MMA Fighting - On To the Next One: Matches To Make After UFC 262

Episode Date: May 16, 2021

On the 44th episode of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee put on their matchmaker hats following Saturday’s UFC 262 event at the Toyota Center in Houston. Future matchups were discussed for the new lightweight champion Charles Oliveira following his second-round TKO win in the main event, Michael Chandler, Beneil Dariush, Rogerio Bonterin, Katlyn Chookagian, Edson Barboza, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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We have a new lightweight champion of the world, and we will discuss the futures for That Man and some of the other notable names coming out of the big event on Saturday night in Houston, Texas. As always, we appreciate you check it out the show this week. I am Mike Keck. And joining me in this venture, per usual, we have the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the best friend, the Prince of Positivity. And while it is not his birthday, because he is here, it's like all of our birthdays. Mr. Alex K. Lee, how are you, my friend?

Stop it, my best friend. Stop. You know how to say best. I'm blushing. I'm blushing on the podcast. I'm great. I loved a lot of what we saw on Saturday's card. And I think if I recall previous episodes, I think we had.

this card, Peg does a lot of matchups on here that would kind of resolve some of the, onto the next one conflicts we've had in the recent reason. It's unfortunate we lost Diaz Edwards that would have cleared some things up and Hermanson Shabazzian would have cleared some things up

that would open up some matchmaking for us. But it's okay, but otherwise we did get some quite a few fights that I think freed up these names and created a lot of compelling matchups, at least based on what I saw from the listener suggestions. But I think we also saw some victories that kind of to clog things up further, but again, well, we can talk about that in a minute.

Yes, I do agree with that. We have some clearer paths, and then we have some log jams, further log jams, I guess we can say, but let's just get right into it. Let us, excuse me, let us celebrate the new UFC lightweight champion of the world, Charles Olivera. He comes through in an absolute barn burner. I mean, this fight was tremendous. I actually watched it again before I went to sleep last night because I just had to watch it again. I needed like something to kind of like even me out. And it was even better the second time. It was so ridiculously good.

And for those who missed it, he gets Charles Oliver gets Michael Chandler's back in the first. And then gets rocked and almost finished in the first round. And in the second, it's a totally different fight. Oliver lands that beautiful left hook. He drops Chandler, Gibrags pounces. And Dan Mergilliotto. had just seen enough. It was a good stoppage.

I thought there were a lot of good stoppages overall in the card. But what a performance for Charles Oliver, AK, 28th promotional walk. And now he can finally call himself a UFC world champion. But where does this new champion go from here, AK? Well, as I mentioned before, we thought that this would clear, some of these fights would clear these pictures. I think this is, well, I will say for our first two picks this week, that I did go more with, this is waving.

my magic wand. This is what would happen if I was in control. Obviously, I understand there's a lot of a lot of complications, a lot of things behind the scenes that go into making these fights happen. But it's malpractice if we don't at least try to set up theobranks versus the winner of Porre and McGregor, U.C. 64, July 10th. It's just, it's just, you've accidentally created this four-man tournament. In my eyes, I think they're all worthy. I'm sorry, just in case you, just kind of the odd man out right now. But yeah, for me, number one choice, if I'm in control and I can somehow convince McGregor to do anything I want, should he win, he fights Olivera, of course, and if Porre wins, I think Porier would take less convincing, and I think he would definitely step in there with Olivera. Yeah, I mean, you didn't say anything incorrect there, because you just have to imagine. Dana can kind of like hold it in all he wants, but it's the winner of Porier versus McGregor, especially if Dustin Porier wins. And I thought Oliver was very smart last night.

He planted the McGregor seeds because everyone obviously sees like if Poirer wins, like a lot of people consider him the best 55 are in the world anyways. He's definitely getting the shot. If Connor wins, that's a huge opportunity and a huge payday for Oliver. So I'll make it simple. I'll go that route, like you said, a little bit unfortunate for Justin Gachie, but I think we need to wait and see what happens with the whole July 10th situation. But it'd be, I think malpractice was a good word.

It would be malpractice if Oliver is not fighting the winner of that fight. But now, there's been a question we've been waiting to answer for a while. For Michael Chandler, we've been looking for somebody to fight Justin Gachie. We've been looking for it, trying to find it. And I think by default we have our answer. Of course, I am still on the Holloway versus Gaci Trey. And I am the conductor. I am all things.

I'm the ticket taker. I'm the waiter that's serving the drinks in the VIP section. I am all things Holloway versus Gaichi. But if we cannot make that fight, Michael Chandler versus Justin Gaichie is a fine silver medalist, AK. I really don't see a whole heck of a lot of enticing options outside of that. No one would complain about that. I also think if for whatever reason,

they decide to go with Gaith G. G. Olaver, I don't think anyone would complain about that either. Again, not my number one choice. I'd like to see Gates G.G. fight again first, but he's won at top three, top four lightweights in the world. I'm fine. I'm fine. For some reason, that fight was suddenly announced.

by the UFC, so no issues there. But yeah, I agree it's a better fit for Chandler. But since, like I said, I'm waving my magic wand here, I wouldn't mind seeing Chandler face the loser of the Porre McGregor fight on July 10. You know, you almost do like a bronze, the bronze medalist of that, of this four-person, this four-person cluster we have here. So the Geichi fight probably makes more sense. But again, if I'm being Mr. Matchmaker and just abusing my power here,

I wouldn't mind seeing him fight Porre or McGregor. I think both those fights would be super exciting. But McGregor fighting Chandler off a loss seems almost impossible. But Chandler might be able to talk us away into it. Again, there is some, I could see heat being generated there instantly. I think those two could really, if they wanted to, could sell a one million plus paper view. I actually believe that. Maybe I'm overselling Chandler's popularity in the UFC.

But I think with McGregor, I think he'd make a fine B-side for McGregor if McGregor wanted to go that route. Doubtful, extremely doubtful, but I still like the idea of it. Yeah, if McGregor wins, Porre Chandler's fine. I'm okay with that. Yeah, I don't know if it happens if Porre wins that fight, and McGregor's not a two-fight skid, losing three or four. I just don't know. I think it's kind of like it's the D.S.

trilogy or bust at that point. Like nothing else is really all that compelling for Connor. But let us, let's continue on at 155 AK. Now we have been nailed Darry. who's coming off the biggest win of his career against Tony Ferguson, a guy who come Tuesday will likely be a top five fighter at 155 pounds. At worst, he'll be the number six guy in the world. But I got to tell you, A.K., I just don't know if he's going to get one of these bigger

names that I'm sure he's hoping for. He's certainly not getting Elon Musk. So who will he get? I have no idea. What do you think? Do I have to go first year? I struggled with this one. I really struggled.

I came up with a very, a great fight, but maybe like the unsexiest matchup that you could ask for. And probably a fight that is, I was going to say, Darius would see as a step back. And I actually, and I should say rankings-wise, it is a step back. So I'm not embarrassed. I think it's a good matchup. But Mike, if you have one better, I'd be very happy to hear what you have first. I think it has to be RDA. I think that's as good as it's going to get.

Right? Yeah. That's, yeah. I mean, listen, he used to, because R. Artie used to train at King's MMA, so there's like a little bit of a story there. You got like former teammates. You know, RDA is a former world champion. I think that makes, I just think that makes sense right now.

Like, I just, the other thing that it's kind of two Derrush's, like, good and bad is the fact that he's going to be out for a while. Like he said, like, he might not fight till the end of the year, maybe early 2022. So the 50, the 155 pound division could look vastly different by the time he's ready to come back. But if he's ready to fight in December, and RDA is like, dude, I'm down. I'll fight this guy who's going to be ranked above me. I'm fine because I just don't see Darius, unless like something happens and a short notice opportunity pops up. I just don't see Darius getting the Michael Chandler's or the Gaches, the Connors, or guys like that. I just don't see it unless he gets one more big win.

