MMA Fighting - On To The Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 115

Episode Date: April 5, 2026

Renato Moicano is still money. In the main event of UFC Vegas 115, Moicano reminded Chris Duncan there are levels to this game as he dominated and submitted the fast-rising lightweight to get back in the win column and hold on to his spot in the rankings. “Money Moicano” is never short of options and he seems to know what he wants, but what do the matchmakers have in store for the veteran contender? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee figure out what to do with the always reliable Moicano as he looks to maximize his profits and opportunities in the latter stage of his career. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Virna Jandiroba after she fended off Tabatha Ricci in the co-main event, plus what’s next for Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev, Ethyn Ewing, Tommy McMillen, and Jose Delano after all four impressed on the main card. Plus the usual assortment of brilliant listener picks. 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

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 crowns are back. The matchmaking crowns that is following UFC Vegas 115, an event that was so low in a bar in terms of the expectations, that there's kind of like no way that it couldn't exceed them. And this one exceeded it by a pretty significant amount. It was a pretty fun watch, despite what we got on paper. And pretty solid go-home show heading into UFC 327, which most people have already turned the page looking at.

I know I have, but we have one more piece of business as it relates to UFC Vegas 115. The matchmaking for some of the taste makers of this event. I am Mike Kek. And joining me to do exactly that is the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity, and my best friend, the one and only. Alexander Cayley Happy Happy Sunday in Canada A.K.

Happy Easter if you celebrate as well. Praise B. Joe Pfeiffer, I like to say. Praise B. Joe Pfeiffer. Hey, my best friend. You know,

that intro is a little subdued. This is our first. We're back, Mike. Oh, we are back. You and I are back. You and I are back for the first time since. So you were out last week,

I think, right? Oh, yeah. It's been that long. I guess Emmett. But Sheehaus? We did that car together. Yeah, I think that was a lot. That's a great point. I didn't even think about that.

We were back, Mike. Well, I mean, it was so seamless. It was so that you did a great show with just like some listener picks. I got Jed, obviously, for an episode. So it's seamless. We had some great. We still kept the same high level of Otno programming. But now the magic, like the magic of the best friends is back. And everyone I thought, and I think we're on a nice little, I say a nice little roll.

It's really two cards. I didn't watch London. I'm to be told it wasn't the most exciting. Not the most exciting show. No. But Seattle, we thought, looked good on pretty like pretty good. on paper delivered very well very fun show this card I look going into it we were all pretty low on the lineup I mean you know we did some baity stuff I think our preview show headline was like

is this the worst UFC event ever Jed and I both agreed like it wasn't um but the fact that it was in the conversation is pretty like dispiriting especially since we seem to be having this conversation once it like once a month now with the UFC but I was I didn't have my positive cap on like on the preview show somewhat sarcastically for some of the fights but I am trying to like just you know even though the bar is low, I'm trying to picture the best case scenario things. And I think we got a pretty good card. Mike, I'm kind of loving the matchmaking these days, even though it is slump. Let us not, let us not.

Okay, so let me be real. It is slop. I understand. I'm not trying to sell you guys on like, oh, Kai Kamaka III, Dakota Hope is some brilliant stroke of matchmaking. I'm not trying to do that. But I think they've hit a good formula here, especially when it comes to squash matches for sure for sure i always tell people like when people complain like oh how come there's

all these great finishes on the regional scene and that the ufc we don't get these great finishes it's because well off to the uc they you know they at least try to or they have been in the past to book competitive matches so far in 2026 it feels like they've kind of just said f that we are happy to book fights where uh you know this up-and-coming guy is minus 1,200 minus 1,600 and guess what yeah you get some finishes. You get some exciting finishes. And I think that's okay. As long as we're all honest about what's happening, like, as long as we're not telling people like, oh, Abdul Rahman,

Yukya, Brett and Nabero, this is going to get back and forth barn burner. No, we know we're trying to push this guy. And that's okay. That's how combat sports should work. So, yes, on paper, I'm not saying this is a great card, but it turned out well, and I think this is something that the matrix should try and replicate going

forward is like, sure, maybe you can't get the name value all the time. Maybe you can't get high stakes fights all the time. But can you get finishes and you can get fights with like a handful of fun matchups with you know low stakes matches from the card very doable very doable and I think they did that on Saturday yeah I mean

this is what we said after Vegas 114 like this is what it should be this is this is what every apex show should be it should be a good made event better than Moikato Duncan like we we knew what that was going to be more than likely but the rest should just be like

either just a bunch of heaters with lower level guys or minus 1,900 dudes just getting first round finishes. Like that's exactly what this should be. No one should be looking at this card and being like, man, this is, this is the high level stuff. Like, we should look at this card as, this is an LFA event with like a UFC caliber main event. That's what it should be. That's what every apex card should be. And I think they have found sort of the secret sauce with it. to some extent. Now again, because I've had some people already DM me this morning

dunking on us being like, oh, Apple picking card, huh? Just like, yeah, you should have done other stuff than watch this. Like,

if you were looking for something to do today, sure, you go back and watch like a few of the finishes, but like everything you needed to see, you could see on Twitter. Like Alice Burrera's finishes, like, there are very few fights that you're just going to go back

and like rewatch from start to finish. Maybe Ethan Ewing's performance, because it was so darn impressive. Yeah. That was great. I mean, I thought Kakumaka Hope was fun. That was fun.

Yeah, Trashon Gore and Bacoy are just a gritty, like just a slight above, it wasn't a middleweighty, middleweight fight. Like it was ugly, but it was ugly in like a fun way. And Tom McEll and Minowacchini

was not the fight of the night. So, uh, we'll discuss, you know, we'll discuss that more when that, when that pick comes up. Yeah.

That was not spanish. Justice for Ethan Ewing is what I have to say. But we'll, we'll get into that in a moment. Let's, let's get into the matchups. Let's get into the fallout. Hanata Moikato just beat the soul out of Chris Duncan

and I didn't really know how to read this fight AK because I just didn't know what it was going to be I didn't I know there were teammates and I know they were tight and I know they shared a sauna less than a week ago as they were cutting weight so there's really only like three ways this fight can go right it's going to be two dudes doing the PFL sparring thing

there's got to be like you know what let's just have some fun and just not be ourselves and just wing a bunch of punches and kicks and just try to knock each other out or we're going to get the fight that you're going to get between two people who don't really know each other and luckily we got the ladder

here and my read on this fight was unless Hanata Moikano is just absolutely rinsed he should easily win this fight and that's exactly what he did he went out there and just beat the brakes out of Chris Duncan Chris Duncan landed like two calf kicks early in the fight, and then Moikato figured him out immediately,

and the fight was over about six minutes later. Great performance from Moikato, really needed it. This was just not a great main event on paper. Outside of it being great for Hanata Moikano, I just don't really see what comes of this, really. There's no high stakes. We're not looking at Hanata Moikano as a guy who's going to fight for the belt again, but still lightweight's really fun.

So I guess pros and cons for everything But no more losing streak for Hanato Money Moikano, AK, the man wants his money Didn't even get a bonus last night either So no money, no extra money for Money Moikano But who is he going to fight next, AK if you had the Mighty Pencil Yeah, well, I got the standard 25K

Right, 20 the new 35K finishing bonus Again, we'll bring that up later I'll say this week was kind of easy Just because like If you went by a process of I think for a lot of these fighters, they're like, okay, well, this is really the only logical matchup left. So I went with Brian Ortega.

I was satisfied he wants. It's been booked. It's a rematch from a fight that happened quite some time ago. So it's, you know, it would be very different, I think, than the first time. Yeah, that's it. Kind of a boring pick. He's already kind of run down all things he doesn't want to do or doesn't care to do. Because, like, you could say, oh, Gamrod, you know, I know he's fighting, but if he wins, he could

fight Moikano. but their teammates. It doesn't sound like he wants to go through that again. He literally just did it. Who else did he shoot down? I think he shot down Hooker. I think he said he wasn't interested in Hooker. Again, he's Patty Pimblit.

He keeps saying it's too easy to a fight, but that's also an option. But I think we are pretty locked in on them just making Pimlet Hooker happen. So, yeah, that's what's left is Brian Orteca. And again, if you're Brian Ortega, that is a very logical fight for you when you finally make this freaking move to 155. Yeah, I want Ortega as well. Like he just called for it. It made sense.

I know they tried to make it before. Number two, sure. Like, just do it. I think the Patty ship has sailed at this point, although after like this performance, like Patty's team should like literally be on the phone with the UFC being like, book me have been out to Mikeana right now. They should absolutely do that. I actually, because I think it's a better stylistic matchup for them than even Dan

Hooker is right now, if that makes sense because Dan is just such a wild man on the feet. and we just saw Patty compete against an absolute wild man who can't really be hurt. And we saw how that fight went. And I kind of feel like Dan Hooker could do the same thing. Boycano, however, if you catch him on a bad night, like, you can look real good against him. So, I mean, let's see how good his team is right now. Because I would have, like, text message would have already been sent to Hunter Campbell, Sean Shelby, McManard. As soon as that fight was over, give us a.

