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

Episode Date: May 31, 2026

Song Yadong added another former UFC champion to his hit list with an impressive UFC Macau main event win over Deiveson Figueiredo, but how much closer does this push Song to a title shot? Is he just a notch below the elite or was this performance a sign he’s ready to take his game to another level? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Alexander K. Lee hosts solo, but not alone as the show’s brilliant listeners pitch in with a swarm of compelling fantasy bookings. Who makes sense for Song if he’s to stay on a championship track, and is there any way for Figueiredo to break out of this slump? Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Alonzo Menifield after he spoiled Zhang Mingyang’s homecoming, a surging Sergei Pavlovich, Kai Asakura after making a thrilling return to the bantamweight division, and more. Special thanks again to the OTTNO listeners for helping to carry the load this week. 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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The beautiful game is coming to our beautiful country. Uniting fans around a shared passion. Now you have the opportunity to hold this chapter of Canadian soccer history in the palm of your hands. Score the FIFA World Cup 2026 $1 coin today. Look forward in your change. Hello everyone tuning in right now to the latest episode of on to the next one. You might notice that this is Alexander K. Lee doing the intro. Sons, my best friend, Mike Heck.

This is your usual matchmaking show, post-UFC Macau in this instance. But Mike Heck, not available. He is currently traveling, coming back for some hard work in Texas, where he was covering RIF 9. Very eventful. We had Maraud Walsh Vili was in action. Gable Stevenson made his RIF debut. Chris Wyman Colby Covington went at it.

Armand Srukian opened up the main card of RIF 9. So if you miss any of that, of course, go to MAAfighting.com. Go to our socials. We've got all your R.A.f9 coverage. I had your UFC Macau coverage, guys. Started at 4 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday morning. And it was a good time. I thought the card was decent.

Jed and I broke it down after. Make sure check out our post-fight show. But I'll certainly share some thoughts here for you guys who either, you know, didn't see the post-fight show. Don't have time for it. I understand. We're all busy people. We had Song Yod. Dong getting his chance to headline in China, fighting in his native country for the first time since

2018. I think his UFC debut or a second UFC fight. And he looked great. He beat a former two-time, I should say, flyweight champion, Davidson Figurato. You know, not Figurado's best performance, but all credit to Song. He was a pretty big favorite heading into this bout. He took care of business. I don't know if I think most of us would have expected either a decision win or maybe a late

knockout, but no, he catches a wrestling Davidson Figurato with an arm in guillotine and gets to finish in the second round. So very impressive stuff from Song, who is just 28 years old, and looks to still be a dark horse in the Bantamweight division. I know he's had mixed results against the best of the best, but this is another solid name. The Sehudo win, you know, not the most satisfying win. Still counts. That's a guy he's beaten. He beat Malmoresh back in the day, former World Series of Fighting Champion. Like he's really, he's really, Right there. Song is solidly in the top ten.

I think we all know that. But yeah, can he ever beat the Peodor Yons, the Sean O'Malley's, the Corey Sanhagans, all guys who have won fights against him? Maybe if he gets another crack at it. Or he's going to just have to outlast them. Maybe some of these fighters just kind of age out, and then it's song's time. But he has the skills. He has the backup, you know, Team Alpha Male.

He credited them for helping with the Guilting. So it was great stuff. We also had Alonzo Menafiel, picking a big upset over Jean-Ming Young, Sergei Pavlovich getting back to his finishing ways. That was fun to watch. And Kaius Sakura at Bantamate with a big knockout. That's the vision he belongs in. But we'll get to all of that.

And I'm really excited about the show, guys, because sadly, again, there's no mic. I'm always a little bit down. But you guys sent in a lot of picks. Listeners all over Instagram, all over Twitter, all over the email. You guys are the best. So we've done this before.

Mike's done this before, us and the listeners. It's another edition of On to the next one. You, me, Matchmaking. Hit me up on Twitter if you guys got that reference That song reference I could have sang it but I'm not even sure that works They don't really even sing it in the song It's kind of like a screeching

Let's start right from the top And I'll dig into my thoughts on some of these fights more Again check out the post-fights show with Jed If you really want to see us kind of You know moan and grown or get excited about what happened But right at the top as I say song you're dong Big submission win over Figgie I wish Mike was here

where does he go guys I just mentioned he's fought a lot of the top five guys already like the UFC matchmakers have not been shy about putting song in there with the best of the best they've given him as opportunities and you know maybe he's just not there yet like I said 28 yeah bantamweight is a young man's division so it's not like you know we can give him three more years of seasoning

see where he is when he's 30 31 like by then other young up-and-coming bantam weights might be breathing down his neck so I understand the urge to to throw him in there with another top five opponent. And I kind of agree, I think, with the overwhelming sentiment that it might have to be Umar and Ormago Medov. Song will once again be a pretty, you know, big underdog. I think he was the underdog against O'Malley.

Let me look all this up right now. Actually, I shouldn't speak out of turn. Because, you know, when he fought O'Malley, O'Malley was coming off losses. When he fought Piotr Yan, Piotr was in this like 0-and-3 slump. and I think a lot of us knew that that wasn't reflective of how good Peoriaeon still was. But he was like, you know, on a pretty bad winless stretch. So let's see. O'Malley at U.C. 324, Song was a slight underdog.

I'm using Tapology, by the way, the great folks, tapology. Thank you. Peoria, still a slight underdog, plus 130. When he fought Corey Sanhagen, he was also an underdog. Okay, so this isn't anything new. He has not been favored to usurp any of these fighter spots, and certainly wouldn't be against Umar. In fact, I think against Umar, he'll probably be a bigger underdog than he was in all those fights.

