MMA Fighting - On To The Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Des Moines

Episode Date: May 4, 2025

Cory Sandhagen did everything in his power Saturday to prove he deserves bantamweight title consideration. In the UFC Des Moines main event, Sandhagen dominated two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and looked to be cruising to a decision or a clean finish when the bout was stopped just before the end of Round 2 due to a Figueiredo injury. Even with that unfortunate ending, there should be no question Sandhagen is worthy of a championship shot. But does the UFC see him as the No. 1 contender? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, Alexander K. Lee goes solo to discuss what’s next for Sandhagen with bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili set to defend in a rematch against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 on June 7. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Reinier de Ridder after he humbled Bo Nickal, what to do with Nickal following his first loss in MMA, veteran welterweight Daniel Rodriguez, main card bantamweight winners Montel Jackson and Serhey Sidey, and the returning Mason Jones. Plus, some great listener picks to round out an otherwise dreary combat sports weekend. Follow Mike Heck: ⁠⁠@m_heckjr⁠⁠ 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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Who is hosting onto the next one, Amy Fighting's Matchmaking Show on his lonesome. My best friend Mike Heck could not be here today. And none of my other fine co-hosts were available at the moment. It's a Sunday, guys. People are doing stuff with their lives. People were having fun. So guess what?

It's just me. And you, the listeners. And we got a lot of listener picks to get to, for UFC Des Moines, the Saturday card that took place in Iowa. Not too bad. It wasn't like the most memorable card. It wasn't the worst card. I think it played out as a lot of us thought.

There was a few fights that we thought would stand out on paper. They certainly did. Some outcomes we knew that we'd be talking about afterwards, that we could be talking about for the next few months. Some fights that were going to forget by next weekend. I mean, we've got to pay for you next weekend. So, you know, there's no shame in it. But in the main event, we had Corey Sandhagen,

assert himself as a contender. I mean, he's always been a contender, but he's tired of being a stepping stone, dominated Davidson Figurato, won with a TKO, like, via injury, but he was really just winning the fight in all aspects up to near the end of the second round when the bout ended.

Better striking. Out grappling, Davidson was winning the 50-50 position, which was taught to him by none other than the great Ryan Hall. Sure enough, once Figgie ended up in that position, it was a wrap. We don't know exactly how we injured the knee. You know, could because of what Corey was doing. I think that had a lot to do with it.

Also, just, you know, sometimes these things happen. But all credit to Corey Sanhagen, for sure, do not look at that injury result as a freak thing. He was winning this fight. At worst, on his way to winning a dominant decision, very likely could have still gotten the finish even without the injury. So good stuff for Corey. A big story of the day, I mean, might have been Reiner de Ritter,

derailing the bone-nickel hype train. You could argue that that train was pretty shaky, going into this fight. On the preview show, we had a lot of questions about this matchup being made. I loved it. I loved the bone nickel being tested. It's kind of the arc that they had put him on to. They gave him Paul Craig, who I believe was top of D in the UFC rankings at the time.

He won that fight handily, even if it was an incredibly boring and uneventful fight, but he won, you know, 30-27s across the board. So, you know, and then he's put up against RDR, who's still, you know, I guess, unproven in the UFC, but most people have seen him fight. in his career or no he's I mean could be I think we had him at top 10 in the MA fighting rankings he lost a couple of title fights over one that might have dropped him out he was championed two divisions over there but talent wise and even accomplishments wise probably should have always been in the top 10 top 12 and

he was a pretty big underdog to Bo but experience three times many pro fights hanging into this into Saturday as Bo Nicol it certainly played out he was not afraid to be taken down he was not afraid to work off his back he swept Bo beautifully at one point out of a scramble. And by round two, it was just clear he was in another class. And once he started putting on Bo on the feet, there wasn't a lot that Bo Nicol could do. So TKio win for Ryan to Ritter. We can talk about that more as we get to the matchups.

And then, Dan Ritteridge, nice win for him over Ponsonibio gets a finish. Montel Jackson, also on the main card beating Daniel Marcos. Surrey City, a very convincing win over Cameron Smotherman. And Mason Jones and Jeremy Stevens both returning with a banger of a fight that Mason Jones won. the decision had to mix the martial arts a little bit people didn't like that in the third round but so overall again and we'll we can discuss the prelim a little bit later but overall solid card uh we didn't have anyone any officials speak at the post fight press conference it was just runner de ritter who came out first then corey sanhagen and both guys spoke for

maybe eight to ten minutes tops course sang and hagan was just in a hurry to get out of there he tried to cut off his own interview like twice i don't know if i've ever seen a fighter do that he He was just like, all right, I'm done. And then another question came in. He said it again. Another question came in. So, Corey, listen, if you're going to be a world title contender, you may have to be dealing with more media responsibility.

But maybe he's waiting to have that gold around his waist. And then he'll have a good 45-minute post-fight press conference, right? Who knows? So, but either way, he took care of business in the cage, most importantly. Big win for him. Let's get, I'm not going to talk about the boxing. Not too much anyway. If you guys watch any of the two boxing events this weekend, Friday, the Times Square event with a headline by Ryan Garcia and Roller Romero.

You also had Devin Haney returning. The first fight for both men since they're extremely controversial about over a year ago, April 2024. So that was Friday. Saturday in Riyadh, we had Connell Elvarez fighting William's schools. So, you know, the star power was there. And some cool ideas too, right? I mean, boxing in Times Square sounds amazing. Canel Alvarez fighting in Riyadh and Cinco de Mayo weekend.

Not as compelling, but it is Canello. He's still one of the, you know, three, four biggest names in the sport, the quote-unquote, the face of boxing. So there was reason to be excited. Even if I think a lot of us were like, okay, well, we know these are meant to be showcased fights. You know, we don't expect Roller Romero to beat Ryan Garcia. We don't expect Arnold Barbosa to. Oh, sorry. No, who was it that fought, Devaney?

