MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 104

Episode Date: March 16, 2025

Roman Dolidze exacted some revenge on Marvin Vettori, earning a unanimous decision in their main event rematch at UFC Vegas 104 via unanimous decision. With the series being tied at 1-1, should the UFC book the rubber match right away, or have the fighters move on from one another? 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 Dolidze after his headline victory over Vettori this past weekend at the UFC APEX. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Chidi Njokuani following his stoppage win over Elizeu Zaleski, Alexander Hernandez after his decision win against Kurt Holobaugh in their lightweight battle, along with fellow main card winners Da'Mon Blackshear, Brendson Ribiero, Kevin Vallejos, and 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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How do you feel about having been involved in bringing sexual trauma at other people? I don't even know how to answer that question. Allison after Nexium from CBC's Uncover is available now on Spotify. 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 following the first ever event at the world's mightiest apex, not the world's greatest apex, not just the UFC Apex, but the first event since TKO higher up, Mark Shapiro named the Apex, the VIIIx,

mighty apex that the crowd in the mighty apex is the same as a 20,000 seat arena for a paper view or for a fight night card our fans no matter where the fights are happening they all sound the same and maybe that's true and boy that crowd would have to be electric from what everything looked like on paper heading into ufc Vegas 104 which went down last night roman de lise exact some revenge in a fight that was went 25 minutes, which surprised absolutely nobody. So let's talk about what's next for Roman DeLizze and the rest of the taste makers from UFC Vegas 104.

I am Mike Hack and joining me is the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity and my best friend, Alexander Kaylee, AK, how we doing? Did you get enough sleep? Were you able to sleep after the electricity wore off from the Mighty Apex? Hello, my best friend. Uh, yeah, this was, uh, this was something. This was, it wasn't even bad. Like, it's funny.

It's like, there's such a weird vibe around, I think, any UFC, like just the UFC in general these days. We recorded a show this week, like a ranking show. Mike, you were there. The, you know, who, we were like, we just had to question, like, the UFC star power. The whole theme was who are the least compelling champions. It felt like a very mean thing to do.

But that's kind of, I'm going to blame the UFC. That's kind of where we are conversationally with, the product right now. It just feels so uninspired and so dull. And the fighters are doing their best. The guys and gals who go in there are putting on good performances, are trying to make a name from themselves. But it's a tough sell. It's a tough sell. So Saturday's card was not bad by any means. I think I will say I've probably lowered my standards considerably for what a, you know, UFC level card is supposed to look like, right? Because if this was, uh, and like a more, you know, regional show and international show we'd be like oh this card really delivered people should check this out

but because it's at this certain level we're like well this is just not the product that a lot of us were were we're we're we're we're we're we're we're we're we're we're we're obsessed with you know when we were watching in the early 2000s mid 2000 even the early 2010s like this just feels so so diluted this isn't news to anyone uh mike you and i were just talking for the show and i didn't do the preview show so i didn't give a gymnastic score i really don't think we can even do these anymore with ufc cards, these don't really work anymore. But if I had to, like, the degree of difficulty for this card, like its potential was like a 5.6. And I would say it's a 5.4 out of 5.6. So you guys do the math there. Like you guys. So what I'm saying is it pretty much lived up to its potential, which is

great, but its potential was never that high. And as we've said, with several Apex cards is here, fun to watch in the moment. We just won't remember a lot of these things going forward. And that's fine. Like your mileage may vary with how much that matters. You're like, well, all I want all I care about is the moment and that's fine. And that's what the UFC is banking on. And, uh, and they're banking pretty well with this strategy. So. Yeah. This is this is, this is not Kool-Aid. This is, hey, you had enough sugar today. I'll give you some Kool-Aid, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to put three quarters of water in it and then I'm going to fill the other quarter with Kool-Aid.

You may notice a difference, but it's just a water-down product. Like, Like, that's just what it is right now. And there should never be a world ever where the UFC does not have like the most compelling fight card of the weekend. When Cage Warriors has a better card on paper than you do, that's bad. Like, that's really, really bad for you. And the problem is business wise is not bad because the UFC's still making millions. Right.

Millions. And they're saving so much on production costs because they don't. have to leave their own building. It's just so tough, man. Watching Carly Judy's kick a woman in the face and just obliterate her to the sound of crickets is just like, come on, man. It's just so sad. It's just so sad.

And like, the most memorable moment of this card is Marvin Vittori forgetting his cup. Like that's, I saw a clip. I saw a clip of Marvitton for getting his cup. That is what this card is going to be remembered for. which is insane. So, you know, we do a highlights post for any man, any UFC event. There's always, we do a full fights highlight post, you know, just, I don't know, it's just mandatory at this point.

And like, so I was looking to, checking the official UFC account for highlights from the fight, which normally, like, even if they don't post a finish from the of a main event, actually a five-rounder like this, they'll post like in meaningful exchanges, dramatic moments. You get two or three, like, highlights. And then you put it in the post and stuff. They only posted him missing the cup. that was it they posted Marvin missing the cup and then half an hour 35 40 minutes later they posted the you know the result being read out and they're like yeah accurate and it wasn't even a bad fight it was a good fight it was a good fight it was a good fight was a good fight of the fight the fights are fine they're not like fight of the year contenders but they're fine you put Marvin and Roman in there you're getting a good 15 minute or 25 minutes crap that's why we're probably getting a third fight down the road because they're good like they're good stylistic matchup they're fun to watch right so I have no problem with uh with them throwing

going down again someday, hopefully not next or within the next year or two. Maybe we had another two years for doing it again. And like I just want to say on your Kool-Aid. The U.C. cars, they're not even Kool-Aid at this point. This is, this is flavor aid. Do you remember Flavor Aid? Like, this is what they were drinking at Jonestown.

What a horrible thing for me to bring up. But this is what their cult was drinking at Jonestown, right? This is flavor aid, not Kool-Aid. This is what we're being served now. And it's just, it's really depressing. Yeah. it's the best value version of MMA right now. It's just tough scenes and they don't give a shit.

They don't care. Like this, I hope this, I'm so curious what this TV deal is going to look like. If you give us less cards and I even, like I even mentioned this on the preview show. If you did this card on like a Tuesday night or a Wednesday night, just like,

hey, we're just going to give you like some midweek MMA. I don't think, like I think it feels better. Yeah. You know? Like it feels. different as opposed to like, okay, it's Saturday night, another Saturday night with fight cards.

We had a pay-per-view last week, but at the same time, the week later, well, it's not exactly the same time, but we're going to give you 13 more fights with no stakes. I mean, zero, zero significant stakes on any of these divisions or anything, including the main event. Like, it's just such a tough sell. Like, Dana doesn't even go to these cards anymore. And it's like, it's his office. He literally works in that building.

And he doesn't want to like walk downstairs to go sit down and watch it. It's wild. It's so bad. Mike, that was the beauty of contender series. And you were an early like contender series fanatic. You love contender series. Loved it.

Now you're getting contender series on Tuesday and Saturday. That's the thing. That's what's crazy. Exactly. Yeah. It's a double dose of contender series. And not in a positive way. Like we don't mean that in a good way.

Because contender series has also become diluted now. So, oh boy. and the product is just lacking excitement. And again, we can't say this enough. Like, congrats to all the big winners on Saturday, which I know we'll get to as you run down the card, but because there are some great finishes here, people who extended win streaks,

people who made great debuts, people who upset fighters that were supposed to make spectacular debuts. And that's all fun to watch. Like, that's why we are, we stay in this game. That's why we watch fight to fight. Like, it's great to talk about. But again, in a broader sense and for a more casual fan, I don't blame them for tuning out.

I don't blame them for not being interested. Stick with the paper view. If that's your thing, stick with the big, stick with the wind that they actually go on the road. And you'll be fine. You'll have a great time watching the UFC. It's just not necessary to watch every, every single card. We do it because, you know, we list our life, we cover it. But you can certainly be a pretty, I would say, dedicated UFC fan in the year 2025 and watch.

And you can probably miss 25% of the cards, maybe more. That's probably a low number. Yeah, I think you're right. I had a friend hit me up because let me just, let me just, let me just. just paint the scene for America here. A.K. my co-host, the co-matchmaking my best friend, he makes our schedule for

nmafinding.com. It's a terrific website. It's a terrific place to work. And A.K., let me know a little under two weeks ago. Mike, I get some bad news for you. I have to give you the night off for UFC Vegas 104. You're going to have to miss this one. And I was like, no. How could you do this to me?

