MMA Fighting - On To the Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 22

Episode Date: March 21, 2021

On the 36th episode of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee put on their matchmaker hats following Saturday’s UFC Vegas 22 at the APEX. Future matchups were discussed for headliners Derek Brunson—who picked up his fourth straight victory—and Kevin Holland, Max Griffin, Monsterrat Ruiz, Adrian Yanez, Tai Tuivasa, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR 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. Hey, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one, the fastest rising podcast in the world of mixed martial arts, at least in my mind anyways. But that's thanks to all you lovely people. The numbers don't lie in your sharp ears. We appreciate those as well as we put our matchmaker hats back on following UFC Vegas 22 on Saturday at the apex, of course.

Later on in the program, we will get to your matchmaking ideas that you sent in via social media, via the MMA fighting Twitter page, DMs, etc. But I am Mike Kek, and joining me as always the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the best friend, and the crowned prince of positivity himself, Mr. Alex Kaley. How are you, buddy? Mike, my best friend, can we go one week without some sort of controversy? My goodness, we were heading into last night's car and saying this is a good old-fashioned fight night car just like mom used to make, you know.

No real big pre-fight drama as far as like, oh, is this going to lead to a title shot, whatever, whatever, and is this going to... It was just like, okay, you know, maybe a little low wattage as far as star power. But again, that's what fight nights are for to kind of put the spotlight on some of the lesser-known fighters are up-and-coming fighters. And then you have a... We had a great main event on paper with Brunson and Holland. But suddenly we're talking about fighters talking too much during a fight and fighters spitting on each other after a fight. I don't know what's going on, man. I just want normal civilized fights.

That's why I watch MMA. Well, I knew there would be some drama 50 seconds into the first fight. We got an eye poke and a kick to the ding ding. We knew we were in for something that wasn't going to be aesthetically pleasing. The weirdness meter was set to nine after like 45 seconds. It's all Bruno Silva's fault, even though he had a great win. But let us begin with the main event, aka Derek Brunson looking to shed that litmus test label, taking on the surging Kevin Holland, who at 5 and 0 in 2000.

20, a lot of people's fighter of the year. But Brunson goes in there and spoils the party. He gets his fourth straight win, and he's hoping to fight somebody in the top five next. A solid veteran-like performance, he did what he needed to do to get his hand raised, A.K., what is next in your mind for Derek Brunson? I am not overthinking this one. I think Derek Brunson, he said a lot post-fight, but one thing, at least he mentioned a bunch of times, was the name of one, Paulo Bojcacchina Costa.

I think, you know, obviously, Costa was supposed to fight Whitaker on April 17th. He's out with an illness. I don't think we know the details of the illness. Do we, Mike? We just know illness. Yeah, some sort of flu type thing. Right. So sort of flu type thing.

So hopefully something that clears up within the next couple of months. I'm sure Brunson will be ready to compete if that name comes up. And, yeah, again, there's other options, which I'll discuss in a second. But otherwise, make this fight happen. Both guys are angling for a title shot. Costa, of course, wants a rematch as soon as possible with his rival, his hated. rival, Israel, Edisania. So, yeah, make this happen. And Brunson deserves this. He did a really good job against Holland. Whatever people want to say about Holland and his end of Saturday

night's fight, Brunson, who knows? That version of Brunson may be the best version of Holland exists right now. So whatever, whatever people want to say about it, let's give credit to Brunson, and let's give him the top five opponent that he deserves. Look, I know some folks thought the performance was boring. And to that, I say, you're not paying the man his potential. potential win bonus if he loses. So he needed to win. And like we talked about on the preview show in the Q&A, this was the path to victory. He wasn't going to stand there and have a kickboxing match with Kevin Holland, despite saying he wanted to go in there and knock him out, because he would have lost the fight, as we saw in the second round. Kevin Holland got the

best of him on the feet. Brunson landed some shots, but Holland had him hurt in the second round. Brunson, you know, was able to recover and he did what he had to do to win. That's the difference between the guy we saw fight Robert Whitaker a few years ago to the guy we see now. That's why he won the fight. That's why he's won four in a row. He's not the crazy. I'm just going to go out there and blast everybody, Derek Brunson. He's a more calm, cool, collected, composed, strategic Derek Brunson. And I agree with you, AK, he wants Paul Acosta. Paul Acosta doesn't have a dance partner right now. Maybe they could do this in May or June, maybe July. Let's get Brunson the step up and see how he does. He's earned a bigger fight. He's taken out two up and coming process. He's taken out two up and

coming prospects. Guys, a lot of people believe would be fighting for world titles in the next year or two. A lot of people are saying Edmund Chabazz is going to be the youngest world champion in UFC history. A lot of people, a lot of people are literally DMing me saying if Kevin Holland beats Derek Brunson, he should fight Israel out of Sanya for the title. So let's give Derek Brunson what he wants. I'm more than okay with the callout. I think it's definitely something to consider. What else did you sort of have in mind with Mr. Brunson? The only thing I'm seeing is that he could get someone from the Tilvatori Wittifertie. Gastlam quartet that is coming up in April, Tilt Vittori, April 10th, Whitaker Gasselm, April 17th.

Because, all right, let's try it. Let me, I kind of wrote this down on my notes, but I was like, it was late. And my mind was already a mush. Okay, so if Till beats Vittory and Whitaker beats Gastilum, we probably, Whitaker, would probably get the rematch with Edison. Because he's beaten Till, he recently beat Till. win over Gaston would be nice. I don't know how much demand there is for the rematch.

I think it would be fair. That would be, I think Whitaker's third straight win. Yeah, cannonear, Till. So I think if Whitaker wins, Till wins, Whitaker gets the title fight. Maybe Brunson can fight Till. Maybe. Otherwise, if Gastilum wins, I'm sorry, everyone at home. I really apologize.

Trust me, this will edit it. We'll fix it in post. If Gastelam wins and Till wins, then Till should get the title shot because he beat Gasolum and then can fight warrior Walker or something. So there's the options for, I'm saying, there's options for Brunson outside of Costa. I could see Costa

for some reason not wanting to take that fight. He's kind of a fickle guy. But yeah, it'll depend on how the fights on April 10th and April 17th shape up. But he could easily get one of those names next. He could. Honestly, I think if Daryntill wins, he's fighting for the belt

next, no matter what. I just Whitaker beat him. It doesn't matter. I hear people saying that. I hear people a lot of people saying that. Whitaker Vita. Of course he. The UFC is about logical matchmaking and fairness and rewarding and not handing out title shots to fighters coming off of losses. They just don't do that, Mike.

It's just not done. I know, but that's just probably going to happen. I decide he keeps saying Till's name. You could build something there. You can build a whole promo just based on their, like, you know, Instagram interactions. But we'll see what happens. Derek Brunson deserves a step up. Hopefully he gets it.

he's definitely earned that right. But for Kevin Holland, I think this loss, and I said this on the post-fight show, this will be the official start of Kevin Holland's attempt to move to the welterweight division. I think he's wanted, like, a true reason to do it. And, you know, I talked about this in the post-fight show as well, if you watch the interview on what the heck. He wants to be disciplined. And he also told me that he never needed to be sold on moving to 170.

It was his coaches, his team, those people around him. they needed that push. And I think after seeing this fight play out, I think this could be the push that they needed to see. Now, Holland wants to hire a nutritionist to help him do it. That's obviously a great idea. I can absolutely see his next fight being at 170 pounds. He called up Bilal Muhammad,

and it seems like Bilal is interested since he posted the gif of Winnie the Pooh putting on his bib with an empty bowl waiting for the honey. And if Bilal can fight on May 15th, after the eye injury at UFC 262 in Houston, because I don't think he's going to get the rematch with Leon Edwards. I think this is a fine substitute. I think this is something that Bilal can, you know, get a boost off of.