And it's just like timing was great for Oliver and Chandler. The timing is great on a personal level of Darius. She's about to be a dad, but the timing is not great as a professional fighter. at 155 pounds for Darius right now. But I think RDA is fine. I mean, maybe it's a small step back, but is it that big of a step back? I still think it's a really good opportunity for him. It's, look, this is the beauty of being in Binal Darius's position right now is he's

looked so good that he could take his time off to look after his. Do you say a daughter? I don't know if he said that. I know he's having a child to be a dad. And he could come back, depending how the lightweight title picture shakes out and who's available and whatever, who decides they want to fight or not want to fight, whatever. You could basically get a title shot if whoever is the champion in six months, seven months, again, however long he's away, is like really in need of a challenger,

like an immediate challenger. He can fall into that. And I don't think, you know, again, it wouldn't be a huge, like, hyped up matchup, but I think people would buy it. He's, you couldn't argue with him as a title contender. You just can't, you can at this point. He's just looked so good, seven straight wins. But like you said, there's, we all, we just kind of fell to RDA.

Again, you probably, I know, you know, I keep rankings. You probably keep rankings in your head at the very least. And just looking, Oliver, the fight's not going to happen right now. Porre, obviously McGregor, have to deal with their thing. Gaetchi, like we said, we don't know, probably not going to happen right now. Michael Chandler, not, does time it's right for it. Tony Perks, and he just beat up. And then that's it.

And then I've RDA after that. That's sort of the order of my rankings. And I don't want to go lower than that. Below that, Kevin Lee, Gillespie, which I don't. don't feel like Darrya should have to fight him right now. Then Dan Hooker, Paul Felder, Diego Paheda, so on, so on, so on. So if we're sticking in the top 10, RDA is kind of the answer by default. You know what I really loved about Benile Darius' scrum at the end of the night?

He was asked, like, who he wants, that, you know, the sort of generic question that he should have been asked. And he looked up and down that division, and he mentioned the Porier v. McGregor fight. But the one name that he said specifically was Islam Makachev. the boogeyman. Yeah. The boogey man. And he said Justin's scary Gaichi, because he's obviously, you know,

Gachi's a bad man in Majama. But he mentioned Machachev, and Machachev's fight in Tiago Moises, and he said it's a weird fight, which it kind of is a weird fight. But I understand why that fight's happening, because kind of like the Marab de Wallach-Willi blessing and curse, like seeing Islam Makachef's name inside the top 10

on the other side of that contract, It ain't fun. You're not celebrating that. You're like, oh, my God. Like, I guess I have to fight this guy. But Darius, like, mentioned him. So that's an interesting option as well, depending on what happens with the Moises fight.

I feel like time frame-wise, like if Mockachev goes in there and beats Moises, December probably lines up perfect for him. You could do Darius versus Mockachev. I'm fine with that. With, I would love to see. Again, this is one of those great lightweight fights that if it happens, gosh, it would be such a treat for the.

the fans, but so hopefully it does line up as in the way that you mentioned. The one thing with the Gathechee fight is they are, they do have the same management, right? They're both dominance and May guys. Am I correct with Ali of Dilesiz? Yeah, so Daryush, Gaechi, Machachev. Yeah. Oh, right. And that doesn't preclude them fighting because obviously we saw Habib and Gathechee fight.

But I do wonder again if they really would prefer to save those four championship fights, right? Again, we don't know. At some point he's going to have so many, you know, it's a pretty powerful team at some point. going to have so many guys in the top fives in certain divisions that they might not be able to avoid it. But I do, that's my one thing. Because again, I did see a lot of listeners with, yeah, Daryush, G., Darryush, McChev. And it's like, I just don't know if their management team would want to put that together

unless it was for a world title. But we don't know. We don't know. If the money's right, who knows. Yeah. And it would be, it'd be kind of sucky for Makachev being like, I mean, how you want, I'm sort of like, Habib's handpicked guy to be the guy. and now you're going to not allow me to get to that level.

Like I think I'm sure Ali would be like, dude, this is what you want, make it happen. So let's move ahead to Hagerio Bontorin, who gets the win over match now. And I know he missed weight, so we're not going to spend a whole lot of time on this AK because we typically don't reward guys when they miss weight. So this was probably the Alex Perez sweepstakes, which is no longer the case for Bontorine since he missed wait. So I think the winner of the upcoming fight between Tim Elliott and Sumadherjee, is fine. That's a suitable fight. It's one of two guys who are ranked behind him right now. So he's not getting a step up. And they're two very tough fights for him. So that makes sense.

What do you think? No, look, I was more harsh on Bonterrain. And by the end, and you're right, we can talk about this more later because there's a lot of listeners just for him. And a lot of them along the lines of almost like punishment fights, which I agree with. You missed way. I'm sorry. I know he was on short notice, but you missed weight and you won. And I do feel like the extra size slash not cutting all the weight. tim in this fight. I don't know. Hard to tell. I like the Elliott Sumeridiargy winner, but I thought maybe him fight the loser of that fight instead. Like I said, I'm pretty harsher with Wuntering. Otherwise, and I just wanted to bring this up because I mess with

this before the show, because I didn't even know this was happening. Amir al-Bazi versus O'Day Osborne. Osborne dropping down to 125 on July 17, which I think is interesting. He'll be a tall, he'll be a pretty tall 125er. And it just looked weird to me because his last fight was at 145. It wasn't supposed to be. It was like a change if the fight got changed. So it's just weird to be going from a 145 fight to a 125 fight. But you, I think you said that that was the plan. He has been planning to kind of drop down. He's been competing at 135 as well. So yeah, so I'm intrigued by that fight. And I wouldn't mind one of them getting Bontorraine. Sorry Bontorine. Great win. A really fun fight, but one pound. Sticks my craw. Yes. So that is all the Bonsorine talk

we're going to get. Make the wait. Oh, there's more later. Listeners. Oh, okay. Listers have plenty. The listeners have plenty. A.K.K.K.K. Katelyn Chukagan made my job easy. And I like the idea that she came up with. She defeats Viviani Arr Ujo.

I will say, for those who missed the post-fight coverage on M.A.futting.com, I scored it for Viviani Arruzo. I thought she won the fight, 29 to 28. I felt like there were some tomfoolery going on with the judging. Overall, I don't think there were, like, any highway robberies. I had no issue with Chukagin. and getting the nod, the 3027 for Chakiging is one of the worst scorecards I've ever seen. It is horrific scorecard.

But listen, Kailen Chukagin gets another win. She knocks off another contender. What do you think is next for her? I got lazy with this one. I got lazy. I did the people are going to hate this. Why not, Andrew Lee? Why not?

What's the, what's, what's, what's, you know, what's the harm? I get, I get it. Great win by, you know, with apologies to my cousin, Andrea. Great win. Super exciting way to get back in the win column to snap a skid. I know for fans of hers, the last thing they want is for her to get in there with this tricky point fighting, fight winning athlete in Kailen Chukagian. But I mean, again, I think it's a good matchup. I think Chukagian is in the top five.

So again, if you are a fan of Andrea Lee, this is a top five matchup. She gets past Chukagian. you're in that talks to get a title fight, you know? So, and it doesn't take a lot of at 125 just because Valentina keeps just murking contenders. So you're not that far away. You just need to be, hey, submit her sister, that's going to help. And then maybe beat Chukagian, that's going to help. So I don't know how much I love it stylistically, but as far as what it could do for both fighters.