Moycano. That's exactly what they should be doing. And I don't think that fight's going to happen, unfortunately. I don't know if they're going to guide him in the correct direction. But yeah, Moikano Ortega was just fine with me. And there you go. Let's go to the highest stakes fight on the card. Yes, last night. It was in the UFC Straw White Division. We had Jillian Robertson, who got a win. And two big fights in back-to-back weeks for this division to kind of determine what's going to happen with the championship picture 115 pounds is mackenzie daren't going to fight jangway lee she's going to fight jillian robertsin was she going to fight verda gangeroba or or uh what's her face who did she fight uh tabith ritch excuse me wow yeah happy sunday to me well so does you know pleasure how memorable this fight was to be honest i mean yeah and plus btel i kept calling tabith ritchie tautiana swara's and tanya oh no fighting next week uh against loopie godinia so that's a big fight but vera janjarova goes in there and does what Verda Genderobe does. I thought she won all three rounds.

She dropped Tabba the Ritchie on the feet in the second round. I thought this is a clear cut three rounds to zero win. I know two of the judges gave it to Ritchie. Round three, that was, because she landed a couple of punches. But once Verda got her down and took her back and almost finished her in the third round, I kind of felt like kind of a clear cut win for the third round. But Verda gets on the mic and she calls up McKenzie Dern for the rematch. and not a great call-up

because she has zero chance of getting this fight. So, AKA, I have landed on this because no matter what happens next week, there is no universe that the UFC is going to say, you know what, Tatia Svarez, you are in the,

as Joseph Boza likes to say, you are in the catbird seat to fight for the belt. Like, she's not even going to be in the, you're next in line if Zhang comes back to 115. Like, she's going to have to win a couple more fights before this can happen.

So what I've gone with is Verda Gensiroba versus Tatyada Suarez next. Win, loser draw at UFC 327. If Tatiana Suarez wins, Jillian Robertson's in a terrific spot. She is in a great place. She will probably fight the winner of Dern or Wei Lee, or if the UFC wants Dern to come back sooner,

she gets a title shot. And if you're Julian Robertson, I feel you should be the biggest Tatiana Suarez fan on planet Earth. If Lupi Godinez wins, she's either fighting Jillian Robertson or she jumps her in the pecking order. So it's going to be Vernas Juarez, no matter what.

That's how I think this is going to go. And boy, that fight could get tough. So Verna Suarez, or you say, if loopie wins, she will end up fighting Jillian. If loopie wins, it's either Jillian or she's getting the title shot. Okay, she will not have to fight Verna.

Lupi? No. Yeah. Oh, no, no, no, no. Because I'm along with the same. I went with the winner, of course, of next Saturdays, Suarez, Godinez winner. Yeah, this is, again, this was kind of another easy pick.

I think you're right, though. Yeah, maybe the paths aren't as intertwined, or maybe it's not just either or. But I still think there's a chance that they do loopy, Vierna, but you're right. Certainly loopy, Jillian makes a little bit more sense. Man, we just need to. find out when is what are they doing jang and durring and i get it they're not in any rush

it's clearly a second half of 20 i mean you probably should be in a little bit of a rush right now i don't know i mean i guess they're uh i don't think it'll be international fight week right i don't think it's doing that it's going to be the july number of it uh i don't know i honestly don't know what they're thinking because at this point it's what um it was october so we're six months into her reign now with no fight on the books. I mean, we are, before you know, we could be sniffing a year before she defends this belt.

That's a long time, man. Like the earliest she's going to fight is August at this point. I think if she's not fighting International Fight Week, which is July 11th. And that's 10 months. And what if it's not Zhang? What are we doing? I don't understand what's happening here.

I really don't. It can't be later than August. It can't be, Mike. They won't be. Okay. Okay. It can't be late than August. But you, so you're optimistic that it could be July.

It could be the International Fight Week. I don't know. No, but you think it's possible, right? You don't think like there, you haven't heard anything like, oh, well, she's definitely not going to be back by it. No, yeah, but like, but then again, we have, we have a similar issue with 125. Because Valencia Chifchenko has been fought since November. What are we doing there? Like, is it going to be Natty Ice?

Is it going to be somebody else? I don't know. I mean, it kind of has to be Natty Ice now that Macy Barber's out of the picture, but is she going to move up to 135? Like, I don't know what's happening with any of these women's divisions,

let alone the Bannabweight Division and when Kayla Harrison's coming back. So, like, we have three women's titles right now in the UFC, and none of them are on the books, not even, like, interim belts, nothing, like nothing, with either of these divisions in the championship.

So, I don't I don't know where they're going with any of these divisions like they're putting on these big fights with high stakes but like for what? If none of these titles are going to be defended

like I understand Kayla's injured but I don't know what they're going to do and how they're planning this. I would assume one of these women's fights are going to happen in July but I don't know that for sure. We need a Dana White news drop this week. We need one of those Thursday.

Dana White's going live on IG at some point in the next 18 hours posts and then announce one of these please Zhang or Valentina title defense please I'm sorry McKenzie Turrentel defense excuse me I'm so sorry I'm so sorry I'm so how dare you how dare I six race six months what a rain what a rain oh man yeah so vera Suarez for me where did you end up with I still like I'm going Tautiana or good or Luby so whoever wins

that's right okay so Verda versus the winner this way yeah yeah and Jillian versus the winner of the title fight? I don't know. I know what's going to have with Jillian now. Yeah. I mean, she's in a much better spot now. If Tap of the Ritchie went out there and won last night, Jillian was in big trouble.

Oh, my last pick for Jillian was Jan Shaonan at UFC Macau. Oh, only because I think she can win. That's a really tough fight, actually. But I still think she could win it and it just sort of keeps her busy. Like it sucks. didn't have to fight yon shunan on but if a mccat that mccan card still coming together it kind of makes sense to get yon shon on there and julian would make a lot of sense as her opponent so we'll see yeah tab at the reach he was jumping over everybody if she won that fight i know

which is would have been kind of still not a great not a great performance not a great performance it was not because i don't know when they're going to give her another chance like this i mean well it is the ufc and dana white so it could happen like it could happen literally in her next fight i don't Not a deep division either of this balance, not a deep division. Let's go to Yakiyaf, as we mentioned earlier. Can we? Did literally what everyone expected it to do? A minus, I think he closes like a minus 1,600 favorite.

Made it look easy. Did it quickly? 205 needs help badly. But I don't know like how high to jump him up yet, AK. So I landed on a name. Curious where you went with this. Mike, you know me. I like to see three wins in the UFC before jumping someone.

unless you know there's someone coming from another promotion you know an established guy who has like you know 15 20 25 fights and like okay obviously they can win one fight and depending who they beat you could jump until like top 20 not even close to that with yakyaev yet i forgot how young he is for some reason i thought he was in the 28 like 29 range which would already in the light heavyweight division be like a baby but he's 25 which is young for like a bantam weight so so crazy um i think this guy i love the talent i love his mentality i i i i love his mentality i i i I believe he'll fight for a UFC title someday, though he has zero defense. Like he just loves to, he's got that young man chin.

He just comes forward. And if you hit me, you hit me because I'm going to hit you harder. I'm going to just hoss you to the ground. It's just what he does. It's so fun. So one more squash match, Mike. One more squash match before I bump him to like into the 2530 range as far as opponents go. Give me Tukotokos, win, lose, or draw versus he's booked to fight Yvon Erslawn on May 6th.

Obviously, Mike, I didn't make this a win the winner of that fight because Yvonne Ursula, draw should be fighting Ebo Aslan, as you know. So, Tococos, come on down. I went Julius Walker. Ooh. That's that way. I mean, I think, yeah, they're like ranked the same, I would say, like right around each other. Definitely.

Julius will fight him. Like, he'll go after him. He'll test him. I don't think he beats him. But at least he'll get it. in there and he will probably perform better than Brentson Ribeiro did. So Julius Walker, come on down and Julius's got to take that fight.

Man, it's not Brent's, it's not Brentson's fault that right now Yakaia was like in Terminator mode. Because he caught him with like a head kick. He was catching him with some punches too. And yet guy was like, I'm good. I'm 25, it's fine. I'm 25, I'm athletic, I'm strong. So I'm just going to come forward. Julius will try to tackle him a couple times. So probably like hoist him up and slam him. So like he'll have moments. He'll have highlights. I just, yeah, like I've got something, but yeah, no need to rush him at this point. So let's move on to the Bantamweight Division and the guy I believe was the best fighter on the card last night. Like I understand Moikano was like, if you want to call Moikano the MVP because he got to finish and then yelled a bunch of stuff on the microphone, totally get it. But to me, my MVP was Ethan Ewing. This guy's really good. I don't think he's going to, I don't think he's going to like fight for a belt or anything.

but he's just really fun to watch. And speaking of Terminator mode, here's a guy who is on a nice run. He's got great skills. He's got terrific vision. And he also has a blockhead. You cannot hurt this man. And he knows you can't hurt him, which makes him even more dangerous. And I am digging this gimmick, AK.