And I took advantage of this. Now, I watched a couple of the earlier fights. I wanted to see Carly Judy's do the thing. But I missed all of this. I saw the occasional clip on M.A. fighting, on Twitter, et cetera. And that's just what it was. But I had a friend message me, and he was like, you know what this is right now?

You don't know what the UFC reminds me of. Like, this is the WWF in the 90s. What we're watching is WWF superstars. And I'm like, no, you're not. Because if you were watching WWF superstars, you would get a star, at least appearing to cut a promo. You would get some sort of name to, like, hey, don't leave this channel because The Undertaker is going to be an action later on.

Like, you had a star coming. You don't have this here. I'm like, this is wrestling challenge. This is the hour long show after where it's like, it's Barry Horowitz versus Dwayne Gill, like which enhancement talent is going to win. Like, that's right right now. I will say this, though.

This was match made beautifully based on the results because this was WWF superstars to some degree. Outside of Carlos Vera pulling off a one, two, three kid in there, most of the guys that the UFC wanted to set up to look great gave them perfect matchups in order to do so so we're going to find some positives that's where it comes down to it's just there's nothing to really be excited about and i'll be honest with you i was really excited about putting together matchups here because this was ufc Vegas dart throw for the most part but we're going to do our best and we're going to have some fun with this and then we're going to lead into ufc london next week which

seems like a more fun card. It's not the UFC London of four years ago, but it's still a pretty good card, a main event with heavy stakes, in my personal opinion, and we'll get there in a moment. But let's put a bow on UFC Vegas 104, because no offense,

we're not going to be talking about this card on BTL on Thursday. There's just no way that this card is going to come up really in any way, shape, or form. So, let's start with Roman DeLeed's AAC. He does the damn thing. Not a lot of people gave him a chance to do the damn thing.

They thought he was going to get Marvin Vittorite all over the mighty apex. And that did not happen. Roman DeLizzi gets the win. According to Jedmishu, a lot of cheating happened in this fight, which is okay, because it's okay, and it's allowed, and Her Dean apparently did nothing about it. But again, I didn't watch second one of this fight outside of Marvin Vittori for getting his cup. But Roman gets the win.

They're one-in-one. Where does Roman DeLie go from here? Again, A.K., good win. He's won three in a row. quietly done so but this is a division where it is very very difficult to rise the ranks unless you are a big star and no disrespect to roman delise he is a great fighter he is not a star or anywhere close to it first let me say uh i fall into a phenomenal oh and seven oh and seven my picking fight night main events uh three and oh three and oh for pay per views but i mean that's counting like

islam and moikano so i mean is that do i even get to brag about that uh terrible terrible. I think four out of five on title fights. I think I missed on, I thought Umar. Umar was going to be in Rob. But yeah, terrible.

I don't know why. I just have no feel for fight nights. I don't think I was like out of line picking some of these, but boy, it is bad. People do not. If you are, first of all,

you should never use my picks for gambling. And if you do on mabay. com, ignore my main event, fight night picks. They're just awful. I have no feel for. What's our next,

I don't know too far ahead yet. What's our next fight night of next week? Edward. By the way. Can I ask? Did I win? Did I win picks last night? All right.

Technically, okay, if we're going by tapology's system, technically I won, for the record. Technically, I won because, you know, people who use topology, great website, if you use it for picking fights. You get extra points for picking a fight like exactly correctly. You get a good amount of points for picking a decision. And you get a lot of points for picking method and round correctly. So technically on points, I won. but I did not have the most correct picks. I only had six out of 13,

and we had three of us tied for seven out of 13. Boy, there's a tough card to pick. And I had one more perfect than Jed. And I think so if you go by who had the most points among the people who had the seven picks, I think it was you, right, Mike? Let me, let me. Yeah. I mean, technically I won.

But if we're going by who had the most correct picks and the most points out of that group, yeah, okay, Mike, you won. God, I don't even feel good about it. Okay, continue on. I'm sorry. This is top. Seven out of 13, people, this was top, man. Quite a few upsets.

Not going for a trilogy for Roman. And this one was actually easy for me to pick because I had it on a previous episode, picked a winner from UFC Seattle to fight the winner of this main event. So I think we're going with Anthony Hernandez and DeLizze. If you're wondering, well, why not Izzy or why not Whitaker or Sean Strickland, like two of those guys that DeLizze called out, I've matched them up previously. I don't think the Leizze is quite there yet either.

So those guys are accounted for in my books. I have Fluffy 3 in my ought no list. And I'm happy to see him fight Roman. He has zero chance of getting any of those names that he called out. The only name that he called out that he mentioned that he has a chance of getting is Vittori again. Honestly, Strickland ain't fighting him. Is he ain't fighting him? Like, he ain't fighting any of those.

Like, it's just not happening. Anthony Hernandez is a stretch for me Because I think if the UFC Is thinking of okay Who can we Who can we put the horses behind here? Is it Roman or is it fluffy? They're putting it behind fluffy without question

So I think Roman is going to have a He is going to be very below Muhammadi When it comes to this where he's going to have to win like 10 in a row Before he gets a title fight. And it's it's not his fault. It's just the position he's been put in and he's just not a compelling figure to the fan base. Trust me what I tell you. I know this is insider baseball.

Roman Deleese ain't getting a click on our website right now. It's just the nature of the beast. So with that said, you have to put him in a position where, okay, what can we do? If we see something in this guy, what can we do to put him in a position to succeed to have fans talk about him, whether positively or negatively and really care about where he goes. So the only way this could ever work and he needs this perfectly to happen, there is a fight coming up at UFC Des Moines between Bo Neckle and Reineer de Ritter, he is going to be fighting the winner of that fight.

That's what's happening. And if I'm Roman DeLidezay and I'm looking at, at this from a realistic point of view, he better pray that Bo Nickel wins this fight. Because that is the fight for him that can get him over that hump. There is no other fight realistically he could get right now that is going to make fans say,

oh, Roman DeLizze is fighting. Let's tune in. Him fighting Bo Nickel? He goes out there and fights Bo and wins. Now we have a different conversation. beating rdr don't really have that conversation bow absolutely we're having that conversation so it's the nickel rdr winner either way and if i'm roman i am the biggest bo nickel fan on planet earth that's inspired that's inspired matchbreaking i was going to say like uh oh he has to wait two months

for the results of that but really what what what hurry is roman deletes say in right what hurry is is he like oh match me up match me up this week for the no why does he you're right why does he care why does he care you're right he's uh he's had quite a few fights in the o'tsie already and uh Yeah, he should be waiting for the right opponents. So I like it. Yeah, I think that's totally an option for him. Let's go to the penultimate fight, especially with the way. I know you don't love matchmaking for guys who miss Wade, AK.

Do we have, did you put it together a match for Chees and Jokwani? Okay, good. Because I had the perfect one. Oh, let's go. I have a young man who also recently annoyed me by missing weight. He's an up-and-comer in the welterweight division. I think he deserves a veteran opponent. I'm sure people would have him ahead of Injuquani in the rankings.

But he missed weight. I was upset. And Jaguani missed weight. I was upset. Give me Brian Battle and she'd in Jaguani. This is it. Oh. Yeah.

It's a good fight. Listen, you guys got both guys got to make weight and then get a win to get back on track. Because you don't move up in my ranking. I haven't moved. Brian Battle, I think, is a top 25 talent clearly. And based in just his wins and losses should be ranked in the top 25. But I have him out there just because I have not, I did not move him up after the Roundy Brown win.

I was very upset. The way he handled it, that was ridiculous. Chee-D was at least quite, quite contrite about missing weight. And, you know, but it has also been a pretty big issue for Cheedy throughout his career. I mean, this is going back to his bell to her days where, like, he fought quite a bit of middleweight. But every time he would do catch weights at like 175, trying to creep towards welterweight, and it still would end up missing when he actually booked a welterweight fight. So it's a problem.

He's a big guy. He's not a small, he's not a small welterweight. So I don't know what the issue is, but if he can stay at 170, great. Same for Brian Battle can absolutely be contender 170. Just got to make the weight guys and then fight each other. Well, I mean, you could do this fight that I have chosen. We're not going to really highlight his performance because he missed weight. He did have a good win.

He did. This guy was a middleweight, has gone down to welterweight. Kind of surprised a lot of people. And boy, he looked terrific since doing so. So let's have a battle between former middleweights turned welterweights finding success. Cheetah and Joquani versus Punahili Soriano. That just sounds like a lot of fun. Very good.