And Chukagin, of course, I think we'd love to take that fight. Yeah, I know fans aren't chopping in the bit for it. But hey, look, they both got wins on Saturday. Match them up. Yeah. I mean, I'm all for giving Andrea Lee another opportunity. Not this opportunity. I just don't, I just, I don't know. I don't love it. So I'm in for the Alexa Grasso idea. I like it. I think Grasso's getting better and better. I think she has a stylistic boxing presence that could present some problems for Caitlin Chukagena. Katelyn likes to be out at space and pick you apart. I don't know if Alexa Grasso will, uh, will let her do that. as much as Chukagin has been able to do in her last several victories. I just don't know if that happens. I think Grasso will be in her face,

and I think she'll punch her and make things a little more uncomfortable for her. I thought Arousho had a pretty darn good game plan for the first half of the fight. The one thing I was worried about was, can she keep that kind of a pace through 15 minutes? Turns out she could not, and Chukagian took full advantage of that. So I like the Grasso idea. Coming up the big one over Macy, I like the call-out from Chukagian. because she must be an on to the next one listener. That just kind of sealed the deal for me.

Her Twitter account may have been hacked, but her iPod and iPod, what are we talking about? But her Apple podcast, wherever she listens to her favorite shows, clearly has not been hacked. She listens on to the next one. I thought it was a good idea. Well done, Caitlin Chiquetian. Yes, I hope we're amongst her illustrious list of likes.

Let's leave it at that. And now, AK, we move on to Edson Barboso, who had a hell of a scrap with one Shane Burgos. He knocks him out in the third round. I think we've got to put some respect on Edson Barbosa's name. Maybe not you, but me. I have to. I thought Burgos was going to have the greatest performance of his career.

I thought this is going to be the showcase fight for him. But Barbosa said, uh-uh, he's 3 and 0, 145. You look great on Saturday. He deserves a top 10 guy. And I'm just going to stick with what I said a couple of weeks ago on the show. Edson Barbosa versus Giga Chikaze is the fight to make. give it to us. It will be insane. I'm all for it. And if Barbosa wants to get to the title, it ain't going to be an easy road to get there, especially in this division, he's going to have

to start knocking these guys off one by one to get his way up there. And if he could be Gigga Chikaze, it's going to get a lot of momentum from that. What do you think? And vice versa. Look, if Chacazza beats him, Barbosa is such an established name in the UFC, mostly at lightweight, of course. But I mean, his featherweight run has been fun. It's been fun. I know he thinks he's three and O. You know, he thinks he won the E.K fight. So he certainly emerged as a contender and just stylistically, it's a perfect, perfect matchup. I love it. I cheated a little bit here because I just, there's a matchup, Mike, that I just, I will not give up on.

I will not give up. I'll not give up on Barbosa versus Korean Zombie. Zombie is fighting Igay on June 19th. You know what? Win or lose? I don't care. I do not care. I still want Barbosa to be matched up a zombie.

You could talk me into a Barbosa-I-Gay rematch as well. It's a little recent. I don't even think we're 18 months away from it. It was last year, right? Wasn't it last year? Yeah, there was no crowd. It was one of the makeup. It's been a year.

Like, maybe one year. Yeah, maybe a little over it. It was a March. It was a March last year. So maybe a little over a year. And it was a really close fight. I know a lot of people stopped Barbosa won. I'd have to watch it again.

Did I do a robbery? I think I did a robbery review. You did. I can't remember my own stuff. I'm the anti-Hose. Jose remembers everything. I can't remember my own things. but it was a very close fight certainly

and so I wouldn't mind that but ideally win or lose if Iga beats him Ige moves on to another matchup if zombie wins loses screw it paramount with it's paramount for both I need to see this fight happen they're in the same division

I need to see this fight happen I'm uh yeah I said he's 3 and 0145 and I think of my own mind I thought he'd be Dan A gay as well so I was I was informed, inaccurate with my...

He said it himself. He said it himself was a post-fight interview, I think. He was like, I'm three-and-he, he just dropped it like, I'm three-and-oh, and I'm like, okay. All right. In my heart, you probably are. You're three-and-o. Just not on paper. So that fight was great.

A lot of exciting matchups in store for Edson Barbosa. And now we head to the wild card round, AK, lots of fantastic options to choose from. We will now select a fighter. We have not matched for already, and we will do so. right now. So before we go to the peeps, check the tapes, et cetera. If there's a mic check, perhaps, what is your wild card selection coming out of UFC 262? Easy, peasy. Got to go with my boy. Landau Bonata. Gosh, look, a lot of people had been saying, can this guy cut down to 145? I'm not entirely sure why there was such a strong move for that.

I think it's, we're pretty perceptive in the media and his fans. I think we see a guy. We can kind of make some judgments about their body and go like, yeah, it looks like his frame could cut a little more and can go down. And I guess maybe he was also fighting some large lightweight, so we kind of just looked at it and you kind of just eyeball. You're like, man, he looks a little, you know, he looks a little undersized in a lot of these fights, but he looked great at 145.

His fight with Mike Grundy was so much fun. And I really see this guy being contender, 145, with the right matchups, with the right matches, you build him up the right way. We talked about it a lot on the post-fight show with Casey, the producer extraordinaire, and I think it's Casey just want to, like, throw him up there, right?

Casey's just like, let's have Lando, So top 20, top 15 opponent, and I'm kind of with you. I was kind of like, let's pump the brakes a little. So perfect matchup for him. I'd love to see him fight Charles Jordane. Would love to see him fight Jardine. I was championing a Jordane Ricardo Hamos fight some time ago. Hamos now fighting Bilalgio, May 22nd.

So Jardine's free in my books, and I would love to see him fight Vennata. For me, I thought Andrea Lee looked phenomenal. She needed to win as bad as anybody on the entire card. And she didn't go out there and squeak out a split decision. She dominated Antonia Shepchenko. Submitted her in the second. Would have been a 10-8 second round more than likely if she didn't finish the round. And I'm willing to give Andrea more of a pass than a lot of other people because, I mean,

she has dealt with a lot of stuff over the last couple of years. Like so many different things from, you know, just a regular divorce sucks. but now you're adding in like everything with the ex-husband and that whole story with that prick. I'm not even going to say his name to the Lauren Murphy loss that a lot of people thought she won. And, you know, even her just being pushed up the ladder so quickly in her UFC run. Like while she's going on, like with all these things happening to her, she's still somehow winning fights. And I think she kind of got pushed a little too quickly. And I think she would agree with that as well.

but I think she's kind of, well, that can never leave you. I think she's been able to put some of that hard stuff behind her a little more. She's been able to push that stuff away. And I think this was as clear-headed as she has been in a long, long time. She looked fantastic. So I'm not giving her Chukagian, but I'm going to give, I'm okay giving her a big fight, AK. And I'm okay giving her somebody in the top five. Because I want to see if this is for real.

I feel like it could be. I don't know if she's, I'm not saying she's going to go fight for a title this year, but I want to see if it's for real. Let's give her Cynthia Calvio. I think that fight makes sense for a lot of reasons. Cynthia needs to fight somebody. This division is starting to fill up with these matchups,

and KGB will be ready to bounce back relatively quick. So if Calvio is ready to go, July, August, throw in there at KGB, and let's see what happens. Great matchup. Calvio could sell the hell out of that fight. I think, I think, Angelio would do a great job with it as well. well. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Like we said, we both think she could vaulted herself into the top five for the right win. I lean towards Chikagan, but Calvio definitely fits the bills. Well, I have it right behind Chukagian in my rankings. So, yeah, Andrew Lee, huge win, huge, huge win. And it's right. It's kind of crazy. You recap all these just, again, we don't want to go. We've been avoiding going to detail, but like we said, these just like wild, unfortunate personal problems she's had. Plus, you said, again, how poetic is it that she returns to the scene of the proverbial crime? UFC 247, she fought Lauren Murphy with all the people thought that was a robbery.