Sorry, guys. this is a little embarrassing. Devin Haney fought Joseo Ramirez, excuse me, Arnold Bobosa fought Teofima Lopez. And of those three main event bouts, there was a triple-man event. Like, Tio Fimo was the most impressive by far.

That wasn't a super exciting fight, but, like, you know, it was good. It was a great performance, I thought, by Tiofimo Lopez. Haney and Garcia, they both got wins, but boy, that was rough. I said it wasn't talking about the boxing, but here I go.

Listen, I had to watch Friday's show, So you got to bear with me here. The Times Square venue was a bit of a flop just because, yeah, it was cool to have people walking by and to say you're in the middle of Times Square. You could see the way it was set up. There was these huge barriers. At least you could see over them and see all the Times Square of billboards around. So that was cool.

But again, as I said, there were barriers. So it was meant to be, you know, restrict people who didn't buy a ticket or weren't, you know, a VIP to see the show. I think it was mostly VIPs. I think it was supposed to be this very prestigious thing. Even media had trouble getting it. Our own Jose Youngs. lives in New York, on site, was covering most of the events that week, was not actually allowed in the Times Square barrier that they erected to watch.

So that's a whole debacle, and I think that's just completely ridiculous. It led to a very dead crowd as well, like I said, mostly famous people, like, you know, rich people who were in there. Also, it is an outdoor situation, so in general, you know, sound is going to travel upwards. And the fights were terrible. So how can I even blame the crowd? Haney did almost nothing. Ryan Garcia did almost nothing and lost. Sorry, I said Garcia won.

Sorry, Garcia lost. Garcia lost to Roli Romero, and it wasn't close. It wasn't close. Roli and Mero won. Sorry, I just had the thought that him and Haney was one. Haney won. Haney won, completely undeventful. Garcia lost, even worse, I think.

So that was bad. So that whole event turned out bad. And I was not watching much of Canelo and the Canelo card, but you can check out Jed's coverage. Of course, Jed Mishu doing the live blog and tweeting about it. And you could just even see the number. You know what? Look at the numbers.

Apparently the least amount of strikes thrown in a 12-round contest. And again, we are talking about a belt that was for Canello to regain undisputed middleweight, super middleweight championship status. And apparently it just was not much going on. So it's combat sports weekend, guys. It landed with a bit of a thud. But let's focus on the positives. Let's focus on being here. We're matchmaking together as a family.

and we're matchmaking for Corey Sanagan who put on a really great performance. No big secret here, guys. I'm not going to take you on a journey at all. He called for it, and I think he's right. It is time to give him a title opportunity. It's the Marab Shano Melly II winner that's going down. June 7th, U.S.C. 316.

It's not far away. It's a little over a month away. We'll know who could be the potential opponent for Corey Sanhagen by that night, assuming no shenanigans, no draw, no contest, Though I guess if there was a draw, you could just move on and have Marab fight Corey. I hopefully they would not run it back with Sean again in that circumstance, because people are confused already why that rematch is happening with Sean not having fought in between now in their first fight. So, yes, a lot of you sent in this sentiment as well. I am with you.

I, you know, again, Corey is not the, I'm not, I don't think anyone is saying that Corey is like the undisputed number one contender. You know, that guy who's like, oh, he just deserves there, all these names. Because the fact is, he lost a lot of these big fights that were meant to become, you know, title opportunities. Umar lost. Peoria Yan lost. That was an interim title fight. T.J. Dilshaaah probably deserved to win, but, you know, officially lost a split decision. And Al Joe, Al Joe many years ago.

And all four of those fighters, I wrote this a bunch of times this week. All four of those fighters, after the beat Corey, their next fight was for the undisputed bantamweight championship. Even TJ, who's sat out who's gone for like 18 months or 20 months after. When he came back, his next fight was with Aljo. So Corey has just like has been a stepping stone. He's aware of it. He hates it, of course. But he's been a great fighter with a lot of great wins.

Just hasn't won that one fight he has needed to become the true, true, true, number one contender. I know a lot of people will say, well, a knee injury TKO over Figgie, like this is it now? And it's like, it is it now, given the circumstances in the division, given who has already fought for a title. You can absolutely make Corey fight again. Like, it's not a lock for me. But barring anything weird happening in the division over the next three, four months,

just get Corey a shot. I'd love to see him fight DeVos really. I'd love to see him fight Sean O'Malley. Either matchup I think is great to me. That's it. Corey, you've done enough. Great fighter. Exciting guy.

Got to work on those media skills. Got to get the media a little more. time. Though I thought he did a great job with the time he used, breaking down how he broke, breaking down how he broke down David and Figurado with his grappling and, you know, winning the leg lock battle. Anytime a fighter shuts out Ryan Hall, I'm going to say you did great in the media.

So, you know, A plus. A plus. I take back any criticisms I had of Corey Sandhagan. The co-main event, and I do say co-main event, we had a ranked fighter in there. We had a blue chip prospect in there. Rhina de Ritter. Rinder, listen, you can't, you cannot replicate experience.

We were saying it all week. I think Jed put it best. We know Bo is a great talent. You don't, you know, three-time NCAA wrestling champion, pretty good formula for becoming a high-level M.A. Fighter. Great athlete. I think one of the better athletes in the middleweight division, athleticism can take you very far. And it seems to have a good, like a good team around him.

The one major issue we had is his amount of inactivity. Now with his notoriety, I understand him and his team probably want to be picky with who they fight and how often he fights they want to preserve his body. Totally understand has been wrestling his whole life. That takes his toll on you too. Like he's only 29, but the wrestling, I mean, that I know people, it's not the same as fighting. It's all different stuff. But any sort of combat sports, it's going to have an effect on you. So they don't want to rush him into fighting four or five, six times a year, you know, which some people do when they start out of the NBA careers.

And he's had he's been able to take a different path. But you could certainly stand to be more active because Jed pointed out you don't you just you can improve in the gym obviously, but you don't necessarily become a better fighter if that makes sense. The only way to really become a better pro fighter is to pro fight. So going 15 minutes with Paul Craig pretty good, probably learned quite a bit from that, but then doing that and then immediately just going back to the gym and how much time was there between his fights. and then not competing for, it wasn't like crazy, for six months, about six months. Not the best. Not the best.