None of those fights I just mentioned was he plus 200. I think he would be plus 200, probably around plus 220 by the time fight night rolls around against Umar. Not to say he doesn't have a chance. You know, Umar is not a perfect fighter. I think you guys know, I think Umar is like maybe the best band to win the world, but he hasn't shown that. You know, he got his chance, couldn't do it. I hope he gets another chance. Until that day comes, though, we do have our doubts.

and yeah, that's certainly enough reason to match Song Yodong up against him. Because if Song beats him and finally gets over that hump, you just give the man a title shot. You just give the man a title shot. I know, again, as he lost some of these names, but Corr Sandhagen was the same story. You know, the Sandman couldn't get over that hump, kept winning fights.

Eventually people left the division, or they just lost too many fights that they were out of title contention. Cori Sanhagen got a shot, and that's great. That's how it should work. So maybe Song is the next guy in line. I don't think he should get a telephone next. He did kind of call for a rematch with Peodor Yan. Unless Marab is unavailable,

and Marab says he is just waiting for that contract to be sent. I just don't see how they can put song in that situation. So maybe he gets a chance to be a backup, but really what's good for him and what's good for all of us is that song fights one more time, probably against Umar. Probably against Umar. The co-main events, boy, talk about playing the song.

spoiler. Alonso Menefield, also a big underdog, but unlike Davis-Figuero, boy, he got the job done. Went toe-to-to-to with Zang Ming-Yang, ate some shots, just outlasts him, just started landing massive hooks on Zhang, and Zhang could not recover, couldn't get his defense back. Like, he looked really lost once Mennifield started putting the pressure on him, and once he was sort of unable to get the advantage as early as he would have liked. So there we go, Alonzo Mennifield back in the wind column. He's actually won three of his last four. He suffered a pretty tough knockout loss to Volkan Ustamir, but outside of that, he's kind of had this opportunity to fight, you know, lesser-known guys.

He fought Julius Walker. I'm pretty sure that was a late notice. I think Julius Walker was supposed to be someone else. It was supposed to be Umar C. It's supposed to be Umer C. So he fought Julius Walker, super ugly fight that somehow won fight in the night. I don't know how that happened. Good for both guys.

Then he went on to fight Umar C, who was kind of high. hot coming off a UFC Paris appearance, and I hated that they put them in the middle of Georgia for some reason, but anyway, worked out for Menafel, got another wind, lose to Vulcan, and now back in the wind column with a knockout of Zhang. So, yeah, where do we go with Menafield?

He's one of the stalwarts of the division. He's 38 years old. I don't think we're really looking at him as like, oh, we need to push Alonzo to a title fight. So I think he kind of keeps getting these up-and-comers. So I'm going with Navajo Sterling who is fighting Yuan Kuchelaba at USC Vegas 119 in a couple of weeks on June 20th. I'm definitely leaning more towards Sterling.

But if it's Kuchelaba, that matchup makes sense as well. I'm a little surprised they've never fought. So that seems long overdue. I think that would be some fun chaos. I think you're getting a finish out of that. Yeah, I wouldn't mind him in Kuchelaba either. But I'm very curious what they have with Navajo Sterling. You know, one of those guys who has like a pretty impressive record.

I'm trying to remember if he's undefeated. I think he is, right? Navajo's 9-0, 4-0 in the UFC, and that win over Bruno Lopez was really good. He needed that because his previous wins were like fine. No, there was like decision wins. I think there's one really bad one in there that would just never need to talk about again.

Navajo's 28 years old. And then the UFC definitely wants to see what they have with him. I'd really like to see him fight Menafield next if he gets past Kuchelava. I'm hoping nothing against Kuchelava. I just feel like that's more interesting for the division. But, yeah, it could be Kuchelava's opportunity as well. Heavy weights.

Sergei Pavlovich is back, guys. He is back. What a weird situation, Pavlovich kind of found himself in, because he beats, well, let's rewind even further. Loses an interim title opportunity against Tom Astronol. Fine. The both kind of just got called upon because the John Jones' steep a fight, first time fell through. That's 2023.

Fights Alexander Volkov, his teammate, who, what a weird, that was another weird one, because there was a little bit he said, she said, as who, like, you know, they had trained together many times, and I can't remember one of them accused the other, both seem to be saying, the other, like, crossed the line as far as agreeing to take the fight. I feel like there had to be some sort of miscommunication with them, with their teams, with the UFC, but, yeah, either way, that was a very one-sided decision win for Volkov. He just kind of picked Palovicch apart. And then Palovic bounces back.

Gets unanimous decision win over Charzino. Beats Waldo Cortez Acosta. And this is where, again, we get weird because he beats Waldo and we're like, okay. Well, you know, what does that mean for Waldo now? Then Waldo goes in this crazy run of three straight knockouts in like a few months. And I don't know how your rankings look, guys. Waldo like might have, maybe didn't jump over him. But he's close.

He would have, I guess, if he beat Volkov, which he didn't. didn't. So Sergei's in a weird spot. He just didn't fight since he beat Waldo and then comes back against Talas and takes about in 39 seconds. I don't know, guys, he wants a title fight. He wants a genuine, genuine title fight, or, I mean, I guess it sounds like another interim opportunity if he's targeting Alex Padero or gone. I'm going kind of random here. Mario Pinto. I know that's the opposite of what Sergei Pavlovich wants. Mario is undefeated in the UFC right now, hovering around a top 15 spot, at least in our list. I think he might be already ranked

via the UFC. Excuse my clicking and clattering, guys. Mario Pinto, is not ranked. It's not ranked. He might be now but come Tuesday. Talosin to share is ranked number 15. I'm going to know if they'll bounce him out after that brutal loss and just slot Mario Pinto or someone else in there. So it kind of makes sense. I just think that's where Sergey is. I just don't see him getting another big fight right now.