She lost a split and then returns to Houston on Saturday, UFC 22. And just an awesome, awesome submission of Antonina Shibchenko. Yeah, it was gnarly. I think it was like the only the seventh one of those in UFC history, the triangle arm bar. Good for her. Glad to see her back in the wind calm. Try to get her on what the heck this week and see what's going on with her, how life has been. And why she looks so different in this fight.

but all right okay time for the uh the bonus coverage so to speak i don't know if there's a mic check uh oh no no no mike check the tapes i'm sure we have we have some oh there's a check the tape there's several check the tapes let me tell you something like are we officially moving on to check the tapes we can move on to check the tapes let me tell you something there is there is someone who has uh been toiling away with their suggestions and i think doing a fantastic job and just for whatever reason has not quite been nailing the actual fights you know making making really good suggestions uh that person is me uh i i thought you're going to say me i mean obviously you do a great job as well and i think some of these fights i'm going to mention i'm pretty sure you've you've brought up as well

but uh i rarely i think actually nailed some of these picks in the head i think i might have had a little bit more success recently but definitely before like the last couple weeks i've just been whiffing on all kinds of picks for like two months but we had a bunch of uh fights become official this week. Again, I'm not the only one to recommend these fights, but I did have them as my official onto the next one picks. And you may have had some of these as well. So Penny Kanzad versus Alexis Davis, UFC 23, June 12. I called for that. Yeah, take a lap on that one. That was an AK special. Oh, thank you. This is the one everyone. Oh, no, sorry. Oh, no, I did call for this somehow. We said this fight didn't make sense. I had somehow called for this. I couldn't believe it.

Makachab Moises, July 17. I actually had called that a previous show. People can check the tapes. Go to the old episode. Check the tapes. I'm telling you, I did it. Pantosia versus Brandon Roeval. This is one I want to see August 21st. I call for that one too. So that one. And also, this is a problem. I know I wasn't the only one who picked this fight. Paul Ocosta, Jared Cannier. So that's really myself. I think maybe even you and the listeners. We all thought that was a great matchup. But I think actually, I don't know if that was my most recent pick for these guys. This might have been a pick from like last year or something. I can't remember now but August 21st that's Costa versus

Cannotier. Other people I guess had good picks Mike I have Jack O'Hara from the Twitter suggestions he reminded me he picked Jamal Emmer's versus Pat Sabatini that's happening on August 28th, very fine matchups so congratulations to Jack and by the way also congratulations

to Jack who sorry I got to read his scroll down to find his message here Jack O'Hara he said he was very excited because he was taking his medical school entry exam last weekend and or today or yesterday either way he took it he just he recently took his medical school entry exam he says it went very well so I don't know if that means he got the results but

congratulations on that jack and and for sharing that was it I think that that's awesome he says where his his current favorite m-ma pod to listen to Mike and uh Jacob best Jacob best called and I don't know if he was the only one he's the only one I had written down uh uh Uriah hall Sean Strickland he wanted that one August 7th I'm getting a half a point for that because you did and you sitting in your seat did a tremendous job as the co-host because I took us on a journey after Sean Strickland's win

and I said I like the Calvin Gaslam idea but I said but if your eye haul is ready to come back and just do the damn thing after the Chris Wyden fight that fight would be fine too and then you made me like lock in a pick you're like this is for check the tape purposes you got to pick one and I went with Kelvin Gaslam

instead of your eye haul so I'm going to take half credit for that. You don't get half a foot what no that's the whole point is this The journey. It's one point or nothing. I'm taking a half point. I'm taking it. Mike,

let me have this week. Everyone knows you're a genius. You win. Listen, you kicked my tail. You've been whooping me. Every dog has me. You planted seeds.

My garden is like one, my garden's like three flowers. You are like, your garden is blooming like crazy. Now, I mean, this is the first time. And I won BTL this week.

What a week it is. Awesome, Alexander Welding. My goodness. So it's, everything's coming up, Millhouse. Oh, man.

The tapes have been checked. The tapes have been checked. All right. So let's go to the peeps then. Let us go to the peeps. You know what? I'll just fire through these. A lot of first-timers, which I truly appreciate.

Let's get right to it. Jordan Cabo ReCobb have been listening to the pod for a while, first-time message, and I'd be down. I feel like this is a popular one, AK. Tony Ferguson versus Donald Cowboy Soroni should be retired. fireman fight for both guys. Poppy Bryant. He said I didn't like his one-fight suggestion.

I just think I didn't like the matchup that he picked, just because it's okay. Poppy Bryant, wildcar pick, Munez versus the loser of Tavares versus Ahmedov. Barbosa versus Arnold Allen. Chikagan versus Murphy-Jojo-I. Whoever has the better performance out of the three should get it. I don't know if I agree with that because I think Murphy Jojo is fighting for the belts. no matter what. Bonsarine versus Alex Perez.

We've already talked, I don't think he should be rewarded for missing weight. Darius versus Michael Chandler. Interesting. And then Olivera versus the Poria McGregor winner. I feel like that's going to be a popular one.

Brandon Nunez, Venada versus Cub. We talked about this on the post-vite show. I don't think that's going to happen because they have a close relationship. Munez versus the winner of Phil Haas versus Duran win. I didn't see that one.

Okay. These are all I used to have some fresh ones. I don't have these. am I. Yeah, there we go. Barboza versus Allen or Calvin Cater Burgos Sudec. Derruch Chandler, Ferguson versus Gregor Gillespie, or

Ferguson versus Grant Dawson? Anyone who wants to see Ferguson versus two quilliananiacs who are sick. I'm sorry. Those are the last guys I want to see Ferguson. If you're young, I don't know how young, I say

hungry, certainly hungry grapplers that I don't think this version of Tony Ferguson can deal with right now. Yeah. Another Chandler versus Darius and Brandon Nune is saying, you know what? Screw July 10th. Olivera versus Justin Gachey. Just book it now.

Make that the fight. Barbosa versus Yair. However long it goes, we'll be electric. That's from our friend Zach Diamond-Sampson. And then we have Peter Reedle. Barbosa versus Ege, T.K. Z winner. There you go, A.K. Chukagan versus Calderwood

Murphy loser. Bonsorin, another Bonarine Perez, Ferguson Cowboy 2, Darius RDA, Chandler Gachey, Oliver versus Poria McGregor winner. I think that's just going to be a popular one. Robbie Ryan, Aussie Dad Bloke. He says he's with Oliverer versus the Pori McGregor winner. Chandler Gachey, Darius versus number three to number five at the end of

2021 or early 22, just depending on how the chips fall in the meantime. Ferguson Seroni or Nate Diaz if Leon Edwards beats him. I don't dislike that at all. Hooker versus RDA could help determine a contender for these other guys. Honestly, if McGregor loses again, he's not fighting any of these guys anytime soon, but will probably be elevated to a title shot if he wins. And then he also says, thank you, Robbie. You knew you were getting on the show.

This is for you, Sammy. this is for you. Nick Diaz versus Jorge Mazdal is the fight to make, not Shemayef. If you smell! No, I didn't say that. Let's see.

Evan Rodriguez. Shane Burgos versus Giga Chikaze. Bonserine versus, oh boy. Hagerio Bontorine versus Joseph Benavides. Make wait and we'll discuss. I saw that too. Yeah, I'm like, that's a big reward fight, I think, for a guy coming off a win over match.

