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

Episode Date: October 19, 2025

Brendan Allen went into his short notice opportunity against Reinier de Ridder in the main event of UFC Vancouver with incredible confidence, and it showed as he dominated de Ridder to earn a corner stoppage TKO. Following the win, Allen called out Khamzat Chimaev, Dricus du Plessis and Sean Strickland, but will he get either of those names? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what's next for Allen after picking up the biggest win of his career. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Mike Malott following his strange decision win over Kevin Holland in the co-main event, Aiemann Zahabi after his split decision win against Marlon Vera, Manon Fiorot following her quick knockout of Jasmine Jasudavicius, along with fellow main card winners Charles Jourdain and Kyle Nelson. Plus, an out-of-the-box pick for de Ridder, listener picks, and much more. 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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Winners, find fabulous for less. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one. The Matchmaking Crowns are back after a trip to the Great White North, UFC Vancouver, which will go down as just one of the weird. cards that I can remember. And coming out of the main event of that card, I thought to myself, yeah, this is a bad card.

But then when you actually go up and down the results, it actually wasn't bad. Just one man decided to steal all the thunder, the thunder of the card. And it just angers me to no end. I'm still angry the next day. But here we are talking about what's next for a lot of the notable names coming out of this UFC Vancouver event. I am Mike Hack back on the show and joining me the hero of last week's show, ran it solo following UFC Rio, but now the duo is back together again.

He is the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity. Happy to be reunited with my best friend, Alexander Cayley, aka happy Sunday. How are we doing? Thank you, my best friend. Happy Sunday. And, you know, listen, I was not alone. You know, I did have a lot of listeners. I had a lot of listener picks.

So shout out. Those are the real heroes. As always, you guys are the best to send a lot of suggestions. So, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't, quite like having Mike Heck on the show with me, but it was almost good. It's like as good as you can get to having Mike Heck as having you guys send in your picks and comments. So those were great. So thanks everyone. Man, weird. Weird is just the word we were saying not all night. Though I think if we had thought about it, Mike, I think if we had like been, you know,

sort of been paying attention to the prelim results. Weirdness was brewing. We had a lot of third round finishes on the prelims. That in itself was strange. That itself was like, whoa, this is like abnormal. On your average card, you might get one third round finish. We had, I had four third round finishes on the prelims. I think we had quite a few upsets. I was just trying to look up the odds now. I think this was like a, I think people, I don't like, you know,

I don't like talking about gambling too much. I think a lot of people got hurt on Saturday. One, because, you know, anytime there's upsets it's going to happen. So probably every parlay possible got blown up. Two, and you guys, listen, we were all tweeted, talked about on social media. You and Jed talked about the Postbyte show. There's some shaky officiating.

have affected some results, the timing of results when certain fights ended. Some over-unders may have been affected by some of the officiating. So I hope all you gamblers out there, all you may betters. I hope you guys are safe. I hope your wallets are safe. But that was just a rough nightman. Again, so a flurry of third round finishes early on, which we just never see refereeing weirdness.

Some performances that just like, let's be honest, it kind of fell flat. I mean, we're going to get to that with the main event, obviously. And on a positive note, Mike, overall, a pretty good night for Canada. even if you don't count, even if you don't count Brendan Allen, which I will now. Brendan Allen, the smartest man of the week.

Like, I'm just saying, I'm Canadian now. Like I was like, yes, that's brilliant. Yeah, I'm Canadian now. Yeah, his maternal grandparents are from Alberta. So you know what?

Yeah. Listen, brother, you got roots in Canada. You want to say you're Canadian this week or Canadian. The next time you fight in the U.S., you want to say you from the U.S., that's your right, you know? But yeah,

if you're doing fight promotion and you're trying to get some good vibes on your side, what a great way to do it. So technically six and two, strangely, like, and unfortunately the one who was probably had the most on the line you know and we'll talk about this jasmine yassadavishes is the one who fell short and she was like the closest probably to get a

tether shot she beats man oh she's probably just getting a tell a shot it didn't work out that way but um you know mike malott imzahabie karl nelson uh melissa croden who we're forgetting charles jordan good job and of course we're getting brend now as well yes it's it's wild like i don't want to go on the dammerger got a rant again oh my gosh we just we i mean we just ripped him to shreds on the post-flight show. So if you want our thoughts on that. What a nice guy he is, though. He is a very nice guy.

He's a lovely man. Yes. It was so weird about this card is that we had maybe the best officiating of the year on this card. And then we had the worst. John Cooper was the hero. John Cooper rules rule, AK. John Cooper took a point from Drew Dober.

That's how we knew. shit was getting weird right away because the right thing happened and yet the person who fitted the foul still ended up winning and and no one did anything wrong like no one did anything like you you could not disqualify drew dober you know i think that would have been excessive you take the point that that is what taking the point is for so you don't have to disqualify someone or so you don't have to lead to some other bizarness which again we saw later in the evening um and drew dober did the right thing he's like well i know i'm down on the cards i'm either headed to a draw or i'm headed to a loss i'm going all out this is this this is my ufc career i mean he was probably

they're going to get released as strange as sounds. I know the UFC loves Drew Dober, but again, he's probably making three or four time with your average contended series sign he makes. He would have been, I think, what, a three, four fight losing streak? Three fight losing streak, right? Four straight. Yeah, that would have been four straight. I mean, that would have been tough for them to hold on to.

Like, they maybe would have given another shock because he's Drew Dober, but I could have easily seen them just parting ways at that. So, yeah, he did what he had to do. But yes, Mike, we should have known right there. Wow, a referee took a point. That in itself was weird in a good way and set the stage for just so much more strange mistakes to happen. Yeah. And it led to Drew Dober asking maybe the most important question that a fighter needs to ask himself in that pivotal moment. WWJPD, what would Yuri Prahashka do? And that's what he

did. And he went out and got the finish. He went bananas and got poor Kyle Prepalek out of there. And, you know, try as Kyle did, still not able to get a win on the second run on the UFC. But it was looking good for him. And just like it was looking good for Ryan to Ritter after five minutes, against Brennan Allen, okay? Let's start at the main event. And then Ritey to Ritter decided, you know what? I'm feeling good right now. I feel like I can run this dude over.

Round two, he immediately gets Brennan to the ground, gets a hook in, gets the most important hook in, and then try to do something weird and fun and zany and try to get like a highlight real backtake. And from that moment on, the fight was over. Brennan, reverse position, got on top. And by the end of the second round, the writing was on the wall.

that RDR was cooked. And like I said on the post fight show, my biggest takeaway from this fight is that I was incredibly right from the get-go. When they announced that RDR was going to fight Fluffy Hernandez, I said a billion times. I'm like, Fluffy is going to destroy this man.

Like this fight is not even going to be close. He's going to run this dude over. And a lot of people on our website thought I was crazy. A lot of the fans thought I was crazy. And then after seeing how this played out, I'm slightly wrong, only because what I expected Fluffy Hernandez to do to Raniard to Ritter, it would have been worse. I think it would have been, and I mean this from the depths of my soul, what Anthony Hernandez did to Roman Delizzee would not have been the most impressive performance of the year for him. He would have done RDR way worse than he did Roman DeLizze. So Fluffy Hernandez was probably so frustrated watching this fight.

And I totally understand why he would feel this way. And because there's just a really good matchup for him. And then seeing how RDR performed, especially after this, you know, midway through the second round, I mean, Fluffy would have jumped over Nassardini Mavov. We would be screaming on this show that Fluffy Hernandez is fighting for fighting Hamzaa Chimae up next. But that is not the world we live in.

Brennan Allen is now in a great position. RDR is in a terrible position. But look at Brennan, AK, things can change in this exciting, middleweight division at the drop of the hat. And Brendan Allen just kind of broke everything, right? He gave Nassardine Mavov, free and clear path to the to Hamzot in a title shot. So good for Nassadine. I think Anthony Hernandez is now officially the on deck hitter, awaiting either the winner of that fight or he's going to weigh in as the backup fight or something like that. So Anthony's position sort of gets a little bit better as well. But now Brennan

Allen finds himself in an interesting spot. And as we say, after every Brennan win, AK, he called out every friggin ranked middleweight on the roster, uh, from Hamzaa Chimaeuf all the way down, essentially. Where are we going with Canada's own Brennan Allen after the spin over Riding or Ritter? Yeah, man, congrats to Brendan. As usual, I pick against Brennan and he almost always wins. I'm trying to think the last time I picked him and he didn't win.

I'm sorry, picked against him and like it actually came true probably one of the emo-vob or the, oh, definitely the second, the fluffy rematch that picked a against him but i mean that was pretty obvious but yeah generally i pick against him and uh he proves me wrong so you know i i'm gonna i'm gonna keep picking against him keep proving me wrong he looked great on saturday uh r d rd i'll say not his best probably i believe everything that we speculated like you know did did he did he just taking too many fights five fights in uh you know in a 12 month span yeah probably too many too many weight cuts huge weight cut guy some sort of illness maybe some sort of injury maybe doesn't take anything away from what brend and allen did brend and allen

the win is 100% valid i i feel like we're actually in like a a trend and it's not a new trend i think we're going to be getting a lot of this guys unfortunately of fighters like being very open about their injuries and maladies hanging in fights you know we just saw it with pareda and anklav who are doing this whole like i was more injured than you going to the fight and again this isn't new this isn't new guys go back 15 years you have like tito or tis win or lose after every fight suddenly saying like oh here's what happened like my heart exploded and training cameras is always something so it's not new and again i i i accept it i think fighters i believe all these fighters that that they come in with like you know maladies but again i think both sides are

i bet you the winners are too and there's not talking about it or they will talk about after so r d rd is not your best wasn't his best night i still think he can be a contender um but it's a long climb back as a bad performance and that's gonna that's gonna stick in the minds of the matchmakers for a while um mike you mentioned the callout sean sircline i think is the obvious answer i think it just makes the most sense for Brendan Allen. I usually guys, you know, I don't like to make a lot of matchups for Sean Strickland. Not just, I don't like his personality and all that, but I don't enjoy watching him fight much either. But this rematch, these rematch makes a ton of sense. I think we'd, I think we picked out a previous onto the next ones too. Brennan Allen has always wanted it.