I am digging the gimmick of, if you got to know next to your name, I'm the man to take it. Let's keep this streak going, AKA. He's already handed two first losses out. Even though I feel like this guy probably deserves a little bit better, I just don't think he's that interesting to a lot of people at the moment. So let's make up a little more interesting and throw him in there with Ethan Ewing. Farid Basharats, this is where I'm going with this. And Farid might be mad of me, but it is what it is, man.

Like that is just a fun fight. And if Farid goes out there and beats Ethan Ewing, it is undeniable. He should be fighting like a top 10, 20. 12 guy next. Yeah, I obviously I think that was my first thought. That was a lot of people's first thought. I saw that on social media everywhere saying, well, it's only one guy, like, sort of higher up in the rankings that's undefeated in their career.

And, you know, Farid sort of frees and then it comes down. I too want to see Farid get a bigger fight. I'm not sure what. And I could have used him because I think the last team, Frid fought. I said, Song Yadong, Song Yadong, is now booked. So technically, Farid is out there waiting for an opponent. I won't mind it. I think if they booked that makes total sense.

I don't know how invested they are in Fareed. I just don't think like they view him as a star, which is fine. But I don't know how invested they aren't Ethan Ewing either, Mike. You said he was a standout of the card. How can he be, Mike, when he did not get a bonus? How can he be the standout? He looks like he's just another Joe Schmo to me, Mike. He's just another guy got, he's lucky that they have the mandatory $25K bonuses.

I guess that's all he deserves. He's no Manolo Zichini, Fight of the Night, 100K for this man, hasn't fought in three years. comes off the couch and gets $100,000. He was brought in to get finished. It truly brought. It was literally a squash match. It was, oh, this is shot on Malley's buddy.

Let's get him a win. And he almost beat him. He almost went in there and got him. Crazy. Yeah. This is, I knew. Someone asked you on Twitter, he's like, who's going to get a bonus? Mcmillan or Ewing?

I'm like, if it's between the two of them, they're like, what's the line? I'm like, McMillan minus 14,000. He gets it over Ethan Ewing. And boy, was that right. That wasn't right, man. Like, I just, I don't know why they don't see something in Ethan Ewing. Like, he had that great upset at the time. Now looking back, but not so much an upset, Malcolm Wellmaker.

And then the clip of him going back to his construction job goes viral, you know, us in the media, we're all kind of rolling our eyes. We kind of hate to see that sort of thing because he shouldn't have to work construction when he's fighting at this level, unless he wants to, I guess. So there's a story there. Like, there's a buzz around him. And I don't know if the UFC doesn't see it. and they don't want to push him for some reason.

Like, I would have been fine if they really want to give a performance bonus to McMillan, which I don't think they should have. Why didn't they just do four performance bonuses? And then you go McMillan and Ewing. You're still living out poor Trachon Gore, but I mean, if they were so insistent,

I was just strange to me. And again, this wasn't even the best fight on the card. It wasn't even the second best fight on the card, in my opinion. Gore and Bokoyev was really good. Kamaka and Hope was really good. Delano and Rochalo is really good. I love, man.

That was a great fight. Love watching Delano. I just don't And I feel so bad Because I don't mean to slam Manolo Zuccini And I said he comes off the couch Obviously, you know, he had a full training camp But I'm sure he put in a lot of work

He deserves his money But it just sounds so funny That he gets 100K For a fight that lasted less than four minutes It wasn't like I know you're right, it was competitive But wasn't like that exciting It was competitive

And then again like Gore doesn't And Ethan Ewing doesn't Even Moycano in the main event Running through Chris Duncan doesn't get an extra It's so weird. So anyway, yeah, so matchmaking for Ethan Ewing. We got to talk about

the bonus more in the future. This is our next controversy, guys. It's the next thing we in the so-called M-A media are going to be crying about the new bonus structure. I'm going to go with someone who is undefeated in the UFC, Mike, but not undefeas as a pro.

Let's go with Jakobich Blasch, but Yaakovich Blach right now. Not as sexy a pick as Farid, but again, I think Faribe deserves a higher ranked opponent. I don't think he has to, quote-unquote, go back and fight Ethan Ewing. So we'll go with that.

Again, sort of my 3-0 rule, too. I need to see you go 3-0 in the UFC before you do a big step up. So Ewing would be, I mentioned to see how heavily he'll be favored. Because now it's not a secret anymore. There is no secret around Ethan Ewing. People know this guy is super legit. I think it was pretty close with Estevall, almost to pick him. He was slightly favorite, almost to pick him because Estevon was undefeated and all that.

Now, I think, against, like, Wic-Glasch, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ewing, like, minus 300 favorite or something. very interesting to see how the opinion turns. But again, it is hard because also maybe the casual hasn't picked up on him yet because the UFC doesn't seem to pick up on him yet. But yeah, let's see where we go with this guy. Just please book him soon. If this guy ends up being like sitting on the sidelines for like six months because they can't find him a fight, I am going to be furious.

I mean, so furious. You need to keep this guy busy. Yeah. We waited five months for the return. That's fine. Five months is okay. But like I think less. I think we got to get him in summer.

Got to get him in by the summer. Please. They got something here. He's just fun. Give the hardcore something. I mean, we all know that you don't promote towards the hardcore fans and the people who watch the sport. You want to promote to a whole different sort of audience. And I get that.

You want to try to grow the sport. But half the people you're trying to promote to aren't going to be around in two years watching it. So, you know, give us Ethan Ewing. More Ethan Ewing. That's what we want. So good job, young man. Let's go to Tommy McMillan, who did get $100,000, did have the fight of the night, goes in there, gets a big win,

gets a finish, gets a bonus, gets the whole rigamarole, and Tommy McMillan's like, not only am I going to fight for belts, but it's going to happen sooner than you think. I don't want to be this guy, but here's how I'm matching him up with AK. I'm matching him up with John Janus. That's who I'm matching them up with. That's who I'm, this is who, in my opinion, like, that is currently on the roster, I think he's the lowest ranked featherweight in the UFC. Wait, no way.

Mike. No. Cue up the band. This is the one. This is the one. Wow. Three, two, one. Friends forever.

Mike, that's what I'm talking about, though, process of elimination, because I was going and look at my personal rankings. And there was a bunch of guys in like the lower range of the division who I didn't even know had been released. And those were like the guys. There's like Gabriel Miranda or something. I can't find them and I deleted their names off my document. But yes, that's how low I was going. I was looking at guys who are apparently no longer in the UFC anymore. That was my thinking for Tom McMillan.

So yes, John Yannis is the way to go. If the UFC thinks they have something with this guy, great. And I get it. He's got that laid back. You know, I don't give an F. I just want to fight. That kind of attitude. that people like he's like he's got a sort of a homegrown following he's kind of talked about

himself like he has like 200,000 Instagram followers or something I went to check he's like 60k which again I guess for our debuting UFC fighter is pretty good I'm not like crapping on that 60,000 followers is quite a few people for again someone who's just kind of starting their getting their run going so good good for him but uh man they are they got to be careful because I think okay so the obvious comparison is like a patty pimblit style push that he's getting But there's a lot of things to remember here. One, Patty was fighting pretty good competition over in Cage Warriors before coming to the UFC. So he's definitely a level above Tommy McMillan.

If you want to compare them both when they made their... Because I saw some people saying that. And I'm like, no, Patty was a level above. Patty also, I think, is a little bit better on the mickey. I know, again, I know people like the Tommy McMillan, whatever, whatever. I don't care attitude. But I think if you're trying to create memorable sound bites, I do think you need to be a little more on the Patty's side then Tommy and Mill inside.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm out of touch. So I hope, and the other thing is, I think Patty had the right kind of heat right away. I think there was the right kind of like, yeah, we dislike this guy, but we want to see him get exposed and get his ass beaten. Tommy has to be careful.

Tommy Mill has to be careful about, like, go away heat. I just don't want him to become someone who, like, we see there's these kind of, you know, boasting, I'm going to be Bantamway champion, or I'm going to fight for the featherweight title, excuse me, sooner rather than later. And, like, don't have us rolling our eyes and like ignoring you and being like, well, this guy is delusional.