A good fighter in match, but also missing weight. I don't know. It was a really fun fight, though, but no. Benevita, to me, is still a reward. I think that's a reward for you can give for making weight. Edson Barbosa versus Arnold Allen. Andre Munez versus Jack Hermanson. I don't care if Hermannsen wins or loses next Saturday.

This fight needs to happen. And what are your thoughts on this one, A.K. Caitlin Chukagian versus the winner of Macy Barber versus Miranda Maverick. I saw, you know, it was funny. I don't mind it. Well, I do mind it. I think it's too soon. I think it's too soon for either Maverick or Barber.

I would honestly, I know they're both Maverick's super talented. Barber, I think also I still have high hopes for her as well. I don't think either of them right now beats Chukagia in a fight. I really don't. And the other one I saw Flour Round Mike was, so I'll try to repeat this later, was Andrew Lee versus the Maverick and Barber winner, which I think I like even less. I don't know. I don't know.

I'm not really sure what to do with the Andrew Lee matchmaking. I think you had you may be the best suggestion but yeah,

I don't know. I get it. I get, I get, because after whoever wins that Maverick Barber fight is going to have

a ton of hype behind them, I understand, and there'll be their urge to push them up very quickly. I think

Jaegan or Andrew Lee may be a little too quick. I agree. We got sneakers flippers. I think I'm going to go

with that. Munez versus Julian Marquez interesting yes I love it Marquez by the way becoming an

onto the next one suggestion favorite yes Tony Ferguson versus Paul Felder yes perfect it's perfect

Barbosa versus Jaire Bonsorine versus the winner of Elliot Sumederjee like that idea Chukagan

versus Grasso or Marina Hottorigez if she wants to stay at 125 Marina Oh, oh, right.

I keep forgetting, yes, the Waterson fight, 125. Yeah, I just don't think, I don't think she, it's a good fight. I just don't think, Rodriguez staying at 125. Yeah, Darius Chandler and Francisco, sneakers flippers, our boy Francisco, listener from Italy, he is going way outside the box for Charles Oliver's first title defense. Max Holloway. Oh, I actually, who else mentioned that here?

I'll mention them now Oh, I want to Well, I want to our guys Matt Bradbury Always coming up with the host suggestions Yes, I had not thought about this I had not thought about this Again, you want Holloway

In a big lightweight fight You love the Gates G matchup And the other of course There's the intrigue of Holloway has a win Over Oliva at 1.45 And not controversial But I mean sort of an unsatisfactory win You know, Olavera got injured

Yeah Yeah, I'm into it I would love, if that came out of left field, I'd sign right up for it. Hey, listen, Barbosa said, I'm still a featherway, baby. You can just go down and fight my house. It's only at 145 if he wants to. Alec E. Nillian, some other suggestions that we've already said. Bonserring v. Cheeto Vera.

I don't think that's going to happen. Lando versus Armand Sarukian. Don't think that's happening because I think Atlanta's going to stay 145. But I do like this one, AK. I wanted to get your thoughts on this. Andrei Munez versus Brendan Allen That was one of the two

Most Popular picks for Munez that I saw I love it I love it Obviously I think he's you know Kind of jumped Brendan Allen in the rankings But that doesn't mean that I think he's out of the range of have I think he's ahead of Brendan Allen the rankings But not so far ahead that like oh no no

He has something the game from beating Brendan Allen I think there's a lot to game from beating Beating Brendan Allen because You know you want to put together this resume So now he has the knocked off a legend thing won his first two fights and then yeah one is two fights knocked off a legend now face another guy

who's being viewed as you know a future top 10 future top five guy I think that's ideal matchmaking the other matchup that a solid level suggest I'll mention when I get to sort of my section of this but it's a strange one I very much like Mooney as Brennanette yeah I like that one as well

a couple from John George he likes Michael Chandler versus RDA I think we see that happen eventually I don't know next I don't know next I would be but I do think as long as both those guys, if they're both competing for at least like another couple of years, two or three years, I would be shocked if that matchup does not happen.

He also liked Shane Burgos versus the loser of Ege versus Korean zombie and some love for Lando Vanada. And I like this matchup, Lando Vanada versus Danny Henry. I think that's fine. Yeah. That's fine.

And John wanted to show you out as well, A.K. Shout out to the man, AK, for getting what he deserves and getting that BTL win. Put some respect on his name. Thank you. Who's this John George? That's John.

That's our dude, John George. Thank you, John George. Will says we need Tony Ferguson versus cowboy. Christian Lee. Let's see. Another Darius RDA. Ferguson versus Felder or someone ranked 15 or even unranked. Felder's the best possible scenario.

Same for Olivera. Chandler, Gatier, Daryush. A couple more. A couple more. Matt Ravelli. where is Matt Revelli since Benny's going to be out for a while main event loser

Michael Chandler versus RDA all right probably another for Barbrose Arnold Allen and I think we got one more it was another Landau versus Cup Swanson but that's not going to happen so

back to you AK all you my friend all right well again we've already had some amazing suggestions in there like I said I always like to list the most popular ones Oh, I forgot the usual disclaimer.

Hold on. I got to hit people with usually. I got to make this a routine. I got to get used to this. Let's hit people with the usual disclaimer now, the usual. On to the next one disclaimer, guys. Remember, we like to emphasize when you guys talk about winners or unless they're in the main event or title fight, then we usually talk about both. We like unique matchups.

So again, if your name doesn't get mentioned, your matchups don't get mentioned. It's probably because like 100 other people said it. The fighter could already be booked. Please, people, do your research. If the fighter's booked, we prefer not to bring it up. You may have just made a mistake. It could be wrong weight class. might have fought recently.

The person could be injured. We just don't want to keep throwing them out for matchups. That are not going to happen. And, of course, most importantly, your pick might just be doo-do, and I don't want to read it. So that's the usual disclaimer. That's, so we are now covered legally. Mike, we are now covered legally, whatever we say. I have to say that.

That is Vox Media required. So, yeah, so as you mentioned, the most popular picks, Oliver, Pori, McGregor, Chandler v. G. Darius versus Gae. Darius versus Chandler, probably the most popular ones I saw across all, from all kinds of listeners. Barbosa versus Cater, I was the most popular Barbosa matchup I saw.

And there was also, yeah, Yair, Gigacizade, and there's a beat. I saw at least two or three of beats. So again, if Zabit's not retiring, sure, amazing matchup for him and Barbosa. The other Munez matchup besides Brendan Allen, I saw a lot of people, Munez, this is at least like, I think four people suggest this. Munez versus Christoph Jocko? I like Jocko's, I like Jocko. He's a respected veteran. He's coming off of a loss.

And I think, I think, uh, Munis, again, like I said, if we're building the resume, he has sort of the veteran name filled out. And, and someone who's ranked, I would still have ranked higher than Jock. So I don't really think that makes sense. I don't hate it. I think they're probably ranked around the same right now. If Jocco beat John Strickland, he'd be like 12 or 13 in the rankings right now. Yes, but he didn't. He didn't.

No, that's what I'm saying. He's, I would say. I'd say, I have no problem saying Jocko is a top 20 guy. I haven't met 20. I have him at 20. I have Monez in the top of Dene. Oh, yeah. I don't know if I have Monez there just yet.

