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

Episode Date: May 14, 2023

Is Jailton Almeida in a position where his next octagon appearance could be for some sort of UFC championship following his dominant first-round submission victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the main event of UFC Charlotte?   On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee attempt to answer that question from a matchmaking perspective after Almeida's impressive win streak got extended to 14 with short work of Rozenstruik. Additionally, future matchups are made for Johnny Walker following his decision win over Anthony Smith in the co-main event, Ian Machado Garry after his breakout finish of Daniel Rodriguez in the welterweight featured matchup, along with fellow event winners Carlos Ulberg, Alex Morono, 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

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original, The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cadulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, ghosts in the machine.

Available now, only from Audible. The Vox Media Podcast Network. Everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one, and wouldn't you know it. A little peek behind the curtain, it's still Saturday night as we record this show. And I love it. because UFC Charlotte is in the books,

has been in the books for a few hours now, and it's a great feeling. But welcome to the show. The matchmaking crowns are back on following Saturday's card. We had a big statement made by a surging heavyweight contender in the main event. We saw an arrival to the welterweight divisional rankings in the UFC, perhaps in the M.A. Fighting Global rankings, which we will discuss.

But before we get there, one of the reasons why we're doing this on Saturday as well is not just because UFC Charlotte was an early day card. But as you're hearing this, it is Mother's Day. So happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. You are the real MVPs. You are the real matchmaking queens. Enjoy the day. All the moms out there, especially my wife Holly, my mom Kathy, my mother-in-law, all the moms out there doing the damn thing.

We salute you all. You all rule. But I am Mike Heck and joining me as always My best friend, co-maschmaker extraordinaire, Mr. Alexander K. Lee, A.K., how are you? And happy Mother's Day to Mrs. Lee as well.

Oh, thank you, Mike. Yes, I was just spending time with her, actually, before we recording the show. And she's doing wonderful. She's enjoying a nice Mother's Day weekend, dinner, which I ordered for all of us. So, there you go. I had a nice little.

What a guy. What a freaking guy. Nice little treat for a treat for me. mom, sit down, watch some TV with their it's really about spending the time, Mike. That's what I say. It's really about spending the time. I'm in a great mood, Mike, not just because of Mother's Day, not just because of my dear mom. Justin Alameda, listen.

Did he do something? Did he find him? Listen, any chance I get to watch this man perform is a privilege. Because a lot of MMA fighters, let me tell you, they're not here for a great time. They're not here for a long time. even heavyweights, you know, heavyweights who tend to linger around or light heavyweights masquerading as heavyweights, as is the case here. So cherish these moments, cherish these moments before we get into, before he becomes champion

and gets caught up in all the politics of being champion, of being a star and the biggest fight promotion in the world. We've seen it happen to everyone. These are the halcyon days of the, of Jelts and Almeida, the contender. So let us enjoy them. I certainly am, and I was very happy with what happened tonight, Mike. I understand that. You've been very high in this man.

I think as a site, he's kind of like, he's been like our, I don't know, like our nephew, if you will, like not our child, but we still, he's a family member, and we've been putting him over like crazy. And he is delivered in such a big way. You've been the driver of that trip. There were two people tonight who the M.A. fighting family was heavily invested in.

One, Jelton Almeda delivered. Number two, salt poppy. did not quite deliver, not his strongest performance, was defeated by combat sports veteran Anthony Taylor in a, and what should have been more than three rounds. But yes, a three round decision. So Sal Poppy fell short. But one in one, as far as MMA fighting favorites, gentlemen made it look great. Salt Poppy, back to the drawing board.

You have not seen the loss of him. Yes, I would agree with that. So let's just get right into it. And look, some of these picks, seeds have already been planted. So it's not really new material. And that's kind of another reason why we're doing this. the Saturday show is we're not really overthinking a lot here. There's not going to be a lot of like official friends forever picks because I feel like

some of the stuff is really obvious. But I'll just get right into this AK because you mentioned it. Jeltsin Almeida, he is the real real, just runs over poor Jarzini Rosenstrike who knew exactly what was about to happen. He tried to stop it, but he just couldn't. And Jailton Almeida is a major problem in this heavyweight division. And quite frankly, I would pick him right now to beat 90. to 99% of this division without hesitation,

including the pick I am about to make, which might stun some people. My selection for Jelton Omeda, as most of you probably know by now, it's Sergey Pavellich, and it will be for some sort of championship, whether it's an interim title or a vacant title, because if and likely when John Jones

beat Steep A. Meachich, I do think if he doesn't outright retire, he will take some time off, and this division will need to move forward because you know how the UFC feels about heavyweights. And I get that. It could be like a six, seven month or more, like so stretch to get Jelton back in there,

but I don't care. And the other reason I like this fight, A, K, is what if the steep A fight can't get put together? Because you're dealing with some pretty big personalities here. They want what they want. And if they don't get it, they're just not going to fight. And they're okay with that.

So if they can't fight, we do have another fight ready to go. for some sort of title that we could do. So could they pivot and go a different direction for Jelton? Sure. But my pick, it's him and Pavlovich with very high stakes for some kind of title until John Jones says otherwise. What say you?

I love it. I feel like it won't be next. I'll go. I think it doesn't work for, if I think if I was waving a magic wand, well, if I was waving a magic wand, he'd be fighting John Jones next. But even in this fictional scenario, I don't think we can go that far. but I can't crystal ball in Pavlovich either. I just feel like that's not what's next for both either guy,

even though, one, you're right. They both deserve to be fighting for some sort of title next. I don't see why they should have to beat anybody else. Maybe Almeida has to do a little more work. I think his resume isn't quite as strong. But it feels like just based on the eye test, you'd go like Ammaa should be one half of a title fight in the future, vacant interim, whatever.

I went in a slightly different direction only because of some of the discussion we had on the post-fight show, Mike. This guy, listen, he's got his own problems, but I am now very curious to see how this would go. Because I, as confident as you are, that Shelton Almeida would defeat Sergey Pahlovich. I am also confident Jelts and Almeida would beat Curtis Blades. And I get it. Curtis Blades, amazing wrestler. It would be, you know, it would be very doubtful.

I think most people would not imagine Almeida being able to sort of take him down at will as he has his other opponents. But I want to know. And the other thing about this matchup, I'm with you, like I said. I think Almeida would beat Pavlovich, and if he does it, it would be in the same way he's beaten everybody else. He'd eventually get a takedown, jiu-of-that unbelievable jiu-jitsu and ground and pound TKL or submission.

Blades, it's a much riskier fight. He's just lost to Pavlovish, so theoretically less to gain. But there was that part of me, my. Mike, as much as I love Ammaid just doing his thing, there was a part of me that wants to see how will he do if he can't get a fight to the ground? How will he do if a fight has to go past the distance? Let's say this is a fight night main event, him and Curtis Blades. It would probably be a pay-per-view, so they probably get three rounds.

But even three rounds, Curtis Blades would be really fascinating to me. I am curious. So this is more of a tough love. It's a tough love pick, Mike. This is a tough love pick. He could very well lose to Curtis Blades. Very well, good. but it's a test that I'm suddenly interested in finding out.

And I personally am very confident he would find a way to get blades down, maybe not a traditional take down with a trip, he might have to, like I said, finds a way to hurt him on the feet first, maybe a back take an Al Jemaine Sterling kind of grapple against the fence, take his back type thing. I want to know. I want to know. How would he beat someone?

He's not just going to double leg. He's not just going to pick him up off the ground and slam him. If he did, it would be amazing. But if he can't, how does he beat him? I do kind of want to know. So in this sense, I'm sort of doing Pavlovich of favor and saying, I don't think he needs to fight someone else before possibly fighting someone for a title.