And it might not go differently. I mean, that first fight between them was pretty definitive. I mean, it was a great performance by Sean Strickland. It was almost the start of like the, like the, like the, man, Sean Strickland's looking like a contender to 185. Because I don't remember, I don't remember if that was his first fight after making a permanent move from 170. Was his first fight or like a second fight? And it was like a catch weight. I remember it was like it ended up being like 195 or something like something strange. But essentially essentially a middleweight bout.

And John Stricken looked really good in that fight. So I get it. That's if I was doing like, you know, crystal ball. I think that's the one they're going to go with. I know Sean Strickland's on some weird provisional suspension for that in cage fracas. But I assume he'll be back sometime at 2026 and for him. but I want to see Brennan just fight Drickus. Like I think that's that's the match.

I still want to see. I just think I think he's earned it. Like I think by stepping up on short notice by beating RDR, he's at least earned a crack at it. Drickus probably not looking at that direction. But I also don't think Drickis can make a ton of demands right now. I think he's going to get back in there in 2026. I think he's going to have to take who they give them.

Obviously someone in the top six or seven. Like it's not going to like go. He's going to fly Fluffy. Like that's I would rather see that because like Fluffy is going to be the backup fighter. but I know. They're like Fluffy, I have zero interest in Fluffy versus Sean Strickland. I think I've made that very,

very public. This, that fight is not competitive. Fluffy runs him over. DDP Fluffy? That's interesting. Now that scratches me right where itch. You get two just absolute maniacs in there.

But Alan Strickland, like, I bet Brennan Al would probably be slightly favored after this performance. Yeah. I think it just makes all the sense of the world because Sean Strickland is, is in such a strange place right now. Like he is very far out of the title picture based on that performance against

Strictus duplice. It was just bad. Like it just was really, really bad. So he's going to have to step back a little bit and doesn't look like Israel Asani is going to fight Sean. And, you know,

if you want to do Brendan versus Izzy, that's interesting. But actually don't even really have a ton of interest in that. Because I don't think Brennan gains a whole lot beating Israel Adasani at this point. But you go out there and tune up Sean Strickland. that's that's a good win and even then like i still think he's probably going to have to win one more but i think you should have went leadwood strickland and just said hey sean now you can't avoid me let's run this one back your first win was a fluke let's do it again i think that would have been perfect

i don't think he gets ddp i'm actually surprised that so many people are like oh you have to do all and ddp no you don't you don't have to i like i like it crazy take yeah i want it i don't think it's like it's necessarily in the minds of the, you know, people who actually make these things happen. Yeah. If you're DDP, who you're fighting, Brendan Allen or are you fighting Fluffy Hernandez if you want to get back to maybe a Hamzot fight? You're not fighting Brennan Allen. You know, the fan base will be more invested in a fluffy fight. It just is what it is.

But great performance of Brennan Allen needed that one. Shut a lot of people up. And the way he did it was just so impressive. So shout out to him. Maybe he's found something. He left Kill Cliff. And now he's training him with, with T. Team Belal Mohammed and, you know, smaller space.

Guys, you know, we're seeing these smaller groups get together and perform these sort of super teams. We're seeing with like Roy Val and Alex Hernandez and those guys. And now we're seeing it here. So yeah, what a performance. A little teaser, my wild card will be Ryan to Ritter. So stay tuned for that. And this, this might shock you a little bit. It just might just surprise you.

But let's, uh, let's continue on to the cold. main event of the evening. Speaking of Dan Mergliazza, Mike Malott gets the decision win over Kevin Holland. And I just want to say this. I feel, I feel like our MV fighting fighting picks contest, I'm actually going to appeal it. I'm appealing it due to Dan Mergliata because I was, just to just to pull back the curtain, we were atrocious as a, as a website. Oh, picks are fighting weekly picks yeah oh my lord it was so bad but somehow even like way under 500 heading into the co-main event i was still mathematically alive because i was the only one on staff who picked kevin holland to beat mike milott and i got to tell you three minutes into that fight

i was feeling terrific about that pick because he hurt mike milott he was looking good on the feet he was quick everything he hit mike with mike was feeling the effects of it and then one shot to the ding ding. Okay, understandable. Kevin bounces back. Less than 90 seconds later, one of the more ferocious shots to the ding ding, ding. And Kevin is down for the full five minutes.

Dan Bergliata suckety suck-sucked. And then continue to suckety-suck-suck at the beginning of the second round, actually allowing Kevin to fight. So much bullshit happened. But in the end, Mike Ballot, hey, Kevin Holland continued. Mike Mollat fought his fight, one, and now he finds himself in a pretty interesting spot at 170 pounds. So here's what I'm doing, AK. I was torn between two guys.

And I don't think a lot of people are going to agree with what I'm about to do here. But I think at this point, and I think the reason they book Mike Mollat against Kevin Holland to begin with is Mike Mollad is not a young man. He's not 25. it's not like he's got a decade of fighting ahead of him. They see Mike Malat as a guy who could be, he's not going to be George St. Pierre, but they've been looking for a face of Canadian MMA for quite some time. And the UFC has clearly planted their flag on Mike Malat being the potential face of Canada UFC fighters.

They want to go there multiple times a year, and they want Mike Malott to sort of carry the flag. At this point, with this win, you have to go. You have to go. My first choice is Colby Covington. That is, that's what I would do immediately. And then I realized, I don't even know if Colby's ever going to fight again. So I'm taking that off the table at the moment.

So I'm going even higher here, okay? I'm going even higher. It is officially shit or get off the pot time with proper Mike Malott. We're going to do Mike Malott versus Joaquin Buckley next. Oh, you can't go any higher with Mike. If I could, I would. Oh. But this is the Jasmine Jazz DeVesius Man in Fuhr type situation.

This is the Molly McCann versus Aaron Blanchfield fight. This is, okay, if we're going to do this, if Mike Moulod is going to be the face of this organization in Canada, we have to get him to a huge spot, maybe a title fight. So we're jumping half of the division right now. We're jumping half of the rankings. He will probably be number 15 on Tuesday. They'll just get him Joaquin Buckley. And if he wins, awesome.

And if he loses, hey, still a fun guy. We can bring to Canada with us, but not the face of the company for Canada. Man, Buckley's been quiet on like social. Where are the funny skits? Where are the funny callouts? I was just looking at his Insta right now. He has not posted anything since. We haven't heard from him since like two days after Oosman tuned him up.

And, you know, I'm speaking out like he fought like last year. So he hasn't fought that. This was a few months ago. And he fought a few months ago. It just feels weird. I think it feels like for a while there. June? Yeah.

Yeah. That was not long ago. No, not long ago at all. I think it's because, you know, when he was on that surge, you know, that career turnaround, we always talk about like he was, it felt like he was everywhere. It felt like he was so many interviews, social media, calm people out. Like he was doing all the right, he was hitting all the right moves. But I think he's doing the right thing here, you know, maybe taking a step back

with time with family, you know, whatever he's doing, rest, recover, whatever fighters need to do in between fights, you know, in this crazy business. I hope that's without Joaquin is doing. But yeah, when he comes back, that makes a ton of sense. I don't know why I didn't think of that. I think that's a great match. I went very boring. I went with like,

I mean, Daniel Rodriguez. You know, so I didn't, I didn't go nearly as high as you. He will be moving. I think, I think we're all saying, Malat will be 15 in the wealth rate rankings, the official ones,

this week, because that's where Kevin Holland was. Daniel Rodriguez is a couple of spots ahead. So I'm incrementally moving Mike Mulat up. My best friend, you're right. It's, it's not like there's a ton of time here. He's not a,

but also, I think you could sneak him you can sneak him into a title shot. I think your method is much more direct. Obviously, he beats a guy like Joaquin Buckley that gets him in top five opponent next. I'm like trying to like manufacture some bizarre, you know, they go to Montreal or again,

you'll come back to Toronto for pay-per-view, and he's just strung together enough wins and got like one top 10 win. And maybe that's Buckley, maybe that does need to be Buckley, but I'm not there yet. I want to see him get past a Daniel Rodriguez first, which I think would be a favorable matchup for Malat.

Tough, tough, for sure. but favorable. And then, and then we'll go from there. Then let me see what the, maybe it's Garibald Bond theme or something, or Randy Brown after their main events later this, later this year or something like that. I don't know,

but I think we can sneak him in there without him actually having to beat like a top seven or eight guy if there's a pay-per-view in Canada, depending on what the pay-per-view is in Canada in 2026. So I'm being sneaky here, being sneaky here with Mike. But yeah, yeah, solid win, solid win, and great kicks of the grin. Terrific job.

Good knee to the grind. I mean, just nailed it. And then Malach is being like, yeah, it didn't, it didn't even get him real good. Yeah, clearly got him good. Clearly he got him good. I don't think Kevin Holland was acting. I just don't know what he would gain. I was trying to think what he would gain from it.

And like was the, did he think, I don't know. I assist some people saying like he was trying to go for a disqualification, but it didn't sound like he was going for disqualification. No, he was like, he was like the rest of us. Like, yeah. Dad, do something. Take a point. Take a point. Take a point.

That's what I think he wanted. Yeah. That's what I think he wanted was the point at all at all. And just some guidance as to how they're going to continue. And there was just nothing. Just no communication. Just like, so take your time.

Take your time. Take your time. Take your time. It wasn't intentional. No, I know it wasn't intentional. Of course it was intentional. I heard it.