Like, Jokker is a nice name to have, but it's not like, it's not a name where you just, at this point of his career, coming off three straight losses heading into the fight. The submission was great. And you don't get style points for the rankings. It's just you beat the competition that you have based on where they're at in their careers. While it's a nice win. you're applying for a job and you got jacqueray resume submitting jacques suz on your resume you're you're a legend in that sense but in terms of like the rankings and where you go i don't think he's a top 15 guy so i don't i don't have i have less of a problem with the jaco fight than you

than you do okay all right see this time see guys sometimes you guys are trying to check like this time i'm i'm the one that needs to be checked this time if it is if it ends up getting booked i'm the one that needs to be checked okay um but now that we mentioned like i said jordane a lot people like that one too, Darren Elkins. And some people, a lot of, a few suggestions of lightweight. I'm not sure a lot of people knew that that fight was at 145, that this was his featherweight debut, because it's not like people are super familiar with Mike Grundy. I don't know.

People thought it was a lightweight fight, but just a reminder for all future Venata matchmaking people, it was 145, pretty sure he planned to stick around there. So I will not be reading out any lightweight suggestions for Vanada. There was two or three that were sent this week. By the way, by the way, let me just save this real quick. Yeah. We talked about the Caitlin Chukagan 30 to 27 scorecard. That was not the worst of the night.

That was the second worst of the night. The Mike Grundy 30 to 27 scorecard was absolute horse crap. My God. What friggin fight was that dude watching? 3027 Grundy? I mean, I thought we were going to get a split decision. If you wanted to go 29, 28, I'm still against that score, but it's not like completely egregious. But 30 to 27 is just.

He should never be allowed to judge a fight again. And we had the dueling 30. Well, well, and we had the dueling 3027s, which makes more agree. Well, here's the thing though. I don't know if you saw me tweet this, Mike. So, all right. Now, it's going to sound like I'm calling this guy out. But I'm also doing it almost to defend this guy's, not his, not his card.

That card was atrocious. But he actually has done decent work before the last, obviously he's a Texas-based judge because the last time he did a card was UFC 247 in Houston. He was the one judge that, made sense of the Trevin Giles James Krause fight, which as we all know was very controversial because, you know, people have done sort of dug some digging after. James Cross lost that fight by split decision,

which he, which was absurd because, uh, one of the rounds that was given to, um, Giles was round one by Judge Josalise. And I believe in that round, Krause, I think that was the round where Krause was like on his back the whole time. So, so it was,

it was bizarre. But two judges. J.G. Ferraro and Selees had it for Giles, and Patlin had it for Krause, 29, 28. So he was the good guy on that day. I'm not saying that justifies this truly bizarre scorecard, but I do want to, fair is fair, and I just want to say he was on the good side of the Texas weirdness

last time they were in Houston. So Patrick Patlin, I don't know what's going on in Texas, but good work last time, Saturday, a little shaky. Some deep cuts. Some deep cuts, Catrera versus Gian Kim, which I like. I don't have a table with this. Tucker Lutz versus T.J. Brown? Yeah, that's a fun fight.

And Giego's versus MacDessi. All right, let me see that I run through some of these measures here and skip over anything that's repeated a little too much. As you said, Mike, of course, we always like to showcase first timers. So Zach Raby, thank you for chiming in. I think he had a very nice thing to say. Yes, he said, what was? nice thing you had to say. It's a very long message. Gosh, I should have just written this down

what he was going to say. Anyway, oh, well, this is more for last week. He's like, he just wants to know, he says he lives on the podcast, he's a new fan, and he just wants to know why is Magni versus Mazvedol not being talked about more? So this was a cent on Monday earlier this week. He said, Magni having such an impressive victory over Jeff Neal, I feel like he deserves a fight with someone above him in the rankings. Mazbidal needs some way to bounce back from two losses in a row to the champ and he just thought it would be cool to send the suggestion out even though he knows he missed the I missed the deadline last time but Zach's thank you for that yeah I think Magny versus Maswood all I'm pretty sure we brought it up as a possibility some other

listeners may have mentioned it I don't know if it happens I just don't know if Maswood all sees him as being that kind of a name but if we're talking rankings wise and and and merit wise yeah Magny should absolutely get that fight but yeah yeah no you know how these things go uh Jake Halsey also first time we're chiming in says long time listener first time pick and he just would like to see Darius versus Gaitji. Ferguson go up and fight Matt Brown and this is regards

to last week, Soroni versus Clay Guida. I think that's a lot and a lot of people are kind of thinking would be a fun a fun last fight for Seroni. So I'm not against it. Yeah. Our guy literally just for Otno, one of my favorite is a guy. He says

he wants the Bontrain versus Tim Elliott. We discussed that earlier. I wanted to read this because he's like, Caitlin, please tell Jose Young's is pronounced Caitlin and not Catlin. Jose Young's, what a mess. Caitlin Chukagan versus Jennifer Maya.

Maya is fighting I, right? I don't know. Are they fought right? No, they are fighting. They are fighting. And then he just said, also want to congratulate me on the BTL win. He said, please, please beat Jedmishu next week. So I don't know.

see i've never done it before um mayhads coming in with some good suggestions uh lee uh just want to andrily v viviani arujo i'm like okay yeah you know if you if people felt that arrojo won that fight it's almost like matching up winners uh Tucker lutz versus kiososos gizzi i like that curly actually caught this uh use your name curly on instagram actually contacted me earlier in the week mike he wanted us to make a wager what was who did you pick for the main event olivera okay so he was We both picked Oliveris, so this wouldn't have worked out anyway. He said, pick someone in the main event and whoever's right.

Oh, no, he wanted me to pick someone in the main event. I guess he would go the opposite. And then he said, I'll eat a lemon live on the podcast if I lose. Wow. And if I won, he would send us a video of him eating a lemon. So I don't know. That's something else. Okay.

Anyway, he's part of the Bonterine versus Benavides crowd, which we discussed earlier. He said Chikigian, just take a break. He said she should just take a break, wait for the division to shake out, which is not a terrible idea, but she strikes me as someone that's trying to stay busy. Like you said, she called up Grasel already. And we kind of mentioned this on the post-fight show, Landa vanada versus Alex Kloseris. Jacob Best coming in with Darius, Waits for the Winner of a fight.

So he kind of made up his own match and then said, wait for the winner of that match. He wants to see Chandler, Gheed, and then says, Darius, wait for the winner of this hypothetical fight. Bontorraine versus, I don't know if you, any of your listeners, You got your guys who sent you a message mentioned this one. Bontarine versus Nicolao. That's a fun fight. I didn't see that one.

I don't know why I didn't think of that. I love that matchup. How did I not think of that? It's a great job in that one, Jacob Bass. Always coming in with like a solid gem every time. Burgos versus Sotom versus Sondon and Vanada versus Swanson again. We've got to stop mentioning it's not going to happen, probably. Matt Bradbury, I mentioned it before.

Another guy always kind of with deep cuts. He just says, just rebooked Gagos versus Joel Alvarez. of course, Sean Soriano replaced him. Yeah, pretty simple. That could definitely happen. Tucker Lutz versus, he wants a big step up. He says Tucker Lutz versus Mirsad Bechtich, pointing out that Becht is on a slide. I think he's two or three straight losses.

So I still think Beckettich is a huge, huge step above. But it's true. Based on recent success, not a fight that if it was booked, I would be like totally shocked. It could happen. Yeah. Lee versus Tyler Santos. Santos recently lost out in the Roxanne Monoferi. fight.

Boy, that's a tough, that's a tough fight for entry-a-late. I think you'll like this. I have to read this. Matt Berber Bratbury says, Antonina Schochenko versus, where's, why do I know it's so bad? Oh, this is just a super long message. Anthony Schenko versus Molly McCann.

He says, Schochenko should win against Molly McCann. If she does, we can't just let her have one win because this will happen again. Here's my plan for her, beat Molly. Pretty sure she's better everywhere. Fight J.J. Aldrich, hopefully secure a victory. And if so, then the, the winner of Moros versus Menon Firore. Then let's do Top 15.

