MMA Fighting - On To the Next One: Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 41

Episode Date: October 24, 2021

Marvin Vettori picked up a hard fought decision victory, up a full weight class, against fellow former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC Vegas 41. MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee put on their matchmaking hats to discuss what could be next for "The Italian Dream" after his win, and where Costa may go with a seemingly permanent move to 205 pounds on the 64th episode of On To the Next One. Future matchups were also discussed for Jessica-Rose Clark, Alex Caceres, Francisco Trinaldo, Nick Negumereanu and other notable names coming out of Saturday's event at the APEX with the help of the listeners. 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

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking,

What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. The Vox Media Podcast Network. Hope you are ready.

Hope you are enjoying that autumn weather, that the leaves are crunching beneath your feet, that you're enjoying your pumpkin lattes or whatever pumpkin beverage you like to enjoy this time of year. sitting back, relaxing, some hot cocoa, maybe some apple cider, some warm apple cider this time of year. Relax and enjoy some post-event matchmaking right here on a brand new edition of on to the next one. I am Mike Heck. Welcome to the program. We are here to discuss the what's next for some of the notable names coming out of an I would say up and down UFC Vegas 41 event and joining me in an attempt to put these puzzle pieces together, the co-house. host, the co-matchmaker, and gosh darn it, he is my best friend, Mr. Alex Kaley.

Happy Sunday, AK. It's good to be back with you as always. Oh, my best friend. All those things you mentioned sound lovely around this time of year as we were getting this East Coast autumnal weather coming in. But nothing warms me up quite like doing this podcast with you, sir. So I am ready to go. This is, I like how you describe the card, up and down. I think that's accurate. I don't think it was a bad event.

I think it was maybe certainly better than the last week and probably better than the week before that. So it didn't hit the eight, but it didn't hit the eight. I think seven. I think it was like a solid seven, maybe even a little over. Again, a good main event goes a long way. I think most people can agree. You end, you know, you end the night strong. Then you can kind of look back positively on some of the other things that happened, which again, there were.

I think there were at least two or three other really good fights. and then some nice finishes. So there was, you know, 14 fight card. You're going to have a couple of slogs. But other than that, pretty good card. So I'll go seven. And if people want to go over seven, seven, eight range, I don't disagree. Well, let us discuss what we did see to close the show because it was a good one.

And look, controversy aside, weight misses, the unprofessionalism, the silliness of it all throughout the week from one Paulo Costa. we were treated to, in my opinion, one of the years' best fights between Martin Vittori, who was victorious over the aforementioned Paula Costa, and a light heavyweight matchup. And we mentioned this a few times. Vittori is the hero of the week. He said, 185, 195, 195, 198, 205, heck, even heavyweight, whatever, Paulo, we are fighting no matter what. You are not getting out of this, no matter what.

And Vittori went out there, he did the damn thing. He turned baby face, and he won a tough, tough fight. But now what, AK? Now what do we do in a kind of interesting yet somewhat log jammed 185 pound division? I think we have to go back to a fight that a lot of people wanted to see after some of Victoria's other recent wins. I think the Sean Strickland matchup makes a lot of sense. I understand the inclination to want to rebook the Strickland Rockhold whenever that happens.

Rockhold is suffering from some sort of back injury, I think, right? Yeah, I think it was something like that, like a herniated disc man. herniated disc. Going to get it, you know, depending, depending on recovery time. He's in good shape, but he could be back sooner rather than later, so Strickland might want to wait for it. But Strickland also strikes me as a bit of the impatient type, and Rockhold is not the type to rush back or necessarily, you know, accommodate his opponent's timelines.

So rather than wait for him, I think Strickland should look towards a fight with Vittori, one that moves him higher up the rankings, should he beat Vittori. and you know in terms of name value rock hold might be of course is a bit of a bigger star but if we're talking our ranking I think anybody's rankings Vittoria is higher up there especially after the last night's performance so the trash talk of course to speak for itself hopefully wouldn't go too far out of bounds though seeing Strickland-Latney god knows what he would say to hype up fight with Vittori and vice versa what Vittori would say in response but I think it's worth it and I think we get we get the same kind of chaos that we saw ahead of ahead of

Saturday's made event. Yeah, I mean, that was the what a lot of people thought about, but I think he is so far in the good graces of the UFC right now that I don't think the UFC will book that fight. I think that obviously favors Sean Strickland in terms of the future and what it could do and the stakes much more than it favors Marvin Vittori. So this becomes a little tough because the matchups that do make sense, we're a little far away from some of those fights because we have to wait to see how some of those play out.

Like we have Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier coming up in January. The loser of that would make a lot of sense. And as of now, it seems that all signs are pointing towards Adasania Whitaker 2 taking place February 12th, which is my birthday, by the way, at UFC 271. That is not official yet, but that seems to be the direction this is all going. So it's kind of a two-choice because, by the way, Martin Vittori took a bit of a beating in this fight. So I don't think he's coming back anytime soon. Maybe it's definitely not going to be till 2022.

On this day right now, I'm predicting Adasanya beats Robert Whitaker. And if that's the case, my top choice is Robert Whitaker. I think that makes the most sense. The problem is, Whitaker is not the most active fighter. So I will fall back on the loser of Brunson cannoneer. That's sort of the ot no point choice. But I would like to see if Vittorri could beat Robert Whitaker. at some point. That's a fight that I would like to see.

And I'm curious if Robert Whitaker is the middleweight version of Caitlin Chukagin, where he could beat everybody but the champion. I'm curious to see if that's the case. So I'll go loser Brunson, Canaaner. I would like to see the Whitaker fight at some point, though.

Yeah, outside of getting another run at Izzy, of course, I think Whitaker would be Vittoria's number one choice. Like you said, he's in the good grace of the UFC right now. He knows it. He knows he did them a favor. They gave him an extra 50 G's. Let's call it what it is to get over some possibly more deserving candidates. Again, I've tried on a great performance, but again, that was funny.

The 50G hat tip and kind of the FU to Costa. So, yeah, I think if you were to ask him, I think he'd agree with you. He would want Whitaker, should he lose? He would definitely want Izzy, should Izzy lose to Whitaker. I still don't think that fight would happen. It's just a little too soon to run that back a third time after one person's up to O in the series. So I agree. I would like to see Whitaker.

I just don't know if that's the one that happens. Yeah. And, you know, if he wants to come back in January, stay ready. You never know. If something happens to Canada or for Mr. Brunson, Mr. Blon Brunson, could slide right in there and get a big fight there. So that's Vittori. Now for Paula Costa, despite what he says, he will move up to 205.

I mentioned this on the post-fight show last night. The fight to make is Paula Costa versus Iwan Kuchelaba. 205, pay-per-view main card opener. Let's do it. That's the fight, AK. Yeah, it's hard to beat that. I just chose to go in a different direction for, so I don't have to share an ought-no point with you, Mike. We are our best friends, but we're competitive friends, you know.

I don't want to share the point with you when Costa Kuchelaba inevitably gets booked. I do think that makes a lot of sense. If I'm Kuchelaba, I'm doing some call-outs right now. I hope him and his team are getting some funny memes ready to fire at Fala Costa's direction and set that up because it just makes so much sense. but I'm going totally weird direction. I feel like as a weird sort of punishment, but also a fight that would be nice for him to get if he could beat this guy,

let's try Alexander Gustafson. Again, they may try to rebook him and Paul Craig, that's certainly a possibility. I bet Paul Craig is that's what he wants. If that doesn't happen, let's go for some weird, again, light heavyweight, dabbled at heavyweight versus a middleweight who's now going to be presumably permanently a light heavy weight.

some weird weight class shenanigans, which I enjoy. And I would love to see what Costa would have to say about Gustafson. Surely nothing. Gustafson seems like a good dude. Like a nice fellow. Yeah, and it would be a very tough fight for Costa. I think he'd be given – I mean, Gustafin's a real light heavyweight. He'd be given up some serious size and reach.

But Costa's talented. He could win that fight for sure. So let's just go completely crazy and throw that out there. I like that. What I think the UFC will end up doing is if Mago met Ankyov be. Volcano Osnimir. They're just going to throw him right in there with Ankelyev and see what happens because I would favor Ankelyev heavily in that fight.

And that would be a nice little, nice little nudge. Welcome to the light heavyweight division, Paul. You've got to take on the most underrated fighter in our division, a guy who could very well be a world champion in the next year or two. So as our longtime listeners of this show know by now, A.K., since Grant Dawson and Ricky Glenn fought to a spirited draw, last night. No matchmaking for those gentlemen. I'll simply just say, run it back, let's get a winner, and they can move forward. But for today, we will not be discussing the futures for those

two gentlemen, with all due respect, unless there's anything you want to add, my best friend. Way to not win, guys. Good job. No, I'm kidding. I guess. As Casey always says, you know, the only shame, a very good competitive fight. The only shame is they're both now. Neither man gets their win bonus. I don't know how to change this. Again, if it were up to us, of course, it would just be higher base salaries. Maybe in an event of a draw, both guys get their win bonus, but then, I mean, people wouldn't like that. People would be like, well, oh, well, now people are going to start fighting for a draw or, who knows, there might be like, you know, they might arrange to, I can't imagine fighters doing that, though.

