MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 54

Episode Date: May 15, 2022

Jan Blachowicz has made a case to get back to a UFC light heavyweight title fight following his third-round TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic, but will the promotion go in that direction after Blachowicz dropped the belt less than a year ago? This week on On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee give their thoughts in where the former champion goes following his main event victory at UFC Vegas 54 at the APEX. In addition, future matchups are discussed for Ryan Spann after quickly submitting Ion Cutelaba in the co-main event, Davey Grant following his third-round finish of Louis Smolka, Katlyn Chookagian following her split decision win against Amanda Ribas in the event's Fight of the Night, along with fellow main card winners Manuel Torres and Allan Nascimento. 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

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So you're lying on the floor? Save up the 50% November 13th to 20th. Conditions apply, details online. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. And welcome to a brand new edition of On to the Next One. I was going to say, as you can see, but you cannot see because we're audio only. The matchmaking hats are back on the heads of the two best friends in MMA media as we discuss the what's next for some of the notable names. coming out of UFC Vegas 54, which took place this past Saturday at the apex.

I am Mike Hack and joining me as always, the aforementioned best friend himself, Mr. Alexander Kay Lee. Hello, sir. Hey, Mike, my best friend. I'm in a good mood. I feel like we're on a pretty good run of cards living up to their potential. So people can make a best statement with they will. I have been, you know, if you listen to preview shows for some of these fine nights,

I've been setting the bar pretty low using these. the gymnastics score. So like mostly can peak around like a seven, seven point five. I might have underrated the card two weeks ago. I think I said it was like a, was a card two weeks or just last week? Maybe it was just the, yeah, two weeks ago. I think there was a car like a couple weeks ago.

I was like, yeah, it was like a six or something. And then it turned out, it turned out pretty good. And people were like, oh, it was an amazing. Anyway. But yeah, credit to the match, well, credit to the matchmakers, and especially, of course, the fighters who bring it. You know, regardless of what we say, but how a card looks on paper,

it's on these guys and gals to perform. and most of these fighters have been doing a great job. Again, some of them, not ready for prime time. That's to be expected. But overall, I think if you're a fight fan who's just kind of like been tuning in, not necessarily watching every fight in the card, but just like picking and choosing,

you probably have a pretty good time watching the UFC right now. If that card started three and a half hours earlier, it would have been a near perfect fight night. Oh, that card demanded to, I wish, again, if this card, obviously it should have been in Europe, you know, and it would have been a much easier, less COVID-inflicted. world this would have been in europe and yes oh man it would have changed the time zone we would

have been on like you imagine it was on like noon you mentioned noon mMA this card would be fantastic every fight night card should start prelims at 4 p.m. eastern yeah 7 p.m eastern main card i don't care if the NBA's on i don't care if the nchel's on i don't care just these are fight night start times the paper views you could deal with the west coasters we could do the late night thing that's fine but we should not be i mean these these i don't know why i'm complaining You know, we get to watch a good night of fights, but still. This was a 7.30 prelim start time, right? Yeah.

And then a six-fight main card at 10 p.m. Eastern. That's just, come on now. It moved a bit, though. I don't remember there being, like, any big pacing issues, or maybe I'm just getting used to how they pace, like, six-fight main cards now, but I didn't remember being, like, egregiously slow. Well, Andreo Petroski kind of screwed up everything

because he submitted Nick Maximoff in a minute and a half, and we saw 14 consecutive Janbovlovich packages before we finally saw an Alexander Rackage package, and then finally we got to the next fight. But pacing wasn't terrible. It was 11 fights. That's the sweet spot next week. Good sweet spot in terms of fights.

Time that these events kick off, the prelims and the main card. Loving all of those things. But let's go back to this past Saturday. Let's start where the night ended. Yombo Hoveitch gets back in the wind calm, picks up the win in the main event, albeit in an unfortunate manner, lands a leg kick to the right leg of Alexander Rackage.

Rackage steps back on the left leg, and the knee just kind of goes out. He collapses to the ground. Credit to Jan Bologovic for noticing that and not inflicting any extra damage. In the books, it's a third round TKL win for the man with the legendary Polish power. Now, Glover Tashashire tweets out earlier in the night.

If you win, and I win on June 11th, Let's run this thing back. Did Jan Belhovic earn his way back into a title fight? Or does he maybe get the winner of the July 30th fight between Anthony Smith and Magamette and Goliath? How are you doing this? I only wish that Glover had said when I win, I will rematch you. Because he will. I would love to see some bravado.

I mean, that is not how he carries himself. And how he carries himself has led to pretty great success in his life. so maybe he shouldn't be taking advice from me. But I do think he's done enough, but that is not where I'm going. I'm not going for a Blajovic or Blakovitz to share a rematch, nor a Blakovits Pohashka fight

in the event that the impossible happens and he beats to share. I'm going crystal ball. Not magic wand here. I'm going crystal ball. I think, as we've said many times, to share beats, and beats, excuse me,

parashka. And then I think Ankleyev beats Anthony Smith convincingly. I want to see Ankelyev get his tell shot sooner rather than later. So I think of Ankyov does beat Anthony Smith and puts on a really good performance. He gets a title shot. So I will give Blokovitch Anthony Smith after he loses to Ankelyov. I think it's a good fight.

I think it's one I would favor Blockovits. I think it's an entertaining fight. I know a lot of people don't want to see him facing someone coming off a loss, if that is the case, if that's how it unfolds. But I think Anthony Smith has done enough where, like, he's sort of beyond wins and losses as far as like, oh, should we book him against another person who's losing, his person is winning? He's faced such high-level competition, and we know he's a threat to anyone in the top 10. So, yes, that's my crystal ball. And Kailovic gets a tattel shot against Dachara.

After Dachia beats Phrashka, and then Blakovitz gets Anthony Smith. I think this is going to be the latter for me where Blehovic is going to fight the winner of this fight, only because, because I think Ankleyev's going to win. However, if Anthony Smith wins, I think he's getting a title fight. I think he gets the title shot, more so if Ankiahef wins. I think there's more pizzazz behind Anthony Smith. I think if you say Glover to Cher, Anthony Smith, or Yuri Perashka, Anthony Smith, or Yuri Perashka or Glover against Magamette Ankelaif, the Anthony Smith card is going to do better.

It's just going to do better. And there's no, again, there's no reason to rush these guys. Ankleiv had his chance. He had the Tiago Santos stinker. He won, but it was not entertaining at all. It was a boring fight. And I think he's going to have to sort of make up for that. And the UFC, here's the thing about Tashir and Pashka.

Neither, no matter what happens, are the most active guys. So this could be their only fight of the year. It is a very strong possibility that this is the only time either of these two gentlemen compete this year, or both these gentlemen compete this year. but I think it could be more of a wait and see because I mean it all depends on how it ends I don't know if anybody runs over the other I think it's a strong I think it's just a tough matchup on July 30th but again the UFC has a lot of cards to fill they have a lot of made events to put on over this calendar year and it doesn't hurt to run another five rounder with boehovic against ankelaia for anthony smith so that's my pick just because I don't think either to to share Oprah Haska are going to be bouncing back like three months later. I think this is, if we're lucky, we see him at the end of the year with the title defense.

And what are these guys going to do in the meantime? So I'm sure they're not going to say no to getting a made-of-end slot and making a couple extra bucks and then fighting for the title. I don't know. 205 is just there, I guess. It's a little funky. It's a little funky. Yeah, it's a little funky.

It's not a bad division. It's just funky. Yeah. It's clearly not where it's. was in the early stages of the UFC when Chuck and Tito and Randy and all those guys were running a muck. There's no muck running in this division. It's just here's what we have available and here's which you're going to get. Speaking of it's not sexy. It's not sexy. Yeah, it's a, chip and a putt in the golf of the golf game of life. It's not Bryson DeChambo hitting 370

yard drives like the Bannamweight division. This is chipping and putting. The short division of the UFC. So Ryan Span, however, had a chaotic fight to no one's surprise with Iwan Kuchalaba and the co-main event. Things got hairy, but Safe Sayud basically yells to Ryan Span, either get up or submit him. And he kind of did both, AK, he gets Kuchelaba out of there. You would think the Dallas card on July 30th would make sense, but he says, don't ask me

about my next fight. I want to get some things right mentally. I want to spend some time with the fam. To me, this win was nice, but it didn't propel him all that much. So unfortunately, he's going to be in for another tough test. And his name is Khalil Roundtree. The build will be nice. We'll get some insight into the mental game from both individuals.