So he has a whole plan for Antonina Shepchenko's career. So thank you, Matt Bradbury. Wow. Send that message to Shofchenko's team because that's, I mean, that's a lot of ifs, though. I will say. There was like three ifs in there. But I do like the well thought out and forward thinking response. Jordan Wright versus Abu Zaitar.

Jacaree versus Shogun at Light Heavyweight, another dual retirement like Soroni. Ferguson. If they're going to keep him around for one more, I would not be totally opposed to that. But I just don't see a world where they keep him around for one more. Like, unless it's to put somebody else over, like a very dangerous guy where we're just sadder than we were last night. I don't want to be sad when I see Jokoré. Like, I don't. I want to have like, it doesn't, it can't get any worse.

Like, I don't want to see it get worse. I don't want to feel worse than I feel right now. these fights are getting a little sad I will say I do like this one more Ferguson versus Lawler at Walter Wade I'm pretty sure we've mentioned this on another show

or at something like that probably more Condit for example but yeah at Ferguson it goes up to 170 like we said there's great matches there at Matt Brown Robert Lawler at Carlos Condit not big ass wrestlers

who are going to just do what has been done to him to last two fights no one wants to see that anymore so thank you Matt Bradbury also he has some great picks there so going to Twitter a lot of first timers

I want to shout out Oren Sleep Walker, his first match. He says, matching the featherweight division is like fish and a barrel. It's like Barbosa versus Allen, Jakarta, IGA, if he beats Sveke. Can't go wrong with any of them or in Sleepwalker. You are absolutely correct. Cannot go wrong there.

J.C. Rodriguez, a huge fan of the show, getting in his picks for the first time. I liked from JC, of course, he's pushing two of the more popular ones, Olivera versus Forreya McGregor winner, Darius, which G., and a bunch of other matchups, which are census picks. We got two more nations checking in. Two more nations checking in that I'm always excited about. Thomas GCT on Twitter from Scotland. Really in on Darayusha versus Hooker or Gatji

and John Orr from the Philippines. Let me check out this one. Yes. I had to give him a shout to the Philippines. We have such a great Filipino community in the GTA. So I have a lot of Filipino friends. Happy to hear someone check in from the islands.

And he does run these downings. Olivera, Pori, Conner, Darius Gaecchi, Chandler de Zanos, Tony Felder, and Barbosa Giga. He's his MMA fighting's number one fan from the Philippines. You guys stay awesome. 100 emoji, fire emoji.

Thank you, John Orr. All right, now, back to a lot of our regulars. Again, congrats Jack O'Hara on getting the tape check that's probably more important to you than doing well in your entry exam to medical college or whatever. Jordan Wright versus Carl Roberson.

Yeah, yeah. A little bit of a job. Bit of a jump up, a bit of a jump up. And one I really love, which, again, which I thought about myself, Lando Vanada and Daniel Paneda. I think that's really, it would be a really cool matchup. That's fine. Like, listen, I know we were kind of bickering with Casey about some of his

strange matchmaking about just, like, throwing him in to like a title shot, essentially. I mean, I'm exaggerating, but, like, that's kind of the direction. No, you're not. He's being absurd, yeah. But a guy like Paneda, I feel like that's okay. Like, if you're going to give him a step up, cool. Like, that's the step up. But Panetta is tough, man.

He's a tough out. Like, I know he just got knocked up by Cub Swanson, but he was lightened Cub Swanson up for like four minutes of that first round before Cub caught him. So, tough fight, man. Tough fight. I, like, that's a good one. I'm okay with that. Panetta is a top 25 guy in my eyes.

It's a bit hard to gaze Lando right now because he is new at Featherweight, but obviously we've seen a lot of tape on Lando from his run of it. lightweight. So it is a bit hard to gauge how good is he exactly, but I think that's about the right range for me. Michael Perugini coming in with the Edson Lom, he says, Edson versus Eager Max, I'm the biggest Edson fan. I have to say it's relieving for him to get

his second, truthfully third win at featherweight, and he deserves to be the champ. Point blank, get Edson to the belt, so he wants to just get Edson Robosa up there as quickly as possible. And our pal Scott McCray, always such a mainstay of our programming,

just said, my only ask is for Chandler versus Gatinex, it will be bananas. So thank you, Scott, for checking in, as you always, always do. Your best friend, your other best friend, Sammy James, like he's coming. Muniz versus Gaslam and Ferguson versus Iaquinta. Yeah, Iaquinta, again, another guy, I don't know how many times we can bring him on this show and we're just not sure when, what his plan is when he decides to fight again. Jerry McNulty likes Venata versus Duhoi Choi, Choi out of action for a while, so I just don't know if that's going to happen. one we mentioned for Burgos, I think.

Burgos versus Alex Caceres. Oh, no, we mentioned that for Lando before. Yeah. Yeah. And he said, Burgos, he needs to stop the skit. Alex deserves someone toff of Dean. So, yeah, I don't mind that logic. Chukagin versus I, too.

If I beats Maya, she has fought everyone, so has to rematch and needs another win for the title shot. Because we need to see I fight Shepchenko again. And I'm sure she would like to get the loss to Chikagan back. So, yeah, okay. And then he shows chaos going Ferguson versus Patty Pimlet. And this is my note. This is my note I made. You really know, Mike, that the UFC has moving on from the whole Tony Ferguson thing if they line him up with Patty Piblet.

Yes. Because that's essentially saying we think Pimlet will beat him and we want to make Pimlet a star right away. So I would, that would be scary if they did that. I would like to think they wouldn't. Hayes-Beth third, Ferguson versus Beldrick, Gillespie, or Diaz. Yeah, either one, Mike. They're interchangeable at this point for, or if you're Tony Fribon. Ferguson.

Bon Terreen, stay at 135, and I like this because I think this would be a punishment. Either Jimmy Rivera or Cody Stamen. Interesting. So you're kind of rewarding him with a big fight

and maybe also not rewarding because either of those guys could potentially beat his ass, so I don't know. Yeah, it's very bizarre. Barbosa versus zombie. Thank you, Hayes. Jordan Wright versus the

two nice cuts here, the Patolo Todorovich winner and aforementioned Andrew Lee Maverick Barber. So that's Hayes who I think it was mentioned that in my feed here. Lockedegon likes Daryush

versus Mokachev-Moisus winner. We kind of discussed, you know, would they fight through on the same team, but at some point, like you said, Makachev can't be denied. He's got to, you got to give him big matchups. And Ferguson versus Felder, he apologized. He said, sorry, I had to slip that one in there. That's a great matchup. Again, I'm going to say, because people have mentioned it. It's a great matchup. Yeah, I'm fine with that one, for sure.

I think Paul would be down for it. Ain't no expert. I like this one. Gagos versus Michael Johnson. It's a good name. Wright versus Marc-Aubrivali, Barrio. and he says he just said eff it he said he said Chikigian versus

Valentina Shepchenko too he said who else at this point I'm like ain't no extra we don't have to go there yet No we don't Doesn't seem like Caitlin's in a big hurry to go there either No no she's smart

She just wants to win fights Whatever if it happens it happens I'm sure you wouldn't say no but why why jump back into that meat grinder Uh Dragon Slayer 2 Always with a nice message Chris on Twitter

Shout out to you In all the NBA fighting group with coverage this week Vanada versus Redaine. Yes, I agree. Vanar Rueh, great fight. Marcus McAhee, regular contributor. I wanted to mention him because he had a great suggestion for Gregor Gillespie's fishing show,

hooks in with Gregory Gillespie. So, yes, I think that's perfect. Also some interesting fights. Lever's Italo Santos or Maeda, Buenos Silva, and Cacruera versus Maria Agafova. That might be the right test for Agapova whenever she comes back. Yeah, I'm okay with that. I don't mind that.