I'm kind of going with, let's let Almeida do a little more work against a very tough opponent in Curtis Blade. So I don't think this is a very popular pick, but I'm curious now. I mean, look, I said 98, 99% that I would pick Jailson to beat right now without hesitation. Blades is part of that 1 to 2% where I would have to think about it. I would probably still pick Almeida to win that fight and I would probably still pick him to finish Curtis Blades.

But watching him get there would be pretty fascinating to watch. The other name I wouldn't, I would pick, I'd probably pick John Jones to be Jailton Almeida right now. But even then, I would still would listen to arguments for Jelton Almeida. Like, I'm just that high on him.

And I don't know if anybody could stop this man. I don't know if anybody could stop this man. So I like it. I get why you don't think it might be a public break. And maybe the UFC puts this fight together because they just feel like, hey, let's get Curtis out of here. And let's just go in there with Jailton. But I feel like, I mean, I didn't hear Jelton call out Taitu Vasa.

Jed was telling me he did. I could definitely see them making that fight. Maybe they do on that Sydney card that they're talking about. Cyril Gahn wants to fight in September. I think Jelton versus Cyril Gahn would be an interesting fight if you just want to get him in there so you could do that. I mean, there's clearly options,

but to me, this just feels like Jones-Stepe, even though we feel like it could happen, I think they need a backup plan and I think they have it right now. And if we see a poster, this is John Jones and Stepe for this card and both guys are like, yeah,

like, yeah, we got everything we wanted, we're doing this. Then we can pivot into another direction. But until I see, that fight booked and it is official I think all possibilities are open and I think their plan B is probably Pavlovich versus Almeida for some sort of weird thing

interim interim title even though it's just whatever it's like John Jones a steep air out there anyway I will say the one thing I'll say about Tavas and gone by those makes sense for him one very winnable fights stylistically and two so this will be interesting our rankings going into this we had we already had

Almeida ahead of Girozino and we're currently in discussions. I'll tell people now there might be a shake-up article, ranking shake-up article on Monday. Monday or Tuesday they'll come out, and it'll be a, you'll see how much Almeida has moved up from the number nine spot. Possibly top five?

I don't know. I actually even done the math yet. I'm not just teasing it. I don't know how high he's going to rise. I still have to find out myself, so I'm very curious. But in the UFC's rankings, he came in, it was almost their first. Almeida was 12th.

Jarzino was ninth. So I wonder how high Almeda will be in the UFC's official rankings by Tuesday. Probably jumps over Jarzino, probably jumps over Sergei Spivak. So at least eight, if they put him above Volkov, I'd be a little bit surprised.

Volkov's at seven. And then above that, there's Tai Tuivasa and some other people. So if they only move him into the eight or seven spot, Tuivasa and Gan will still be ahead of him in the rankings. So that, in that sense, not only is it a winnable fight, it will make sense for him if him and his team or if that's the rankings they're going by

to keep moving him up. So it kind of makes sense in that way too. I think they know what they're doing. They're pretty, they seem pretty thoughtful with how they're bringing Almeda along. Yes. I'm just going to come out and say it. Jail's Alameda right the second is my number four ranked heavyweight in the world. I put him above Cyril Gan. I put him above Tommy Aspinall, above Curtis Blades, above Tai Taitouivasa. He is number four. It is Inganu Jones, Pavavich, Alameda. That's my top four. Cyril Gahn runs out the top five. I think that's fair. I think that's very fair.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. So, yeah, he's, I don't know if I have him the highest, but he's going to be damn close. At least, but I'm just that much of a believer in this man. But let's move forward to the light, heavy weights.

Johnny Walker gets a clean win over Anthony Smith. A smart, tactical performance. Cotton McGregor put him over on Twitter. Johnny Walker gets the victory, which is the most important thing, AK, but this one did not jump off the page. Dana White was asked about at the press conference, was just

like, yeah, he won, so I guess that's good, but that's about as far as he went with it. This was not a performance that is going to get Dana and the UFC brass and the matchmakers to get in any kind of hurry to push Johnny Walker

into a title fight or a number one contender fight. I mean, maybe he lands in one, but he's probably going to have to get another two wins to get to a title shot and the road will probably not be an easy one unless they go with my pick and Johnny Walker does them at least in their eyes some sort of a favor or in the UFC's eyes they get to eliminate somebody that hasn't really jumped off the page to them with their recent performances. So in your opinion, we'll start with you. What's next for Johnny Walker?

Mike, I think you're going with this pick too. I think we sort of talked about this on the post-fight show. So I'm telling people now, I think we said that this is one of our picks. We are not allowing ourselves of friends for every moment, right? I think this is where we... Not on this one, no. Not on this one, right? Because I think we have said, and as you just kind of tease there, that really the only way Johnny Walker is kind of one win away,

because I agree, it feels like two wins away. Even, honestly, even if he had knocked out, maybe first round, stockout, that would have, you know, pushed the stockup just that little bit much higher. I still felt like he was two fights away. I just don't know if the Anthony Smith win was ever going to get him, like, one away. So I still think he's two away, unless, and I believe you're thinking the same thing, unless we're talking Magomede on Goliath. Yeah.

It's, yeah, it's Magamai, and Kalif. Yeah. That's a tough matchup, but, yeah, listen, if you're Johnny Walker, you're kind of in a weird spot because you're kind of having the second contender surge, which is hard to do in the UFC. A lot of people just kind of have that one run, that one run towards the title, and then either they make it, and then they win the title, or they fall short, and then it's hard to battle back. And there's exceptions. There's tons of guys who have been the UFC for like 10, 12 years, and managed to squeak out like two title challenges in there, it's very hard to do.

And when you're a guy like Johnny Walker, who was like super hyped and then suddenly hits this rough stretch, I'll say, I was, I was counting him out. I mean, after he got lost that unanimous decision to Diego Santos, I'm like, okay, well, this guy's probably not what we hoped he was going to be. Then he gets knocked out. a bunch of Mall Hill and we're like, forget that. We talked about this guy fighting John Jones once. Like, forget about it. Then he strings together again, two fast finishes,

nice win over former one-time titles challenger, top 10 guy, and here he's back again. But you're right, if he really wants to speed this up, it's Ankleye of next. Not an easy fight, but I wouldn't say a fight he can't win either. So his team, dangerous stuff, but you got to go for it. Because if he waits any longer, he's not old. old by any means, but I just don't know.

Yeah, he's 31. It's not old by any means. I just don't know if the road is any easier if he takes two more fights. Like, one of those fights is going to be a difficult opponent, too. So you might as well just get the hard one out of the way now. If you lose, maybe still have a little more time to sort of build back up again. But yeah, it seems like they don't know what they're doing with Ankelaev. Well, Johnny Walker winning, I feel like, just gave them an option right there. Yeah, I think this is it because Ankeliath is going, he's,

definitely going to need to get at least one win if he wants to be considered for a title shot right now. And is that fair? Probably not because he might be the best light heavyweight in the world right now. But his fight with Yombovich just left such a bad taste of Dana White's mouth. Dana, I mean, Dana immediately pivoted to another title fight as soon as his fight with the We never see that. We never see that. That's insane.

They're like, no, we're book three weeks. We're booking another title fight. Like, they're not running it back. We're moving on. We are moving on from this. Ankleife is just he's just not a big star and he's not the kind of guy the UFC is going to risk throwing into a fight with Jamal Hill right now

without another big performance under his belt. So give him Johnny Walker. Let's see if he can't be put on a show. If he can't, he'll have to fight again. And if Walker wins, he gets a big fight after, maybe even a title shot after that, depending on what this division is going to look like. So Ankleife is my pick.

