MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | Matches To Make After UFC 281

Episode Date: November 13, 2022

After the shocking ending to the main event of UFC 281, it seems pretty clear that Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya will run it back in a massive middleweight championship fight after Pereira dethroned the long reigning titleholder to improve to 3-0 in their combat sports rivalry. Is that unequivocally the fight to make with the division looking like it has opened up for the first time in a long while? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what's next for Pereira and Adesanya following their memorable battle at Madison Square Garden. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for the two-time champion Zhang Weili, and the former champ Carla Esparza after Weili submitted Esparza in the co-main event, Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler following a third-round submission win for "The Diamond" in the Fight of the Night, along with Chris Gutierrez, Dan Hooker, 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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The Vox Media Podcast Network. We are live. We made it. Brand new edition of On to the Next One following an absolutely incredible UFC 281 event. We have two new world champions and Alex Pereira. and Zhang Wei Lee. But despite everything that happened last night, I actually feel like this is going to be one of the easier episodes that we've had in a long time in terms of matchmaking.

And we're happy you are along for the ride with us. I am Mike Eck. Thank you for joining us, especially just a few hours after all, the UFC 281 craziness wrapped up. And to take this ride with us as always, my best friend, Alexander Cayley. Hello, sir.

We didn't get you on the post-fight show, but UFC 281, good grief. And look at the shirt. You're good to go. You got to pay respects. Listen, you got to pay respects to the country. What a night it was for Brazil. Alex Pereira, Hanata Moikano,

maybe one of the greatest post-fight promos ever. We barely caught it up here in Canada. I'm sure it was bleeped on some networks in the U.S. as well, my best friend. But it made the rounds. It made the rounds on social media. The unedited version. My goodness, what a promo. Was there any other Brazilian standouts?

I don't know. But either way, Alex Panetta, Hanoe, and I go over to share almost by proxy, you know, as being one of the driving forces behind Alex Pareda's title win, apparently. So a great night for Brazil. And you're right, you're right, Mike. It's simple. It's a pretty straightforward show, on our end, at least.

I don't know if the people are watching, and then the people listen to the podcast later will have some, like, I've got some suggestions too. We'll try and run over some of those through DMs, but mostly we'll be sticking to YouTube. I don't know if they've come up with some more outlandish picks, but it's easy to do because, Mike, I cannot remember the last show where I feel like we had all these storylines going in. And all of them got a pretty, like, definitive answer. There wasn't a lot of controversy.

You know, slightly early stoppage in the main event. I have no issue with it. I think if you wanted to see Israel, I disinia get put like face down on the canvas, okay, fine. You know, if I could have gone on another 10, 15 seconds. I have no issue with the stoppage whatsoever. But otherwise, it's like, you know, could Alex Petitav beat Izzy the same way he did in the past? Yes. Could Zhang Wei, was Zhang Wally going to run through Carlos Barza?

Yes. Dustin Pori, Michael Chandler. Is it going to be a barn burner? Are we going to get a definitive winner? Yes. Is this a last fight for Frank the Edgar? Lord of mercy, I hope so. All kinds of stuff.

Dominic Reyes. How is he going to look when he comes back? Is Aaron Blanchfield the real deal? Oh, Carlos, go all the way back to first find the card. Is Carlos Olberg, you know, the weak link of the CKB team, or is he the real deal? Does he live up to the hype and sort of the packaging, as it were? Everything got a fit of answer. Very free of controversy, and it's rare that we can say that after any show this year.

We've had, again, some really unfortunate main events and in injuries, and then all kinds of other wild stuff, judging controversies, again, you know, whatever, referee error or stuff like that. Is it amazing. This stuff happens. 281, just a massive hit all around for the UFC. They should be super proud of the show they put together and the fighters themselves, of course. Yeah, this is the complete opposite of UFC 280. What I mean by that is UFC 280 was just a really good card. And I think the expectations might have been unfair to reach, but there were like a million

storylines that came out of it, a million talking points. This one, yeah, there's news and there's reaction, but there's not a ton of like stories. lines to follow outside of the main event and where we're probably going here. Everything just seems pretty definitive and pretty simple. Like we went in getting, like you said, just getting the results that we got. And there's no like controversies, no weirdness. We're not taking any weird turns here. The 281 card will be remembered as being one of the absolute best, if not the best of the

year. But in terms of like storyline and talking point, it's just going to be mostly reaction and not like, well, what if we do this or what if we do this? Oh, maybe we have a champion versus champion situation here. not going to be like that with this. It's just a very definitive wrap-up to the card. And I'm excited to talk about it from a matchmaking perspective. But here's how this is going to work.

This is a little bit of a different format for the show. As you can see, it is a little crazy right now. It is Sunday. People are checking out of the hotel that I'm in right now. So I have to do this in the lobby. I have no place else to do this. So we're not going to focus a lot on the emails

and the DMs, etc. on the show. We're going to focus more on the chat. So how we're going to do this is when we talk about a specific fight, feel free to throw in your matchmaking suggestions. We'll throw them up on the screen. And once we get through our picks, we're just going to open things up to you guys

for like 10 or 15 minutes at the end. So more widespread thoughts. We're going to have like our wild card selection. Then we're going to do like a super wild card route where you guys just fire out picks and we'll react to them. So are you ready, viewers? Are you ready, AK? Are you ready to do this?

I am still ready. Okay. So I would love to go on a journey. when it comes to how we match, make the main events. And I know some people are just kind of sick of the immediate rematch thing, but I'm sorry, there's just no need. Alex Pereira comes from the brink of defeat. He stops Israel Adasani in the fifth round.

He's the new champion, 3 and O in the Combat Sports Series. Okay, we're just running this one back. We are running it back, and it's going to be a absolutely gigantic fight for the UFC. Yeah, I'm not sure, like, what other... I understand people want to see a fresh matchup for a new champion. Sure. But I'm with, if there's a strong, I haven't gotten a great gauge on social media. I mean, I just haven't been reading enough reactions. But if there is a strong push for them to just run it back, because, you know, they've done immediate rematch, rematches for champions with, with less accolades than Israel-Eyne. So it seems almost crazy. And you have the fact that if you watch this fight, he was doing, Israel-Eythesnia was doing very well. He's mixed in the martial arts. On the official scorecards, he was up 39, 30. on all three scorecards.

So either he doesn't, he avoids sort of that flurry that ended up putting him away and still, probably still loses the round but goes on to win a 48, 47 decision. Or he survives that flurry but still takes enough damage. Alex Pere gets a 10-8. And still, as he would retain, he'd retained by a draw. Then you definitely have to rematch. So there's, there's, I want to see these two fight again. I don't the fight was really fun to watch too.

I think that's like the main motivator is, is do you want to see these two guys again is there a better option um we've seen some life for sure at 185 over the past two years as far as like legitimate contenders go and izzie has dealt with all of them so and some of them again he's fought more than once so i i just i'm not sure what direction you go in um for perera uh as far as some of the guys who is he has beat like i do are you really craving him versus like marvin vittory um do you want to see him fight robert whittaker now i think the fight will happen someday like does that have to happen for the title I don't think so.

I'm just looking at the list of Derek Brunson. Andre Munis, sure. I mean, a guy who's done enough to earn a title shop, but I just, do you want to see that rather than Israel-a-disnia rematch? Like, unless you're really in a hurry to get the belt off Pereira, I don't see the point in booking him against some of these guys who are just just feel like there are one more fight away. Again, could certainly beat him, but are like one more fight away.

I'm in no rush to see that. And frankly, if I want to see anyone take the belts off Pereira, it's Israelides, I just don't feel like his run is done yet. So he's a great fighter. Again, he did almost more than enough to win, except surviving that fifth round. So all the credit in the world to Axe Pratera. And it's a big money rematch.

Just go for it. It's a gigantic rematch. And whether you want to see it again or not, it doesn't matter because the UFC doesn't care. They're just going to book it because it's going to do gigantic numbers. It was a massive win for Pereira. And like, I'm fine with the immediate rematch hit. The story's there.