He would have loved to see him squeeze another fight in there, and then he again ends up matched up with someone who has a ton of actual in-ring in cage experience. The recipe for disaster was there, and we saw the worst possible outcome for Boe. But a great outcome for Rinder to Ritter, let's give the man his flowers. Like he's just, I would,

wish we could have seen him in the UFC sooner. He did some great stuff over in one, but was always clearly a UFC, like, top 15 caliber guy. And he's getting to prove it now. He's getting to prove it now. Three and O in the UFC now. It's time for him to get a top 10 opponent. He called for Sean Strickland.

I have no problem with it. I know Robert Whitaker's out there. I think that's a very compelling matchup. I went conservative. I went very boring. I think he can, like, this is worst case in arrow. He gets Jared Canier. And Jared Caneer.

has been top 10 and 185 for a while for a long time. So how exciting would that match would be? I don't know. But RDR has a habit of making exciting things happen no matter who he fights. That's what makes him such a great asset for the 185 division. Like we keep joking he could be like a middleweighty middleweight. And his fight with Gerald, Mershirt, certainly fit that bill, but still somewhat in a fun way. So I love RDR.

And I hope no matter what, he gets one of those top 10 guys. Strickland, Whitaker, Canair, it's all good. Vitori, yeah, you could talk me into it. I think he's, I think he deserves someone a bit higher than that. So that's, cannier is as low as I'm willing to go, but it's going to come down to who's available. And if anyone just calls for him, they should call to fight him. He's got a name right now.

Oh, I didn't even mention, I'll spoil it now, probably the most, one of those popular listener picks you guys sent in, Anthony Hernandez. Of course, him and Fluffy, beautiful fight, beautiful fight. I think I had campaigned for Fluffy to fight Strickland after Fluffy's win, most recent win. So he's off the books for me, but I mean, Derriter and Fluffy makes so much sense. And kind of hoping it happens. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope that that's the fight we get, that's the fight we get, Fluffy and the Dutch Knight.

Also showing out in the main card, man, six-fight main cards are rough, so I don't even know if you are going to remember how much people are going to remember this fight like come Wednesday. D.Rod, Dano Rodriguez and Santiago Ponsinibio in about an age-appropriate matchmaking both men 38 years young. You love to see it. These are the kind of fights that should be happening.

This is what you do with these well-traded veterans. And it finds a finish. Finds a finish in the third round. It's probably going to win a decision anyway. Like a competitive fight, but I think D-Rod was pulling away at times. So good for him. Get back on the winning track. I'm sorry, two straight.

I forgot up with a split nod. for Alex Marano. Two straight wins now for Drod. Where do we go? I'm keeping it age appropriate guys. We got a UFC Atlanta matchup on June 14th between Michael Keiza, Cort McGee, whoever wins that one, give him Daniel Rodriguez, Keiza 37, Cort McGee, 40, though 38-year-old Daniel Rodriguez in the mix. Beautiful stuff. Chef's Kiss. Again, this is who these guys should be fighting. If one of these older, you know, once upon a time contenders somehow strings together, five, six wins and like gets a tell a shot, more power to them. But right now, these are guys to keep around.

They're the backbones of cards. And listen, they can put on some pretty entertaining fights. We just saw Randy Brown and Nicholas Dolby, and I don't mean the age of them. They're not super old, but they have been around in the division for a while. They put on a great fight. They've been a great fight recently. So keep it coming. This is what you want to see.

You don't need to keep matching up older fighters with prospect or just up-and-coming contenders. It doesn't have to be that way. Let's have some fun fights. and it makes a soul to be fun. Montel Jackson, Montel Jackson on the main card, his annual appearance. The man only fights about once a year,

which is unfortunate, for whatever reason, could be health issues, again, could be he has other things going on in his life, it could be strategic, could be like, you know, they want to make sure they have the right opponent. I don't know. I don't know how much this win over

Daniel Marcos moves the needle. It was a very forgettable fight. Solid win for Montel, for sure. 3027 is across the board. No issue. Daniel Marcus really did not have a lot to offer for him. He came in with an undefeated record, but, you know, not exactly beating the most compelling opponents, but it still looked solid and still a solid name for Montel DeHadro's resume.

Montel Jackson came in with the third longest winning streak in the Bantamweight Division at five. It is now six, still behind Mario Batista at seven, still behind Maraub de Valsh-Fuehly at 11. But six straight wins in this. deep division is awesome. I just wish it had more currency with the fans and with the matchmakers because as talent, as good as Montella is clearly I think it one of the 20 best phantom weights in the world. When you fight only once a year, that six-fight win streak doesn't really hit, right? When we think when fans think of a win streak, they want to think, oh yeah, I

remember this guy. He won a fight back in February. And then, oh, he won in June. And he's heading he's heading into December on a he won two fights this year, went two fights last year, like there has to be some continuity. If your win streak is, oh, well,

I won, I won three fights in 2021, and then I won one in 2022, one in 2023, one, 2024, whatever it is. It's just not going, it's just not going to leave an impact.