We'll see if I'm right. And the problem for Johnny Walker, too, is he already fought Jamal Hill. And Jamal Hill absolutely can. killed him. And I, after watching this fight with Anthony Smith, I think the matchup, I think it's worse. I think it's a worst matchup that it was when they first fought. I think Jamal Hill is that performance against Glover-Teshirea. Talk about age, whatever. I don't care. But Gloverich Scher went hammer and tongs with Yuri Perashka and lived to tell the tale and was about to

win that fight. And I don't know if I'm as confident picking Jamal Hill against Yuri Perashka as I was with Glover beating Yuri Per Haska. But, I just feel like Jamal beats Johnny Walker 98 times out of 100 and it goes almost the same way. The Iwan Kuchelabu win was nice. Paul Craig win is nice, but like no worries about striking whatsoever from Paul Craig. And then the Anthony Smith went like it's a good name to have on the resume, but Anthony Smith is clearly on the back nine. Clearly, he did not look great tonight. I'm not saying Johnny had nothing to do with that, but even just watching like the first couple minutes of watching Anthony Smith move around and get,

kicked in the leg and having no reaction to anything, I was just like, oh boy, this could be a really rough night for Anthony Smith and Johnny couldn't put him away. And I think that's kind of Dana's mentality. When you have a guy badly hurt and he's almost injured and you can't finish him, like, I don't even know if Johnny Walker would have got a contender series contract after that performance tonight. Like it was a fine showing, but it's just not what Dana wants to see in these types of situations. And in the end, he's the dude and he makes these decisions ultimately. He's the final stamp of approval. Now we just throw them in there with Ankleif

and we'll see where the chips fall. If you want that Jamal Hill fight, you go and beat Magamahem at Ankelai if you get a damn good chance at it. And I think maybe in the UFC's eyes they're doing them kind of a favor. Yeah. He won. He won and Connor talked about and put him over. It's the worst place

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And guys that Connor put over. And guys that Connor put over. Yeah. Ian Machado, Gary, incredible breakthrough showing. Knoxo Daniel Rodriguez in the first round. The first fighter ever to finish D-Rod via strikes. He calls his shot, called for the head kick, said if it was anything else, it would be a mistake.

calls out Neil Magni a little bit of retroactive do-do since Magny is already booked June 24th, UFC Jacksonville, against Phil Rowe. But I'm just going to say what I said after UFC 287. A lot of people agree with me. I've been getting some pushback,

and it's one of those things where, like, you can try to convince me all you want that you're right and I'm wrong. And I'm never, and I'm, one, I'm just incredibly stubborn and I'm never going to admit that to most people anyways. And two, you're just not going to do it. And I'm clearly not going to convince

you either. So I said this right after 287. Kevin Holland finished the Santiago Ponziabio. He got dominated and stopped by Wonderboy before that a few months earlier. Bounce back. Nice performance last month at 287. And I said Kevin Holland will fight the winner of this fight

between D-Rod and Ian Machado, Gary. There's history with D-Rod. And if Ian beats D-Rod, Kevin Holland's a great next step. And I am G-1 and he did it emphatically. And there are people who said, well Holland is, you know, it's a cool fight, but like, it's too big of a step up for Ian Gary. That's the big pushback on this.

Kevin Holland is too big of a step up for Ian Gary. And I completely disagree with that. This is the one I want to see for both guys. Because look, I think Holland is a big name. Everyone seems to like the guy. He's a fun fighter. Great personality. But he's not a guy in my opinion that I think is going to one day fight for the UFC Walterway title. And that's okay. That's That's not a bad thing. That's not a knock on who he is. He will have a great career and he will make a ton of money. He will make more money than a good chunk of UFC champions will be making in their UFC runs.

And that's fantastic. Like Kevin Holland will end his career winning fighting, just like Jorge Mazadol. He's going to win fighting. He's been winning fighting. Whether he wins actual fights or not, he is winning the game. Gary, I feel more confident. We'll fight for the title someday. Will he win it?

I don't know. But will he get to a title fight? Yes. And if he beats Kevin Holland, he'll get an even bigger rub. He'll get an even bigger fight. And if he loses, yeah, it kind of sucks. But it's like, it's not too damaging.

He's 24 years old. He can bounce back from any loss at this point. It's a step up, yes. But it's a fight he can win. He can beat Kevin Holland. I would, I don't know if I'm really ready to pick him right now. But I think by the time I get closer to the fight and just see how Ian's mentality,

is, there is a real world where he beats Kevin Holland and stops him. Like, that could happen. That could happen. And it would be a big fight on any card it's on. So I'm sticking with it, A.K., despite any blowback, Ian Machado Gary versus Kevin Holland is the fight I'm making. First, I'll say I'm not mad at Ian Machado Gary for the Neil Magnet pick, if only because he made history, Mike, with the first ever doo-do pick live on ABC.

We might, I don't know. That one's the next time we're going to see that again. That was national television. I can do my homework. That might not be true. That might not be true. It might not be true. There's only been four.

How many, who else could? This is only the fourth one. Or four of you have. I mean, do we call it of Habib kind of do-do. Is that what he did on the first one? On the first ABC?

Like, I don't know if he did it in the K. I don't remember. I think he might have. But it wasn't like a, I don't know. That's just a Max call-up. Yeah. It wasn't his fault. Dana was convincing everybody that he was coming.

Habib is still coming back when Habib is literally telling everybody. I'm not fighting again. I don't know what we're doing here. But yeah. But look, there's a lot of fights. How is he supposed to? Yeah. But he's not.

My counter to that is, look, you know, it's not like Neil Maggi just popped to the top of this dude's head. He's been plodding this call off for weeks that he was going to call on Neil Magny. I like I do is just jump on the old topology page for like two seconds and just see like, oh shit, he's booked. Now, if he and Mitchie McGarie said, look, Neil Magny, win or lose against Phil Rowe, we're going, not a doo-do pick. Can you imagine if he was that specific about it? Just for us, just to win-lose or draw. When-lose-or-draw.

Hashtag on to the next one on national television, it would have been amazing. He would have gotten an ought-no point on the spot, even if the fight didn't get made. That's like an ought-no point sent your way, Ian Garry. Ian Roshado, Gary. So, yeah, listen, that was a great moment, a learning moment for him. And again, I don't know if we'll see another, like, real doo-to-do-a. pick on ABC again. National television. National television. Millions watching. I also think like the Neil Magny call out makes sense if Magny was not booked.

I see where his head's at. He's thinking like, oh, Neil Magny's a name, he's been around forever, most wins in Walter Ward history. If I beat him, it's a nice feather in my cap. But yeah, he's going to, him and the winner of that fight would make a lot of sense. Just calling out Magny was probably a bit off. But I didn't, I don't know. I wasn't sure entirely what to do. I'm a little, again, much like Jailton. I'm a little careful. I'm a little curious where Ian Machado, Gary is going to end up in our rankings. I'll say he was not even a fighter receiving a vote so far. He was not even a far, if I don't think, anyway.

The lower half of the welter rankings have some pretty strong names in there that are a little bit hard, like Jack Delamadelaide's down there, Sean Brady, you're talking about like the 10 to 15 spots. So I don't know if beating, it will in mine, because I had Daniel Rodriguez in mine. I don't know if anyone else had Dale Rodriguez ranked. So I'm not sure if this will move him into our rankings personally. So that's why I still want to move him up. I want to give him a name that I think if he beats,

it'll be undeniable that he's a ranked fighter, both in the official and in the NBA fighting globals. It's not the sexiest name. I'm going with Jeff Neal. I don't know if I'm missing something. He didn't come up during our post-fight show for some reason. Because it's just not a sexy pick. It's not a sexy pick.