Belal will put that pace on. He'll look to wrestle Kevin Holland. I would love to see that fight, A.K., are you in on that as well, or do you have different ideas for Mr. Holland? I love that fight. I have a few different ideas, but I love that fight. I love the idea of moving on from Edwards and Muhammad. I'm not against that rematch.

I don't think anyone would be strong. against that rematch, but I also don't know if there's like a large swath of fans that are strongly craving that rematch. So I think that kind of like, I know that sounds like a wishy-washy answer, but that kind of answer kind of should tell you how much like demand there really is. It's not that big. And again, it's no, it's not even the whole like, oh, Edwards was beating him and, and, you know, if they fought again, it would happen the same way. It's just like Edwards was already kind of far ahead of him in the rankings. And, you know, Muhammad did him in the OCE of favor of taking that fight, but we just, it just doesn't need to be. visited necessarily. So I think

you're right in that. I think a lot of fans are right in that and I think the UFC probably is going to just move on. So yeah, Holland at 170 can be, is going to be is, I'm just going to say is because I agree with you. I think it's going to happen. It's going to be so fun. There's I don't even know how many matchups there are.

It's unfortunate. I think most of our readers, spoiler for our reader things later, we're kind of matching them up at middleweight still, which is fine. Who knows? He may fight at 185 next and then drop it to Walterweight later. But I wish I'd seen more welterweight suggestions. It was mostly middleweight suggestions, but I also went welterweight. I'm going to steal this from Sean Sheehan, Ireland's wonderful Sheen. I don't know if he was the only one to mention the first one I saw. He said, just throw Holland in there with Michelle Pereira with the Malador, two guys who are criticized for their, two super talented guys who are criticized for their antics all the time. I'm guilty of it because I criticize Holland on Saturday. But I also applaud Michelle Pereira's, you know, insane, pointless gymnastics. So

And in my defense, anyone can talk. Okay, not anyone can do whatever 360, whatever flips in the, in the cage. So there's a, there's nuance to these criticisms. So I love that. There's a lot of, yeah, I love the Michelle Predata matchup. It's really the only one at welterweight that I thought. This, again, this is, so this is definitely from the what I want to happen, not necessarily what I think will happen in files.

And let me just say that my pick is contingent on the UFC not needing a replacement for a middleweight fight in the next like four weeks, because Kevin Holland is absolutely going to say yes. We should mention for anyone who may not have listened to like, you know, I just really have to listen to every episode of this show. At some point, probably on a couple of episodes episodes up onto the next one, we said there was a soft ban on Kevin Holland during that stretch from whatever it was August to December where he just literally fought every month because we said, okay, well, what is the point of match speaking for him when he's going to take a fight, he's going to have a fight book within hours of the show being recorded and there's no way for us to predict it. And based on what he's told you, he does want to fight again five or six. He wants to beat. this year. So he probably wants to have it six times this year. So I'm like, what are we even doing? Why are we trying to match the sky up? Again, within within, within, by Wednesday, we'll know

who we's fighting next and it'll be something we have no chance of predicting. So sorry, I'm a little salty with the capital. Angela Hill is also on the list. And so we, we, we kind of put Angela Hill on the list too. It's like what we're not matching for you if you're going to be like this. Co-made event, Max Griffin continues to get better and better. The new dad delivers a ferocious first round knockout in just over two minutes. Kanan Song didn't know. What was even happening before he got dropped? He couldn't really get going. And Max Griffin gets on the mic after the fight,

and he calls out Jeff Neal for a fight at UFC 262 in Houston. What do you think, A.K., you think this is something that could happen. And if not, what would you like to see next for him after that victory? Mike, this is going to surprise you. Because my predictions are usually impeccable. Always on point. I know exactly how a fight's going to play out. This fight did not play out, as I expected.

It's in print. I'm not going to change it. People can go check my... Well, I'd say, please don't. But if you want to, please check my predictions, my pre-fight predictions on M.Afighting.com. Where I said, this has a chance to be a boring fight because they're both kind of really talented technical strikers.

Griffin likes to get in and out. Kenan, Sondkanon, likes to use his range. And Griffin got right in his face in the beginning. It was just slinging. And I'm like, as I was watching, I'm like, yeah, that's probably the best game plan. And sure enough, you got himself a quick first round knockout. Like I said, for Holland, a lot of great options.

What's 70. when you pick up a win like that. Two straight wins for Griffin. I think I noted it was his first winning streak since like 2016 or something else. Maybe I don't think of someone else. It's his first winning streak in a while.

In a while. He's faced a lot of tough competition and it has been difficult for Max Griffin to string together wins. So yeah, first since, oh my gosh. No, first since 20, yeah, 2016. Almost a 2014, 2016. So for him, I'm pulling the Nicholas Dolby card.

Nicholas Dalby is a guy I think and we've kind of brought up in the show a lot I try to not do it too often because again I don't know what his availability is there might be a reason that he hasn't been getting scheduled for fights but assuming everything's okay and he can travel you know again I know that's been the restriction for a lot of guys from overseas I would love to see Max Griffin and

Nicholas Dalby and that be such a great great matchup I like that matchup I got to tell you this is an easy choice for me and I know that I've used this name before but it has been it's been a few months since I've used the name. We'll have to go back and check the tapes to be sure.

But things have obviously changed, as they do in M.MA and that kind of time frame. And the poster, the promo videos, they write themselves, A.K., who wins the battle between pain and chaos? Max Griffin versus Chaos Williams. Let's go, A.K., let's go. Let the bodies hit the floor. I I I for a second time you're gonna say C Colby chaos Covington I was like I was like what I was like I'm like that's a little high in the

rankings for I know I know I know I know we all want to I know we kind of want to see Colby just take a take a fight at some oh and they have to pop before so there you go yeah oh yeah chaos Williams yeah that makes way more sense no yes chaos Williams and back here would be excellent I'm just looking at my mystery rankings, which I actually had to resort to for one of our matches. We're about to discuss shortly. Yeah, they're just, they're right in the same range. This kind of 25, well, actually even like 30, 30 to 50 range.

And again, anyone who says like, oh, that's low, it's like, remember, there's a lot of welter weights, a lot of welter weights in the UFC and a lot of good welter weights. So that's like those guys just kind of clustered together. But yeah, dig it. Dig it. No complaints about it. Love it. We move ahead to the women's straw weight division. mention controversy. There's a lot surrounding Monsterat,

Monsterat, excuse me, Conejo Ruiz, side headlocks, scarfold attempts, lots of ground control and strikes, spoils the debut of Cheyenne Bayes, perhaps spit on the fellow newcomer. I mean, just, just a tough scene. I mean, nobody really knows for sure. The video suggests that there could be some spit. And listen, in the end of the day, She basically, Ruiz anyways, she ended the shutout for the Bayes family against them. Oh, and two. Tough night for the Bayes' impressive debut, spit aside for Ruiz. And I think a lot of people knew how good Conejo was heading into this fight.

She halts the momentum of a bright prospect. My thought is, AK, there's some heat there. All right? We got to throw some oil on the heat. get a little steam going, a little smoke. Okay, let's build this smoke stack a little bit. Let's let Fortis MMA get back in there and try to get one for the team. Let's give her a former Invicta champion who's coming off her first Octagon victory earlier in the month.

