MMA Fighting - On To the Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 33

Episode Date: August 1, 2021

On the 53rd 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 33 event at the APEX.  Future matchups were discussed for the Sean Strickland following his dominant decision win over Uriah Hall in the middleweight headliner, Cheyanne Buys, Jared Gooden, Melsik Baghdasaryan, Jason Witt, 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. Everybody and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one. We have awoken from just a few hours sleep following a very busy night in the world of mixed martial arts. We had Bellator 263, the breakout night officially for the brand new Bellator Featherway champion. The new millionaire, A.J. McKee, after his first round submission win over Patricio Pitbull. But we are here to put the matchmaker hats back on to discuss. the What's Next, the fallout of UFC Vegas 33. I am Mike Keck.

Thank you for checking up the show. And joining me as always is the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity, my best friend and yours, future Grammy Award winner, Mr. Alex K. Lee. Hello, sir. Oh, my best friend. Too kind. Too kind. What a treat it was to be a combat sports fan, not just last night.

I think in the last couple of weeks. I think we've been spoiled. We've been spoiled with some great UFC cards, a great belt or card. BKFC, the usual weirdness that you can find on Twitter at Carbacca underscore Hitman's, you know, Twitter account, you're always finding something strange. It's a great time to be a fan. And this was, I'll be honest.

This was one of those Saturdays where I think as someone who works in the field, there was some dread as far as like how much there was to cover. And of course, us kind of overlooking this UFC card. But the way the night worked out, everything I feel like went by so quickly. The pacing of the UFC card was amazing. as opposed to Bellator, which was a little more trying out. But again, it's on Showtime. They're kind of doing this more of a boxing style show, which I understand.

But, yeah, UFC was so quick, entertaining. Bellator was great. They got the result they wanted. Great time to be a fan. Great time to be involved in this industry. Yeah, it worked out perfectly. Like, yeah, you make a great point because, like, the UFC event went quick. By the time Sean Strickland beat Uriah Hall, people got to tune in to the co-main event

of the Bellator car, which was amazing. It was on the best fights of the year. So good. And then AJ McKee's shining moment. So, I mean, like you said, if you were a combat sports fan, you were spoiled to no end. I think it's pretty obvious where AJ McKee goes from there. I know we have the listeners who have weighed in on the Bellator card, so we'll discuss that a little bit later on. But we're going to focus between you and I, as we typically do, on what happened inside the Octagon last night.

And let us begin with Sean Strickland, who is just a madman, A. This guy is not just a madman in the octagon. He's a madman in the gym. He's a madman sitting in his car, cutting promos on social media. And he's even more of a madman at his post-fight press conferences following main event victories. I mean, the things this guy had to say, it's just unbelievable. But he is on a tear right now at 185 pounds. He dominates your eye haul for 25 minutes on Saturday.

He just kept going. He kept pouring it on. The fifth round was actually his best. round according to the numbers. He's won five in a row. He's four and oh since moving back up to 185 pounds. He's 19 and 0 as a middleweight and he's going to be a top 10 fighter, probably top seven or eight come Tuesday once the new UFC rankings come out. But it'll be interesting to see where he ends up on the most important rankings in MMA, the MAA fighting global rankings. But where does Mr. Strickland go from a matchmaking perspective after another

impressive performance this time in a headline spot? Yeah, as you mentioned, the global rankings, number 13, heading into Saturday. Uri Haal was number 10, so he's definitely going to at least take his spot. He's definitely jumping to the top 10, maybe higher, maybe higher depending on the other. I was very conservative with higher ranked him. Again, people will kind of see how that shakes out later this week. 24 and 3 overall, like he mentioned, 19 and 0 as a middleway is impressive, but even his losses. I got a few losses at 170.

24 and 3. And it's not like, I mean, you just watch him. He's such an entertaining fighter, too. This isn't a guy who's, like, grinding out wins on the regional scene. Like, he's really, really pushes the – he fights at this pace that a lot of 185 which just can't keep. It's so exciting. You said there was two obvious names.

One of them I know for sure, and I think I know the other one. But I think, Mike, I went in another direction from either of those names. I kind of want to see him get the winner of the Jared Cannonier-Callivan-Gastlin fight on August 21st, so in a few weeks. definitely Gasolam. I think I definitely if Gaslam beats Cananeer makes sense for him

to fight Strickland. I think that's pretty obvious. Cannonier would be a little bit shakier if Canner got the win, I'm sure there'd be some people campaigning for him to fight the to get a title shot. He has a very strong resume at 185.

But I think he'd still be one win away. And I'd love to see a match with him and Strickland. It would be a great fight. So I went a little conditional here. I don't think I went with the consensus. I know the listeners had a lot of other options. But yeah, for me,

either can or Gasselam, I think would be a good, good matchup for Strickland next. Sean Strickland is really difficult to matchmake for because he trains at like 39 different gyms. So he's, and he pairs up with like most names that we're going to mention here. I want to see him fight Luke Rockhold. I know they probably train together at Ruka. Sean trains all over the damn place. But Luke has a name. Luke wants an interesting fight to come back to. Sean's an interesting fight for sure. He's a, he's a difficult. fight. Luke wants difficult fights. He wants a top 10 guy. Sean will definitely be a top 10 guy come Tuesday. And I think this one makes sense for both guys. That's kind of a caveat.

That's kind of a caveat. If it can happen, if they're not like best friends, like you and I are okay, this is the fight. But if for some reason they are best friends and they made a pack to like never fight each other and they signed a piece of paper and blood or something, then it's Jackermanson. I like the Rockhold fight way more. I think there's more sizzle. than there is with the Hermanson fight in terms of name recognition. Luke's obviously a former champion. I think Luke Rockhold is the best opportunity for him with what is actually available to him right now, A.K., because I don't think he's, cannon air and Gasselm is interesting.

I don't know if, like, him and Gasselm are buddies. It's very possible that they are. I think we ran into this before. But I don't know if Strickland's going to want to wait that long. I think Strickland's going to want to stay active and keep this train going. and I think Rockhold's pretty much ready to go. Rockhold said at this point he's ready to take a short notice fight just to get in there and entangle with one of these top ten guys.

So, yeah, I'd like to see the Rockhold fight if not. Hermanson's fine. Rockhold would have been such a great call out. That's the one thing Strickland won't do, oddly enough. He'll say almost anything. He won't call anybody out. He has no interest in that part, playing that political part of matchmaking in the UFC, which is fine.

I respect it to a certain degree, but I think that would have been the perfect call it to make after winning your first UFC main events. He's still a recognizable name. You guys were pushing this potential matchup a lot on the shows leading up to UFC Vegas 33, saying either Hall or Strickland would be a great sort of welcome back fight for Rockhold. So in this case, Strickland now makes more sense, I feel. So, yeah, I wish he had called that out. That would have been really fun.

I'm surprised. I thought the other name, when I said the two names I thought you were thinking of, I thought you meant Rockhold and Vittori. them? No, not Vittori. Because Vittori and Costa are going to fight. It seems like there. A lot of Votori and the listeners. A lot of Votri from listeners. I mean, I'd like to see it, but I think

the path is, it seems like him and Koster on a closing course right now and both seem to want, even Paul Costa wants that fight, which is very hard to lock Paul Costa down because the way he thinks, he feels like Israel should rematch him, which is just asin. But Biazema,

big win for Sean Strickland, Uriah, I don't know where he goes from here. It's just kind of a tough spot for him. I feel like any glimmer of hope of fighting for a world title is, I'm not going to say it's gone, because you never know it's

maybe a short notice opportunity pops up against the top five guy and he makes it happen. And this sport just has so many crazy twists and turns. But I feel like in the normal build to a title shot, moving up in the rankings, I feel like Uriah is going to need a whole hell of a lot of luck.