Like, I don't think you want that. So just some words of warning to Todd Mill and his team in the UFC about how you push this guy. Let's go with John Janus and then let's take it from there and let's see this guy. As he says, organically grow, which I think he can't. Yeah. And look, I can't believe they waited this long to debut him. Like, you knew the second, you knew the day before Contender Series when he fought. Like, okay, they're going to try to do some.

with this guy. He's O'Malley's guy. We saw what they did with O'Malley. They're going to try to do the same thing here. We knew it. And then they waited like six months to debut him. What are we doing? I thought for sure when O'Malley fought Song Yidong of UFC 324, immediately I was like, all right, Tommy McBillan is fighting on this card. They're going to put him on this card and just build up this O'Malley thing. Tommy needs to get right back in there. Like I'm not saying he's going to fight at the White House, but he should be fighting right around the same time.

so if Sean gets in there for a third time this year, Macmillan is on the same card. Like, McMillan should be fighting three times this year. And yeah, I got that same vibe with the Patty comparisons. We're just like, all right,

because, I mean, Patty, like, the level of competition Patty fought before getting to the UFC was pretty comparable. Like, I know the Julian Orozah

fight was sort of different. And I still to this day, believe Julian Oroza won that fight. But outside of that, like, it was a bunch of, like, not great records that Patty fought. Like, look at McMillan's run. It was a bunch of, like, 2-0s, 18 and 17s, like, all the way up until the Contender Series fight, which is, like, his best win. And that includes last night. The Contender Series one was his best win.

So, like, John Yannis is good. Like, let him build some confidence. Let him go in there and rinse some people. But I saw, like, I saw media members being like, let's throw them in there with Michael. Aswell, I'm like, are you high? What do you? We're trying to build this guy. Michael Aswell will, we'll run him over right now.

Don't do that. Someone mentioned, uh, just, just out of curiosity, like, I think, I think Bionan said this, but I think, uh, for the same reasons that you sort of laid out, he's like, let's do Macmillan versus Delano. I want to see something. And Jed was like, Jed responded, a murder. And Bia was like, yep. walk before we run.

We have to slow roll the span. Yeah. Before we're talking about the Michael Aswells and stuff. Like let him be John. Then we can maybe go a little bit, but even so, like, I would still give him another one. Like another one kind of way back there. I don't know. He's going to be a tough one to build.

But he's also 28. So like you can't wait too long. But I don't know, man. They're throwing be a mosquito. in there with Melissa Mullins when she should be fighting Raquel Pennington. So I don't know what they're doing at this point in terms of matchmaking. I like I said, if that turns out to be a squash match and just keeps like boosting B.S. profile, like, and then I'm like, I'm okay with it.

Again, I don't know. Maybe Raquel Pennington is just not in the mix right now, but for that fight, I have no idea. Oh, what was the last thing I want to say at what time, McMillan, Mike? Oh, yes. He said he wants to fight on the July card. So obviously, would not, timing wouldn't work out if we want to get him on another card. to Sean O'Malley, but maybe down the end of the year, maybe that's the way they end up doing it.

Because, yeah, if you can get him back in there in July and get him another squash match, John Yannis, what's up? I think that's the way to go. He just said he loves Las Vegas, and he would love to fight in front of an actual crowd, so he wants to be a T-Mobile. So, hey, if you can work it out, the kid knows what he wants. I say kid, I'm sorry, I know he's 28. But the man knows what he wants,

and if you can line that up, I say go for it. Call John Yannis tomorrow. Yes. 100% hey international fight week if you want to throw that on uh yeah actually that's probably exactly that's what he wants yeah that's what mcmillan wants yeah let's go to jose d'lano can we oh man this dude's fun this dude's fun very very fun uh someone compared him i don't know if it was in our slack channel but they called him they're like uncle riko's got hands love that absolutely love that this is a terrific fight really enjoyed it this is my favorite fight in the entire card uh and delano

out there and gets the win. I can't wait to see this dude fight again. And he's in the division where with him and Ewing, AK, I was just like, I had a hard time picking the right matchup because there were like 12 to 15 of them. I was like, ooh, that's fun. Oh, that's great. Oh, that's also fun. And then you have to find like the perfect one, which is really tough to do. Who did you land on for Delano, AK? I'm going to go with Jamal Emmer's. I want to find someone with experience, who I have ranked above him. After that performance, I'm really actually curious where most people would rank Alana, because again, he's not a newbie.

This was his 20th or his 21st pro bouts. So he's new to the UFC, but he's been out there. This is not a raw contender series product. He's pretty much, I'm not saying he can't develop, but I'm saying he pretty much is the fighter that he's going to be for the next few years. And that's a good thing. That's a good thing. So I, like, I'm very conservative with my ranking.

He has some loss to Gabriel Santos from like years ago. And I think Gersson is pretty good. so I kind of couldn't rank him higher than him. But yeah, if you put, like, Delano in your top 30 after that fight, I'd be like, yeah, sure. If you put them outside the top 40, I'd be like, yeah, sure. It's hard to gauge, which is why this next opponent is so important. So I'm going with Emmer's, not a very high-ranked guy,

but a stiff test, a guy who's on a win streak himself, a guy who's probably looking for a fight. And again, Delano's another guy. I want to get in there sooner rather than later. So, yeah, if they can call up Mr. Emers and set something up for, again, international fight week or an August card, maybe even early as June. I don't know when Delano's going to be ready again.

that would just be fantastic. Love Delano. Unique style. It's going to be a little bit tricky because I think the way he fights, I think finishes might be rare depending on how you match him out with. Especially again, if you put him on some of them

with Emers and other, once you start hitting that top 30, it's just a lot of guys who are tough to put away. And he's not like a hard, hard, like heavy power hitter. But he is so fun to watch and he's so well-rounded. The clinch work I thought was really great.

Like I know he can move. Like the guy just zips around all the time. But I thought the clinch, like, when you got in the clinch work, Man, that's contender level stuff. So I'm going conservative here, Mike. I don't know. Did you take a bigger swing?

I bet you took a bigger swing than me. I'm with Kaida. Oh, okay. Wow. It's just fun. It is. It's just a fun fight. Not for Kaida, man.

I mean, he could go O and 2 to start his lot of hype. It could go easily could go O&2 to start his year secret. 100%. And that's what makes that fight so fascinating to me. Like you put Kaida in like a, like you saw the Nathaniel Wood fight and you're like, okay, this guy can be fun. but like I think we know his ceiling. This one, like putting him in a, in this type of matchup,

it's almost like, it's not quite patchy mix, but it's like sort of similar where it's like, man, this guy came in with so much hype and so much confidence. And now he could go in two. And then it's just kind of like, where do you go from here? So I think putting him in a high stakes fight like this makes all the sense in the world. And Delano's a terrific dance partner to answer all those questions.

So yeah. And then if he wins that, then we could start talking. and the Danny gaze of the world and then just go off from there. Featherweight's great. A lot of depth. And Delano is a great addition. Let's go to the wild card round, AK.

Let's matchmake for a fighter. We haven't match made for yet coming out of UFC Vegas 115. A.K., who was your wild card selection? Well, you know, I went with the women's bandit weights this time. Because I have to get credit to I was put at it. Because I, at least see, excuse me, at least it put out, because I was very, like, harsh in a way. and also almost condescending towards this fight.

And I stand by it. I think on paper, this is just like a dreadful fight. It turned out okay. It wasn't like great. It wasn't terrible. Like I was hoping it would be so bad. It was funny. It was actually pretty competent, modern day UFC fight.

It was a great finish. Great finish for Alice C Pereira. Huge knee. End up on highlight reel. She has a great piece for her highlight reel now. That'll be on the highlight reel's end of the year. So very big win. Haley Cowan, man, just 0 and 3, just, you know,

has had her UFC's like career stalled. many times just by for various reasons but I think I think this might be for her she was all smiles after bless her so we'll see maybe Haley can go back to the regional scene and then you know get a UFC run later it's just it's just a tough break sometimes right it's tough run

so Alisi I think the youngest fighter on the UFC roster still I know she was when she debuted she was 19 pretty sure she still is right she's like 20 I don't think they signed anyone any other teenagers since then but I Alice Pereer at least yeah

she is the youngest She is the youngest. She is the youngest. Yeah, okay. I just don't recall them signing any 19-year-olds or 20-year-olds

recently. So good for her. And before I say who I'm going to match her up with, I wanted to make a point earlier that like, Mike, you and I were discussing for the show how forgettable

this card will be going forward, which is fair, especially when there's, again, 40-something cards a year, even good cards, even really, really good cards with stakes get, like,

tossed out of the news cycle, like, within 10 days. But I did like what this card accomplished, which is, I feel like it just progressed some of these fighters who I think they're investing. Yakiaev, Ethan Ewing, Tom McMillan, Delano, Alisi Pereira. And her, most of all, because, you know, there was kind of a big deal when she got signed. One, her age, two, people getting confused, thinking she was Eileen Pereira, Poetan's sister, she's not.