Neil's coming off a loss as well. I'm sure this I have not I've only glanced at the listener picks I have a feeling they're going to be a little more adventurous

than we are but I will say Mike I have no problem with the Holland pick I was kind of defending you on the show the post fight show the Holland pick

because I said he has a bigger name than a lot like I look like I said I picked Jeff Neal Holland's not ranked Jeff Neal is Kevin Holland is a much

much bigger name than Jeff Neal so like the rankings are important but as far as like your your more casual MMA watcher who who

what's going to resonate more a win over jeff neil or went over kevin holland a win over kevin holland's so uh i like your pick too uh i got like i said i stuck to the rankings but as far as name value goes i don't i don't think you know you want a stand-up battle i think are these guys is uh gonna give you some good stuff there you know what a k um had he called out jeff neal i would have given him the a plus okay i would have given him the a plus so that's that's that's the other name i I would have been okay with. I just, Neil's,

the cash, like, it's a tough fight. Like, Neil Magny is not an easy fight for anybody. I just don't think the cash A is really there. I mean, he's fighting Phil Roe.

And Phil Roe's a fine fighter. He's a huge dude, but he's had trouble making weight. It's just kind of a weird fight to get put together. It's in Phil Roe's home city of Jacksonville. Like, it just seems like they're giving Phil Roe the Magny rub. And I think if Phil wins that fight,

and I think he has a good chance to do so, because, of that size discrepancy and how awkward and dangerous he is, he has a good chance to win. And then the Magnet call makes no sense at that point because Magnet's out of the top 15 altogether. I like the Jeff Neal one. I like the Jeff Neal one.

I think that's a better fight. I think there's a little more excitement there. And I think he gets a little bit more. I mean, Jeff Neal just went hammer and tongs with Schofcott Rock Monoff and made it to the third round. Like, not a lot of people can say that. So I like the Jeff Neal pick. I like that one.

Vicente Lucca would be fun, but they train together, so I don't think that's going to happen. Kies is interesting. JDM's about to fight Sean Brady, so like the race is on. The race is on with a lot of these guys, and it's going to be fun. We'll say, I'll get some new blood at 170. I feel like. Finally, we're getting some new blood. I love it.

I love it so much. I do have a D-Rod matchup, too. So stay tuned for that. But let's go to Carlos Ulberg, A.K., who made a lot of M.M.A. fans happy with a first round finish of the dualist. Ehor, Potaria, the Shogun killer, Ulberg just getting better and better. He deserves a step up.

But how big of a step up, A.K., how big of a step up are you willing to give this man? He feels like a top 15 guy is in his future, but it doesn't seem like he's all the way there just yet. Yeah, that's why this one was so tough for me, Mike, is because I already have Alberg in my top 20 because he beat, just this is M.A. math thing. he beat Nikolai Nagomiriano who'd done some pretty good work so he was close to the top 20

so Ulberg just jumped over a bunch of other more experienced people and jumped over by jumping over Nikolai and then ahead of so that means ahead of Carl's Ulberg if I want him to move up there's like okay here's I'll just go I'll just knock off names Jimmy Crute who's coming off a draw with Alonzo Minifield I kind of just want to run that one back but other of those an option excuse me terrible and Jacoby, coming off two straight losses.

I don't know if you match up a guy with a four straight wins with a guy with two straight losses. Great matchup, very entertaining style-wise, but they rarely do that.

And if you're Oberg, you're probably like, I'd want someone little, again, I've won four straight, I want someone a little higher ranked.

I'm going to skip this name because this actually could be who he fights next. I just don't want to jinx that person being matched up with someone else. Asimat Masa Mirza Khanov, they're in different streams.

I don't think you why i don't know like rankings wise it makes sense and they're both streaking but why have them fight each other at this point i don't know so and then there's a more veteran names above that i had a tough time i had a tough time like uh but without throwing him into like a top 12 matchup so i settled on philippe lynn's maxim christian winner because they're fighting in about a month that three weeks it's not super far off um a couple of pfl veterans i think either than would be a good test for him and i have Lynn's ranked higher than Ulberg. So

again, that's just my way to incrementally moving him up. I'm not ready to throw him into a proper top 15 matchup yet, Mike. You name my pick already. And I know he's lost two in a row. But in my eyes, he just lost one in a row because I still think he beat Khalil Roundtree.

And also right now, I have a bit more faith in a bigger step up for Ian Machado, Gary, than I do Carlos Oldberg, although Olberg definitely deserves some kind of a step up, but I'm willing to gore and Gary in there at Kevin Holland, 100%. So it's Dustin Jacoby. It's Dustin Jacoby.

If he beats Dustin Jacoby, he's ready for a top 15 guy, in my opinion. I think you can make a case Dustin is a top 15, 205 right now. You can make that case. I would listen to it. But he's a top 20 guy. And that fight is fun as hell. Like if you're a Carlos Alberg, that fight is right up your alley. Like that is, with the kind of fight you're looking for to get close to that top 15, that is a banger.

And everyone is going to react positively to that matchmaking. No one's going to be like, oh, well, this is stupid because Jacobi's lost two in a row. No, they're going to be like, holy shit. Carl Sleberg and doesn't Jacob are about to punch and kick each other for 15 minutes potentially. Like, I love that fight. I think that's a great next step up for him. To go from Potaria to Jacoby is a giant. step up in my opinion. So yeah, I like it. Let's do that and we'll see what happens.

By process of elimination, AK, do you have anything you want to add to that? Yeah, I wanted to say if I was not trying to conjure a Alex Podetta versus Khalil Roundtree fight into existence, I think Khalil Roundtree would actually be the perfect matchup for him right now. They're both on win streaks. Again, same thing. We're talking about kicksboxing with Dusty-Jocobo. Roundtree, same idea. So that- Cluel's booked. Who's Kalil fighting? He's fighting Chris Dachas at 205 at UFC 289. I knew this.

I think I wrote this up for MAAfighting.com. Great website. Great website. He's fighting Chris Dachas at 2. Right, Chris Dachas is dropping. He's welcoming him to the division. Okay. Okay.

What is that? That is June 10th. June 10th. Hey. You can look at the winner. You can change your pick. You could change your pick. I'm not going to do the winner lose.

I'm not going to do a winner lose. I'll stick with the, the, the completely unsexy Philippine's Maxim Grishan matchup. Hmm. Now you got me sold a little bit on this Kalil-Rounter idea. It's him or Jacobi.

Him and Jacobi, there's a reason they matched up Jacoby and Roundtree is because it's just like these guys are in that same range. Alberg fits right in. He could fight either of those guys and makes a lot of sense. So I will say. I think he'll fight one of those guys eventually somewhere down the road.

And you know what? Like, you know what? Here's what I... All right, so I'm sticking with my pick, but here's what's going to happen. he's going to fight Iwan Kuchelava like that's what they're going to do they're going to chuck him in there with you

sure lava like that's what they're going to do why not and no one's going to complain about no and by process of elimination of all this we go to D-Rod and I'm just going to give him Alex Morono who gives him who gets another big win over Tim Means and the main card opener and I think it's a good

this is the kind of fight Marano needs he'll be like D-Rod probably like a 17-18 ranked kind of guy Marona's probably like right behind there and this dude just keeps winning a lot more than when he loses and when he loses he looks great in the fights

and I still feel like the Santiago Poncinibio stoppage was a bad one and Marano probably could have won that fight too and he looked spectacular and super short notice so Marona's done enough favors for the UFC give him Drod DROD would probably turn around and fight in a month and a half if they needed him to

that's just the kind of guy he is so Marona versus Drod that's what I'm going with it. Okay, what say you for Alex Marano after his big one over Tim Means? Right, right, right. Why not just match them up together. That's a great idea. That would have saved me a lot of trouble.

I didn't think about that. I think I'm going with him and I had this weird thing I had that. I thought they had fought before. I've been booked. Him and, him and. Oh, I didn't check if these guys booked. I don't think he is. Him and let me check very quickly before I do-do all over myself.