And he hasn't had a lot of that over the last few years. But it would be like a Michael Bisping-esque shock for him to get a title shot and win it at this point. But again, it happened for Michael Bisping. Their careers, I'm not, their careers are, aren't like, you know, super similar. But there were definitely moments with Michael Bisping, many moments in his UFC career where fans had kind of been like, he would take a loss after like a three-fight winning streak

or something like that. And fans would be like, it's not going to happen for Bisping. Yeah, it's just not going to happen. But like you said, he injured your opportunity. That's how it comes up. you get you get you just it's just your night you know uh so it would that it would have to be that level of surprise at this point for him to become a champion and i think most people consider michael bisming to be one of the least likely uh champions uh ever in ucc history so it's to be tough

yes uh by the way if you hear any sort of drilling or power tool sounds uh we're getting the finishing touches done on our back deck so you might hear some power tools not that we can really do about that, so just kind of bear with it. Co-made event, Cheyenne Bayes, makes the most of her opportunity. She steam rolls and finally puts away Glory to Paula in a minute for her first UFC

win. A lot of people saying it's lucky. I don't know why people just dislike Cheyenne Bayes that much and discredit her. I don't know, but... I think it's just people trying to be too smart. I think nowadays people are trying to be like, anytime they see a grounded, anything close to a grounded strike, it's one of the most controversial things that happens

in our sport. People are just so quick to want to be like, oh, I saw that. I saw that. No one else saw that. And it's like, guys, you're overthinking this one. Were Gloria DePaula's hands on the ground when the kick connected? No, that's it. And end of debate.

You guys don't got to overthink this one. Or it's not the Zapruder film, you know? It's like, it was a legal kick. It was 100% legal. I think she timed it well. And if there's luck involved, just as much there isn't any other aspect of M.A. There you go. She gets her first UFC win, first UFC performance bonus.

And like I've been saying, and, you know, we, we can. kind of knew this off the contender series. Dana White and the UFC, they see something in her. She has all the makings of a potential star in their eyes. There's something there because she is very, very violent. She can speak. She's got the gift of

gab. Let's be honest, I'm a married man, but I'll say it anyway. She's not terrible to look at. There's some things she needs to firm up in terms of her overall skill set, most notably her wrestling and just getting up off her back. But big win for her coming off that monster

at Conejo decision loss in her Octagon debut. And the theme for like these next four fights, A.K., probably for the rest of the card if we were going to match, make for it, if we're being honest, is so many options for the winners because of where they are currently at in the rankings, their Octagon 10 years, etc. There's no real wrong answer here. So to me, let's just go ahead, rebook the Kay Hansen fight. Kay was dealing with some injuries. She looks to be ready to book a fight again.

I'm sure Bays doesn't want to wait all that long to get back in there. there, especially with the financial side of things. She said she's very, very broke. Bonus will help, but she ain't going to get that check for a few months. If you hear any interviews with fighters who have won bonuses, it's not something that just pops into your bank account right away. It takes a few months to get in there. So if Kay can go in maybe September, I'm sure that would work out swimmingly for one

Cheyenne Bay. That's her I'm at, A.K., what say you? Well, I don't know. See, Cheyenne said after, she was asked about the Kay Hansen rebooking. at the Post-Five Press Conference. And she said after, actually, she's not interested in that fight right now. It has to do with the fact that they've both been doing, I'm sorry, you know, Shian Bay has been spending some time at the UFCPI,

and Kay Hansen's been there as well, rehabbing some health issues she's been dealing with. So she said they've kind of run into each other a few times. So I guess there's not that they're friends, not that they would never fight, but at this moment she's kind of like, oh, we're kind of on good terms. And she was saying she's very aware of the health problems that she didn't want to divules, course the health problems that Kay is kind of dealing with right now. And so she didn't really feel like comfortable calling her out and wanting to rebook. It was asked to the press conference.

So I don't know if that'll happen any time soon. Probably someday. I think it inevitably happens. I just don't think they rebook that next. So that's also, by the way, that response is for a lot of readers. We're also saying just rebook Shian Bayes and Kay Hansen. So that's for all the readers slash listeners out there. Probably not right now.

I think she's kind of respecting whatever's going on on Kay Hansen's side right now. So I went with Mallory Martin. Just through Mallory Martin out there because it's a good matchup. It's like we were talking about this before the show, Mike. You found this like easy to do because the options were all over the place. I was kind of like paralyzed by choice in a Sylvia Plath-esque state of indecision because there was just so many options. And eventually I let go and just made some picks just to get this show done. But it's kind of weird to have this card.

like you said, it's a main card full of fighters who can go in so many different directions. So, yeah, Mallory Martin, there's no really big narrative to it. There won't be probably for the next, like you said, the rest of the fix we make here. Just a good matchup, a similar level of experience and where they are in their careers. Yeah, I mean, again, you can't go wrong.

They did Kay Hanson, that's fine. They did Hannah Goldie, that's fine. Diana Balbita, that's fine. I mean, literally there's... The first thing I thought of, and I was hesitant to say it, was Jin Yu Fry. And I know like Cheyenne and Jin have been training partners in the past,

but apparently Cheyenne has had a falling out with Fortis MMA and Safe Sayyud. That's right. That's right. So maybe you can build that storyline. If that's the case, if they're not like buddies, if she's just completely just left Fortis and has turned her back on everybody there, that's a good story. Why that all not? Do you want to stir that pot the next time you have Cheyenne on your show?

Can you just do a little, just, you know, a little question just like, why did, just phrase it like this, Mike, phrase like, what did Junufri do to make you leave Fortis MMA? Speak freely. You know, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but speak. No, okay. No, yeah, yeah, it's like you said. As far as we know, they're pretty chummy, pretty chummy when they were trained together at Fortis. So I'd be surprised if that was in any way related to her leaving. But you're right.

They're not training partners anymore. A lot of, this is another one that was popular in listening suggestions, Bayes versus Gin U.Fri. So it seems more possible now than it did after Bays' debut. I'm just going to say, who would you rather fight K. Hansen or Jin Yu-Fri? There you go. Oh, there you go. Perfect. There you go. And you say, I'm only accepting those two answers.

Yeah, and then I can follow up from there. I am working on Cheyenne Bayes for what the heck. We'll see what happens. Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget Online Casino is live. Bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your finger. tips, whether you're a seasoned player or just starting. Signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks,

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it had been for him. Doesn't think he's fighting. Finds out he's fighting. Finds out he's fighting. finds out the day of the fight hours before that he's not fighting and then like two hours later he's fighting again and he delivers a quick finish beautiful right cross just over a minute in and with that he gets his first UFC win what a night for the night train where does he go from here Gabe Green Gabe Green again just went to my rankings

look I've been as people know I've been keeping my own rankings since well before we just started the MMA fighting global rankings Yeah, so I've got this list There's a range of guys that are in Jared Gooden's range Gabe Green is one of them And that's it Gabe Green a very, very fun offensive fighter He's going to stand

He's going to bang I mean he can mix it up too But so can Jared Gooden But I think primarily be a striking affair And even in Jared Gooden's losses You kind of saw What a fun like striker he could be You know, at 170

He's just He's physically quite again, the length he has is just really unmatched almost in the division. So you can see what a dangerous stoker he would be. So let's keep in that vein. Stick him in fights that will primarily be stand-up. And so Gabe Green out there. Yeah, Jared's a super fun fighter.

He's been a guy that has been on my radar for several years now. It's just mental hurdles with him. You know, does he want to be there? Does he have the confidence in the belief in himself? And it feels like he's getting there. This honestly, with the. crop of fighters are going to be talking about. This was probably the easiest one for me.

And it hit me right away. Jeremiah Wells. I mean, good Lord. Can you imagine what will happen when those two guys get in there, two powerhouses with big finishing ability? Both guys coming off their first UFC wins. Both guys probably felt like they got the hose job by not getting bonuses after said first UFC victory.

So that's a fan-friendly fight. Got no issue with that one. I think that one absolutely rules, A.K. Yeah. And two guys, again, who. who probably overperformed given one that was expected. Gooden, like you said, showing up in less than a week, Jeremiah Wells being matched up with.

It was Worley Alvis, right? He knocked out of Worley Alphas? Yeah, crazy. I did not expect that at all. So, yeah, without reward these surprising wins with the matchup with one another. What an Octagon debut it was for Melsic, Bagtizarian, stops a young, talented prospect in Colin Anglin in the second round. This kid, Melsick, is very talented,

one of the probably under the radar contender series contract winners, but a lot of skill, very dangerous guys, got a very bright future, excited to see where his career goes. I wish I could go into the future like three years and see where he's at. Because I mean, I'm really excited to see his development, but he's got one UFC win and his only try. There's no need to rush him, AK. Again, I mean, I love how we throw out these names and there's question marks attached to him.

instead of exclamation points. T.J. Brown? I mean, T.J. Brown seems like a fine choice. I mean, T.J. is a guy who's improved quite a bit. Of course, he's with James Krause, who is not nominated for the Fighters Only Coach of the Year Award in the Year of Our Lord 2021. He had that fun fight with Kai Kamaka.