This story, this rivalry was the whole build, like from when Pereira was signed to the UFC to begin with. This is all to get to this point. And then to have the fight play out the way that it did, Adasania, on his way to a win. And I even said it on the watch party, I'm like, we might, I was like, what if we get a Leon Edwards moment right now where Pereira just comes from behind and stops him? And then like a minute later, boom, there it is. Pereira gets it done.

I mean, this is just, this doesn't make any sense, him being the change. him being the champion with eight pro fights and four UFC fights and beating a guy that no one has really been able to come close to beating. I mean, the Romero fight is what it was, but and the gas zone fight was insane.

But for the most part, Adasani's 49, 46, and 50, 45 in guys. And this is just a crazy fight. And kudos to Adasani for the way he's handling it as always handling it with grace with class. Maybe not a fan of the stoppage, but at the end, credit words do. That fight's going to happen. And if we want to wait till the summer, I'm totally okay with that.

I'm sure both guys could use a little bit of a breather from the promotional side and trying to tell the story of the last two kickboxing matches and all of that. But yeah, I just think with the way this played out, like if Pereira just went out there and killed him in the first round, we're not clamoring for a rematch here. I still think the UFC might go in that direction because Adasania was such a long-reaning champion. But the fact that the fight played out that the way that it did, they're just got to go back to the well.

and it's going to make a floppy trillion dollars. So that's the main event. Co-made event. I'll say people, don't forget to vote in a poll. Actually, I won't keep this up long. We got to pull. And I actually do multiple polls today. I know people love, I'm really a volume guy when it comes to polls.

Let's be honest. Quantity over quality. So, but right now I'll keep this one up for a little bit. Should put out in Adisania having an immediate rematch. So far, 73%. I don't expect to change much. So I'll close this poll down in a few minutes and I'll set up a poll, like a minute or two, and set up a poll for the co-mate event.

Yes. So yeah, let's go to the co-main event. Zhang Wei Lee, once again, the UFC Straway champion. She submits Carla Svarsa in the second round. Carla had a competitive first round. And no matter how you felt about the matchmaking, just seeing Carla Sparza booed out of every building she was in. This week was absolutely insane. But Carla had a really good first round.

She had moments on the feet and on the ground. But in the end, the one big factor in this fight, was the athleticism, the strength, the power of Zhang Wei Li, and it proved to be the difference. She gets it done, gets the submission in the second round. This is an interesting one, but I feel like we're going to go back to the Rosamai Yun as well. I just think that's what they're going to do, just the star versus the star kind of thing. And it's probably right the second, the biggest fight you can make in this division at the moment.

I understand the argument against that because Rose is coming off the stinker against Carla and a lot of people want to see her go out there and get a win. But I'm just trying to look at this through a UFC lens. And as cool as Jean-Weilly, Amanda Lamosch fight, will be. I just feel like we could wait on that, and they'll probably go back to this well one more time. So that's my pick. I'm going with Rose.

Are you with me on that? Definitely I am. Definitely I am. We'll see if the viewers are. I just have another poll. Is it Rose Namajunas trilogy fight next for Zhang Weili. Again, that seems to be. You and I agree on it, Mike.

hashtag friends forever. I don't want to have to make you saying you are in a lobby. There's like 30 people in front. Yeah, we don't want to deal with that right now. And also, this isn't like a very special Friends Forever moment. Like I don't know if we should take credit for this. I think this is what a lot of people are thinking. This is not a magic wand pick for me by any means.

Like I probably want to see, I don't know, maybe a lot more interesting. But what I think the UFC will do is definitely Rose Namajunis. They're very invested in her. She has two wins over Zhang Wail. I mean, again, you can dispute the second one if you want. First one, super definitive, great highlight for Rose. That head kick, I mean, that was just a fantastic win. And then the second fight, look, it was a lot of people's quarter for Zhang.

I could see a third fight going Zhang's way, or maybe Rose's nominee, Junis just has her number. But that's the great thing about MMA is, you know, we can talk about all we want. We get to see these things settled. And I think the UFC's very much in favor of that. She's just had a documentary come out. So, you know, Rose's name is back in the headlines. it doesn't take much for her to convince people that she's ready for another shot.

I think that's the way the UFC is going to go. Again, 2-0 against the champ. I think Zhang would enter the favorite. But listen, we just saw what happened. I guess in the main event, the 2-0 person did win again. So I'm not sure how people would predict the third Nama Juno-Jang meeting to go. But I'm very interested, very interested to see what the line would be. Yeah, someone posted in the chat earlier,

Tyler Santos deserved a rematch, but Tyler wasn't the champion. Like, if Tyler was the champion and lost the title like that, they would have given her the rematch against Valentina, but it's just not the same thing. She wasn't the champion. She was the challenger. And I think Valentina won that fight.

I don't think there was a ton of controversy in that one. Go back and watch it. I think Valencia clear, like, it wasn't like a dominant one-sided win, but she won. It's been easy so far, but Carla Sparza is a little bit of different one. There's many options. I'm already seen a couple in the chat. I already know where I'm going to this because I talked about it on the show last week.

No matter what happened in this fight, this is where Amanda Lamosh goes. If Carlo won and retained the belt, it's Carla versus Amanda Lemoche. Carla losing. We still do Carla versus Amanda Lamosh. I still feel the same a week later. That's my choice. Again, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. something tells me you could be along on this journey,

maybe another Friends Forever moment? Friends Forever again. Yeah, this is, we have been talking about this. It feels like we have been talking with us right after the Lomosh win. And we're like, it just makes too much. And we said win or lose, right? We said win or lose. If Carla's still the champ, you know, maybe, you know,

that might have still sent Zhang into a rematch for those nominations. I don't know because they would not have done the Rose Namajunis Carlos bars a fight again. And that stench, that stench still needs a few more months, I think, to leave the room. You know, so that was not going to happen again, which means the door was open for Amanda Lamoche. And look, whether she fights for the title or fights Carlos Bowson, a non-title fight now, it's intriguing. It's intriguing because everything we kind of said about Zhang Wei Li, I'm not saying Lamoch is like quite that level of athlete, quite that level of power. But she does present some of the same problems.

I don't know. I know Carla Sparserza can take her down. Can she hold Lamoch down? Can she effectively a score against Lamoch on the ground? Can she submit Lemosch? I don't know. Lamoch has a pretty strong ground game too. So yeah, that's the way to go with it.

The only reason I would see it not happening is if Sparsan needs to take time off, Lamoch wants to stay busy. But if Lemosch is willing to wait and Carla, you know, again, doesn't take too long, she can take all the time off she wants, three months, four months, five months, six months. Maybe this happens next summer. That might be the right time for it. but it should line up. It should line up logically,

but again, MMA is not always the most logical sport. No, no, it is not. So we're on the same page there. With Amex Platinum, $400 in annual credits for travel and dining means you not only satisfy your travel bug, but your taste buds too.

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Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Let's go to the lightweight division. Dustin Porier, Michael Chandler, delivered as expected. This was a roller coaster ride in the momentum department. The first round was wild. The second was All Chandler. Third, Porre takes, just going back and remembering Michael Chandler's take down in the third round, and it ultimately led to his downfall. Porre just gets

hoisted up in the air. Michael Chandler is not even on his feet. He's basically on one knee, hoisting Dusted Pori up in the air, slamming him down. Porre used the momentum to his advantage, ends up turning it into a submission win. I said this on the post-fight show. This is not, this is going to be probably in the conversation for fight of the year. I don't think it's going to win. This is not better than, at least in my opinion, this is not better than Shemaya Burns. It's not better than Yeri Glover.

I just don't think so. It's super fun. No doubt about that. But if there's a new award called the gnarliest fight of the year, this is the gnarliest fight of the year. Because we got Chandler basically blowing. blood out of his nose into like Poria's face. Him and Luke Rockhold. Him and Luke Rockhold.

Luke Rockhold did it to Bojcchina, right? To Falocosta, right? Yeah, that's not like rubbing in his face, but like, I mean, this was bad. This is like exorcism kind of stuff. But Poria gets it done. Maybe some cheating. Maybe some cheating.