I heard it. Oh my God. I can't do this right now. I'm going to lose my mind. Okay. Okay. It's the Lord's Day and Sunday. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Can't be this angry. I can. No. No. How about A. is A. Is A.m.

The man can't lose. Aven Sahabi cannot lose a fight and wins a very close split decision against Marlon Vera. I will say, and I mentioned this on the post-fight show, I did not watch like every single second of this fight. I was trying to prepare some stuff for today and doing some other stuff in the back end. So like I wasn't like hyper-focused. But every time I looked up, especially in the first half of the fight, Marlon Vera like hurt Amensaheufi in some way with the shot, dropped him at one point. And it just seemed like,

oh, Maro Mvara's, like, doing really well because Zahavi looks like he has been punched in the face a billion times. And Cheeto doesn't wear damage or even get hurt in any way, shape, or form. But I saw Zahubi getting a little more aggressive and having spots. So, like, I guess in my heart of hearts, I was like, yeah, Cheeto probably won, but I don't know. And then Aiman gets a split decision nod,

and which is awesome. That's the good news. The bad news is they get. a live microphone. And golly, man. Come on, man. Amen, be better at this. Like, you called out Sean O'Malley.

First of all, understand the new cycle, okay? It seems like he's got something lined up. And number two, you got, I mean, I don't, there is no true number less than zero. But if there was one, that's the chance you have of getting shot O'Malley right now. after squeaking by Cheeto Vera, after Sean tuned that man up not that long ago.

And Sean posts a video and it's just like, huh? Sean's reaction, I thought that video response was spectacular, by the way. Because that's exactly what I was saying and what the world was saying after this callout. So yeah, you're not getting that fight. He should have called O'Coree Sanhagan. He didn't do that and he may not even get that fight.

But I don't know, AK, what do we do with Canada's own, Avens Sahabi, seven wins in a row. Is this Batista 2.0? What are we doing here? Let me defend my fellow Canadian quickly. I agree. I was like, boy, I think I, I think we all said like simultaneous in our Slack channel, like my dude, you're not getting that fight. However, however, I'll say this.

I think the fact that O'Malley acknowledged it is a good thing, even if it was in like a mocking way. I'm just looking at the tweet right now. It has 210,000 views on Twitter. Frankly, that might be more people than watched UFC Vancouver live. So he kind of gave the call out a lot of exposure, even if he's making fun of it. And this was fast, too. This was like moments after it happened. So like that acknowledgement actually like kind of goes a long way.

Even if it's not next, right? There is rumors of who Sean Amelai might be fighting next. He might be fighting sooner rather than later. Certainly not waiting for Amin's a hobby. But after whoever shot of Mali fights next, if he wins, he's not getting a title shot. he has to fight someone else. How crazy it would be if he called out Amin Zahby? Mike?

What if Sean Allen wins the next fight? Turns it around. Uno reverse card. He calls out even Amin Zahavi and makes something out of that fight. I don't love the call out. It is a long shot. But for me, this falls under the category of, you know, shoot for the moon and you'll land in the stars, you know, that whole cliche, right?

Like, okay, maybe he doesn't get O'Malley, but maybe he can get a someone two, three, four spots lower. Though I guess that's him now. I guess Zhabi I guess Zhabi is the guy who's like Because I think I'm He's called himself out I guess I guess on my rankings

He has to be like after that wins I have an eighth in the UFC So not counting the champions So counting Maraub I have Zahvi eight Yeah so I guess it's not that much further to go But maybe a sense of a future fight with Amali I didn't hate it when I thought more about I hated it in the moment

But I'm like he did acknowledge it Amali did acknowledge it Even if to make fun of it That means something my question Yeah, it means nothing to me. I tried, Mike. I tried. I respect this take from you so much.

Thank you. I have to say. That's why you're my best friend. Look, there's just not a lot to gain from this. This is sort of the ghost of Cheeto Vera, except we just got like sort of the reverse, the reverse card Cheeto, where instead of not doing anything up until the third round, he did stuff early and found success. I was just like, eh, I don't want to do that anymore.

I just I don't. What was that? Did his corner tell him he was up to nothing? I don't know. I don't know. But like you hurt this man with a jab. And then you were just like, oh, I'm just not going to do that again. I'm just done fighting.

Like I just, his inability to crack what it counts outside of fighting Rob Fond is truly unbelievable. Like I did a guy so skilled and so talented and he's got that sort of ruggedness. naturally to him. And then when like the lights go on, it just, I don't understand it. Because he's so good. This guy could have been a champion.

And now he just lost Aben Sahabhi in Canada. I don't, I don't know where Cheeto goes here. But as far as Avan goes, I, there's just nothing endearing about that call to me. So unfortunately, rather than get an opportunity

in fight at Corey Sandhank, because I think if you went out there and say, Corey, I respect you. It's time. You and me. I think the UFC is probably like on the horn with Sandhagen's team like trying to put that fight together today. But instead there is a fight happening this Saturday at UFC 321. And it's a it's a big one.

It's an important one. Umar Nirmagamatov is fighting Mario Batista. And I feel like Sahabhi Batista are just made for each other at some point. But who knows. Maybe it's Umar. Whoever loses that fight, that's who I'm in Sahabia. fighting next. So most people probably believe it's going to be Mario Batista who loses that fight, but who knows? Maybe Mario gets it. And if that's the case, Umar puts his two-fight losing

streak on the line against Aman Sahavi. So not a terrible spot to be in, but yeah, I mean, it's super close fight. There are a lot of people that Cheetah won that fight. And at the end of the day, like, the match is just going to keep getting tougher and tougher for him. It will not be a short road to a number one contender fight or anything of that nature. He's going to be in this position where he's just fighting tough dudes all the way up. He might have to beat every single guy in the division

before he gets to Barab. But he's winning. The man just keeps on winning. So shout out to Amin Zahavi. Menon Fioro, A.K. Mike, you didn't get my Amin Zahby pick. Oh. I apologize. I thought you dropped it in there. No, no, no. I was rambling about some other things.

I like that. I thought for a second you gave him O'Malley, but... No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just defending the call. He's not fighting O'Malley next. There's almost zero chance. I like the thought of him fighting Batista's just hilarious. Just because, like, these guys are guys who just,

it's not pretty, but they win decisions. Batista's probably been a little more convincing, for sure. Like when I say not pretty, I don't mean Batista's been fighting bad. Like, yeah, he clearly won the mixed fight. and I think we've agreed to never speak of the Bautista. That's a little more controversial for sure. So yeah, put them in there together.

It'll probably be a draw. I think justifiably it'll end up being a draw somehow just because the judges won't know what to do with them. I just went with, I also went with a loser, Mike. What about if, can Aman get Piotr-Yon coming off a loss to Marab? Oh. I'm calling this one out. I'm calling out Marab defense.

So this is not a if. This is a, I think Piotrion is going to lose. and I think he's a hobby he's going to have to wait for sure that means he's got to wait until maybe like March April of next year maybe even a little later probably longer yeah probably longer but I think that's a fight worth waiting for and I think he can get ya on he's on a little bit of like a legend you know sort of like a legend killer type thing or just you know for veteran fighters type thing it's weird to say that because he's so much older than Cheeto and Aldo um but you go about and Peter yeah he's older than all these guys and yet they are the more experienced they're the more experienced fighters so maybe so I would say it's amen wait I would say, before you make any moves, wait until the end of the year, wait to the end of the year and just kind of see how this spant and wait, uh, top, six, top seven is shaking out. That's a great pick. It could be fun. It could be fun. Like if he can't be he can't be Peter Yan, right?

Like, he can't do it, right? I don't know, man. I don't know. I have no idea. I truly don't know. He might be able to. He might be. I don't know anymore.

You know what? I think you, I think you nailed it. Oh, gosh. Like, I think, I think that's honestly like the absolute perfect move for Raymond. I've picked against him so many times and I've never I picked Aldo to beat him wrong I picked him more I picked Chito I picked Chito for the upset wrong I'll pick Piotr Yon if that gets put I pick Piotr Yon too

I don't know why I don't know Mike I have no idea I've no gauge for Avin I will say this about Aman Sahavi and and I don't want to talk I like Amin nice dude he's a good fighter very good fight he he might be the best in the world at knowing how to steal around he just knows what to do He might be the pan. Well, him and Batista. Him and Batista.

Yeah. Maybe they are just, maybe there are some pat ago. Who goes, who does? Maybe Mara Batista beats Umar and then beats Mara next year. And we get Batista versus Avin and the only way it needs to happen for the undisputed Banimoy champion. Call Dana. Call Dana. So Hobby is so good at like swaying a judge or just just having big moments on the stretch where when the round ends, be like, oh, did he just win that round?

Like it's almost every round he fights in. Like, dude, the dude got dropped by Josiahd like three times in a round and still won it. He's just incredible at it. So shout out to Avan for getting the damn job done. You know, maybe he needs Paul Heyman in his corner to do the mic work. But yeah, gets it done. Well done. Menon Fioro did not need a lot of time to beat Jasmine Jazz DeVizius.

That was just kind of a levels fight. This is again, to me was perfect. By the UFC, hey, we're in Canada. Let's see if we can get Jasmine into a title fight. Let's throw her in there with Manon. And, yeah, 80-something seconds later, the fight was over. This is kind of an easy pick for me, AK. It's Alexa Grasso.

We'll go ahead and do that. I think the winner of the women's flyweight division last night was Daddy Ice. I think this solidified Daddy Ice should be getting the winner of Valentina Shepchenko versus Zhang Wei Li. unless something weird happens. Could you do Menon versus Natiaz? Of course you could. But I think Natiaz has clearly done enough to get a title shot at this point.