Canejo v. Jinnu Fri is the fight to make A.K. What's say you? I'm glad you went first. I was actually going to ask, insist that you go first because I had two choices that were like neck and neck. So I'm glad you threw that one out there. That was obviously one of my top choices. I had to give a shout out to this is an early check of the tapes to Marcus McGehee, who mentioned it last week,

mentioned, uh, excuse me, mentioned who, Fry versus the Bayes Montserrat winner. And then we sort of had to point out, obviously that Bayes and, uh,

uh, Fry are now training partners and, uh, presumably friends that would not fight at each other. But with the way this fight shook out, yes. Now, now the narrative does work even better for like,

again, fry to, fried to sort of avenge this, this loss, this affront. And the post fight of front. to the honor of Fordist MMA. So it's a very sellable fight.

I would be, if I was a, like, what do I think will happen? I would be very surprised if that fight does not get made. And if Fry doesn't issue some sort of call out, I would say this week. So let's, let's, that's easy, easy to do. And I think it's right around the right experience level for Conejo as well, who I think is, is good. But I mean, I mean, 11 fights is pretty good, pretty experience. But I still think there's some, there's some, you know, development to be done there.

So yeah, I love that matchup. I think Fry's the right opponent for it. The other one I throw out was maybe too much to assume, but again, I was kind of high on Conejo's performance. Pollyanna Viana. Again, a few more UFC fights for sure. But again, depending on how high people are in Conejo and if they like they saw, the headlock master, I do not think that would work on Palliana Viana.

I'm just guessing. And I'd like to see. And they'll get a chance to show a little bit more because she definitely has more than just that move. So, yeah, I think Fry is going to happen, but I wouldn't be against it beyond a matchup either. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Hopefully, no more spitting. Let's get it together, ladies.

That was wrong. Alleged. Alleged, alleged. I've got to scrub the footage. Give me, give me. Yeah, zoom in. A dark room. Yeah, I got to get the projector.

I got to get the projector. I'm going to go to the forensics. Forensics. Can you guys isolate and, yeah, amplify? I'm like 62.38, it was a spit. I didn't see I've watched I didn't see but again it's spits if it if it was spit you're not necessarily going to catch you know what they needed they needed the 4k I don't think they had the 4k camera on during that if there's four you see if there is 4k footage of that incident you must

release it because I need to see the particles I want to see the particles I want to see the particles I want to see the density of the particles it could have just been normal post fight you know because she was talking people said she called her I don't know if we want I've used bad language, the Spanish word for the B word, which does involve the puckering of the lips and the, you know, it forms your mouth into a spitting almost motion. And plus again, she's talking, so there could be, what are we doing? I don't know. Mike, what are we doing? I think we're as a society. We are respected media members. What are we talking about here? Yes, this, the whole thing was more, it was more little kid and big daddy after eating ketchup

and less Brett Hart on Vince McMahon after the monochie. She else's your job. There was no lugi. We could rule out a lugi. She didn't have to dig deep for it. No, yeah, yeah, yeah, no. Clear there was no lugi. But was there particles?

We don't know. We're going to lose. This is scrutinized. This will be scrutinized. All right. Unsolved mysteries. This is why I wish Robert Stack was still around. He would pick this thing apart.

Rest and peace to a legend. But we move ahead to Adrian Yannas. What a prospect this guy is. Good Lord. He made it happen. Third round walkoff knockout of a very game, very tough Gustavo López. there's a lot to be excited about this kid, AK.

He wants to fight at UFC 262 in Houston. He called for Nate Manus. Nate Manus already has a dance partner right now. He's fighting Tony Gravely on April 17th, so that probably isn't a likely choice if he wants to get on that card unless Maynes gets a quick finish. But what might be a likely choice

for Mr. Yanez, AK? Mike, my policy. No matter how good a fighter looks, unless they're like a world champion in another organization, if they don't have three fights, I like to use the TIE method of matchmaking. Take it easy.

Okay? TIE, take it easy. So I know a lot of people want to throw them right in there with a top 15 bansomweight or whatever. No. I went very tactical here. I'm looking at the Jack Shore Hunter Azure winner. They fight on April 10th.

I know that's not a sexy pick. I know a lot of people will say with the way he's fought in the U.S. so far, he's maybe beyond those two. I disagree. I think Jack Shore and Azure both. really good up-and-combers at the insanely deep 135-pound division. And that to me is the fight that Yanez versus one of those guys, whoever wins from that trio is the guy who will break apart from the pack

and then get like a top 20 matchup. So I get the excitement. I'm being very conservative with the matchmaking here. I like the matchup. It's a very, I want to see it, but we're just probably not going to see it right now, just due to timing. Because listen, they're going to put him on this card.

He's going to fight a UFC 262. The UFC is absolutely insane if they don't put him on this card. In front of his home crowd, full house, you've got to put him on there. And my first thought was to do, just because I want to see it, Yonnas versus Davy Grant, because Grant just chaos everybody now, Kio Jonathan Martinez, but he broke his foot, so unfortunately that's not going to happen. But sometimes in this crazy world of mixed martial arts, AK, it just works out where you have two guys in the same weight class

with a lot of the same hype who both want a quick turnaround, both got finishes on the same card, Adrian Yannes versus Montel Jackson is a ridiculous piece of business. One that you can argue might be a little too soon, but one that I'm not complaining about

if I see it on a, this fight is happening at UFC 262 social media poster, A.K., that's my pick. When you get to this point, the top 30 of the Banimite Division, you're either going to run into like an unbeaten guy, a surging prospect, a fellow prospect, or, you know, a former chain. Like, you're going to run into somebody.

There's no way around it. There's no litmus tests really at 135. Like, these are the fights you have to make. And I can see this one being made. Yes, that is definitely the other logical pick, Montel Jackson. You see the word quick in there. Well done, Mike. I don't know if I did that in purpose or not.

Yes, quick turnaround. He, to put it generously to his opponent, Jesse Strader, did not take a lot of damage in his fight. I think, oh, geez, I think who, I don't know who saw it. It was like he only threw like 11 strikes in the fight or something, and there was like three knockdowns or something. I guess something like that. That's a pretty good ratio of strike to knockdowns. So well done, I'm Antel Jackson, who was one of the heavier favorites in the card. Excuse me, justifiably so many lived up to it.

My only issue with that matchup is, you know, my Janese post-fight. Post-Finding you told a beautiful story about, oh, when I was in Texas growing up and with my father, and we would drive by the Toyota Center all the time, so they'd wonder, oh, dad, I want to fight there someday. And, you know, Mike, I'm a miserable person. And seeing other people fulfill their dreams makes me sad. So that was probably the only reason I didn't immediately book him for a turn around, quick turnaround, because I'm, I just, you know, I don't like to see other people happy. So you're a scrooge. I'm a bit of a scrooge. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I just forgot. That's right.

I forgot. I am objective. Okay, I try to remove emotion from my matchmaking. But yes, if he is to fight at 262, hopefully Montel Jackson, again, we didn't see him take any damage. They both get a clean sheet, you know, when the medical suspension come up this weekend. Yeah, 262. At the Pack Toyota Center in Houston.

I bet Adrianiana signs a boat agreement in the next 72 hours to fight on that card. Yeah. That's just what they like to do. And I'm excited. I can't wait to see it. In the heavyweight division, tie to Ivasa in a shot. Cocker kicks off the main card festivities with a knockout of Harry Hunsucker. This is no disrespect to Harry Hunsucker.