Poria wasn't too thrilled. But what do you want to see now for Dustin Poria? Because this is a big win. You know how I felt about this matchmaking to begin with. But I actually kind of feel like now that we have clarity on this Makachev Volkanowski situation, because that fight is officially announced, I actually feel like the result that we got last night was the best case scenario. Yeah.

And by the way, is it not a rule? Because you can't spit on someone in a fight. He didn't know. No, no, but you can blow your nose onto them. How does that? I think it was just, I think he was just like. How does that make sense? I think he was just trying to like snot rocket and it just was like, boom.

It was just disgusting. That was no real. That was no accident, my best friend. That was snot an accident, my best friend. Let me tell you that right now. Oh, no, you didn't. That was snot an accident, all right? That was snot an accident.

I hate to do this to the guy, but I think, like you said, because now we know, this is something, you know, I've been pushing for this guy to fight Islam Makachab, even though it was an outside shot. We knew Islam and Wokanovsky were angling towards fighting each other in Perth. Looks like there was very few hitches. You know, the two guys saying on social media poking each other, saying, Oh, sign the contract, sign the contract. And it looked like it was just, you know, posturing. That fight is now official for U.S. 284.

So, B'Neil Daryush is a free man. He's not getting a title shot, not that he was really campaigning hard for a one. And I think he has to fight Fourier. And I guess the winner of that fights gets Makachev or Volcanowski. So one more, one more hurdle for Daryush, Mike. One more hurdle and one extremely difficult hurdle for Daryush. But I love to see what you said. And then based on your answer, I'm going to run another.

whole. I will say the Jean-Wei Lee and Rosenau-Junis trilogy, 50% saying yes, 50% saying no. Oh, right on the line. Right on the line. That's perfect polling right there. Yeah. Again, we have another friends for a moment, but it's Benny Daryush.

I like the idea of doing it in Perth. I don't know, Pori will be willing to turn around in three months, but maybe, who knows? But I like the idea of doing it in Perth, especially being sort of a backup situation. It'd be a big one for Benny and a win for him, like you said, it's no debate. He beats Dustin Porier, gets the rub.

He's fighting for the belt against the winner of that fight. And if you're Benny, like, this is probably the best case in area for you because I would pick Derrius to beat Dustin Porier. I would feel pretty confident in that. Like, Dustin could win because he's super athlete. He's powerful and he's very well-rounded. And he's been in wars and he's just been up and down the block. I just feel, I feel Darius is just on one right now.

And I feel like Darius stylistically matched. is up really well. But for Michael Chandler, A.K., the options are still kind of a plenty. We could open up this division right now. We could do different things. We could do an up and coming matchup. We could do a star versus star matchup. We could do different things. And even the star versus star matchup, they don't necessarily have title implications. I mean, potentially it could, but probably not. What are we doing here? There's not a ton of wrong answers, but there's a lot of interesting ones.

I'm not going, I'm going Magic Wand. I'm going to matchewan. I'm tired of the squatting. I'm tired of the squatting, like, I'm tired of, listen, our one criticism of the Porre-Channel fight was that it was two squatted. It was two premier squatters

getting a great fight against each other, which might not have immediate rankings and locations, which is fine, because it doesn't matter. The fight was awesome. I'm sure the crowd, again, at Master Garden is going to remember that one forever. So the goal was accomplished. whether either guy, you know,

it moves him closer to a title shot was secondary to just saying, let's put on a friggin fun fight. And it worked in that sense. And as you said, now as far as for Porre, it does seem pretty clear. He has to fight Derrush.

I'd be very surprised if he was able to sort of squat and wait for like a title shot. I would hate that. That's not how it should be. If anyone should be squatting for a teleshot, it's Daryush. We know he's not going to do that.

So that's why I've come up with the Darius Poria solution. So I'm going to go Magic Juan and say, like, throw Chandler in there with, Fazeve, something like that. Give one of these guys outside of the top five, top six a chance to take one of those spots. Michael Chandler, I'm not even sure if he knows who Faziv is.

He certainly never mentioned him. He's talked about Islam. He's talked about Kahnem McGregor. He has done everything in his power to manifest the Kahnem-Megger fight. And I don't have a problem with it because it would be another banger. It would be a two guys. Michael Chandler has not had a bad UFC fight. McConnell McGregor never has an unexciting fight.

There's always something interesting about his fights. So you put them together, you could get a classic. But I'm going, I'm going to be the stick in the mud here and say, stick in the mud as far as a fun McGregor fight. But I think Fiziv Chandler fight would also be fun. And again, we all like Raphael Fiziv. Let's give him it, Raphael Fizib. Let's give him a chance to take one of those spots, please.

No more squatting. Hashtag, no more squatting. I like your head, Zad. I would love to see Fiziv get a fight like that. And I think he will. But just not against Michael Chandler. I think he's got to get. he will get i think he'll fight josh and gaecchi i feel i feel pretty good about that i think that's the

fight they're going to book maybe they do it on the uk card because i know gachi both those guys had had no surgery and gachi even told me and i think he sort of reiterated it at his media day scrum that he wants to fight on that uk card when oosman goes back there and challenges leon he wants to fight on that card and timeline wise i think that actually makes a lot of sense so do it on that card that's pretty cool this is not a squatting thing but listen for chandler it's a pretty damn good consolation prize. I'm still leaning towards the Connor fight, man. I'm still leaning towards that fight.

Like, I have no issue with that one. If I have to choose a fight, if it can't be just a gaugey because I just want to see it because those two just hate each other and I just feel stylistically, it's going to be one of the more epic, just insane fights ever.

But Chandler versus Connor is good too. Like, Chandler ain't getting a title shot after beating Connor, but Connor could. and the UFC would do that. They could put Connor against me, and if Connor beats me, which he would, he would get a title shot anyway. So let's just throw him in there with Chandler

and have a good time. Like, it's just a fun, ridiculous fight. It could headline a pay-per-view so you could save some champions if you need it. I'm fine with that, but if we want to do a physique, if we want to do a Jalen Turner, we want to do somebody like that,

yeah, I'm in. I think that's where they're going to go. I think we're going to get this Chandler-Connor fight. Raymond Arnold asking, having Fazeev and Chandler trained together Sanford, killcliffe? I mean, possibly, right? But I don't think there's any, like, oh, there's no way these guys would fight each other thing.

If anything, they would just be sort of fuel to the fire. Just compo saying, like, oh, they trained together. And like, oh, do you know his? Oh, do you know his? What was it? What did it go in the sparring sessions, things like that? So, yeah, I don't. It's something that would be mentioned, but I don't think precludes them from fighting.

Yeah, I agree. Sorry, Mark Zabel. My advice. We are boring. Do better. No, we are. Do better. I can't wait for your show matchmaking.

You got a matchmake. The callout. So let's see what you got. Let's see what you got. Plug your YouTube, my friend. Plug your YouTube. Anyway, 75% saying Benial Darry, you should be next for Dustin Pori. Again, there's not a lot of other options.

11% saying wait for a title shot. I think most people know it, as popular as he is, I don't think he's in a position to do that. Stranger things have happened. And we just saw, yeah, you're Rodriguez wait around for an interim title shot. So maybe Poria. could do the same thing. But yeah, otherwise,

everyone's pretty behind the Porreux d'arouche matchup. It broke a lot of hearts for sure, but Chris Gutierrez. Oh, we have talking about this? We have to talk about it. Do we do? Do we have,

Dan Hooker, it was great. Yes, we'll get to, it was awesome. I agree. Claudio Poia's his strategy really broke a lot of hearts,

Mike, you're right. Yeah, it will touch on that because it reminded me of somebody, another guy that you're very high on and talk about a lot on the show, but Chris Gutierrez did what he needed to do

to make this sort of a get-em-over performance, because I didn't think there's really any chance that he could get over and gain much from beating Frankie Edgar. But I didn't expect him to just flying knee, K.O. Frankie, into another universe the way that he did. And it was just sad to watch. And Chris's reaction was great.

Seeing Mark Montoya actually make it out to New York, you know, even walking around the cane and everything. Like, it was just a, it ended up being like a kind of, it was really sad for Frankie fans, but at the same token,

like it was a really emotional, very imp pivotal moment for Chris Gutierrez. And he's going to be a rank guy. He's going to be a rank guy. He's probably going to be the number 12th rank, Banimate in the world come Tuesday when the new UFC rankings come out. But to me, it's Ricky Simone, okay?