So I'll go Fior versus Grasso and go from there. I can't remember who I messed up with Grasso last time after she. Oh, maybe we didn't have to match her up, did we? Because she lost Natiaz. I went a different direction. I'm probably being a little too optimistic here. I'm looking at UFC 323 again. Macy Barber, Karine Silva winner,

probably more so Macy Barber. I know the O.C. likes her. She'd be on a great winning streak. It's obviously an extremely risky, like, you know, prognosis because we don't even know if Macy's going to make it to TOC 323. And I hope she does. I hope she does. But, you know, again, there's well-documented health issues.

We don't, at the public, we still don't know what they are. It's fine. It's none of our business. But we know they exist. So, but I hope she makes it. And if Macy wins, I think it'd be a great matchup. You're definitely getting a title challenge out of that. Karene, uh,

probably a little bit murkier if that happened. But again, I don't know how close Manon is. I mean, listen, she wasn't bad against Valentina Jurchenko, but she did lose a clear decision. So I don't know how high the UFC is on getting her back in there. But yeah, she's going to have to fight another top 10 person. So Grasso makes a lot of sense. And then Apostle and Macy Barber.

Yeah. I mean, the true correct answer to this question is I think you kind of hit the nail on the head, but there's so many moving parts. Like if Macy wins, it does. in an impressive fashion. She, that's a great spot. The other name that stands out to me

is Tracy Cortez. If she goes in there beats Aaron Blanchefield, I think you chuck her in that spot too. I forgot. I forgot about Tracy Cortez. She, uh,

won her first, a long lifetime ago, uh, won a controversial decision against Blanchefield. Right? She won, right? Yes,

long ago. She won in, on paper. On paper. It's on the record. It's a hundred. Yeah. How do you want to watch that fight?

Split decision. Split decision. Very, very, very controversial trip to Splitty City. Yeah. Yeah. Let's go to another Canadian. Bannamweight, Charles Jordane. This guy, I mean, watching him last night, I was just like, why didn't you move to

Bannamweight like five years ago? I know. Who knows what he would be? And Davey Grant is a tough out. I picked Davey to win the fight because I was a, there's, Charles isn't going to get rid of Davey Grant because nobody can get rid of him. of this guy. He's an absolute freak. But then Charles Jordane jumped

with the highest jumping knee I've ever seen. Shout out to our social media team. That graphic of Air Jordane doing the jumping knee is spectacular. It should be the most viewed graphic at MMA this year because it's so good. And what a win. Charles Jordane, 2 and 0 at Banimite, two finishes over two pretty tough dudes. One of my big questions last week, AK, was, what do we do with Montel Jackson?

But we have our answer because he's fighting Charles D'Orday next. That's really good. Yeah, that's probably the right answer. Man, that's where Montel is now, right? He's got to kind of prove himself again, possibly against a dark horse contender because, yeah, Charles, you know, again,

he's beating sort of the mid-tier guys. I thought the Victor Henry win was really impressive. I think this wins really impressive. But sure, you know, Davy and Victor Henry are maybe top 30, bantamaste, top 30, top 35. So, sure, Charles has a long way to go. But yeah, he's looked good, man.

I didn't realize you were saying it just on Dave. He hadn't been finished in seven years. He's had losses, dude. He's had tough losses. It has not been finished in seven years. Holy crap, much less than the first round. Damn. The last guy to finish him, the immortal Manny Bermudez.

God, remember that guy? New England's own. He was weight cutting. He had a lot of weight cutting issues, right? Was that his problem? He sure did, AK. Yeah, that's an understatement. I might have a big.

Golly, yeah, this, what, what, honestly, I think he's, truly one of the one of the biggest what ifs. Yeah, he was good. In MMA, yeah, for sure. So for Charles, I'm going, can I interest you in some Jakob Vicklash?

Can I interest you some Jakob Vicklash? That, oh, he's laughing. Because I'm just, I'm imagining how just awkward and weird that fight could get. Probably. I like it.

There's a, that's like, that has to be. potential to be like RDR DDP of Bannamweight. Just super goofy and strange, but fun at the same time. High praise. I like that's a good one. That's a good one.

All right. Lots of options for good old Chuckie J. Let's go to the lightweight division. Again, Canada Shining. Again, Dan Bergliata being a dope. Kyle Nelson probably should have gotten a first round TKO win over Mafferbola. It was so bad from Big Dan. How was he not removed from his duties?

Because he, I feel like he, he refereed almost every other fight that night. I think there was what, there was a Jason Herzog in there. But it was like four or more like Dan. Yeah, he did the men on fight.

Crazy. Yeah, he was in there a lot after that. We've had judges removed in the middle of events. So we had, it's in Australia, right, where that judge is completely back. We've had referees removed. We did. The one, the one, the, the one, the BSD, the debut.

Yeah. That guy that when he, the, when he let BSD just, get a halacious beating yeah uh how could big dan have been a lot to referee again after that his data wasn't there i think that's honestly a huge part of it that there was so much footage of like three seconds left the call i look at some people on multiple angles i posted a screenshot in twitter like i saw someone saying like he didn't wave it off officially and it's like he touched the fighters he touched the fighters to separate them while they're still you don't he doesn't need to make a call once you touch the fighters make the kind of separation you are doing

something you better make some sort of call besides oh i thought the round was over. No, you stopped action. You stopped a fighter who was in a great position to do damage and possibly like legitimately finish the fight. So I'm glad Colin also went on to win, but that is one of, no hyperbole, that is one of the worst gaffes I've seen at the UFC level. I've never, I can't remember the last I've seen anything like that at the USC level. That was three full seconds left on the clock. And that wasn't, and that wasn't even the worst. Like I still think the ballad thing was worse. I don't know. I don't know, man. It's pretty terrible. But

again, this, this, maybe because it just tastes a little better because the right fighter won. Right. And like if for all it'd come back and won a decision or something, like, we'd feel way different about this. Don't. Don't. And we'd still be pretty pissed. But, yeah, Kyle Nelson looks, do it looks good at lightweight. I mean, again, that was a good win.

My favorite role is not an easy out. So what do we do here with the monster, Kyle Nelson? This man dodged one Canadian bullet, but he won't dodge another one, Mike. Drew Dober. get you ask. There we go. Cue the band, baby. Cue it up.

Three, two, one. Friends forever. Yes. Easy peasy. New Dover, come back up here, buddy. Listen, we love Drew Dober up in Canada, but after what happened with Kyle Preppelike, listen, we want blood. We are well-mannered, polite people, but sometimes we want blood.

We want Jude Dover's blood after that bullshit. So, Kyle Nelson, avenge your fellow Canadian and fight Drew Dober. Heal. is I mean, I'm so fascinated by the possibility of healed Drew Dober, just being, being the Sean Michaels, even like the found religion and I'm a great person, Sean Michaels. Like, not the same asshole Montreal screw drop, Sean Michaels, but like the new and improved Sean Michael still getting booted in Canada. I love this so much. I want to see Drew just like cut up, kind of scathing promo in Canada. It would be spectacular.

So let's go to the wild card round, AK. Let us matchmake for one fighter, if not match. for yet and let's go ahead and have some fun right now i'm going to say my pick to the end who did you choose and why was it the scarecrow i i'll say right ahead i like your pick i remember i just remembered where that's going and and anyone who didn't watch the preview show you were going to love sorry post fight show excuse me you're going to love this uh i went women's band to wait i went melissa croden i do it for canada zone canada's listen canada zones got the party started right uh got a t keo and a fight i think she was going to win by decision anyway but she's nice nice to you know

it up a gear, get that finish. I'm building something here. So I randomly pulled the name out of a hat. Where's Melissa Gato been? That's what I said. So I picked Melissa Gato. We haven't seen her since like May of last year crazy. And I was trying to look at was there a significant injury or something?

Was she booked for a fight? She just has not fought since then. So hopefully everything's all right with Melissa Gato. We can make that happen. But Mike, I am building towards. And I know this other name I'm going to mention is way ahead of her right now in terms of like star power and probably even like in this very thin contender line. she's going to fight be a mosquito at some point we're going to have her and be a mosquito it'll be like

maybe when they're both two and oh or three and oh or maybe someone's more active maybe melissa crone's more active is three and oh b is going to get like a top 15 opponent next probably and then and then you have them fight to create a so weird a number one contender at a bandway sometime late 2026 like after the white house card that's where you know if kela and amanda possibly happens anyway or kela even fights on that card uh so they go i'm building towards on here mic so not this not an exciting pick, but let's revisit this eight, nine months from now when like when Melissa Cronin keeps winning, the Miskita keeps winning, and I can finally just match them off. I'm not, I'm not even going to like use the word excited when it comes to to

women's band-o-white. Why not? Why not? It'll get clipped off. I would never do that to you. Like, I would never do it out of context. I wouldn't do that to you. I don't know why you said it was, it was, it has been nice to see in this division, women's

band-and-weight fighters trying to hurt other women's band-oid fighters. It's been. It's new. That's new. I haven't seen that for a while. Tried up. Tried to hurt her opponent. Melissa Crow did, I mean, the entire fight, she tried to hurt her opponent.

And then eventually she did and got the finish. Like, that's fun. Like, this is, this, it's, it's getting a little bit more fun. So we also got, we also had two heavyweight finishes last week. Are, our heavyweight and women's benton weight back, Mike? Are they back? Are these guys people that's trying to hurt each other again? I mean, we didn't get Moe, we spent Walter Walker.

So that would have been. that would have answered all the questions. Listen, that would have been a 15 second knockout from all, all, all right? 15 second knock on him as he always does, as he always does. So, Jed and I worked on this. And I'm giving Jed full credit for this because, I mean, he opened my eyes to what this needs to be, right? Riding and Reuters can't be a middleweight anymore. Like, I think we're done with this.