It was a little controversial in terms of the judging, but really what event doesn't have that these days? T.J. got his first UFC win. I think that's a fun scrap. Why the hell not? I knew pretty much nothing about Bagdasarian before Saturday's card. I think I usually make a lot of notes before the cards, usually the week of during fight week. I did not even know this fight was happening until Monday, I think.

I was like looking at the card. I'm like, I'm like, Colin Anglin, I was a little more familiar with. He won a contender series contract. Bagdasarian was a contestant on the contender series, and he won his fight beating Dennis Bazooka. Bozuka Joe, Dennis Bazooka. but didn't get a contract, did not get a contract. So I just wasn't familiar with him. And boy, I was eyes shocked by what I saw.

It just looked very seasoned against, again, a guy like Colin Anglin, who I still think is a solid prospect. But Bagdasarian now 6 and 1, 6 straight. He lost his pro debut, that's it, he won 6 straight fights. Four of his wins, Mike, are first round finishes that happen in 32 seconds or less. So he's handled his business on the regional scene. Let's put it that way. And he's an Armenian fighting out of California. So this is my little Bagdasarian info package for people who want to know more about him.

But I'm sure we're going to find out a lot more in the months to come and maybe years to come to anywhere he goes. So match up for him. I like him versus the Louis Salada Austin Lingo winner again on August 21st. I'm really looking forward to this August 21st. It's going to answer a lot of questions for me. But yeah, two guys, again, both around the same level of experience. both in terms of UFC experience and the kind of competition that they fought before come to the UFC. So yeah, just good, good fighting.

We move to the welterweight division. Jason Witt, another James Krause pupil. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you? How do you not know that by now? I don't know. He's like a homegrown bread James Krause guy. I'm so bad at remembering coaches and teams.

Well, be that as in May, Jason Witt gets a majority decision win in the main card opener over Brian Bam Bam Barbarina. Brian Barbarina, one of the toughest individuals in the world. Guy has just gone through so much physically, able to battle through some of those health problems, got back in the cage. It was a wild fight. I don't want to discredit Jason Witt, but he shouldn't have won the fight.

It should have been a draw all day long. How do you not give Brian Barbarina 10-8 round the third? How do you not? It's absolutely ridiculous. Now, Mike, would you have been okay with 28-27 for Witt if they had been a 108 second and a 108 third. I would have been more okay with it. Right.

But I think Barbarina's third was a more clear-cut 10-8. Yes, exactly. If I was going to only give 1-10-8, I would have given the 1-10-8 to Barbarina for the third. The Witt did hurt him pretty badly in the second, but there was, I can't remember which judge it was. One of the judges who obviously gave it to Witt gave a 10-8 second to Witt, but not a 10, 8 third to bar.

So it's just, it's the consistent, as we always say with the judges, it's, it's not about necessarily them being wrong, but it's the consistency, uh, that's so frustrating. So I agree it should have been a draw. I'm kind of okay with 28, 27, but you had that you had to give barborena 10, eight third. I feel. So yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you.

It's been a horrible eight days for judging. Horrible. Just atrocious. Uh, it's just been absurd. But Belator, I mean, because Belator is really, really bad. There were some bad decisions, some really. really awful scorecards. UFC was really crappy last week,

not much better this week, but be that as a May, didn't really need the judges a whole hell of a lot on this UFC car because there were a ton of finishes. But listen, Jason Witt, just a scrapper, man.

He's a grinder. He's grinding his way into the UFC. He's got a couple of wins under his belt now. Where does he go from probably the biggest victory of his career? First, let me answer a question with a question. How does Witt,

I'm still up a follow about this whole Jason Witt thing that I'm stupid that I should have known. He was with James Krauss. How does this guy get knocked out in like a combined like 60 seconds by two of his U.S. Hewisie opponents? And then he gets in there with Brian Barbarina and eats like 30 Brian Barberina hate makers to the head and doesn't get taken. How does this happen? Is it just, I don't know. Maybe Barbarina is the time off, took a little pop out of his punches on Saturday.

I don't know how Witt took some of those punches and did not go down. Do you know what I'm saying though, Mike? Like, he's lost in very quick fashion to some, his two losses in the UFC. What did I tell you about the Matthew Semmelisberger fight? Like, do you remember that it was the people's pre-fight show? We talked about his fight with Matthew Semmelsberger. That was the opening fight of the card. And I said one of two things is going to happen.

Jason Witt is going to land a take down in the first 10 seconds or he's going to get knocked out in the first 10 seconds. I was off by six seconds. He got knocked out in 16 seconds. But if Jason Witt can't get going with his wrestling early, that's what typically happens. But Jason Witt's such a good wrestle. And he showed that in this fight. Like he came out early, he stood with Barbaryne a little bit, but he immediately took him down. And that was like the difference in the fight.

Usually like his mojo kind of builds up, like his power levels a la video games grows with these takedowns. And then he's got more of a, you know, more durability. I can't argue with that. It's the only explanation. It's the only explanation because he was. getting hit so clean in the third right even in some of the rounds he won he was getting hit pretty clean uh i don't know anyway limin good that's it that's that's all i was jason witt liming good yeah it's uh i'm samezies i also owe limin good good why not why not

that's the kind of card this was it's just it's amazing the card just came together and happened and was as good as it was as it was you might say hey oh gosh you're showing that jason whit on the sunday morning Forget the listeners, we're done. Bigotan Airhorn. Edit it. Yeah, good. We're on the same page.

Now we're going to head to the wild card round in record time and discuss one fighter we have not match made for yet. And we'll go ahead and do that right now. So I'm interested, A.K., what is your wild card matchup coming out of UFC Vegas 33? I had to do something for poor Kai Kamaka. You mentioned the T.J. Brown fight and how controversial that one was. I did a robbery review and I think I leaned towards that it was a robbery.

You guys can check that on M.Afighting.com. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm pretty sure I agreed with some of the popular sentiment at the time that Kamaka should have gotten that win. What a roller coaster, again, his last two fights. Yes, the close call with T.J. Brown and then the self-inflicted

kind of chaos he caused on himself on Saturday with a brutal double eye poke. Almost an eye, like an eye-dragging, like a double claw down across across his opponent's eyes. Danny Chavez, horrible to watch.

I'm glad they gave Danny Chavez a lot of time just got, you know, figure it out and put some water in it and just, you know, can you fight? And then immediately a low-busters. Oh, gosh, just chaos or crack him. And by the way, that low blow, it was a low blow, but it hit the body too. If you watch the replay, Mike, on that one,

I know all of us were kind of juggling. Belator and UFC duties, but watch that replay if you get the chance of the Kaikamaka low blow. It's a knee that lands right on the stomach, but definitely kind of glances the cup, and he loses the point for that. I'm okay with it because he should have lost a point for the iPok, but it was a very strange situation,

and ending a very frustrating draw for Kaikamaka and for Danny Chavez. So I just want to give him another good fight coming up, a great matchup. One, a fight I think he can win, or at the very least, get a conclusive end. ending to one of his fights, one that just doesn't leave him sleepless at night. I like Kai Kamaka and Bill Algeo.

You know, A.K., we are best friends. We've been doing this for a long time, and I knew you were going to go with Kai Kamaka. And honestly, considering who we haven't discussed yet, Kai Kamaka is probably the most interesting name left to choose from. So I went ahead, and I'm throwing a little curveball here. I'm going to go ahead and choose a fighter

who's supposed to fight on this card, but didn't. What? And I'm picking him for almost the same reasons. He just had some awful luck. And he's had awful luck since coming to the UFC. So I'm going to go with Trevin Jones. Good old five star.

And I'm going to throw him in there with a veteran, a guy who I think would be a really interesting test. My wild card pick, even though he didn't fight through no fault of his own, Trevin Jones versus Lewis Smokka. I think Sean O'Malley is beyond the Smokka fight after 264. the ship has unfortunately sailed for Mr. Smolka on that end. Trevin's an exciting up-and-comer. I think Trevin deserves a fight like that.

So, you know what? Perhaps I'm cheating, but he didn't compete, and it was through no fault of his own. Mike, I like it when you think outside the box. It makes me feel a bit dumb, but I like when you think outside the box. It's funny that when you said, I'm going with a name that didn't compete on this card,

I was like, that could literally be like 15 people. That is, people go to the toughball, as you page for UFC fight, what's it called, UFC Fight Night Hall versus Strickland, UFC Vegas 33, whatever. And just scroll to the bottom and see the canceled and fizzled bouts.