That'd just be crazy. Maybe both guys get 50% of their win bonuses. I think that would be somewhat fair. But, again, someday, somewhere down the road, bigger, bigger base salaries, get rid of this whole win bonus thing entirely. But, yeah, great effort from both guys. and if they run it back, I don't think anyone would be surprised. Jessica Rose Clark returned to action after recovering from an ACL injury. She beats Jocelyn Edwards.

Not an exciting fight. Not an exciting performance. Just being honest. But who gives a hoot, AK, because she got two checks, and that's all that matters. Good on her. A lot of talent there. She's getting better. So let's give her a test.

Alexis Davis, AK. Alexis Davis is my choice. I can't. Are you looking at my monitor right now? What's happening right now? Yeah, of course. Yeah, I know, of course Alexis Davis is the right choice. Another veteran, a little more experienced at 135, a great grappler, someone who is not going to get dominated in the ground.

Well, I'll live way this way. If Jessica Rose Clark is able to dominate Alexis Davis in the ground, like she did, Jocelyn Edwards, I'd be very impressed. I sincerely doubt it will happen. Alexis Davis has excellent, excellent, excellent jujitsu and would make things very difficult. And she's a scrapped around the feet, and we know Jessica Rose Clark can strike a little bit. So it'd be a very good test for Jessica Rose Clark, a good name for her to fight. And the same goes for Alexis Davis. We'll see where Alexis Davis is in her career.

It's the right to match it for both women. I think we nailed it. I think we nailed it too. And speaking of veterans, we moved to Alex Casares, Bruce Leroy. He not only beats Young Wu Choi, but he finished him. And what a performance because he was in trouble early. He got poked in the eye. This is like a knuckle deep poke of the eye.

He battles out of it. gets the submission in the second round, and this man is won five in a row, A.K., it is time for a step up against a guy with a number next to his name, is it not? It definitely is. I'm curious to know how high you went. We had a lot of people in the comments

on the post-fi show saying, top-15, and we've had this before, I think you said, after every Alex Casares fight, we have people saying, where's the top-15 opponent for Alex Casas'ers? He can't be denied now. In fairness, it is a very deep division. Like you could get, like he could settle for a top 20 opponent.

Like a top 20 guy, a top 25 guy at featherweight, really, is the equivalent of facing like a top 15 guy, like heavyweight, light heavy weight, some of the thinner weight classes. So I don't know if he's guaranteed at top 15. I want to know how high, I went pretty high, Mike. I don't know. How high did you go? I went number 11, I believe.

Okay. Oh, you want me to tell you what it is? Oh, yeah, yeah, you go first, yeah. Okay, Bryce Mitchell needs a fight to come back to. Alex Casares, he's a top 15 opponent. Mitchell's been out for a while. So we can't throw him to like a top five. We just can.

He's been out since, what, October of 2020 since that Andre Feeley fight. So I think this is a good fight to come back to. Checks all the boxes. I know the one thing that could hold this one back, I know they're both under the same management umbrella, but I think this one makes way too much sense to ignore because we get to see how good Bryce Mitchell is,

Feeley was a nice test, but you got Casares, he's won five in a row. He is a tough out for anybody right now. I like this one. I think this is the perfect fight to make. I like that. That is in the top 15, the 10 to 15 range, which I think people like. He's tied for 14th on our MMA fighting global rankings. So technically I went higher in our rankings.

I'm not sure where they are in the UFC rankings. Probably Mitchell is higher than the guy I'm about to mention. I'm going Arnold Allen Number 12 in MMA fighting's Global Rankings This was tricky because I did want to give him A higher ranked guy But just if you go a bit higher than that

It's a lot of people who are either matched up Or kind of just a notch above Where I feel like Alice Casera should be right now Like who's in there Again guys who got matched up Like Danny Gaye, Josh Emmett matched up anyway Giga obviously should be fighting higher Not back

Zombie again is just a bit too high for Casera right now. So there's names like that where it's just, he's not quite there. Like we say, we want to go in that 15 range for sure. So I like Arnold Allen. Undefeated in the UFC, certainly ranked younger. I mean, a younger fighter, yes, less experienced, but

he has a spot. He has a spot that Caceres could take. And Arnold, Al, has some good wins. Gilbert Melendez, Nick Lentz. So he's beaten experienced guys, but guys who I would say are a little bit, a little bit past their prime. I feel like Caceres is in his prime. So let's give

Alan, one more veteran test to help him kind of crack and then finally get himself a top 10 opponent if he has some luck after this because he also deserves a higher ranked opponent. So I'm going to say Arnold Allen and Alex Casares. That is a, that's a pretty good choice. It just depends on how active Bruce Leeuroy wants to be because Arnold Allen has not been able to come back. He had a hand injury in the Siddique Yusuf fight. He has been, you know what, I'm just going to come out and say it.

Here's what the UFC has wanted to do with Arnold Allen. Oh my. Here we go. Here we go. November the November card with Holloway and Yair, they wanted to do Calvin Cater versus Arnold Allen to headline that card. That was the plan. That was the discussion. It all came down to whether or not Arnold Allen would be cleared from the hand injury.

He was not. In comes Hollowaye. Then they were going to try to book Cater Allen in December. December. Didn't work. Allen's still not cleared. Josh Emmett is coming back. The original plan for Josh Emmett was Arnold Allen. That was the original fight. That was the initial fight offer to Josh Emmett. You versus Arnold Allen, UFC 269, December 11th. Emmett was in. Arnold was in as long as he cleared. Still not cleared. So now Emmett fights Dan Ege. And then again, they're going to try to do Cater Allen in January, which I know there's reports out there that Cater's fighting Giga Chikaze,

which is a possibility, but I'm here to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, if it is not on MMAFighting.com, it is not done. That fight is not done yet. It's not. So we'll see what happens. But the UFC sees a lot in Arnold Allen. They're giving him big fights, big opportunities. He's just hurt right now. And that's why we haven't seen him anywhere. So that's the story with Arnold Allen. So it kind of makes sense to do the Bruce Leroy fight if Bruce Leroy wants to wait until like February, March, and it all depends on if Allen's injury can heal up as as quickly as possible. Wow, Mike drop out of nowhere. Unannounced. Unannounced. You guys were not prepared. People were like, oh, I'm just enjoying some Sunday morning coffee and breakfast

and, you know, listen to some matchmaking, some friendly matchmaking and that spit take. There's coffee all over this person's eggs and sausage right now after that fiery, fiery Mike drop. But thank you, Mike, for letting the people know. That's what was going on. You've got to let the people know. Apologies to people who their breakfast was ruined by Mike's. Mike's that impromptu Mike drop. But, I mean, these things come out of nowhere sometimes.

Yeah, you want to do that? You want to do Allen versus Bruce Leroy? I am down. I am in. Allen versus Bryce Fisher. Anybody in the top 15. He needs to fight a top 15 guy. It is definitely time.

Francisco Trinaldo, AK, returned to the wind column. He picked up a not to write home about split decision win over Dwight Grant. And, man,

Dwight Grant, especially after that D-Rod fight, his stock was very high. We were like, he was like must-see TV, can't wait. Last couple of fights have not been very good.

His performances have not been good. He's been a little gun-shy. And Francisco Trinaldo has now won four out of his last five, A.K. I am not ready to give him a huge step up at this time. I'm not, despite the nice run that he's on. So I'm going to go with Carlston Harris as my selection, AK. Ooh, yes, is Trinaldo now? I mean, at a new weight class, which is weird, it's kind of a fresh start for him, but it also given his experience and his, his advanced age, to put it nicely.

He's what, 43 years young. Yes. It does all, it does kind of look like, well, he's, moving up into a new weight class but is already a gatekeeper of sorts. Okay, maybe he'll prove us wrong. He's been proving people wrong for, again, when he started fighting, 2000. He's been proving people wrong for 15 years. So, but at this point, I do think that is how the U.S. he views him.

And as you mentioned, it's not like him and Dwight Grant blew the doors off with this fight on Saturday. So I'm the same with you. I went with someone not as, not so prospecty as Carlson Harris. I'm going to go with hot chocolate Danny Roberts. Hat tip to one of our listeners, Shamis Law, who suggested that Trinaldo faced the winner of, sorry, Danny Roberts faced the winner of Trinaldo and Dwight Grant.

So I think that must have stuck on my mind. So I went to double check, and yeah, that was one of our listeners' ideas. So thank you, Seamus. I do like it. I like, again, good. For me, this is less about building a prospect. It's more like a fun fight. And then, again, kind of seeing if this Trinaldo at Welterweight is like,

is like the real deal or not. Because again, he lost his first fight to Muslim Salukov. No shame in that. King of Kung Fu is really good. Split decision over Dwight Grant. Again, close fight. No shame in that either. But I still don't know how viable he is at 170.