Yeah. Yep. I had him in my sights as well. Yep. Listen, Cheetah's an exciting guy. He has many UFC Apex penulte fights ahead of him. So congrats for that. Can I ask you, AK?

Because I honestly do not know the answer to this question. Who won bonuses last night? I'm going to go off the top of my head. I could look, but I don't want to cheat. It was Carly Judice, Priscilla Kachar. I was trying to remember the last time two women won performance of the night on the same card.

Maybe it was more recent than I thought, but I can't imagine. I do not remember. Andre Lima. No fight of the night. No fight of the night. And who was the other? It was three people. Three people who had one.

No. No? One, no, it wasn't Palais. I have to look. I have to look now. I forgot. WCA? Carlos Vera.

Carlos Vera. Yeah. The young rookie. The young, the ultimate fighter 32 rookie team member, 37 years young, thinking of his first UFC win and his first UFC bonus. Yeah, it was a lot of first. So Carlos Vera's first bonus, Angelima's first bonus. Carly G's her first performance bonus.

I totally forgot. She won fight of the night for her debut, which a split decision. loss. I thought she forgot about that. And I thank you for some reader by the way on MAPFaFiA.com for pointing that out to me. And Priscilla Katchewar, I think her third bonus, she has a performance and a fight of the night and is her second performance bonus. Huge knockout of Josian Nunes. So that was good for her. Yeah. All right. Well, let's go to the lightweight division. I was only asking because I heard the Alexander Hernandez, Kurt Holobo fight was a lot of fun. Yeah, they did give fight of the night. It probably would have been that. But again,

I didn't see it. But Hernandez gets the victory defeats Kurt Hollabo. Apparently the 3027 threw some people off, but clear unanimous decision. Alexander Hernandez continues on. And again, one of the more interesting UFC careers. And he is doing so in the toughest division in sports, the lightweight division. This is a lightweight fire, right? Twos. Okay, because I know he bounces around.

But let's keep him at lightweight. This might be a controversial choice, AK, but this is what I landed on. And I couldn't seem to get away from it. I'm giving him King Green, okay. I'm giving him King Green after this one. King Green just has lost fights. He's been finished in his last two. He wants to keep going.

He said he's not stopping. And I think the UFC would kind of view this as a, okay, either one of these guys is going to get almost like a comeback second third chance kind of a thing where it's like, okay, maybe they're finding their fountain of youth or whatever. and if King Green wins, it's always good for the UFC because they love him. The fans seem to love him as well. And it puts Hernandez back in sort of that heel mode. And it's not like the exact thing is the Donald Soroni fight.

It's not like if he beats King Green, if he gets some of that back. But it's maybe the closest thing he can get right now, realistically, at 155. So I landed on that one. I think that's an interesting fight. There's another one that makes sense too that I liked. But for some reason, I could not,

I just couldn't get away from, King don't call me Bobby Green for Mr. Alexander Hernandez. It's amazing. I'm looking back now. I did not remember that it was King Green, then Bobby, who Alexander Hernandez replaced in his USADV when he had that career-altering knockout of Benile Darius that has, like, that screwed up all our expectations of him for like three years. And I think we're only now starting to figure out who Alexander and Hernandez really is.

So there you go. That would be cool. That would kind of bring things full circle. with that. I think that'd be really interesting. Yeah, I like it. Alexander Hernandez is a veteran at this point. He has to get veteran matchups. I kind of went with a veteran, not someone nearly is experienced as King Green. I think it's time for him to fight Terrence McKinney.

I think it's time for him to fight Terrence. I'm surprised. I was looking at my previous auto picks this year, and I thought, I was like, have I not done the Terrence pick yet? I think I've been saving him. And maybe this isn't the guy to use him on, but I don't know. I like, I said during Saturday's fight that like Kurt Hollabobob really, I think, brought the best out in Alexander Hernandez. Like when you push Alexander Hernandez and you make him fight, like you can get a lot of exciting fights out of this guy.

And I think with him and Terrence, I'd be very interested to see. Terrence either is the ultimate get-or-get-got guy. I would love to see if Hernandez get a first-knock finish of him. Or if McKinney, again, just keep showing off that incredible ability he has sometimes and just smokes Hernandez. But I would definitely take the under in that one. I can't see Hernandez dragging him to a decision. And I can totally see either guy just.

unloading in round one and giving us something to remember. So yeah, I think it's time. I think it's time for him and Terrence McKinney. That is super interesting. Yeah. I love that pick. The only other name that I thought of was Hernandez versus Dracar Close, because I think that actually makes a lot of sense right now.

But yeah, it's anywhere in that range. McKinney would be, would be fun. Wow, that's a good one. You might have just won the game. Good night, everybody. We're out of here. I hope it happens. A.K.J.

just what a lot. I think that's the one this week. that I really want. I think of all the... No, no, actually, no. You know what? My next one is. I should say.

My next one actually is. Oh, okay. I'm very excited about this. I believe we're talking about Demand Blackshear, A.K., who gets the win over Cody Gibson. Banim Wade, A.K., Bannam Wade. Am I right? So good.

So good. Very impressive performance by Demand Blackshear. Cody Gibson is... I know he was favored, but Cody Gibson... Dumont's blood was favored. Cody Gibson is not an easy out. The guy has just seen it all in MMA. He's exactly the kind of guy who plays sports.

spoiler for fighters like Dimon. But, Mike, did you know, Dimon is 3 and O against Cody's? Oh, no. He's not lose to Cody.

Cody Gibson, Cody Stamin, and then way back in 2019 for CES, Cody Nordby, Cody with the case. Still counts. Still counts.

He's the Cody killer. Oh, my God. He's no longer Demonster. He is to Cody Killer. Hey, Scottie Guard, brand next. It's got to be Cody Haddon. Oh.

It doesn't tickle my fancy as much. I think he's well ahead of the rankings of Cody Hadden as well. But Cody Garfan is right there. So, DeVone, you are the Cody killer. He cannot lose. If there's ever a champion named Cody, I will pick, I don't care who it is. I will pick DeMone Blackshare to beat him and become champion should that happen. So I'm going with Cody Garland.

Look, the UFC owes DeMont Blackshare. a favor. Remember when he got the twister submission and then he came back a week later and fought Mario Batista, UFC 292 because you thought to yourself, if there's one guy we have to keep on this card, it's Mario Batista. So we have to go to all the depths to make sure that happens. We need somebody, we need Mario Batista at the press conference. We need him to go back and forth with somebody. and boy they brought in Desmond Blackshare to do it and Mario Batista is where he is now

he got the Jose Aldo fight shortly thereafter but he's lucky he's lucky he wasn't Cody Batista otherwise even Des Moines fighting Jose Alder I'm just saying great win there's definitely some talent there Desmond Blackshar at least in my eyes

is a very he's a good fighter that might with the right breaks find himself in the back end of the top 15 someday, but I mean, he's not going to be fighting for belts or anything like that. But he is an important piece of a historical puzzle right now for me, AK, because when we look at trajectory and building up talent and divisions, you have to do it smartly. You have to have the right mix of, okay, let's have this guy run this dude over to, okay, now we have

to at least give him some sort of step up in competition. And to build these people, we have to test them to see where they're at. And now it's the time for DeMone to get the opportunity to spoil the party, at least for the time being in 2025 and beyond. DeMone Blackshare is going to be fighting Raul Roses Jr. After Raul Roses Jr. wins at UFC Mexico City in two weeks time. Wow. Who did they give Roel in Mexico City again? I have to look it up.

Wow, this is so bad. I am so sorry, guys. He fights very often. He fights very often. He's fighting Vince Morales. That's right. Vince Morales. Oh, yes.

Great, great matching. Vince, tough guy. Vince Marales, tough guy, tough guy. But I just know where his standing is. And a good veteran, I think that we know where he's standing is with the UFC. They bring him in for fights like this. Right. Okay.

Yeah. So should he beat Vince Morales? I'm sure he's going to be. I don't know. I haven't seen the odds. I imagine you must be a minus 500 favorite or something. Yeah. Wow.

Another real tough magic with DeMone Blacks here. Damn, that's good. I don't see it. I'd like to see it. That's a good one. That's a good one. Where are we at? I want to see what the betting odds are for that.