And that's, and that sucks. Because if you put Montel in there with, I guarantee you, anyone in the top 15, literally, I think him and Marav

would be a good fight. Like, you put him in there with anyone in top 15. I'm not saying he wins, he's coming, competitive with anyone. He's competitive with any of the division. But it's hard. He has his career momentum is nothing, is almost nothing. So please, you know, we just hope, I shouldn't even pick a fight for him. I'm just hoping Montel gets another fight in before the end

of the year. If he doesn't, I'm sure there's a good reason. But let's keep this good Montel Jackson vibes going. Let's give him a for sure top 10 opponent. Marlon Vera, Mario Bautista, fighting UFC 316, June 7th. Give him the winner. Give me the winner. Give me the winner. that for Montel. If it's Mara Bautista, I'm sure he'll call for a tattel shot, but there is no one, unless he smokes Cheeto Vera, even then. I would be stunned if anyone is clamoring for Batista, even on eight straight wins to get a title shot. So he would have to win one more. I'm sure he wants someone ahead of him, but a lot of us are still stinging for that dreadful aldo, quote unquote, win, and we still want to see him prove himself. So let's put the, you know,

six-fight win streak against what could be an eight-fight win-street win-win streak. Let's keep sorting these bantam weights out. And then at some point, one of these guys is going to build an airtight case where regardless of how popular they are or how memorable their fights are, they will deserve a title shot. So let's just keep that contender line moving along. Montel Jackson versus Cheeto-Bautista winner. Not going to spend too much time with this next one. Congrats Surrey City, my fellow Canadian. I picked against him because I think I always pick against Canadians. Not Julian Robertson. I picked Gene Robertson to win. I don't know what I'm to do with 315. But Siri City looked great. I think the odds were actually pretty. Oh, he was a, no, he was a,

small favorite, small favorites, something around hovering around minus 130, minus 140 going into the card, but he looked like a minus 500 favorite. Just, you know, not a, again, not a barn burner performance, but looked solid everywhere against Cameron Smotherman. And that's what you'd like to see. A city is only in his, like, that was his 14th pro bout. He's been fighting pro since, 2018, so, you know, he's been around, but not a super experienced guy, but clearly very talented. And he delivered. He really delivered in a main card spot. Keep bringing them long slow.

Let's go with recent U.C. Debutant Elijah Smith for Surrey City. Would have been nice to have Surrey fight in Montreal, though. And opening the main card, the return of Mason Jones and Jeremy Stevens. Fantastic stand-up battles through two rounds. Mason Jones kind of felt the momentum slipping away in round two, even though he'd badly bloodied Jeremy Stevens and decided he'd had enough of that.

Let's go to the rasselin in round three. He secured the victory. Turns out he didn't lose round two. All three judges had it 30, 27 in his favor. Strong performance for Mason Jones. You know, just had some tough matchups in his first UFC run. Cleaned house when he went back to Cage Warriors, picking up finishes.

That's, I think, one other thing that was missing in his first run of the promotion. And looks poised. still poised to like be a factor he's a 30 yeah just turned 30 in april so this is the prime of this guy's life let's keep giving him fun fights we don't need to move up the rankings yet let's see where we are with mason jones the end of the year i am giving mason jones drew dober drew dober now depending how you stand on drew dober's recent run three straight losses you might think this is perfect or considering that he's been up there in the oc rankings for some

and fighting very high quality opponents, this may be too far. But I do think Mason Jones is sort of in the upper echelon of the middle range, sorry, the second tier of the UFC lightweights. So that's pretty good. So that's where, or maybe third tier, Drew Dober is in the second tier. But they're not that far apart, I really feel. And we need to know how much Drew Dober has left. He could be near the end of his career.

It's hard to say. He's been fighting for a long time. He's been taking a lot of damage. Even on a losing streak, I want to put him against the guy who's on a winning streak. It's a real test. It's a real test. And of course, fan-friendly. Like, this is a fan-friendly match-up. You want to keep seeing Mason Jones in stand-up fights. You give him Drew Doper. You might see him have to mix in the wrestling again. I'll tell you to survive that fight. Or he can crack Drew Dober and put him down. I don't know.

That chin has been, that glorious chin has been diminished ever so slightly. And going along with that, guys, my wildcar pick is Jeremy Stevens. And I'm going to take a throwaway comment in our slack from the dear E. Casey Liden who said, like, I think he was first asking, is this fight going to lead to Stevens versus McGregor, which, like, no, but it was a fair question. And then he said, screw it, Stevens versus Chandler, I think it's a choke. But Casey, guess what? If you're out there, I think you might have nailed it. I think you might have nailed it. I see no good, this is assuming Jeremy Stevens sticks around, right? guys like we know Jeremy Stephen has been doing very well in BKFC.

He was with PFL a while back. It looked like he'd kind of moved on from M.A. He didn't say that. He never said he wasn't going to fight in M.A. again. But, you know, people would have been fine if he'd said, yeah, I'm going to stick with, you know, bare-knuckle boxing, maybe just some traditional boxing. But, you know, M.A. can, maybe he wasn't paying the bills just right. But he wanted to fight in Iowa.

He's from Des Moines. And he got us a wish. So I don't know the circumstances of this. this deal. I believe I've heard people say it is the last of an existing contract he had with the UFC, which is, sounds strange because again, he fought for other promotions, but I never know how these, I never understood how these things work out. And some people say he signed a one fight deal, which make a lot of sense. I hope that's the case, so that Jeremy Stevens has a lot of freedom to negotiate whatever he wants. And I suppose there's an outside shot that he signed a

multi-fight contract, which I really hope is not true. Regardless, if he, for whatever reason, he ends up sticking around to the UFC, yeah, let's say, yeah, let's see. give this man a fight and let's give him Michael Chandler. It is the perfect time for both guys. I know it's going to sound funny because I gave Jones Drew Dober and I'm giving Stevens Chandler and Chandler theoretically is higher ranked than Dober, right? So I'm giving Stevens a higher ranked guy. But Chandler really shouldn't be ranked that high anymore, right?

What are we riding off of? A win over Dan Hooker and Tony Ferguson, right? Those are his UFC victories and a fantastic run. with Bellator, of course. No one can forget that. Because I still have Chandler, sorry, I can probably hear me clicking around. I still have Chandler in my rankings,

my UFC only rankings. If you were to add, you know, fighters from other emotions, you'd probably like in the top 20, or just outside of the top 20. I have Michael Chandler 16. And that's probably too high, right? Tell me right now, if you're at home listening,

I can see you. Nod your head. Nod your head if you think that's too high. I have him above Matt Favola, Manuel Torres, I'm sure people would have Manuel Torres above Michael Chandler. I have him above Drew Dober. I am above Bobby Green. I have him above Grant Dawson, only because Bobby Green beat Grant Dawson. So there's some MMA like math stuff going on here, but Grant Dawson probably should also be ranked higher than Michael Chandler and Joel Alvarez as well, who also should probably be ranked higher than Michael Chandler.