Yes. Main card kicked off with Nick Nagum. I never get this guy's name right. Nagu Mariano. Negu Mariano. Think like Magumi Fuji, the first part, like Megu. So Negu? Negu.

Mariano. The second part is really known. Meriano. Negu Mariana. There's a lot of Romanian people. He's Romanian, I think, right? Yes. Yes.

There's a lot of, I live in a, I used to have Romanian neighbors. I have quite a few Romanian people in my community, so I can, those names I can kind of get. Okay. So think Megu, Megu, but Negu. Mariano. Negu, Mariano. Or Nico, or just Nico. Nico.

Nico knocks out, Ikeville and Oweva in quick fashion, seemed a little controversial because of the back the head. I have no issue with it. I thought Ike was out well before those strikes. I had an issue with the ref pulling him off and him still delivering blows. But it is what it is. A fight, things happen. And as much as I like

Ike Villanueva, not only was, I think he knocked out on this fight, but I think he's probably knocked out of the UFC as well with this loss. Second straight win for Nico, inside the Octagon. What do we do with him at 205? Well, first I want to quote EKC Lai.

And people, you can send your angry responses to at EKC on Twitter, all right? Just add him publicly. I want to say joked that blows to the back of the head should be legal if you're going to win the fight anyway. And I, you know, he's sung a tongue-and-cheek comment, but I think we do see a lot of fights where there's a closing flurry and the fists are flying from the, you know, the offensive fighter. And, I mean, there's no way some of those shots don't land at the back of the head when someone's, like, scrambling around on the ground and trying to survive. So I think that's what Casey was saying. He also could just be being Casey. So people let him know your thoughts on that.

Yeah, good performance by Nico. He's precocious. You know, he's precocious. You hate to see people continue to, like I said, strike after the fights been called. But hat tip, another hat tip to a listener. Marcus McGehy, who I think was the only person who mentioned this recently. Tefon and Chukwe. Tefon and Chukwe, I agree with that.

I like that for Nagu Mariano. They're kind of in this cluster with other guys at light heavyweight, like William Knight. and Daniela Marquez there's this cluster like two and one, three and one guys. So it doesn't quite break out of that. Kennedy and Zuchuku is in there as well. Doesn't quite break out of that with this win, but these guys are now in position to kind of step up to the next tier,

depending how they, if they end up getting matched up with each other. Yeah. I'm within that cluster as well myself. This was probably the easiest pick in my eyes. You mentioned the name already because, I mean, this guy's name gets thrown out all the time on the show. It doesn't matter. how highly ranked the fighter is, but I think it works perfectly here.

William Knight versus Nico. I think this is the right time, the right matchup for both guys. It's sensible, you know, two guys that aren't giant veterans of the sport. I just think it works. This is the time 205 is not that loaded, and you mentioned this cluster, and I feel like those two guys at this point, this is the fight to make. So I like it could really go so many different directions with this one. So now we head to the wild card round, A.K., I'm excited for this one.

This should be interesting. This should be fun. We had a lot of prelim fights. I think we'd eight of them. Some good performances, some good up-and-coming names, some interesting individuals that we could put in this spot. So now we're going to matchmake for a fighter that we have not matched made for yet, whether it was a prelim winner, main card loser, whatever you see fit, AK. Who is your UFC Vegas 41 wildcard selection? I got to go with a guy who, now that I'm looking at it,

this guy might be one of the finalists for Breakout Fighter of the Year. I hadn't really thought about it after his, I think after his U.S. to debut, I had an inkling of how special he was. Gregory Rodriguez, Robocop, he's only 29 years old, which is a bit shocking. He's an older-looking guy. Is 4-0, and, you know, he didn't make it on the Contender Series last year, Mike. You know, he lost Jordan Williams. And I guess, you know, sometimes that's the last we see.

some of these guys, but he rebounds with two big wins in the LFA. So this is all in 2021. Two wins in LFA, two first-round knockouts, including one that won him the LFA middleweight title. And then very quickly turns around two weeks later to make his debut against Disko Todorovich and what I thought was a good fight, wins by decision there. And then beats one of, I think, the toughest guys at middleweight right now, a guy I think a lot of fighters would not, are kind of not avoiding, but definitely not looking forward to

fighting, Jun Yong Park. and it kind of has to come back and score the standing TKO. So he's such a dangerous guy. And hasn't even gotten to show him as grappling yet, by the way. He's actually like a really good grappler. And I think anyone who's seen Robocod this year thinks he's just like Apollo Costa like, you know, bomb thrower. He's actually a really good grappler too. So I like him for, I like him.

I don't know what's not happen before the end of the year. If it did and he wins this fight, he might be my breakout fighter. I'd like to see him fight, Mikemood Mardav. That's just fireworks way to happen. Mahmoud insanely talented, had a bit of a set back against a veteran, friend of the show, of course, Gerald Mirchert. And there's no shame in that. So I want to see him to get back on the saddle, face a tough guy in Rodriguez.

And I think one of these guys is a sleeper to be in the top of Dean by next year. I like that fight a lot, AK. I'm going a little bit of a different direction. And look, there's a cliche thing in anime matchmaking, and I've said it at least once already today. but this particular piece of business will literally check off all the boxes. Jeff Molina is an exciting talent. He's super good, 2-0 in the UFC, great fight on the contender series, a very, very, very tough out for a lot of guys already in this division.

Even established top 15 guys, Jeff Molina is a tough out for all of them. He is, by definition in my mind right now, He is about as high risk, low reward of a fight that you can have at the flyweight division right now. There are not going to be a lot of 125ers on this roster that are going to see a ton of value in fighting Jeff Molina right now. I just don't see anybody. Like, I'm not going to compare him to the way I viewed Marab at 135 for a while because obviously they're two completely different fighters or two completely different styles. But I feel like this is kind of a fair comparison because no one wants to fight Marab in the top 15. and when he was on his way up, nobody, even in the top 20, wanted to fight Marab.

No one's going to be excited to see that guy's name on a contract. So I was thinking last night, wouldn't that be a perfect way for the matchmakers to bring in Jake Hadley to the promotion? Prospect battle, yes. Tough fight for both, yes. But this fight, if the matchmakers view Jake Hadley as this problem as a way to make Dana White eat some crow, perhaps, for signing him off the contender. series after the weight miss on the contender series. I know Hadley already has a call out. He wants Francisco Figurato.

Bumpkus, AK, Bumpkis. We are the UFC matchmakers. We're not giving this man what he wants. No, we're going to give him Jeff Molina. Plus, the most important box that this checks off, outside of the business end, this fight would be absolutely insane. Insane. Fight of the year

potential. So that's the pick. Jeff Malina, Jake Hadley, get it done, UFC. Your move. Shut down the show. So, shut down the, Mike, let's end the show. Good night, everybody. You've done it again.

We are not, with respect to the listeners who, again, had a lot of amazing suggestions this week. We're not talking that. I think that's, and in fairness, I will acknowledge one of our listeners who did recommend that as well. And then when I saw it, I had the same, not the same reaction I had now because you sold it so well. But this person, when I saw it mentioned, I was like, oh, wow. I was like, yeah, that's the one. So I'm glad you articulated that for some of them. I'm sure there's other listeners who mentioned.

and maybe can't figure out why it's such a special matchup. Yeah, it's great. Hadley, very controversial already after his Contender Series win, the weight missed and gained the contract and the run-ins with the matchmakers. Oh, him and Molina would be so good. That'd be so good. It's incredible. I like it.

That's how you use Contender Series. This is how Contenders is supposed to do. It's like you're supposed to get to know fighters, and I feel like that hasn't been happening a lot lately. I feel like we know a lot about Jake Hadley. because of the show and of course because of your interview Mike but um yeah that's oh i want it now like i want it now let's do it let's do it uh listen i are well we'll dig into the check the tapes let me just throw this out there because i had so many people message me about this you don't get

a full out no point if 500 other people pick the same fight okay who's who's asking for this who's who's doing this everyone as soon as walk as soon as we confirm walking buckley versus uh abdul Rzaka-Hasana. I was like, oh, I want the Otno point. Everybody picked that fight. I think everybody but me picked that fight because I wanted to go against the norm. So, I mean, if you want like a fraction,

if you want a crumb of an otno point, have it. Have at it. I don't mind, like, I think maybe they don't listen to every show or something. But yes, guys, that is one of the, you will share a point. You will share a point. If you don't listen to this all the time, that's fine.

I understand. Maybe you don't realize, you didn't hear that other people. people had mentioned it. Maybe I need to do a better job. I mentioning all the consensus picks. Sometimes I skip over some of them, but Buckley Al-Hassan was definitely one that we pointed out as a very, very popular listener picks.