We do Chris Gutierrez versus Ricky Simone. You get two guys on a good run. Look at to take that next step. Simone's number 11. So from a meritocracy perspective, it makes a lot of sense. And I'm actually curious to see how that fight would play out because Chris is just getting better

every fight. He's adding wrinkles to his game. The movement, the striking, the quickness, just his fast starting ability. We haven't really seen that from him. And he came out just guns blazing last night. It was amazing. I just realized, Mike, when I cover up, try to cover my ears over the headphones, it does not block your words. Sadly, I was trying to, I was trying not to hear any of that. I should have put the hands under, you know, good note for next time. Yeah, Chris Gutierrez, this, listen, when he got this match up, there was so much, there was a lot of, there was a lot for him to gain i feel i think some people i think we've kind of felt like you know well he's he's facing a you know clearly past his prime frank anger it's still frank eager having names like that in your

resume are awesome and the way he did it i mean it's not like he won a close decision it's not even like he's not even like he won the dominant decision he he scored another knockout win back-to-back knockout wins for him another highlight real knockout win um frank egger's my favorite fighter one of my favorite fighters of all time i put him right up there with gsp who's Canadian royalty and i had saying in all the lead up to this that Chris Gutierrez was going to knock his ass out and he was going to hit him like something bad and there was certainly arguments against it

but I just got going to like guys he's he's 41 years old and he's fighting at a lighter weight division heavy weight you can be 50 and you could probably still go three hard rounds with like you know and tend to be a big foot silver well I mean big foot wouldn't go to go three rounds but you know what I'm saying at bantam weight

41 years old with the mileage that Frankie has on him it was a knockout was just so such a likely outcome and it happened in one of the most brutal ways we'd ever seen um so in a way i also want to thank chris gutierrez mike for really putting the cat like that is a that is a there is no reason frankie or anyone he's associated with whatever think he should fight it and mary again um and frankly i i don't think he should fight in combat sports again i know there could be like some fun boxing as a big exhibition matches but i i hope he's made a lot of money

fighting invested it well um can just train and coach and just do other other things to sort of indulge his athletic uh you know that athletic bug i wish frankie nothing but the best it was it was sad to see but definitely a huge win for chris gutierrez um i like i like the rickie simone choice i'm gonna i was mike in my anger and my anger and sadness i was almost like richard friggin throw chris gutierrez in there with a Naramaama Medov. How about that? Umar, Saeed,

pick one. You know what? Oh, you know what? You're right. He does it. Oh, he wants to take out a ranked guy. Let's give him Marab next.

How about that? Go fight Marab, Chris Gutier. I calmed down. I said, I had a moment. I settled down. I like the Ricky Simone fight.

I'm going, people might not like this, and I swear I'm not doing this to like, to say he doesn't deserve a bigger fight. But in my mind, for some reason, I had thought he had fought Mario Bautista. So just to satisfy my brain,

a guy who, I mean, is probably a little bit behind him in the rankings right now, but another up-and-comer. I would just love to see the Batista Gutierrez fight. Certainly a step-down, huge step-down name-wise from Frankie Edgar. But again, just because I keep thinking it already happened. And I think that their match-up could be like a legitimate, like,

fight of the year. Ken, I think they just match up so well. I would love to see Gutierrez and Mario Battista. That'd be fun. And what a way to set up. You could do Jonathan Martinez versus Mario Battista. Sure. And if Batista beats him, he beats his teammate, his close partner,

close training partner. we saw Jonathan Martinez jump up on the cage to congratulate Gutierrez. So Jonathan Martinez beats Cub Swanson. Chris Gutierrez beats Frankie Edgar. Nice little run for those two guys who from Greenville, Texas, trying to make it happen. So well done to Chris Gutierrez and happy trails to Frankie Edgar. It was tough to see, but that's the fight game. What's Chris supposed to do?

Just let Frankie beat him. It was just a tough way to watch Frankie's career come to an end. but let's go to Dan Hooker, AK. Dan Hooker needed a win. Goes out there. Does the damn thing. There were some strange moments

in the first round. Looks like Claudio Pueyes might have some more leglock slash kneebar magic and Hooker stayed very composed and he turned Claudio Pueis into Ryan Hallish kind of a fighter in the second round.

I mean, it just, it reminded me a lot of Ryan Hall, but just not as great as Ryan Hall for being honest. Like, I'm not trying to, dump on Claudio Paias, but this is one of the concerns that I had heading into this fight that if Claudio can't submit him in the first round, he's going to have a really tough time of the opposite because he's just not a great competent striker, nowhere near the level of Dan Hooker, and Hooker goes out there and gets it done. Big win, really needed it. What's next for the hangman?

Listen, first of all, Ryan Hall would have killed both those guys in the ground at the same time. When they were locked in the ground kind of fighting for that leg, I wish we could have called a timeout, like get Ryan Hall in there. Like he would have, he would have jumped in and figured out a way to submit both guys simultaneously

because he's Ryan Hall. Claudeau place. Yeah, a lot went wrong. A lot went wrong. The first Iminari role he hit, I thought was pretty freaking sweet. That was pretty nice.

That was pretty awesome. And, and he got in on that, that leg lock, man. He got in there. So credit to Dan Hooker. Again, this was, this is a Dan Hicker

who I feel like if this had happened last year, it might not have gone well for him. Because I said, I really believe what he said on the MMA hour, and what he's been saying in other interviews, that, like, his head just wasn't there.

Like, sometimes you just get, you know, you just get in a bad spot. You know, you lose this fight you shouldn't have taken with, like, Ms. Na Makachev, short notice against, like, again, now a guy we know is maybe the best fighter in the entire world. I hated the drop back down to 145. Just hated it so much. So, like, I think this was the perfect kind of, like,

comeback, not comeback, you didn't go anywhere, but, you know what I mean? Sort of redemption fight for Dan Hooker. It went, I think, the way, if you were picking Dan Hooker, I think it went the way that a lot of us expected. He would have to avoid the ground game and that he was just the superior striker to play. As a lot of fun can be a lot of fun in the feet, it's just nowhere is technically refined as Dan Hooker. That stand-up fight was never going to go any other way.

And Dan stuck with the game plan beautifully, you know, go to the body, man, go to the body, attack from range. If it's working, there's no reason for him to go in there and try and go for some crazy like berserker finishing combo. He was picking him apart. And he won with basic fundamental kickboxing techniques, that kind of sniper striking that got Hooker into the, you know, got him a number next to his name in the first place. So that was really fun to see. So I still think there's better things ahead for Claudio Paius, but that was a really big learning experience. And I'll get better. Listen, go hang out with Ryan Hall.

That'll be, you can only get better role. It'll be humbling. Eventually you'll get better. Mike, I'm all in on the KB City Kickboxing Revenge Tour. give him Moycano. There it is. You and Justin go that on the same page. How about that?

Yeah, that's it. I was torn on how to do this, but I said, I promised myself before I went to sleep that however I feel when it gets to this moment, I'm just going to go with it. And Dan Hooker fans aren't going to like this idea too much. But I feel like Dan Hooker. And again, this is, this is to me, this is to me is high praise because of I have high. praise for this guy at Welterweight. Dan Hooker is Neil Magniish at Lightweight. Sure. And that's a great thing where he's going to get opportunities. They're going to come few and far between. I don't think Dan Hooker's going to be fighting for a world title, but beating

Dan Hooker means something. It proves that you are a really solid hand and you're a guy who could compete for a world title. Beating that guy means something. Having said that, it's grant dawson it's grant dawson and it's it's an awful matchup for dan dan dan is the number 12 ranked lightweight in the world dawson called out tony ferguson i would feel infinitely better about myself if i watched grant dawson versus dan hooker over grant dawson versus tony ferguson grant dosson versus tony ferguson i wouldn't be able to sleep for a week because we know how that fight's gonna go grant is just going to smush him until he eventually gets him out of there hooker would be because I think he'd just go in there and have some fun.