It's all neatly laid out there. So many fights that didn't happen or have been postponed or again fizzled. Just a brutal, brutal, unlucky card for the UFC. And I'm glad that the fighters were on it, got to fight and show out and do their thing.

But boy, this is, these cards a week really take their toll. I think on the sanity of the matchmaker sometimes. But yeah, Trevin Jones, a really fun guy to watch. And it's shame. Him and Rwereman would be one of the best fights in the card. So, yeah, shame we didn't get to see it. All right.

Do we have some Check the Tapes? Did anyone call me out? What's going on? No. Oh, oh. Oh, boy. Later, I think there is. No, it's not a mean one.

I do think you are addressed directly, though. Or someone asking for credit for something. Anyway, yeah, no, we had some very good check the tapes. listeners, Mike, you, me, the listeners were all on top of these. Of course, two of the biggest fights that it looks like they're happening. Usman v. Covington 2

and Gates G.C. versus Chandler is one that a lot of people wanted. And those are both, I believe, going down. UFC 268, November 6th. So that's massive. Mike, you and the UFC report both heavily campaigned.

I know you really wanted this. You said, you finally found the right matchup for Walt Harris. And it looks like we're getting tied to Vasa versus Walt Harris, UFC 267, October 30th, the Battle of Good versus Good. So that's a fun more. So credit to you and the UFC report. And then myself and a listener named G and another listener, Thomas Collins, we all correctly picked that Matthias Nicolao would fight Tim Elliott. And that's happening October 9th.

So high fives all around. Good work, everyone. We're crushing this stuff. That's right. And now in less than three. 30 minutes. We're going to the peeps. And I got to say, I didn't expect to see a lot of suggestions. We got a bunch of them. And on top of that, we got a good amount of newcomers. So I'm very happy about that. I love it. I love the newbies.

While you look, I will remind people, standard disclaimer. Guys, try to focus on winners. Again, I know some of you guys do crazy up and down matchmaking. And that's cool. And if you have a really fun one for one of the losers of the card, of course, we'll bring it up. Again, normally we try to talk about unique matchups, you know, just if they pile up, we kind of lump them together. The fighter could already book this happened a bunch of times. This happens a bunch of times every week. People check typology, check whatever schedule you see and see if they're matched up yet. Don't waste our time. You may have just made another kind of mistake, wrong way class. The people fought already recently.

You forgot. Someone's injured, whatever. And of course, your pick might just be do-do. And if it is, we probably will not read it. Your disclaimer has led to other disclaimers when people make their fights. I know. That hopefully, you know, first time, don't beat me up too badly, things like that. People, good.

They should feel, I want people who messes just to feel threatened. That is the vibe that I am trying to create here. All right, let's get through the, let's fire through these. Brandon Nunez, Brian Barbarina versus Mike Perry, Jason Whit versus Diego Lima, Cheyenne Bayes versus Loma, look boon me. I thought about that one. It would be a fun little stand-up. Fair.

I think Bloma's a little too high on the totem pole right now. Maybe. I mean, if it's an MMA experience wise, obviously on paper it looks okay, but I agree. I think she's, you even thinking all her combat sports experience, a little bit ahead of Shan. Uh, Urihael versus Edmund Shabazian,

Strickland versus Call Me Crazy, Paulo Costa. Although I think, and listen, it's not a bad idea. No, I thought about that. Not a bad idea at all. It'd be fun. But I feel like Costa in Vittoria on a collision course right now. Keegan Elliott, newcomer.

Welcome, Keegan. Welcome, Keegan. Hey, Mike, first off, love the podcast. Hope you and A.K. had a great weekend and enjoyed the fights. My next matchup after this weekend is Sean Strickland versus Jack Hermanson. Great test of Strickland's ground game against a guy with solid wrestling and grappling. Also, shout out from Kansas. Thank you, Kansas, Keegan. Kansas.

We've gotten some playing Kansas, Mike. We're getting some playing Kansas. Different parts of the world. And even if we're getting some Kansas dots. in there? I'm very excited about this. Shout out to the Jayhawks. Our man, ConWizzle-N-N-1, Sean, crazy week for this card. I can't remember a card losing so many fights in the lead-up week before. For matchmaking, we get another Strickland v. Hermanson.

Cheyenne Bayes versus Jin U. Fry. I think that would make sense. I'd like to see Jason Witt versus Max Griffin. That's fun. Jared Gooden versus Impakasang and I. That's fun. How about this one, A.K., a wicked fun matchup between Brian Barbarina and Carlos Condit. I think a lot of, I don't know if it's time for that. I wish, you know, I wish I had just, I made Barbarina my wild card because I do feel like I should have put more thought into what's next for him.

I'm a fan. I'm a fan of Brian Barbarina's work. And it was nice to see him back after getting that laparotomy. What was it, Mike? It's a heart-related thing. Laperotomy. Yeah. Emergency laparotomy.

So it's nice to see him back so soon. I mean, that was less than a year ago, I think. So, yeah, I'm not against that matchup. It would be fun. I feel like there's other people lining up to fight Condit, so Barbarina might not get that, but I'm certainly not against it. I kind of like Barbarina versus Mickey Gall, too.

Yeah, yeah, I'm into that. And if, you know, if Barbarina wants to fight Condit, the winner can fight Condit. There you go. Old school, put Carlos Condon on a poll match. I dig it. John Ray. Sorry the card wasn't sexy,

so neither are my picks. Jason Wood versus Alex Verona. All right. Bagdasarian versus Chase Hooper? No. No. We're not doing that to poor Chase Hooper. Come on now.

I agree. Mel's in my kitchen body. We've spoken many times, but we think Chase Hooper is a talented kid, but it's just being pushed to tough matchups way too soon. That does not need to happen. Yeah, that does not need to happen. I see where you're coming from, though. Like experience, so forth and so on.

Jared Gooden versus the Zawada-Kandosco winner. Not a bad idea. Bays versus Belbita. Strickland versus Rock. And this is it. He also said Pitbull versus Bikki 2 at lightweight. But here's the most interesting one, AK. Hear me out, he says.

Nico Montanio versus Amanda Nunes. The reason he's selecting this, quote, so Amanda can beat every women's flyweight, bannam weight, and featherweight champion in UFC history. Can I get your reaction to this? No. Leave Nico alone. right now, all right? I don't know. I don't know what's going

out. I don't even, I just think she needs to step away from again, we've said it's multiple times, either from the U.S.C. and maybe from fighting for a little bit and just kind of get her her house in order, as it were. Yes. I'm going to keep on going. I'm going to try not to repeat here. Poppy underscore Brian, going to keep it short this week. So many possible matchups, lots of good fights. We already got that one. Baghdaddyzerian versus Sean Woodson, the gun versus the sniper.

That's a good one. So thank you. everything else we have discussed already. Where are we at here? Owen Carroll, Strickland versus Mate. Bonus. Is it foolish of me to say AJ McKee versus Max Holloway? Not foolish.

I'd love to see that fight right now. On this show, we do both what we think could happen, and sometimes we just wave our magic wand and say, if I had the power, all the power in the matchmaking world, this is what I would do. I mean, if I had all the, that's, I mean, well, for me, it would be him or, or, uh, I was going to say, yeah, maybe Holloway would be my top choice because we have Volcanovsky and Ortega obviously coming up already.

So that's a fight I'm looking forward to. Yeah, if I would have picked McKee and literally any featherweight in the world right now, I think maybe Holloway would be my top choice. I think that would be the only fight that would keep me at 145 for being honest. Oh, yeah, yeah. Why don't do it at 155? Or you can do it at 155. But, I mean, this would be the discussion for the best featherweight in the world. So unfortunately, you've got to kind of have to.

Well, Volkanowski's in there. That's true. I'm not here for the MMA fighting's anti-Vokovsky agenda. People, anyone who, if somehow someone listens to all of our shows, you may have heard a lot of anti-volkovsky being number one. He's number one in my rankings. I'll tell you that right friggin now. Mine too. Thank you, Mike.

You know, but we have some malcontents on our staff, specifically one. I should say maybe I shouldn't call everyone. I'm looking at our global rankings. If you'll go there, then see how many, how the. first place votes were distributed. And it's Volcanovsky at seven. Max Holloway has one out of our eight-person panel. So, I mean, you guys can, you guys can draw your own conclusions.

But Volcanovsky's the number one. Come on. Yeah. I mean, listen, when you beat a guy twice, I'm sorry, even though there were close fights. Although the first one I didn't think was very close. Of course it wasn't that close. Other people feel differently. I mean, it was a very good fight to watch.