Uh, Li Jing Lang. How about that? Him and Lee, him and Leaching Lang. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Match, I, yeah. I don't know. I don't know if, again, Marano ever becomes a top 15 guy. Again, we could be in the second tier of welterweights now where we're just, you just sort of shuffle the deck chairs and you keep throwing them against each other.

You throw in San Diego Panza Nibio in there, like Gunner Nelson, Brian Barbraina, and just keep mixing and matching and so on. But, you know, every now and then one of these guys breaks out. But until that happens. Until that happens. Yeah. Don't mind there with a leech hasn't happened yet. Great fight. There you go.

Main card. Another fight night main card. Or sneak it out. Man, probably fight night. Sneak it on a pay-per-view. Either way, that's a main card opener. It's great. So now we go to the wild car round.

I just saw the news that Monty Williams is out as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Portia-Hawdy. When it rains it pours in Phoenix. I don't want to. Listen, next year. Next year. Next year, Shane. Probably not, but it's okay.

Come on. Let's go to the wild card round. we will select one fighter we have not match made for yet and we will match make for them right now I'm very curious like mine was so easy like it's the most

it's just the most simplest easiest most obvious wildcard pick you can make but uh I think we're gonna have the first wild card best friends forever but I don't even know if we can friends forever because there's like not much

to choose from it's like there's this brand new cheese pizza over there but on the right hand inside you have like a half-eaten, two-day-old, like all the meat pizza. And all the meat pizza is probably a better pizza. But it's also like a couple days old. And like the cheese pizza is fresh and it just seems better.

So we're just going to go with that. But are we going heavy? Are you going heavy weights? Oh, I was going to assume we both went with Tynaro or Lisbollah. I thought we were all going, the scorching hot women's vented weight division. So I thought for sure. We were going to have more first. No, no, I'm on.

We could not be further away. I thought I was like, well, I mean, everyone's talking about women's bantan weights now. I thought for sure you and I would pick women's baton weights. Oh, good. I feel better about this. Wow, this is disappointing. This is disappointing to me. This is disappointing.

This is a good pick. If I wasn't going to go with the super easy, obvious, like, perfect wild card pick, this would have been my other one. But go ahead. So you're going, oh, wait. So are you going Carl Williams? God, no. Oh, wait, what did you say? I thought you said heavy weight.

Wait. I am going heavyweights. Oh, wait. Who, are Jarzino? What's going on? Yes. Okay, okay. Let me hear you, please.

Go ahead. It's Jarzini versus Derek Lewis. There's no other fight in this world that can be made for either guy. You have to do it now. And Jarzino didn't take a ton of damage in this fight. That fight can happen sooner rather than later. You could throw that on the International Fight Week card if you want to. And who is going to complain about Derek Lewis versus Jarzini,

Rosenz and Stryker on International Fight Week? That's my pick. and it's just too easy. I'm willing it into existence. The fact that we have not seen this fight yet is just mind-boggling to me. So now is the time. There's just no better time to do it.

No other fight makes sense for either guy. Has never been booked, eh? Not even one of these fights that's fallen through. No, not if I can remember. No. Wow. Damn. It's going to happen.

It's going to happen. And it's going to last, and it's going to last 45 seconds. and it's going to be the best someone is just getting smoked yes that's what heavyweight MMA is all about I love it I love it I hope I

Derek Lewis has been very quiet he has been he's usually very quiet he is he is he's not like you know he drops memes on social media that's about it but I don't know I hope he's not being too thoughtful and introspective

that's not how I like my my Derek Lewis Derek's Derek is is a is a heavyweighty non-video game playing version of Max Holloway. Like when the fight is over, he's gone.

Like, the sport does not exist until he signs a contract. And then it's like, all right, now I got a train, and then it's fight week, and I'll do the media. And then I fight. And then I'm gone. And I'm off the radar again. Mike, I went with women's ban to. We got, I'm trying to get this division going.

I'm trying to get this division going. I'm curious where you're going with this. I'm very excited to see we're going with this. There's only like 20 something women's band who waits in the roster. So honestly, I could. go like take five guesses you'd probably get it you'd probably get it within those five but I'll just say Amanda Nunes versus Arini

Aldana winner yeah right I mean she's not that far away from it Norba Dumond she's just stop it no no no I'm just going logical someone else who debuted recently this is a crystal ball pick this I think that's going to throw this on some card sometime

soon I got to show canna's own Jamie Lynn Hors some love beats Halen Cow in her debut they go they're both one and own the UFC they both have like six or seven pro fights I'm just trying I'm building a division here Mike I am building this 135 can be a thing

again once the marquee women's division in all of MMA has now just become this stain on our rankings chatter on it almost seems like they don't even want to make fight I don't know why the only that is confusing me is why so

many women still insist in competing in it I guess only because the UFC has it because it exists in the U.C. Because there's so many promotions, we had an internal discussion about this, that don't even have a women's bandit... Beltor doesn't have one. One championship doesn't have a women's Bantamweight division.

PFL doesn't have a women's Bantuweight division. It's really just the UFC. And for good reason, because they had Rhonda Rousey, they had Michateate, the Holly Holie home. But so many of these fighters, I feel like, just go up to 140. Like, just make a featherweight division at this point. It's senseless. It's just, it's so bizarre. So, anyway, that's my weekly

women's phantom weight chatter I enjoy sharing that my thoughts on the division with you guys all the time I'm just making matchups for to build

to build all right to build something these aren't headlining matchups I'm putting cards together and someday the glory of 135

we'll be back I love it I love it I didn't get a ton of listener selection so you did even within the we should tell you this is within

like a few hours of the show ending. I got so... I guess a lot of feel like you and me, Mike. They're like, you know what? Let's get my Otna work in done tonight. So I don't have to worry about it in the morning. I'm surprised I got so few, but, um,

all right, want to disclose? Disclaim. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just

plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But Chicken tenders, yes, because those are groceries, and we deliver those too, along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ, built for breakthroughs, with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless waste of

move. Lift with confidence while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-draining tread plus at OnePeloton.ca. Yes, people, please. I don't have, oh man, I don't even have this disclaimer loaded up, but we're going to, guys, we want to focus on, I should get rid of this rule because it just happens so rarely these days, but hopefully you are, if you're the only person who managed to pick a certain matchup out of all the people sending in submissions, we can send a singular out-no point to your way, which is incredibly valuable in today's economy.

And we'll also be valuable, I think, in the inevitable apocalypse that's coming, Mike. I think in the wasteland, those autno points will still be recognized as super valuable. They'll build the coins in John Wick. I just saw John Wick for, so I have John Wick on the mind. But they'll be at the coins in John Wick. All right, that's the kind of value these have. And people will just try to avoid matching up people who have recently fought, try to not to make

messes with people who are booked. I'm looking at you, Ian Machado, Gary. People who are teammates, notably, like, well-known teammates. And of course, your pictures might be do-do, and we don't want to read it, guys. So, yeah, there's just some basic rules for you.

I'm giving myself an odd no point for Christian Rodriguez versus Cameron Simon, booked for UFC 290. Just putting that out there. I forgot to mention that, but like I said I only got a few let's go to Robbie Ryan Brian Battle bonus winning Brian Battle versus Matthew Semmelzberger I like that one

That was an incredible alliteration by the way It was very good bonus you said bonus winning Brian Battle versus Matt there's another B in there I thought there was another B in there anyway Go on Matt Brown There's your B versus Nico Price after Price fights Robbie Alex Marono versus Ian Gary I actually like that one too.

I think that's a good, I think that's a fun fight. Carlos Allberg versus Paul Craig. Jelton Al-Mata versus the winner of Tommy Aspinall versus Marching Tybora. I think Al-Mata deserves a little bit better than that. I don't hate it, but- Is Paul Craig going down to middle-weight? There's talks about him going to 185.