And I think stylistically, he's probably not going to win that fight. But I think he gives Grant a much more difficult task. And at least he'll battle with him. I don't think Tony really has that ability anymore. And I feel like the time frames line up, both getting big finishes over guys who were on good winning streaks. And do it in Perth. Give him what he wants.

Do it in Perth. Make Doss to do all that traveling, right? And let's see if he can make the weight, make him work a little bit for it. It's just, this is kind of where he is right now. And who knows? Maybe he beats Grant Dawson. But if Grant beats him, it means something. He's, like, I think he's a problem anyways, but he's like a super duper problem if he goes out there and does the same thing to Dan Hooker.

Yeah, my initial reaction, I think I winced. Like, I think I winced when you said that. I think I'm like, oh. But, but you're right. Listen, I say all the time, people with an A plus skill, Grant Dawson, in his case is incredible grappling. I always say people with an A plus skill need to be tested. Like I want to see, you know, I want to see what happens. Well, will they get in there with an elite striker?

And let's say they do have to stand up a little bit. You know, can they deal with it? The other example I always bring up is, you know, Tatiana Suarez and Nina Arunzrov. We know, we knew going to that fight, Tatiana was just a killer wrestler. But if she couldn't get the fight to the ground consistently, which she eventually did, you know, could she hang with Nina Arseroff? And Nina Aronsonov, like, banged her up pretty bad for a lot of that fight. So that was a really, really important win for, for Tati. Tatiana Suarez. I think a

Grant Dawson hooker matchup could go the same way. Like, he's going to get hurt on the feet and he has to learn for that to happen. Unless you're a Habib or an Islam, who, by the way, I mean, I mean, Habib underrated striking skills, I think, and Islam really good striking skills.

You have to be tested on the feet. It's not always going to go your way. And if you can assert your will against a guy like like Hooker, like if he puts on a performance against Hooker like Islam did and does manage to scound him and dominate and submit them. I mean, then we're just talking to top 10, top 15 guy right out the gate. So, okay, Mike, okay.

You're a wise man. I don't, I don't hate it. How do you feel, though, about Hooker and Tony Ferguson? I'd be all right with that, but I already had my pick of Tony Ferguson. versus Joe Loz on is the fight. I don't want to see anything else. Okay. That's what I want to see.

That's fun. I'm not, Doss's three wins in lightweight, two over guys, 38 plus years of age. Mike rates Dawson too much. You might be right. but this is why we make this fight. This is why I make this fight. Because if I am overrating Dawson

and if people like me are overrating Dawson, then Grant Hooker, Dan Hooker will beat Grant Dawson and then I will say that I was wrong and you were right and other people were right. So this is what we do in these kinds of situations. This is why Dan Hooker is still a very valuable piece to this lightweight puzzle,

even if he lost to Claudio-Coyas, because it just makes, it makes sense. Like if you beat Dan Hooker, it shows that you are that good. It shows that you are a guy, like a guy that we should be paying at such a day. You are a legit top 10, top five type of guy. So I do like that fight.

Maybe he loses. Maybe he loses. So, but that's how I would go. But again, Dan Hooker against a lot of those guys. You want to go vet versus vet. I'm cool with that. I know Jim Miller's fighting Mowgli Benitez. Maybe do Jim Miller win or lose.

Like, I'm cool with that too. There's so many fun things we could do with Dan Hooker, but I feel Dan's value is just sort of litmus testing these up-and-comers and then throw them in there with an occasional name and we'll just have some fun. Like Dan Hooker's down for any of this. You think he's going to say no to Grant Doss? You'd be like, all right, dude, people don't think I could beat him?

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It's the matcha, or the three ensemble Cadocephora that I've been to denichie, who me energize all time? It's the ensemble. The form of standard and mini-regrouped. Hello, Ben. And the embellage, too beau, practically pre-a-dony. And I know that I'd

love them offer. But I guard the Summer Fridays and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez. I'm sure. The most ensemble

the gift are atolle Shephora. Summer Fridays, Rare Beauty, and Way, Cifora collection, and other, part of the vits., I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so, We're going to get to, we're definitely, get your picks ready, guys. They're coming soon. It'll soon be your moment.

We will, we will talk about the live YouTube picks. So get ready. We are going to do Wild Card first. But thank you everyone watching on a Sunday after a super exciting show. I imagine some of you are maybe a little hungover, you know, maybe had too many swirly pops. But I always appreciate people, people tuning in. So I'm just super happy, Mike. I'm a happy guy.

I'm a happy guy. But, yes, wildcard. Yeah, I'm like half alive right now. I'm still in New York for like another nine hours before. I have to fly out of here. So the watch party is is replayable, right? And it is replayable on their own. Oh, yeah.

You can watch right now. I was watching a little bit this morning. Okay. It's just super funny. By the way, you need to go. It's so funny. If you haven't watched it yet, someone,

one of our great listeners put in some time stamps because, I mean, listen, we don't know when these things are going to happen as we're going live. But go watch. Just watch. If it's one fight you need to watch, obviously they're all worth it because they all got

finished and there's all there's crazy moments in all of them i think the one if you can only watch one it's the michael chandler dust and pori fight just watch us react to it all and then at the end connor connor takes goddard takes a shot like a legit shot of both dust and pori hot sauces mixed together it's the oh my god i don't think i haven't laughed that hard in a long time his reaction is just is just the best but the whole thing it's amazing so if you want like a different perspective from like if you watch the car you just want to see what other people how we reacted we had special guests along the way too it's just it was it was just a cool event and we thank everybody that watch but yeah shout us to my tag team partner uh my my btl tag team part

champion partner uh christian king who is with you guys that clips out there on uh m a fighting our twitter by the way guys and i think instagram as well i'm not sure but if you want to see a them reacting live to the end of Frankie Edgar's career. Just mortifying, but shout out of Kristen. Very sad, yes. And hopefully we'll get Kristen on for the next one. And hopefully it's for a fight that's longer than three minutes. And hopefully it's not somebody's retirement fight.

So a.K. Wildcard round. We're going to select one fighter we have not match made for yet. And we will do so right now. And there's a lot to choose from. I have a feeling I know where you're going. So I went, I went a different direction. Hopefully your mindset wasn't the same. I don't know.

What are you thinking? What's your wildcum? The best friends, when they try to anticipate each other and get out of each other's way and then end up instead veering right into each other. We end up like wild carding our wild card picks and we end up with the same guy like we usually do. Or gal in this case. I figured you were going that way. So I was right.

I was right. I read you right this time. Yeah. And I'm super down with Aaron Blanchfield's call up, by the way. For I know who didn't see, she decimated Molly McCann in a fight that I thought would be more competitive. And while Molly certainly showed her toughness, at no point in the three and a half minutes that this fight went on was Aaron Blanchfield in any danger. She was not in any danger whatsoever.

And she had Molly in a whole hell of a lot of danger like 30 seconds in, just taking her ground, just making Molly work, making Molly fight for her life. So I still give credit to Molly for being tough. But if we're talking about who's a better fighter, I mean, it's Aaron Blanchfield 99. They could fight each other a thousand times. Aaron Blanchfeld wins 999 times. She's the real deal. She's the real deal.

And I've always liked her. I know people have seen me kind of say, let's pump the brakes. She's only 23 years old or, you know, in the past. She's only 22. She's only 21. I've had a lot of like telling people to like, chill. Like take it easy, man, you know? Like, but that I wanted to see her fight a veteran.

That's why I'm saying. I want to see her fight a tough veteran. Someone else, you know, on a streak, someone else was some hype behind them. That was the perfect matchup. Mike, you and I both kind of said we'd love how this is put together regardless of who wins. And Aaron, it's the Aaron Blanchield hype. train that kept rolling because she totally dominated so i'm all in now i think she is a future title contender for sure and i think possibly a future champion i would love to see her fight valentina

someday but like 18 months give me 18 months give me that the tvs version of aaron blanchfield and i actually think she has a chance but maybe i'm crazy now maybe i've gone too far the other way uh i like the andrew lee call out but i think there's a chance to do the tracy cortez rematch it's the one loss on her record Tracy Cortez is fighting Amanda Hebas at UFC Orlando. And this is win or lose, by the way, because Amanda Hebas, I'm not sure what she's doing if she's just bouncing between 1-25 or playing to stick at 125. Either way, I think of Amanda Hebas beats her.