Let's look at our heavyweight rankings, guys. I have Sergey solidly number four behind Aspinall Khan Volkov ahead of Waldo. I really, really, really want to see him fight Josh Hawkechett. I just think that fight would be so funny. But I've also, again, Josh Hawket is fighting Derek Lewis, and I think Volkov deserves one of those guys. He either deserves a rematch with Derek Lewis or a fresh fight with Hawket, which would be like which sounds crazy, a number one contender fight.

So I'm going to have to hold off on Pavlovich Hockey. That's really, really, really what I wanted, but I'm not going to go back on a previous pick I made. So, yeah, I landed on Mario Pinto. Walter Walker was my other choice. I believe Walter Walker is also booked to be fighting someone soon. But another fight that would just be hilarious. I have no clue how that fight would go.

Walter is fighting. Thomas Peterson. UFC Fight 9 July 25th. What the hell is this? Abu Dhabi. Okay, sure. You know, that fight is hilarious as its own right. I'm not going to crap on that fight.

So Mario Pinto Padovish for me. Kai Asakura. Oh. Kai Asakura, hi, we can all breathe. We knew the Kai that got destroyed by Pantosia and also just suffered a really disappointing submission loss to Tim Elliott. We knew that wasn't the real Kai. We knew that wasn't the real Kai.

I don't even think I picked him to beat Tim Elliott. Like, that's how confident I was. I was like, this 125 pound cut is tough for him. I know when fighters from Asia come over to the U.S., we kind of expect them to drop down a class because extreme weight cutting, it just isn't as much of a thing over there, over in Japan or over in, you know, China,

wherever they happen to be fighting. So I think we assume, like, oh, they just come to the U.S., they get the proper dieting and advice at the U.S.P.I and they can comfortably drop a weight class. Kai's a pretty big guy Even for 135 is a pretty big guy So 125 just didn't make a ton of sense for him

And I'm not saying You know if he fights Pantosia at Bantuwait Or he fights Simile at Bantuweight It's a different story I think both those guys were just bad matches for him But I think there's a lot of other matchups That he also would have lost in 125 Just because he's depleting himself

So severely So get that extra 10 pounds on Kai I know you're a tweener And I know I just said he's big he's a big guy, but he's probably not as big as some of the real, like, Haas is at 135, and that's fine, but puts a ceiling on him. But we don't care about that. He's back, guys.

Sub two-minute knockouts, smokes Cameron Smotherman. Just amazing. Great matchmaking, by the way. Cameron Smotherman, a good fighter who, honestly has a ton of knockout power himself, but just, I think, overmatched experience-wise and speed and athleticism. So Cameron, he has a place. I hope they don't let him go. I know this was probably the last fight in his contract, and he just lost three

straight. It just, it took him, it took on some time to get to the UFC and it kind of sucks if it just, if it just ends like that. So we'll see, we'll see what kind of deal he can work out. But Kaiskar, onward and upward, sir, you will be fighting Ricky Simone. I landed on Ricky Simone. Not my favorite pick. There's other people I want. My dream would have been him and at Janyes. But Janyes, after his draw with Ricky Simone, has already turned around and booked a fight with Cody Garbrand. So I did, that was off the table for him. me. I could say the winner of that fight, which would be pretty cool. I mean, him and

Yanez or him and Cody Garbrandt, you know, former Ryson champion versus former UFC champion. That's interesting in its own way. But I also think Kai, this version of Kai, just like smokes Cody. I think Yania's a little more competitive, a little more interesting. I just think Kai would just I don't need to see Cody just taking a

brutal knockout. It's not, that's not a fun time. I'm not interested in that. So, give me Ricky Simone a really solid test for Kai because I think like I've I keep saying Kai's probably not going to be a title contender at Bantamweight um but whatever let's give him mid-tier guys he keeps performing well maybe he earns himself a top 10 fight top five fight maybe I'm wrong maybe Kai is fighting for a bantamweight title sometime in the next two years I doubt it I doubt I think Kai's a lot of fun I think he's going to get some make a lot of money I think

he's going to get some performance bonuses again make a lot of money maybe he's not a contender It's okay. I want to see him in Ricky Simone. Jake Matthews, sorry, guys, I just got lazy with this one. Just rebooked the Muslim Salakoff fight. Props to Carlson Harris for stepping in. I love that Jake Matthews gave him credit and said, like, listen, I got to get paid. I got to fight because Carlson Harris stepped in, so, you know, just no shade on him.

He wasn't going to talk trash about a guy who, yeah, stepped in on pretty short notice to fight him. I think it was what was the notice for Carlson Harris? like two weeks, less than two weeks. So good for him. You know, I'm sure Carlson Harris got bills to pay too. I'm sure he got compensated. But, yeah, nice win for Jake Matthews, man. Just workman-like.

That's kind of how I describe him. I think Michael Carroll and Mike Bonn in their pre-fight facts said that he has the most fights in the UFC by anyone from Australia. So cool. Feather in the cap. 16 and 8 now in the UFC guys. Like, really nice record. He's kind of the Australian like Neil Magny, who he lost to, obviously. so I'm glad that'll fight happened.

But where do we go with Jake Matthews? Yeah, just run it back with Pozlam. Salakoff posted on social media that he's getting elbow surgery. He expects to be back soon. Who are we to argue, guys? If he's going to be back soon, we can't get, excuse me, we can't get him and Matthews fighting in the summer, early fall, whatever, however long these guys need. I think that's a good matchup.