I feel like it'll be a very respectful build. And that just seems like the right fight considering pretty much everyone above Ryan Span has something booked over the next two or three months. So I like that idea. What say you? For me, that would be a, well, I say a huge step up for a roundtree, but it's like, again, light heavy weight is a pretty, if you, once you get past the top eight or nine guys, I guess,

you're kind of, there's a bit of a cluster. There is a bit of a cluster. So, I mean, I might, I have him like 15 spots ahead, but those 15 spots are like really narrowly, like, squeezed together. There's like Alonzo Menafield's in there, like Ed Herman's in there somewhere, Kutalaba, who just, he just beat, uh, Oloxat, it's like, yeah. Man, this is a funky division. We should really talk about this more.

We should have a whole podcast why this isn't so funky. And like you said, where it once was and how John Jones screwed it up kind of by just leaving it. And what a weird, what a weird, weird spot. This is easy for me because I picked last week for Open St. Peru. I said I wanted him to get the winner of the penultimate fight of UFC Vegas 54. So I'm sticking with that. Let's go Ryan Spann versus Aubin St. Prue, Texas versus Tennessee. I'm into it.

I have them right next to which are my rankings. Ryan Span, 14. OSP 15. So there we go. That's easy for me. Yeah, I've span, I've span crutes, Jacoby, Cuchelaba, and Cahillowardtree, like all between like 18 and 23. So at least in my eyes, it's not that far away. But I like that, I like that idea too, because open St. Peru is sort of in that mix as well. With Instacard, you get groceries that over-deliver, so you can over-share your preferences. Want russet potatoes with no brown spots? You got it. Want turnips that look light but feel heavy? Easy.

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Now, AK, Banimates, right? Bannowights. Davey Grant might not be a... guy who will contend for a world title in his career. But he is certainly moving up the list of must-watch fighters in the UFC. He has an absolute battle with Lewis Smolka, had a great first round, tough second round, comes back in the third, stops Smolka with a nasty calf kick. In my eyes, David Grant should have got two bonuses, fight of the night and one of the

performance bonuses, because that was just a nasty finish. Cactick was absolutely gross. The brutal ground and pound puts Louis Smokha out like a light. I'm excited to see this guy fight anybody, but what would you like to see? Yeah, listen, thank you. Caitlin Chukagin and Amanda Hebas are putting on a fun fight that certainly surpassed expectations as far as entertainment value goes. But Davey Grant and Louis Smoka, my goodness, what a banger.

I mean, I almost feel I had to watch it again, but I almost feel in the moment, I was just, you know, you're not really thinking about it. just you're just having fun but that might have been that may have been one of the best like one of the best fights the year that we probably aren't talking about we didn't we we have a little thread people in our in our sort of work slack and we didn't add it but none of them like I have to watch the end that in the moment I was like this fight is friggin awesome and certainly that certainly should have been the fight at that and both guys are

an extra 50k uh louis smokers is always winner lose is always in these eventful fights and yeah it would have been nice to see him get some extra cash but again hey hopefully fingers crossed locker room bonuses we find out the guys uh guys got taken care of. I like Montel Jackson for Davy Grant. Davy, again, like you said, I don't know if we really care about like, oh, him moving up in the rankings. For me, this would be kind of a rankings move up. I do have Montel Jackson a few spots higher, but that's not really, that's secondary to just getting David Grant in there, putting on entertaining fights. I want to see Montel Jackson return. He hasn't fought in a while. Hopefully everything's cool with him health-wise,

and we can get him and David Grant. Let me start by saying there is no wrong answer here, because as violent as this man is, just seeing David Graham fight anybody is fine. Having said that, I don't know, like no bets barred has their wolf pack pick where if they bet on the same thing, they howl like wolves.

We need like some sort of best friend salute because I went the exact same direction. And it's a risky pick going with Montel Jackson because he's just not that active. But every time Davey Grant fights, I feel like he needs like six months off because they're all absolute battles. So yeah,

I'm on the exact same page as you. Give me David Grant versus Montel Jackson. Sounds like too much fun, A.K. Listeners, send in your suggestions for what Mike and I should do when you have an ought-no meeting of the minds. We will consider it. We'll come for the own thing probably, but hey, if we get a good suggestion, I'll happily do it.

Yes. There's got to be some sort of like Zach Moore's, A.C. Slater, save of the bells sort of thing we can do. We'll figure it out. We're open to suggestions. As we move to the women's flyweight division, you mentioned Caitlin Chukagian. She had to work her tail off for, but in the end, judges got her right. She lands more damage.

Take note of that, people who still think Logan Storley won 50, 45 against MVP. Kailen Chacon had damage against a very game, Amanda Hebas, who, by the way, Heba's got some legs at 125. She could do well in there. She put up one hell of a fight against maybe the top. toughest stylistic matchman in the division outside of the champion. But in the end, Chagin wins a split decision. Shocker, I know. I know you weren't ready to hear that sentence.

But this was a fun fight. So Amanda Hebes could take solace and being one half of the most exciting fight of Caitlin Chichagin's career. Chiquet was good on the microphone after. She basically called out everybody else in the top five, including that French chick, who she believes Manon Fioro. I believe that's where we're going. And you know what?

Chiquin Fioro. In September, I'm changing course a little bit. We do this one on the Paris card. Makes perfect sense to me. Could be a big moment for Menafioro. Maybe get her into a title fight. Or Chukagan just knocks off another fighter, knocking on the door of a potential title shot.

So let's rock with that IDAK, give Fiora Hoar Opportunity and give Chikagan the chance to play spoiler or a role she relishes oh so much. Yep. It's time for that French trick. I agree. Good, good call out to throw at the end there. I know she's got a bunch of names, but good to include Fero.

We had talked about this during the week, talked about some preview show. What is her path? I'm a little more sort of bullish on her chances of getting another Talishah. I know you think she's miles away. But I did say she needs to be, I think she needs another veteran and two out of three of sort of the flyweight blue chip pack of Ferro and Blanchefield and Casey O'Neill. So Fero would be the first domino to fall. I think she's, it's funny. she's obviously ahead of Blanchefield and O'Neill as far as sort of where she is in her career.

She's also quite a bit older. I think she's eight years older than O'Neill and nine years older than Blanchfield. So I don't know if people see her quite as the future champion that they see either those two, either Neal or Blanchfield. So yeah, that makes sense for Chigian. And then those either, you know, O'Neill and Blanchfield get another fight somewhere in the next three, four months. And then Chigigan, I think, gets one of those. And if she again, if she can beat two out of those three And then also probably another veteran other number one contenders fight

It's possible you could see Jukagian fighting for the flyweight title in like 2023 Especially if Valentin If Shachenko leaves the division Yeah, if she leaves the division you're right yes that that is that is an excellent caveat I think she'll get I mean she probably has to win five in a row She has to beat every single name that you just mentioned give her the rematch Mike Give her the rematch. Come on. I'm no interest in seeing that fight.

It's only going to get worse for Kayla. It's only going to get worse. She's a good fighter. Her first Fight of the Night Award. Her first fight night bonus period. Six years with the promotion, 15 fights in. And for someone who wins so many fights, it is like, it's crazy when you think that's the first time she's received a fight night bonus.

On the other hand, if you've watched all of her fights, it's not crazy at all that she's never received a fight night bonus. But either way, congrats to it. Can't cheat. This is a fun fight. I'll tell you what. Here's what will make me back off that 10 fight needs 10 more fight stance. Here we go.

Get a finish. Go get a finish. Go finish one of these women. Just run them over. Do what Carla Sparza did to Jan Jonan. Carl's not a big finisher. And when she needed to finish to get back to that title fight, despite Dana White, the promotion, the matchmakers, everybody saying, no, she doesn't deserve it. She goes out and just destroy.

Roy Jean-Jeanon beats the hell out of her, finishes her, stops her, no more questions. People said, okay, let's do it. There's no doubt about it. Go out there and get a finish. Go get a finish. And this is not an indictment on Kalin-Chaghan, but everybody asks, why isn't she getting a rematch? Because we saw what happened in the first fight. She got run over by Valentina Shepchenko.

I'm just not that interested in seeing it again when there's other more interesting fights. Look, at the end of the day, winning is the most, you know, we poke a lot of fun at her going to all these decisions. Winning is the most important thing. Sure. 18 and 4 record. You keep your job. You get that extra check every night. Hey, that's what matters in this business.