So again, share the point with your fellow listeners, guys. And we don't mind the reminder that you called it, but you'll get your due with everyone else. I'm sorry. Yes. Are there any other check the tapes or any mic checks or anything like that? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. So as you said, Buckley v. Ah, Hassan, shared point January 15th. Also on January 15th, Chukagan versus Jennifer Maya 2. That was also mentioned by a few people. So whoever mentioned that, take your share of that point. And Egey versus Josh Emmett was another popular pick that's going down. It sounds like UFC 269 December 11th.

So share that one. Thomas Collins, I think, was the only one who called for Calvio versus Andrea Lee. I could be wrong. That fight kind of got thrown together now because Calvio is jumping. It's Calvio jumping in, I think, right? Kelviel is replacing, oh, it's just a guy. Yes.

I believe Calvio is jumping in for Jessica I on November 13th. So Thomas Collins said, do I get a point for that? Yeah, I think so, even though it wasn't the original matchup. Oh, hold on. Mike is. I thought about this. Yeah, I mean, if you're giving it to him, I'm with you, my best friend. I was going to look for a ruling on situations like this.

I was trying to remember. I think it's come up before. Maybe we didn't give the full point. Maybe I'm feeling generous. The sun's out. Like I said, it's a beautiful, looks like it's going to be a beautiful autumn day. So the new rule going forward Until we change it back again

Whatever it was before The new rule going forward Is sure you'll get a point If there's a replacement Your idea is in our place So that's November 13th And then we had a little AK check But a nice one

A nice AK check Michael Connoferry Letting me know that you can send videos Over DMs on Instagram So I had questioned last week Is that possible? I don't remember how it came up I'm very old

And apparently you can And he sent me as a quick little video Just letting me know which is very nice. And you can send them like, you can send them like, they disappear after a while. So I don't know.

I don't know what the kids are doing these days with their social medias. I'm not, I mean, people, I'm just saying people, don't start sending me all these crazy videos,

please. But if you want to say hello, I welcome it. We had a mic check last week, AKA, we had a mic check last week from our good friend, Tristan Gordette,

who was one of those individuals, he sent you the mic check. And you read the mic check out. I responded in kind. And Tristan Garde, by the way, who's one of those individuals who wanted the Otno point for Buckley-Ala-Las-Aun. After my rant responded not long after. And here's what he had to say. Okay, Mike, I understand what you are trying to say now.

Adrian Yannes isn't the same caliber of a prospect as Shafkat Rakmanov is. Had Ponziabio fought Rachmanoff instead of Yanez and won, then this would be a different conversation. Ponzanibio would then have a legitimate argument on not fighting another upcoming prospect. And you're probably right. I don't think Ponziabio has that type of power to just turn down fights from the UFC. Many of the Walter weights are probably booked and Jeff Neal was probably ready to get back in there. So this was the offer the UFC gave to Ponziabio and he took it right away. Once again, Mike, you were right.

Tusha, my friend. Tusha. Thank you, Tristan. Well said. and we have a little addition to the mic check. We have somebody who contributes to the program all the time. Patrick Austin. We read his messages and his matchmaking suggestions quite often.

Here's what he had to say. I'm not entirely sure if I like my last place spot being taken up by this Tristan character. I have to step my game up. You gentlemen created a title. without even knowing it. I've been listening to all the shows, and I'm about to make a challenge for the smartest listener of the show.

Tristan, I issue a friendly and respectful challenge. This is from Patrick Austin. What are we doing? We're stemming this inter-listener battle about who the smartest listener of Otno is. I mean, I don't know if I'm happy or sad. Is this an Otno matchup within Otno? I don't know. Maybe that's it. Instead of the person doing a full spreadsheet, we just have them battled up for Otno points. Fantasy Otno?

Now? Locktagon says the spreadsheet is ready. Shout out's Locktagon. I told him, I told him, I don't know how much time we have this week. I actually will probably have a normal length show this week. I was worried that we wouldn't. I do have somewhere to be as we're recording the show. But I told him, let's hold off. I think maybe we'll even hold off after the two pay-per-views.

Maybe we'll wait for the flight night after. I imagine it'll be a bit, you know, with respect to what's the flight night after? Listen, we got to fill two shows at the end of the year. Oh, this is true. But either way, we'll debut it early. Maybe it's not something we'll bring up every week, but I do like Locktogon said, it's ready. He's clearly been putting the work in despite, I have the DMs to show it multiple times, me telling him, you don't have to do this. You can stop this project anytime you want.

He has been toiling away. So God bless you with Locktagon, I am entertained. I think a lot of the listeners will be too by the fact that you even did this. But yeah, maybe after the Holloway-Wadriguez card. Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's right. Okay, yeah, then November 13th. We'll unveil it.

So tentative, no guarantees, tentative after the next fight night. The next two pay reviews, let's focus on that. But yeah, maybe we'll find out who our points leader is, if not our chance. I don't like this hierarchy. This is wild. I don't like this, this culture we're creating. It's not what we're about here. It's not worry about.

But it's friendly and respectful, and that is the culture we're creating. Yes. Thank you, Tristan. AK, go ahead. The rules of the octagon, if you will. Yes, people. Let's get to the listener suggestions here. Remember, we're going to try and focus mostly on winners, as you should as well. I understand if you want to send in loser picks for out, no points. It's fine. You can always remind me about those when if they come up. It's category's rule. We really like to favor unique picks. Fighters got already booked people. This happens all the time. People pay attention, please. You may have just made some other mistake. Wrong way class. The people fought already recently and you forgot. Someone's clearly injured for a long time. Won't come back. Someone's been released. It's happened this week as well. You pick, which just might be do-do. And we don't. want to read it. And a recent rule, of course, people stop sending it picks for Tim Means

because I'm lobbying for Robbie. This is hashtag Lobby for Robbie in this business. And until that fight happens, which it will, I don't want to hear Tim Means pics. All right. Here we go. Let's get right into this thing. Where are we? Poppy underscore Bryant, a long time contributed to the program, says, keep these afternoon cards coming. They're great for us Eastern Canadians. So we another Canadian in our missed, A.K. What's up? Eastern Canada, what's up? He said, P.S. before the picks, Bader v. Moldowski, do you think

they'll give Fader the title shot? By the way, I don't think Wadoffsky's going to fight Bader. I think they're just going to go right with Fador. I think that's exactly what they're going to do. I think E.K. agrees. Wild card pick. He goes with David O'Nama versus Luis Sal Dada.

That's a good match. That's a crazy fight. I like it. Negu Mariano versus Alexander Gustavson. for his light heavy way return. Easy Fight Night co-main event or pay-per-view featured prelim. Trinaldo versus Danny Roberts, A.K. How about that?

Yeah, thank you. There we go. I think I saw one of my listeners, shine. My listeners contributors throw that out there, too. Casares versus Ilya Teporia. I wanted it when Teporia beat Hall and Casares is ranked number 15th. Now it's the other way around and they still want this fight. Yep, it's a good one. Clark versus Carol Hosa.

Like that one. Then there's the draw. That's so funny. Vittori versus Whitaker if he loses to Izzy, but since that's not, the fight's not even made. For a no purposes, he's going with Sean Strickland. And then he just says, no picture of your boy. Next weekend, not buying two pay-per-views back-to-back weekends,

but maybe we'll find nefarious means to watch it. Brandon Nunez, this card saved us from the dumpster fire last week. Keep up the great work, you two. Onama versus Landovinata. I believe Vanada is booked, but maybe afterwards. Casares versus the winner of Duwado versus Trisano,

Glenn versus Pichel, Dawson versus Marco Mattson, Costa versus the winner Brendan Allen versus Tavares. He's going to 205, come on. Martin Vittori versus the loser of Brunson versus Canaan Air. John Ray, first things first,

I got to watch the last emperor for the first time. So that's awesome. I hope Fader retires, if not, give him the winner of Fortune versus Vassel. He likes Francisco Trinaldo versus Nicholas Dalby, Alex Casares versus Damon Jackson.

Come on. Top 15 picks for Alex Casares. What else does he have to do? He's on the Jessica Rose Clark, Alexis Davis train, Polo Costa versus Iwan Coochalama. That's a big one. And Vittori versus Whitaker if he loses. Who is this listener?

This is John Ray. John Ray. See, that's cool that he saw Fador fight for the first time. And this is something I was saying on the post-fight show, Mike. That I love that Bellator made it a big, like, did such a good job, I thought, with the presentation of the card in Moscow, giving that kind of like Russian flavor, like that special event flavor. Because you never know who's going to be watching something for the first time.

I assume he's not his first time watching Bell Tour. But his first time watching Fador, and he kind of, I think without knowing anything about him, other than I think they did a great job with the video packages. And like I said, his entrance and everything. And, of course, he delivered in the performance. So I think that's so cool that this is his first Fador fight. And he got to see like a real, really get an idea of, why this guy is so special to so many fans.

So that's a very cool genre. I get it. Wow. Now, peeling back the curtain a little bit. I don't look at these until literally we go on the air and we go live with them. M underscore Ruffles 115 literally created this like beautifully presented spreadsheet. I mean, this is incredible. And I'm like, I'm making Mike read this.