Still fun. I still want to see it. If they go another way with it, it won't be heartbroken. But why not? Why not just run this one back? Wild card. This was tough. Wild card pick was tough

I'm really missing my best friend here I mean more so than usual You know I'm missing my best friend guys just like personally I mean yeah it's hard to do the show without him But just you know Just miss him He did such a great job with RF 90s the best Where do we go guys with our wildcard pick

Because a lot of fighters Kind of you know The prelims were exciting But the prelims were exciting Because I think these were sort of like mismatches on paper With like promising newcomers Against not so promising newcomers Or experienced people against not so promise

seeing newcomers. I'm not talking about Zong-hing-Nan, by the way. I thought that matchmaking was perfect, and I think we got to see her level. She's facing a perennial top-15 U.S.C. contender in Angela Hill. I think Zhang in her prime would easily have been in the U.C. top-15. She's a little past it now.

I know that sounds crazy because Angela is older than her, but I don't know. The age affects people differently. Both of the fires look to be in great shape. It's just, I just wonder if Zhang has maybe some of the battles she's had in one, kind of wore her down too much.

But we'll see. Maybe I should have picked her as my wildcard, right? Because I'm very curious what they do with her next. Because I think she can win some UFC fights. I don't think she's like totally washed. Maybe we just give her someone outside the top 15. Sorry. So all that, all that build, guys, and I'm sorry.

And I'm not picking for Angela Hill or Zhang Jingnan. I'm intrigued by Rodrigo Vera. Maybe I'm biased. Rodrigo Vera hails from Peru. my mother's from Peru. I love all the... Every time I see Peru and the UFC, I get excited. We've had some very exciting ones.

We haven't really had a true contender. Could be Rodrigo, man. Very flashy record. Face, like the level of competition he's faced before the UFC, not like amazing. So when you see his record 22, 1 in 1, yes, it's not as substantial as it looks. But I always say you got to give people credit for wins.

And he's been fighting in decent organizations. You know, it's not like he's just been fighting in bum F.C. In some remote corner of Peru. No, he's like, he's been with reputable organizations. I think there's something there. The guy who beat Zhu Kangjay, again, not a great fighter either, so it's hard to gauge where he is. I think I don't push him too quickly.

I want to see if he's maybe, like I want to find someone in the top 50, like in the, sorry, 40 to 50 range. A lot of those names are booked. So I landed outside of there. I'm going with Stephen Gwynne. Haven't seen Stephen Gwynn in a while. Let's bring him out. Let's put these boys in the apex. And let's see if we really have something here with Robert Gauberra.

Sorry, Stephen Gwyn. Sorry to use you as a stepping stone. How can working at your local Tims take you further? Sure, you can level up your teamwork skills. You also get a chance to receive a Tim Horton scholarship award. Ready for what's next? Apply today at careers.timhorans.ca. And now the real meat of the show, guys, it's your time.

This is what I really want. I want the listeners. I want your guys' picks because usually you guys have insights I haven't even thought of, matches I haven't even thought of. I don't know how many times Mike and I have seen your picks, and we're just like, damn. Damn, how did I not think of that? So I'm really excited to go through these. And we had a lot of newcomers.

We got a lot of newcomers. So let's go. Let's do some welcome to the party pals here first. Tom Samuel. Welcome to the party pal. Let me see if you wrote anything else in your message here. Big fan of the pot. Thank you.

Big fan of the pod. Here am I on to the next one picks. I'm assuming I'm too late for figure I'd give it a shot if I'm not too late. You're not too late, Tom. You made it. You definitely made it. I recorded a little bit later today as well, so that helped. But Tom, I have to say, I reviewed these picks.

We do have a little bit of doo-doo. And that's okay. It's your first time. Everyone's got a little bit of do-do on them. And it's better you do it your first time than your seventh, eighth, ninth, ninth, tenth, time you know um Tom says Song Yidong versus Umar and Megamatov throw Figy in there with

Haouni Barcelos and then here's our first mistake Alonso Meadowfield and Merzakhanov Tom that is a two that is a two they fought Alonzo was K-O'd by the diminutive Merzikana at UFC Abu Dhabi a couple years ago so

that's a little doo-do again it's all right it happens Tom also likes Zhang Mingyang versus Ivan Ercelon Pavlovich versus the Alex Pereyragon loser. Tashara versus Vitor Petrino. Asakura versus Font. I like that.

I think font... Oh, no. I get these guys confused all the time. Who's teasing the move up to 145? It's Danny Gaye, right? Not Rob Font. That's Dan Egey. Yeah, so perfectly except, I think.

No, is Rob Font teasing? You guys can hear me furiously Googling right now. I don't care. I don't care. I'm asking chat, GBT. No, I'm not going to do that. I believe it was actually a Danny Gate that says he's moving up to 145, so that's fine. I think Asa Curfant is a great matchup.

Jake Matthews-Randy Brown. I have to look this up, too. I swear Jake Matthews and Randy Brown had fought. I'm so sure of it, I'm looking up again. I'm looking it up again live right now. And sure enough, not even a canceled booking. How have they not fought? Yeah, let's make that happen.

That's a great pick. Luis Felipe Diaz versus Andre Petruski, Jose Sousa versus Austin Vanderford. Why else is just Racine Vanderford? Ray Suria versus Jesus Aguilar, and I, Tom, I don't like this. Cody Haddon versus Desmond Blackshear. I love the Desmond Blackshear Cody Killer gimmick. Why are we killing Cody Haddon? He hasn't done anything yet.

The guy's just starting his career. The guy's just getting his U.S. He run going, had not fought in two years. You want to throw him in there with the Cody Killer. That's just sadistic. Welcome to the party pal, Dakota. Welcome Dakota. Class, welcome Dakota to the classroom. Sanya Dong versus Peyton Talbot,

Alonzo Meneffield, Jamal Hill. Sergei Pavlovich versus Volkov, too. I guess it has been some time, hasn't it? I don't love it? Okay, so this was two years ago. I mean, yeah, it's a reasonable time for a rematch. I don't love it because, again, they didn't really want to fight each other the first time.