She can move on to a different matchup. Cortez, win or lose? I want to see the Aaron Blanchfield stuff resolved. That first loss. That loss is very controversial, the loss of Tracy Cortez. So there's a storyline there. Listen, we saw how great these storylines are when you have that history with the U.S.C. 281 main event. Maybe the Blancheville-Cortez rematch, not quite the same magnitude, but it's a very easy fight to sell.

And I'm sure Blanchefield would love to have that back. And then, you know, like a lot of great champions, like GSP, for example, can say, oh, I lost to some of the people, but I advantaged all my losses. So if she gets that one back, it would be just really good for her resume. So winner, win or lose for Cortez, do you like that? Win or lose for Cortez at U.S. Sierra Lando, yeah, December 3rd, I think she, I think Blanchfield should get her next. Yeah, I like that idea. I like the Andrea League haulout. That makes a lot of sense as well.

Spoiler, when the new rankings come out. I don't know where Blanchfield's going to end up, but I put Aaron Blanchfield number eight at 1.25. She's in the top 10. She's in the top 10. She leaped frog a lot of people in that one. She might be in pound for pound. I'm not sure.

I got to see. I got to check. We'll have a pound for pound update very soon, probably on Monday. And I don't know. She might crack the top 20 after that performance. This was actually, yeah, this was actually, I was going to go around Blanchfield.

And then I realized there is one just obvious choice. There's one just obvious choice. It's an out of Moikano versus Islam Makachef after the promo he cut last night. Just give the man his title. Give him the money. Give him the money. He wants money. What better way to get him money than get him a quick boost in his contract with a title shot?

Yeah. I'm joking, obviously. Are you? Although, I'd be, look, if they gave him a title shot, I wouldn't even care because that was incredible. Like, he basically went on Joe Rogan's podcast for five minutes. It was fantastic. Joe kept trying to take the mic back. He's like, don't worry about it.

Joe's like, I got this. Give me that one. Joe's Joe, Joe, Joe just like, was like, all right. Just go ahead, go ahead. This is gold, baby. This is gold. I see how this going. I was going to go with Montel Jackson. I think that's where most people think I'm probably going to this, but I'm going to go different. And AK on the show specifically, we don't typically reward fighters who miss weight with any sorts of accolades. However, Ryan Span opened up a lot of people's eyes.

And yes, it was a very, very sad conclusion. It showed newer. fans, the ins and outs, the ups and downs of the sports with that brutal finish of Dominic Reyes. Dominic Reyes and a lot of people's eyes, and I know some people in the chat disagree with this, and a lot of people's eyes felt Dominic Reyes beat John Jones that night. Was the dude gave John Jones the true legit loss? It went the other way. And since then, he has been brutally knocked out in his next three fights. Jan Behovic, Yuri was scary. This one might have bit even scarier just the aftermath like ray is trying to sit up he was almost twitchy it was just

really sad so span should not get a top 10 guy or anything so i'm not going to bump him up that much i'm not going to reward him too too much however i think he's going to get a a ranked dude and it's going to be a tough it's going to be a really tough fight but it's one that i've talked myself into just thinking about it and the more i think about i'm like this is going to be crazy cleo roundtree Ryan Span versus Cleo Roundtree is stupid fun. So let's go. That's not a reward. Him fighting CleoO Roundtree is no reward.

Maybe he goes out there and knocks Cleo Roundtree out. I don't know. But, yeah, Span is, Span's dangerous, man. He's tough. He's better than I thought. And he's doing this, okay, he's doing this without training. He's not even training for these plays. I don't believe.

That was a hell of a thing. didn't believe that for one he had to he must like he must have meant something else i i don't know he's what this is why his 20 how many pro fights this for this guy 28 28th pro fight there's no way he wasn't true i don't he's training i'm sure like i talked like half to have his team and they're all like trishon gore talked about i trained with ryan span like the entire camp leading up to that submission over josh frems so yeah i don't believe that at all i just realized by the way um So if anyone was, I did pick Dominic Reyes, and I was on a whole like, oh, I love picking the time off and the rejuvenation. He fought tough competition.

It's no shame with losing to those names. I think he'll come back stronger than ever. I realized that's like the exact same thing I said ahead of Yawanna's second fight with Zhang Wili. I'm like, oh, I'm glad she's taking the time off. And oh, she's only lost to tough competition. She'll come back stronger than ever. And both times, it was like a devastating knockout for the people that I kind of biged up, the veterans and former champions slash like title challengers. I said, like, we'll come back stronger than ever.

So if you are a veteran on a long layoff right now, who was like formerly ranked, and you're on a layoff of over, like, 500 days, and I start bigging you up and saying, like, oh, you're going to come back stronger than ever, back out of the fight, back out because you're probably going to get knocked out. I have done a terrible job between that. I think, like, I want everyone to do, like, the Calvin Cater. I think I believe, like, everyone's capable of the Calvin Cater, like, the year off, come back from a devastating loss stronger than ever.

But I think as we keep seeing these things happen, we realize, like, that cater situation is more the exception, right, than the rule. Like when you take a lot of time off and you've taken a lot of damage and you come back and fight an up-and-comer like a Ryan Span or in Yohanna's case, a frigging world champion like Zhang Wei Li, it's more often than not going to end well.

Yes. This makes sense too, but I feel like Jamal Hill has earned like a, I don't know if like a number one contender fight but he's maybe a step below that. So I don't know what the thing. that. So we're going to open up like the full on wild card round to you guys for the next 11 minutes. So we're like 48 minutes in. So when we're like at an hour, we're going to be all done. So get in there. And by the way, I picked Dominic Grace as well. I pick Dominic Reyes by submission

because he's a sneaky good grappler and he's a sneaky good submission threat. So I thought, especially with all that time training with Glover and all those guys, I thought he was going to come out with the real grappling heavy game plan, try to get this fight to the mat, maybe get a submission. And I knew 30 seconds into this fight. I was like, Oh, boy, this is not going to go well. This is not going to go well. I think he'd do that to Khalil. I think Ryan Span would do that to Khalil.

I think he mixed the martial arts. I think he might mix the martial arts. He's got some subs. He's got a sub game. A little bit. But Anthony, like Anthony Smith just went out there and tapped Ryan. Just tapped Ryan's been pretty easily. So.

Yeah, I think it was good. Listen, I'm not taking anything good. All right, let's go into this thing. Yeah, I don't want to, I don't need to do the usual disclaimer. I just want to say if anyone, Mike, first of all, please do not put any Frankie Edgar, even joking matchups on the screen. If anyone even mentions Frankie Edgar, you are on timeout for the rest of the day. I said this. Also, anyone, we're not going to read too many from the DMs we got, but anyone, if you sent me a DM and there's a Frankie Edgar

matchup in there, I don't care if it's an MMA, boxing, spite circus. I am not, I am ignoring everything else you said. It will not be acknowledged. All right, let's get into this thing. There's some joke ones in here. We're not going to do repeats. I'm not, I'm not reading any DMs or emails. I'm not reading any of mine. I've already warned you guys yesterday. You guys get all the shows. This is for the live viewers. We do it once a month.

Yeah, deal with it. Alex, Moikana versus the Isma Gulov-Sarukian loser. I feel like whoever, oh, the loser of that fight. I'm into it, but it's not, I mean, that's not a money-moikano fight, though. No. That's not a money-moikano fight, Alex McKeown. You're thinking, too, about, like, competitiveness and rankings and, like, what would be a fun but I just want to see Moe Connob get that money.

Yeah. Give him Max Holloway. Your head's in the right place. Your head's in the right place. Blanchfield versus Araujo. I'm okay with that. I have her ahead of Arjo in my rankings now. I don't know.