I'm like, I. He not only is match made for Vegas 41. He's a match made for Bellator 269. He match made off the contender series this past week. Yes. And he matched made for the return of Gordon Ryan. Yeah. What is that?

What's WNO? What is that? Gordon Ryan grappled Phil Rowe, I believe, on that WNO grappling event. What is W&O? What is that? No idea. No ghee. Yeah, I think a world no-gey organization.

Oh, yes, yes. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm a jihitsu Philistine, guys. All right, I admit it. I don't know. I'm a noob. I'm a noob. This is impressive.

All right. I'm overwhelmed, if we're being honest. Okay, I'm just going to read the Vegas 41 ones. You look a little forklimp. I'm a little forklunt. Oh, very, very cool, though. Very cool. Vegas 41 we're going with.

Vittori loser, Brunswickaner, Kahneneer, Koste, Kuchelaba, Dawson-O-Matson, Glenn Malarkey, Clark Lade, Kacieris Mitchell, Trinaldo Silva, Kladio Silva, Nagu Mariano, Knight, Rodriguez, Roberson, Jones, Bahamandez,

if its fight falls out. Ritchie Godinez, I love that fight. That is an excellent match made fight right there. I don't want to match them up yet. I don't know. I don't want to match them up yet. Pickett Todorovich. Herbert Jacasey.

Molina NAM. Tyson NAM. Yeah, that's not bad. Marcos against the winner of Pena Penae Pineiro. Jonathan Martinez versus Trevin Jones. Trevin Jones is booked, by the way. He's fighting Hayoti Barcellos. This is a brand new fight made.

I'm not going to blame you. This is pretty nice. I will say this is pretty nicely organized. I guess just because I couldn't copy and paste it. Maybe that's why I was so lazy about wanting to look at it. You did a really good job here, Ruffles. Yes, you did a really good job. We have a new listener, Casey Ryan.

First time contributor, we've been listening. You didn't want to read M. Ruffles' contender series or Bell tour or any of the. No. You have things to do. No, I love it. I love it. I love it. I do have things to do.

If we had a longer show, I would do it. I do want to say the Marcos Penne. I guess he's, if Pinero won. She fought Marcos, right? Wasn't it the DQ? Was it? Am I crazy? Yeah, and that's who's fighting.

It's that Piniara, right? That's fighting. She's fighting Penae, right? Yes. But I guess he could be suggesting they rematch it because it was a disqualification. So that's not completely wrong. And then what was the other, sorry, one of these others caught my eye. The Lubey one?

Yeah, I guess you mentioned that. Oh, Aspen. Aspen Lodge of Stores Clark. One thing I'm surprised at the Jess Gros Clark one is that so many people are kind of vaulting her up against a top 15 bantam weight. And like, again,

a bantam weight's pretty thin, so I guess that doesn't mean much. But I don't know. I was surprised that after that win, I see a lot of pretty ambitious matchmaking for her. Casey Ryan, new contributor, he said he's been listening to Otno for almost a year now.

One of my favorite MMA podcast. You guys are great. I drive all day for work as a termite tech. So MMA provides a lot of great MMA podcast for me to get me through the drives. Also, my birthday is Tuesday. If you need more of an incentive to read my picks,

LOL. All right. Happy birthday in advance. Happy advanced birthday. Casey, just bringing the heat

here. For Negum Ariano, it's wide open. I still think he needs a winner two outside of the top 15

before we give him some of ranked. I'm going with Ed Herman. Ed is an old school guy who will stand toe to toe with Nick

and he marches forward. He's durable enough to take his shots. For Trinaldo. Anthony Martin, although Anthony has in Fossus 2020,

Anthony Rocco Martin is actually no longer in the UFC. He's a free agent and he's dealing with some injuries and health issues and stuff like that. Really cool to see Casares with such a successful career resurgence.

He's even spoiling prospects right. He's now 5 in his last 5. Definitely earned a ranked opponent. I'm going with Thug Nasty, sitting in number 15. It was really rooting for Clark for her return. Although her performance was dominant, it was very disappointing. She's sitting right outside the top 15. He's going with Sarah McMahon for that Jessica Rose Clark fight.

I think people are like, well, let's see her out-wrestle this opponent. and it's like, yeah, you definitely won't. It definitely won't see our Russell-Sariff, man, that's for sure. He wants the Dawson, he feels the Dawson-Glen rematch works. What's he going with Marvin here? Marvin should get the utmost praise for all the he endured in this fight, and with all the weight bullshit. Problem is, it's unlike a fake it, he'll face Izzy again,

at least not any time soon, so I think he should face Strickland. The winner of Brunson-Jarred is getting the next title shot, and no one else is stacking up wins in middleweight. I know they've trained together, but I feel like they're both the tithes to put that aside, Paul should absolutely move to light heavyweight and face someone in the top 10, maybe Santos,

Anthony Smith, or Dominic Reyes. Thank you, Casey. Appreciate that. Harry Dewaskin, I got the Harry Duoskin pick. Isn't that always go to you? Normally. This is over IG? This is over IG.

Oh, okay. I get it. I get it. Oh, gosh. What do you say? Tell Alex, I'm never submitting to him again. My heart broke when he didn't read my better matchups. He's smart.

He's smart. I don't imagine what those could be. Harry, playing the smart role because he knows if I'm going first, he'll probably get his red. We might have to flip-flop. Mike, he's your problem. He's your problem now. Rebook Martinez versus Nathaniel Ward as long as Wood's hands issues finally clear up. If not Mario Batista for a clash of two strikers.

Melina versus Tyson Nam might feel like a big step up, a flyway to shallow. Melinas look good so far. Herber versus Casuala Vargas, Marcos versus Pené, Pickett versus Tudorovich, Jones versus Hadith. Jones versus Hadsevich. Rodriguez versus Christoph Yaakov Obama Cop has ranked potential, but his durability and constant backing to the fence

seemed to put him at some risk as he gets higher in the ranks. Obama Cop? It's very funny. Someone like Junko won't test the durability, but will test his skills. Negu Mariano versus William Knight. Trinolo versus Matt Brown,

Bam Bam winner. Trinaldo isn't a contender at this point. Just giving fun fights. Casares versus Edson Barbosa. If you put value on the comp, Caseros is beaten for the five-fight win streak, Andre Feely, if you don't. Grant versus CDF re-booked.

You're going to give... No, I don't agree with you, Harry. You can't give Grant Dawson a top 15 guy. I know he's originally booked to the top 15 guy. He fought Ricky Glenn. They fought to a draw. You can't reward him with another top 15 fight. You just can't.

Pretty Ricky versus Jalen Turner. Paul Costa versus Ryan Span. Span is not very good, but is very, very big. and he likes Vittori versus the Brunson Cannon Air loser no exciting matches for Votorries in a weird spot thank you Harry let's fly through this kind of quick

Chris London Vittori Strickland Costa Ancolaif good call on that one he likes Dasa Pichel Clark versus Hosa Casares versus Nate Landware Nagu Mariano versus Knight

Obama versus Furnos basis So we had Onama and a fighter who looks like Obama on the same card. Yes. And yeah, I actually like, because I was doing the play by play on Twitter.

So anything I tweeted was from my phone. So anytime I tweeted out Onama, it auto corrected to Obama every single time. I was amazed. I'm not gonna lie, I knew you were doing that. I knew you were on the handling the UFC tweets. And I'm like, he's definitely gonna tweet Obama at least once. I checked and I'm like, I was amazed you did. I was like, well done.

Well, I don't know how you didn't do it. Yeah, if you were on your phone, I'm like, man, there's no way. he's not going to still got to say Obama like one time. Craziness. He also likes Mason Jones versus Jaylon Turner, Jai Herbert versus Jamie Malarki. Max Sherman, long-time listener, making Otno picks for the first time.

Costa versus Dominic Reyes, Rose Clark versus Julia Avila. Avila is fighting with Kel Pennington, so we can't do that. Cazaris versus the goat, Ryan Hall. Ryan Hall also booked against Darrell Miller. Robocop versus Julian Marquez.

Malina versus Nam. A lot of love for Malina versus Nam. I dig it. Welcome. A couple of mistakes there for your first time, but welcome. Was it Max Sherman? Yes. Welcome, Max.

Welcome. Let's tighten up these picks a little bit next time, buddy. We got you, buddy. Francesco, our fan from Italy. Vittori, it's very difficult to match, so I go with the fun catchweight fight with Anthony Smith. All right, why not?