We knew what was going to happen in this fight. I'm going to agree with the masses here, A.K., everyone almost unanimously on Twitter said, let's do tie to Ivasa versus Greg Hardy, and I am with the majority, AK. I am jumping on the ship. That's what I'm going with as well. This is the only fight to make. To Ivasa versus Greg Hardy, I just don't see any. Tuovasa is great. He's fun. You throw him in there with anybody. It's a good time. Shoies. Woo-hoo. But Greg Hardy versus Tai Tuvaasa. That sells tickets, my friend. People want to see it. And I'm in. Someone's going to sleep.

As people know, of course, I'm not a fan of Greg Hardy's history and character. So I try to avoid matching him up. But yes, if I'm being realistic, what fight do I think will happen next with Chooie Vasa? Greg Hardy has to be the frontrunner. It just, it makes a lot of sense. It really makes a lot of sense. So I'm not a fan of it. But the other thing. And the other problem is outside of Greg Hardy, I see two of us having to wait for a lot of matchups, which again, some fires don't want to do it. Like you said, they want like Janice. You know, they want to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible. You know, it's still early in the years. See how many fights they can get in. So yeah, outside of that, I would see him maybe waiting for the Abderakhimov, Augusto Sakai winner, but that's on May 1st. So that's six weeks away about that's a long way to wait. And then also waiting for the fight. And then a little bit closer, but maybe too far behind him in the. of rankings would be Chase Sherman Parker Porter winner on April 17th, which again, I think Tuvaasa would sign up for it if it happened. I don't think it's a fight he necessarily is super interested in. But I also think Tuva also was pushed a little too quickly in his first kind of start with the UFC.

And I'm glad he's starting to find his footing now. He's with, he's with AKA now, I think, right? American Kickbox. Yeah. Yeah. So he's clearly taking his game to the next level. He took care of business on Saturday against, again, an opponent that he should have taken care of business against. He does seem more mature and better developed now. So I, so yeah,

I see him maybe not getting that and facing either as you say, Greg Hardy or the Adirahimov, the Kai winner, if, if he can wait. But that's a lot to ask for them. Yeah. Taitu of us is fun. Quick knockout. So we love to see on to the next fight and on to the next one. Ha ha. All right, before we go to our incredible Otnomaniacs, AK, and their suggestions, it is time for the wild card round where we each select a fighter. We have not match bait for yet. and we will do so right now because we only had a five-fight main card. So, AK, kick us off. Your UFC Vegas 22 wild card selection.

Macy Chiasen. Macy Chasen has been a standout since her time in the ultimate fighter. I mean, she really came out of nowhere to just dominate the other fighter. She beat Penny Kianzad, who's so much more experienced than her. She beat, gosh, oh, Larissa Pacheco, who had fought in the UFC before and has now a standout in the PFL. And then Leah Lettsin. And she finished all these fighters, by the way. She finished all them, two of them in the first round.

Panny, she finished in the second. So just dominant. And that season was at 145 pounds. I know it was, I think there was maybe one or, actually, I don't think a single member of that cast was an actual featherweight. I do think it was just a bunch of 135ers and they called a featherweight season, which is, you know, which is fine. So, look, people are talking about Macy for a title shot at some point.

I just don't understand why not just go up to featherweight. I know it's not a real division. That's so rude. I know it's not a real division, but I say she goes up to featherweight. You give her the Felicia Spencer, Danielle Wolf winner. And then if Chiasen wins that fight, then you set up a fight with Amanda Nunez. So Amanda Nunez can keep her two-division status going until the end of the year. If Spencer wins, I don't know what you would do.

You'd probably have to think of some other idea for Nunez. But if Chiasen could go up to Featherweight and beat Spencer, forget it, there you go. You have another featherweight title shot for Menon, so I know it's not, I don't think it's the route that Chiasin and the team at 4 to 7 may want to take, but I'm just throwing it out there, guys. Consider it.

If the UFC is open to it, consider it. Yeah, I mean, who the hell knows at this point, really? It would be a smart move. I told Aspen Lad, she should do it. She would probably, she'd fight for the title right now. I probably shouldn't pull this card so early in the year, Because can any bantamate do this? Theoretically, can't any bantamate try this move?

They probably could. Like I said, if Giuliana Panyi wants a title shot, just say I'll do it at 45. Like, what's the difference? Right. I don't know. What's the difference? I don't know. Like, have a man to put both belts on the line.

You know what I mean? Like, just put some sizzle on the stake. Who cares? You're getting rid of the division, it seems like anyways. Because if Daniel Wolf beats Felicia Spencer, you cannot throw Daniel Wolf into a title fight. They can. They shouldn't. Oh, that shoot, it would be criminal.

That would be, I wouldn't, if I was a commission, I'm not even clearing that. 100%. I wouldn't even, I'd have a problem with Danielle Will fighting Macy Chasana, if we're being honest. Even this Felicia Spencer matchups, a little chinty, if we're being honest. It is, it is. It's literally, it's literally, it's literally, world to Danielle Wolfe. 100%. We're just talking about experience-wise, experience-wise, she's not an experience-wise.

I didn't think she won her contender series fight. Yikes. But she's so green. It's just, she's so green. That was a pro debut. So to go in there on your pro debut on a stage like that, I give her a lot of credit. And now she's going in there and fighting a former title challenger

in her second pro fight in the UFC. Jeez, power to her. Tip of the proverbial cap for Danielle Wolfe. But I'm going to call out a call-out, AK, as my wild card pick. I'm going with Grant Dawson on this. And the reason why I'm going with Grant Dawson is because when I, he was on what the heck, he said, I got a name in mind. I got somebody I'm going to call out. And he didn't tell me in the interview, but he told me off the record who he's going to call out. And I was hoping he didn't call this man out, but he did. He calls out Clay Guida. And yes. I'm here to say this. And I believe I'm going to be speaking to Grant Dawson this week. And I'll tell him this when I speak with him. I could not have disliked this call out anymore. Like, Clay Guida is a savage and he's been doing this for a long time. But Grant Dawson, just beat and

slept a guy who hadn't lost in the UFC in many years ever in my unofficial rankings in my mind Leonardo Santos was a top 20 at worst top 255 guy at 155 pounds so after a knockout like that

with one second to go and this is no offense to Clay Wita because I love that dude why would you go backwards like that like Wita is like at best a top 30 top 40 guy at 155 in this division. And if they made the fight, okay.

But I feel like it just was kind of, it was just a weird, strange call it on my mind because you typically want to like go up the rankings, like towards the rankings, towards the top 15. And I feel like fighting Clay Guida is taking, and it's a risky fight too, but you're going backwards. So for me, Grant Dawson versus Alex Hernandez is the fight to make. because Hernandez is like a borderline top 20 guy,

maybe not that high, but he has a bit of a name. People feel a certain way about Hernandez. It'd be a good test for him in a fight that kind of could get Grant over as well if he wins. Like I think that's the way to go. I actually was like thinking about Drew Dober, but I think that might be too big of a step up this quickly. But Hernandez seems perfect after beating a guy like Leonardo Santos. Mike, you really came off as a dad there.

You don't even sound like you don't even sound like you don't even sound like you were mad at, you just sounded disappointed in the call-out. I just didn't get it. I didn't get the call. You're concerned about him. Why? You want what's best for his career. You just want what's best for his career. You just beat Leon Santos.

A guy that everyone says, like, this is the most underappreciated fighter, 155 pounds. Like, people respect that man. Not saying, I mean, people love Clay Guida, but I feel like in the world, this is a guy, granted us, and my one goal in life is to be a UFC champion. That's all I want in this world is to be a UFC champion. After a win like that, a finish like that, shoot your shot, kid. Go up. Go up. He probably could have called for a top 15 guy and start up some stuff.