And then she had a pretty dreadful outing against Moncey Rendon. I mean, it was bad. It was real bad. I mean, it had people justifiably asking, like, why did they? they signed this person at this at this age she's not ready yet and this doesn't prove that she's like a world beater um in my rankings i have her and haley cowen as still the bottom two fighters in the division uh i think i had cowen at 28 i had fededa at 29 and finetta just took her spot at 28 just fast rising but she's young this division is not deep there's a law of development to be done i'm going

i think we've got to go chelsea chandler oh i thought we might of I thought for a second. Thought for a second we were going to get there. You also picked Alisi? I did. Oh, go ahead. What did you go? Where'd you go?

This just goes with, I mean, this just literally goes to my point of there's no need to rush any of these fighters. I'm going with the fighter that is ranked one, that I have ranked one spot above Pereira. And that is Arena Alexiva. Yeah. Like that's where we're going. Like, chill out just a touch, man. Like, just relax, Elisee. Like, you were losing to Haley Cowen.

You were losing. You were about to lose that fight. If Haley Cowen just decided to keep the fight on the ground, you would have lost that second round. And there's a decent chance you would have lost the fight. There is a glaring hole in your game that you got to fix. Now, the knockout was sick. I'm not going to take anything away from her.

That was a sick, vicious knockout. And it's one of the best knockouts of the year. thus far without question you don't see that type of knockout in women's m ms she left haley cowan lying man but i actually had a decent read on that fight i picked haley cowen to win in hindsight it's a terrible pick but the way that second round was going was like the way i saw this how this fight could go there is no need to rush her like truly no need this is the reverse of bia mosquito for bia for me bia should be like a win her next win should get her a title shot that's where i'm at her.

Pereira, like, 12 wins before we fight for a belt. Or you even start discussing it. Like, let her just go out there and do that. Like, just let her create a highlight reel for the next five to six fights. Just let her go out there

and do that. Please don't rush her. Please don't put her in there with anybody ranked or anybody near the rankings. Stick with the arena Alexivas and stick with the fighters that stick we're at, right? If you want to throw

it back in there with Haley Cowan, go ahead. Like, I'm fine with that. Run it back. Like, I'm truly fine with that. Like, I don't want to see any more of a step up than what we're giving her, okay? Chelsea Chandler, Arena Alexiva, nailed it. That's perfect. Exactly where she needs to be. Yeah, we have a map here.

At least Alexiva, Chandler, Tanara, Lisboa. Yeah. Her quote unquote, step-up fight can be like Priscilla Kacharra somewhere down the road. Oh, yeah. That's what we're going to get by like. Like her fifth fight, like her fifth like UFC fight. Yeah, March 2027. She fights Priscilla Kachua.

We're not going anywhere near the rankings because as much like we talk like I know Bantamweight is bad. But at some point there is like a level where I feel like she's not quite there. Like a Choslin Edwards like Carol Hosa. Like I just like I'm not seeing these are amazing fighters. But if you threw her in there and like her third or fourth fight against one of these names, I just don't like her chances. There's just an experience level.

There's a physical maturity. Again, she's only 20 years old. She's not even near where she's going to be, like, athletically. So, yes, there is a clear map here. I think if you can bring in people from a contender series, if you can sign free agents for her to fight, like nowhere near the top 17, 18. Just does not need to be near there for until, like, the end of 2027.

I hope they are smart about this. Yeah. What PFL did with Dakota Ditcheva early on, it's exactly what you need to do here. There you go. There you go. Exactly needs you do. All right.

Let's go to the peeps and then we'll get on out of here. Shout out to Matt Downing, first timer. Welcome to the party, Matthew. Choosing a top card to debut my odd no picks. Hope the time off has been relaxing. Ethan Ewing versus Farid Basharat can take his O, his ranking, and the UFC can release him for some reason. That's actually kind of funny.

Boycana versus Patty, Yagaya versus the winner of Tokos Erslan. Jean-Joroba versus Gillian Robertson. Delano versus Michael Aswell, Jr. Now we're talking. Delano Aslo would be really fun. Delano, Luke Riley, would be fun. Like, that's, I'm okay with that. Macmillan versus Yadir Del Valle.

I'm okay with that as well. That might actually be like a little too high, but like. Isn't Yadier like not, I know he's been involved in a lot of controversy in his young, his young U.C. queer. Isn't he not terrible? He's not terrible. is he was terrible in his last fight is he he he's not terrible is he um i mean his wit he got he's not bad it's i don't if we're going if we're going if we're going to give him a quote-unquote

step up i'm not going that you i don't go any higher than that's it that's it yeah you cannot go higher than that yeah i mean jordan levitt dominated no oh i think he said jordan levy i think he said him versus Big Mills. Oh, no, no, no, no. Yeah, it was not good. But I think we're, I think we're like three fights away from the out of your Davaoies of the world. That's, that's what I think. Not bad. Not a bad thing. If we're going step up, that's fine. Treshaegor versus Cesar Almeida, Flowers versus Mateus Camillo. And then to kind of go back on the Ethan Ewing pick, also, my opinion, Basharat is a bit too big of a jump, but I would be okay with it. I think there's a lot of good options for Ewing, Yanez, Font, Wiclax, McGee,

Jonathan Martinez, et cetera. And yeah, he's absolutely right. That was, that was literally what I was going through last night as I was making my pick. I was like, ooh, I love this. I love the Yana's idea. I think that's, that's a good one. Easy fight to put together because I believe they're both managed by the same guy. Martinez would be the same.

Ricky Simone would be fun. I mean, there's just so many good matchups for Ethan Ewing for the next several years. I'm very pumped. John Ray, I didn't watch this card. It was 72 degrees and I went to my parents. I know I'm a casual. No, you did the right thing, John. Lovely, lovely, lovely choice.

You did the right thing. It was, you missed a good one, a fun one. But just go on Twitter. Just go on the UFC on Paramount Twitter and you'll see everything you need to see. And you'll be okay. I think when we tell people like you can miss a card, we mean like, you're not missing a moment. You know what I mean? It's not like, oh, it's not like, oh, you know, Yuri Prasch could like, like, KOs,

Carlos Olberg next week, but spinning back fist in the first round or something. That'll be like, you'll feel like, oh, I missed something. I miss the moment. I miss sharing that with everyone as it happened. It's not quite the same watching it back. There's nothing on this card, respectfully, that you'll be like, oh, I wish I'd been watching that and on social media and tweeting with everyone and messaging my friends. No, it's just not a thing.

And that's okay. That's, yeah. This is, there's a strategy to consuming UFC content now. So it's okay to have missed this one life. Yeah. Like, I'm a huge Red Sox fan. but I don't watch 162 Red Sox games. I just can't do it.

So John, all good. Kamaka versus Gabe Green, Barbosa versus Hardy, Gore versus the Diaz, Atab-Gotee loser. So who was that for? For Gore. Gore, the Gotea. Diaz-Gotea loser. Yes, that's good, yes.

That is good. Yeah, they're going back to great matchmaking for Goteer right now. They saw the step up. He gets a win. But now he's going to go obliterated, dude. More squash matches. That's all I ask. I've never had a problem with them to the UFC.

My only problem was I think they didn't do them enough. And now they're just cranking them out. I'm going to go back to that one in a second. Duncan versus Drew Dober, sure. John Girobe versus Robertson. Both were co-mains on Apex cards. True story. Yakiae versus Omar C.

I thought about that one as well. Ewing versus DeMond Blackshear, sure. Macmillan versus Bogdan Grad. Yeah. I'm fine with that. Honestly, that's kind of the range I'm looking at as well. And somebody can finish you.

Delano versus Sherriere, Peterson versus Hokit if he loses next week. Peters. Okay. Costa. Boy, that fight was, boy,

that was a tough one. Sheesh. Not, not Gierre Mae Pat's best night. I'm honest. No. I think he's not long for this UFC world after this one. Costa versus the Summiderji Perez loser.

Darius Flowers, Jamie Mularky. This one, this one, this one I could see. I don't think, I don't think it'll happen, but I could see this. This is a big step up. This is a ranked opposition. This is ranked opposition, okay. Alise Pereira versus the quote, still ranked, Misha Tate. I think Misha Tate kills her right now.

I know, I get it. I know Misha Tate is, uh, one foot and nine to five four other toes out the door. There's just such a gap in skill. I think even at the stage of her career, like she has forgotten more, it's such a cliche, but she has forgotten more about fighting

than at leastipida has come close to learning yet. I don't like it. If you really, really confident that you can win that and you've really, really really need to push at leastipeda hard, go for it. I would favor,

I would love to see the odds on that. And if Misha Tata's plus, I'd be jumping all over that. Misha would be plus. I would jump all over that. So would I. Yeah. There's a big gap.

It's just too soon because if, if Pereira wins, then what do you do? Like, there's no hiding now. Like, like, I don't know what you do with her.

It's, it's tough sailings from there. And guess what happens at the top of that division? They all can wrestle. Like every, all of them. And Misha can wrestle too. Misha will tie.