It's prize fighting. But boy, she has 18. So I say 18 and 4. Two wins by knockout. One by submission. 15 decisions. All of her UFC wins by decision. Her last knockout was in her very, her last fight before joining the UFC.

March, 26. and a bantam weight bout against Stephanie Briggerick. 45 second knockout. I've got to look that. I've actually never seen that. I've got to look that up. That doesn't seem real. It's very real.

And that's regional matchmaking for you. I've never seen that knockout. I'm going to look that up. We go to the lightweight division, AK. By the way, I know we have to matchbreak for these next two fights. Okay. But you go ahead and say what you need to say about it. Listen, listen.

Very impressed by the next two guys. We're going to talk about great performances. And I am aware, look, listen, rules rule. And our ought-no rule is we keep things pretty simple. If you're on the main card and you win, we make a fight for you. Simple, right? It's easy for us. It's easy for the listeners.

But we're getting to the point where, and it happens a lot. And it's important, it happens a lot to the women. Actually, I should say fly weights and also just fly-wits in general, where they get put on the preliminary card, which makes them, for our purposes, not an option. automatic pick, you know, they don't fit the automatic pick criteria. I think we should be, I think we should be replacing Manuel Torres and Alan Nassimento with Viviana Arujo and Viernazangiroba, two fighters who are ranked in the MMA fighting global rankings. Rules be damned. I'm sorry, I know it's going to be very upsetting for people

to hear me say that, but I would like to start in the future, take, you know, using the global rankings more as our gauge as opposed to the UFC's scheduling. But Mike, I'll tell you, I have sent in actually, I sent in a formal request to the Otno committee, you know, executive office, which is you and me. So we'll have a vote on it at some point. And it has to be unanimous. Otherwise, well, you know, we'll stick with the way we do things. But I did go through all the protocol to make this complaint. I appreciate that.

I feel like we are more like BTL, we have our own championship committee. and sometimes we have emergency late night meetings to discuss rules and rulings and things like that. I feel like Otno is more like a publicly traded company where our community are like equal share partners in a way. So maybe we'll see how they feel about that. But it's kind of hard to change things, 91 episodes of matchmaking into this thing. It's never too late to change. So listeners, you got two homework assignments by this week then. Give us a cool thing to do when we have that, when we might.

match each other's picks and also let us know what you think. Should we go, should we stick with the main card fighters get matchups pick for them? Or do you want us to see us mix it up a little and maybe go with our rankings or plus the UFC rankings? We can mix it up. I say it's never too late to change things. All right. Well, nothing has changed yet.

Let's talk about Manuel Torres, who gave his UFC debut, wild few minutes between he and, I mean, a man who should probably be knighted. at some point, Frank Camacho, he's just such a good dude. Torres knocks him down. So it was a pretty big shot. Herb Dean comes in and does the freaking hokey pokey once again and turns himself around and finally stops the fight. Torres wins.

What do we now do with the young hungry prospect from Mexico? Yeah, he looked great. Man, he was, uh, people go back and watch that finish. It's one of those knockouts where like all the not, he lands like every shot clean and the close of the sequence. you see knockouts where guys do a flurry and like a few of the punches miss like he was just landing on the button like he was working like a heavy bag it was scary so uh hopefully frank kamato's all right uh don't know if if that's the end of his ufc run i think he does get another fight because he

always brings it and like you said is a very well-liked guy manuel torres ludovic klein let's go let's keep it striking let's you know let's just keep the fire burning here i really want to see this fight again i don't see why ludovic klein shouldn't be ready to sign on the guideline for a fight soon. And I'm sure Manuel Torres is just itching to get back in there. So barring any injuries. He might have, I wouldn't be surprised if he broke his hands or something. But yeah, Manuel Torres, Ludoviclin.

All right. Keep in Klein at 155? Mm-hmm. All right. I'm going to go Jamie Malarkey. Good test. Two powerful, exciting strikers. There's no way that's not a lot of fun to watch.

So I'll go with that. But we're in this position where there's really no wrong answer because hashtag, first time UFC fight matchmaking. So let's go to all. Alon Nassimento, who hands young Jay Cadley his first loss. Something tells me that Sean Shelby, Mick Maynard, knew exactly what they were doing here. I'm sure they were not upset with the results. In the end, it's a good win for Nassimento.

He had a lot on his mind, and he performed admirably. So let's go with C.J. Vergare, okay? That'll be entertaining. Let's go with that. Let's say you. You are in tune with the listeners. I saw a lot of Alan Nassimento versus C.J. regarding suggestions.

I'm going to go with Malcolm Gordon. Just don't, just don't my, you know, show him some luck to my fellow Canadian. Got to my fellow Canadians. I feel like he's starting to get on track. I know the results has still been a little bit mixed in the UFC, but I do think he's a really talented guy and stylistically a fun matchup for Alan Ness and Mento. His grappling would definitely get put to the test. So we'll see how that goes.

Do you think, Mike, now that young Hadley has been humbled, as you said, by the matchmakers, can they get him on the London? card. When is that, when is that again? That is July 23rd. I think you got to try and get him on there, right? Me? I mean, I guess. Yeah. Yeah. He's learned his lesson. He's learned his lesson about whatever it is he supposedly did at the contender series that brought people the wrong way, missing weight

for his contender series fight. Now let's, this is an asset. You signed him, or Dana White signed him, so whatever. Someone made the decision to sign him. He's an asset. Put him out and he's still a prospect. Again, he lost a way more experienced guy in Nassimento. Like you said, the matchmaking might have known what they were doing there. Now let's give them a showcase fight in London. Let's, you know, let's see what we have with them for real. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see what they do.

They'll probably throw them in there with Tetsu, Retirea, and we're going to be like, what the hell? Seriously. That will, yeah, that probably won't end well for Jay Cadley. But let's go to the wild card round A, K. We might be on the same page here, but we're going to select one fighter. We did not matchmake four, and we will match bake for them right now.

So have that, my man. Listen, I started our picks with me crystal ball in it. I'm crystal balling it again. As I said before, I would have wanted to do Viviani Arrugio and Vrna Gondra. But I will only pick one for my wildcard. So I'll go with VV. I'll go to VV.I.R.O., nice win over Andrew League. Very good fight.

Very competitive fight. But Arrjo definitely tough that one out. Got a worthy decision. I think that she fights Lauren Murphy. And I'm not adding a caveat to this because I am picking Lauren Murphy to beat Misha Tate. at UFC 276, July 2nd. I see a lot of people, including our own Jedmishu, who are just saying, Amisha Tate's gonna like truck Lauren Murphy,

this matchup is being made so they can, you know, so they can book Tate versus Chufchenko. I think that's crazy. Tate has never fought at 125 before. She certainly has the frame for it. I don't think it'll be a big deal for her to make weight. She's in really good shape. She's always stayed in great shape even during her retirement.

Excuse me. And sure, her resume historically stronger than Lauren Mervis. I understand. She's the bigger name for a reason, and she's fought the best, the best, the best. But Lauren Murphy has also fought a really good competition, maybe not on Misha Tate's tier. She has not been out of competition for a long time. Tate looked great against Mary and Renaud, but, I mean, that was a fight that she was like designed. We want to talk about, you know, matchmakers being favorable matchups.

Mary and Rineau was on her way out. Misha Tate was going back. Good for Mish Tate, good win. I think Lauren Ruffer gives her a really tough fight and actually beats her. and when that happens, I think you give Arujo her and then we're talking about both those ladies getting back into the title mix. I like it.

I also went through Vianni Arujo. I was going to, I had a backup Van de Jandrova versus Tisha Torres. I think that's kind of a good fight to make there, but I thought Arrujo was just super impressive in this fight. I actually thought Andrea Lee was going to win the fight. I thought Angelie would pull away down the stretch, but it turns out Araujo's gas tank was way better

than Andrea Lee's gas tank. and just a great performance. And she almost, she was, I mean, almost knocked out in that first round. Andrew Lee had her badly hurt. She battled through it. Won the second round, won the third round. Great win. Alexa Grasso.

Arouja, Alexa Grasso. I like that fight. I like that fight. I think both women are, I think both of those women will fight for the title at some point. And we're just at the point where they have to fight each other right now. So I like that fight. Yeah, I've seen a lot of Grasso versus either Chukagian or Arrojo. I think Chagian is a little too soon.

But I get it. I think they're really high in Grasso. They just want to see her get another ranked win and probably fast track her to a title shot. There's certainly more interested in seeing Grasso chimes for a title than Chukagin. So, yeah, I think that people are trying to fast track her. And that's fine. She was a bright prospect at 115 once upon a time. I think she is now the way class she should be at.

and I do think Grasso will fight for the title soon, whether it is having to go through Chikian or having to go through Arroyo, I like both those matchups. All right, do we have any extracurriculars. Oh, we do. Oh, we do. I am so excited.