I'm not sure where you... Magic one pick for Dominic Reyes, AK? Shoot, man. Again, this is almost... I'm going back to Dustin Jacoby. I'm going back to that. Because, like, Dustin could knock him out, but I feel like Dustin's style isn't really,

like, go for the one-hitter-quitter. I think he's more just kind of take you apart. like kicks, body kicks. I think, I don't know if he said win that fight, but I don't know if he'd get like deaded like he'd got out last night or in the Erie fight. Man, I think I got to go a little further down in the rankings. I think like maybe Nico, you know,

who lost on the card Saturday's card, maybe at Downjung, I don't know if he's booked. Ed Herman, Ed Herman can't possibly be booked, right? Down Jung's fighting Devin Clark in February. So maybe the winner of that. I'm okay with the winner of that. Maybe the winner of that, winner or loser of that, frankly.

I'm fine with that. Yeah, maybe an Ed Herman. This is how far, I'm going down the Ed Herman line. Like, this is how far. This is how, like, I've, and it's not an insult to Ed Herman, and it's not an insult to Dominic Reyes, but I want to believe there's still a chance to salvage Dominic Reyes' career. Nice guy, very talented fighter and a great high-level athlete.

It's just, man, you get on one of these streaks in combat sports. Sometimes it's just hard, it's hard to get off. So if we can, like, if we can sort of really pull back his level of competition that he's been facing, I don't know. It'd be nice. I mean, again, Ryan Span was a big step back from the other name. So maybe we need to go further back. I don't know.

That was tough to watch. Chandler versus Z. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I think Jamal's ahead of that. And I'm not going to reward Ryan Span for missing weight to get a big fight like that. Dong Shavchenko make it happen.

Maybe not today. Someday. Not today. Reyes versus Jimmy Crude. You like that idea. Yeah, I don't mind that all. Yeah, exactly. And again, Crout's another guy coming off a long layoff because of injury.

And he's had, you know, like, much as much as we like Jimmy Crude. He's had kind of mixed results at 205. It's not like, it's not like Jimmy Crude has been like this surefire. This guy's going to fight for the title someday. I think we like him. He's been an exciting fight. He's has some great finishes.

Reyes would be kind of a good test even at this stage to see. I see that even at this stage. May he says 32 years young. It's crazy. Gutierrez versus Rob Font. Yeah. I'd be all right with that. I like Yanez versus Font better, but just because of the boxing,

that'd just be a lot of fun. but yeah, I mean, if they want to go that route, it's going to be fun. Petroski versus Phil Haas. I mean, by the way, I've reached out to many people. No update on Phil Haas that I could see. Maybe he posted something over the last day or two on Instagram, but I have no idea. But Petrosky called the Bo Neckle. Do you like that idea?

I like the call out. I like the QFC would do that fight? Actually, yes, because I like it for Bo. I think should he beat, the Jamie Pickett fight got rescheduled, right? Yeah, it's going to be, it's, it looks like March 4th that's going to happen. Should he beat Jane Pickett as expected? This is the next step up. Petrusky's 4-0 in the UFC.

I mean, listen, I get it. Most people probably can't name all the people he beat. I mean, off the top of my head, what, Nick Maximov? And then I can't remember the first two guys. But either way, he's finishing fights. He's winning tough fights. That Wellington tournament thing was grueling. Yeah, Tristan messaged me about he's not super sold on Petroski, which is fine.

I don't, I'm not saying. I think Petroski is, like, a future ranked guy. I don't think he's like unnecessarily a world title contender. But he's one of those guys. I always say you have an A plus skill, you can go a long way. Unfortunately, with Bo Nicol, that's an A plus plus plus skill. If you tried to go wrestle for wrestle with that Bo Nicol, it would not go well for him. And on the feet, he probably would kill Petrosky.

Look, this is not identical, but Petroski has Marvin Vittori vibes. Okay. It's just got to be not fun to fight him. Even if you beat him, it just doesn't seem like a fun time. It just seems like a grueling, just rough chores. to fight that guy because he doesn't get he doesn't get he has no Fs to give when he gets in there and fights like he'll sit there and strike he'll grapple do all that it just doesn't seem like it's very fun to fight him and that that that's such a dangerous weapon uh Fizzi versus Poree

oh no take it out of screen take that take that who is this person that person is getting your who who was that eight local eight local I don't think we're going to go that route eight local you are on time out my friend you're really time out I really timed him out That was direct defiant. That was throwing doo-doo in my face, Mike. Olberg versus Merzok-Korov. Oh, Berg, man, a lot of people, he was favored, right? He was favored in the fight.

And I think some people, we kind of were like, oh, wow, should he be favored against a guy who, you know, was on a four-fight win streak? And, I mean, the hype is pretty real. And I was saying, I don't think he's as bad as, like, the Inzacchuku and the Fabio-Sherent fight, like, showed. Like, Enzacchuku, he lost to, but Enzsichuk was really good.

Fabio-Sheran. It was just kind of a mucky flight. Not one will ever want to watch again, but at least he won. I think he's better than people think. And, man, that was huge. So, yeah, we look forward to what's next for Oldberg. Mike Trisano versus Andre Feely. Sure.

He's got to make weight, too. Yeah, make the weight, Mike. It's a big miss. Get your hat back. What about Carlos Ulberg versus Dusts Jacoby? I think Jacob Duss Ulberg at this point. But again, as I was saying, if it is going to be a striking battle, I mean, Elberg's pretty good.

I do think Jacob does him. I think there's a MMA experience gap, but it might not matter. Trisano Brito is interesting. Trisano versus Nate Landware. Wait, did I not? Wait, eight local. Mike, eight loco is timed out. I mean, this is from five minutes ago.

Okay, okay. No more eight loco. I'm going to as many as you can. We got like four more. All right, all right. We're going fast and furious here. Reyes versus Alonso Menafield. I kind of don't want to see that.

I think Menefield at this point. Like if this happened within the next three or four months would take Reyes out real bad. McCann versus Antonina Shepchenko. It's got to be in the UK. Has that never been booked? I feel like we've talked about. think we've talked about it ought no a lot um but yeah that is who sent who sent that alex macadam a lot of not a lot of nice picks today um yeah that's the perfect matchup for

the return her return to london is is you put her in there with edin yeah what about ray is johnny walker walker's book to brazil memory seriously correct yes i believe so roberto bariantos come that's do-do my man takes two seconds guys topology check it out shot paulogy sure dog i mean it's it's fast and furious he's funny paul crag yeah i believe he's fighting paul craig But still, or Paul Craig. He came back or Paul Craig. See? He was ready.

Okay, okay. Half, half of, still. No, do you. Nope, not even the deal. No, no, no, no. I told people I hate or picks. I hate people ors. If you're going to send a pick, you make up your mind.

You pick one name. You're not just throwing, you're not throwing all these names out there. You pick one name. Why are we, listen. I already hit this person. I already hit them. I heard the mic. I said, guys.

Yeah, only only. Neither fight on this card. Yeah, if you're going to send a pick at least one name from this card, please. Uh, ruthless soda pop is on the Jedmishu wagon with Gutierrez versus Janis. Sick fight. Stick fight. Gutierrez is really good. Like he is, he is really, really good.

I mean, both didn't fight, but both are kind of in the conversation right now. Rose versus Jan Jonan. Jan's kind of in this title picture too, which she's like the forgotten name and all of this, because John's going off that win over McKenzie Darn. I know it wasn't the greatest fight of all time, but. Isma Goulop versus Chandler, maybe with the win. We'll see. Um, Hooker versus Boy.

Conno was fun. I believe that was one of your picks, A.K. Yeah, again, got to bench Braddell. Got to do it. Got to do it. That was rough. And that was a brutal, that was a brutal finish. How about Petroski versus Roman DeLizze? No, because it was sent in by eight Loco. A Loco. Get out of here. I don't even, I'm not even looking at the names. I know, I know. I'm not even looking at the names. I will, I will mention it every time. Don't worry. Where are we at?

People are good. People have been good. I do see a lot of good. I do see a lot of people behaving. Carolina versus Loma Look Boomy. Loma's booked. I think she just got booked. Mike, what do you think of, uh, Mike, Who do I should give credit to here? Oh, my guy, Barry O'Reilly sent this to me. Carolina versus Michelle Waterson-Gomis. Makes sense, right? Yeah, I like that idea.