But I thought Volkinovsky clearly won that fight. The second fight was one of the best fights of the year, one of the most underappreciated fights. that we've seen in several years. Evan Rodriguez. Phil Roe versus Mike Perry. Winner go home for Perry. I don't know if that'll happen.

I think those guys, I don't know if they're tight, but they might have a relationship, so I don't know. Jason Witt versus Worley Alves, two great underrated welterweight wrestlers. This would be a great scrap. Jared Gooden versus Nicholas Dalby. That would be fun. Bagasarion versus Josh Kulabal.

That would be fun. Evan Rodriguez wants a big step up for Cheyenne Bayes versus Felice Harry. Great test for Bayes. winnable fight for Herig. It's something that could happen in the future. As far as I know, Herig is still recovering from a knee injury and surgery. I don't think she'll, I don't know if she'll be back by the end of the year.

But on the safe side, I don't think we see her until 2022. She also makes a lot of money outside the UFC. She's in no rush to get back on that grind and I don't blame her. Please, Herrick, live your life and do you, lady, because I think you got a good thing going on with, I think. I don't want to say she was one of the first, but she, her, I know she did start of whatever, and Onlyfans, probably one of the earliest to really, and Mayfair is to really jump on that. And as far as I know, she's doing very, very well in that endeavor. And I say, you know me, I'll always say have at it.

And if you don't need to fight, we'd love to see police hair fight again. If she chooses not to, more power to her. I'm going to save that one for later. I think I'm going to need that one. Chris London, what an S show. Let's F and go. Are you censoring or is that? I'm censoring the first half of that.

LFG was the other. Right. Another Strickland Hermanson. Bays versus Granger. I think Granger is pregnant if memory serves a cool. Is she? I'll look that up real quick. Keep going, Mike.

Gordon versus Meneer Lazez. Bagnesarian versus Yusuf Salah. I thought about that one. Man, that's another tough fight for Yusuf. Jason Whit versus Mike Perry again. Grutzmacher versus Hadzovich Adishav

versus the Cape Osborne loser Roe versus Wade that's very funny Chris does he want to drag over Chris Wade from the PFL just to just to make that

that's that's very funny that's a that was a test that's to keep you on your toes test make sure you're paying attention not just yeah yeah he knows sometimes we read these

real fast and just kind of gloss over them all right no no no no no we're on to you buddy well done We saw what you tried to do there. Liam Jeffrey, first time contributor. So go easy on him. Strickland Hermansson, we got that one. Rescheduled Bays versus Hansen.

Witt versus Gooden. Just match up the winners. Liam, I'm with you, buddy. Bagdasarian versus T.J. Brown. So bonus picks. McKee versus the winner of Borge versus Wilson. He's saying, you know what? Stay at 145.

Defend or vacate, baby. Just do it. Mads Burnell versus Aaron Pico. Oh. That's a crazy fight. Is it time? I'm so protective of, that's probably a better word than that, but I'm, for lack of a better phrase, I'm so protective of Pico.

I think it's weird. It's like I'd be just so happy to see him crushing like, again, sort of lesser known guys for like three more fights just because when he wins, it's so exciting. But I understand. People don't want him to, Pico, they don't want Pico to kind of fall into that. Douglas, not MVP. Michael Venom Page sort of

limbo where he's building up these nice wins but it goes on for maybe like three or four years and at some point you want to see him face like nothing you actually want to see him consistently facing

top contenders so I get if you don't want to see that happen to Pico but he's so young I would love to see him quote unquote keep crushing cans for like another year but I could see the

Brunel matchup being made that's a really interesting fight I don't want to know I think Pico matches up really well with him. Ronell so much more experience, though. Yeah.

So much more experience. I just don't, I don't know. Pico could just crack and he could take, I mean, his wrestling is so good. Yeah. And I don't know if Bernel has that like, I mean, Burnell looked really good on the feet against Emmanuel Sanchez. Probably the best he's looked in the feet since, you know, since he even said it was his last Cage Warriors fight.

But I don't know if he has that kind of success against a guy with the boxing credentials of Aaron Pico. So that's an interesting fight. I don't want to see it now, but. definitely an interesting fight. Oh, by the way, you're right. Miranda Granger is currently currently. Congratulations, sir.

Matt Rovelli, thank you. Another Strickland v. Hermanson. Appreciate you. Our man, Christian Lee. Adishev versus Chris Botino at 125. Yep, saw that. Yeah. Dig it.

Yeah, makes sense. Grutzmacher versus Michael Johnson. I like that. That was probably my favorite. I got that too. That was probably my favorite root smacker matchout I saw. Jared Gooden versus Ian Gary. Solid welcome to the UFC.

I like that fight. People are really trying to... They were doing this last week too with things that they want to Mickey. Did they want Mickey Gall? There's a lot of... There's a lot of excitement around Ian Gary. And the matchups are kind of all over the place, though.

Our man, Tristan Gordette. I could see this one. There you go. We're getting better. That was just a one-time thing. Another one for Strickland. I really want the rematch between Brendan Allen, but I think Strickland will turn that fight down.

I think he wants to fight up and doesn't feel he should give Alan the rematch because he already slept him. Women's straw white, Cheyenne Bayes, Richard Jinnu Frye. Jared Gordon, excuse me, versus Phil Row. Not going to happen. Those two are definitely teammates.

Even after Phil Rose Wayne, he shouted out Jared Gooden. So his teammate was fighting a little bit later. I don't see that fight happening. Bagdasarian versus Tucker Lutz. That is a crazy prospect. fight right there. Yeah, I saw that one too. Jason Wood versus Gabe Green.

And then he threw in some Bellator and noted I'm kind of a casual fan when it comes to Bellator. Do not know all the fighters. Haven't seen many of them fight, so I just went off fighters' records for my Bellator fight suggestions. Usband Amalgamatov versus Thorne Bach, okay? Oh boy. I'll save that one. Gadsie Rabadanov versus Landskips and Junior Shore. I want to see Robidonov as much as possible

at this point. Cassan Magamad Sheripot versus Aviv Ghazali I don't think there's any chance in how Bellator makes that fight right now No But I like the idea though I'm never never

Who is this who made these suggestions Mike? That's Tristan Gordette Tristan Gordat Our boy Tristan I admire the effort There's nothing wrong With being less familiar

With another promotion And I'm glad you at least It sounds like you at least watch the card And you know Look a look at the roster Well done And Nidira or Naderah, excuse me if I mispronounce that.

She is jumping in first time matchmaking suggestor. My Otno picks are for Warrior Princess, Cheyenne Bees versus Diana Belbita. Princesses, feels like they're both princesses. Strickland Hermannsen, Ginu Fri versus the winner of Caroline Nicole Vukavich versus Jessica Penne. I don't, I don't mind that one at all. So that was that was...

Genu Fri versus the winner of Kovacavich, Penet. I saw some people saying that for Bays and I'm like, maybe a little too soon. I was just looking up, sorry, I was looking up the, the princess thing. Yeah, warrior princess versus what's Cheyne Bees against? She's the, what's her nickname? I forget. It is, it is a princess something.

Oh, no, just war princess. Her handle is like chevy war princess or something. And then, so she is the princess versus the war princess. I didn't have the warrior, the warrior princess, excuse me. Warrior princess versus the war princess. Goodness, man, I hadn't even thought of that. That's a great. I got a hashtag that.

There you go, and I have to make that fight. AJ McKee defend his featherweight title against literally anyone before fighting Pitbull again for the lightweight scrap. Okay. And then she adds Pitbull deserves his rematch in Brazil and not sure what the COVID situation is. But if it takes time to make that card in Brazil, AJ shouldn't wait. He should fight somebody else. Yeah, I agree. It would be awesome if that fight happens someday.

It won't be given our current situation, a global situation. It won't happen for a long time. Yeah, it's, I mean, I have no issue with what, with what Eric Albarasine said. I'm glad Pippel wasn't the one that said it. But listen, that's what Captain Eric does. No issue with that. He makes a point. But I don't think they've ever been to Brazil, right?

They've never been to Brazil. Look, and it's not to take away from a McKee's victory, but if you don't think he had some advantage fighting in his hometown, as Coach Eric said, you know, getting to sleep in his own bed, being in front of the, fighting in the test where he grew up, that kind of support he got from the home crowd. Of course he has an advantage. I mean, would he beat, would he beat Pitbull on a neutral territory? Could he beat Pitbull in Brazil? Of course he could. He's an amazing fighter.