You know, maybe it was just too many five weight cuts in a year or whatever. Like, that's just a lot of weight cuts. It's a lot, especially when you're a guy that big. And the tough part about this is, and I actually truly believe this at this point, when you lose like that, it is a career killer. It just is. And, you know, RDR is a delightful guy on the mic and he's funny and all these different things. And he's a personality.

But I don't know how you come back in this division after losing to a guy who came off the couch three weeks ago in the fashion that you lost to. when you're sitting there saying you will run over Hamzaa Chamaif and all these other people. It's very tough to come back from. Luckily, for RDR, he could just move up to 205. Then he doesn't have to cut all this weight. And that division is awful. It is very, very bad. And RDR could go up there, win like two fights and probably fight for a belt.

Like he can win, if he wins two fights at middleweight, he's probably not. fighting for the title. He can go up to light heavyweight, win two fights and fight for the and fight for the light heavyweight title. Because Pereira ain't sticking around. He knows how bad this division is. He's out of here. He's going to go fight John Jones with the White House and make a floppy trillion dollars. And we'll let Yuri Prasca and Carl Soltberg battle it out for the vacant belt. Jed's pick was so perfect that I'm stealing it. RDR moves up to 205. He puts middleweight behind him and he fights Dominic Reyes. I mean, this is so good. This is perfect. And it scratches me where I urge for a number of reasons. One, because I think RDR likely wins, but you never know.

If Dominic Grace beats RDR, like shot in the arm, maybe, maybe we're so back on the Dominic Reyes hype train. If RDR wins, it's not going to be a way where we feel terrible about our lives and ourselves watching Dominic Reyes get brutally caoed for like the fifth time in nine fights. RDR will just tackle them and maybe knee him and the sternum a few times. So yeah, maybe some some internal stuff dealing with, but at least he won't be, at least if he goes unconscious, it'll be because he was like choked out. And it won't make us feel terrible about ourselves. And it's just like a true test to see where both guys are. So I think that's money. I think that's absolute money. Boot him. Just take a fight at 205. See how it treats you.

And if it goes well, you go beat Dominic Reyes. You're one win away. You're a Jamal Hill away win away from fighting for the title. So I think he should go to 205. And that's it. And Dominic Grace is like the perfect opponent to introduce him to the UFC's light heavyweight division. It's so good. Congrats to you and Jed. That's an awesome pick.

I keep forgetting, you know, obviously when he was the two division champion and one, that one has those wonky ass weight classes. He was the middleweight and light heavyweight champion. Middleweight meaning 205, I think. I think he regularly just fought at 205. And then like their light heavyweight was like, like 225 they have like a weird it's like cruiser way yeah yeah they have an in-between thing like 225 so like he was fighting as high as 225 pounds like that is and then he went from that to go

to the ufc and cutting to 185 five times in 12 months like man that kid just cannot be good for him cannot be good for him and if he was going to fight a more like relaxed schedule at 185 maybe he could say like if he's only fighting once or twice a year but if he does have your right intentions of becoming ufc champion yeah maybe he just remove so much of that weight cut and just fight at a more natural class. And yes, in a division that is not particularly good. I mean, like, every weight is pretty dire. It's very bad.

Damn, man. I, I, I, dude, you guys get a huge point if they make it Dominic. Is there any other alternative at lightweight, a light, heavyweight, let's like, because we all love the light heavyweight move. Let's say it's not Dominic. Alonso Meadowfield. Oh, okay. Oh, interesting.

Rag dude that he will be. There are options. There are options. Certainly. Yeah. I would, like, I would throw me in there with like Bursa Kana off or anybody like that. No, no, no. Like, yeah, let's, let's, let's have a little fun here.

Let's pull up the rankings. Ouzdimir? It was Demer. Yeah, he's fighting. Hoosiers DeMere fighting. Oh, he's, he's fighting Manefield. Yeah. So, here we go.

Yeah. The winner of that. Yeah, the winner of that. Let's see. I mean, Uncle If, I wouldn't even hate that, honestly. No. I truly wouldn't even hate it. All right.

We're getting, no, we're getting, we're getting a little crazy. We're getting a little crazy. Alexander Rackage. I know he's fighting Merzikanaf. Yeah. That's probably, fight is probably not going to go well for Alexander Rackich, so we could go that route.

I think Reyes is great. OZabir fighting Menefield. You could do the winner of that. Mersakhanov, no. Gooskhov, no. Johnny Walker? Don't hate that. Nikita Krilov, don't hate that.

Jing Ming Yang, it wouldn't probably do. Yeah. I mean, there's, you can do rackets, Reyes, O's Debier, Menefield, Krilov, or Wendah. Walker. All those, all those names I think would work for RDR. He's really going to do this. He should. He absolutely should.

Huh. If I'm, if I'm his manager, if I'm his team, yeah, dude. Like, go win two fights at 205 and headline of pay-per-view and fight for the belt. Like that's, that's what's happening. Because you ain't getting a title shot at 185 for a long-ass time, man. It's just not with the names that are up there. This one, this one's going to sting for a while. it's going to sting for for quite some time so yeah go go do it and have some fun stop cutting all that weight

you might be able to fight seven times at 205 like it'd be what an incredible move this could be for him so yeah go go to go to 205 there's nothing for you in this division like what are you going to do you're going to fight kio bohalio like really like you're going to cut again to fight kio bhaalio you're going to go fight MVP. Jared can't you're going to cut to 185 to fight Jared canonnier. Why would you do that? Why? I don't understand.

It was a good run. It was a good run, Mike. It was a good run. It sure was. It sure was. It sure was. We had fun. Yeah.

Let's go to the peeps. Let's see what the peeps are talking about. I got a few, including AK, someone who was actually in the building for UFC Vancouver. Dawson Boyd said he was writing this live from Rodney. Rogers Arena. And here's what he came up with. Kyle Nelson versus King Green. He deserves something good after beating Favola twice in one night. That's pretty funny. Charles Rodin versus Marcus McGee. That's pretty good. That's pretty good. Oh, Dawson. I have to read it. I'm going to get there in a second. Oh, boy. You must, maybe had a couple of a couple of bat blues.

If he did this from the arena, that I think it's a little bit excusable, yeah. Okay. Aven Sahabee versus Corey Sanhagan. Mike Malott versus Colby Covington. These are all great picks. I'm likely, I know, but Colby will have to fight backwards. It comes back to Jorla.

It would be fun. Brennan Allen v. D.D.P. And then he did this, okay. Manon Fioro versus the McKenzie Dern Verna-Jengera-Rober winner. Sorry, we had a moment of silence. Yes. Because why?

Why would Manon Fioro drop to Strow? to fight these women. Oh, Dawson. Dawson. You need to go find Pacey and Joey and Jen. Oh. You went there. You went there, Mike.

Maybe you have a conversation. Yeah, I did that. That just happened and I'm proud of it. Wildcard RDR versus Stairmaster. So, yeah, I think, you know, Dawson might have been shotgun in some of those Labatties and the big ones, like the big cans. Yeah, not great.

Not great, Dawson. The rest were pretty. solid. Thanks, Dawson. Youser. Trevor Niren, Allen versus DDP again, RDR versus Izzy. You know what? If, no, I don't, I don't, yeah, I don't, yeah, maybe. Is he would be like the only name worth staying for. Is he just comes 205. Is it? Is it at 205. Just do it. I like that idea. What are we cutting this weight for? Yeah. So not going to do it. They're not going to do it, Mike. They're going to kill themselves to make one and five. It's probably dropped a fucking welterweight at this point

the way this weight heading is not going on. It's crazy. RDR versus, yeah, Balat versus the Bonfeme Randy Brown winner. I thought about it. logical. Yeah, I thought about it.

Very logical. He's the best piece for MMA. Zahabi versus Song Yudong. Song probably deserves someone higher rank, but I don't think timing will work out. Something tells me that song will get somebody higher ranked

and something tells me that song you dong based on your pick will be stealing Amin Zahabio's is Avin Sahabhi's Cheerios, so to speak. Because he's probably fighting Shadow Malley next. Okay. So we'll just put that out there. Let's go to John Ray.

Crodin versus Segula. Belgaroy versus Jordan Santos, Luciano versus Hadeghie, Silva versus Vinnie Siggs. How about Bruno Silva? I feel like he's kind of an unsung hero of this card. I can't quit him, Mike. I can't quit him.

I don't know why I picked him to beat Manel Kopp. I picked him to be. beat. Did you pick a new Josh fan? I think I did. Where am I used to? I'm not going to look at this. I'm almost,

maybe that's where I finally drew the line. Maybe that's for my brain. No, no, okay, I did pick Josh Fan there. But I was, I probably thought about it more than most people did,

Mike. I thought about it. One of my biggest regrets of the night with my, my picks was not picking Bruton Sovok's. I wanted you so bad. I really did. But I, I couldn't keep justifying picks.

I'm like, well, he just fought better dudes. And I feel like that was like the justification for so many picks. But yeah, I was, that was one of my big regrets, was not picking, was not believing in Bruno Civil like I should have. Ritchie Lang versus Alatang Ali. Ritchie Lang with the post-fight interview of the night. It was terrific. I believe was Eddie Chah, who was the sacrificial lamb.

He's like, I don't really even speak this language. I speak a weird. And Eddie did a great job. So shout to him. Dober versus Joachim Silva All right, I'm going to keep reading Can you look up and see of Joaquin Silva's doo-do? That they fought already, right?

Or something like that? Or that he's booked? Or that he's booked? I just... I will keep going on. I feel like there's potential doo-do that. I just want to make sure. Nelson versus Gordon,

Jordane versus Jonathan Martinez, Fior versus the barber-silva winner. He's with you. A lot versus Wonderboy Thompson. Good passing of the torch to another nice guy. Sure. Holland versus Curtis in December, probably L.O.L. RDR versus MVP. It's the right kind of weird. And Steve says, or this ends with, and go Mariners, love you, AK.