Minus 500. It has to be. Is that too low? That might be too low. It might be too low. He might be like higher than minus 500. See, this is the beauty of live to tape. Yeah.

We'll figure it out. But before the show's end, I will try to find you betting odds. Even like best. fight odds don't see. Do you have your, do you have your dartboard ready, Mike? So these last two picks because I have no, this is, are you, if you're taking us on a journey with our of these picks, I'll be amazed because I have no narrative. I have no hook.

I have no angle for these next two picks. No idea with these guys you go. Brenton Ribeiro. I think we should play the one, two, three game. And maybe we get a out of nowhere shocking friends forever. We are, we are plus 18,000 right now to get either of these correctly. But okay. All right.

Bredson-Rivero. Three, two, one. Ivo Osloon. Oh, good one. Was it? Okay, that's a good one. Yeah. Evo Aslan.

Okay, he's not booked, right? I keep getting, you know me, I keep getting. Nah, he just lost to I won Kuchelaba. Yes. Is Yvonne Ursula fighting someone? Is he booked? I think so. One of the, yes, okay.

Yeah. Oh, he's having Navo Sterling. Okay, there you go. That's why. Yes, yes, yes. People should know, I will be getting Yvonne Erslan and Ibo Aslan confused. For as long as these guys are in the UFC, I will never be able to remember who is fighting, who is booked. Okay, but yes, you good, well done.

Mike, Ibo Aslan is currently unbooked and certainly a viable opponent for Brentston. Who, by the way, good for him. I'm glad he beat a huge weight miss in D.R. Nurgazai missed weight for his use to debut by four and a half pounds. Healthwise, I hope everything's okay with him, but that's a pretty shameful weight miss though. Dude, that's a big way miss. That's bad. He was favorite, pretty heavily favored, too. So that's rough.

Submitted by a Comorah for one of two, one of back-to-back comoras. I went with Jimmy crude, Mike, just because, just look at my rankings. Look at my rankings. There's not, this is light heavy way, right? It's not the deepest division as we know. So there's not that many options for Brenton, frankly, who's already had a handful of U.S. Fights. I don't want to just give him another newcomer.

I think he's earned some with a little bit of, of UFC experience like himself. So we're going with Jimmy Crute, maybe in some international cards somewhere, not in the UFC Apex, hopefully. Yeah, there are like no betting odds for UFC, Mexico City. It's super weird. They just jump right to 314,

but that's a different conversation. Let's go to, I guess, one of the standouts, and we knew this is coming. When I mentioned great matchmaking to make talent look great, Kevin Vallejos just destroys poor Syeongwu Choi. I mean, this is exactly what he's brought in for. And we're just going to keep doing this, AK. There's just, I know he called for Gian Sylvie said he's coming. There's no chance he gets this fight. And I don't want him to have that fight again. That is a great back pocket fight for the

UFC to kind of go to any time, just not anytime soon, build these two guys up to someday. And then we could tell the story of this rematch and how great their first fight was in the contender series. So my idea was, at least in my rankings, let's give him the lowest ranked or the second lowest rank guy in the division, a guy who will put on an exciting fight. He will get in Kevin's face and get her get got like a true New England a, okay? So it is Kevin Vallejos versus Connor Matthews next. Yeah, that's good. That's good. By the way, I learned apparently on Saturday it is Kevin Vachéjos, Vashejos, Vashios.

It's a present. is an Argentinian thing. I'm not very cultured. I have some, I mean, I shouldn't, I mean, I have some Latino back, Latinx background. My mother's from Peru. So my pronunciation with stuff is usually pretty good. But apparently it's an Argentinian thing. Brandon Fitzgerald, I'm right at the wayans.

I heard him say, Veshajahos. I didn't understand. I saw Luke Thomas tweeting about it and saying that it is, yeah, it is a Argentinian pronunciation thing. So they go. We see those double Ls for Argentinian fighter. Usually it's a cha sound, a chish sound, a ch. I'm still working on it, guys. I'm still working on it.

But yeah, he looked great. He looked great. One of Jedman Shue's top contender series prospects, very high on this guy. Maybe a future bantam weight. Like, as long as you're doing well at featherweight, obviously, I say stick with it. Like, don't cut any more weight than you have to. But he is a somewhat diminutive 1-45er. But packs a lot of power.

Didn't have any problems with Stam Wuchoy. I went with another Australian for some reason. Like, I just went with Jimmy Crude up. Jack Jenkins, Jack Jenkins. Clearly, again, we're just trying to build Feshahos here. No disrespect to any of. the guys we've matched him up with. But this is how the fight game works. You see an intriguing prospect. You see a guy he's what, 23 years old, but also has a decent amount of experience

so far. You got to sort of lying guys up against him that he can show out against. And then a couple of fights later, then it'll be sort of talking about, oh, well, but can he beat some of the top 35? Can he beat some of the top 25? Take it easy with this guy. And then like you said, Mike, somewhere down the road, hopefully, John Silva, too. Man, Jack Jenkins is a pretty big step up. I like it. Hey, listen, let's just, let's test them. Let's test them. Throw him in there with like a top 35 guy, like right away. Because that's probably where Jack is in this division.

They try to do the same thing. Like they match Jack up. Who do they match him up with at 312? It was a tough one. I actually bet on Jack. And he almost finished the dude. But then he lost. But I don't remember who it was at the top of my head.

It was just one of those cards that you don't really remember a whole hell of a lot from. Gabriel Santos. Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now I understand. Let's go to the wild card round, AK. It's select one fighter we have not match made four, and we'll match make for them right now.

Who is your lucky winner of the UFC Vegas 104 wildcard? We had to pick the same person. I don't think so. Salsa boy, Waldo Cortez-A-Coste. No, I can't do it. What? He's the hottest heavyweight right now, tied with Nick Parking, who fights next week.

We're living in the golden age of heavyweights, four straight Ws. That is right now. That is right now, and Mick Parkin as well, the longest UFC heavyweight win streak at the moment. I don't know if he was like, Tom about Tom Aswell, John Jones. John Jones is 2 and O in everyweight. Tom Aswell, unfortunately had the freak Curtis Blaze injury, so he's only won his past three fights. So these are, yes, when I say Mick Parkin and Salca Boy, white hot right now.

Mitt Park can make it five straight next week if he beats March into Burra, which is no guarantee by any means. I went with Salca Boy. Mike, they took a fight away from us, you know, with a recent release. So we're not getting Derek Lewis and Jarzino. It's Derek Lewis and Salca Boy now. This is my new, it's nowhere near the level of excitement I wanted with him and Jarzino. I know, but we have to move on. We have to finally move on.

They were so adamant about not making that fight and tired of people calling for it. They said, well, guess what? Oh, you want Jarzino and Derek Lewis? He's not on the roster anymore. We can't make it. This was in Moneyball. Remember in Moneyball when he keeps telling Art to, oh, you got to play, you got to play Hattie at first.

And then he's like, no, I'm playing Payne. and then he's like, well, I just traded Pena. So now you have to start. Now you have to play Heidi at first. This is that. This is, well, no, we're making Waldo and Derek Lewis because we don't have Jersey here anymore. So take that.

So I'm happy with this matchup. Jeremy's been traded too. Jeremy's exactly. Great movie. Love that movie. It's really, really good. So here's why I did not wildcard Waldo Cortez-A Costa, because I picked by Wildcard before actually going through.

I thought for sure, especially knowing. the UFC like I do I thought Waldo Cortez-A-Cost it was like the featured fight or it was least on the main card because it's you know heavyweights and they always put heavy weights high up on the card especially ranked heavy weights I'm surprised this wasn't the main event

but if you're gonna if you're gotta there is no other option this is what the UFC is going to do I have sub-zero interest in WCA versus Derek Lewis but this is the right choice

because they are absolutely going to do this. This will be a main event. It will not be at the apex. It will be in some strange town somewhere around the world where we're like, wow, Derek Lewis is fighting in Omaha, UFC Omaha. Like we're going to do Derek Lewis for Waldrow Cortes as Acosta as the main event in Omaha. And it will do $17 million at the box office. And it'll be the biggest fight out of all time.

and it's going to be insane. That's what's going to happen. I just went with Marvin Vittori. Like, let's just do this right. We got to kind of squeeze the juice out of this guy at this point. Like, we had to, let's just get Marvin in there because, like, the interest levels in him at this point are just dwindling. To the point where I was watching the early prelims and, like, the best they could do in terms of, like, let's get you interested in this main event is watch Marvin Vittori eat cooked food from his nutritionist. this is where we're at right now.