Now, whether or not he does it is another thing. When he's booked for a middle-weight fight, I will believe it. But it seems like he can't make it, so could be it would be really interesting seeing him 185 what do you think about this for johnny walker a k joni walker versus kennedy and chichuku and the reasoning is i know johnny is probably looking for a top five matchup but kennedy is on a role and i think those two would put on a slobber knocker

you think johnny walker would even entertain that idea i mean can is he in a position to say no to certain match do you think he gets he beats a top ten guy and he says i'm not going backwards fighting I don't think he's in that position. Do you? Like, I don't think so, right? I don't know, man. He's a tough fight, too.

He's just got a fight, right? Yeah, I don't know. But if, like, after you beat Anthony Smith to get Kennedy into Chuku, that's tough, man. That's a tough fight. I mean, I, I, I, I don't know. That'd be, that'd be a, that'd be a very close fight for me. It's not a, it's not favorable. But, I mean, if this, uh, who, who's ended this pick?

this is Robbie Ryan if Robbie Ryan is submitting that as a crystal ball pick I do think it's possible that happens I wouldn't I wouldn't book it but I'm saying it's it could happen that'd be pretty cool John Ray Lisboa versus a returning

Julia Avila Okay I like it yeah smart I like it too I have no idea when she's coming back I am friends with her on Facebook I see she's training and lifting a lot of weights. She just had a baby, so not that long ago. So we'll see what all comes from this.

Hopefully we see her this year. It would be cool to see her back. I know how bad that she wants to get back in there. Brian Battle versus the Andre Fialio versus Joaquin Buckley winner, which is happening next weekend. We have a Mandy Boehm matchmaking selection, a case she did win. Mandy Boehm versus the Karina

Silva, Ketland-Suzza, loser. Silva Dan Drogh versus Kyler Phillips, and in parentheses, suspension pending, because he is on the docket for the Nevada Athletic Commission for next week. Matt Brown versus Alex Marano, lazy, but makes sense.

Ranking-wise, Alberg versus Jacoby. He's with you. Gary versus the other Neil, Jeff Neal. Smith versus the Roundtree, Docket. Anthony Smith versus the Cleo Roundtree, Chris Dawkins winner. Do you think Anthony Smith's going to retire this week? There's a chance.

I think there's a chance. I think he might do one more, but it's got to be the right fight. It's got to be against somebody he really wants to fight or like, I don't know. It's, I don't think he needs to fight, man. Like, I don't want to, I don't want to be that dude that's like, oh, walk away. Like, you're not all there. But clearly he's got a lot of things going on in his life. I just, I don't know.

He's won. Like, that's another guy who's won. This dude is one fighting. You beat M.A. He has done what no one expected him to. You beat M.A. But it's got to be the right fight. Like, if they bring back Luke Rockhold, like, that'd be fun as hell.

I'd watch that. Something like that. But anything else, not really interested in. Like, I don't want to. I think this is actually, what about this? Someone actually just sent, my friend Ed, actually just sent this to me. What do you think about Anthony Smith versus Dominic Reyes? Uh, it's, I, I was, yeah, I was trying to think both guys, you know, not in exactly in the most successful stage of their careers.

Um, I do, I do like, if we're talking about it as a Anthony Smith last fight, winner lose, I'm walking away. I think it makes a lot of sense. Yes, I'm into that. Okay. I support it. I don't like the Round Tree Dacus winner. I don't like that. Again, that doesn't seem like a fight.

really it makes sense for it unless he's unless he is just going like you know what i got a lot left in me i just signed a new i just signed an extension of the ufc four fights then by all means stowman there with round churadocas but yeah in this sort of twilight stage where it feels like he's in doesn't doesn't really work there walker versus rackich rosin strike versus louis almeda versus sergey spivac to stay busy since the heavyway title fight isn't even booked yet boy sergey spivak he's a pretty decent grappler I think so. I don't like it for Speedback at all.

That's terrible fight for Speedback at all. That's terrible fight for Speedback. After his recent wins, boy, that's a tough one. And then we go to Harry Duoskin, Lisboa versus Alex Siva, Brian Battle versus A.J. Fletcher. Oh, God. Mandy Boehm gets another matchmaking pick, but not a real one. Mandy Boehm versus the unemployment line.

Come on. What did Mandy Boehm do wrong? What did she do? anything wrong. She didn't do anything wrong. She is. It's brutal. People are, it's brutal.

People saying she pulled an acting job or pulled an aljo, you know what? If she pulled an aljo, she did the right thing. Yeah, and guess what? She also ate a frigging knee to the head. I hate one of those things pulled in Aljo. Because I want to tell me, go back and watch the, I was rewatching it ahead of the Sehudo fight. That knee that Aljoka hit with was vicious as hell.

I wouldn't continue out to taking that knee either. I'm sorry. Exactly. Yeah, that was overborne shit I've ever heard. He's acting. He's acting. Eat one of those needs from Peotryon after going 15 minutes with Peotrean.

You tell me how much more you want to fight and whether you can continue. Oh, I'd fight him. Oh, I'd fight him. I've got honor. DSA versus Javi Bosharat. I like that fight Carl Williams versus Paco Porter.

Ooh. I mean, Carl Williams fans, I mean, pump the brakes a little bit. I mean, Paco Porter? You really want to throw Carl in there with Pocker Porter? Minus 600,

at Park Report. Marlano versus the Salikoff Dolby winner. Another old old boy Jacobi. Gary versus the Magni Roe winner. See if he just said that,

boom, he's good to go. Joddy Walker, Volcanozimir, Jailtsin versus Volkov. I love this idea, A.K. And obviously there's other things that are ongoing for this,

but we have a Matt Brown matchmaking suggestion. I gotta say, A.K., I really like it. I really like it. Matt Brown versus Tony Ferguson. There's so many, I don't say so many. There's, if you think about it, there's like a decent list, like three, four, maybe five people that it would make a lot of sense for Tony Ferguson to fight.

I just have a horrible feeling he's going to get poteread as opposed to that matchup that we just got there. So maybe again, maybe I'm stinging just because of. I just saw Portoeria fight tonight and it was brought back Shogun Flash for one of the worst moments. There's a terrible fight. I have a feeling Matt Brown um

sorry we said what was the matchup that was suggested Matt Brown versus Tony Ferguson right I'm sorry I meant to say Tony Ferguson I have a feeling whatever his quote unquote last fight is with the UFC his retirement fight they're just getting him something dumb but I don't know maybe I'm being pessimistic

because that'd be great that'd be great I would love to see him Matt Brown. He's going to fight Shafkar Akman off Don't stop it No, it has to... See, that would be at least be... It could be disgusting to watch, but at least be like, oh, they did it,

so Shafka can add Tony Ferguson to his resume. I'll never understand the thinking behind Puerto Ria and Shogun, except to say, Shogun wants a fight in his home... in Brazil, which is find a body for him. I have a feeling that was their only requirement,

and it was just a huge mistake all around. A.K., you're up. That's it. All right, all right. I won't spend too much time. Like, I think there's some overlap here. But I will... I love to read first. Timers.

Literally, this just came in, Mike, as we were recording. David Smiley, Smile. S.M.Y. L.E. I'll say David Smile. That's a great name. Just wants Curtis Almeida. Curtis Almeida versus Curtis Blades. Yes. Someone else suggested this too.

I don't know if you mentioned this, and I missed it, Mike. Johnny Walker versus Alex put in. No one dropped that one. I don't think that's a good idea. No, right? That doesn't serve anyone well, right? It's either Panetta beats Johnny Walker, and then you've spoiled this whole Johnny Walker. Like, again, like you said, they're not pushing Johnny Walker hard toward the title anyway,

so I guess it doesn't matter. Or Walker spoils the whole Alex Panetta at 205 parade, which is certainly possible. But yeah, David Smiley, so just that German, German and other DM sent me that. So, okay, I don't know. I don't love it. Machado Gary, Lucke. Again, guys, Luca is scheduled to fight, or I don't know.