Wow, it's like that. Well, we'll find me, by the time so if you'll listen to this episode, we'll find out how happy I should be or not. Yeah, this guy's is recording on a Sunday. And Jay's have a big, big game tonight. Wachim Silva, not do-do, Mike. I don't think so. Not too. Unless there's some rumor that's floating around, I don't see anything locked in anywhere, and they have not fought before. So, yeah, that actually makes less sense. All right. Steve Langford, a lot versus Joel Alvarez. I don't see any world anywhere, even in fake universes where the UFC thinks this is a good idea. I have them like, I think I have them like next to each other in the rankings. And I was like, I have no interest in seeing these guys fight each other right now. Yeah, it makes, I mean, it makes like meritocratic sense. But the UFC is going.

The UFC wants Mike Malat to win fights. And this is not a fight that I would pick him in at all. I didn't think he was going to be Kevin Holland before the ding-ding shots. And now you're going to throw him in there with Joel Alvarez after what he just did, the Vicente Lucke Youser. They're on different tracks. They're on different tracks right now. They should not be heading towards each other.

Yeah. Malat, you got to push quick. Alvarez, you have plenty of time with him. So Hobby versus the Umar-Bautista loser. Fior versus Grasso, Jordane versus Bryce Mitchell. Holy God. I thought about it. I mean, these are two guys who, well, I mean, to call Bryce Mitchell controversial would be a huge

understanding. I think the man is an aberrant human being, if I'm being honest, at least as far as a certain, you know, political views. Charles is kind of like a shit poster, as the kids say, following his social media. He just says some like wild stuff. Some of it, very offensive. Some of it just kind of weird and kind of funny. So I definitely thought about it, but I was like, oh, man, I'm not interested in the build

up to this fight. I don't know where it's going to go. because because charl will will poke him man he will try and bring out the worst of bryce mitchell in their view he will be trying to get him to say something like wild and i just know it's like two two like middle schoolers just trying to like out you know provoke each other or something oh no no thank you maybe they could play like edward forty hands for the entire build to the fight so that they can't hold a microphone and say anything to each other i think that might be the good way to do it so uh kyle lelson versus uh cdf

Diego Faheda, Dober versus Tom Nolan, Silva versus the Esteban Nassimento winner. Kevin Holland versus Shara Bullet. Kevin, I feel like we've tried to make this before. I think Shara's look good enough that he's also in 185. I don't want Kevin Holland at 185. No, no, no Kevin Holland, 185. Yeah. I don't care of he's fighting strikers.

No, no. Cheeto versus David Martinez. And I like this pick because I like the idea. I like where you're going with this. I like where you go on with this. And if you were just listening 10 minutes ago, you know exactly why. He is saying RDR should just move up to 205, which is 100% the way to go. And I actually think this name is great.

However, if you go into this guy's Instagram or if you go to the lovely, lovely feed on MAAfighting.com, it appears that this ban has undergone some surgery and it's probably not to be fighting anytime soon. He likes RDR versus Jamal Hill. And I actually like that, I actually like that fight as well. So we're starting to build this thing up, the RDR to. 205 thing. I think it's great. Left lane. Let's see if you have anything new here. RDR versus Izzy Malat versus Colby. How about Kevin Holland versus Joel Alvarez?

Yeah, I think that's, I think that's the way to go. I think if Kevin Holland wants to get back in there quickly, I think he should definitely tell them he's open because I think we want to see Joel Alvarez fight sometime in the next four months. So Kevin Holland's game, let's do it. Cheeto versus Loke Dog, I believe, which I think is good. Anything new here. Jasmine, versus Rose Zombie Yunus, which I actually thought should have been the fight if we're, but then you, you kind of realize like, all right, let's just, let's just go with Jasmine here because even a win over Rose at this point in 2025 is not enough to get you a title shot. But now it makes a lot of sense to do that fight.

We've called for the Battle of Lithuania many times. I don't know. I'm starting to lose hope that it's going to materialize. But you know what? But we did eventually get, what was what I was calling for for the long time? like Cort McGee and Matt Brown. That's one night we wanted forever. Maybe, you know what?

Listen, maybe it'll happen. Maybe it'll happen. Nelson versus Campbell, Dover versus the Klein, Rebetschke loser. Silver versus Perez with a lost to Asu. Ritchie Lang versus Elijah Smith, Santos versus Jimmy Suss after he beats Eric Oconico, Usory versus CLD with a lost to Tullio. So I know how good is Tullio? Beckoff versus the Valentin Jackson McVeigh winner.

So there you have it. Deep. I mean, left lane knows the game, man. Just make picks for everybody and go real deep with stuff. Try to get that point. So, AKA, turn it over to you and your submitters. Yeah, yeah, we got a few here. Let's go to email first.

This is Sean, just Sean. Sean, I think, is you sent before. I'm just trying to recall now. Alan, Brennan Allen versus Kyle Bahalio. Oh, they had a grappling match recently. That's why he's saying like sort of run it, run it back under MMA rules. I don't think that's terrible idea. What was this?

This was, oh, just back in February. Back in February, I'm looking here. Kyle Bahayo won a decision. Okay, I looked at you. That's pretty cool, pretty cool cut. I had not thought about that at all. That's a good idea. Anything new here.

Is it Hobby v. Sanhagen? Yes, I think we agree. That would have been a very nice callout. Charles Jodan, Giga, Chikadeze. Okay. Nelson versus Jared Gordon. I like that a lot. What? Dober and Zell Huber.

Oh. Zell Heber is coming off a loss, no? He lost to Michael Johnson. He lost to Michael. You know what? He lost two in a row because he lost to Estevan Rievovich first and like one of the best fights of the year. That might be a good idea. That's that young gun versus, you know, veteran match.

We're kind of like we kind of want to see where both guys are. Like, you know, it was how much does Dober have left in the tank? Was like just a bad night for Zell Huber? because that was, I remember that's why he did nothing. Hmm. I'm not going to read all that. Croden versus Alice Palletta. Oh, that's really good.

Yeah. Ale, wait, which one's the one that's not Alex? The one that's actually in the U.S. This is Alice, right? Alice, yeah. Okay, it's the one in the UFC. That's not Oxford City. Not the karate combat champion.

That's a tough one for Alice, man. Yeah. That's a real tough fight. I think a lot of types of tough for Alice right now. I don't know if she's a, I don't know. Crotin's a monster. Yes, Crotin. It's just the age difference.

I mean, this is a gross. own person versus a teenager. Like, I like, but I like the idea. I like, honestly, because again, they just pushed Alice Perra too quickly. And maybe it's, she takes an L, goes back to the regional scene, gets a lot more experience. And we, we talk about Alice Prayer again in like, you know, 2027 or something. Like, good for her.

Good for her for getting signed. But it was very like, everyone was saying it was just way too soon. Even before the loss, we were soon. Lucas Cortes, AK, really good car until the last three fights and great highlights. Number one being, I love that Dilber want to hug Kyle for the third round. and since Probleck didn't accept Dover came right out and kicked him straight in the tick. Very smart strategy. Look, because that's not how I remember it, but yeah, maybe that was his motivation.

Maybe Kyle Schultz hugged him. We could avoid it this whole, this whole ugly incident. Jordant Cody Garbrandt. Oh, well, wait a minute. No, hold on. Jodent, no. No, we're going the, oh, yes, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Mike, you read a Jordain pick. Was there a featherweight pick in there that you read? And I just didn't catch it? No. No Anyway Cody Garbrent 135

Okay Okay I don't think it's time yet I don't think it's time yet Let's see what else here Belgaru Belgarui and Sharra bullet What what We're just

I mean we're just getting after it I don't I don't Beers to know I don't like keep a huge track Of like kickboxing Is he Was Belgari a big name I'm sure if people out there

Like oh he's a huge name of kickboxing You idiot You beat Pereira, didn't he? Is he one of those guys? Yeah. He beat Pereira a long time ago. He was, that's right, people.

This is top quality journalism. I'm reading Wikipedia entry. A three-time glory middleweight champion. Okay, so pretty good kickboxer. I guess with that logic, but I just don't know if the UFC, they like Shara. Like, they have something with Shara, even though he's got this weird circumstance where, like, can he fight the U.S.? And sometimes his performances are a little wonk. you know, sometimes the hype is and the hype and the aura is certainly a lot like more intriguing than the in cage product.

But I have Shar on the top 20, top 25. I understand the push, the wanting to push a Belgarie because like we said, he has a lot of combat sports experience. It's not like he's a rookie fighter. It's just he's like, you know, young and MMA. You know, not as crazy at that I'm like, I don't, I can't imagine it being next. But somewhere down the line, you know what, Lucas? You're probably actually, you're probably on to something here. Oh, he wanted to make a note that Paulo, this is, I don't think we've confirmed this, right,

that Paulo Costa and Sharra are supposed to be fighting or something? Is this a rumor that's been floating around? That's not booked. I don't think so. Surely that's not. I know, I think I feel like I heard people talking about this. I mean, it was reported like a thousand times for like 800 different cards. Yeah.

You know, the golden rule. Okay. If it's not from us, then an eight real. Yeah. Lucas is saying that Acosta will pull out of the fight anyway. But yeah, I don't think it matters, Lucas don't think it's official. Jay Donagie. Trolling us, Mike, trolling us.

He put, he put Brendan Allen, Gerald Mearshardt, and then, dot, dot, dot, dot, that Kyle will hog you. Ha! He was just messing with us. He just messing with us. He knows. He knows. He just messing with us. Very funny, Jay.

Very funny. Mike Malotte, Jeff Neal, I certainly thought about that. Kyle Nelson, Mason Jones. Oh, I would love that fight. I would love see Kyle Nelson thrown out with Mason Jones. That's good stuff. Let's go to the Twitter. Let's go to the Twitter.

quite a few here. Finn Hamilton, hope you're enjoying the ALCS as much as I am. It's stressful. Finn Zay is a Mariners fan. Kyle Nelson, Terrence McKinney, win-l loser draw against Duncan.