So I have Michael Chandler the top 20, but gosh, two and five in the UFC, three strikes. losses. I don't even know anymore, man. I don't even know. He's not in my MMA fighting rankings. You guys just go to see the MA fighting rankings. I did not put him back. We took him out for inactivity. And when he lost to Charles in their rematch, I did not put Michael Tia on the back. So, and again, that is because I have space for other, other lightweights from other promotions. But I like him fighting Jeremy Stevens. I can't get away from it, guys. I can't get away from it. Jeremy Stevens hanging around. Ah, I kind of want it. Okay, let's get right to you guys.

I really appreciate everyone who sent in picks this week, and there were plenty, and I need it, because like I said, I'm a little lonely out here without my best friend. So, Mike, if you're out there, I miss you, but you know the listeners are going to send in, do an amazing job sending in picks. We've got a lot of overlap here, guys, so let me go over some of the problem ones and some of the obvious ones. So, you know, you're like, oh, why I didn't necessarily read it in your submission? Of course, a lot of people calling for the Sanhagen versus Devalishvili-Omali-Omali, It just seems to make sense.

The other Sanhagen pick that was really popular was rematch with Peotieryon. I like it because that was on my favorite fights of that year. What was that? 22. Gosh, was that that long ago? 2021. Damn. UFC 267, 2021, interim title fight.

That was one of my favorite fights that year. Just so technical, so technical, so beautiful. I would love to see it again. And I know it would some. And I know it would suck because, you know, if Jan wins again, boy, another lost opportunity for San Diego. And then you end up with Jan having to rematch Marab or O'Malley. Jan O'Malley, too, be sick. I really hope we see that fight again.

Jan Navajvaj really, too, not so much. But Marab has kind of been, like, touting him as like wanting to fight him again for some reason. So make him that what you will. It's possible. It's possible San Diego has to fight Jan. And then, like, that's an actual title eliminator. That's weird, though, right? Don't want a fresh challenger?

Can't we get Corey in there? Figgy. We had some picture for Figgy. Most some combination of Aldo or Zahabi, right? I think the most popular was just saying the winner of that fight. That's happening this Saturday. Jose Aldo and I'm in Zahabi. Some people said like Aldo either way.

Some people said the loser of that fight. So a lot of people tying him to next week's main card bout. This coming week's main car bar, excuse me, weekend. Reiner de Ritter Izzy Adissanya I don't hate it It's kind of a fun fantasy Matchup that we would have had You know a few years ago when Izzy was the champion

And Reiner was the two division champion and won I don't think it's next I think if Izzy keeps fighting and has like two or three more fights in his career I do think that'll be one of them I just don't see it next We also saw So Bo Nickel I'm wondering what you guys had for Bo Neckle

A lot of Bo Neckle versus Greer Gregory Rodriguez. You know what? I still think that's too much for him. I still think that's too much for him. We got to go further back guys. You know, I didn't deal about nickel pick. I owe you guys about nickel pick, right?

I should have made that the wild card. Let's see what we got for bowl. Let me go to my middle-oriented right now. I did not think about this at all what I would do for Bo. I have Bo. Okay.

Now, after Saturday, I have Bo ranked 22nd, right? This is strictly off the Paul Craig win, because Paul Craig is top 25, but he'll wait. Bo Nickel, horrible fight, but beat him. So, Bo has to be top 25. I have Gregor Rodriguez at 32. I actually have him outside the top 30. He's just had some weird uneven results.

Like, he's had some losses on there. Like, I just can't put him higher. But if you have him in the top 25 too, obviously that makes sense. No problem with it. So Bo is considerably higher. And yet, after seeing what happened Saturday, after seeing what happened with Paul Craig, Hell, after the Cody Brundage fight,

which Bo won but had struggles at times, I think I liked Robokov to beat him because Grigger, Rodriguez is a really good grappler. He's a really good grappler. I don't think he's quite as big

as RDR, but he would have a size advantage against Bo. I could be wrong, I'm just sort of eyeballing it here. And he hits really hard. If Bo Nicol doesn't like getting hit, And RDR is not like a knockout artist He's a good striker He's not like a knockout artist

If he didn't like getting hit A beau that is didn't like getting hit by RDR He's not going to like the paws of Gregory Rodriguez And again on the ground Gregory Rodriguez he never shows it for some reason There's one or two fights where he's used a grappling It's like an incredible jiu-jitsu guy Like that's what's his name

But as he was getting into MMA It was like oh every fight was like This guy's an amazing jujitsu guy He just loves throwing hands right He just loves throwing hands He's found his knockout power and he enjoys it now I kind of want to see it just to see if you have Bo's ass

but if we're trying to do something productive for Bo here guys like we've got to go back like I'm going out of the top 50 uh Jed and I can't remember which show we were I think we were saying on the preview show like

or if we had just been chatting I can't remember if you guys heard this but like we wish he had just been in the UFC Ipex for like fighting every two months UFC Apex and just smashing jobbers just smashing jobbers just building this buzz like getting people getting pushing it to the point where people like oh i really need to see him get a step in up in competition you know you're going to have people calling him a can crusher and that's fine

guys it's okay to be a can crusher early in your career i need to see him fight you know what he should fight ryan loader you know who just lost on the same card he should fight julian marquez who's on a four-fight losing streak uh dennis touloulin is on a four-fight losing streak josh frimmed two-fight lead like this is how far back we need to go with bow i know he's talented guys. I know on a good day and with the right matchup, yeah, maybe there's guys in the top 20 he could beat, okay? We just saw him beat Paul Craig. But that was

again, his last few fights have shown a lot, and I'll say it again, if you did not know, and it's even more emphasized after Saturday, imagine someone who's like a casual MMA fan, only follows MMMA, does know anything about NCAA wrestling, any of that stuff. And you showed them those three fights, and, you know, without somehow, you know,

muting the commentary, beating all the stuff about his background, And they didn't know that Bo Nickel was supposed to be this blue chip prospect, one of the most hyped prospects of this generation. There is no way they would know that he, that that was the case. They would think, oh, this is like just an okay middleweight guy. If they'd seen his, you know, if he'd seen his contender series stuff, yeah, you'd be a little more blown away, for sure, for sure. You'd be hyped up.