I enjoyed the matchmaking for this card, actually, but I'm even more excited for checking the tapes this week. First off, shout out Marcus McGahey, who titled this, just the dangerous edition of On to the Next One. Shout out to Davy Grant, of course, who again. We want to give as much love as possible because he should have had a fight of the night, or performance tonight or something.

So I'm happy to call this the dangerous edition of on the next one. I'm going to give out some solo Otna points here. I'm sure I have a feeling other people mentioned these, but according to my records, these are the only people I remember calling it out. I remember, guys, if I don't remember something, sorry, that's on me, but you don't get a point. That's just how life works.

Life isn't fair. Regular emailer, and listen, Casey Carpenter, one of my regular emails, always sending what nice messages along with their, almost never missing a show, sending an pick. So Casey Carpenter, you are getting a solo,

a no point for Bobby Green versus Jim Miller. UFC 276 July 2nd. I love that matchup. Casey, take your point, please. And Chris Martin, Lucay versus Jeff Neal. That's, it looks like it's going down August 6. Chris Martin, you're also getting a solo point. I also actually want to admonish everyone.

I'm going to break out a, I haven't made this regular enough. A where were you on that one, dip shit for all of the listeners who I feel like, and I guess us, how did we not come up with, I don't know if you picked this one. Drak Kloz versus Diego Faheda. I don't remember you. I don't know if you picked that one. I do not because

Drak Kloz cut a fiery prolo on Marco Madsen and then ripped Eddie Chah a new one and wanted to take out the entire fight-ready team. So I was all in on that. Well, I could not find any record of us or the listeners picking Faheda versus Close. Very logical matchup. It's like UFC 277, July 30th.

I don't know how we missed that. Mike, we got a lot of, a mic check my friend. Oh, God. Oh, we got a mic check, my friend, from FFS 0807 on Instagram, regular listener. Okay, I'll just read this out. Since last Saturday, Michael Heck Jr. He used your full name. Mike, do you have a middle name? Patrick. Okay. I wish he had, I wish he had done it to like fully admonish you. I guess maybe it doesn't know. Michael, I'll do it for him. Or for them. I don't know. Michael Patrick Heck Jr.

Has only said in his various shows that Islam must fight B'Neil to determine who deserves to be the number. Oh, Mike is already shaking his head. Deterner to be the number one contender. However, in the Otno episode Sunday, February 27th, 2022, he said that Islam's next fight should only be for the title. So this is three months ago. He also said that Islam's winning streak was better than the Tony Ferguson one. And he even said that those who ask Islam to wait and fight Baneal are, quote, insane. what's going on Mike

and then adds love you guys sorry if my English is not correct I'm from Morocco you English is fine FSS so Mike how do you respond to these allegations first of all Islam or

someone tweeting as Islam is a 1,000% at fault for this because that Twitter account is the reason why I feel this way and that's the reason why he's probably not getting this fight goes out and beats Bobby Green already we lose

the Hafiel versus Raphael matchup. And Islam Makachchev's like, let's go, dude. I'll take this fight. And RDA was like, okay, let's do it, wherever you want. And then it was crickets because RDA called his bluff. And you put the UFC in a really tough position. And then poor, we had to bring in poor Hanato Moikano all the way from Brazil to cut a whole bunch of weight and fight a five-round fight with RDA because of you, Islam

Makachev, I blame you for the beating that man took. You are solely to, actually, you're not solely to blame because it probably wasn't you who tweeted that out. So that's why. And at this point, because this division is in such shambles and we're dealing with this whole Olivera situation, I think Islam kind of owes it to everybody after putting himself out there, the UFC, going for the carrot, if you will, out of the garden. he says no, plans are completely thrown off,

and then poor Hanata Moikato has to fly across the world to fight RDA five rounds on like five days notice because of this. Now, I'm also saying that Islam Makachev versus Charles Oliver right now would be a very interesting fight. It would be a very interesting fight, and I would watch it. And I'm not saying this must happen, but I understand why the UFC would want to do Mokachev versus Dary. Daryush for two reasons.

One, Daryush has just as compelling of a case of that fight as Islam Makhachev does. And if Islam Makhachev did not have the Habib connection, I don't think this would even be a discussion right now. I think people will be clamoring for B'Neal Daryush to get this title shot over Islam Makachov. So let me just throw that out there. And two, if Mokachev beats Binald Aryush, let's just say they do this in October, then we don't have any questions.

There's no options. There's no other person. It's Islam and nobody else. Right now, we have Islam amongst a list of about four or five other guys. We could do Connor. We could do Michael Chandler. We could do Darius. We could do all these different things we could do at 155 for this title fight.

If Islam goes out there and beats Spineal Darius and steam rolls him like he has done to Bobby Green and some of the past fighters that he has competed against, then not only is there no argument or, discussion, it's a much bigger fight if Oliver goes out and wins. Now, Oliver is saying, I'm not fighting until December. So what are you going to do? Is Islam Makachaf just not going to fight in Abu Dhabi? I have a hard time believing that's not going to, that's going to happen. So all I'm saying is at this point, because you may probably not you Islam, made a critical misstep in your social media game, what's the rush? Go fight Benile. You're going to fight RDA on five days notice, now you're getting a full camp to fight Benil. Go fight Benile. What's wrong with that? And he wins and he goes and fights for the belt. It's a much bigger fight. Everyone makes more money.

There you go. Just don't do dumb things on social media. Don't do dumb things on social media. And yeah, February 27th, I felt that way. But then he did dumb things on social media. Sorry, I hope this was, I thought this was the loop. But again, if they make, if they make Olivera Makachev for the vacant title right now, I'm going to watch it. interested in it. But I think it could be a bigger fight. So everyone seems to think that as long as I'm just going to run over Banneal. So let him run over Bineal. And then he looks even stronger heading into that fight. I feel like we haven't had a proper mic check in a while. And I'm glad that this brought some vintage mic heck out of you. Yeah. I'm just tired

to talk about the sole situation. I feel like I feel like I've talked about it for a, I mean, literally a week straight. So many shows, BTL, three heck of mornings this is brought up you can do whatever you want the oliver right now you can do whatever you want with them you can just give him the title i mean you can do anything you can do anything at this point so well the situation has been clarified yes that's it all right and i did want to uh i actually want to get to listener question now uh from from from the aforementioned uh recent otno point acquisitioner christian martin he said he was listening to the our preview show for ufc vgas 54 and we mentioned a couple of non-UFC fighters

for various reasons. Ray Cooper the third and Roberto Soldich. He says, and he's asking if the logistics became feasible would you consider matching those guys together in their UFC debuts? So let's say, you know, Ray Cooper doesn't win this year's PFL

title and it just size up, okay, free agent next year time to test my hand the UFC. Roberto Soldich, you know, takes care of business in KSW, does, takes whatever big fights he has left there. Maybe wins the light heavyweight title as he's teased that he wants to do. And then comes to the UFC as a proper 170 year.

What do you think, Mike? Is that a good, if they were signed around the same time and their schedules lined up, would you want to see them matched up for their UFC debuts? No. I mean, I would watch it, but the UFC would never do that. Yeah. Because if they sign Roberto Soldich, that means they are paying him an insane amount of money. Right.

Because from what I understand, KSW offered him a lot of money to stay there, a lot. Now, his contract is still not up. He's not a free agent yet. His contract, he either has one fight left or it expires, I believe, the middle of July. So technically, he's still a KSW two division champion. And KSW, he's a star in that promotion. And I know a lot of people in America don't. The hardcore fans probably watch KSW all the time,

but they're probably American fans who are new. in sport, have no idea with KSW is. KSW is gigantic in that part of the world. And he is probably the face of that organization. And they offered him a lot of money from what I understand. And if the UFC is able to snatch him up, that means they're offering him something. I don't think they're going to touch what KSW's offering, but at least they're offering him something tempting to weigh legacy over money in general. So, and if they sign Soldich and Ray Cooper, Solich is probably making three times the money that Ray Cooper is.