Wait a minute. Yeah, yeah. You're 22. Yeah, no, I'm just trying to think. I agree, excuse me. Yeah, win-loser draw. There's so many good fights for Terrence McKinney. Yeah.

He should be on the, the, the Kevin Holland thing of five, fights a year. I mean, I don't know how long it would last, given his health would last, given his insane fighting style. But it'd be interesting, fun to watch. A lot of picks we've seen are Zahabi versus Davidson Figurado. Yeah, obviously it makes a lot of sense. I'm not sure why I was so reluctant to go with it. Like, why knows Zahby and Viggy? I don't mind that one. Yeah, I don't know. I immediately dismissed it when I was, but they're pretty much like right next to each other in the rankings right now, I would imagine most people's rankings.

Zach Schultes Malak, Mike Giza, I thought about it as well, Mike on Mike. Firo, whoa, okay, I'm going to read this one, Mike. I'm not sure I understand this. Fiorre versus Blanchfield 2, if Blanchield beats Cortez. I know they just fought, but Manaas shouldn't have to defend outside the top five again. She doesn't have enough juice to go for a title shot again. I can't imagine them running that one back.

so soon. That fight was like a, it was last March. Zach, we have. It was not close. No. It was not competitive at all. Yeah. And honestly, I don't, I don't know if that fight.

I don't know if Aaron beats her. If they fought a hundred times, I don't know if Aaron beats her ones. Damn. It's just the physical. The physicality differences are just, it's night and day. Like Aaron's. There's just certain fighters. Aaron's going to have a tough time with her height.

And, you know, if anyone can match or beat her physicality, she's going to have a tough time in there, which is why, like, I don't, I don't think she'd do well against Valentino or Zhang. And Manon's just a really tough fight for her. So, yeah, be a tough one. So count me out if they make it. I get it. But not something I'll be excited about.

I don't think they would book that again so soon. Picks by Frodd says Menon and Tracy Cortez. this will not be due to because I'm banking on Aaron Blanchfield to avenge her loss against Cortez at MSG. Tracy's next fight will be against Menel after she loses in the... I don't know, man. That's...

I'm actually really looking forward to that fight. I am. It just makes a ton of sense. And Tracy looked terrific at her last fight. So, very interested in that one. Jasmine and Wang Song. I think Jasmine just kills Wang at this point in their careers. But I don't know.

That's way too. you may give a step back i think so too i think so too but i get it there was so much hype about wang after her first after like her first win i understand but like i think we kind of have a better gauge of where she is now like after seeing her a couple times um and mike malot was droll avres sorry okay you're my guy but malot cannot fight in canada after multiple nutshots why we don't care but we encourage that uh big dan should have taken a point away this fight should be opener for a numbered card or apex coleman boo eff rod that's not happening that is not happening he wants to penalize mike Malon. So if the nutshots happened in New Jersey, he's just no longer a lot of

fighting in the United States? What? I think he's saying it's a cultural thing. Like he thinks we would like, oh, Canadians don't cheat. No, we cheat in sports. Oh, okay. Ben Johnson, guys, Ben Johnson. We cheat in sports all the time. Come on now. GSP's greasy. Been greasing for years. Come on. We love cheating. Tech MMA, just one pick, it looks like. Jodin and Kyler Phillips. Is Kyler booked? No. Yes. No. No. I don't know. He just fought, though. He just fought, maybe. Probably.

I'll look at it up. DGB, a lot of stuff we've seen already. RDR versus Dolitze. There's no. Or a confidence boost. Do it in 205. Any RDR pick is acceptable. You just add at 205.

And we'll be like, oh, okay, yeah, this is just fine. This is as long as you're heading in the red direction. Kyler Phillips fought in July at UFC 318, lost to Loke Dog, Beniche Solidera. That was recent. Octagon, Octagon, trying out making picks again. Fun card, I thought.

It was something. How did this not come up, Mike? Malat and Gilbert Burns. So that, if there was like, if I was to pick medals for how Malat's next fight should go, I think Joaquin's the gold medalist, Colby's the silver medalist, Gilbert Burns is the bronze medalist.

I think it's those three guys, and I think anything else is wrong. Is Gilbert still in your top 15 at 170? I don't think so. I don't think he is. Maybe. I don't know. Four straight losses.

I have him still in my top of dean, but this is like a Tony Ferguson type thing where I probably should just be dropping him. Like I'm using this whole rule of like, I'm only dropping him below people that beat him. But really at some point, you know, you should like, I think people who are more aggressive.

of with their rankings, like, would project and, and, you know, bump some people above him. Like, I don't know. Do people put Gabriel Bonfim above him? Do people put, like, Red Hat Fokritina up above him? Probably, like, I get it. But I don't know. I just need to see these old horses, like, lose to, you know, someone below them before I dropped in too much.

Burns is out of my top 15, but honestly, I've, I'd Kevin Holland at 15. I might throw him back in at 15. Give me the, uh, give me the Burns, Malotte opening line. a lot minus 260. Whoa. That's a huge favorite. Yep. I don't think he's fought anyone near as good as Gilbert.

But Gilbert's old. He is. And battered at this point. Like those last couple, like he was beating JDM until J.D. And then the way he lost to JDS was scary. And then Michael Rouse just, I just don't know how much more punishment this man can take.

And I think a Mike just, I think a Mike just went after him. and was aggressive early. I think you would knock Gilbert so in the first round. Gilbert was beating the future welfare champion until old happened. Until he until,

oh yes. The reality was like, oh, by the way, you're old. And it's like, oh, okay,

well, you're just getting knocked out now. That's okay. And look, I'm, I'm, when I say Gilbert's old, it's not like disrespect because I'm way older than

Gilbert. No, fight years. I'm like, I'm like a high school, I'm like an entire high school cluster older than Gilbert Burns. So it's,

it's all good. But yeah, I don't, I'm not in their, fighting and getting knocked out. So it's, it's a little different. But yeah, Burns would be, Burns would be option C for me just because there, there is still some value to the Gilbert Burns name right now. Like beating Gilbert Burns means more than beating, you know, Vicente Lucke. Yeah. You know what I mean? I wouldn't do Jeff Neal. Jet and I were,

we're pretty much on the same page. Like, anybody but Jeff Neal, because Jeff Neal will just go out there and beat him. Like, that's just Jeff, that's what Jeff Deal does when he's put in these situations. So anybody but Jeff Deal. But yeah, Burns, I think makes sense because of the name and he fought for a belt and all that stuff. So, sure. Thomas Collins, Mike Derritter and Paula Costa. They didn't mention this.

What if I add, I'll add this on at 205. Sure. Do that into it, guys. No, I mean, I think the fight makes sense because I think both probably have like incredibly false senses of where they actually sit in this division. However, the fact that Paula Costa has stopped the Hamza Atchamaev calls is kind of shocking to me, really. And yeah, I mean, you could do that. Paul Costa's talking a lot of shit last night about RDR and has talked a lot of shit about RDR. this entire time.

So sure. There's heat. There's heat. There's definitely heat there. And it would just be like a grudge match for the sake of two guys who don't like each other as opposed to. Like that's a fight where I don't give a shit about the stakes. No, no. So like you could do that fight at 195.

Shit, do it a heavyweight. I don't care. But you know nothing. You know Paula Costa would get a telefight off of it though, if you want. Probably. Probably. Probably. I mean, who knows?

It's so weird. Maybe. So strange. Barry O'Reilly. He also likes Brendan Allen versus Kyle Bahalio two, quote unquote, two. Yeah. Mike Malat and Renat Fakritina. Now, Mike, before you were, oh, okay, you're into it.

I thought you were going to be. That goes with my plan where I'm like, I feel like Mike can sneak into a title shot by beating tough guys around his range and then getting like one top 10 win. And then pay-per-view in Canada, he gets much with lots of way to tell. I like the fight. Like, I think that might make sense. But if Mike Malott lived. in if Mike Malot lived in Florida and trained at Kilcliffe, that fight makes

all the sense in the world. Like, it's perfectly fine. And that's probably, that is probably the fight I would call for. But the UFC has different plans, uh, for Mike. And Mike going out there and beating Renaud, like does very little for him. I guess like to us, we'd be impressed by it.

But for like, the overall audience and like what it would mean rankings wise and all that, like I don't think that does a whole bunch for him. But I would like to see that fight at some point. It would be interesting. Boy, I wouldn't even know who I would pick in that. I'd probably pick or not, honestly. But I don't know. I don't know.

Maybe Mike surprises. Mike Malat. Barry also throwing out Belgarui. I'm going to nail this pronunciation at some point, guys. I apologize. And Izzy has two wins in kickboxing over Ustree and is on a skin. It's like the Timu Izzy versus Poetan. We saw how fun that robbery was. So let's fast track this one.

Hey, man. I'm learning all kinds of things. Yeah, I apologize. I'm so ignorant to like this guy's accomplishments because obviously he's had a hell of a career well before the UFC. So I honestly think that if the UFC talks to Izzy and this team

and he's like yeah, I want to come, I want to have like four more fights. I think the entire build, I think getting to, usually getting to Israel is like the priority. I wouldn't do it now. I just wouldn't. I mean, as much as I like Bekiaf,

and I think he's fun, usually he was like another human being bigger than him. He was just humongous. It was so weird to watch. And it was just a gnarly ass fight and I dug it. You know, build them up. Give him a little bit of a step up, but with like favorable matchups. Let's give this dude some highlight reels.

Let's give him fun fights. Let's give him big finishes. And then and then we get there. Two more wins. And then I think you should go full boring. The easy idea. I love that idea. It's the, the pieces are in place.