But once he stepped up to the level of competition, these last few fights have looked very poor. and I'm not hating on Bo that's as expected for a guy who's in his eighth pro fights eight pro fights a ton of high level wrestling experience I understand not the same thing

not the same thing so we really need to dial it back with Bo we'll see what else you guys had in the listener picks I was looking at them before but I can't remember if anything really jumped out at me we'll keep going though it's the Nissan Black Friday event

where you can wait wait isn't like a month long now Nissan Blackfrey Month? Does that work? It's the Nissan Black Friday month event. On remaining 2025 Rogan Centra, get 0% financing. Plus, get $1,000 Nissan bonus on kicks models.

This Black Friday, you've got a whole month to catch all the exclusive offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or nissan.ca for details. Conditions apply. Oh, sorry, I was saying what other popular picks there were. Mason Jones was Elvis Brenner. That was a big one. Dan Rodriguez,

Chideh Angiakwani. Montel Jackson, Rob Font. A lot of Montel Jackson, Rob Font. Also, Marcus McGee, Collar Phillips. Love those matchups. Yana Santos, Jocelyn Edwards, or Eileen Perez.

Gratiana, taking out a former champion, Amichitae. Robertson, McKenzie Dern. I think we've talked about this on the show a lot. This is going to happen eventually. That's just a really good matchup.

I don't think they train together, right? I don't know why. It sounds funny to me, but training in the goat shed. That's Gillian Robertson, that is. In Florida. Where's McKenzie during the one? Either way, I don't think they train together.

I think that fight has to happen. Thomas Peterson versus Walter Walker, sure, the winner of guys who just beat Donnell Mays, is fantastic, and Juliana Miller, props Julianna Miller getting back in the win column. People want to see her fight either Carly Judees or Marina Morose. Okay. I won't keep you guys around too much longer.

I know it's weird just hearing me talk nonstop for 45 minutes, whatever we're going to hit. So let's get to it. Sleeto, let's hear your voices, guys. Sleeto, welcome to the party, pal. Did you send a mic before? Just one picks and ten, and it is a good one. I should have saved this for the end. This is a good one.

Bo Neckle and Torres Finney. You got some real sickos out there, you know that? Yeah, I know I just said. We had to take going back with Bo. Gosh, I want to see it. I don't want to see it next. But if it was booked, you wouldn't hear me crying about it. I'll tell you right now.

I think people would laugh. I think people would be like, oh, my gosh, how much has bone nickel fallen? But I don't know, man. I don't imagine the notorious when he beat him. I mean, that might be it. That might be it for the bone nickel experience, man. So I really want to see it now. At QP.

Derriter Hermanson. I thought this is my son of the people's innocent. Derritter, Fluffy Hernandez, Surrey City, Cody Gibson, Mason Jones, Joachim Silva, Yana Santos, Carol Hosa, 2, absolute fire. Robertson versus Lucindo, Quang Lee, and Tavares. Oh my gosh, what is his name? Ramon Tavaris, excuse me, Ramon. And Thomas Peterson versus the Janata Denise, Justin Tafa, Loser, UFC 317, June 28th. Thank you, keep you crisp.

Barry O'Reilly, what is up? Miller versus Juliana Miller Nicole Calliati Lee versus Nathan Fletcher Bokoya versus Oloxay, Chuck Mason Jones versus Earl by City versus Javid Basharat I really thought about this

I really thought about this I actually think that's a good way to go again I'm trying you know more often than not I try to go win streaks against win streaks losing streaks losing streaks

but I do want to see where Javid is because I think Javid should win that but like Siri was it was really impressive on Saturday Like, I know. I know he was fighting whatever, you know, they're in the lower tier of banta weights, but he looked good. He certainly looked a step above. I like that, him and Jabba. Daniel Rodriguez and Brian Battle.

Sorry, that's good. Derridaur and Whitaker. And Sanhaken versus O'Malley, win, lose, or draw. I told you guys, some people were calling this. Win, lose or draw versus Wallace really. Let me read Barry's explanation here. Corey has pretty much fought everyone other than the two who are fighting for. the title. I like the idea of him versus O'Malley. I think that'd be a great fight. And if it's for

the title, and that's just an added bonus. I agree. Speezy 32, with me on Derrida versus cannoneer, Montel Jackson versus Marlon Verabautista loser. City versus Matsumoto. With me on Mason Jones versus Dillbert. We are vibing, Speezy. Bacoya versus Malcun Lee versus Morales. Peterson versus Inzuchu. Okay. Jeremy Stevens, Jim Miller. Tate versus Rousey. retirement fight. I'm very confident. Rhonda doesn't fight again.

And this is coming from someone who, I think, for like at least five years after her last UFC fight, was like kept telling people, oh, she'll come back, she'll come back. I have finally given up. But this feels like the weird, like this weird November, like October, November, December, about that could just be announced out of nowhere. And we'd all just be like, what? Like, okay, I guess. And the first two fights were great.

It's a great robbery. Take it, maybe finally get that win over. Probably not, but maybe. Jonah Friedman, he said he was falling off on, I think, Mike calling for Eddie Hall matchups last week. Eddie Hall and Parker Porter. Gosh, I hope so. Someone, whoever, if you guys, if someone out there knows Eddie Hall personally, can you introduce him to the legend of Parker Porter? Not like even the guy.

I mean, just like tell him about Parker Porter. Explain his exploits. Explain why we love him. Just have a nice conversation with Eddie Hall. It would be amazing. if some fan out there got like, you have 10 minutes talk to Eddie Hall and you spent all 10 minutes

just telling him about Parker Porter. I would love that. That would just be incredible. Toby Kinsella, I think a few picks that other people had, but one I had not seen Bekojev and Bruno Feheda. I don't know.