Misha will not. play around. She will tackle Alisi right away. And then that'll be it. Honestly, three rounds. And if she can't finish it, three rounds of tackling,

tackling, and tackling again. Tackle, tackle. John also likes Boycano versus Patty Pimplett. Let's go to Harry Daweskin. Kamaka versus Calvin Cater.

Interesting. I actually like that fight. They're the same management? No, no. No, they do not. Trashon Gore versus the Petrosky

versus Petrosky slash Brundage for the Jomber Jobber MF belt. No, no. Gore has already fought Brundage. Am I not mistaken? That would be a two. So you got to mention that.

Cody won that fight. Did he not? And Cody won that fight, correct. Did he like, was that the slam K.O? Wasn't that slams? No, he slammed someone else, I think. I thought he slammed someone else. Oh, no.

Brundj knocked him out, I believe. Petroski is interesting. I think they were the same season of the Ultimate Fighter. No, weren't they? Weren't they, Ultimate Fire 29? I think you're right. I think so. So, yeah.

So, yeah, I don't know, weird, weird thought there. Again, it's the UFC. You could easily see that happening. But weird one. That's a weird one. Yeah. Flowers versus Shemrock. Harry's just on one here.

A lot of disrespectful things coming. Flowers versus Shemrock. He missed wait. For a different BMF title. Oh. Yeah. So the B is not baddest. It would be something else.

So we'll leave it at that. B word MFer? Bummiest. Bummiest. Yeah, buviest. Bummiest. Oh my gosh. I mean, by the way,

shout out to Darius Flowers. Great mic work. I know you miss weight, but it was very good of the bike. I actually, I thought it was good. He was okay. I don't know. It was okay.

Didn't do it for me. Didn't land for me. My best friend. Fair. Costa versus. Uh, DM Jargle hopefully gets finished for stealing Ewing's performance bonus. Peterson versus Pinto. Wow.

Remind me to do literally anything else while that fight's happening. Do one thing and that's take the over is what I would say. Oh, yeah. I mean, make that a nine round fight and I'm taking the over. Tommy McBillet, man, he is just ripping everybody. Tommy versus Bogdan, Grant, another one. Ewing, Go. Ethan gets the shine versus Daniel Marcos,

Yagaya versus the Blato, Modessa Bukascus winner, Jacoby if you're rushing him. And Harry says, Moikano versus Viziv 2. Hooker, our crypto man is in a weird spot. Yeah.

I mean, there's lots of things we can do here. Can I say, as you mentioned, Yucayev's name. Iwo Berniske's booked, right? I was booked,

yes. I need to see a bunch. Against Billy Al-Cana. I need to see. Iwo and Yakiyaa fight someday. That is my new like, well, that's a top five like dream fight for me right now. Not right now. I want to see both guys kind of push separately.

But somewhere down there, I need to see these two maniacs fight each other. Yes. It'll be real fast. You might be like a lifetime member of Team HEC at this point. EWRodzky. Ewo. Kyle Thornton, Boycano versus Patty. Verda versus the Swarres.

Godineas, Godineas winner. It's two of Godineas. Shut up Kyle. Yakiyaa versus Jacoby. Macmillan versus the landware Swanson loser. First of all. Go ahead. Mike, tell him. This is

one thing I'll say. Swanson's final fight. Yep. And secondly, what are you doing? Do you just not like Tommy McMillan? Is this what this is? You're trying to just end it before it begins. Way too soon for

either of these guys. I would pick retired cup to beat Tommy right now. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And again, we don't say this to like dump on the man. Like he got a win, you got a bonus, like good for him. The UFC is going to try to do something with him.

But as AK beautifully pointed out, you don't want to give him Xbox heat immediately. You want the heat that he's getting to be like you want sort of this this torn down the middle narrative of like the cool kick streamers and like those folks like cheer for Tommy. but like everybody else booze the shit out of them and they want to see him lose like that's what you want you want to like happy medium that's a sweet spot yeah that's a beautiful spot eventually pat patty pimble it after the Jared Gordon fight got Xbox key it was just like F this dude like

oh yeah like we don't even want him in the UFC anymore like we're just done you got exposed he got exposed yeah wasn't even that it's just like we don't want it like the way he reacted to it oh I killed him I won all three rounds it was done it was my best performance And Bo-Nickle could take a page from Patty. Patty figured out a way to turn it around.

And yeah, they got to be very careful with Tommy. Like, I can't remember if you mentioned this at the beginning of the show. If you could choose one right now to be booked within the next four months, would it be Moikano versus Patty or Patty versus Hooker? If I'm the UFC, boy, it just depends on like how you're viewing this. if you're pat i mean like i said patty's team is doing him a incredible disservice if they didn't reach out and say we want moikano last night they should have absolutely done that um i think if you're the ufc you probably do moikano because i think i and he can go out to lose he can go out there and

lose to moikato like that is very much on the table but i think moikano is a better matchup for patty than dan hooker is right now uh but there is a lot and there's heat on both of these so i don't you could really go wrong. But I think if you're the UFC, if you're sitting in a matchmaking room on Tuesday in a meeting, you're probably favoring the Wicano Patty fight more. But I don't know. I don't think you go wrong. What do you think? I think I'm still leaning hooker Pimblit. I just feel like there's heat there. Maybe it's not the kind of heat the UFC wants to promote. I mean, that's pretty nasty. I mean, the things are the things I talked about. It's pretty nasty, right? I don't know when these quotes you want to.

I mean, dude, they're putting Sean Strickland and Hamzaa Chamaia up on a stage. Like, that's a good game. I still lean towards Patty and Hooker, but I see the logic between Wicano and Patty. And there's just been so much heat there as well for a longer simmering heat. That would be fine. But if I had to choose Magic Wand, I'm still sticking with Patty and Hooker. It just feels like, though, they're not actually interested in settling that, or Patty isn't anyway, in settling in the cage.

He just does not seem to care about actually fighting down Hucker. Yeah. which is dumb. He should fight him. He should fight Boycano first, though. Okay. All right. All right.

I mean, like, he could, he should win both of those, but like, I think boy con, I think he's just way bigger than Moikano. Like, I think he can hang with him on the feet. And I think the grappling kind of like, I know Moikano is like a very good jujitsu practitioner. It's kind of nasty, but Patty's also, it's basically like Moikano's got to fight a friggin middleweight. And Moikano is essentially.

essentially a featherweight who just like went up to 55 so you didn't want to cut weight anymore. So, um, yeah, I think Boycano's probably the better matchup, but because again, like used the, the thing with Patty that he struggled with was like a fellow demon and Dan's more demon than Moikano is. Although my, I don't know. I don't know. I think if you're the UFC, you have to book. If you're, if you're in the Patty Pimble business as you know they are, uh, you're trying to book a win, but you can't, like, you can't slow roll him either. Like, you can't put him in there with, like, Tiago Moises right now. Like, you have to give him one of those two guys. And it's just like, who do they think he has a better chance of beating? And that's the question they have to

ask themselves. Because he can't lose again. Like, you can't. You have to book him a win. So we will end with Robbie Ryan here. How about Moikano Hooker for the Patty Pimble its championship. This just seems, yeah, no, no, that's good. That's a competitive matchup. Again, obviously my mind is thinking like, oh, McCona's going to try and grapple him and blah, blah, blah, blah. But yeah, that's a lot of hooker's opponents.

Some people have great, have had amazing success doing it, as we've seen. Some people haven't. Some people have tried to grapple him, and he's been good enough to beat them. So, yeah, I think it's certainly worth doing it. Yeah, the next generation of Mickey Gallo versus Mike Jackson, winner, winner.

When he gets CM Punk. John Chirover versus Robertson, Yakiya, versus the Al-A-Qana-Iwo winner. Oh, AK. We're getting close. I knew someone was going to say it. Ewing versus Matsumoto. That's a good one.

I thought about that as well. Interesting. McMillan versus the Wellmaker Diaz winner. Wait, I'm sorry. Wellmaker. Which Diaz is Welmaker fighting? He is fighting. Juan Diaz.

Juan Diaz. McMillan versus the winner of that. I'm actually okay with that. And I think Wallmaker's really good. Like, I still think Wellmaker's really good. It'd be interesting because I think one maker would be favorite. And I'm curious, well, maybe not. There's so much McMillan buzz.

Diaz is solid, man. Wait, what was the fight again? Malcolm Wellmaker versus Juan Diaz. This is happening May 16th at the world's most famous apex, the same day as it's a fight that no one's going to watch because it's the same day as the Ronda Rousey, Gina Crowell Card. Is Malcolm moving up after his last way and mishap? Um, was that him? No, I'm sorry, I'm getting confused, Cameron Smotherman.

Um, I don't know if this makes sense. Is this not Dutu then? Because he's a Bantamweight. He's a Bantamweight. Isn't Tommy a featherweight? No, it's not Tommy. Oh no, what, wait a second. Uh, well, technically, Well, Maker did fight a featherweight in his most recent fight.