Fighting RDA, August 12th. Okay, it's fine. Wait, Gary, is this a Gary, Gary versus Luke? Machado, Gary, Lucke. He said they train together. And they train, they train together at Kilcliffe. So those two years and fight each other. You don't think it's one of those training partners just they would never fight?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This isn't like, like, Schofcott, like, trains in other places. He doesn't just train at Kilcliffe. Like, Gary, like, specifically trains at Killcliffe. Like, he'll, like, I guess he's going to, he's going to go to Brazil and, like, train a little bit there and do some jujitsu. And kind of, like, immersion.

himself right right right side of things but once he has like a fight book he's going back to killcliffe and training there i don't hate ian machado gary versus r d a bids lukai i'll be honest you i don't hate it i don't either okay uh ulberg versus jimmy crute brian battle versus tim means okay thank you davis smother uh i'll run again so let me go back to uh german i said he liked walker prayer he likes there you go im machado gary versus magni win lose your draw against row so not the row not the winner of that fight when there's a draw alber versus kutjalava like you said mike which probably we're going to end up getting

uh Alex McAdam I think he has the wrong you said Silva what was the Silva de Andrage fight you got sent Mike uh Javid Basharat Oh they're both bantam weights right Farid and this is this is 140 pound catchway with statement

Yeah yeah but Javid and Farid are both bantam weights right Yeah. Oh, okay. You know what I get them confused with? The Bonfim brothers. Oh, yes, yes. Who are a different way class. Okay, okay, right, right, right.

So you said, you suggested, sorry, the message got sent to you, suggested Javid, Alice McAdams suggesting Farid. So, yeah, a bachelor, our brother could be in Sylva Dian, Drog's future. Cody Stamen, Montel, Jackson, Carl Williams, Waldo Cortez Acosta. I swear that fight was booked or I saw it or something. Why does that sound so? Mike, why is that in my head? I don't know.

I've been looking at too many names, I think. Too many names, guys. Okay, good matchup, but I don't think there's, I don't know why I thought that happened. Another thing they go, Matt Brown, Tony Ferguson. I love it. Buffer announces both as UFC Hall of Fame inductees for 2023, 24, before or after the fight. We talked about this a bit on the post-fight show. I think that both make it in.

Tony Ferguson has a pretty airtight case. Matt Brown borderline, well, I've seen a few years. If the standards to get in dropped just a little bit. but both guys well liked by the company. That's really the biggest, the biggest factor. And another Jeltenl Mata versus Sergei Spivaxa. Barry O'Reilly,

reminding me Celtic lost today against Rangers. Not that it matters. They clinced the title last week, but it's true. It sucks to lose. Tainara Lisboa versus Tamiris Vidal, two Brazilians who have won their debuts, sure. Brian Battle versus Trey Waters.

Mandy Boom versus Boone versus. is Julianna Miller. Wait a minute. Oh, yes, I was so saying, yeah, that's fine. That's the right weight class. What else we got? Another Matt Brown, Tony Ferguson, people are talking about it. Julianna Miller's a Bannamweight?

No, this is Mandy. Oh, Mandy Bollum. I got confused too. I got confused too. I was like, what happened tonight? Okay. Ian Machado Gary, Jeff Neal, there you go. Neil lost his last fight to another killcliff fighter.

He can get some form of revenge. If he stops the other rising contender from the gym, while Machado Gary, if you can avoid the hands of Neil will steal his top 10th spot. I shouldn't have read that out. Barry, I immediately regret it. Jelton Almitter. Wow, we're on the same page, though. Curtis plays. Jeltsin likes to be active, as we always see with stars rising fast. The higher you go, the longer you wait for fights. True.

I mentioned out on the show. Want to see Jeltsin tested on the ground or have taken down stuff. So he has throw hands. We'll truly see what he's made of. I still think he is championship material. Thank you, Barry. Ani, Gula, Pali. Matt Brown versus Tony Ferguson again. There we go.

Mike, best friends with you, calls Auburik, Dustin, Jacoby. Maybe this was an easy card to pick for it, because, yeah, I'm seeing a lot of the same stuff. Thank you guys for saying those in. Four Corner Sports. I'm just seeing if there's anything new here. A lot of the same picks. Imichita Gary Mukheza, sure. Daniel Rodriguez, Chaos Williams.

Yeah, I like it. Ooh, that's fun. Ryan Battle versus Gunner Nelson. Hmm. That's a big step up. battle hasn't really had his it feels like it and I feel like battle hasn't had his

grappling tested in his first few fights unless I'm a mistake I know Kiesso wants that Kiesso wants that fight that makes a little more sense I think I mean if they make it I'll watch it but just seems kind of weird

I'd like to I like to see Brian Battle I like to see Brian Battle make weight and when a fight and then fight it then he can fight a guy that got her enough. Still can't believe he got that bonus.

I'm good. I've never against fighters getting paid more money, but boy, what a weird, what a weird little rule to break. He missed weight, so it's a bonus, but that's fine. Good for you, Brian. Good for you. 14-second knockout. It's pretty spectacular.

You know what? There should be a rule. If you miss weight, but you knock out your opponent in under 30 seconds, you're still eligible for a bonus. I'd actually be okay with that. M. M. M.

It's a lot of picks here. Jelameda versus Volkov. Yeah. Again, I don't know if we need to say... How come we didn't talk about this at all, Mike? Johnny Walker versus Jan Blakovitz. Sure. Why is...

I mean, Jan, I don't know. Jan is so up in the air right now. Like, I don't know what to think of him. Mm-hmm. I don't know what to think. But, like, you know, him and Almeid, him and Ancolaia both came out of that draw. So do we just view Ankylai, do you think of still being a little higher in the standings? Or, like, why do we keep picking Ancaliah, like, mentioned Ancaliah, but not Jan.

I don't know. I feel like... I feel like... is like, I feel like Jan is in the triangle of title contenders like guys

who could get the shot right now. I feel like Jan is in the mix to get the next shot. So if Yuri ain't ready to come back and it doesn't appear like he's going to be and the UFC doesn't want

to do Pereira, I think they'll do Belhovic Pereira first or they would do Pereira for the title and if they don't do Pereira for the title, it'll be Yan getting the title shot.

I think Jan is in that mix. So I think Jan will either fight Pereira or fight for the belt. That's what I think. Oh, I see. I see. Right. Okay. Right. They might have it. Okay. That's a weird one. This is from Bean's Extreme Memes. Lionheart versus Braveheart. Who's Braveheart? Paul Craig. Must be. Paul Craig is called somewhat strangely the bear Jew. Wait, am I forgetting, am I dumb here? Am I forgetting who, is there a Brave Heart? Stevie Ray. on topology right now trying to It's not Stevie Ray

It's probably not Stevie Ray But Paul Craig usually Where's the Braveheart Garhaw Oh so just because he's Scottish He's Braveheart Okay it means extreme memes I see how it is

He wears the face pain and stuff I know Why not Highlander Oh I guess he wanted to go The Lionheart Braveheart wordplay Still you know what beans Extreme memes You know what Mike

That's a doo doo That's a doo doo That's a doo-to pick suggestion The way you've written it up I don't like that. I don't like that. It's confused me. Oh,

Carlos Ulberg versus Tanner Bozer? Tanner's kind of in a weird spot. Yeah, he just dropped down. He didn't win. Yeah, I don't like that fight for Tanner at all. Lizboa versus Macy Shiasa. Yes, guys, let's keep this band-aimony division moving. Let's go.