Costa versus Pugianowski at heavyweight. All right. Now we're talking. Now we're talking. Dana White, please. Make it happen. happened. Clark versus McMahon, Casares versus Mitchell, Trinolola versus Dalby,

Negu Mariano versus Enchukui, Dawson, I think he won versus Marco Madsen. Mason Jones or Jones versus Pimblitz. Can't do. Well, you could. I don't know if they will. Managed with the same guy. Yeah, but they've been asking for it because

this is a rematch, I think, right? They rematch from, those other rematch or sorry or a fight that didn't happen? Yeah, I don't think they fought. I don't think so. Right, sorry, they missed each other. People wanted to see them fight in Cage Warriors, and it's just the timing. The timing didn't match up. Marcos versus McKenna.

Gerard Biaghan, Vittori either has to wait for the top four to finish their belts or take a risk against Strickland. Costa versus Span. Dossumberg-Glintu Kiz, Kizzeres-Feeli. Nikolai versus Enchukwi, Trinola versus Mickey Gall. I don't mind that one. Rodriguez versus Jordan Wright. That's a crazy fight. Tristan Gordettes.

Welcome back to the show. Gosh, all right. Main card, middleweight. Martin VIII. Martinique, Fethethawait, Alex Kassaris versus Sadiq Yusuf. Yusuf would be the perfect fight

to give Alex since Yusuf is ranked and Alex is now in a five-fight win streak. Wild card. Gregory Rodriguez versus Punez Soriano, flyweight. Jeff Molina versus Bruno Silva. Mike, I have a question

with Molina's outstanding performance yesterday against Daniel De Silva. It feels he's already a top-ranked fighter in the flyweight division. Am I crazy thinking that, even though it's only a second fight in the UFC. I really think he's that good. Yes, I

he's not going to have a number next to his name any time soon, but yes, I think there's a lot to be excited about. He feels like he feels like Jeff Malina is a top ranked guy in his his mind. He's a top five. I was like, I was like, take it. Top ranked, yeah. I mean, again, he was already getting votes in our, in our

rankings after one this was his second UFC fight, right? That was number two, yep. Yeah. After his first UFC fight, I think maybe it was you. I don't know if you were the only one, but in our If people go to our rankings, Mnathlating.com slash rankings, you will see in the also receiving votes, Jeff Molina's name is in there. So someone, Mike Heck, thinks he is a top 15 fighter. And I think someone else, I don't think you were the only one.

Yeah, I mean, I throw him in top of my top 15. He's legit. Christian Lee. Where are we at here? What's going on? Okay. If I could wave a magic wand, I'd have Vittori jump in on short notice and take on Sean Strickland. mystery.

It probably doesn't make sense professionally for Vittori. No. But marketing-wise, I think there's an opportunity to really win over the mass amount of fans, coupled with how he handled this week. And then if he could jump on a pay-per-view short notice, since it's highly unlikely and the rest of the top guys are booked, I'll instead go with Marvin Vittori versus Luke Rockhold, A.K. Oh.

But you said earlier, Vittori probably needs to take some time off after that fight. So maybe that timing makes more sense for him. It probably does. Right? It does feel like one of those guys should be next. I think so. I think. Christian says, since Dana was adamant about Paulo staying at 205,

I'd like to see him take a step back and fight someone unranked first. Paulo Costa versus Alonzo Menefield. And then Christian Lee likes Mason Jones versus Jared Gordon. I like that fight too. I think that's a fine fight. Last one, Jaron Kawata, Kassaris versus Volcanovsky. Just give the man the belt already. Dude got Catoed and still won.

I love it, Jared. I love it. Realistically, though, Casares versus Yusuf, Trinaldo versus Dalby, Nagu Mariana versus Collierreau-Roundtree, Rodriguez versus Meridoff, reschedule Martinez versus Nathaniel Wood. All good selections.

We have the best listeners in the sport. So good. God, these guys are so good. We have a late, ought-no point claim, by the way. Someone literally, as a recording, just messes me. And normally, I would say, you know, and we record a little bit early today. If you just know when they listen to this,

we record a little bit early than usual. so I will allow this. MMA heads, one of our premier Instagram fight pickers, who also does contender series picks, said this was after the September, the week of September 15th, Joyleton Almeida

versus Danilo Marquez, which apparently is going to happen, February 5th. So definite ought no point for that. So people, if you want to start saying, like, picks for these contender series guys, that's a good way to, that's a sneaky way to get a point

because other than, him and M. Ruffles and maybe a hand to one or two other people. Not everyone's making picks for the contender series guys. So I know I'm inviting a real S-storm of picks here, but the more the merrier. So if you guys got if you guys want to know a way to get points,

there it is. So M. Mayheads, that is an individual point for you, sir. Sir or madam? The most popular picks by far this week. I saw Vittori Strickland, as you mentioned multiple times. I saw it as well. Costa Kutalaba. Everyone's with you on this one, Mike. Toke Gerting, Jensen, Arman, and

Denmark saying, welcome to light heavyweight, Paulo Costa. I know that I could be harsher on you, but I want to see you fight for the meathead championship of the world as your first fight. So that's why Paulo Costa versus you won, Q to Lava. The other one I actually saw, not as popular, but Costa versus Johnny Walker, which you had mentioned, dot, everyone's saying, for the most part, Dawson versus Glenn to, Hayes but third, keep trying to get that hashtag going, hashtag, run back, all draws. And I also saw a little bit of, you saw this as well, a few people just saying, let's move on

from that matchup, and I saw Glenn versus Giyagos, a few people like that one, Casey Carpenter calling that Spartan versus Gladiator. Jessica Rose Clark, again, picks were all over the place. Some of the more popular ones, Stephanie Egger, Lena Lansberg, Sam McMahon, Josiah Nunes. Caceres had a bunch of popular picks. Burgos, Quarantillo, winner or loser,

some mixture of that. They're fighting UFC 268, November 6th. Casares versus Mitchell. I know your guys mentioned that a bunch of times. And the one I saw the most, Caceres versus Andre Feeley, which for me is, I think he's in the UFC rankings.

He's not in R rankings. So I think he might be ranked in the UFC's top of dean. So it certainly applies. And if he's a fun of fight. Yeah. No, he's not in the UFC. He's not in the UFC's top of team. So I don't know if that fits the criteria for a lot of people,

but I did see that one, suggest a lot. Maybe they view him as rank. He's a veteran. He's a fun guy. And then Nagumariano was in Chukwey is very popular. Jones versus MacDessi. Mason,

excuse me versus MacDessie. And a lot of a picket, Jamie Pickett versus Dusko Todorovich. So there goes. A lot of heat there, UFC. Get on that one. We have some good comments for Jai Herbert matchups. Herbert versus Mike Davis with Barry O'Reilly

saying Davis can go on a bit of a UK tour as he beat Mason Jones and then if he beats Herbert he can take on Patty Pimblit. So we'll create a little story for there. A little gimmick for him there. I like that. Always fun. And Herbert versus Stevens, Michael Conno, Fry. I'm talking about I'm mentioning Michael Conner for a lot here.

He said, Jai, definitely not French, Herbert. It's a lot of fun to watch. Seems to have an interesting personality based off that interview he gave. So him and Stevens would be a banger, big step up, but a banger. And then when I responded with Jaya Bear, he jokingly said he would like to see Air Bear versus Air Jordane. But I believe the official pick is Herbert versus Stevens. And yes, for Jeff Molina, Tyson, a lot of Tyson Nams. So let's go now to you

Individual picks, Michael Coniferate. He also liked Mason Jones versus Jim Miller. Again, we don't know what Jim Miller's plans are. He'll fight anyone. I like it. Onama versus Charles Rosa. He said, he's definitely here to stay. Speaking of Onama, if his nickname isn't Ugandan Knuckles by his next fight,

I'm quitting ought no forever. Okay. We'll just see how good he is if he can break Charles Rosa's win one, lose one street. A Mr. 50-50 guy if they ever was one. Matt Bradbury, a couple of Bell tour picks here. Fador versus JDS. So he wants to go a different direction.

Bring in Dos Santos and Tim Johnson versus Sayat Soma. After that impressive but also weird win over Vitale Minnikov. Martinez versus Nathaniel Wood. This is supposed to happen to September. What are some other good ones here? Pickett versus Andrew Sanchez, Rodriguez versus Cummins. Oh, Zach Cummins?

Zach Cummings? What did I just do here? Zach Cumming. I think I wrote that wrong. I think I was thinking about Patrick Cummins for somebody. Sorry, Zach Cummings, excuse me.

Trinaldo versus Nico Price, Casarish versus Suddy-Eusef, as you mentioned, Victoria versus Rockhold. And then he said, Strickland should just fight someone else, fight Jack Hermanson. Sure.

And Costa versus Craig. He says, Paul Craig. A bit of punishment for Paulo. Hashtag, Paulo on Paul. I'm into that. M.M.A heads, great stuff here.

Dossin, Wicano, Glenn Selecki, Rodriguez, Duran Winn, Tabitha Ritchie, Sam Hughes, Pickett versus Abu Zaitar. Molina versus the O'Day Osborne Vergara winner. I think that's another way to go with it. Two other guys who, again, are unproven and flyweight in the UFC.