Clay Gwita, there's no gray area with this one. You either love it or you hate it, and I don't like it. Not a fan. I have Dawson at 18th now after that win in my championless lightweight rankings, by the way. No, there's no champion in the division. So it's just straight up one to whatever, however many lightweights there are. I have him at 18. I actually still have a clique reader probably too high.

I have him 28, which I'm sure people have dropped him well out of the top 40 in most of their rankings. But the man has 30 UFC fights. But I do agree with you. It was an odd con. I probably don't dislike it as much as you do, Mike. I think it's a name. I get it. I get it.

You know, he's a guy. He's a young guy. Dawson's, I think, is 27 years old. He grew up watching the UFC. It's somewhat of a dream fight. It's somewhat of a, man, it'd be a great, you know, it's to be, you know, who knows how many fights Clay Guida has left. I would love to be one of the last people to fight him, you know? So I think that's kind of where Guida's coming with.

It is a name as well. So I think, again, there's a little more casual kind of cachet of people like, oh, this guy's beat Clay Guida. Cool. Like, I want to see, I remember Clay Guida from the Ultimate Fighter. Oh, no, he's never on the Ultimate Fighter. He'd fought a lot of Ultimate Fighter Finaleys. I remember Clay Guida. This guy's great.

So there's a logic to it. I agree. Are there more compelling matchups? Yeah, it wouldn't be my number one choice. But if Dawson gets what he wants, I'm kind of okay with it. I'm the nice mom. You're the, you're the hard. You know what?

The parents, you have to have the two sides there, right? You're the, you're being tough. I'm the nice mom. Like son, Grand Dawson's my son in the situation. I understand where you're coming from. Don't listen to your father. If it's what's in your heart, son, then you just go after it. This is one of those fights that, like, if he didn't call Clay Guida out and they made the fight,

I actually would be more okay with it. You know what I mean? Like, if they just booked it and that was the fight, fight I'd be like wow this is pretty cool but the fact that Grant called for it I just I just didn't like it and I mean listen he wants to be so hard to please I just don't like it I don't know grant if you're out there listening to this if you're out to listen to this grant just know we both love you and whatever you decide we'll both be happy right sweetie and I'm going to give you the chance to defend this call because I'm going to ask you about it I I feel like I feel like I

feel like I know Mike you sound like you're about to pull up the belt I I feel like I I feel like I have a relationship with Grant to this point where I can call him out on this call out. At least speak with him. Speaking of this kid, he was 19 years old. Now he's knocking dudes out at 155. I'm going to ask him about it. Why? My whole metaphor I set up here makes you uncomfortable.

I apologize. I mean, Grant, again, again. I do not know, Grant personally. Let's see. Do we have a check the tapes? I don't know if we have checked tapes. We do. Several for the readers.

I shout out the readers here. Shout out the readers who did some fine. fine matchmaking work, I guess, in the last few months. Marcus McGahey, normally they remind me. So, one, I'm glad they didn't. Because I, guys, I do not need to be prompted. I keep a pretty good record of these things. But Marcus McGahey, a longtime contributor, he called out Abloyev versus Dawadu, which

now happening on June 12. So he called for that matchup. Great matchup. We've seen that in June 12th. Eve, the hardcore casual, I was shocked when I saw this, that someone actually called out this fight. So this was back in December, Mike. he called for Jack Hermanson and Edmund Shabazian,

which is now happening on May 15th, a matchup which I did not even consider at the time. Me neither. And we'll sort of, I'm sure we'll discuss that on future shows. But, you know, when I first saw that matchup, I thought pretty weird and I don't like it. But at the same time, Shabazzian is like still, I think, we're ranked in the top of Dean and Hermannsen's a big fight for him.

So I'd like to see Shabazzian take a step back, but UFC doesn't really do that, do they, Mike? No. our readers many many readers suggest this at the time as an option was Michael Chandler

versus Charles Aldavera May 15th I don't know if people were calling for it to be for a vacant title fight probably actually I think if you want to see them fights probably

for being tells yes that's also a very obscure callout from the readers somehow multiple people maybe two maybe just two people predicted Casey O'Neill

versus Lara Procopio which is happening on June 19th so readers good job with that There was multiple readers suggested that. Guys, you guys, I aren't point with either. I had never, I'd not even thought of that. And Shurston Gordet, he, okay, so I remember I said,

some of our readers didn't call me out. Okay, so he was desperate to be mentioned here and check the tapes. So I will read his email, this part of his email for Bataim. He does some matchups later, but he says, I called it. The rematch between Kamar Uzman versus Jorge Mazvedal, hashtag check the tapes, and then in parentheses. I know it was obvious that it was going to happen, but give me a break here.

I had to get one right with all of the wrong picks that I have. So thank you, Tristan, for being a genius and picking Comar Usman versus Jorge Masvedaldi rematch that nobody saw coming. Yes. I have a check the tapes for myself, actually, because I took us, it was one of those fights where I took us on a journey to get to it. Benile Darius versus Tony Ferguson, is a done deal? It's happening.

Yes. Yes. It was not a popular choice, but we're getting it. So there you go. Darius gets his shot. Tony Ferguson's coming back. Ali Abdelaziz keeps attacking Tony Ferguson and his grappling on Twitter. The world is right again.

Okay? We got fights. We got fights. We got Ferguson. I love it, man. Darius deserves this so much. You made that one happen, Mike. That's a great matchup.

M. A fighting responses to some of our tweets about Grant Tossin. Someone said they do not want to see the Clay Guida fights are there with you. Taituvasa. Okay. are not being helpful here. I'm skipping right to my DMs. These people are just being...

Do I mean to go to... I didn't see this. Max Griffin, someone said Robbie Lawler, that was from Estabon, and a bunch of numbers after his name, which I'm not going to read out. Oh, same guy, I see he wanted Robbie Lawler or Santiago Ponzanibio.

Ponsonibio? Have they fought before? Have they not fought for? But I had a lot of that this week with Max Griffin's name. I swear, for some reason, I feel like he's fought everybody. I don't know why.

But he has fought a lot of... No, okay. He has not fought Santiago Ponsonibio. So yeah, I don't mind that one. That's actually one I did not see anyone else spring up. So Esteban, I will read out. You know, thank you at Esteban, 198878880. There you go.

You've earned it for that unique call. Yeah, what do you got, Mike? Who's sliding into your DMs this week? All right. Henry Terry. Let's see. Brunson versus Costa. No other options in top 10.

Griffin versus Gunner Nelson. Interesting. Yes. Monceret. Who is this from? This is Henry Henry Terry on Instagram. Okay. Wow.

Monster at Ruiz versus Carolina Kolvikavich. Interesting. Wow. Okay. And he also went with Adrian Yannes versus John Sexy Mexie Castaneda and Tai Tuva versus one Gregory Hardy. Jack Porter's just had one. For on to the next one, Ty Tuva versus Blago Ivanov.

I think Ty deserves a top 15 of five. opponent at this point. They fought, I believe. Am I not mistaken that twice two of us and even have fought and I and not so long ago that I think it's worthy of a remit. Uh, two years we're about, nah, less than two years ago now. So I don't know if I need to see that one again. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Sean Bradley. Adrian Yonnas looked great on his feet. Deserves a good test after that TKA. Jonathan Martinez had a tough outing last week, but it's still an awesome fighter. I would love to see both of these guys go for it soon. I would also like see Brunson

next versus Hermanson. But this. without him knowing that. Hermanson was already booked. I would like to see Holland next against the winner of Uriah Hall versus Chris Wyman, or if he drops to 170, fight Sean Brady,

although I feel that's a tough matchup for Holland. We're trying to get Holland away from wrestling for now. I know 170's filled with wrestlers. And I'm not saying Sean Brady's just a wrestler. Sean Brady's super well-rounded, but I do think Sean Brady has a wrestling advantage that would be very uncomfortable for Holland's UFC debut at 170 pounds.