Where are you guys in Bekoiav? He looks good, right? He looks good, but I don't know, a pretty good amount of experience, too, 20-something pro fights. I don't know how quickly you rush this guy up. Thomas Collins, Sanhagen versus Bautista if he beats Vera. So Sanhagen, top five,

Batista fighting Marlon Vera will move up, not into the top five, but we'll move up in the rankings. We've got an eight-fight win streak. Gosh, title eliminator? That, oh, boy, if Sanhagen lost to Batista and then that was the fifth guy to beat him in Erhardtile shot, I don't know. I'd come back from that, but I would definitely pick Sanhagen in that one.

Mason Jones Landovanata. Where you been, Mason? Thomas Collins. I got standing up for his fellow Thomas, trying to give his fellow Thomas a big opportunity. Thomas Peterson versus John Jones. He writes, Jones will do everything to avoid aspirin. So for him, he will argue that this fight will cement his legacy, in quotations. Yeah, I don't know.

That whole post this week was so corny. Right on brand for John Jones, obviously, which is to say corny as hell. like the, oh, I have one more spot on my wall of perfection that I need to fill. It's just incredible stuff. And you should fill that with the fight with Thomas Pearson, John. John Ray. Thomas Pearson versus Mario Pinto, Quang Lee versus Toshomi Kassama, Bikoyev versus Mark Andre, Barrio, and Bruno Silva winner.

That's the Saturday. Surrey City versus Ketona and Alma Khan. That's also the Saturday. Mason Jones, Janelle Oshmoos. Dea Rodriguez, Jake Matthews. Who did you know what Dea Rodriguez actually called for? Oh, no, that's, I'm sorry. That was it.

Good job, John, right? Yes, he called for Jake Matthews and, like, yeah, that probably makes sense. Four Corner Sports, Figurado versus Aldo if he beats the Hobby. I don't hate that. That's a pretty cool fight. Derriter versus Paulo Costa Roman Coppola winner. Totally forgot this fight was happening. That's U.S. 317 at June 28th.

Man, Derriter versus either of these guys could be super wacky. And rebook a, it's a 2023 booking, I think, of Daniel Rodriguez and Gunner Nelson. Yeah, sure. Marcus McGahey, Surrey City, Adrian Yanez, Mason Jones, Manuel Torres. Oh, that's good. Bacoia versus the Stoltzvus, Rizboa of winner. That's on May 17th. Lee versus Malcolm Wellmiker and Derritter versus Sean Strickland.

That's probably, that's, Marcus, you're the only one who went along with that callout. I didn't see anyone else mentioned Strickland. Probably because Strickland sucks, but. Paul Cifonelli, Nicco versus Jose Medina. My lowest ranked middleweight. Go flatten him. Yes, Paul. Yes.

You are you are thinking right Dan Rodriguez versus Austin Vanderford I hadn't even thought of this because I forgot that Austin's UFC debut was a catchweight 175 with the understanding that I think he is going down to welter

He fought at middleweight in Beltor I do think yeah right right He is a welter right now So that's interesting gosh Austin Vanderford versus Dan Rodriguez that's good stuff Montel Jackson versus

Vinicio Oliva Give it to me Sorry, Montel. I know I know Loke Dog's probably lower ranked, but when you fight once a year, man, beggars can't be choosers. So that's just an awesome fight. Surrey v. Payton Talbot. I'm not sure Surrey wouldn't be favored in that matchup right now. DGB, Dan Rodriguez versus Carlos Lael.

That's good stuff. Nickel versus Petrosky, win-l loser draw versus Edmund Chabazian. That's a fight happening at U.C. Atlanta, June 14. And Davidson Figurato, assuming no major injury, fighting Song Yodong. I'm okay with that. And now, I'll last see guys, a few from Instagram. Tino Alres, Mason Jones, Diego Ferreira, City versus David Martinez, UFC 320 and Guadalajara. That's a huge opportunity, yeah.

Montel Jackson versus Chris Gutierrez, Apex Co-Main event. Ouch. Dionne Rodriguez versus Randy Bound. Sure, it makes so much sense. Sanhagen backup at UFC 316. Oh, I don't know. I don't know if Corey should do that. Like, I know he wants a title fight, but that sucks, man.

get a title fight on one month notice, he deserves a full camp title fight. No excuses, you know? Like, it shouldn't be fair to him. But if they call, they call, and I think he said he wants it, right? He's in Newark, New Jersey. He's going to be there anyway. All right, Corey. But he didn't say for the backup.

It said he wanted to be there, you know, it's just to like call out the winner or to be like, yeah, right? Maybe they call him into the cage for the winner. That's the backup. at least get paid, right? How much, what's the going rate for a backup do you think, guys? Like, he should get paid at least like $250K, right? It's not going to have. I don't even know if Maraub or O'Malley are making $2K.

Gerard Biaghan. San Hagan versus the winner of that fight, the loser, excuse me, the loser of that fight, the UFC at 316 Maine. Figgi versus Aldo Zahby loser. Derrador, Vittori, Dianne Rodriguez, Dalby, 2. Yes, another great matchup. Guys, we're going a good way.

age appropriate. There's a history there. The first fight was super close. City versus Erilyang. Mason Jones versus Davis, too. Again, Gerard, you're nailing a rematch. I'd love to see Mason Jones and Mike Davis fight again. Yana Santos, Jacquelinei Cavalcante.

Sure. Jason Dernay, closing us out with Robertson versus Suarez. Robertson versus Suarez. Gillian Robertson versus Tatiana Suarez. How low did I drop Tatiana? after that humbling loss to Zhang Wili. I have Tatiana at three still. Yeah, I have her behind Vrano Jan Jiroba,

ahead of Jan Chowna, head of Amanda Lamoche. And I think that's fair. I don't think you dropped Tatiana too far. So this would really fast-track Jillian Roberts into a teloshot. I think you'd have to give it to her. Let's say she beats Tatiana. She'd be, I think, five and one. six and one at straw weight five straight victories all right jason all right jason i thought

was a bit weird first when i saw it but i think i think it might be on to something like i sadly nobody sent me any emails so i'm a little disappointed at that front uh and you won't have to worry about sending us anything next week mike will be back but remember it is a paper for you it is year c315 at the bell center in montreal return to uh la belle provence and uh we will do it be doing a live show right you guys know on sunday we do a live show right you guys know on sunday we do a live show on YouTube. So if you can, please make it into there.