100%. The pieces are in place to make this happen. Spezzi 32 last one from Twitter here Charles Rodin Rob Font right to the top of Dean I like it I like it Makes sense Yeah makes sense

Arichi Lang Elijah Smith Oh wow Huge experience difference But I think I could totally see them making it Sure Bruno Silva Charles Johnson You joked about this yesterday the other day Jordan Santos and Torres Vinnie

Must see TV Speezy says This must see Lovely stuff Lovely stuff. Thank you, Speezy. Let's go to just a handful on Instagram. I think we're just two people on Instagram.

I got Harry Newhouse. He says, hi, I appreciate the shout-out as always. Of course, here, of course. I'm saying if there's anything new here. I've still got some familiar ones. Kyle Nelson, Rafa Garcia, Drew Dober and Jim Miller. How's that not happened yet? Ritchie Lang, John Castaneda.

A lot of Bruno Silvest Dever sex. When you brought it up, Mike, I was like, scratch my head, but I've got like seven people saying they want Bruno Silva. Stephanie Luciano, Ketland-Suzzo. Oh, that's a step up. Okay.

Wow. Is stuff, okay. I doubt it. I thought I picked an upset for Ravenna Olivaire, and I was way off. U.S. and Michael Alexeychuk. That's probably, yes. Right?

Well done, Harry. That's closer to where they'll go. That's after yesterday, that has to do with the match because they're thinking. So what I would do is, Robert Valentine and Jackson McVeyer are. fighting next, right? Winner of that, that's a Ustery fights. Like, okay.

You know what? Just take Jackson McVeigh off the table. Robert Valentin versus Ustery is one trillion percent the fight to make. That's how you, that's how you built. My boy, Atiba Gautier, I mean, that's how you do it. You throw them in there, Rob Valentin for fight two, you know. And then what, you know, Ozzie Diaz is of the world for that. And then you go to Bakel OxyCech, and then we have all sorts of fun.

You know what? You know what? One day, tough 32 finalist, Robert Valentin, is going to upset one of these guys. And you guys are going to regret all this. Like, oh, it's incredible. Just put Robert Valencien in there. It's an automatic highlight for the opponent. You wait. You wait one day. He's like plus 850. And he's just going to pull off like a first round, jump the gilley, submit some undefeated sluggers. I'm tired of you guys.

He might be Jackson Big Vey. He might be Jackson Big Vey. I like Jackson Big Vey. I think he's a good prospect. He's an exciting guy who might just go out there and highlight real poor Robert Valentine. But maybe Robert, maybe Robert beats him. Like, that's a good win, in my opinion. He's going to, he's going to cost people some money someday.

I am telling you, he's going to hear the people's wall someday. Robert Valentine, if you're out there, you're going to get that UFC win. And you're going to get it. It's like plus 850 plus 1,200 underdog. And I can't wait. Sorry, sorry, she's hearing on Harry's Melissa Crodin, Monsarad Randon. I like it. And Gerard, you will close out the show.

You didn't read Gerard. I'm like, I don't used to send to you. I did not. Okay. Jared B. Rugg, and you will close out the show. He likes Brendan Allen and DDP. Do it in South Africa. Yeah, if they ever get a card down there.

I mean, that's just the way to go. Fine, I could totally see that. And like I said, I like the idea of him fighting DDP. Charles Rodent, Jonathan Martinez, the silence behind the violence. Jonathan Martinez, is he? No. He ain't booked. All right.

Drew Dober, Michael Johnson. Am I flipping out? Why do I think Drew Dober has fought everyone? one. He somehow never fought Michael Johnson. It's crazy how long Michael Johnson's been in the UFC. I feel like Michael Johnson. Well, I mean, he literally has fought almost like 30 something times. And I guess it was in two divisions. So maybe there's a bunch of lightweets he hasn't fought yet. Arichi Lang, Rania Nakamura, Rino Silva, Ramos Silva, Ramazon, Tamir up, and Belga Rue and Michelle Pereira.

Oh, my God. That's, wow. If you do want to. You do want to Michelle? Oh, I like this. I like this. Well, Robert Valentine first. Then Michael.

Stop it. Stop it. Michelle, then is he. If you want to push him into the top 20 quickly, I guess you could give him Michelle top 20, top 25. I guess you could just give him Michelle Perreta. Damn. Man, this business is tough.

But, hey, good for Bulgaria because he was one of the bigger underdogs in the card. I'm pretty sure. No? Yeah, plus 200, plus 240. So good for him. man, he good for him. He just definitively beat Bukoyev, who was, I think a lot of people were seeing us like a sort of sleeper contender in this division, and maybe he still will be. But this was U.S.

night, man, huge show for him. So, yeah, one, again, early on the card and a forecast, Mike, of just so much weirdness and unpredictable incidents to happen on Saturday. So, man, we got to, I'm kind of happy we're moving off, man. Love you, Vancouver. It's where I was born. I'm kind of happy we're moving on. Yes. Thank you. Thank God, man. What a time to be alive. Big Dan, I hope you're not refereeing any fights at 321. You need a break, brother.

You need a long break. Yeah, dude. I mean, just, we had so much fun at 320. We had a lot of fun at Rio. And then we got to Super Weirdville. I still like this card. It just was weird. It was weird.

Super, super, super weird. Yes. So we are officially on the road to UFC 321. Our last stop, AK. Because, I mean, look, 321 is great and all. but we know what the people want. They have missed their UFC Apex cards. And boy, oh, boy, you're going to get a pair of them.

Look at those main events. David Onama, Steve Garcia. You're terrible, Mike. You're terrible. God, we're so back at the Apex. I could not be less excited. It's unbelievable. But yes, 321 coming up.

There's so much I like about this card, AK. Is this like going to do a million pay-per-views? No. Is it the type of Abu Dhabi card we typically get where it's just, I mean, just star power galore. We got Ilya and Max. We get Hamzot Whitaker in the co-main event. Like, no, we're not getting that.

But we are getting a main card with some high stakes. And we're getting a prelim slate that is a little wonky, but there are some very fun fights on this card. And the best part of all AK is once a year, once a year. Us, M.A fans, this is our Christmas. We get a pay-per-view in the afternoon. We get a 2 p.m. Eastern main card by 10. PM on a pay-per-view day, we are like dunzo.

We are wrapped and packed. We're showered, change, ready to hit the town. That never happens. And Tommy Aspidal is going to fight Surreal Gone in the main event with the undisputed heavyweight title on the line. You could check out the roundtable from the crew about the everything that's up for grabs, the pressures on Tom Aspinall. I spoke to John Anick.

He thinks there might be more pressure on Tom Aspinall than like any other champion we've ever seen heading into this fight. So it would be great to hear his thoughts. on that. Then we'll have a new Straway champion crowned. Verna John Jaroba, McKenzie Dern two. Should be a fun fight. Umar and Amargumatov fighting Mario Batista.

Big one there. Then we go potentially a number one contender fight, A.K. Alexander Volkov versus Jailton Almeida. Is this the time that A.K.'s faith in Jailton from day effing one pays off because he could find himself getting a champion chip opportunity. Main card opens with the fight that is no, there's no chance this goes to the

cards. Alexander Rackich versus Azamat, Mirza Kanoff. And then the prelim slate, we have Nazareth Hakparas versus Killin Salkid, which I actually think is going to be a sick-ass fight. I'm just kind of surprised it came together so quickly. Icaraphr, versus the Iron Turtle, Jun Young Park, Matushra Betchki versus Ludwig Klein. Holy cow, El-Sawati versus Mateus Camilo. Walter Walker versus Louis Sutherland, Jose Delgado versus Nathaniel Wood. I'm saving that one for last. Azit Maxim versus Mitch Raposo, shout out to New England. Jacqueline Amiram versus the returning Mizuki Inouye.

And in the real main event of UFC 321, maybe the weirdest booking in the history of the UFC's heavyweight division. Mr. Excitement. Mr. Worldwide. Mr. Mussi TV, Hamdi Abdelahab, you knew where I was going with that with all the nicknames, taking on Chris Barnett, who returns to Abu Dhabi, a year after just not a good time in Abu Dhabi against Kennedy and Chichuku. So a weird one, AK. That's such a weird fight. How is this fight, like, legal? Chris Burnett has fought over 30 times.

Hamdi, this would be his ninth M. MMA fight. It's not like Hamdi. Hamidi doesn't come from like some extensive. He was a Greco-Roman wrestler once in a time. Okay. He, okay.

Anyway, it's weird, weird fight. Yes, weird. I, this should be on the main card. This should be the opener.

Like, without question, it should be the opening. I will, my eyes will be locked on that matchup. That's bizarre. I'm going to break a little news for you. apparently Jose Young's going to be going to Abu Dhabi.

He's going to be doing some anything but fighting. And apparently knocking on some wood, Chris Barnett is going to be one of the individuals that he's going to be speaking to. And I could not be more excited. I'm also hearing that the other, it's going to be a heavyweighty slate of anything but fighting. Walter Walker, I believe is also on the list. I mean, if Jose was like, heck, pick two people you want me do anything. but fighting with, those are the two. Without question, those are the two.

He's not getting Jelton. I'll tell you that. No. He's said some mean things about Jelton's fighting style before. I'm glad. I hope he asked Jelton and Joltson said no. That's my. That's my own.

I hope Jelton shut him down. Oh my gosh. Well, lots to look forward to ahead of UFC 321. We get interviews. We'll be there and we'll bring you all the coverage and all the action, watch parties, preview shows, post-flight shows, live on to the next one next Sunday. It will be well rested following UFC 321.

So thank you for listening. Thank you for submitting your picks. Back next week for a special edition of On to the next one following UFC 321. Have a great rest of your weekend. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Unwrap holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you. From festive and cozy fashion to Lux Beauty and Fragrant sets.

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