And it was so definitive for Volkov. I just don't know what to be gained there. But that's okay. It could happen I don't love it, Dakota Kayasura, Curate Chido Vera Yeah, I thought about this too I thought about this too

Jake Matthews versus Vucente Lucke Luke is pretty firmly committed to middleweight I'm sure He just beat Calvin Gasolum I don't think we see him back at 170 So I don't, yeah, it's crazy that that didn't happen But I don't think we're going to see it happen now Alex Perez to Morderegi run it back

If I'm some Mudeerji, I got to move on I just can't rely on Alex Perez Don't get caught in that Alex Perez weirdness loop. And Cody Haddon, Felipe Leimine. Nice, nice pick. And we had a, welcome to the party pal. Alex Vandam is on Instagram. Song Yadong versus Umerna Mego Medov or Sanhagan-Bautista loser.

Sannegan Batista, of course, fighting at UFC 329. Pavlovich versus Gone if he loses or Josh Hawket. Ah, man, I really want that Hawket fight. Alonzo Meadowfield versus Dominic Reyes. That makes a ton of sense. Angela Hill versus Alexia Tanara. Yeah. probably what they're going to do

and Asakura versus Haddon I thought about this I really like Cody Haddon as a prospect but he really needs room to grow again I think throwing him in there with someone like Asakura I just think that's too soon I know he's a good wrestler and we're just assuming he could just tackle Asakura I'm not so confident

that that's how that would go and again I don't want to fight him on Blackshire either I should have used Haddon as my wildcard I should have figured something all for him, but I just want to see them, like, give him more guys in his range. I don't really have a specific name. But I'll be extra focused, guys, on what you have for Cody Hadden. Let me stick with Instagram while I'm here.

Then I'll go back to Twitter. Harry Newhouse. Song Yadong versus David Martinez. I thought about it. I thought about it. Yeah, I wonder. I wonder how they want to push David Martinez because Song kind of just held his spot in line with the win against Ficky. And they might be thinking, hey, let's let some people take it.

Harry also likes Sergei and Josh Hockett if he beats Derek Lewis. Damn. That is good. Like if I had to choose between Volkov and Hockett and Sergey and Hockett, it's close. But like Sergey Pavlaged by a nose. Jake Matthews versus Carlos Lyle. Harry, have you recommended, have you done this before? I feel like you've wanted this matchup before.

It's fine. And I just, I wouldn't mind seeing it. Luis Felipe Diaz versus Robert Breitcheck. Jose Sousa versus Trey Waters. Cody Haddon versus Davy Grant. Guys, you are throwing Cody to the friggin' wolves here. He is talented. He's very talented.

But, like, he needs more experience. How old is Cody? Cody is a baby. Cody's 27. He's a baby. That's a tough fight. That's a good name if you can win, but tough fight. Rayceria versus Jose Ochoa, Angela Hill versus Jessica Andrage 2.

Oh. Oh. Their first fight was really good. It's kind of lost to time now. I just don't think anyone's thought about that fight in a long time. 2017. I don't know why I remember this fight. I just remember this fight being a very, very good fight.

Jessica and John won by unanimous decision. Yo, run that back. You'll run that back. That's good. Harry, you nailed that. That is so good. I'm going to stop there. You have other pick.

I'm going to stop there. Let's go on a high note, Harry. That was great. I actually love that pick. Left lane. Yes, you made it in time. Don't worry. Send his picks before going to bed.

probably a good call. Let's see what anything to do here, guys. I'm trying to avoid repeats. Zhang versus Iwo Baranuski after he beats Justin Tafa. Justin Tafa? Junior Tafa. Next week. It's Justin, right?

Let me get to make sure I get this right. Junior. I'm so sorry, guys. Junior. Ewo, that's right, because he's stepping in for Billy Alicana. Yeah, boy, that's not going to go well for Zhang, I don't think. I think I will be a huge favor in that. We also, evil is also kind of an unknown property still.

Like we just don't know how we have this guy. We know he's a berser. What happens when he faces adversity? Not entirely sure. Actually, I shouldn't say that because the entire frigging evil Oslan fight was just adversity for like 90 seconds. So, yeah, we do know if he can take a hit. No, no, what am I saying? Yeah, EO would win that one.

Jake Matthews versus Joel Alvarez. Wow. Do you see what I'm saying, guys? That you guys, like, think of stuff. Like, when you say it now I realize it's obvious. but I didn't come up with it for some reason. That's such a good fight. I'd love to see Jake Maris to draw Alvarez.

Left lane, you cooked on that one. He also wants to Perez Sumerji run back. Diaz versus Eric McConnell. Sousa versus Li Jianglan. If he's still fighting for China's revenge, I guess. Yeah, guys, not a great night for China, by the way, if you weren't keeping up. Songya Dong out of seven fights featuring Chinese fighters, the only one, the only one to win on home soil. So, one five, and the no contest with Sumerji.

So, yeah, I think maybe revenge is in order. Ray Seruya versus Elliot, Tim Elliott? Or am I thinking of another Elliott? Is Tim Elliott fighting at Bantamweight now? I got to look this up, guys. I know he's fought at Bantamweight somewhat recently because he went up for... I think that was like a short-notice thing, guys. I don't think Tim Elliott is a Bantamweight.

Yeah, I don't know about that one left lane. He fought Steve Iris. Yeah, that was flyweight. Kai was flyweight. I know there was like a random band. Yeah, Sumerger G fought a bantamate again. That was just kind of, I think the fight, there was reasons the fight was just thrown together

on a shorter notice that you had normally. He's not really a bantam weight. So I don't entirely love that. Yeah. Angela Hill versus Amory. Sure, we just stop both fighters win on the card. Makes sense. And Rodrigo Vera versus Yia,

yeah, yeah, sure. Jason Dernay, what's up, buddy? Thanks for taking on a solo show. No, man, thank you guys for sending a pic. I'm not solo. I'm not alone. I have the next best thing besides Mike Heck and Jedmishu and anyone else from M.A. fighting I can get on.