So there is, there is some heat here. Martin Vittory's got beef with one man and this one man has beef with Marmavitori. It is time to do Martin Vettori versus Brennan Allen. These two dudes are fighting on casino floors. Let's have them fight for money inside the world's hallowed octagon. This could be, this is truly an apexe-made event.

And perhaps, depending on what happens, happens with RDR against Bo Nicol, this could be for the greatest middleweight championship of all time because I blame you for Brennan Allen's downfall, okay? It is all your fault because you said that Brennan Allen could not be the middleweighty, middleweight champion. And then I was just, I just, I gave in and said, okay, he can't be anymore. And the second we took that belt off of him, the winning streak ended.

So I blame you for this. That's true. Hey, you should thank me though. I also had a great run of picking against him and him winning. So there was a lot of juju swirling around Brennan Allen's win streak. It was very impressive. Yeah, that's a great crystal ball pick. I mean, I'll be shocked that fight never happens.

I will, I love the pick. Mike, I do not love the phrase squeezing the juice out of fighters. So I'm going to put a ban on that going forward. We're not going to be using that phrasing anymore. I know you're riffing. I know you're riffing. You know, you're a DJ. You're ripping sometimes.

These things get away from you. But we're going to not do that anymore. That phrase is done. I think. Okay, fair enough. I wasn't thinking about it in that sense, but the look in your eyes after that came out and where we went over there is just that.

Did anyone say check the tapes or want on no points? I don't know. I'll have to, you know what? I have not vetted my picks. So we're going in. I love this. I was just going to say avoid the entendres. And I was going to say,

we're just going in raw with these picks. But so I was met. No more. My Lord. No more entendras. Like, I apologize to America. No more entendres. Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget online casino is live. Bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting. Signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks, you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games.

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I didn't get a ton of these. I'm surprised I even got any, if we're being honest. But let's go into this. Dawson Boyd says these are all dartboard shots, but I'll try to be AK's quote unquote squire of positivity and have some fun with it. And boy, oh boy, AK, listen to this, right out the gate. Kevin Vajos, as I said,

that right i think it's for sheho's or for shea ho's i don't know if it's a shit or chos i'll be honest i need to work on this apologies to kevin if you're out there versus jack jenkins he's just sympathico with his new squire positivity pal brenson rbera versus the sterling versus urslan winner a k i mean you guys are just right on the same wavelength damon blackshare versus patin talbot cheating jukwani versus puna Rihano, Roman Delizza versus Anthony Hernandez. Jesus, AK, did you? Is this you?

Is this a burner account? Uh, winner gets a top five opponent. And this, maybe it's you and Jed collaborating here. Alex Hernandez versus another old guy. And then he just said Michael Johnson. I thought Michael Johnson's not booked. I thought Michael Johnson got booked. But I actually liked that too.

And I surprised they haven't fought yet. Uh, they had, he's not booked. Nope. I thought he had a match. Maybe he's just been booked on Adeno a few times. He just fought in Tampa, like just fought three months ago. Yeah, he's due. He's due for a matchup soon.

Maybe that's the one. Robbie Ryan, Alex Hernandez versus Tom Nolan. What do you think of that? Sorry, read me the actual time, Tom, Tom Nolan for who again? Hernandez. Yeah, yeah. There's so many directions you can go with Hernandez because he has so much experience, but he's not that old.

And maybe also we're just like, he has a thing where he kind of looks the same as he did when he debuted. Like he's got a young guy, handsome young guy's face. So maybe that's the problem is like I'm not looking him as a gatekeeper yet, but he's what, like 15 fights deep into his U.C career. So yeah, maybe he is that litmus test now for some of these promising prospects. Because Tom Nolan, I think has absolutely has the potential to be like a top 20 guy. So yeah, maybe it's time to find out. I don't know. Keep him closer.

Blackshare versus Charles Jordane. if you're going to do this you have to do it in montreal there's nowhere else to do this fight can blackshare turn around that quickly we shall see ribero versus the bruno lopez dustin jacobi winner potentially a rematch so he's making sure he's got everything locked up and said i didn't even know bruno lopez and dust and jocobes were fighting each other light heavyweight is on fire light heavy weight is just on fire uh vjeos versus julio arsee cheedy bang versus jake Matthews wildcard this is a message to you AK AK let's talk women's bantam weight priscilla Priscilla Kchera following that outstanding K.O. as a former title

contender has launched herself into the bantamweight picture and earned a fight against perennial top 10 contender Yana Santos I'm excited and bold letters. And I'm sorry, A.K., I love that he has done this to you specifically, but I have to reign on the parade here because I'm excited for the first time this week on UFC Vegas 104 to set off the doo-do alarm, because this is the do-do-ish of all do-doss. Yannos Santos is booked against Misha Tate at UFC Des Moines on May 3rd. So I love this. I love the attitude, Robbie. I love the positivity, but you're sitting in some doo-doo right now. Also, if I could shovel, sprinkle a little more dudo on that.

Priscilla is not a former title contender. She fought Valentina, but that was Valentina's, I think, first fight. That was her flyway debut, and that was one of the most vicious beatings I've ever seen inside the It was not a title fight. I know, I think we all, I think some people lumping into Valentina's title run, but no, that was just before she fought Joana for the vacant, uh, the vacant title yeah because valentina was supposed to fight i believe valentine was supposed to fight nico montaño on that card and then something happened and nico couldn't fight but valentina

stayed on the card to fight and i believe catiware like took the fight on somewhat short notice the debut and valentia just beat the living soul out of her it was such a beating now if you want to call priscilla a future bantamweight title challenger i'm all for she's two wins away from getting into title contention. There's literally 19 fighters on the Bannamweight roster right now. So her moving up was a breath of fresh year. Poor Josian Nunes remains

winless at Bannamweight. Hashtag bring back featherweight where she could be championed. Technically, didn't she win a... I saw our own Jen Mishu touting this online. Did she not win a catchweight bout? Oh no, she lost to Chelsea Chandler. Yeah, she is not won at.

No, Bayamalecki. Hold on, she beat Bayamalecki. How could you forget? That was a, that was a Bantan weight, right? Yeah, okay. But yes, since jumping in between the two-way classes, yeah, she is not, she's not been able to win a bantamateate. That's disappointing.

Sorry for the doo-do. Harry Dulaskin, uh, Judis versus Petrovic, zombie girl versus Norma Cornoli. Is Nora booked? Yes. Or Nola, can't. What am I doing? I'm nearly certain she is booked.

Let me just make sure. Mike, you keep going. I'll look at it. You keep going. Okay. All right. Fair enough. Lima versus Durden, Vera versus Tersios.

Waldo Cortez-A-Costa versus Sergei-Spevac. God, that is like a middle-weighty heavyweight fight if there ever was one. Bevac. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's in his range for sure. Yeah. Vajios versus Lucas Almeida.

I think you give him one more aged, slow moitai. guy than a wrestler-like type. Romero versus Jimmy Romero versus Jimmy Cruton Perth. Fighting to a draw seems inevitable. Yeah, again, random. Yeah, I have the same thought. Just random.

Just random. Yeah. Blackshare versus Ricky Simone. I like that. Cheaty versus Wonderboy. Wow. I know it seems like a lot after a weight miss, but Wonderboy has lost a few in a row, and this is a decent get right spot that's still a tough fight.

I could not dislike a pick more than this one. He missed weight. Why does he get Wonderboy? You don't have any fighters, reputable fighters have called. for the Wonderboy flight and then we're giving me to a guy who missed weight. Hell no. Hell no.

Why would Wonderboy fight Cheaty after the whole Michelle Pereira incident where Michelle Pereira missed wait and then Spondervoir's like, yeah, I ain't fight him. And the UFC's like, fine, we ain't paying you. Like can't go through all that again. He can't get to do that shit. Delizadee versus Cannoneer. I really don't see the UFC being interested in giving him Izzy or Robin. You're absolutely right about that.

So Canaaner is an option. I actually didn't even think about that. Poor Jared Candidear is just always forgotten in these conversations. And then John Ray, one sentence and two exclamation points. The only fight to make is the rubber match, and I will hear nothing else. Good night. Regarding Nora Cornole, she is announced to be fighting a Haley Cowley, U.S.C. T.14.

Oh, that's right. Boy, that is like, that is short time duty right there. So. Come on, guys. Come on, guys. I forgot that. You look at UFC 3. 14, it looks so good.