Bear O'Reilly coming up with some great picks. Lutz versus Ludovit Klein. Lutz versus Hatshats versus Luttevitt. We can work with that. Jordan, right, Kyle Toccas, Landa, Mike Trisano. That was one I almost picked. I actually really liked that.

He said Vanada should look to fight all the mics in the UFC. One and O against Mike so far. I was trying to look because he fought other mics. One and O'No so far. So, yeah, sure, it's not a terrible idea. Munez v. Ian Hinesh. Barbosa versus DeWadu Evloyev winner, June 12th. Darius versus Gillespie.

Did you, did that one of your, your guys throw that out there? I haven't heard no, not for Darius. I got Ferguson. I got a couple Ferguson Gillespie's. He says, look, by the time Benile comes back, Gregor will be contender, and this will be a title eliminator. Yeah, I get it. I like,

listeners who are kind of trying to project where the division might be when Darius comes back, and I think that's a smart thing to do. Liam Perry, Bontorine versus the Pantosia of Roeval Loser. Yes, again, sort of reward, sort of not. Kind of whatever.

one of those guys against a fight. Jordan, and I like that he's a loser, not the winner of that fight. Jordan Wright versus the lead say, DiKirico winner,

June 5th. Antonina Shochenko, I don't know why this one, I just like this a lot. Antonina Shofchenko versus Jillian Robertson. Just jumped out of me.

I just like it. I like it. I thought, no, they didn't fight. Yeah, you're right. They didn't fight.

It's a little random. Yeah, I'm fine. I think that's actually perfect. Thomas Collins, I told myself to read his Chandler Darius. Okay, yes, he likes Chandirichesh.

He says, with Daryyush, not wanting to fight, again, I like guys looking at it, not wanting to fight to later in the year. Chandler probably needing some recovery time after the knockout. This fight makes a lot of sense time-wise. I think Justin Gaiji will want to fight sooner, true, rather than later. So neither fighter, that's why he thinks neither fighter is a good choice for Chandler-Dierich. That's good logic. I agree with you, Andrew Lee, Lee, Cynthia Kelby-Oh, great.

It's a really good. Oh, wait, did you say, yeah, you like Lee Kovett. Yeah, great matchup. And last one from Twitter, before I look at this a couple of emails, Javan Johnson, he wants Chandler Makachev and I like he had it's written out he said one three he wrote three points

he broke it down to points that's so good one Chandler wants to stay in talent attention Islam arguably already a top five lightweight I would say it doesn't have the resume but talent wise sure the value of the win is equal for both of them

Islam could become a star or Chandler could halt the hype train of Habib's protege two classic all-American wrestler versus the Dagestan wrestler And three, Islam is going to eat Moises alive, so I don't care that he's already booked. So thank you, Chippon. So I'm going to end with our email boys here.

Just a couple of emails. Of course, Tristan Gordet, always coming in hot. He likes Oliver Porea McGregor winner. Darius versus Gino, one contender. Oh, sorry. Oh, guys, I'm sorry. I'm reading the wrong one. Spoiler, I read the wrong one.

Mooneys versus Marquez, as we said, a very cool, deep cut. I actually could see that one happen. I actually liked a lot. and Lee versus Jessica I and then yeah sorry I was reading out the last one Ren Odenheimer

from who's contacted me on Twitter before but this is his first email because I'm gonna I want to say this one for last because he has a whole plan Mike has a whole plan how this whole lightweight thing should go so I tried to like make notes

but I just it was too complicated and I just had to first first Ferguson Seroni too he says Ferguson take time off and then book him in the main event he wants to see Ferguson's last fight

and possibly Soroni's last fight main event primetime fight night card on ABC and it's got to be with bands in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and then the loser, he thinks the loser that fight is done. So maybe not a double retirement. So here's his email. All right. I'm going to, I guess there's just no, I'm wasting time trying to summarize it.

I should just read it. I think after tonight, next time fights to make for the top of the UFC Lightwood Division are really clear. Charles Oliver versus winner Pory McGregor 3. Okay, we all agree. Michael Chandler faces whoever loses the trilogy fight. That's what I suggested. Benial Darayush faces Justin Gichi, the winner getting a crack at whoever is lightweight champion by then.

The winner of that championship, this is where I start getting lost. The winner of that championship fight should face the winner of Michael Chandler versus the loser of the aforementioned trilogy fight. The loser of that, then that championship fight, then faces the loser of a Darius, Gasey. matchup unless this would somehow create a time loop and a matchup, a rematch of Darius and Gatji and then

he says the Ferguson Saroni winner maybe gets the loser of Michael Chandler versus the trilogy fight loser did you get all that Mike did you get all that? That's from Ren Oh thank you Ren

Odenheimer listen I'll leave that for the listeners to sort out I'm sure it makes sense and I'm just dumb And if I just like literally kind of mapped it out properly, it makes a lot of flow chart. Maybe it needs a flow chart. But it's, yeah, thank you, Rand Odenheimer. That's not to say that. Yeah, I did, I appreciate the effort.

I did not get enough sleep to like, to process all of that. But I'm sure it was, it was quite sensible. It made, you know, it was coherent. And it was entertaining. So thank you. Yeah, I thought we'd end this week on a brain teaser, Mike. That was a brain teaser indeed. Is that it?

That's it, that's it, guys. You can please keep in sending all your main suggestions to reach me on Twitter at Alexander Kili and Instagram at Alexander KKK Lee and then of course email Alex dot Lee at SBNation.com. Send all your puzzles and riddles, Alex dot Lee at SBNation.com. There you go. At Mike Heck underscore J.R and Twitter. Instagram, Mike underscore HeckJR. UFC 262 in the books will be back next week as we'll be.

discussed the fallout of UFC Vegas 27, which is a sneaky good one. Main event, Rob Fonts versus Cody Garbrandt, five rounds at the UFC Apex. We got Jack Hermanson versus Edmund Shabazzian taking place on this card. That was supposed to happen last night in Houston. We got Jan Jahn v. Carlos Sparza on this card. Finally. I feel like this fight's been. Well, it's been brought up so many times as like people, like when someone wins a strawweight fight, it's like, oh,

should get the Shaan-A-Sparza winner or the loser, and the winner of that should get a title shot. So finally, it will be resolved. Fingers crossed, nothing happens between now and next Saturday. We get the return of Felicia Spencer versus Norma Dumont. A fun one between Haleon Piva and David Dvorak. That's a fun. Bill Algeo is always fun against Ricardo Hamos and Big Ben Rothwell

versus Chris Barnett. Are you kidding me? In the UFC? No. I love it. What? He's not. the UFC. He's not, he's been fighting for, he's not finally in the O.C. Stop it. I could

be more excited to say that fight into a live microphone. That's not real. It is incredibly real. So that's just a few of the 14 fights we will see at the UFC Apex for UFC Vegas 27. We of course will have all your coverage, but we're done. We're going to put the, put the old stamp on this episode and enjoy the rest of our day. So for AK, I am Mike Heck, thank you for watching. My son, Grayson, has decided to grace us with a shark puppet. Hi, Grayson. I, Grayson.

I, Grayson, Shark. Thank you for your contribution, my young child. Join us next week. We'll discuss UFC Vegas 27, the What's Next for the notable names, the tastemakers, if you will. And always remember, don't take this too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun. We'll have more fun right here next week.

On to the next one, the podcast. Media Podcast Network.