I'll shout out to Nick Baldwin as well. I've got you guys. Frankly, you guys are pictures of you better than a lot of ours. Kai Asakura versus Bernardo Supai. Whoa! I like Supai a lot. That's a big test. Okay, interesting.

Zhang versus Haldolfo Bellato. I think you're in the right range, Jason. I think this is, yeah, we need to step back with this guy. Ray Serio versus Hianzung Park, Rodrigo Vera versus Dimon Blackshear. Wrong weight classes? Blackshare is a bantamweight. Rodriguez-Over is a featherweight.

He has fought a bantamate before. I think he's done with bantamate though. He's been fighting at 145 for the most part recently. Amarim versus Tolita Alancar. Sure, thanks, Jason. John Mahaney. always sitting in some brilliance. Okay, so

John says, Zhang Mingyang versus Ibole Aslan, right before Zhang's walkout, the camera pans to the back. Oh no, he's been attacked and can't fight. Wait, who's that in the crowd? It's Yvonne Ursula, holding a new 12-fight contract. We finally get Aslan versus Erslan,

and then he says, why not with special guest referee, former NBA standout, Ersan Ilyosovo. Yes, I need Aslan versus Aslan refereed by her son. That would be... That's my dream. And I'm super sad this isn't going to happen. But that is my dream.

Thank you, John, for at least, like, indulging me in that. Thomas Collins. Song Yadong and Umar and Merrimamara Megamara. Man, everyone wants this. Figgi versus Raul Rosas Jr. That's what we're doing with Figgi now, eh? Might be. Might be.

Sergei Pavlovich versus Rizvon Kunev, if Kuneev beats terrible fortune. Alex Prez and Tim Elliott, Alonzo Menafield, and Jamal Hill. Gerard Biagin. I think I was interesting if there's anything new here. Alonzo Menefield. Krilov-Wittaker loser. That's right.

Krilov is the man to welcome former UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whitaker, to the middleweight division. Does Alonzo get one of those guys? That would be so weird. Imagine Whitaker loses to Krillaw, which is very possible. I think I'll pick Rob, but let's say he does lose to Krillov. He ends up fighting Alonzo Menefield. I didn't have either of those on my Rob Whitaker bingo card. Like, if you had told me two years ago, yeah, he's going to fight Nikita Krellov,

and then he's going to fight Alonzo Menefield. I would just be like, stop watching M.A. Put the M.M.A. down. You don't know what you're talking about. Gerard is also on the Sergei versus Hockett, win-lose-d draw against Lewis. Man, I should just change my pick. I love Sergei Pahlovich and Hockett. The trash talk would be absolutely horrible.

You know, if you guys like Hockett, fine. I just can't. It's a guy. No, it's bad. But the fight would be amazing. Gerard also likes Jake Matthews to draw over as. Damn, it's good. Oh, I just got a message from Alex Van Damme.

Right now, live on the show, guys. I would like to change my Hill pick. She deserves to win her next fight. So Hill versus Amanda Hebas. She could beat Alexia Tainara. We don't know. I don't think it's like a guarantee that she loses to Tainara. I mean, probably, because I think Tarnara is like the bomb.

I think she's going to be the strawberry champion someday. She was booked to fight He was once upon time Apparently fell through So sure I'm fine with that No Alex Van Daman You're stick with your original pick

Stick with your original pick It was fine All right Let's hop on to Twitter Let's hop on to Twitter I've read some of the amazing newcomers now But of course we have our

Old Faithfuls guys Let's see here I just want to Where do we start here DGB DGB Jake Matthews versus Joaquin Buckley

Oh Man my Jake Matthews Pick was so lazy I didn't realize How many like good matchups there were Yeah I love that Ascaro Veranda's Garbrandt Janyez winner.

Yeah, I guess I'd want to see him fight Yanyes really badly. Don't love the Garbrand matchup as much. But, again, very sellable fight. Sergei Publige versus Sergei Spivak. Sergei on Sergey. Did we not get Sergei on Sergey? Oh, no, we can't, because I feel like I've made this matchup before. Yeah, yeah, hashtag Sergey X Sergei, sure.

Sonia Dong, David Martinez. Well, okay. Yeah, some people are recommended it. Artur, what's up? Welcome back, Artur. It's been a long time. Kai Asker, finally getting UFC win, inspired me to put together a handful of Otno Picks.

Guys, the community is healing. Kai Asker being back at Bantamway is healing us as a collective. Song versus Umar, Figgi versus Peyton Talbot. Man. Peyton Talbot, I'm really interested to see where they go with this guy. Because you guys, you listeners know, I've always been like, ah, let's pull it back, let's pull it back.

The expectation is too high. Let's, let's, the matchmaking. I didn't like, I thought, I thought, maybe I did, I think I picked Sohudo to beat him. I'm actually curious. Where am I? Where did I land on Talbot at that time? Because he's so young and it's a little bit hard for me to shake the Barcellos loss. But again, I have to remind myself, fighters can change, like so, they can grow and change so quickly.

Especially those that are like athletically gifted. You know what I mean? And Talbot is that... I did pick Talbot. I did pick Talbot. Okay. Also because I think Suhudo sucks. So that's right. I remember this now.

Kaiskerr versus Cheeto Vera. Yeah, this seems like really possible. Ray Seri versus Joseph Morales. Again, guys... Am I the crazy one? Is Ray normally... Oh, I'm stupid, right? Is Ray normally...

I'm sorry. Okay, guys, I apologize. To everyone before that I criticized, please, I'm sure you've already sent a comment to me. That's right. I forgot. I'm sorry. Ray is a flyweight. Ray is a flyweight.