Of course, you can send me if your picks you want. I always read them. And of course, you know, if you guys want to, I know you guys like having your own

sort of record keeping of what you called and, you know, and trusting those records with me, right? You want to have someone to sort of to bounce it off of when, you know, one of your amazing picks becomes reality.

You know, you want to double check with me. And I welcome it. I'm happy about it. But if you can, join the YouTube show as well. We love doing the live shows. And, yeah,

we can't wait until next week, guys. Let's look ahead to UFC 315. I know it's not the most high-octane card. I'm here, a lot of poo-pooing. But guys, this has happened in my native can. Let's show some respect. Let's put some respect on the name of Remember the Name, Balal Muhammad.

Finally, his first towel defense. Not his fault, but supposed to defend against Shotcott Rachmanov in December. Guy got a foot infection, Balal that is. What do you want him to do? I think there's a very good excuse. Hopefully he's been the gyms, healthy. You know he's itching to fight. ended up with Jack Della Madelena, not the fight we expected.

Shavcott had said himself was not available for this date, you know. So Balal, the champ wants to fight. You got to give him his challenger. And J.D.M. got the call. Jadam on a nice run, man. Like, I know it's been a while since the Gilbert Burns win. It'll be well over a year. So it sucks.

Like, we're not striking when the iron is hot with him. But he's looked pretty good. I think he's a credible challenger, if not one, that I would consider, like a huge. you know a super lively underdog but hey punching power um see how the takedown defense holds up got a chance got a chance don't count don't count jdm out that's your headliner guys and then in the co-mate event we have valetina shopchenko fighting manon feuro menon long deserving of a title fight had to wait a little bit while some you know while some business was taken care of because obviously valentina was embroiled in a trilogy with elixer grasso three straight

fights guys. They had to knock them out. It was boom, boom, boom, March 2023, September 2023, September 24. They wasted so much of their time having them host, you know, yes, the greatest show ever, the elder fighter. But I always say, God, can we just not put relevant fighters on there and force them to one, film the show for however long it takes and then also have to not fight until the show is over. It's completely insane. Manel should have already fought for the title by now. This is insane. We're getting it now. again manol's going to be a huge underdog valetina all we're going to hear about all week is are you going to fight zhang weili after do you want jang wily to come up from straw white but let's give

some respect to this fight um i think it'll be i think it'll be competitive i think it'll be competitive i think it'll have my official pick by the end of this week josie aldo i'm in zhabi why does this fight happening i don't know i don't know guys so i love that uh i love that um you know figgerido gets one of these guys well preferably all because i think that's the kind of fight jose jose should have been doing You know, featherweight legend versus two-time flyaway champions. Let's throw them in there with frigging figgy. There's just so many great fights that we never got. Instead of throwing out of Mario Bautista, what we're doing.

But hey, big opportunity for Ivan Zahmi. You know, what a dream. What a dream it would be to add Josie Aldo to your resume. Or even to get beaten up by Jose Aldo, probably pretty good. So I am looking forward to the fight, but I understand people who hate the matchup. Speaking of Alexa Grasso, she fights Natalia Silva. This is a holding the door moment. Natalia Silva, one of the hottest names at 125.

We all think she's going to be a future title contender. Hell, possibly a future champion. But she's got to get through Grasso. Grasso is no pushover. I don't think Grasso is near the end of her career. So this could go either way. Another fight that I want to dig into before I make a pick. And we should let people know as of today, it is official.

Joel Alvarez is out of sight with Ben Wall-Sandini. So we don't know what fight actually is going to open the main card. That was the lightweight main card opener. that had been billed for some time. Reports had come out, I think, on Friday or Saturday of this week that the fight was in jeopardy that Alvarez was out, and Alvarez just confirmed it himself on his social media. So Bonwaltini, possibly getting new opponent for Saturday

or possibly the whole thing is getting postponed. We don't know. My best friend, Mike Heck, has heard Mateaio Shurbeski. Matea Shurbesi is trying to get in there. So possibly you still see BSD opening the main card, but it will not be against Joel Alvarez. get well soon, Joelle, injured his hand, apparently, and it's just going to limit his ability to train

and hopefully not limit him for too long as far as fight bookings go. And on the prelims, we got a lot of Canadian content. We got Mike Malat taken on Chuck Buffalo, Charles Radke. Jasmine Yasidavish is fighting Jessica Androch chasing the biggest win of her career. This is huge, and Jasmine's looked great recently. Manus Bukascus fighting Yon Kuchalaba and Navajo Sterling fighting Yvon Ersla. Those are certainly two light heavyweight boats.

And then on the fight pass prelims, also on ESPN Plus, also on Disney. Also on Disney. What? That's crazy. Mark Ande-Bakioo fighting Bruno Blendado Silva, not Bulldog. That would be crazy. Daniel Santos fighting Zhang Yong Li

and Brad Coutona fighting Bexat-Al-Macon. Brad Cotona, the only two-time winner of the ultimate fighter. truly the most illustrious distinction any pro athlete can have. So there you go, guys. That is your lineup for this Saturday's EOC-315 event. Thank you, everyone who sent in Des Moines picks. Thank you, anyone who sat through Des Moines and two boxing cards. You deserve a medal.

I hope you take Monday off. Just don't go to work. Don't even tell anyone. Just don't go to work. You need to recover from the mental damage you may have taken from some of the action or lack of action that you witnessed over the past 48 hours, 72 hours. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Mike will be back. Happy to be here with you, the listeners. And remember, this has been, how does he do this? On to the next one, the podcast. We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.