There's too much sense at this point, right? I don't like this idea, though. Hooker versus Fizziv. I mean, that's a big step back versus Fiziv with what he's done. After that went over RDA, now you're going to make a fight, Dan Hooker? Come on. If he's going to avenge Brad Radell, wouldn't it be about the guy that just beat him, not the guy that beat him a year ago?

Ruthless soda pop is ruthless. you really going to do this to my Claudia's plays? Come on. Hey, listen, Claudio is, I think Claudio, I hope people, it's unfortunate that like you have,

and totally Claudio's fault, by the way, I'm not, I'm not blaming people. You have one performance like this, and this is how he's going to remember for a long time. And he had some amazing submissions.

Like, he's had some really, really sick performances. But pay-per-view, main card, Madison Square Garden, huge show. I think,

I bet this did a great buy rate, big viewership numbers. For a lot of people, this might be the first time they saw Claudio play his fight. And it's a terrible first impression if that's the case, Mike. Olberg, OSP Gus winner. Hey, Barry Riley, what's going on? Dustin versus Burns at 170? Maybe.

I mean, I think he's going to fight. Clark and see, Olberg is a future champion in the UFC? Doodoo ban. No, I'm sorry. Chazana versus Jordane is pretty fun. Yep. Can't go wrong. Barry Riley sent him some good.

Petroski versus Fluffy Hernandez. Yeah, I like it stylistically. I do wonder if those are two guys are just kind of They're on different like pass. I don't know if they want to mess those guys out. Reyes versus Roundtree, don't like that at all. Not this version of Roundtree is looking real good. This version of Reyes is looking real bad.

Reyes versus Gustafson, perhaps, if he beats OSP? That just feels sad. Or Reyes versus OSP? Again. Again, rematch, right? I don't like I want to see Ray. I understand the thinking behind it, Mr. Gulipali, but yeah we always say

it's not the way I don't hate it I don't hate it but I think I'm almost like the way I was with Frankie before this fight is like I don't know if I want to see Gus fight again sorry Gus sorry Gus if you're out there it's yeah do what you want live your life if you're still enjoying fighting and stick with it and you're in good health stick with it but

I'm not really sure I want to see after the win or lose OSP I think I'd like to see like Gus just step away I'm going to say no to that pick I get where you're coming from I thought about I was like huh this isn't bad and then I thought about it. At least with Frankie Gutierrez, there was at least a 50% chance that it could have ended up

not terribly sad. Reyes Gustafson is guaranteed that it's going to be a sad ending. Either we're going to see Gus flat on his face, or we're going to see Reyes flat on his face. And I don't want to see either of those things right now. So, yeah, I'm cool. Provolta versus Patty, win or lose. That was a good callout.

That was a good call out. I dug it. Yeah. No, that was a very smart call out. I'm trying to think I I'm wondering I saw some people mention that and I like that I'm into it yeah I'm totally into it Matt for Volvo versus Mike Davis would be really ridiculous sure Michael we've already seen this fight Claudia won oh no serious oh Michael that was a while like how how recent are we talking five fights ago maybe yeah okay fine not you know what

Listen, a little sprinkling of doo-doo there. I'm going through a lot of, a lot of similar picks, a lot of, a lot of spamming, if you will. More raised Gustavson talk. I mean, there's just so many picks. You guys are awesome. I'm not going to tell you. This is like, this had people buzzing in the most positive way.

Like, I loved this event. This is an event I will rewatch many of the fights. I mean, it helps a lot of the fights end in the first round. So pretty, pretty risk second viewing. What about something like this? Chandler versus Mazadol. Yeah, look, there's so many good options for Mazvedal. If he's got to clear up this whole legal situation with Colby Cumberton,

I mean, that was just straight up dumbassery. And he's just got to get like sort of, he needs some sort of plan. I feel like he needs some sort of plan for what is likely like the last, whatever, three, four fights of his MMA career. He'll probably go into some boxing after. He needs a plan. He needs a plan. If you're Mazvedal on this team, figure out what you want to do, man, because you got all these people calling you out.

You got all these moments passing. Again, I understand he might not be able to take a fight now with the Kobe Coving thing that's happening. But have a plan. Masved alms team. If you're out there listening, have a plan. Please figure it out because a lot of people still want to see Mazved al fight. A lot of people have some great matchups out there. I like the Chandler idea.

But again, we can mention them all we want in the show. It's just, it's so impossible to predict. It's impossible to predict what he's actually going to do. Jalen Turner versus Dan Hooker, I'm fine with that too. For the same reasons that I put Grant Dawson in there. The only reason I didn't put Jailen in that spot is because Jalen just had some surgery and I don't know how long he's going to be out for. So I feel like Grant could get back quicker.

But there you go. I think we're good. I think we've done enough. I think we've done enough today. Next week we'll be back again. UFC Vegas 65 this is going to be. Correct. I got to tell you, the biggest positive about UFC Vegas 65 is that it's an afternoon card.

1 p.m. prelims, 4 p.m. main card, but the card is a rough one. I'm kind of intrigued. Derek Lewis versus Sergei Spivak. I like, I'm into it. I'm into it. It's a card. It's a card. Hadolfo Valletta's fighting.

That's always fun. He's fighting Cody Brundage. Chase Sherman and Waldo Cortez Acosta is scheduled to be, is scheduled to be on. Oh, right, that got moved. It was on the main card of that, where it was previously. And now is, okay, and fair enough. So, hey, it was a main card fight, back on the main card. I don't know.

Who is Chase supposed to fight Josh Parisian, and now he's fighting Waldo, who just fought, like, maybe on the same card or a week prior? Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yes. Okay. Okay. Do we, do we even, you know what?

Jack Della Madalena, Danny Roberts. That's fun. Yeah. I mean, Jack, that's probably the thing I'm looking forward to the most. Kudalaba, Insichuku, Salakoff. fialho it's fun like fun fights is just rickie tersucus fighting hashtag zero stakes any of these fights uh

zoomo gulov charles johnson the the fight with the most stakes outside of the main event is jennifer maya versus marina morose other than that it's just this is a contender series card on steroids there's nothing wrong with that we're gonna we're gonna this has potential to be a

fun card it's just there won't be a lot of storylines coming out Mike let me let me just remind people you will be getting a ton of rankings content this week again we we have changed it so it's not the beginning the month anymore it is after every ufc pay-per-view because that's when a lot of the most of the rankings movement happens so that'll be happening this week pound for pound update a division update in a podcast uh sometimes we do a shake-up mike and i'll be honestly i don't think you know when when there's it's not after a preview

just to you know get some rankings talk still going i don't know if we'll be doing a shake-up post after ufc vegas 65 i i don't think anything's going to happen on that card that is going to that is going to turn the turn the rankings upside down uh sergey spivak maybe be jumping into the top 10, but I don't look for that headline on a Monday morning people. Yes, I completely agree. So, yeah, we're done. UFC Vegas 65. Geez.

Wait a minute. Did I see that correctly? Natalia Silva's on the card. So that's fun. Yes. This is true. He's fun. But again, not a ton of steak.

And then we'll be back and then we'll have a week off, AK. We'll have a week off because of the Thanksgiving holiday. PFL will have an event. And then it's on to UFC Orlando and then UFC 282. So we're going to have a couple of really fun onto the next ones to kick off the month of December. And then we'll have one more for the month. And then we're going to have we'll wrap up the year with our 2022 predictions recap to see how smart or not smart we were. And then we'll kick off 2023 with our random fan question, just out of left field prediction show, which I love doing.

Absolutely love doing. So thank you very much. This will be up on the podcast momentarily. And we'll see you next week. Hope you enjoyed all of our coverage. I have a feeling the M. May hour is going to be real fun this week with the follow out of this card. So he'll be back.

Ariel will be back tomorrow, 1 p.m. Eastern on this here channel. And he'll break it down. And hopefully we get some of the big tastemakers from the events, maybe in studio. Who knows? Arrow's going to deliver this week. That is for sure. So thank you very much for AK.

I am Mike. I am Mike Kack. Thank you for waking up with us, sticking with us, and always remember, don't take this stuff too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun. We'll have more fun next week following UFC Vegas 65 right here and on to the next one. Podcast. Have a great day, everybody.