So I could see it again, it's so wide open problem right now. If he drops to 170, completely wide open. That's what you could get matched up. And then shout out to Matt Rovelli, who said something for onto the next one. If you want to go this low on the card, I would like to see Grant Dawson versus Alexander Hernandez. My man, Matt. There you go.

That's what I got on the old DM front. I definitely saw one. Yes, I definitely saw Hernandez-Dosson out there. It makes a ton of sense. All right, consensus. Shall I hit, shall I throw out the consensus reader picks, Mike? Oh, I got one more. Oh, please go.

Just got this one literally three minutes ago on Twitter from our good friend, Four Corner Sports. Wow. He's like on opposite sides of the spectrum here. I like it. Adrian Yannis versus Miles Johns, banger of a fight. I could definitely, that's actually a really good suggestion. I could definitely see that happening in Texas. Houston versus Dallas.

Are they not friends? I think of someone else. I thought Yanis wanted to fight Miles Jones before. Who am I thinking? Who did I just see? I'm trying to remember. I might be, oh, maybe, I'm like, who am I confused? Maybe it was, I was looking at someone's, it was maybe one of the other bantam weights from.

I could look, I'll look this up. Keep going, Mike, please, keep going. Yes. The other option he had for Adrianianian is Cheeto Vera. I saw that. Cheeto is becoming, again, onto the next one's staple. Yes. And I do wonder, I do wonder if, oh, my, is thinking.

I think was I thinking of I swear I got I'll have to look up after okay I don't want to waste everyone's time me trying to figure out if yannes and Miles Johns are best friends or whatever I'd probably I'm I'm probably thinking of someone else yeah I'm definitely thinking someone else all right disregard yes fix it in post we'll fix in post disregard um uh con says reader uh benson versus costa and brunson versus jared cannoneer were probably the most popular uh match of just I saw this week. I love this one, which is someone by a few people. Holland versus Nico Price. You want a little craziness? You want two guys smiling and laughing and talking ish for frigging 15 minutes? There you go.

So that's another well-to-rate option for him. Griffin versus, whether, there's a ton of Max Griffin suggestions. So I'll just try to run through these quickly. Max Griffin versus Jeff Neal and Max Griffin versus Shavkat Rakmanov. We're also popular picks. Yanez versus the Omali Almeida winner. And Yan- this was surprisingly thrown out by couple of people. Yanez versus Yaya.

Hashtag, Yanez on Yaya, which, again, I don't know if people just did it, so I would say that hashtag. But if you did, well done. I don't think it's a matchup that's going to happen. But people said it. So now I have to put the hashtag out there. Tui Vasa, a ton of suggestions, all of which I have to shoot down, by the way. So of everyone who suggested these, I am doing this to shame you. Oh, go ahead, Mike.

I solved the mystery of Adrian Yannas and Miles Johns. Yes. They actually, Miles Johns is actually the last guy to beat Adrian Yannas in a fight. So I remember when I interviewed him after his debut, I asked him about that and he said he would love the rematch to do it again. But he is very, he's very complimentary. He thinks Miles Johns is a good dude, but he'd love to fight him again.

Who was I thinking of that's best friends, Miles Johns? someone someone out there is friends with Miles Johns they'll figure out someone of the world his friends with Miles Johns Ty Tui Vasa someone a couple people said to Vasa versus Bozer people Bozer is fighting at Leo Latifi on June 5th so no Toe Vossa versus Olinic we don't know if Olinic is still with the U.S. I haven't seen official release he's still in the rankings he's still in the rankings I think

he's still in the company I don't know why I've seen rumors that he's released so I could happen that'd be crazy style a clash for Tewvasa I honestly don't think he's ready for that yet and Tui Vasa versus versus Pavlovich, which I like. We don't know what's going on with Pavlovich. He was supposed to fight Ghan, in August and was injured. So, again, I don't know the nature of the injury.

He could be ready to fight soon. Could be something that's knocked him out for a year. Honestly, I have no idea. But I do actually like that one, Tuvasa. Talibovic. Toibasa, Gustafson, another guy. We don't know what's up with him. And we should say a lot of fighters who are fighting

train overseas have probably been affected by the military to book fights by COVID-19 and things like that. But yeah, that I would, that actually kind of like. I just don't know if Gus is, I may assume he's staying at heavyweight, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's like, I'm dropping back down to light heavyweight and I don't know, trying to build up to a fight with Jan Blahubich. Excuse me, excuse me, everyone. For Macy Chyassen, Irene Aldana and Ketland Baer were both popular picks. The one I saw most for Grant Dawson, actually, was the Jrakar Close Jeremy Stevens winner on April 17th.

So I saw that suggested a few times. And then for a straight up middleweighty battle, Treben Giles. versus Eric Anders coming off that sweet, sweet, no contest against Darren Stewart. So, go on to the DMs now. I'm going to shout out some of these nice matchups. Excuse me, let me, so I can stop, clear my throat, people. I apologize. Yes, you're listening to On to the next one.

You are now listening to On to the next one. Dry. It's getting sunny up here in Canada, all right? It's allergies, man. It's allergy seasons. It is. It is. I got a lot of excuses.

Chris at Dragon Slayer 2 on Twitter Likes Yanez versus A Andre Yule I like it I think he's probably a little bit Well no you know Yule was about to fight Chaz Schelley was almost going to fight Chaz Skelly Wait is Ewell No that's show on hers I have gotten Ewell and Emmerz confused so many times Literally for no reason except the fact that both their names start with an E So okay I applaud this but yeah Eul I don't mind

Aronski wants Yanez versus Trevin Jones who was a popular pick on our last episode I think For matchup with a lot of people So and but more important, he said specifically, he says, I do, he says, I do, he does not want to see Yanez matched up with Chris Gutierrez or Nathaniel Wood yet. Not yet. He's a, thank you, Orenski, for showing restraint with your matchmaking. Michael Perughey, Trevin Jals versus Darren Stewart, again, very middleweighty. Again, Andrews or Stewart, pick one. Dawson versus Hock Peras.

I think we mentioned this as a possibility last week. I feel like we threw it out there, like Hock Paras versus the winner of this fight, or someone did. Yeah, that's not. a bad idea. G at Young Rabbi 86 on Twitter. He wants to see Dawson fight a, you know, face someone a little bit younger than Leonardo Santos, 38 years young Vince Pichel. So I don't know.

I guess he liked what he saw against Dawson facing a 41-year-old guy. Why not doing him with 38-year-old next? I'd prefer if he faced someone closer to his own age, but sure. I would have less issue with Grant Dawson calling out Vince Pichel than calling out Cleauita. I'm just throwing that out there. Yeah. Vince is closer.

Vince is closer to the top 20. Vince is close. Oh, okay. Oh, what? Hold on. Let me consult my mystery. Oh, wow. Mike, I'm not, oh, yeah.

Okay. I have Vince Pichel at 23. He beat Jim Miller. He beat Jim Miller. So I have Vince Pichel at 23. Yes. He is a top 25 lightweight in my right. You're right.

You're right. Yeah, because he's won every UFC fight except the Gregor Gillespie fight. You are correct. And then I don't know if G is not a Derek Brunson fan. This is, I, he just threw this out there. Derek Brunson versus Duran Win. What?

Why? Oh, I wish we could see your face right now. Why? Derek Brunson has won four fights in a row against top 15 guys. You want to throw him in there with Duran Winn, who just saved his job? Just imagine the screwy face emoji, the one, like the drunken looking face emoji, and that's the face that Mike just made. Listen, I like Duran win. I think he's better than a lot of people think he is.