It's just the way that it is. So I think if they bring Solich in, I mean, they're giving him a big fight right away. He's fighting a Wonderboy. He's fighting somebody of that nature, maybe of Asente Lucke, he'll be fighting a top 15 guy. There's no doubt in my mind. Or they bring up, you know, a 55er and who wants to move up to 170, is just looking for a fight, they do something like that. But Solis just likely getting, if they sign both guys, Solich is likely getting a pretty big

name. Yeah, I don't think people realize how big the Polish M.A. is now, or at least relative to what it once was. Like, yeah, Blakovitz and Johanna, Jacek have talked about kind of like, I mean, it wasn't that long ago that there wasn't much of a Macy there. But I think it's, like, grown exponentially as they've kind of made an impact. And then also as like some promotions have this weird niche, like Poland is like really leading sort of the celebrity freak show MMA scene.

If you guys go onto like YouTube and you find, look up like Fame MMA, for example. KSW obviously does strong numbers as well. Look up Fame MMA. They're doing like YouTube videos in like the millions, millions of views and live streams. I can't wish live stream I was watching. It might not have been Fame MMA.

It might have been another Polish Emmy promotion doing freak show fights. They're getting like number, like the kind of live streaming numbers that one championship claims they're getting. Let me put it that. I'm serious. Like I was amazed when I saw some of these live streaming numbers. again you might say oh it's most people in Poland and I'm like yeah maybe it is but that again tells you how strong that region is like that's normally for something to get those kind of numbers

it's you know you have to have sort of a more global appeal so it's either way it's good it's either they are reaching out and connecting with people around the world or there's such a strong Polish base that they are getting like literally like thousands of one thousands of viewers on their stream so it's it's quite the scene out there and you're right like Soldich if he never comes to the UFC I don't think he's ever he's going to be like oh man I wish I'd fought in the show like ksw is the big show there like you are there is national fame to be had there um maybe only for select view but like you know meres puginowski right i'm irish podjanozzi is a super celebrity in poland like it's so famous for strongest man stuff and and his combat sports career

uh yeah so i know everyone's like ah this is the golden land and these you know all these guys should rush there ray cooper more likely probably ends up in the oc someday solditch i hope so um but like you said there's a chance he just stays in ksw yeah and i wouldn't blame him If they're paying him the type of money that I'm hearing, then it wouldn't shock be in the slightest. To succeed in the future of work, forward thinkers use AI to deliver measurable results. Workday is the AI platform for HR and finance

that frees you from the mundane so you can focus on more meaningful work. Workday, moving business forever forward. Anything else, or are we ready to disclaim? Yeah, we can go. Let's disclaim. So, guys, we're going to Listener Fix now very quickly. Again, I really, really hoping for you guys. to get those solo picks.

It's hard because everyone sends in picks now. But if you are the only person who picked a fight correctly, a solo ought to no point will be on your way and your life will be changed. Guys, please pay attention to what way class the fighters are in. If it seems like they're sticking around, I know that's tricky now. I mean, again, Monta Heavis this week went up to 125. She had won. Who knows she might have stayed there.

People who have fought already, please let me know if you're booking a rematch. Otherwise, I'm assuming you're a fool and you didn't remember these people fought before. Notable injuries. We don't want to talk about fighters who aren't coming back in. anytime soon. People who may have been released. And my biggest peeve, fighters who are already booked. People, topology.com is your friend. I think they are, or MMAfighting.com, too. We're on top a lot of these things, really. The internet. Google is your friend to look up, whether people are at least rumored to be having a matchup. Please, please, don't mention it.

Because I swear, Mike, I swear, if you cannot take two seconds to look up if someone has a fight book or if they've been released, I don't have two seconds to read your picks. All right. That's it. That's it. And, of course, your pick might just be doo-doo. And we're not going to read it. All right. Here we go. Let's get into this thing. Alec-Inilion kicks us off, says Tetsura Tira versus Figuero. Francisco Figurato.

Yeah. Which, it's not bad. I was trying to play a game here, but it didn't work. Okay. You know, sold it, and that's fine. Petrovsky versus Tidorevich versus Chidi-enjuquanee winner. Michael Johnson versus Ignacio Bahamandes. I actually don't think that's out of the realm of possibility.

I honestly don't. I like the fight and, yeah. Yeah, I think that's very possible. Chukagan versus Molly McCann if she wins her next. Are we really doing this? Are we really throwing Molly McCann into a fight with the number one ranked 25er? Come on now. She beat Luana Carolina.

Like, I have a lot of respect. Luana's a fine fighter, but who's, and she's fighting Hannah Goldie? At UFC London, if she beats Hannah Goldie, we're ready to throw her in her a fight with Kayland-Jew Kagan. Come on, Alec. Come on, Alec. This is not the proper use of Molly McCann, guys. You saw the proper use of Molly McCann in USC London.

You're going to see it again at UFC London 2. I don't even have to call the car, UFC London 2. She should put on another impressive performance. I don't know if she gets another insane knockout like that, but this is how you make a star. This is how you create the perception of a star guys. Because if people, again, see the Lana Carolina-Cherlina fight

and then what's likely to happen in the Goldie fight, They are going to think, wow, Molly McCann must be the greatest fighter in the world. But the matchmakers know she's probably a little bit further away than that. I do not want to see her fight, Kiery. No, no, really not good, Alec. David Graham versus Kyler Phillips, Ryan Span versus Dominic Reyes. Maybe. Torres versus Jai Herbert.

Sure. Jan versus Glover, win or lose if Yuri wins and Ankelaiath redeems his last performance with a quick Anthony Smith finish. That's the fight to make. All right. Not bad, Alec. I mean, in the grade school of life, you got to be there. You got like 80%.

B minus. John Ray, Tyra versus Nassimento. Let's just match those guys up. John Jerobo versus Tisha Torres. Johnson versus the winner of Donald Soroni versus Joe Lozon on June 18th. Torres versus Malarkey. Jukagian versus Grasso. Grant versus Casey Kenny.

Ryan Spann versus the loser of Paul Craig versus Vulcan Ozedimir. Rackich versus the loser of Ankleif versus Sark. Smith, although, I mean, that's not out of the wrong possibility, but I don't think we're going to see Rackage fight for at least another year. We'll see how the MRI and stuff goes on Monday, but he could be out for a while. Blahovic versus the loser of Glover v. Gerey. I'd rather have a fresh matchup after Glover retains. That's right, John Ray. That's right.

Gerard Biagin. Rackage versus Smith Ankelyev loser. Ryan Span, Johnny Walker, too. Isn't it crazy that no one's clamoring to see Johnny Walker fight these days? What a vast difference from like four years ago. Was that long of that? Isn't it wasn't like three years ago? I'm saying, I feel like it was like two years ago.

Maybe it was three years ago. But yeah, gosh. Guys, just Google Johnny Walker, John Jones and see some of the things that were being written, included on our website, by the way, about, and not actually us picking, but like comments from people and about like, oh, this is like, man, he could challenge for the title someday. And listen, in fairness, he did look really good when he served the O.C. So it wasn't like crazy talk. It's not like, oh, what were people saying? It's like a little premature. Yeah, we, this is what, this is what you don't do, okay? This is back to the

Molly McCann pick. That's like putting Molly McCann, that's like Molly McCann, beating Hannah Goldie and throwing in there what you gave. That's what they do with Johnny Walker and a couple nice knockouts and they threw him in there with freaking Corey Anderson. Like, come on now. Come on. David Graham versus Timor Valley if in London or Abu Dhabi. Yeah. I, I, I Although I don't think David Grand's fighting in July after that crazy fight, but who knows? Chikagan versus Tyler Santos win or lose. That's actually not a bad pick at all right there. That makes sense, yeah, sure.

She wins the belt, she gets the title shot. But Valentin is probably getting an immediate rematch. I would say if she wants it, yeah, unless she loses and says, screw it, I'm going up to Bantamate. But I would think she would want to reclaim the flight. Because that Bantamweight, if she ever wants a Bantamate Tyler shot, that's there any time she wants. So I think she would want to take the, you know, avenge that loss. Torres versus Nicholas Mata Mota,

Nassimento versus Francisco Figueroa Aura Ujo versus Alexa Grasso Michael Johnson versus Clay Guida Tyra versus the winner of Tyson NAM versus UlaMbeckoff Did you say Michael Johnson versus Clay Guida? Yes Did they not already fight?

I mean maybe they did but That was February of last Who's this listening? Oh yeah God! Who's this listener? Gerard Biaghan. Gerard Bioggan Okay, he were a regular so I'm only going to just a slight, a slight, like, slap on the wrist.

Come on, man. They fought last February. And then Petrosky versus Beershart. Chris London. Blahovic versus Span? Wow. We're really just ready to shoot Ryan Span up to the stratosphere here. You know, that's classic same card.