Vergara still, this will be his debut, I think. Oikano is booked, by the way. Oh, who's Markano fly? Alex Hernandez February 12th Oh, okay Marcos versus Loma Lukbunmi Shayan Bayes

Loser November 20th Martinez versus Yaya Kang winner November 20th Condender series matchups as well from M.A. heads, again, get those points. Johnny Parsons, Dwight Grant, Piera Rodriguez versus Maria Olivera

who just lost in this card. Kayo Barallo Bralio versus the Andre Petrosky Hu Yao Zong winner U.S.C. 267 October 30th and is Armin Petrosian, Mike? Armine Petrosian?

Yeah. Versus the Alexa Kamer, John Allen winner UFC 8 November 6th. All right, well, listen, if we're going to do that, do it. We're going to read that. I'll read out M. Ruffles 1-15. It's consideration. Johnny Parsons versus Mickey Gall.

Uh-huh. Pierre Rodriguez versus Sam Hughes. Kyle Barlio versus Abu Azitar and Armin Petrojan versus Carlos Oldberg, good Lord. Wow. I feel like we got an M. Mayhead's Ruffles rivalry going on here.

So they go. We're making a card here. We're making an ought-no card. It's getting personal. Carlos Torres-Butley-Cazettis with Clark versus Josiah Nunez, Nagu-Miriano versus Roundtree, U.M.S. 4, I really like that one a lot. Mike Heck versus the entire community of Haddonfield

after your slander of the community for their inability to handle the scourge of Michael Vime. I would whoop that hat and field ass, okay. He is a supernatural being. They are just a small, humble town, Mike. How can you be so hard on them for being, and he's plagued by this guy for years? I would win.

I would win. I would outsmart these people. I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I would outspart these people. Based on how easily Michael Myers has handled this town, you think Michael Heck would have no problem. Yeah, it's like, it's like you, I'm trying to think of like a great example of this.

It's like the movie Bloodsport. It's like the movie Bloodsport. ever seen Bloodsport? Of course. Okay. Remember when the American, the biker guy, Ray Jackson, like, punches Chongley once? And he's celebrating like he won the freaking tournament.

Like, this is hadn't. That is exactly Haddon Field in this movie. We won. We punched him once. We won. It's over. You're dead. Let us turn our collective backs to Michael Myers.

Idiots. Well, maybe it's Mike Heck and what's the next one going to called the Halloween. Ends. This is Halloween killed. Halloween ends. Perhaps we'll see a Mike Kameo. And you can help Michael Myers dispose these people in a more efficient manner.

Let's go to the Twitter machine here. On the Twitter machine, we have, sorry, we got someone just coming in now. I don't know if I have time to read it. Chris at Dragon Slayer 2. Caceres versus Swanson Elkins winner, December 18th. I almost went with this as well because I've pushed Caceres Swanson before. I still think they'll fight someday for it's all. all of a sudden done, two featherweight lifers would love to see, well, I mean, Casares

fought a phantom wave, two UFC lifers, I would love to see them go at it. Braden O'Neill, Casares versus the Tukugov-Ramos winner on UFC 27, October 30th, Negamariano versus Ed Herman, Herbert versus Alex Sisselma. Four Corner Sports, Ed Y, rebook Martinez versus Aaron Phillips? Or you think this win kind of, Martinez can kind of move on from that matchup? I don't mind it. Yeah. versus Hannah Cypers.

As far as we know, Hannah Seifers is still with the UFC, right? She has not been... As far as I know, yeah. How strange. Herbert versus Roosevelt Roberts, Pickett versus Duran win. Mason Jones versus Clay Guida,

win, lose, or draw against Leonardo Santos, December 4th. That'd be kind of fun. And then I like this one a lot, too. Maybe this is why I made a note here to read this. Costa versus Dominic Reyes. And Four Corner Sports, N.

Y says, according to Eliad de Lise, he was told that, Costa would never fight at 185 again. And if that's true, like when Mike said, it will be Costa's easiest path to a title coming off two losses in a row. So it only makes sense to match him against a fighter who's also lost two fights in a row in Reyes. So that's the thinking there. I don't mind that at all.

I think Reyes would be noticeably bigger. Yeah. But as we keep saying, Costa is a pretty big guy. Probably, you know, again, ideally a 195 or if that division existed. And then Vittori versus Adesania, Whitaker, two, loser. we kind of discussed this. Yes, if Whitaker lost, it would make a lot of sense. Adisania, I don't know.

Maybe not as likely. Dustin Gedko, Mason Jones versus Marco Matson, Rodriguez Murdov. Again, a lot of that. Or maybe he's the only one who supported me on that. Trinaldo versus Prazieres. I like this as the former lightweights, old Brazilian dudes,

super muscular old Brazilian dudes who can't make lightweight anymore facing off. I think that's perfect. Dawson versus Vince Pichel. Malina versus Danielle Beres who was on

contender series earlier this month Mike did not win a contract but I guess is a talented guy maybe could be next from Molina so that looks like

sort of Malina building plan okay Terrence LeVret throwing Tap of the Ritch right into a Tisha Torres matchup

wow it's right in there okay I don't like it but come on I mean you get Tisha's winning fights

like we gotta give her something she's winning and I I don't like it for Tava Ritch I don't think Tava Ritchie's ready for that no this is like her seventh fight or something

no she couldn't keep she had a hard time keeping Maria Oliver on the ground what do you think you'd do Tisha Torres come on anyway build her up a little more appreciate the amount of respect you have for

for Tava Ricci but and also he proposed Marcos versus Angel Hill too which I love I actually love Marcus she beat her first round submission first round submission a long time ago and I think Angel is a very different fighter now I think Angel Hill would would love to get that win back I would hope so very good thinking that Terrence I like it the Ricci Torres one bit of a head scratcher Torres Hill too you're on the money Liam Perry has a question Mike okay okay uh first of all I says I know you guys had global rankings, but this only goes up to top 15 in all organizations. Is there any chance

you can do a full UFC rankings? So Liam, as you should probably know by now, I do keep a secret rankings of all the fighters in the UFC. I don't do one with a full global rankings, just UFC. And he says, I only ask this because I use topology, which is because we referred him to. However, he says, they are crap. Topology is not crap, sir. Topology is an amazing website. However, he doesn't, he disagrees. They have Vittory 14th, which he doesn't like. He says, Gaslam is ranked higher. For ranked fighters, it's easier because he can refer to the OFC rankings or our global rankings, but makes it harder for lower ranked guys. So he's trying to get hard to find that right, that perfect site to fit his needs.

Okay. Go ahead, please, please. Go to what is it? Fight Matrix. I like, oftentimes, like, topology is great for seeing who's fighting who. Their rankings suck. Like, it's bad. It's bad.

You agree. Yeah, I agree. their rankings are awful. Damian Maya for... Apologies are friends at Topology, by the way. We love your side. I think they know this. Like, it's all...

I don't think they do it themselves. It's not fan-jured. It's not a reader-generated, is it? I think it is. Oh, gosh. Damian Maya was like the number two ranked Walter Waite, like earlier this year. Oh, my.

For rankings and just kind of looking at things as a whole, especially outside of the top 15, if I need to, like, dig deep, I like ranking MMA.com. Shout out to RankingMMA.com. Oh, is that what is, maybe that's one of the sites I'm thinking. Oh, that's a really good site. Yeah, they do a nice job.

Oh, yeah. I love. Okay, okay. I was thinking of them and Fight Matrix. I love them both, but I do love Ranking MMA. Yes, Ranking M.A.com. Shout out to them. They have U.S.C. rankings, non-UFC rankings, world rankings.

I just, I don't know. I just saw historical rankings. Yeah, that's an excellent site for sure. So try that one. Try that one, Liam. It might be a little more to your liking. Some of the picks, Liam, throughout there. Votori versus Till, I don't think it'll happen next, and I know what they were supposed to fight at some point before.

I do think it'll happen someday. So maybe not next, Liam, but of course there's a lot of heat. There'll be a lot of heat for those who have matched up. Dawson Akpraz, Trinaldo Worley-Alves, Nogu Mariano versus William Knight, Rodriguez versus Punisoriano, Herbert versus Devante Smith. Worthy, I like this one. Worthy, commonworthy, Michael Johnson. What did he say here? Worthy's now on a three-fights skid.

He showed promise at one point. Indeed, he did. If he does not get cut, he should fight Michael Johnson. He's on a four-fights kid. Loser leaves town. Winter gets a little bit of that confidence back. So I agree, Liam. It's a harsh thing to say, loser-leaves town, but that's kind of where they are.

And that might be true for this other matchup he suggested. Marcos versus Carolina Kovacovitz. I think even with this win, I think Marcos is on thin ice. I think if she lost to Carolina, I do think she might get her walking papers. Carolina definitely would. I think that might be the last five for Carolina. And Martinez versus Eddie Wineland. Yes.