And then you're like, oh, yeah, don't forget Nora Cornoli versus Haley Cowan's happening on this card. Oh. And then you're like, it's even better than I thought. Yeah, if that is not the first fight of the card, I don't know what is. It is currently listed as the first fight of the car. Fair enough. I am done.

Go to your peep sake. Yeah, I got a handful here. We've got some email. Let's start with some emails. What's up, Casey Carpenter? Long time friend of the show. Fun fights. Even though none had any real stakes.

That's right, Casey. Victoria versus Allen, Apex main event, or for sure. Roman versus Canaaner Sad to say it, Salsa Boy, probably getting with the two he called out, I'm going with Lewis. Why are people so sad about this? I'm into it, Mike, I'm into it. I don't like it either. And Jacquani, Jake Matthews, Tom Nolan Hernandez, and Blackshear, Cody Garbredt, thank you, Casey. Blackshear, Cody Garbrant,

Padilla, and Feshae host. Tristan, what's going on, Tristan? Oh, Andre Lima, Ramazon, Tamirov. I freaking love it. We don't need to protect these guys. I know they're both both guys who have potential to be like top 10, but screw it. We can worry about that later. I'm with that.

Let's throw them in there. Sam Hughes, Fatima Klein. I like it just because I wonder what the odds would be at this point. Because are the odds makers not on to Sam Hughes yet? Because I saw this Luciano fight on paper, and I'm like, I pick Luciano, but I'm like, this could be a classic Sam Hughes upset. You did put that out there. You did put that out there in our Slack channel.

Yeah. I would say Fatima Klein will be a minus 470 favor. No way. Didn't Fatima lose her UFC debut? Oh, did she? Yeah, on short notice, up a weight class against Jazz and Jazz DeVizius. And she was favored in that fight. She was favored.

Yeah, she was. And then she came back and smashed Dutu Kov. Oh, she was minus 900 against Dutu Kov. Okay. So you know what? The Jasmine fight did not hurt her. No, it did. And she looked okay in that fight.

Okay. right. She would be a, oh, she looked, the Duda-Cova fight. Yeah, she would be a massive favorite against Sam Hughes. But hey, this is what Sam Hughes does. She goes in plus money. She doesn't win every fight, but she has spoiled a lot of people's. She's probably effed up a lot of parleyes. She's the parley killer. So I think I like that, Tristan, that's good thinking and very likely a matchup we can see. Lucas Cortes, what's up, Lucas? I don't know if I want to read all the Lima Charles Johnson. I like that one. I like, I still think it's next. I just don't see it next.

I don't see how many next. But Temaroff? But Temerov just beat Johnson. Wouldn't that make sense? Yeah, I guess. Charleston a weird place. I don't know how they view him. I just know how the UFC views him.

Yeah. I mean, four and no last year. Yeah, it was great. And they barely mentioned it. They barely promoted it at all. And they were good, those were good fights too. It's not like, oh, these are forgettable decision. Dude, he beat Josh Van.

He beat Josh Van. He beat Josh Van. That's such a good win. It was an entertaining 4-0, like, I don't know if he made our top five fighter of the year, but he was definitely got some votes, got some ballots for sure. Catuana Buenos Selva. Lucas, I don't think NBS is coming back to 135.

Like, it's not an unreasonable pick because NBS kind of looked bad in that fight against Jasmine, if we're being honest. So maybe she should just go back up. But my guess is NBS will make one more run at 125 before making any decisions about going back up. Carlos Vera and Peyton Talbot. I actually like this.

I know we just saw Peyton stumble against a veteran. Carlos is also a veteran just with not as much UFC experience as Barcellos. It's not crazy. I don't hate it. Nurgersai cut him. Wow. Okay. I'm Lucas.

I hate weight cutting as much as anyone. And four and a half pounds is egregious. Let's give DR another chance. Let's give DR another chance. Hollobot, Michael Johnson. Sure. Hernandez versus Terrence McKinney. I love it again.

Delitzé Kyle Buhalio, Mike. Any chance? No. Okay. Bispying versus Cruz, loser has to stop doing commentary. I will say, Wow.

What a way to congratulate Bissing, by the one, his 100th broadcast as a commentator. It's not very nice, Lucas. Yes, I will say I was watching much of Saturday's show on low volume. Not because I was trying to mute the, commentary team, though I have done that before for someone like Joe Rogan. But, you know, we're juggling a bunch of things it wants for working on articles. So it's just sometimes it's just distracting and it's easier to just watch the fights as

opposed to listen to them at the same time. But I know our staff was not amused by some of the comments. I know Jed and Damon and I think it was mostly just the two of them who were watching and paying really close to the commentary and just were slagging the commentary team all night. So regardless of what you think of Dominic as a commentator, and this thing. I think most of us can agree when they're together, it is real bad. They just don't play off each other well. Like it happens. I think we've talked before in like social situations.

You have those friends who just don't jive, like two to your good buddies. But they just like, their sense of humor isn't quite the same. The pace that they talk isn't quite the same. They keep hurting each other's feelings. They keep stepping on each other's toes. It just happens. It just happens. And it doesn't mean that now that those two people are your good friend, but you just try to kind of avoid having them just them in a friend in a friend situation you know what yeah yeah yeah i mean again i didn't watch the whole card i watched a couple of fights and i noticed it immediately i'm like boy anybody who's going to watch us the entire night is in for just just a rough night on the ears without question and it just sucks because we got the

very best of dominic cruise on the headsets two weeks prior He was so good when it was just him and Anik. They should do more of that. Two man boots at the world's mightiest apex. Small crowds, small commentary desk. Cruz is better without a fellow alpha male. Yeah. And I'm not saying like Paul Felder is not an alpha male,

but he is an alpha male who is incredibly smart and understands what this is supposed to be. He is not just business. is like how can I make myself the best I can be? How could I put myself in a position to have people talk about me at the end of the broadcast? Like there's no doubt about it. D.C. is kind of in the same boat with his personality. And I get it.

D.C. is the Michael Shrayhan of M.MA where D.C. could host Good Morning America tomorrow. And we would be like, oh, cool. Like, not surprised by this. Felder is about how can I make the team the best it can be. his the way he views it is how can i make brennan fitzgerald his best how can i make dominic cruz his best because if i do that we're just gonna we're we're gonna crush it tonight that's what the mentality needs to be for these guys bisming is just not like that you can't put like he doesn't jive with even with laura sanco he can't there's no good jive with laura and laura can like get

along with anybody and flow off anybody because she looks at it the same way But even like Bisbing with Loris Sanko doesn't sound good. Like that's, that's real tough. And maybe Bisbing's terrific on Power Slap. I don't know. Maybe that's his calling him and Dan Hellie, call him people slapping each other in the face.

But yeah, man, it's tough scenes. I'm not sad. I missed it for that because that's just, poor Brett and Fitzgerald, man. That's just a tough job. It's a tough job. Bisbing should be on the desk.

More so than Dominic Cruz. I think he's a better analyst. what it's just like, hey, Michael, let me ask you questions. Let me put it on a T for you. That's what Michael shods. But Michael is just like, hey, let's go and see to the pants and then doing post-fight interviews. Golly, man, it's tough. Yeah, I don't envy, you know, some of the positions he's put in.

It is a difficult job. But, yeah, we can be doing better. We can be doing better with these computer teams and just the decisions and the combinations that we make of them. We could be doing better. That's all. That's all we're saying. That's all we're saying. Gerard Biaghan on

Instagram kind of flipping your picks Mike he wants he wants Roman and Brendan Allen and Marvin and the nickel RDR winner so I don't know if that makes as much sense Both they're fine

Yeah well I mean Roman and Brendan I guess Brendan is ahead of Roman No no he won't be ahead of Roman after that win I don't think Depends depends what you're thinking of Vittori Vittori was like has been gone for like 20 months And in our rankings we removed him

due to inactivity so I'm kind of curious next time we do a division update where people will put Marvin back and what that means for Roman. Because I assume you obviously have to put Roman above him now. He also wants Cheaty and Wonderboy. I'm just not seeing it. I don't understand it. He also is like with you.

He's on the same page as you, Mike, with Brensen and Ibo. Salsa Boy and Zuchuku Boudai winner. Gosh, these light heavyweight and heavyweight are just nonstop. Thrills. It's just fantastic. Daniel Edwards also wants to lead to Allen. Vittori and Gregory Rodriguez. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I don't mind that. Him and Robocop. Blackshare and Cody Gorvrent. Thank you. Cody and three check mark emojis, come on. Yeah, guys, we know. We know. The gimmick is alive.