Same card matchmaking, right? Whatever. Chukagan versus French chick. Listen, she said, Chukagin said this, okay? We're not saying this. Neither is Chris. I'm sorry. That's a new meme going forward is that French chick.

It's easier to say than Firore anyway. So if you people, like, if you want to throw that out there, I don't think we should be offended by it. David Graham versus Alatang Ali, Torres versus Michael Johnson, Araujo versus Blanchfield. But Blanchefayl's fighting, J.G. Alder, it's June 4th. Maybe it's a win or lose. I'm going to give you credit as if you're saying it that way. Is this Jared Bia again? No, Chris London.

Chris London. Okay, okay. I'm getting heated, Mike. Like, I'm getting heated. Nassimento versus Shepard. Chenele Petrosky versus Kyle Barallo, who has a fight book, doesn't he? Move on. Next.

Golly. Next. I hope that wasn't the last back. I hope that wasn't the last back. I hope there's fixing you can cut off. We go to Marcus. Graphic in full form here. Jan Bolhovic versus wait for title shot, I guess.

Ryan Spann versus Azamat Mirzakhanov. Davy Grant versus Victor Henry. I thought about that fight as well. Chiqui versus Fioro. Torres versus Borechev, Nassimento versus Tyra, Michael Johnson versus Ludovic Klein, Jenderobitia Torres, Andre Petroski, Anthony Hernandez. Okay? Let's go to Robbie Ride.

Ola, amigos, this is what I've got this week. Jan versus title fight. I would have said Rackage versus Reyes, but that knee injury would probably have him out for a while, and Reyes is ready to fight. Ryan Span versus Dust of Jacoby. Jacoby is booked against Daun Jung. I believe on June 4th, but maybe it's again, that fights less than a month away. Maybe that's a winner to lose.

I'm not giving these people the benefit of the doubt, Mike. That's just, duh. You're not going to like this. Araujo versus Casey O'Neill, who has just suffered a devastating knee injury and it's going to be out until 2023. I'm sorry, is this Marcus? This is Robbie Ryan. And Robbie Ryan. Guys, come on.

What are we doing? I'm upset D.K.' Tcha's getting upset. Chukagian versus the Tate Murphy winner. Actually, I... Listen, if Tate win, she's fighting for the title, more than likely, but I don't mind that idea.

And if Murphy wins, I know Lauren Murphy has wanted that rematch with Chukagian for white some time, so that would make sense to me as well. That's pretty long ago, too, right? 2016, I think. And was that at 135? That was at 35. Oh, totally. different. Oh, totally different people, totally different fight. Yeah, I like that. I really

actually want to see that rematch now. Yeah, that was Chaghan's UFC debut. I think you took that fight on less a week's notice. All right. Hebus versus Hill, wildcard. Michael Johnson would be a great step-up in competition against an experienced veteran for young Patty Pimblitz, AK. So this was Michael Johnson? Michael Johnson versus Patty Pimbleau, UFC London. Yeah, yeah. I like it. It's a stiff test. It's a stiff test, but it's a guy that, you know, like, you know, odds makers would kind of see as being, even though he just won, he just beat a guy who's, what, 38, 38, 39 years old.

No disrespect, but I mean, again, he beat an older guy to see him that now have to face a younger man who is a more hyped fighter. Yeah, there's some intrigue there. It's some intrigue there. I do wonder how much, Pimbleau would definitely be favored. I wonder by how. much you don't think you've got minus 200 would you no come on might though he might I mean maybe the betters will juice them right that high but

I think most people like understand what Patty is he's just he's a guy who should only fight in London against feather weights who lost on the contender series I'm not counting about I've said this on other shows stranger things have happened then guys like him then Patty Pimble becoming an actual world title contender listen if you're Patty Pimble that is the best job in the world Yes. Toby Foster Taylor is back. We haven't heard from him in like two months.

It's good to see you, Toby. After you, Mike picks her in. Jan versus Smith after Ancolaif wins. Wow. Span versus Cleo Roundtree, dig it. David Grant, Hione Barcellos, dig it. Oh, no. Oh, no.

It's fine. It's fine. I'm bracing myself. Nassimeto versus Ode-Ozborn. I'm going to save the O'SO until the end. Petrosky versus the Phil Haas, Duran win. winner, Michael Johnson

versus Devante Smith, who is no longer with the company. The releases, I'll say this, I'll say this, releases are a little bit harder to keep track of than matchmaking stuff. I mean, if you go to M.A.fighting.com you would know Devonte Smith had been released. But it's, that's a little bit hard to look up. I will say. It is a little bit hard. Like, I say typology. There's no, you know, if you go to like Devante

Smith's, you know, fighter page on topology, there's nothing that says, like, the only way you would know is if the fighter, you know, a fighter who's been released has like a fight book with a promotion, obviously, outside the UFC. So I'm a little, Mike, I'll be a little bit more lenient with that. I'll be a little bit more lenient. I do think people should know these things. But it is, there is no like one stop shop to go like, look up a fighter's page anywhere and go like, oh, has been released by, you know, such as such promotion.

So I'm not as mad, Mike. I'm not as mad. We end with Tristan Gordettes. Let's see what we got here. Ryan Spann versus Jamal Hill at light heavyweight. Again, this must be another winner lose because Jamal Hill is about the headline against Tiago Santos. I believe June 4th.

Tristan. You're better than this. Mandahibas, Janjan, Janjan, Tatura, Tyra versus C.J. Vergara at Flyweight. So we're going to ask CJ Vergara to... Yeah. Maybe. That's not a bad fight.

Tyra versus Vergara? Wait. Is Tyra not a Flyway? Yeah, he's 25 and 35. He kind of... Oh, so and 35. Okay. But he debuted at Flyway, right? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So I like that one. Arrujo versus Jennifer Maya and Torres versus Borshift, which I like that fight. Araujo versus Jennifer Maya. This is like in my mind, I thought this had, oh, this has never happened. Never happened. Oh, been booked. Oh, okay. That's why I said so familiar. All right. All right. So, you're up. Okay. Keep track of those names. We've got to ban some of those people, Mike, because I am furious at some of the, Disclamers. They're just, guys, look it up. Look it up.

I look up like, you know, I'm not perfect, but I will say. You guys, again, if you can't take two seconds to look it up, we shouldn't take two seconds to read your picks. All right. Jeez, Louise. What do we got here? Chris Dragon Slayer 2 on Twitter, Michael Johnson versus Natan Levy. Sure. Christopher at Aguire, M.MA on Twitter.

Tetsuro Tire versus Victor Alta Marano. So the man who beat, he beat. He beat Candelario, right, on Contender Series. Dean, in the record books, yes. Yes. Michael Johnson versus Vyachal Borsheb, Alan Asimendo versus Carlos Hernandez, and Manuel Torres versus Rapha Garcia. Sure.

Stephen Breitner, Petroski versus the Boralio Petrosian winner, July 9th. See, that's how it's done. That is how it's done, people. Conditions. Davy Graham versus Julio Arse. There's really no bad fights for David Grant, isn't there? James McDonald's. What I like from James McDonald's?

Michael Johnson versus Malarkey. There you go. Yeah. Listen, that was, I like it. People I think you mentioned that one. I'm a fan of it. Our pal Marcus McGahy, there you go, with conditional ones. Span versus Daun-Jon Jacobi winner, David Grant versus Paiva,

Sergei Morozov winner June 25th. That'd be interesting. I think I would have them both ranked higher than him. Yeah, maybe. So that might be a look of a fun way for him to kind of jump up. Manuel Torres versus Mike Davis. Michael Johnson versus John McDessie. Where is John McDessie at?

And I like this. Tessorotaro versus Carlos Hernandez. He can be the Carlos killer. And I think that's a fun game. Petroski versus Misha Sarkhanov. Brandon Hahn had a couple of picks here. And he wanted to preface this with this. This is my first time sending Otno Picks while 100% sober.

So if these are bad, then I have no excuse. All right. Yeah, he likes Chican versus Santos. but Tylas Santos, but only if she loses to Valentina Surchenko, so not necessarily if she wins. And Michael Johnson versus Leonardo Santos, yes, I really, really like that one. I think it fits where they are in their careers. Yeah. Hayes B'The third, what I like here, Alexander Rockridge versus Paul Craig Usdemier winner.