Yes. But that was short notice against Ethan Ewing. This fight will be a Bantamweight. Okay. And he is normally a bantamweight. So I don't know. So kind of Doodoo. That's a little bit of due to me.

Yeah, because they said, like said, the Ewing fight only happened, yeah, because Ewing stepped in so, so late. Okay. Yeah. Sorry. Sorry for the confusion, everyone. But I'm saying DUDU. Okay. I mean, if any guys is DUDU, then I'm standing by my guy here.

Elise Pereira versus the Michelle Moniqueu, Myra Buena Silva, loser. No. Michelle Montague is not bad. I think she would actually be really tough fight for us. She's got to beat the hell out of MBS. Okay. Like real bad. And then.

And if it's MBS, again, so much more experienced than at least he pin out of that. That's not a good. No, you can't do that. Yeah. And then just one last random thought here. I wish Moikano and Cheeto Vera were the same size so they could fight each other. Yeah, perfect. Chino just come up.

Sure. Catch wait, 150. 150? Sure. That's kind of fun. Let's do it. I wish they would do more random stuff like that, honestly. Like, that should be so fun.

I know Mokin kind of would have a huge advantage, honestly, the size would be. considerable. But yeah. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board.

Here's to WestJetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. After 19 years, they're back. Frankie Munes, Brian Cranston, and the rest of the family reunite in Malcolm in the middle, life's still unfair. After 10 years avoiding them, Hal and lowest demand Malcolm be at their anniversary party, pulling him straight back into their chaos. Malcolm in the middle, life's still unfair. A special four-part event, streaming April 10th on Hulu on Disney Plus. All right, you're up.

Okay, I got so many, Mike. I'm going to run to this quickly. I don't want to keep you that much longer. All right, a couple of quick emails. No Instagrams, by the way. This card was not buzzing on IG, Mike, not a sexy card on IG. So Tristan Gordette, R. Powell, an email.

Trishangor versus Mark Andre, Vachio, M.A.B. I'm fine with that. Tabitha Ritchie for Tima Klein. Ouch, sorry, Tabitha. This is your opportunity to step up against Mirna. You lose? Now you've got to defend your spot. So, yeah, I think that's very possible that they give Klein that opportunity.

Eli Hittala. Hanato-Moycano versus Diego Lopez. I'm predicting a move up to lightly. wait for Lopez after he loses to Steve Garcia at UFC White House. Wow. Fun and exciting fight to see if Lopez could be a possible contender at 1505 and of course a big

money fight for Moikano. That's really good thinking. That is really good thinking. If he loses to Steve Garcia, I do think that he'd have to think about that. It'd be weird because he'd be coming off two straight losses and then facing Moikano. But yeah, I think if you're Moikano, you don't really care about

streaks. You feel about name value. Interesting. Interesting. Yakaayev Elyakhan after he loses to Ewo Eli, we got to keep Ewo and Yaka have a play here. Come on, we can't be so presumptuous. Ewing versus Bexat Alma Khan. I think both of the guys are great fighters, not sure where they fit in the hierarchy.

Let's still them together, see who deserves a shot up the rankings. Tommy McMillan, no, versus Jordan Leavitt after he loses Debrito. No, I don't care of Levin, lose Debrito. He's way too, way too hard for him. And Trishon Gore, Seizar Alveda. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Eli. Thank you, thank you, Tristan.

okay I got so many Twitter ones I'm just gonna kind of skimble a little bit here sorry guys Finn Hamilton says Chris Tione versus Indeed.com now Mike I'm sure you talked about in the post-fight show what was your what's kind of your quick take on the gato barbosa head shalt slash chest chin kick situation everybody sucks

like Chris Tiety is terrible the end of the Nevada athletic commission is terrible Oh. Nobody knows the rules. It's a disaster. And I think the biggest conclusion was the referees are cowards. He took a point, Mike. He took a point.

We're always complaining about refs never taking points. He took a point. He's a hero. A.K., they went more than the five minutes and they let the fight restart. It's a disaster. It's an absolute disaster. But it's also like a weird thing where it's, if you're of the team of,

in the Academy Award goes to I get it but still it is like a super illegal blow and we went past the five minute mark the fight should have been stopped the fight should have been over should have been in no contest or it should not have been a point deduction

that fight should have been and not been allowed to continue and that is an issue like it's just a huge issue like there's like literal rules that you're just like being like eff it I know it's in the rule book but we're just not going to do it

forget the rules We're just going to let this fight continue. It's a desire. It was handled shitty by everybody. And Chris Tione just continues to not do good. And the commission did not do him any favors here either. So, yeah, terrible. Everyone was bad.

We need to do a best cheaters this year card because, like, oh, man, Musayev last week. Like, but yes, cheating is great. I think I'll do a, I think at some point we'll do a feature before, maybe before USC White House, maybe like first quarter, I keep it in the first quarter of 20, oh, I guess we're sorry, fast-starred.

So keep it early, early 2026. I still want to do best cheaters feature. Anyway, always cheat people, always cheat. We say it all the time. Sorry, Finn, some of his other picks here. Delano and Con Offley, Dallano's a bit higher out of that range. Sorry, sorry to Khan.

Ewing versus Cheeto, it's too, well, here's the thing. It's too soon, but also I would pick Ewing to beat Cheeto. at this stage. Right? Yeah. That's kind of harsh, but. I don't mind that matchmaking, though.

That's pretty good. Moycano, oh boy, hold on. Oh, Moikano versus Hooker. Okay, yes, Chris Duncan versus Jalen Turner. Yeah, I'm a little, Mike, I don't think I heard you getting a lot of Duncan picks. I'm a little unsure what to do with him because I think our big question mark was that Moikano,

So outside of maybe how you rate Mateo Sribechki, Molycana was a huge, huge step-up in competition for Chris Duncan. So outside of the Rubetsky fight, like, it's a huge jump. And I thought he was, again, young enough and talented enough to get through it. Maybe he just had an off night. So I'm a little hesitant to throw him up against another, like, top 20 guy. I kind of want to see Duncan take a step back again. But I get it.

It's lightweight. Once you reach a certain level, I mean, there's only so far you can go. so. Okay, I thought I had more picks in this. Okay. I've got TAC MMA. TACMMA, what is up? Uing versus loser of did they send this to you to? Oh, sorry, I know another person saying Cubs land were a loser. Guys, no.

No. I don't know. Terrible. It's terrible. Guys, no. Mycana versus, I saw a Bill saying this. Chandler, regardless of the outcome, regardless of what happens at UC White House. I do feel like depending if they both hang around long enough, the fight will happen. I just don't think.

it's next i don't think it's next chris duncan for s zium no no chris dougain he's take a step back i step back guys step back please what what made you think that he deserves another top 15 guy right now i just don't i'm sorry yeah he should be like yeah chris duncan's in like fun lightweight fight territory like that's that's just who he's gonna be from now on and that's that's fine uh tom mciman versus dennis bazuchin i don't know if dennis is on the ufc roster anymore I think that's my only issue of this pick. I swear he got released. Oh, no, I still have him on my list.

So he is a lightweight. I don't know if he's competed in featherweight before. Okay, interesting. Maybe he's competed in featherweight. Okay, I'm not going to do to that just yet. But Four Corner Sports says, I know the U.C. is going to want to build Tommy up. He's not that good.

This is even a bridge too high for me for Tommy to fight next. But the fade is coming when it comes to Tommy Millet. So he's trying to find fights time if he'll lose. Okay, harsh. Alisa Padeta, Nora Connolly. No, no, she's not ready. She is not ready. Nora Connolly is a not horrible bent to wait.

Wow, people really like Ethan Ewing and, yeah. God, that'd be a sexy fight. This is Armand Serki on Stan account. Sorry, thank you. I like that. Moikano versus Hooker, Duncan versus Klein. I only saw these two fights was in church all night. Oh, okay, good, good for you.

Braden O'Neill. Moikano versus Ziam. Okay, don't mind that. Duncan versus Dover, don't mind that. let's just see if these are new here McMillan versus Gaston Balano again another person I have to check are they still on the roster

yes but a bantam weight did people not know what weight class Tom Hillen fights at maybe not I don't know I think most of the line got it right I've seen so many people throwing him in there with

people of different weight classes again if you're a bantan maybe they're saying these people will come up for a featherweight fight I don't know Pereda versus Zelaznyakova Krodin loser Yeah probably probably I like most of the crudin obviously my fellow Canadian and I have to root for her But if she does lose that probably does put her in a lice he put out of range okay I don't find that Barbosa aldridge horse winner I believe croton was in the corner of

Haley Cowan last night as well okay well there you go revenge we do love a good revenge story around here Thomas Peterson Ryan Spahn uh sure kamaka versus Francis Marshall. Yeah, I'm okay. Thomas Collins. He prefers Moikano Patty. Another Duncan Klein suggestion. Thomas Peterson, Nick Parkin.