I would pick him to beat Pitbull anywhere. But to say that he didn't have some sort of home field advantages wrong. He did have a slight advantage. But, you know, how much that affected the fight is. It's up to you, I guess. Up to your opinion. Your turn, my friend. Oh, goodness me.

Okay. Well, yeah. Great, great stuff. and the listeners is always, Mike, like I said, I think a lot of your listeners had some of this stuff covered. Strickland, I think, if I tallied the numbers, right, at least on my side, the most popular suggestion

I saw was Vittori. People really want to see the Vittori thing, and there's some funny comments about that matchup, which I will read later. For Bacti Sarian, yes, I like the Woodson matchup. A lot of, a few couple of people also said Tristan Connolly. I think I like the Woodland one a bit

more. Witt versus Max Griffin was mentioned, and he called out Griffin after. I just think Griffin's a little bit ahead of him in the UFC rankings, but I would have said the same thing about Barbarina as well. So clearly, you know, he has a, he has a lot of experience outside the UFC. So I think they're matching him up that way. So I think that would be, that'd be a fair one. Fry versus Conejo was like the biggest one. So, you know, if she's still pals of Cheyenne, kind of maybe avenging that loss for her buddy, assuming they're still on some good terms. Another one I saw, which I just need to debunk was Fry versus

Mazu Inouye. Inouye is recovering from ACL surgery since I think last November. And I mean, that doesn't mean that couldn't be booked. It's just any time a fighter is coming off for knee surgery, it's really hard to tell when they'll be back. Like, it's probably at least a year to recover. And then after that, when will

they take a fight? So, Inouye matchups right now are a bit shaky. And then for Adishev, left made a big impact. People like him and J.P. Bayes, Malcolm Gordon. And the one, the most popular one, him and Francisco Figuredo. I think that's good.

I think that's a logical test. Yeah, I don't have a problem with that. Yeah, I think that's a logical test. Okay, so let's get more specific ones here. I'll hit up first my emails. We only got one email. Do kids not use email anymore? Has email gone the way of regular mail?

Yeah, and maybe the rotary telephone. Oh, my God. For our younger listeners, by the way, before email, when you wanted to send a message to someone who lived far away, you would actually physically use a pen or pencil. Again, I don't think you guys use those anymore either. And write down on a piece of paper and stick it in an envelope, which you're sure you're all familiar with,

and actually had to put it in a box, and the box would magically send this physical letter to another human being across the country or across the world. But, yes, apparently email has fallen out of favor now because it's all DMs and Instagrams and this old man's rambling. So one email was from Robert Miller. Thanks for chiming in, Robert. He said, and he agreed with me.

Hard card to match me for. Most of the winners can be booked practically anyone. Here are the most interesting picks. I'm just going to read a couple here. I like what he said. Strickland Rockhold said, Rockhold has said, won some of the top 10. This is a very intriguing fight for his return. This checks both boxes in Strickland.

He says, the trash talk would be insane. Strickland has developed a great personality. He deserves this fight. And then he also likes Hall and Edmund Shabazian. He would love for Edmund to get a tune-up fight when it comes to the rankings. I'm sorry, to get a tune-up fight. But when it comes to the rankings, he's surrounded by straight killers, so I don't think it's an option. So he's not calling Uriah Hall a tune-up fight.

Great stand-up battle for both guys. And even if he ends, if Edmund loses, it would knock him out of the top of Dean. And he's saying that might be a good thing for him. So we can actually get some easier fights and maybe, you know, not have to deal with all this hype. So thank you, Robert, for the email. Instagram, we got a new listener. I think they just signed up just to do Otno. This is from Darien.

and they said first time ought no bad boy here Usman Nermegamettev looks just like Billy Q looks just like Billy Quentin does that's so funny does he I had to look it up after Jamie Jamie and the

Jamie can we put that on the screen Jamie that's pretty funny I hope people understand I'm sure actually I'm sure people did understand that we are MMA fans so he says he looks just like Billy Q he says give me the cross promotion super fight so I love that

thank you Darren for that Michael Connoffrey always coming in with good stuff. I want to read his Bagdasarian versus Yusuf Zalal. He says, just how about Yuselal versus Melsik? It should test him to see if he has good enough hair movement for Edmund. Ew. He's not, so Melsic, sorry, I wish I say, Bagdasarian. He doesn't train with, does he train with Edmund Tverdian?

Yes. Yes. I know he's Armenian, I know he trains out of California. Okay, I wasn't sure if it was, but okay, I should have assumed, right. He also likes, oh, yes, he also has a suggestion. Oh, Mike, this suggestion for you. He says, he says, he notices nobody has made a what the heck pick in a while. I'll call out a suggestion for your show.

He says, tell Mike to get Clay collared on the program. Dude's story is so interesting, especially in the last year. Lit up boxing, got the biggest and most impressive win of his career against Pettis, and now is shooting for the PFL million. So he wants to see you go three. rounds with clay collard mike that's the fans demand it and uh i let me tell you a little story about clay collard uh i've interviewed i interviewed clay collard one time in my career once he came it was uh what event was it devon it was the event davante smith lost to kamilworthy and clay collard

was a replacement opponent uh for i believe it was john mcdesi clay caller was the guy came back coming back to the UFC, had some success in the boxing world, and then, like, I did the interview, and it never, actually, did it see the light of day? Yeah, I think I released it, and then, like, the next day, tested positive and was suspended by Usada.

Clay Collar. Oh, right, okay, no, I remember this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, I mean, I would love to have that conversation again. Yeah, someday. I spoke to him before the Pettus fight. I thought it was great, and I think people would, again,

I would love to get your take on that. Gooden versus Cowboy Olivera too much? No, I don't think it's too much. Okay, all right. I raised Nairo, but I kind of said with wit, it's like I think the matchmaker's really taken to a lot of stock with some of these guys how much experience they have outside the UFC, and they're kind of like, okay, it's like, you know,

they're pretty good at gauging how comparable it is, so it could happen. And Calboy Oliveira has fought guys with all kinds of records. And it's like he's fought other veterans, he's fought newcomers, fought guys debuting. so it's certainly yeah because i think like i think abu baccar normaga madeoff beats cowboy olivera pretty handily and jared gave abu barcar a pretty tough fight so yeah um and then a strickland versus the cannoneer gasolum loser which again i kind of agree i feel like he should i would really like to see a match up with one of those guys uh our residence author uh just call me bob i can

make his entire message it would take 10 minutes but the man puts a very creative young man uh so i'll just what he had to say about Strickland and Vittori. He says, like I said, I'm a mayhem kind of guy. I feel like you can't get this type of energy in a fight without introducing meth into the equation. So that's one argument for Strickland Vittory. And he has some McKee Pitbull thoughts too. AJ versus Pitbull for the 155 strap is literally the only answer.

He won the strap by winning the contest, but he earned a champ champ chance with that performance. He made Pitbull look pitbulliful. Pitbull-P-Pill-a-full. I would have said pit-tib-bullful. Anyway, I think you know what Just Call Me Bob was going for there. And he also has a BTL suggestion. Okay.

First, he wants to give some love to Jedmishu. Fine, I'll allow it. Everyone knows the MMA fighting family. As someone rejoined the fold recently, this man knows his MMA and knows how to spit a take in a combative way. You knows him. I knows him. He's your favorite Canadian.

that reminds you of a half-fish, half-human mutant abominations. I'm so sorry. Give me Jen Bishu versus Ariel Helwani. So you know what? It may happen someday. It will probably happen someday. Oh, gosh. I don't know if we're ready for that.

But thank you for this. Again, this guy always writes wild, wild messages. But thank you. I just calling me Bob. MMA heads, always coming home some great matchups. I'm going to read them and Matt Bradbury together because they had a lot of overlaps. So between the two, well, no, I shouldn't do that.

They should get their credit. But Ed Mayhads, reach out to Matt Bradbury on Instagram, but you guys have a lot of the same ideas, or maybe even the same person, because there was a lot of overlap here. But ones where they didn't overlap. M. Mahan's with me, Cheyenne Base, Mallory Martin, with you, Baggastarian versus T.J. Brown.

Rebook, Chavez and Kamaka, run it back. I don't know. I don't think they need to. I got a pretty good idea of where both guys are going in their careers from that fight. I would watch it again, but yeah. I would watch it. It's a good fight.