He's his own worst enemy. Yes, I think he'd be the first one admit that. But that is terrible matchmaking. I'm sorry. I love you guys, but that's awful. At Young Rabbi 86, I know you listen to the show. You will have to explain it. Send a message of your explanation.

I will read it on the next episode. If it's otherwise, it will be ignored and we'll never speak of this again. Keep listening, though. Keep listening. I think you're great, but. No, no, no. If he doesn't have a good explanation for this, you're listening is no longer welcome.

So, no, I'm kidding. Yes, you're right. At Young Rabbi 86. Follow him on Twitter, people. Yes, please. He does do a lot of matchmaking. And actually, like, ads both of us online. He actually reaches that to us, not just on DMs, which I appreciate it.

Redwood Rebel, how is this fight not happen before? Griffin versus Alan Juban. I swear I thought they fought before. They have not, but. Wow, that's good fight. Right? I thought they fought before. Liam Perry

Guys, I'm sorry, I put a lot of some people in blast here Liam Perry wants the Anez versus Brett Johns Liam, Brett John's in Bell Tour right now So that I agree would be a fun matchup He is no longer with the UFC He actually went out as a on a win streak as a free agent So good for Brett Johns We're waiting to see him debut in Beltor

And Mission Underground, do it submission on a ground Sure, submission underground Canejo versus Mizuki So I like that one So Liam Perry's solid pick there at J. Clyman won. Again, I've got to, guys, I got to correct your, your picks here. Brunson versus Hermanson, Shabazzian winner.

I am going to assume he meant if Hermanson wins because I can't imagine Brunson ever needing to or wanting to fight Shabazzian again. Unless for some reason they both on, Frunson's the middleweight champion and Shabazen goes on a six-fight win streak or something and kiss it. But, yes, Jay Klyman, they fought. They just fought, if you can't remember. and Brunson derailed the Shabazzan, temporarily derailed the Shabazzian hype train. So, yes, but Hermanson?

Sure, sure. Brunson, Hermanson, sure. We mentioned this guy as like a hyped lightweight on Saturday's post-fight show, similar to kind of with Dawson. Dawson versus Fizziv. Damn. Too much? No, I don't think that's too much. I think it's right, too.

I like it. The only issue I have with it is just like they're both like really good prospect. Like, this is not, like, 55 is a loaded division, but 35 is like, this is unavoidable, like, inside the top 40. 55, like, you could still build guys without matching these types of prospects against each other this quickly. If they made it, I'm down. I looked at this one. I weighed the pros and cons. And it just seemed like we'd love to see the fight.

I just think it's too soon to match up these two guys that the UFC can build on in a big way. Throw him in. There can be only one. Throw them in. So I do my matchmaking. I mentioned Marcus McGahey, of course, chimed me earlier. He's some very sensible matchment here. Giles versus D. Chirico, which I like.

Dawson versus Mark Olmadsden or Damir Izmagulov. And I mentioned that one just because also, Asmagulav is another guy in the list of kind of like, I wonder where he is probably in COVID restrictions preventing him from training and coming to North America. So Griffin, again, this is Griffin versus Brian, Barbara Farina. Fun. As long as Brian's okay.

That's right. He had to have surgery for. It wasn't a heart thing. I think it was a stomach thing. Stomack. Oh, yes. Yeah, there's pictures on Instagram if you want to see that. He was very sharing of his

recent stomach surgery. And we have mentioned this on a previous episode, but it's still alive for sure. Holland versus Sean Strickland at some point. Strickland is fighting Christoph Jocko May 1st, but if Holland is still sticking around at 185, Yeah, I mean, if you just want to, again, in cage dialogue, yes, Holland, but we've brought this up in the show before. Sure.

Barry O'Reilly, giving us greetings from Ireland, says Tuva versus the Romanov Espino winner, April 17th, or, and I think we mentioned this on Saturday's post-fight show, Holland versus Hamzad. There's a lot of bad blood there. And, again, this would be somewhere down the road. We don't know when, we don't know when, or if Shamiyev is fighting again. So, but I would love to see that match up someday. Presumably, 170. Is Romanoff and Espino, like, a real thing? I think it is.

Let me, let me double check. I believe it is booked for. I know it was, like, rumored, but then, like, Romanov said it was a go. And then Espino was like, nah, dude, like, don't believe everything you see. I see it on topology, but that does not mean it has been announced. That does not, it is, it has been, I think, confirmed by. sources, uh, outlets using sources, but not officially announced. So yes, it is possible that they could both be free to potentially fight to Abbas. I think Romanov would be a really good test for him.

Again, if we want to talk about is, is this a new and improved to Ibasa? Uh, he's got the experience advantage over Romanov, but Romanov, that wrestling, oh, that's strength. He could toss to Yvvvvvvvv-a-vvvvv-a-vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv-spino fight is on, though, because I actually like that match up. I'm down. I think it's great. I think it's a great fight. I just don't know if it's I don't know I just don't know if it's real or not Jacob best

I only got one Instagram you got more Instagram DM me this Mike I got one one Instagram DM from my old my old pal old faithful Jacob

so thank you Jacob for for sending this one in sorry I'm just making shit open up my email get my email already check this check those out we got quite a few email suggestions but Jacob best on Instagram

I wanted to read message because I like a couple of... Holland versus Mahmoud Murdov. Again, that's if he's saying 185. And then he wants to see Jackson versus Kelleher two, which I think is enough time. I think it's about maybe two years, about over two years and I think. I don't mind it. And oh, this is why I wanted to read it out because he agrees, well, even more, it's even more pertinent now because he agrees with you.

He says, Guida is a massive step back from Santos. And he wants to see Dawson versus that. He's in favor of the close Stevens winner. Wait a man. Hold on. Jackson fought Keller? When? This was, I want to say it was someone was fighting on short notice.

Oh, you're right, you're right, you're right, you're right. Excuse me. That's right. That's right. Yeah, I believe this was on short. Jackson won the fight. Jackson won the fight. Oh, Jackson won the fight.

I'm sorry. He submitted Keller. Okay, there I'm seeing now, yeah. So this is quite a few ways in the past, quite a few fights away for both guys. So actually, I don't mind that rematch. I think that's something that could have. happen. Obviously, boom, boom would love to get that one back. So, but yeah, he's also with you. He's a great. Gwita, massive step back. So thank you, Jacob Best. Now, our email,

I'm going to close other emails. So I think we got some good ones. Austin Dayshop wants to see Griffin versus Jake Matthews. So many great Griffin. There's a lot. I've a lot more Griffin matchups coming. Matt Bradbury, some, always got some deep cuts. Jackson, Montel Jackson versus Song Yadong. All right. Sure. Grant Dawson versus Maseran Duba, Francisco Trinaldo. Macy Chasson, I think this is too fast for Macy Chasin. But again, if we're talking about getting into a title picture, I mean, maybe the fast tracker. And also, I think this is actually kind of a winnable fight.

Macy Chasin versus Raquel Pennington. Interesting. I'm curious to see what's going on with Raquel right now. Sure, sure. There's like a Yusada thing and she's not in the rankings anymore. And I don't know. How do you feel about, I think she may have passed her with this win already? because she stepped in for her.

Canejo versus K. Hansen. Two experience for K Hansen? I mean, they have the same amount of fights. On paper, they have the same amount of fights. But there's a bit of an age gap. But that's going to be the way it is. I liked K. I liked K and Bayes.