The gimmick is alive. Speaking of Cody's, Tino Alvarez, wants Andre and Lima, Cody Durdon. Yeah, I think Andre can name a little bit higher, but Cody's a tough guy. What else do we get? Anything new? Mike, Blackshear versus Rosa Jr. If he defeats Vince. Okay.

All right. You guys got it. cheating and jake matthews would have had cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap step up didn't make weight roman and jared kennanier all right we'll close out with twitter thank you guys by the way for the picks you guys are maniacs for uh anyone who chimes in for these kind of cards you're absolutely maniacsiazumoto whoa bantam whites i've been joking about light heavyweight and heavyweight but bantan weight is just seriously insane right now there's like it it is impossible to like i'm just trying to like how to build up like we're talking about roll up like we're talking about

Russell Jr. How do you build him up? Like, it's really hard to build up a bantamweight prospect because there's no, there's just so many, so many guys who are well-rounded or super tough or experienced or also white hot prospects. Like, it's hard to find a line. Like, if you want to just take someone like, oh, I'm going to usher them towards a title shot at 135, it's like nearly impossible. I know people say like, oh, Umar didn't have the most difficult schedule, but he had to beat Corey Sanhagen. That's a hell of a tough fight. Like, that's how he got his title shot. That's insanely difficult. Like, 135 is just,

monstrous right now. So I like that matchup. Man, tough for both Blacks Cheer and Matsumoto. Chiti versus the Dalby Randy Brown winner. Okay. And just some other picks we've seen before. Thanks, DGB. Braden O'Neill. Let's see anything new here. Vittori and Koppeloff. Maybe he can get the matchup that he thought he was going to get. Get the other Roman. And Jo Kowani, Carlos Liao. Oh, that's fire. That's fire. No, no. He doesn't deserve that. Chitty doesn't deserve that. Dude. That's a fire matchup. The Roman, God, the Roman copulov Vittori fight is so good.

That's really good. God, that's so good. Why did we not, is Roman books or something? Why did we not think of that? I mean, the Allen, because the Allen just needs to happen. The Allen fight just needs to happen because they hate each other so much. And there's like such beef and there's such a story. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, man. Votari's not a bad spot. It feels like he still has like three or four, like, meaningful matchups over the next like year that he could have a next 18 months that he would get people interested like it's not in a bad position at all uh black share brady heston what else we got here oh shout out to this guy shout out to uh i hope getting sue young you sue young you who had a very impressive uh proper ufc debut he did win the road to ufc event at a ufc card i'm told those are not like counted as ufc fights which is weird because ultimate fighter finales are anyway

it's the whole thing you kind of you want it doesn't matter It happened on a UFC event. If you counted as a UFC win, I totally understand. But very nice, solid debut against A.J. Cunningham. Just, you know, not like a barn burner, but showed really good wrestling against a bigger guy and just grinded out of win. I thought that was really impressive. So he wants him versus the Nathan Fletcher-Kheelan-Lockren winner coming up next week, I think,

right, London. Lima versus Tamarov, another one of these. Judeas versus Petrovich. Kachewera versus Chandler, Jocelyn Edwards, winner did not even know that fight was happening. And now I must know when it is. Speezy 32.

A lot of fights night, pretty good night of fights overall. Yeah, it was fine. Okay, we got some pictures reversing. Hernandez Esteban Riebelovich. Damn. Damn, that's tough. Boy, that's, that's, that works though. That makes sense.

It makes a lot of sense. From the ranking standpoint. I like that. Yeah. I've seen people. Okay. Oh, okay. Sbezi said, uh, Walt, Mike. Waldo versus, we heard Spivak before, what have you felt, Sergei Pavlovich? Before you respond, this is, I want to get Spezzi. He said, I know it's a big jump for Waldo.

Pavlovich has fought pretty much everybody in the top 10. It gives him a fresh matchup, gives Waldo a chance to move up. Okay, so not like a very creative reason, but Sergey Pavlovich. Let me just say this. Who is this, who is this person? This is Speezy. Speezy. let me say this to you as direct as I can.

I love this pick. I love this pick so much. In fact, in fact, if I was the man with the mighty pencil in my hand, if I'm sitting in the war room on Tuesday, I am proposing this exact matrope. It's not going to happen. They're going to do the stupid Derek Lewis fight,

and Derek's going to clopper him, and it's going to be everything we expected it to, be. But boy, Salsa Boy and Sergey Pavlovich kind of scratches me right where I hit AK. I didn't think it would because I didn't even look at this fight as an option. But Pavlovich isn't, Pavlovich ain't fighting for a belt like any time soon, especially with Tom Aspinall in the picture in any way. Like you just can't do that after Aspinall iced him out, injured and on short notice. It's just no world where this happens anytime. soon and they're certainly not going out there, Sergey, and there with John Jones.

So I think this is a terrific pick. I really do. If, uh, do you guys that if the John Jones-Aspenall fight doesn't happen, which I'm still strongly think it will. I'm really back on it. Do you guys that that fight doesn't happen to say John Jones just goes away and Aspinel needs challengers and fight someone in the top five for his nextel defense as the undisputed, undisputed champion?

Um, he'll need challengers after that. deals were like we're not far off of Waldo or Mick Parkin like actually fighting for the UFC later you're the UFC we're not far off from Derek Lewis that's a fresh matchup we're not far off from that crazy this is it is crazy what are we doing um Marcus McGahey uh I don't love that Catcha Ware versus Kennedy Freeman Kennedy that's uh okay she is not signed to the UFC issue she is she is well how she is how did she is how did she is how did you It wasn't a contender series thing. She got, she's just.

I think she's a straight signing. Okay. Ian Freeman's daughter, obviously. For her UFC debut, do we, is she that good? I've seen a bit of her stuff, but I don't feel like I've seen enough to like judge whether she should be thrown in there with a, I understand someone not viewed as like a top 15 fighter and they're her division, but pretty like tough veteran in Priscilla. That's two months. She's six and O. Yeah.

She was a Cage Warriors champion. Apparently, like, people are pretty high on her. I know. I've only really seen glimpses and highlights, so I just don't know her complete game. That's a big ask. It is. I mean, we know who she's managed by at this point. So I assume the UFC is going to give her a somewhat favorable debut matchup.

I don't hate it. I would pick Freeman to win. but Cat Chaturres is you just got to weather that storm. So I would be curious to see if Freeman can weather that storm against someone is powerful and as nasty as Catcherre is. But make no mistake about it. If Freeman can weather that first round storm, she's going to win. Yeah. Yeah, it's not bad.

You talked me into it a little bit. Sam Hughes versus the Alexia Tynara, Molly McCann winner. That fight just put together. Molly needed a new opponent for USC London. they will not put Molly McCann anywhere near Sam Hughes. That is 2928, 2928 Hughes written all over it. And I say this is someone who I still think Molly's a good fighter. But just like, again, you add in the spoiler, Sam, the spoiler Hughes's powers.

No way. They cannot put Molly. Molly would gain nothing for, she's not finishing Sam Hughes. I'll tell you right now. She's not like straight smoking Sam Hughes. So that's not going to happen. You're not getting a highlight out of it. And you're very likely getting an upset.

So no. Just don't see that. Waldo versus Tai to Ivasa. Yeah, man, tie is still on like a losing streak, right? I'm now, now you got me mad. Oh, now you got me fired up. What that? Why?

Who wants to watch Waldo, of course, does it cost to tackle Ty Tuivasa and beat him into an oblivion? I'll like, no. No. If Tai Tuivasa is going to fight again, you resign Robelis to Spain, and you do that. That's it. That's it. He should not be fighting another guy who will tackle him. We just watch Marcy Tibera kill him.

I don't need to see another guy do the exact same thing. Taitu Vasa should be in stand-up slug fest. Resign Mark Hunt. What a story that would be. That would be the ultimate never say never resigning. And do Mark Hunt versus Taito Yvasa? Like, I would rather see that. They would never fight each other because they probably know each other in buds.