Yeah. I'm kind of with you on that. There's a lot of options, I think, for both guys. And as you said, I mentioned, Frye v. Herrick. Bradbury, I'll read his hottest suggestion last. Witt versus Worley Alvesz. Gritzmacher versus John McDessie. Also, want to see the rebooking of Shabez Kamakas.

I'm saying, these guys are in lockstep. And then he says, Patricia Pitbull versus Islamamadav from that. So match him up from that card. That's insane. That is insane. He lost that fight. He lost.

Well, but I mean, but so did Pitbull. Maybe he's matching up a loser versus two fighters who he thinks lost, right? And then he went, I love this. I would rather get, I would rather Brent Primus get that fight. He's been calling for Pitbull for like five years now. Maybe he should have won the fight, Mike. He did. Listen, this is, listen, this, I love this, McKee's suggestion because this goes with kind of what one of your listeners had suggested to say,

He just let him get a title of fight in there, like anyone. And if Bellator doesn't feel like any of their featherweight contenders are ready right now, if not the, you know, the JJ Wilson. Oh, is it JJ Wilson and, sorry, who's J.J. Wilson, buddy? Adam Borch. The J.G. Wilson Borch winner, if it's like too soon for one of them, which I think it might be, he's, uh, Matt Bradbury is sticking outside the box here. He says, Utaka Saito, who I believe is the Ryazons featherweight champion.

So if you can bring him in or if Bellator can have a car, you know, do a cross-emotional thing over in Japan, send McKee over there. Have that be his first-tile defense, the champion versus champion fight, both titles in the line. That'd be exciting. That'd be kind of cool. I'd do a little belt collecting

before going up and then get the featherweight belt. He got two belts, I think, for winning the Grand Prix, right? He got Pitbull's belt, and did they also give him a Grand Prix championship? I saw you had two belts after. I just don't know why. I assume one of them was the Grand Prix belt. So thank you, guys.

Thank you, Instagram. Now let's go to Twitter. was pretty busy. Someone tagged us both, Mike. I don't know if you saw Cub the Bulldog. Tag us both saying he wants to see Sean Strickland versus Paul O'Costa. I'm just going to try so hard not to mess up this name. I asked him for pronunciation help.

Matt Zwayne. Matt Zwayne. Strickland versus Hermanson, so he's in that camp. Thank you, Matt. First time, long time, no listener, first time picker. Braden O'Neill, not a first-timer. Always love to hear from you, Braden. Strickland versus Gasolm, if he beats Canaer.

I agree. I love that. Witt versus Mike. Perry or Dwight Grant, Gritzmacker versus Mason Jones or Matt Favola and Adishev versus Mutino. You mentioned that one, Mike. That's pretty high on my list.

I do think, I think of all the Adishav's suggestions I saw. I think I really like that one. I know I said Francisco Figuerado. I think either that or I think Mutino would be really good. Yeah. Mutine would be fun. I like that. Yeah, I think so. Aronski coming in with just

one very passionate, I was just a passion, but it's the only suggestion he had. He just said, Give me Melsic Bagdasarian versus Omar Morales for Otno, please. Aronski, it has been given. Done. Liam Perry, Gritzmacher versus Friesium, Bagdaserian versus Shane Young. Is Shane Young not quite a bit higher than him? Am I?

Shane Young? No, he's not two-fight losing streak. Okay, two-fight losing streak. Yeah, all right. Well done, Liam. Good in Francisco, Trinaldo. Donald's still with the UFC, right? I'm not crazy.

I believe so. I don't think he's been cut. No, he's still there. And Cheyenne Bayes versus the Penn A. So, yeah, so he wants Bayes to get the Penn A, Colvokievich winner. Oh, he had a good explanation for it, too. So I should read this. He said,

well, he has, we were trying to remember Cheyenne's nickname before. He has his own nickname for her. Cheyenne, I'll follow you, Homeby, Bayes, versus Penn A, Golovic winner, but could be anyone, as she said she will fight on short notice, which is true. It wouldn't surprise me if she just got someone lesser known because she wants to fight again. But he did not write out B.

He wrote out the B word, which I won't say. And Hall versus Rockhold, so there you go. Rockhold should be in the mix somewhere after this fight. Hopefully either Hall or Strickland, I think, yeah, you guys said makes a lot of sense. Ben Davison, Gooden versus Worley-Alves. He says Sanchez and Bernel was one of the fights of the year. I wholeheartedly agree, Ben.

It slowed down a little bit in the third, certainly. But it was just a really great competitive fight, and I hope people don't forget it when they're making their fight of the year list at the end. And McKee Pitbull, 1-25, he says, so, so, so obvious at this point, three soes. Four corners, four, it's Hall versus Tavares or Holland. Bays versus Canejo, too.

Eh. I actually like don't completely dislike that idea I mean it's just why not I mean there's heat there like neither one of them are in title contention right now it's just like be a fun little UFC fight pass featured bout before an ESPN card on a pay-per-view like I don't hate it I think the trash talk could get ugly in a not fun way let me put it that way

Perhaps. I like Shine Bays, and I like Monster Canejo as well. I don't think they're refined enough in the combat sports game to know what lines not to cross. Let me put that way. And I feel like it get real bad. And as I'm saying this, I'm sure those listeners right now going like, now I really need to see this fight. But I am, like, you know me. I'm a gentleman.

I get it. Yes, I do not, you know, want to see that, that kind of chicanery. I don't mind it. I don't mind it. The UFC will not make that. that fight right now. No chance. You love sick over the top trash talk, though. I just, I don't even, why not?

You're an instigator of it on your, on your show sometimes, some might say. I try not to. Wink. You can't see guys as a podcast. He just gave me the biggest wink you've ever seen in your life. He also just did Four Corner Sports. Bays versus Lavinia Sousa. Lavinia is booked October 23rd versus Rhonda Marcos.

And I don't think the, I should fight either of those yet. Again, big experience gap. Baghdasarian versus Bill Algeo. I love it. Marcus McGehy calls this the Tarzan edition of Otno. Yes, Bays Vesobita, Princess versus Princess, Gooden versus Danny Roberts. I'm down with that. He's with me on the Bagdasarian versus the Saldana Lingo winner.

Witt versus Claudio Silva. Adashev versus Juan Camilo Ronderos, who just made headlines, unfortunately, for a cocaine, positive cocaine drug test. But, I mean, that was a one-month suspension. It's already well in the past. Philip Rowe versus Sasha Polatnikov, Ramiz Brahimaj winner, August 21st. Sure. Sure. Danny Capp's coming up with some good ones.

Oh, I love this. Fry versus Genu Frye versus Arianei Carnalosi, if she beats Estilla Nunez on October 16. Imagine that battle of physiques, Mike Fry. Boy, that's an immediate. You see those two like square off and you're just like, I got to hit the gym. I got to hit the. Those are like two of the best physiques, not just. in the strawberry division in like all of

MMA like these ladies are in just absurd shape that's to be so much fun Benoit versus Tyson Nam I had to mention this because Denny put like a nice like really smiley emoji next to it so I don't know if he thinks this would be like a fire matchup I'm not sure Benoit sorry I shouldn't say Benoit

excuse me Ryan if you're out there listening Ryan Benoit I'm sure I'm not sure Ryan Benoit is still with the UFC after Saturday yeah yeah it'll be tough it was a good fight though I mean It wasn't like he up the doors blown off him. No, no.

He's a talented guy. He's a talented guy. He's one of those guys where the results have just never quite piled up for him, unfortunately, but a very talented fighter. Gritzmacher versus Christoskiyagos or Rick Glenn. This is a good matchup I didn't think of. Akai Kamaka versus Stephen Peterson. This would be so much fun.

I don't know why that didn't occur to me. Reasons keep throwing out Stephen Peterson. I just keep forgetting him. I don't know why. Bogusarian versus Tucker Lutz, yes, or Kamala Kirk. Philip Roe, Jason Witt. Did we say that can't happen? We said Philip Rowe Gooden can't happen, right?

So Philip. Roe Gooden won't happen. Yeah, Roe Witt is. Yeah, Roe Witt's fine. Strickland versus Brad Tavares? I think he's ahead of Brad Tavaris. Yeah, definitely is, yeah. And another Hall versus Shabazian vote.

Thomas Collins, just a few more to go here, guys. Thomas Collins. I wanted to read their Strickland versus Rockhold comments. I always make a note to read this comments, Mike, and then I always forget why I made the note. I should make more elaborate notes because it could be something horrible. I just don't remember, but I trust Thomas Collins to not let me down here.