Of course he can fight Timelaide. Of course you can fight some of these guys you recommend it. That's right. The Garulay fight got changed to Bantamite because Guerrilla stepped in on like a love week's notice or something. I'm so stupid. Okay. Yes. All your flyweight picks for Ray, spot on.

You guys are smart. I'm dumb. Ray Sarriva versus Joseph Morales. Love it, Artur. Love it. You know why? Because they're both fly weights. Brayden O'Neill.

Again, a lot of repeat picks here, guys, so I'm not going to read all these out. Talasin Tashira versus Gokan Saracom. That is so heavy-weighty. Oh, my goodness, that could be real bad. That could be a stink bomb. But Gokon looks good against Tanner Bozer, so I can't hate on it. Maybe it's a great matchup, maybe it's a great matchup, maybe getting an exciting finish. I don't know.

You know, I was saying Pavlovich Tashara could have turned out bad, and it turned out great. You know why? Because it lasts 39 seconds. Kai Asakurv versus Muyn Gafrov. Good matchmaking. I'm not going to matchmaking for Sue Mudergy and Pere. Okay, if you want to, Brayden, if you want to. Summouderi versus Bulldog Silva Edgar Chira's winner,

and Alex Perez versus Brandon Moreno. How have they never fought before? Again, the file this under, I thought they did, but I know I often get Alex Perez's resume mixed up with Brandon Roy Viles' resume. So that probably explains that. Yeah, I guess that might be. That might be how it ends up. Oh.

Remember when Perez was supposed to fight Brandon Moreno, U.S.C. 255, and that's how Perez actually ended up getting his title shot? That's right. That's right. Okay. Yeah, let's close that loop. Suza, Jose Suza versus Ty Miller, Cody Haddon versus Surrey City.

Rebook Re-suria and Hissus Aguilar. Yeah, just do that. Rodrigo Vera versus... Who's this? Sue Yang-U, right? Oh, I'm so bad for messing this up. Sue. Oh, my gosh.

What is this guy's name? I'm so bad, guys. I have to get this right. My applause is. Sue Zhu Sang-you, if you're right there. I know I've messed up this guy's name before, too. So, big apologies. Yeah, that's a great match-up.

Ju-sang-you and Rodrigo Verre. Four Corner Sports. Oh, Song-and-dong Talbot? Figurato Roll versus Jr. He just wants to test out these youngsters, man. Zhang Mingyang versus the winner of Julius Walker and Abdul Yachyaev Sergey Pavlovich anti-deleisure at UFC Serbia wait a minute

oh no four corners four corners anti-deleja is already fighting at UFC Serbia my friend you're right you're right he's going to fight at Serbia I won't be against sergey Popovitch he is fighting Johnny Walker Johnny Walker at heavyweight. However, listen, if Johnny Walker falls out and Sergey Popovich steps in for some reason to fight anti-Dilicia,

guess what? You just made a hell of a call. So, you know, do-do for now. I guess the do-do can be rescinded. Angela Hill versus Chanel Dyer. Cool. I got a lot of picks. Eric, guys.

I'm almost done. I'm almost done. Picks by F-Rod, Davis and Figueroado, Cody Garbrand. Cody is, oh, win-loser draw against Janyes. Re-book it. Right. I just mentioned this. We were supposed to see this at 250.

He was going to, Alex Prez was going to fight Marano, Marino, excuse Marano, not Alex Marano, Brandon Marino. And Davis and Figuerreiro was going to fight Cody Garbrandt, who's actually defend against him. And instead, they lost our opponents and we ended up with Figgi and Alex Perez. So yeah, another loop to close, perhaps. Menfield versus Merzacanov again, guys, do people not remember this fight happened? Come on. Second round, knockout for Azam out of Mursa Kanov. Did Paul Acosta, like, embarrassing him just, like, erase his record?

Kai Asker, Jacob Wichlash, I thought about that. Jake Matthews, Chaos Williams, love it. Luis Felipe Diaz, mantas contratavisius. Angela Hill and Pierre Rodriguez. Jeffrey Rogers, what is up? Song and Umar. Yeah, that's the way they got to go. Figgy, Barcellos, age-appropriate matchmaking.

Menafield versus Balato. I don't know. Zhang versus Elakana, Asakur, Chito Hill, versus Inouye. Yes, that would be interesting because Inouye beat Jacqueline Amarim Probably looking for a big fight I'm just trying to remember she's fought in a way

I just assume Angela Hill's fought everyone so don't be Don't mind me Thank you Jeffrey Rogers Barry O'Reilly

Boy always with good picks I'll see if I can read some of these Amarim Alan Carr could be a fun matchup between two BGA dominant fighters Rodrigo Vera Billy Q Billy Quintillo If Billy Q hasn't retired This makes sense

As both guys like to try and finish fights Vera has a lot of fights so willing to see what we have here. I suppose so. Angela versus Alice Ardellian. Oh boy. I'm going to let Barry explain this one. Barry says, why not? Let's see if Angie can build a win streak and make one last run.

And if not, Alice would be on a sneaky good streak and might actually be good. Alice Ardellion being ranked in the UFC would blow my mind. And I like Alice Darleyan. I think her social media is a hoot. I think her fights are actually kind of entertaining. Like, I know the skill level isn't as, you know, as high as we would like to see at the U.S.E. level. But damn, I mean, she's won some fights now. Imagine she'd beat Angela Hill.

Angela Hill would have to be a monster favorite in that fight. If she's not, if Angela Hill was anything less than, like, minus 400. If she was like minus 300, I'm putting money on Angela Hill. But Alessadalee might be good. No. Ray Saria versus Jeff Elfito. That's right. Raceeria, the flyweight versus Jeff Elfino.