Boy. And then some we've seen it. Top of the Ritchi, Denise Gomes. Okay, okay. I like that. Jeffrey Rogers, USAF. Hello, sir. Keeping a short, prelims will be hard to not give do-do.

Okay. Macono Hooker, Duncan, close. Jandro Waswarez, when there's a draw, Mike. since it was scheduled twice before, that's right. Richie Lucindo, Yakyaev, and Zach Reese. Zach Reese, he is a light-heavy weight, right? I don't know. He's a middle-weight is, you know?

Yeah, I believe he has fought at light-heavy in the O.C. before, though. I don't think that's crazy. But yeah, don't bring up Zach Rees to light-heavy way just to get smushed by Yak-Ayev. That's just cruel. Ewing versus Marcus McGee. Okay. I'm fine with that. All right.

Just a couple more here. Barry O'Reilly. what is up good sir oh sorry Barry's always got long messages here I gotta hit the show more button twice Barry I appreciate

that's fine I appreciate the thought Kamaka Kamaka Alex Sola Barbosa Carly Judees Krispie looks like a prospect Let's test her against someone Arbosa

who'll no doubt try and take it to the mat Yeah I think you're in the right place here Alisi Pineda Josian Nunes No no no no no No no come on Barry I know I know Josian's on a rough losing streak right now.

I still think she's a bridge too far for L.C. What do we got here? Delano, Keta. There you go, Mike. There you go. McMillan, Yadde de Valet. Okay. Listen, we're seeing some people are on the same page here. Yeah, Kaya versus Kuchelaw, but F it, let's have some fun. Moikano, Paddy, Pimlet. They have before. Just want to hear McCona say,

Pimblech 100 times in the bill up to the bike. And lastly, here, picks by F. Rod. also watched my Conno Pimblit. Chris Duncan, Alexander Hernandez. We'll see whatever Alexander Hernandez can fight again. McMillan, Stephen Gwynne. Stephen Gwynn. Yeah, where's he been?

Where has he been? It's the right way class. By the way, Alexander Hernandez is booked. Alexander Hernandez is booked against who? He is fighting. April 25th, World's Most Famous Apex, the card headline by Al Jermaine's Sur. Erling versus Yusuf Salal against Rafa Garcia.

I thought he's banned. Is Alex Bernard Hernandez not banned? What's going on? All good? All good? Yeah. They apparently did an investigation and they must not have found anything because he's fighting at the apex.

Exonerated. Or I shouldn't say that. Guys, do not. I don't know what situation is. I don't know exactly what is going on. Okay. Sorry. Don't not take that.

Costa to mandembro. Alisi Pineda. Cloddy Segula. Trishang Gore, Ryan Loder. Again. You know, guys just scratching my opening. fighter itch right here. I think they were on different seasons of middleweight alternate fighters.

I forgot to mention Ethan Ewing and the silence behind the violence Jonathan Martinez. Good fight. Damn, that'd be good. That'd be good. Man, Ethan Ewing, so good. So good. All right, guys, thank you for sending your picks. So happy to have my best friend back and have us together again.

Send us, oh, no, do not send us your picks next week. We live. We got a numbered event coming up. We have a number of event coming up. And then I'll let you, A.K., know that the following week, you're either going to have to bring Jed in or roll solo, because I will be at RAF in Philly. That is what I found out yesterday.

Maybe I'll try and get one of my fellow Canadians. Oh? Get real Winnipeggy. You know what I'm saying? Okay. That's actually, I forgot. Yeah, Winnipeg's going on. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. That'll be a card. But, yes, UFC 327. Yes, we lost the title fight, but still damn good. Yuri Pajasco versus Carlos Ulberg is your main event for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title new co-main event

more light heavyweight action so much light heavyweight action on this main card Osama versus Carlos Acosta man 80% of this main card is light heavies and heavies This is crazy You are killing my buzz right now

about this card like But I mean look Curtis Blades Josh Hokit is the featured bout Dominic Reyes versus Johnny Walker, the second main card bout. And there's just, to me,

there's just no better way to kick off this main card. It is Cub Swanson's retirement fight against Nate Landware. This is the definition of a main card opener. And I think this portion will be on CBS.

Yes. What is it? The last two prelims and the first two main card fights? It's like a vague eight to 10 block. I think the idea is that eight to 10

and obviously, presumably four fights in there. I'm sure it's flexible of like for some reason something happens and they can't do four fights through three. But yes, the idea is eight to ten block, last two prelims, first two main card fights. Yeah, so CBS will get Reyes Walker, Swanson Landware, Patricia Pitbull versus Aaron Pico.

Great. Pico, Aaron Pico on CBS. How about that? Kevin Hall and Randy Brown. That's your CBS lineup right there. Batush Gamrott, Esteban Riebovich, Tatiana Suarez, Lupi Godinez, Markel Madero's Chris Padilla.

The second fight, the second to curtain jerker, Calvin Gasolam versus Vicente Lucay. Such a weird fight. At middleweight. At middleweight. Moving up, moving up to 185. At middle way. And as of now, the curtain jerker, which is going to be super fun,

Charles Racky versus Francisco Prado. So this would be a good card, man. Like they usually go full on for the full on effort hats are on for Miami. Van Tair moves to 328, which I think honestly, like, I don't think 328 was like a bad card, but I think this that certainly helps it. I think Jed kind of felt like they're both kind of the same cards, but I feel like that card, that fight is better suited for 328 as opposed to 327. Like 327, I think is really is very good without it.

328 is now better with it, if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. You're saying the net the two cards are now, like the net gain was a positive. Yeah, 320. To me, 327 was like clobbering 328. But now like 328 is like, close the gap by adding Van Tira by doing that shift. So there you have it. That's 327.

Jose will be there. Lots of stuff going on. And we're excited. Tyson Fury is back next weekend as well. Wow. on Netflix so that'll be the afternoon and then uh yeah we're back we're back we're back apex cards are back you know who else is back boxing is back you know who else is back next weekend because choices pfl's back stop it pfl chicago happening the same time as ufc 327

the same time sorry and by the way it costs you more money to watch pfl i'm going to be really rude here What is headlining? No, no, no. I'm sorry. Let me guess it is being headlined by, is there a title, is it a title fight? No.

Oh, goodness me. Is it a former UFC guy in the headliner? Yes. Oh, this is Sergio Pettus. No? It is Sergio Pettus. Okay, Sergio Pettis and the undefeated Mitch, Mitch McKee. Correct.

Okay, okay. That's a good fight. That's a really good fight. It's very good fight. I didn't mean to be, I don't mean to be for seizures here, guys. Like, I just, it is the PFL's, scheduling has been so weird um i'm just kind of forgetting when they have their cards like i think the other week i forgot like oh like a madrid card happened and i like i just forgot like two days later

that happened um this is weird it's it's kind of weird that they're just right they have to run so concurrently with the uf right yeah Pittsburgh was the same day of seattle and raf and all this others exactly yeah and uh and this is the same time as as as one of the best ufc events of the year man pretty wild man because i really like that fight i really like that fight i really That's a good main event. Very good main event. Can you, like, could you just imagine if this was April,

if this was Friday? I'd watch it. Would your competition be power slap? All right. Try to watch it because we don't have PFL in Canada. I'd watch. I'd keep, I'd avidly keep up with it.

M.A.fling.com is what I mean to say. Yeah. Jordan Newman, Josh Silvera, Rafian Stats, Renat Kavala. Love Rofian Stats. Gabriel Braga versus Chaden,

Le Aloha. Viviania Aurauzo versus Shana Young. Hey. Jenna Bishop versus Borena, Sir Zavadze. Okay. Omar L. Defrawe versus James Vaki. Kana Watanabe versus Paulina Wisnuska.

Alexander Romanov, Rodrigo Nassimento, two, the rematch. Run it back. Biajio Ali Walsh versus Dash Harris, the two-and-o-Dash-Haris. I just still making Piazio-Ele. Walsh happened? They sure are. They sure are. And the opener is Volante Atsos versus Nate Jenerman.

That is PFL Chicago. Nate Jenerman. What LFA guy? Nate Jenerman? Why do I know Nate Jenerman? Bellator. Yeah. Eight fight veteran.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, Ultimate Fighter 31 competitor. Oh, of course. How could I forget that? That's really where I remember him from. He was on the wrong end of his. an eighth second knockout. Tough.

I just don't say Nassimente. Someone had to remind me the Romano of Nassimento. The first fight was so bad that it resulted in Romano of getting cut, even though he won the fight. They both got cut. They both got cut. But yes, Romanov won, and they cut. Well, pick your poison next Saturday, everybody.

But there you have it. We will see you live next Sunday, right here on onto the next one following UFC 327. Have a great rest of your weekend, everybody. network.