And Matt, Bradbury. Battle of the alliteration. Brian Battle versus Brian Barbarina. Oh, I love that. That is good. They didn't call it that the Battle of Alliteration, but I know a Battle of Alliteration when I see one. Carl Williams, Mike, versus Moe-Uzman.

Yeah. I'm down for that. Yeah. Oh, Carlos Oldberg, Ryan Spann. I'm down for that, too. Johnny Walker and Nikita Krillov, too. Okay. I was trying to get a hard note.

Did the first bite stink? Didn't stink? didn't the kid Carlisle just wrestle him into oblivion I'm right not right yeah I don't know I'm just I don't know what you do with Johnny Walker I really don't know I really don't know he's in such a weird place like it was a win but it's not it wasn't an inspired win at least like for what our role is as matchmakers

for the UFC no no not I honestly think they'd chuck him in there or think alive but I don't know maybe they'll do that maybe they'll punish Johnny Walker by letting him get wrestled to death for 25 minutes again. I don't know. I'll close out with our palis Tristan Gordad who sent me an email. Jeltsland Mata versus Curtis Blades, A.K., I have to see it. There's no other fight to make, period. Wow, even I didn't feel that strongly about it. Hashtag Brazilian grappling versus

hashtag American grappling. Let's freaking go, okay. Listen, I didn't need much selling on it, but that's not bad. Tynara Lisboa versus Josian Nunes. Come on, Joseph. Joe Zian's one fight away from fighting for the featherweight title. Let's not drop her back down to the piddly women's manton weight division, which I just said, I'm trying to rebuild. I don't know why came with that attitude. I know, right. Brian Battle versus Matt Brown.

Too soon, A.K.? I mean, Brown has already fought a young fighter in Baezza. Why not another one? It's whatever. Matt Brown, again, if he's not retiring any time soon, we'll probably take almost any warm body in front of him. But those Tony Ferguson suggestions really got me thinking. That's like our listener pick of the week.

I think. I actually kind of like that. Yeah. I think that's fine. I think that's the way to go. Yeah. That's it? That's it. All right. Oh, so, oh, I keep forgetting this sometimes. But guys, send in those suggestions. I know this week is a bit weird, but thank you everyone who sent in within a few hours between our, at the end of the show and our recording on to the next one this weekend.

Hit me up in the DM's Twitter, Alexander K.K. Lee. Instagram, Alexander KK. Lee. And email, alex.com. So a little bit of breaking news. Well, my IG M underscore heck.J. A little bit of breaking news after I kill a soulfly who just flew in here. We're putting AK to work on Tuesday. I got jury duty.

And it was one of those situations where it's like, if you call this number Friday after 6 p.m. Eastern, we're going to tell you if you have it or not. And of course, I get the call and I'm waiting for the, if you get this message, you don't to appear and mine was like nope you're asked better be there at 930 on Tuesday so I have jury duty is this selection have you been selected are you going for jury selection or you've been selected already I guess I've been I don't know I'm like in okay I don't know it works in the US I had to take a day off once for jury selection and if people want to hear the story of how that went tune into a heck of a morning on Tuesday by the way I will share my story of how I did not get selected for a jury

but yes, you guys can look forward to that. Yeah, I think I'm in, like, I think I've, I'm in the next step of things. Okay. So I don't know how this is going to go. So I don't know what this week's going to look like. I literally have no idea. Is your first time ever, first time you ever having to do this? I mean, I've had like, I've been called the jury duty in Massachusetts and every time I've gone, it was, uh, nope, we don't need you.

But now it's like, call us and we'll just tell you we don't need you. But now they're like, no, no, no, no, no. We need you. So I don't know. I don't know what this is going to mean. But AK is going to do heck of a morning on Tuesday. That I do know. And the rest of the week's kind of up in the air.

But the good news is we have another UFC card coming out this weekend. We have a UFC card. And let me just look real quick. I want to. I feel like this has early card written all over it. Eh, kind of. 4 p.m. Eastern, pre them, 7 p. p.m. Eastern main card. So it's not terrible.

The following card, the June 3rd card, is a 9 p.m. main card, Eastern, which I'm not overly thrilled about. But anyways, this card, McKenzie Dern versus Angel Hill, the main event. Edmund Shabazzian, Anthony Hernandez, as of right now, is the co-main event. Okay. We get Emily Dakota versus Loopy Godinez. Fun, fun fight. A catch weight of 120 pounds.

Fun fight. Andre Fialio versus Joaquin Bucle. Banger. Welterweight boat. Banger. Banger. Bawkeen, finally. And a welterweight boat. I don't know.

I got to see what this dude looks like a 170 after all these 185 pound fights. Yeah. But I'm glad he's doing it. I'm glad he's making the book. Michael Johnson versus Diego Faheda. Mahashata versus Vyashlaf Boryshef, A.K.

This is like, this is the one you have circled, right? I was being facetious when I said that before, but yes. Okay. Then we have Caroline O'Colvukovic versus Vanessa Domopoulos. Why is Vanessa Domopoulos not in the main card? I don't know.

Why? I mean, who do? Let me just see if they actually like, I'm looking at tabology right now. I'm looking at Wikipedia right now. It's possible this isn't finalized. It's the featured prelim on UFC. Yeah, that's what I,

that's probably where it's going to end up. But why would you not put Vanessa? It could change by the end of the week. We'll see. I think you put Vanessa. Oh, it's only. SPM plus anyway, right? It's all on the same thing, so it doesn't...

There's no ESPN, okay, okay, whatever. But it's the last fight before the actual main card. Sure. One, two, which is what, a seven fight main card? No, six fights. That's still too much. That's still too much. Kovali-Kavich-Demopoulos. Orion Kosi versus Gilbert Urbina.

That's happening. Alir Latifie is back against Rodrigo Nassimento. Chase Hooper, going up to 155 to fight New England. cartel member, Nick Fiore, Victoria, Leonardo versus Natalia Silva, and Takashi Sato versus Temba Garimbo. That is the card. Now, I have to say, okay, this is not as bad as I thought it was, reading off all the

fights. It ain't, it ain't a good, it ain't a good card, but it isn't terrible. We've seen worse on these apex cards. I, I, we have, but this is still bad. It's not great. The main card is pretty not awful. I thought Gilbert would have been a... Wasn't signed after losing the...

Because I was like, I was like, doesn't he not fought since the Ultimate Fighter finale against Brian Battle? Brian Battle has fought like four times, or three times since the ultimate fighter finale. Listen, I got to stick my Alter Fighter boys. Gilbert, maybe he was injured or something and they wanted to give him another chance.

But boy, I was... I just assumed Gilbert was not signed off of the show after the finale. Okay, great. He did step in as a replacement, I think, for Trishon Gore. So he did them a solid. I guess they owed Gilbert a Bina a fight. Anyway, very strange.

Not a good card. Not a good card. Not a good card. Not awful. It's not as awful as I thought it was. You know what? On the Prince of positivity, I'm not allowed to say what I'm thinking right now. Go ahead, Mike.

It's, yeah. It is what it is. But the good news is we get a week off after this. What? We get a breather. No. Memorial that we get the long weekend. At least in the United States, it's Memorial Day weekend, very big weekend.

The UFC used to do like the Saturday cards on Memorial Day weekend, be like one of the big ones, but they've since kind of veered away from that. So we just got to get through one more and then we get a solid week away from the UFC. And then it's back at it for the Kai Kar-France, Amir al-Bazi card. And then it's UFC 289 after that. So there you go. That's UFC Vegas 73. And we'll be back to discuss the follow of that card from a matchmaking perspective right here on On to the next one. So thank you for listening.

Back next week on the show to do all of that. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. And always remember the golden rule of onto the next one. Actually, two of them. No do-do picks. And don't take the stuff too seriously. And A&A is supposed to be fun. And we'll have more fun right here.

And on to the next one, the podcast. the Vox Media Podcast Network.