But, like, that's the kind of matchmaking for Taito Ivasa. Be better. Come on. I don't hate it Cheetah and Jaquani versus Ponsenibio Daniel Rodriguez winner May 3rd Again I said I don't want to move Cheity up But I mean that feels right

Like that just feels like the right Kind of match for him at the stage of his career So pretty smart there And with me on Deleitze and Fluffy I like it Thomas Collins Wanted oh yes Okay you know what There is a check to taste Mike

Because Thomas wanted to defend something so i hate to go too far back but thomas i'll give you your moment here uh you i think he said cop car of france and you hated it i don't remember what what happened here anyway guys i don't know got some sort of reaction from us so thomas said uh my rationale for this is neither have done enough to fight for a belt car of france off one win cop with two less well-known wins i don't know if i agree with that so pantosia fights roeval at uc 316 okay the Perth fight night event happens in August a fight night rather than a pay-per-view

Pantoja subsequently fights the winner of the August main event in December ultimately I do not believe Pantosia will make it to tell this year Rob also has a busy schedule so won't be fighting Pantosia this year hope that explains my reasoning this was too far back now I actually forgot what we what our beef with it was so I don't think either of us hated it in fact like I honestly think that's the fight to make you know if we're just like hey we want to make sure we have a clear-cut number one contender to fight Pantosia.

Because right now, if it's between the two of those guys, I'm giving Minel Kopp the title shot. Like, it's not even a question for me. Kikar-France winning one of, one and two in his last three. It's just not grounds for a title fight for me. Even though he got to finish, Menel-Cops looked so good. And he's beaten better competition, in my opinion. Like Vinnie Siggs, God love him. What a character.

What a run. But what Cop is done, the wins over Bruno Silver and Osuamabayev, to me, like, just are more significant wins. And to do it back to back in a matter of three months, like, that's just super friggin impressive. So if we're up to be, Pantosha's like, hey, I'm going to sit out until August or September. Let's see who can establish themselves. He puts himself in the Volcanoxie position from 2023 or 2022. Then, yeah, I'm okay with it. But I don't remember ever saying like, this is stupid.

Like, it's not, yeah, I think it's just one of those things where I was just like, nah, they'll never do it. Maybe that was my reaction, but yeah. I just want to give it. Good explanation. Good explanation. And I'll close up Barry O'Reilly. A lot of picks here. So I was going to run through some of these.

Carly Judez, Nicole Calliari, Priscilla Katura, Melissa Mullins, Andre Lima, Azat, Maxum, Carlos Vera Colby Thickness, Sue Young, Yon. Rinya Nakamura. I'm going to skip over this pick because you just said you hate it. No. Another one? People are talking about it.

Desmond, Blackshare, Alexandria. This is Blackshare. Two-fight finish streak will be a tougher test for the still unproven deporia. We get a good idea of where both are in the division. I love that pick. That's solid.

Very well done. Alexander Hernandez, Mick Tebeck Oralby. If Hernandez was to win this and continue his streak, he must strongly, considered for a top 15 opponent. Wow. For Oral by to beat after his first UFC loss.

And then and Jacquani Leal and DeLisei Anthony Hernandez. So thank you, Barry. Thank you, everybody. Johnny Leale's a good fight. Thank you, everybody. You make these shows so much easier to do, even when we're covering cars that we're just kind of me on. The shows are always a joy.

So send in your picks. Yes, next week. Yes, U.S. London. Send in your picks to me. My DMs are open. Twitter at Alexander K. Lee. Instagram at Alexander KKK Lee and Alex.

dot Lee at SBNation.com. Mike, how can they get to you? IG, baby, M underscore HeckJR. That's where you'll find me. That's where you send your picks for UFC London. And let me just throw this out there for the world. There's a very real world where you might have to submit them like Saturday because it's an early card.

And we might just get this thing in the books. We'll see. No guarantees. but I wouldn't rule it out. Let's take a look at UFC London. By the way, I love London cards, especially when they do it right, and we get the early star time.

We cater to the people. It's a beautiful thing. Main event, Leon Edwards versus Sean Brady. I got to tell you, A.K., there is so much on the line in this fight, in my opinion. I think the loser of this fight

will never, ever fight for the Walterweight title. Oh. Again. Like their welterweight championship aspirations are on the line here. Loser of this fight is not fighting for the belt from now until forever. I know we'll discuss this further during Fight Week, of course, on various shows. I think just Leon, by virtue of being a former champion, has that cachet. If he wins.

I don't know, man. They didn't want to give him one to begin with. know. Brady, the ceiling might be, it might set the ceiling. It might set the ceiling. Because he's not a super young guy. He's not old. He's not old. I'm not ready to jump on either

of those yet. I'm not ready. But that's a strong statement. That's a strong premise for us to go into fight we quit. I don't know if I agree, but it's strong for us. I love it. Co-main event, Jan Bolovich versus Carlos Oldberg. Are they fighting for a title shot? I say no, AK.

I say no. but possibly especially yambohovic yombovich yombovich might have been the biggest loser at UFC 313 the more i think about it which is unfortunate for him Kevin holland right back on the saddle against gunner nelson there's a reason why kevin holland has been banned

from this particular program molly mccan versus alexia tinarra as we just mentioned tough tough one for molly mccan because they were given her uh i don't know if layups the right way

but whatever a small step below layup is, that's what she had. And now she's got herself a way tougher fight, in my opinion. A fight she could lose. And if she does, boy, oh boy, it'll be tough. So big, big one for Molly McCann. Jordan Fuchanick versus Chris Duncan, super fun fight. I love that one.

Nathaniel Wood versus Morgan Cherry, are super fun fight. Love that one. Jai Herbert versus Chris Taco Padilla. teammate of E. Casey Leiden, Loneer Cavanaugh, which everyone has their eye on after his contender series performance, making his UFC debut against Felipe Dos Santos. Was that, is this UFC debut?

I'm sorry, no, he beat Jose Ochoa and his UFC debut. Marching Tybor versus Mick Parkin, and apparently the stakes are incredibly high. Well, this is not on the main card. Don't believe so. They love heavyweight so much, and they couldn't put Waldo on the main card, nor Mick Park. What are we doing, UFC? I mean, I shouldn't criticize it too much

because I think the main card at London is a banger, but damn. Maybe they're, maybe they're, maybe they're realizing, hey, heavy weight's not as good as we think it is. I beg your pardon? I beg your pardon, sir.

One of these guys is playing, I mean, and I'm talking about, I'm sorry, Parkin or Waldo, what are these guys is fighting for the UFC title in the next 12 months? I'm just saying, you guys get some promotional push by these guys. yeah

the winner of this fight is probably fighting who is it I don't know I had it in a previous no I remember is it Sergey Pavlovich it's Sergey Pavlovich

oh yeah this is the this is the this is the Sergei Pavlovich fight I think so Christian Leroyd-Dunkin versus Andre Pulaev Shauna Bannon versus Pooja Tomar

Nathan Fletcher versus Colin Lockren and the fun-ass opener, man. Guram Kutatsal Latsi is back at our lives versus Kaiwi Fernandez. That is the curtain-jurker for UFC London. Pretty fun card. Not the UFC London of old when that relationship came back together,

but pretty solid. High-stakes main event, pretty fun main card. We have prelim fights that matter, even though it's heavyweight. Not too bad. I'm looking forward to this one. Yeah, this is a good card. This is genuinely a good card.

I feel should know by not the product. He calls every card good. I'm like, yeah, I'm bad about that. Like, by the time Fight Week rolls around, I've usually read enough interviews and done enough like research of my own where I can talk myself into anything. But this on its surface, it's a very solid card. If we're going like preliminary, like very early to be of difficulty,

this is like a 7.5. This is like a 7.5. Yeah. I was like this could be a memorable card. Very, very solid. By the summer, at least. We'll still remember by the time. summer rolls around.

And here's the good news, ladies and gentlemen. The world's most famous apex between now and the next couple of months, we're only going to be revisiting the apex one time, which is a beautiful thing. We got London, Mexico City, then we're back at the apex four, which honestly is not a bad card. Terrific main event, Josh Emmett versus the Roan Murphy. Then it's 314, Kansas City, Desmond.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and then May 17th, it's back at the world's most famous apex. So we get a little bit of a reprieve from the mightiness and we get a little reprieve from us, at least on this program. We'll be back next week following UFC London.

Join us right here on onto the next one, the podcast. We gave you an hour and 17 minutes on this card. You're welcome. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Unwrapped holiday magic at Holt Renfrew with gifts that say I know you From festive and cozy fashion to lux beauty and fragrance sets Our special selection has something for every style and price point

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