K base? Yeah. I think they should. Honestly, I think that's the... I know for a fact K Hanson's team wants that fight back. Sure. Rebook it. I honestly, I think that's the deep fight to make.

Just rebook that way. And then Max Griffin versus Worley Alibis, another fight for some reason I thought it happened before. Tristan, I said, Tristan, I read part of his email before. Oh, the other part I wanted to. So he said, I don't recall it. He said, hey, Alex, tell Mike his reaction was so hilarious when you guys were signing off the post-fight show live stream. As Casey mentioned that he was about to go watch Verizon 27. What was your reaction?

I was like, oh, it was OS. Because I forgot. I totally forgot about it. Oh, yes. We had a live show. There's no editing. He liked Griffin versus Miguel Baezza. Wait, didn't Miguel Baezza get booked?

No. But he did fight recently, right? He fought, what, November? Sato. I thought he got booked after the Sato fight. Okay, yeah, he beat Takashi Sato. Okay. Soriano just got booked.

Did we mention Dawson versus Tiago Morg? We did not mention that one. I like it. Dawson and Griffin, again, you can see there was a ton of matches for Dawson. Because they put on good performances and they've given themselves this platform to have a lot of great matchups. I'm only going to mention this because I think we have to, this would maybe maybe should be the one time mention of this year. So Tristan also recommended Conejo versus Bihanna Van Buren. As you remind me on a previous episode when I suggested Viana versus Biana.

Viana versus Brianna It's not really an option right now Because Brianna Van Buren, I believe, is about to become a mom So I don't know when she'll be planning to fight again So yeah, I think we all want to see Breonna Van Buren fight again But I think I'll be putting a moratorium on Brianna Van Buren matchups And if people's just I'm just not going to mention it Because she's busy, she's got life going on guys

I know we I know she's had a great start her career And we want to see her fight soon But I believe she will be a mom soon So unfortunately, probably not an option to matchmaking. And I'll close out with Harry Duoskin, who I think had some of the best matchups of the week and some of the strangest. What do you think when I say this? I don't know where this came from. Manel Cape versus JP Baez.

Excuse me. Menel Kate versus J.P. Bayes? Nile K versus Bayes. Why? I mean, why not? I don't think Minnell would. That's not great for JP Bayes, but. I mean, Manel's not in a position to really make demands.

Oh, and two. But for those of you who, a little tease, for those of you who are interested in what Menel Cape may want next, actually, by the way, it is Menel Cape officially. No. I asked the man himself. No. I have to now work on this. They were right. So they were right in the broadcast.

Yeah, Menel Cop. Cap, cop. Cop. Cap, cop. Yep, cap. Yep. It's not Cape. I've been saying it wrong for years, and he forgave me for that.

Officially changed. But if you want to know what Minnell Kopp wants next, listen to what the heck this week. Oh, you see. I talked to him last night as we record. It was right after Montel Jackson's win over Jesse Strader, I got on the horn with him on Skype for about 28 minutes talking about the Nikolao fight.

He was pissed. He was pissed. And then poor, poor gear, Cruz, his article, I read quotes from his article from his interview with Matea's Nicolao, Melle Cape was not a happy camper. He was very passionate about his stance on why he won that fight. Don't tell him about my robbery review, okay, he's not going to be, he's not going to like the result of that.

So just don't mention it to him. Why, you scored it for him. I did, but I did not. I said the fight was not a robbery, though. Yeah, robbery's tough. But you're right, I should have it both ways. Yeah, you can tell him I scored the fight for him. There you go.

Leave the conversation at that. See? Speaking of Montel Jackson, I love this matchup. And I want you to think about it for you back. Because at first I scrunched up my nose. Then I'm like, I'm like, actually, this makes a lot of sense. Montel Jackson, Casey Kinney. Wow, that's fun.

I think that's fair. And I think it's a fair matchup. I think Kenny had his moments against Cruz, but I think it did show us. I think he's not quite, you know, not quite a top 15, top 20 guy yet. And I think Jackson is the right. I actually really liked this matchup. I think it's one of my, it made my favorite. Jackson matchup that I saw.

That's a good. Have you guys, seriously, like, go back and watch that fight and just, or any Montel Jackson fight. Look at the size of that dude's hands. Like, seriously. Like, it's like, you know, like, I remember, like, right after I graduated from high school, you got the, like, we had this little party in the school afterwards and they had, like, the inflatable boxing with the oversized boxing gloves. Like, that's what Montel Jackson looks like. His hands are way bigger than Abanamate's hand should be. It's like. Hawaii Leonard. You could cover a whole man's face with those things. Go look at them.

They're like Brock Lesnar hands. It's sick. I'm not going to do it. Mind-boggling. I have very tiny hands, and I don't want to do that. It's not going to make me feel good about myself. That's a scary dude. This is from the, really, where is this guy files?

Dawson versus Mark Jakeasy. Great matchup. Again, I think Jakeasy is just kind of stuck overseas right now. And from the hasn't Max Griffin fought this guy before files. Max Griffin versus Tim Means. That's fun Somehow hasn't happened yet Mass Griffin's been around for a lot

Max Griffin's been around for a long time I fought a lot of big names But somehow that hasn't happened yet And then Harry Dwaskin again I think this was one of my It may be the most intriguing reader choice of the week So I'll close it out with this Holland of course going down to 170

For a fight with Carlos Condit Wow Hmm Wow Who did I book Who did I book for Condo last week? Who do we have, who did we talk about for Condits? Bilal?

Yeah, it was Bilal. Blal is one of the options for Bilal. So they're in that sphere. Holland, Muhammad, Condit. They're kind of in that area where one of those matchups could happen. If any of those combinations of those matchups happen, I think you're having a good time. Dude, that's fun. I'm, I'm, sign me up for that one.

Thank you, Harry, for that pick. So there we go. Good stuff. Good stuff from the readers, as always. Mike, where can they, where can they, again, your, your DM's a, They're blown up now, apparently. I have been abandoned. How can people join in on the party?

See, yeah, I told, New Year's resolution, get better on Instagram, respond to stuff. You're crushing it already. You're crushing. M underscore HECJR on Instagram. Twitter is Mike Heck underscore J.R. There you go. Do you read all yours, right, A.K.? No, guys, you can reach me on Instagram at Alexander KKK Lee.

That's 2Ks on Instagram. And at Alexander Keele, that's 1K on Twitter. Alex Dotley at SBNation.com on email. Hit me up on any of those platforms, guys. I am. I respond to all that. So, yeah, keep them coming, guys. You guys are such a big part of the show.

The, as Mike calls it, the fastest growing podcast in MMA, in the world, really. In the whole world, everybody. Amazing. From here. I was trying to quote Seinfeld. I forgot the damn song from Rochelle, Rochelle. But join us next week. Melonda Mitz.

Malanda Mitz. There you go. From Melinda. Join us next week as we discuss the what's next coming out of UFC 260 headlines by the heavyweight championship rematch between Steve A. Meitchitch and Francis Inganu. Of course, not to be the Debbie Downer, but the featherweight title fight is not happening on this card. But that's still, Steve A.V. versus Francis, too, is awesome. We will be on site for that one, not AK and I, but M.M.A. fighting will be on site.

Jose Youngs will be there. Just crushing it. Media Day. There is a press conference on Thursday, and, you know, of course, that means the return of the way-in show on Friday. Preview show, post-fight show, Q&A, all the craziness. So just follow along with us throughout the week. But until that, we appreciate you listening and contribute it to the program each week for AK. I am Mike Eck. Remember, don't take this too seriously.

MMA is supposed to be fun, and there's more fun to be had next week right here on onto the next one. The podcast. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Thank you.