And he said he had a rationalization for like if he had to fight Usdemeer again when I should read this. where is my comment okay either way I think I'd be a fun fight along as it went on it wasn't oh maybe I'm reading the wrong one I apologize guys I'm I can't read properly Craig Volcan winner for now probably probably works better if it's Craig but I wouldn't be surprised running it back with Vulcan either obviously hard to make a pick since we don't know yet how seriously the injury was yeah I that's that's fair Manuel Torres versus hafayal alves the turn Alan Nessl I like Alan Nesslmento versus Tim Elliott, Amir al-Bazi, loser.

They fight on June 25th. Mike, what do you think of this? Michael Johnson versus Soroni-Losan winner, June 18. It would either be Johnson v. Cowboy or Johnson v. Lozon rematch, which happened. I totally forgot this happened nine years ago. That's fine. Yeah, someone suggested that in mine as well. Yeah, I'm okay with that.

But it's kind of tough because of Loseon. on wins. I don't know. I think he'd be okay. I think he'd be up for a Michael Johnson fight. I think he'd be up for that. Like you said, he's going to be very picky if he does continue on.

He's got to like three things. He's got to like the name, the date, and the location. So if they could find a name, a date in a location that he likes, then we're good. How about Vienna Jouena Jouna. If she loses to

Cynthia Calvillo, July 9. You could probably do Nunes either way. Yeah. Or Scyd either way. By the way, I see Loply asking why. Well, that fight did 1.25.

That fight is at 120. Oh, that's fine. But I could see Nunes coming back down to strike. You think she permanently? What was her last fight? That was the McKenzie Nairn fight.

McKenzie. Which is at 115, right? That was it. And Calvio wants, from all indications, Calvio was going to go down to 115. She was booked to fight Brianna Fortino at 1 15.

That's right. So it's possible. So again, it makes sense. It is. Yeah. I just want to address one thing. I see people are always asking why is Nina Nunoz, like, ranked so high. Well.

She beat Tatiana Suarez. She beat that thing. No, no, she did not beat it. She almost, she gave her a good fight. She lost that fight. But it was like that was. You're right. You're right.

I'm sorry. But that was like, but she did beat Claudia Kedelia very convincingly before that. And at the time, Claudia Godelia was like the number, I mean, at worst, the number three, number four, striding in the world. Now, I understand it's a long time. ago now we're probably like three and a half years ago. But for me, again, for rankings, it's one, she's already out of our rankings due to inactivity, I assume.

Oh, no, no, she fought in McKenzie Duren, so she's back in. But there just haven't been enough people, I think, who have done enough to pass her in the rankings. So if you guys want to drop, you know, Nina Nunez out of there, of course, again, she hasn't won in so long that I, that's fine, I understand, but she hasn't fought that much. So for me, the inactivity hurts. I just haven't seen enough people at straw weight, like make enough of a statement to knock her out of whatever a top of 15 spot. That's how I feel about it. But I totally understand that people have just completely removed it from their rankings.

I get it. But her quality of wins is very, very high. Yeah. Okay. Liam Perry, Blakhovich versus Craig if he beats Uzdemeer, Grant versus Casey Kenney. Amen. I'm in for almost every matchup. For sure is that one?

Like, I don't know. I don't like that. I'm so, I don't know where to go with Casey Canney. I had him so pegged as like this blue chipper and like his just, the results haven't quite been there. Michael Johnson was Mark Chiquese. Janjeroba versus Jan Shaunan. Interesting. Yeah, I hadn't thought of that.

I hadn't thought of that. Okay. And then I had, there's some ones I haven't had, didn't quite have the chance to vet, so I'll try to hit them up quick. James McDonald's for, did I already read this one? I did already. I'm sorry, guys. I'm a bit out of order here. I know I have a weird way of ordering my, my picks here. The damn 10 p.m. main card starts at six fights. No, no excuse to play like a champion. Ain't no expert on Twitter.

He's also fan of Petrossey versus Mier's shirt. Yeah, again, you know, Petrusc is, as he said, just has to get in shape. So I'm a fan. And some other picks people have already had. Our man in Denmark, Tocke Gurding Jensen, Blocko, get the teleshod against whoever is champ. Ryan Span versus Dominic Ray. I saw this a lot, Mike. So I guess a lot of people want to see him be Dominic Ray. his comeback fight. It kind of makes sense. It kind of makes sense. I'm okay with that because I think Dominic Reyes should win that fight. And I mean, it's not an easy fight by any stretch, but he should win that fight. And going from John Jones

to Jan Belhovic to freaking Yuri Perashka, I think Ryan Spann would be a nice change of pace. We've had people mention Manuel Torres versus Jay Herbert. This is a toke's that's Specifically in London. I agree. That's a fight that should happen in London. Tetsu Retire versus the Cody Durden J.P. Bay's winner. That's right. That's fight's coming up.

So I'm into that. I'm into that. What else we got here? Thomas Collins. Someone who always had to mention because they're like me. They refuse to use Brandon Royvell's nickname, which I appreciate. Another Michael Johnson versus Mark Chiquese suggestion. That's the way to go.

Another Davey Grant versus Julio Arse. Another Spann versus Dominic Reyes. So there's some buzz behind that. Four-corner. Sports, N.Y. I think I, sorry, I neglect the submission for it. Vierna versus Tia Torres was one of the most. It seems like a lock in the, in the minds of our listeners, man, because I saw a lot

of people just write, just Vierna, Tisha Torres, make it happen. What else we got out here? Caitlin Chigigan and Minofiore also very popular. Ryan Spann versus Johnny Walker, too, the rematch. Hey, we just mentioned them. Yeah, all right, fine, whatever. I don't, I don't love it. And another call for Yonni Blocko to get that title fight.

And I'll kind of close off here with Barry O'Reilly. I'll close off the Twitter Picks anyway. And then I'll quickly hit IG and email. Bear Riley says, Anjie Bertrowski versus the Julian Marquez Gregory Rodriguez loser. Maybe a little to make of a step up. The Bertrowski does look like a hell of a prospect. Yeah, he's solid.

Very solid. There's another truth for Michael Johnson versus Patty Pimblank. And Barry wants to ask, is there any truth to them trying to book Pimble? Blit versus a Zaitar. I mean, I think that was one of those war room screenshot fights from the Dana White interview with the pivot.

I hope not. I think that's an awful idea because I would pick a Zytar to win that fight. Yeah, definitely. I think he'd be like, he's over a minus 200 favor in that fight in my eyes. So I hope they don't go that direction.

But listen, if they did and Patty said, yeah, let's go, then much respect. And if he wins, then, you know, that shuts a lot of people up. So I would say probably not, but we'll see. I think we're seeing Michael Johnson more likely than... Yeah, that's about as... That's about as risky of a fight as that would make for Patty.

He could sell it, he could sell it, though. Yep. And he would sell all the way up until he was KO 35 seconds to round one. Whatever. Oh, did you mention... Did you bring up Span v. Almeida? I know you mentioned Jelton Amade. It has an option for...

for Span? No one brought that to my attention. Okay. Well, Barry says, regardless of what happens with Almeida's upcoming fight at heavyweight, this guy should be fast-tracked and beating someone like Span, while very possible, we'll shoot him into the top of Dean. Yeah, that would be a hell of a matchup for Amade again. Should he, especially just not, let's say he has a strong performance against Spirk Porter,

just wipes him out, ready to fight again soon. So I'm in there. All right, let me quickly jump over to IG. You don't want to neglect my IG boys. Tristan Gordette also messaging me I won't read he didn't say any pics

but I will say he just asked for anyone who's listening now something just popped up on Sunday about Gregor Gillespie you know the UFC roster watch Twitter account Gregor Gillespie being removed

guys yeah we don't know we haven't know anything about him being released or anything there's a lot of other reasons why people get removed from the roster Yawani and Jacek was just removed from that

specifically not necessarily the roster but from the What do we call? The fan voting or something? The fans can have like their own rankings pool. Right. And if a fighter is, if the fighter is deemed ineligible because of lack of activity, they could remove them from the fan ranking pool.

And that's guys, when you see the UFC roster watch Twitter account, when you see a name removed, that's generally why the source that they're going from is from the fan rankings thing. There might be some other sources, but that is, it's automated. It's like a, I assume it's like a bot. So you're just going to see that pop up right away. I don't. So, but we're also.

rather than not saying that we know for sure that Gillespie has not been released by the U.C. The certain reasons why they would, why they would. Again, he just hasn't been the most active guy. And he is coming off a win. So we'll probably learn more about that later this week, guys. We will dig into that for you. But as far as we know, Gillespie's still with the U.C. But we'll see.