He says, I do not think the UFC will want to give Strickland a higher ranked opponent because I think they still have a lot of questions about him, probably. I think they have, I think they make Sean Luke Rockholds comeback fight, good test for Sean. We can also see whether Luke has a future in MMA still, and if Sean wins that one,

the UFC will give him a big step up. Yeah, you guys tried to explain this before the show. I was very resistant to it. I really see now how much sense this makes. He broke out a couple names that haven't heard in a long, time. Baghdasarian versus Matt Sales. Sales has not competed since 2019. I believe he's supposed to be coming back soon. And then Adashev versus Alexander Descalcuchuk, who was signed by the UFC, has not made his debut and has not fought since 2018, but he is coming back from a USADA suspension,

so it's eligible to compete. So Thomas Collins, the deepest cuts here. McKee versus Mads-Bernel, and he says, pit bull should be stripped of the lightweight title at this point if he does not take a lightweight fight it's just been so long since the chandler fight he'll fight a 55 next give the man give the man a break you're right he just fought in a grand a friggin grand prix uh toke gerting jensen our man from denmark uh only two matchups you want to see is strickland versus lyman good we are took we are vibing uh three more here to go guys a couple of good ones barry o'reilly so many good matchups i'll run through these quickly I think you mentioned Roe versus Zawada, but Zawada is booked, you said?

I didn't say that, did I? I think he said Zawada, if he beats someone. He beats Kondosco? He's fighting Sergio Kondosco? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I'll look it up. I totally did not realize the fight was happening, so until you said it, Mike.

So either way, fine suggestion. Kamaka versus T.J. Laramie, Chris Gritz, Macca, versus Claudio Pueyes, and Witt versus Ramazahn Karamago Madov. Ramazan Kuromagomagamadov. He was booked, I think. He was supposed to, let me make sure he's not just pulling us out of the air. Right, he was supposed to debut against Cowboy Olivera in February. He's a contender series guy. He's fought for the PFL.

He's fought for ACA. He's fought for Cage, Fury, Fighting Championships. He just had an illness, and that was in February. So hopefully he's recovered. That would be kind of cool. So a nice pull there, a nice pull there, Bear O'Reilly. Strickland v. Holland of Holland beat Stockus October 2nd or Andre Munez. And just wants to ask, would McKee be best pit bull at 155?

I think so, right? My key probably even better without having to deal with a weight cut, Agent McKee. I don't see it going that differently. Yeah, I mean, I want to see it again. I want to see it again. Yeah, sure, sure. And from Nicklinville, I have to read this. This is a very, says, first and foremost, I want half the points for my prediction that

Citi Lagan was going to be getting some title shot instead of John Jones. Yes, his last message to me was I want to see Cedar Lagan versus John Jones, if neither are getting the next go with the belt. So kind of conditional. I award you no points at Nicklinville, but I do think you were somewhat on the right track there. And second, my pick is for matches what McKee said a bit ago. Let's have a Grand Prix at Flyweight with Bell Tour, UFC, one championship, et cetera, where they pick two from each,

and we can finally see who's the best of the best in this division instead of putting Volcanovsky first or Holloway as Casey has him. So what do you think about a Grand Prix idea? If it were possible, Mike, that would be like the greatest thing ever, right? Yeah, I mean, I just wish, like, I just wish Dana White wasn't such a pain in the ass. Oh! Like, I mean, kind of, like, I just, I mean, eventually it's got to, get to this place.

Like, I mean, I understand it's a business stuff, but, I mean, just have some fun for once. Just for one time. Just do it. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Like, Volcanowski goes out and gets bolted by A.J. McKee or something. Like, so what? So what? I mean, just have some fun for once.

Just be like, you know what? We have the best friggin fighters in the world, and we're going to prove it. We have the best 45ers. you have the best 55ers, the best 35ers. You want to pick a weight class? You want to do it 145? We got Volcanofsky. We got Max Holloway.

I dare you to send any two guys from your promotion in to fight these guys. And we will see who the best 45 punter in the world. And guess what? Spoiler alert. It's one of our guys. I just sold it for you. Ever since Dana saw Chuck get starched by Rampage in Japan, I think that was like, never again.

I'm never risking anything like this again. So you have people, you have rampage. case Jackson to blame, among many other reasons for why the UFC will never kind of do this kind of co-promotion thing. Who else would kind of be in there? I think Bibbiano Fernandez, I know he's a bantam weight, but he's been fighting at 145 for, like at one championship. He's a, he's a quote-unquote, one-fortyfiver in one championship, right?

You could kind of throw him in there. He'd be maybe one of the smallest guys in the field, but that would be fun. I can't recall. Is Christian Lee still there? He's technically a 55er. Right, right, right. He's their featherweight champion at 155. Anyway, I think he could make, oh no.

Actually, I don't know if he could make that. He was a two-division champion, 155, 170. He did compete for the featherweight title. I just think he never won it. But I don't know if that's a cut he would want to make. He feels like he needs to make. I mean, he's young enough to do it. Oh, that'd be so awesome.

Christian Lee and Viviano as the representatives from one. Oh, that'd be so sick. So it's a great idea, Nick. If you're asking what we think of the idea, it's great. It's a pipe dream. But it's one I would be happy to keep discussing and just thinking about where all these fun feather weights would come from. Whoever wins the Piafell this year.

Would Lance Palmer make, make this two-time PFL champion, maybe, or maybe Bobba-Ga. Whoever wins this year, yeah, I'd love to see like maybe Bobba Jenkins or someone like that. So let me close out, Michael, with semi-casual MMAXAMMMHA chiming in. He says, Gritzmacker versus Michael Johnson

would just be a fun fight. I agree. I think that's the best Gris-Macken suggestion I've seen. And then he has a comment about Strickland versus Vitori. He calls this the middleweight meathead matchup. Votori got dominated by Adesania.

Does not deserve a top-5 opponent. Strickland looks great, and I think he should get his shot. Not really a fan of either. So it would be great to watch them beat the S word out of each other. Again, censor. I did the censoring there. So there we go.

What a lovely note to end on. If you guys want to send more suggestions as to who you'd like to see beat the S out of each other, guys, you can reach me on Twitter at Alexander K. Lee on Instagram at Alexander K.K. Lee. Hit me up on email. Hit me up on email, please. Alex Dotley at SBNation.com. Mike. Yes, send A.K. a John Deere letter. Oh, if you want to send me a physical...

Oh, no, I had to give up my address. You know what? DM me. We'll figure something out. Shout out to Jeff Daniels. I will set up a PO box for onto the next one. Shout out to Jeff Daniels, dumb and dumber, John Deere letter. All right, so UFC Vegas 33 is in the books.

We gave it over an hour, which I'm shocked that we did. I mean, it just is what it is. But join us next week because we're going to have a big show. The post-paperview episodes of On to the Next One are always very exciting. UFC 265 goes down this Saturday in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center. The main event, the fight that everybody asked for with the stakes that everybody wanted more for the interim heavyweight championship of the universe. Derek Lewis versus Cyril Gahn, co-made event, Jose Aldo versus Pedro Munoz. Vicente Lucay versus Michael Chiesa.

Tisha Torres versus Angela Hill. Song Yidong versus Casey Kenney. That is your main card. The preliminary portion of this event. Raphael Fiziv versus Bobby Green. That is an insane fight. Ed Herman versus Alonzo Menafield. Carolina Colvich is back against Jessica Pene.

Manel K. versus O'Day Osborne. Miles Johns versus Anderson Dos Santos. Victoria Leonardo versus Melissa Gato. Draco Rodriguez versus Rince Morales. Munoz versus Jamie Simmons. That is UFC 265. We'll discuss some of those fights. I can't wait until we finally have an undisputed interim UFC heavyweight champion.

There will only be one interim UFC heavyweight champion after this Saturday. The stakes cannot be higher. If Francis and Ghana who is not in Houston, what are we doing? What are we doing? What's the purpose of any of this? Get in the cage and stare off with whoever wins. like for the love of God. And then lights go out.

John Jones enters the cage. Done. I just, we just made your event as good as possible. John Jones, from the rafters, lowered from the rafters. With the crow face fade on and everything. So we could have a really exciting show for you next week.

You can hit me up on Twitter at Mike Heck underscore J.R. Instagram M underscore HeckJR. Join us next week as we discuss the what's next next coming out of UFC 264. And always remember, don't take this up too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun. We'll have lots more fun next week right here. On onto the next one, he's still drilling. The podcast.

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