is just assume what's going to have. is that this fight's going long. This fight is going to also hitting over here, and it's going to be heavyweight.

He is all heavyweight. Get out because Jamal Poges is not a guy who finishes a lot of fights. Not a guy who finishes a lot of fights. 14 career fights, six of them are going to decision. All three of his UFC fights are going to decision, including his contenders and his contender series fight. His last five fights have gone to the cards. This is not a man who gets things done in a timely fashion.

And Hamdi is certainly had a little more success doing that, but at Jamal Poges is pretty tough, probably goes a little long. So the over one and a half minus 435 is the third leg on my over-under parley. And that parley in total pays out around minus 155 for those three legs together. Those three legs were Izua Adisina versus Nasridae and Imov over one and a half rounds, Hamdi and Pogs over one and a half rounds, and then McKinney and Hadzivik under two and a half round. rounds. And that's it, ladies and gentlemen. That is UFC Saudi Arabia. Again, bright out and bushytail, 9 a.m. Saturday morning for us East Coasters. And then once that is done, maybe we have a new middleweight contender in

Nasredini, Mabob. Maybe Israel-Dissnia keeps his name in the hat in case Sean Strickland beats Trichis duplecy or in case Hamzot takes about by the end of this year. You never know. But whenever that comes, we will then be on the road to UFC 312. and we will have a guest next week for that. A couple of people in the air. I think I know. I think we know who is joining us. But you got to have somebody,

because I got to be honest, this card is poop soup. And I do not want to spend 35 minutes or whatever it may be talking about this card to my lonesome. So I will drag some sad, sorry soul into this with me to do our breakdowns, talk about it. But I will give this 312 is a terrible card top to bottom.

But the top is a top. elite. Drix Duplasty Sean Strickland 2 is a very, very good fight. Their first fight was more fun than people remember, and a very good fight. And Wiley Zheng, Tatiano Suarez, is maybe as good a fight as can be made in women's mixed martial arts right now.

Very very excited for both of those, so even if the rest of it's garbage, we're still going to be here. No bet's part. I'll have you breaking down. Hopefully the climb will still be continuing, and we won't have to start over. Let's go, Sergei Pavlovich. Thank you all for listening. See y'all next week. Love y'all.

Thank you.