Cody Haddon, Miles. John's Jose Souza Francisco Prado okay age of probary matchmaking Prado clearly talented has been fighting good names last chance to see if he's USC ready suza's a finisher if he can finish finished Prado which was haven't he can be considered a potential prospect Luis Philippe Diaz West Schultz okay some repeats here is that not repeats from other people Alonzo Menopheel Bogdan Guskov Gouskov lost the Yon rematch so he needs an opponent and there aren't too many people that menofield hasn't fought almost guaranteed a knockout here yes I agree.

Barry, thank you so much. And I'm just going to go to the e-mails real quick, guys. Because we've got some of our usual suspects. Some of our usual suspects, said that so easily. Tristan also likes Jacqueline and Mariam to lead to Alancar. And also likes Luis Felipe Diaz versus Mantis Contra Tavicious. So thank you, Tristan Gordet. And Eli Hitala said, love me some early morning I may.

Really love this fight night. I thought it was a blast from start to finish. I salute everyone who woke up early to enjoy it along with me. Yeah, man, it was a mostly good time. Like, I said, I said, like, solid 7 out of 10. If you liked it more than that, I don't blame you. You got some exciting finishes, some good storylines, sure. As much as you can get, again, from a card with, like, you know, not the most name value, right?

Eli, like Songya Dong de Martinez, maybe a co-main event for Noce. He says, I think Umar is a choice, but I thought I tried to change it up a bit. And this is the right stuff for Martinez, sure. Menafield Baranuski I feel bad for Menofield having to keep defending his spot I fear this is the path he must take Yeah, that's kind of where he is

Sergei Pavlovich is gone After he gets put out by Poetton at UFC White House Yikes It's like that Kai Sakura, Davey Grant Yeah, someday I don't know if it's next someday Another Cody Haddon

Vistamon Blackshare return of the Cody killer Don't kill this Cody yet Leave this Cody alone He's a baby baby guys don't send the Cody killer after of just yet please down the road maybe we went to mom blackshare's in a slump or something isn't badly in need of a win all right guys thank you for your picks uh we will certainly be doing another podcast show next week which means yes send in your selections uh you can hit up mike his

dms are open on instagram mike underscore heck jr i'm just pausing guys because i always messed set up. Is it Mike underscore HECJR or Mike Heck underscore J.R? I should M underscore HECJR. Forget everything I just said. M underscore HECJR. Hit the man's up. Hit the man's DM's up. Tell him what a great

job he did with R.A.F. And, yeah, so let us know next week after UFC Vegas 118. Of course, you can hit me up my email, alex.le. At espionation.com. My DMs are open on Twitter and Instagram. Twitter at Alexander K. Lee, Instagram and Extra K.

At Alexander K.K. Lee. Okay, let's look at this card for next week. It is headlined by a very interesting matchup. Bilal Muhammad and Gabrielle Bonfim. I'd love to see the odds. I have to imagine Balal, despite, you know, not being in his best form. I have to imagine his favorite. Slightly.

Slight favorite. So headline, former U.C. champion, Bilal Muhammad takes on 19 and 1, Gabrielle Bonfim. We have Brendan Allen in one of the more confusing matchups of the year as he takes on Edmund Shabazian. Fress Ziam looks to keep the good times rolling. He fights Tom Nolan, one of Jedmishu's prize prospects from the contender series. Bryce Mitchell, not facing Victor Henry, guys. I don't know if you saw that. It was reported early this week by, I want to say Latino America MMA.

I believe the Twitter account is called that it was actually Santiago Luna, who will be stepping in to replace Victor Henry against Bryce Mitchell. Iwo Barnuski fighting Junior Tafa. That should be a fun one. It looks like we only have five main card fights. Let's hope they keep it that way. But they could, of course, shake up the lineup before all of a sudden done. On the prelims, we have Matt Schnell facing Alessandro Costa.

That's a catch-wave out. We have Marcus McGee facing John Yannis. Some of these are replacement fights, guys. If you're wondering, like, how are some of these guys getting matched up? Yeah, we had a few fights drop out. Bruno Bulldog Silver versus Edgar Chairres. Priscilla Cachewera versus Chelsea Chan. Handler, Women's Bantamweight action.

Jordan Levitt, Joe Anderson, Brito. Ooh, that's a good fight on the prelims. And then we have Jaisla Chavez versus Yonasey Dubin? That's a weird one. Undefeated Jaisla Chavez facing Dubin, who like, man, she just got her one knockout on the Contender Series in which she was a huge underdog, and now she's earned herself a fresh Fiercee contract, so good for her, but I don't know, man. She might be overmatched against some of these fighters.

and then opening up the prelims, veterans, Ketland Susa, and Ariani, Karnalosi. All right, guys, so that's it for me. It's going to be a chill week for the most part,

because the week after that will not be chill. The week after that will be pure chaos. We're already, I think, all of us mentally preparing for UFC White House, aka UFC Freedom 250. They're built, listen,

their constructions underway. Dana White and a company are working 258, trying to figure out what they're going to do with so many of the external factors they'd never had to deal with before, being that they're outdoors at the friggin White House security, logistics, everything, just complete chaos. So let's just hope everything goes as scheduled so that these fighters can all get paid and people who are watching the show can have fun, people at the ellipse, have a good time.

But yeah, the drama there. But first, guys, UFC Vegas-218 next week. And yes, thank you to UFC Macau and all the fighters. And what an eventful weekend with UFC Macau and BKFC 90, Darren Till making his bare-knuckle debut for that promotion and R.A.F. 9, just good times all around. And great times because of all of you. So thank you for joining me. Mike Halk will be back next week and I will be back next week. On, on to the next one, the podcast. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if?

Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what-if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit wayfair.ca. home.