Yes. Thank you. I have Wineland just ahead of Martinez in my own rankings. I sure some people have already dropped them out of the top 20 or however high that is top 30. I still think Wyneland is a high level bantamweight. He's just a bit past his prime. That's the kind of guy Martinez should need to beat to move up in the rankings. I think.

I think. Stephen Breiter. I don't want to. Okay. Herbert versus Yoros Medich. Pickett versus Andreas M. Alides, whether he's fighting on, I think he has an opponent and he says, whatever, win, loser draw, he should fight that. He still likes that matchup. Rodriguez versus Tom Breeze. Tom Breeze, his schedule is so consistent. Who knows? He likes the Dawson versus Fajara rebooking. I know you don't like it, Mike. I'm sorry. The people, I'm saying, they're thinking about it. Glenn versus Malarkey, super fun fight. And he's with me on Costa versus Gustafson. And he said, at first he said, Costa ship's been cut for being a schmuck.

So strong language there from Stephen Breyer. Hayes Betherd. Let's see what we got here. Costa versus Uzdemir, whatever. He likes that instead of Ankleya. He says win-luser draw. He'd rather he fight Uzdemir. Clark versus Kianzad.

I assume he meant to rematch. They did fight before. Trinaldo versus Jake Matthews, Jeremiah, Wells winner, December 4th. Let's see here. Mason Jones versus. Damir Hadzovic. I like this matchup a lot. Yep.

He says Jones came out with a well-earned, well-deserved win. I feel like my biggest takeaway from this, though. So this is an O'Nama love here is that O'Nama will be interesting to see it at 145. So they just want to give Jones the rematch with Alan Patrick. He also, that's possible. And just he does, I wouldn't want to see it. I wouldn't mind it. Just see him to see him just get a potential showcase fight with some beef behind it.

So he's, I think his official submission, Hadzovich. But he says they do Alan Petriek, rebooking. Makes a lot of sense. And then he goes some deep cuts. I think he just wants me to read these out. Pickett versus Kopelov-Duryev winner, U.S. 267. Herbert versus the Bahamandes-Rangzhu winner, February 26th. And Marcos versus Nina Nunez, Amanda Lemos, loser December 18th.

Jonathan Martinez, Randy Costa, Tony Kelly winner, UFC 269. Great speculative matchups. Some of these I didn't even know we're happening. Fadour, he'd like to see Fadour rematch of Redoom If they can get Verduin, of course, the signed with Belator And also, he said if Rumble Johnson goes up to heavyweight He's willing to go back up to heavyweight Him versus Fadour, I don't know

It could be a fun fight of Fadour wins I would hate to see Rumble Johnson knockout Fadour in his last fight That would just be so depressing Yeah, and I don't think we can match wake for Rumble right now Yeah, we don't know what his health problem is, right? It could be over a long time Seamus Law Vittori versus who,

whoever he wants after being an absolute gangster and telling Costa I'll meet you at any weight and then feeding him. And then he says Costa versus the wine calories. What are you in the last for Grant Dawson? Mike, Dawson versus the Fiziv-Riddle winner, December 4th. I don't mind. I would probably

give him the loser, actually. Okay. More speculative ones here. Trinaldo versus Chaos Bayezo winner, November 13th. Rodriguez versus Hadolfo Valletta, Termin winner, U.S.E.C. 270, Mason Jones versus Alvarez. Tiago Moises winner November 13. Some good stuff there.

Let's move. Oh, and Fador versus Barnett. Who am I reading, James Law. He wants to see Fadour versus Barnett. The fact that it didn't happen is one of the lost excitements of the M.A. world, of course, what's supposed to happen at a affliction show once in a long time. If Bell Torres anyone with any type of brain,

that's the next fight for Fador. I don't know if I go that far. I think there's other fun matchups, but certainly a good one. It's top three. Yeah. Thomas Collins with me, Clark Alexis Davis, Mason Jones, Malarki, Herbert versus Kazula Vargas. There's a name I haven't heard in a few months. Toe Gerting Jensen, Trinaldo versus Shavkat Rockmanov.

Like we said, it could be in a gatekeeper role. Molina versus David Devorak. Let's see what else is a good one here. So Mason Jones versus Jeremy Stevens to make Mason Jones into a bigger star with a bigger name test. I don't know if Jeremy's going back up to lightweight anytime soon.

Marcus McGaighey calls us the Italian heel face turn edition of Odd No Rodriguez versus the Phil Haas Chris Curtis winner Ust 68 Herbert versus Brandon

The Human Highlight Real Jenkins That's a fun one Marcos versus Pauliana Biana Ricci versus a woman who just fought last week Juarez So

Almost done here Barry O'Reilly Mikey did it He said Martinez versus is Usman Nirmagombedov. Oh, very O'Reilly. No, it is Umar.

Usman literally just fought at Bell Tor. Unless you're saying they pull some sort of coup. And Usman drops about 45 pounds. And suddenly signs with the UFC. I assume you meant Umar. So, gosh, this has got to stop happening. This should I add this to the disclaimer? Don't confuse Usman and Umar.

It might have to be. Might have to be. New rule. Marcos versus Ariana Carnalosi. Oh, there you. Barrier-R-R-R-Its, the one who I first saw, Molina versus Hadley, so I love it. Mason Jones versus Patty Pimblit. He says he's been calling this one.

He's said it before. He's saying again, should have seen it in Cage Warriors, both more mature, both better now. So even better to book it now. Nagumariano versus Jorge Gonzalez, who people might recognize his name. He was supposed to fight Ikebina Neva twice. So he said, screw it. Nogamariano, just beat Vola Neva. Let's give him Jorge Gonzalez.

I like that. Chernal No versus Bejta, Dawson versus Matthias Gamrott, and Glenn versus Vince Bichel. Let's go to my lone email. There's one email this week, Mike, from Casey Carpenter. Thank you. It's a fortunately, it's a lovely one. First, thank you to Mike, Jed, Ariel, the rest of the team for the podcast and great articles on the website. Excited for the between the links tournament, and they're saying, I assume they're speaking to me,

you're definitely my dark horse pick, definitely a live dog. Thank you, Casey. I hope so. I'm always a live dog. Might be crazy. I actually prefer Joe Martinez over Bruce Buffer. You are not crazy. I'm in the Martinez or Buffer camp. Mike, I think you are as well. I am in the Martinez should do every single fight night and Buffers should do the pay-per views. Okay. So you like them both. And I'm not totally against Buffer. I just doing Joe Martinez better. I know our own Damon Martin also feel strongly about this. Casey says they've been watching since W.C. when they were in college. So that's why big, big fondness for Joe Martinez. And definitely thinks Paul Felder and Mike Bissping are better than Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier. You won't get any arguments here on that one.

This ones that stood up from here, Dawson versus Clay Guida. That's a matchup he's been wanting for a while, I think. And then Clark versus Chiasin. Again, I'm trying not to push her up the rankings too far, but that might be a fight that Chiasin would take. I like that fight. I'm fine with that one. And what's what they had to say about Fador. I want Fador to fight either Overeux and Barnett.

I know it's 10 plus years. too late, but those two and the Rante Couture fight have to be his biggest what if fights in his legendary career. Looking forward to the next two weeks with super stacked cards and Astros will win the World Series in a sweep. So that was for you. That was for you. Nope. The Braves will win.

Braves are winning that series. I told you this was a nice email. Yeah, super nice. Is that it? On to the next season, Mike. On to the next season. Yes, that is it, guys. You can reach me on Twitter at Alexander K. K. Lee and email Alex. Dotley at SBNation.com. Michael?

We are exciting. It's exciting stuff. UFC 27 is next week. In Abu Dhabi, Jose Youngs, our own Jose Youngs is already on the way. As John Anik would say so eloquently, wheels are already up. He is on his way to Abu Dhabi

for UFC 267. Jan Blahovic versus Glovet-Shera, the main event for the 205-pound title. Piotrion versus Corey Sanhagen for the interim Bantamweight title. Islam Makachev versus Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkov versus Marchin Taibora,

the return of Hamzat Shimeyaf against Li Jing Liang, Magamette Ankalai versus Volkaner Ozdemir, Amanda Hebas versus Vrana, Jandarobh, Zubaira, Tukagov versus Ricardo Hamos, Albert Dureev versus Roman Kapilov, and then a whole bunch of very long names,

very long names. A.K. is going to get out of here. Alexei, Mastafayev, Lundbekov. All your favorites. All your favorites. John Anick is going to be studying like a madman. Oh, he's on it.

He's on it. He's all over it. He's an expert. He's on it. Really good card. Fight Island is back. Fight Island is back for one week old night. Look at that.

At least for this time. But I have a feeling with all these new mandates. We're going to be seeing a lot of Abu Dhabi cards in 2002. Yes. Loaded show next week, recapping UFC 267. The week after that, we get UFC 268. So we're going to have a couple of bangers right here on the program. But until then, everybody, for AK, I am Mike Heck.

Always remember, don't take this stuff too seriously. M&A is supposed to be fun. We'll have more fun next week on a loaded onto the next one, the podcast. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.