Look out for statements from Gillespie himself. Who knows? Matt Bradbury thrown in some Belter picks, not even going to read these. Come on, Matt. You know, I'm not going to do that. Ain't nobody got time for that. And a lot of picks people have already had. but David Graham versus John Castaneda, great matchup.

Also, Tetsoro Tower versus Bruno Silva, the flyweight version, yeah. Petroski versus Ian Heinish. Yeah, I like that. I like that. That's fine. I'm in to that. Yeah, I like it. CJ, Michael Johnson versus Jordan Levitt?

No. Well, yeah, I was a know-it, like, first sound, but now it's not awful. Man, it'd be such an interesting fight because if Levitt can't get it to the ground, He's in trouble, but even if it does get to the ground, Johnson's pretty slick down there. It doesn't have the jiu-jitsu skills that Leavitt has, but, I mean, Leavitt is, Leavid on the feet would be in a world of trouble.

So, yeah, I mean, listen, if they made it, I'd be, I'd be intrigued by it. I could see it. M.M. Mayhead's always sending in great picks. Here's some fresh ones. Davey Grant versus the Dona Bakery, Kyeongho Kang winner. I like that. I actually have those guys really, like, close together in my rankings, so I totally see where that kind of.

And he likes Levitt for Manuel Torres. That might be more likely, just as far as, like, UFC experience goes. But, um, Taira versus, oh, my goodness, I'm messing. I'm forgetting this person's first name. Tairor versus Clayton. Hey, Clayton, excuse me. Clayton Rodriguez. Yeah, Clayton did not, you know, another hype prospect did not pick up the win as the

year to debut, but he had a tough opponent. So, yeah, that's, that's very logical. Dylan shoot said what a weird card that was it was good but the same time it was good but also not that interesting at the same time I'd get a 6.5 in the gymnastics meter yeah I kind of agree um yeah that was that was like the WCW thunder of the where like if it's a good thunder show you're like all all right that was pretty good but it's just no storylines coming out of it at all sure uh block of it's versus angelao smith winner uh Ryan span versus teago santos win loser draw against Jamal Hill people that's how you do it tell me if you want to pick someone who's

booked say to give me that win-lose or draw thank you davy graver is Chris Gutierrez is he not booked I don't think he is he's not but I'm surprised yeah Chris Gutieres where are you at let's let's let's have that fight uh let's see he just five do you follow us in two months ago no I'm impatient I want to see him again dad Jackson Davey Grant versus Ricky Simone I don't think that's going to happen now Rick is ranked and he's pretty high up there Yeah. A great, great fight. I just, I just don't think it's going to times. Janjoba versus Loopy Godinas. Wow. That is interesting.

I mean, Loopy would jump on that in a second. Bobby, Lupi would jump on any fight in a second. That's very, that's really interesting. I like that. I like that. Our pal, Michael Conifrey at Otno and Mn Mn M.A. Fighting memes, people follow that account He wants to see that Manuel Torres Jai Herbert matchup and Span Dominic Reyes.

Y'all know the name. I think this is the first time sending me picks? Well, y'all, they've mentioned before. Well, y'all know the name. They want to see Michael John. Oh, no. Well, this might be the last time you sent him to picture.

Michael Johnson and Bobby Green. As I just said, Bobby Green, it looks like he will be fighting Jim Miller. So y'all know the name. At least you tried. It doesn't look like he's fighting Jim Miller. He is fighting Jim Miller. It's done.

It's happening. July 2. I sang it. Well, you know, nothing is final until they're in the cage. But yes, y'all know the name. Better luck next time. And I think, my friend, I think. Oh, sorry, let me hit my email.

I got two emails, of course. Jay Donagie, the poca-nose picker. Man, everyone's on this Jan Drobo, Tisha Torres thing. Michael Johnson, Tony Ferguson rematch. Let's do it. Chukhiju Kagan versus that French chic, Manalfioreo. Manuel Torres, Luigi Vendramini. Is Luigi still?

I've asked this multiple times. I feel like I'm really disrespecting him because I feel like, no, I think he, I think he might have been released. He might have released. I don't know if we have a news story about that yet, but I'm just saying, I do believe there's a list of names that was fired out recently. And I think he might have been on it.

We might be still working to confirm that one, but I do think he released. But I won't blame you for that with J. Donnie, because I don't think you read about it on MMAfighting.com. And he is saying, he's just going straight up, Blackovitz, Yer Phrashka, title fight, end of 2020. too so it does not seem to like glover's chances and uh of course our pal casey carpentier i'll let i'll let you close out the show casey uh great work all you guys this week let mike know i shouldn't read this

mike i shouldn't read this this isn't good for your ego casey carpenter says let mike know i think he might be the best journalist's m m m mb okay i mean you're my best friend so i'm happy to say it but a lot of great people out there doing work michael patrick michael patrick jr michael patrick michael Patrick Hector Jr., definitely near the top. Yeah. Definitely near the top, if not at the very top. I mean, clearly you didn't listen to the mic check earlier, so you might want to take back. You might want to take back that statement.

Ira Ujo versus Grasso, do it in San Antonio, El Paso, San Diego, or similar city. Give back Grasso that rub. Yeah, I pick a city with a big, you know, big, that's sort of a big Mexican and Latino population. Davy, do Grant, David Grant, Routhani Barsellos, I think that's the most popular grant pick up that we've mentioned. But let's be honest, no matter who you put Grant against, you're going to get an entertaining fight. That is for damn sure.

Diyan Vrazuri, after Mike said, Glover submits him. And when Rockets Healthy, put him against any top five at the time. Definitely want to see the main event, ran back someday. I would like to, but I think considering Blockovitz's age, I don't know how much

longer he wants to fight. Like, I think he has a lot of big fights ahead of him. And by the time Rockich comes back, I think he'll be in a very different place and maybe looking for, like, you know, those last, like, retirement fights and I don't know if Rockich wouldn't necessarily be one of them. But obviously Rockich wants it and at the time it works out, sure, would be a fun one to run back, given how this one was going and how it ended. Guys, guys and gals, email me, please, your picks.

Alex.d.le. sbnation.com on Twitter at Alexander K.K. Lee on Instagram at Alexander K.K. Lee. My DMs are always open. M underscore, Heck, J.R on the IG. That's where you can submit your picks we'll be back again next week for a fight night card that is scheduled for the exact right time prelim to 4 p.m eastern main card at 7 p.m. eastern 11 fights in total main event holly home versus caitland vietta santiago panzanivio versus michel beheadas back ladies a gentleman great piece of match this is a co-main event right come on is it is the schedule out yet is it is it do we know that it is the it is the second last fight it will be the co-main event it freaking better be Yeah, very, I mean, very worthy, very worthy.

You have a guy who's a, I don't know if he's ranked for us anymore, but he's at the least hanging around the top 15 and certainly was previously ranked like in the top 10. And Michelle Beheada is Michelle Beheada. So yes, if that is the co-main event, approved. It's a very, like, this has good matchmaking potential. We got Cheetah and Joquani versus Disko Todorovich, Pollyanna Viana versus Tabitha Ritchie, Eric Anders, Jun Young Park, Joseph Holmes, Alan Amadovsky. Oh, he's back.

He didn't fly. That's fun in a while. Yes. We got Parker Porter against Jelta and Almeida. This has to be the strangest fight of the year on paper. This is a rise-in matchup. This is a four-on-no-point type of fight if you've got, if you pick this one. People message me and send me a screenshot.

If you somehow picked Jelton Al-Meda versus Parker Porter at heavyweight. You, yes, you're getting two auto points for me, two auto points for Mike. And yes, this should be a, again, this should be happening in Horizon. This is a classic, whatever, they're close enough in wait to throw them in there. Yeah. Omar Morales versus Euros Medich. That should be fun. Jonathan Martinez, Vince Morales will be really fun.

Phantom weights. Chase Hooper is back against Felipe Cohales and the May card opener, Alise Reed, back, taking on Sam Hughes. quick turnaround essentially for both women. Elise Reid fought on the London card, got the victory over Corey McKenna, and Sam Hughes just got a victory in her last fight to probably save her UFC job.

So 11 fights, I love it. This is a solid card. This is exactly what a fight night card should look like. You got a name in Holly Holm at the top of the card. You get some compelling matchups. You get some prospects. You get a little bit of everything. We'll be back to discuss all of the major storylines

from a matchmaking perspective from UFC Vegas 55 right here. on the program. But until that, everybody, for Alexander Kaylee, I am Mike Eck, always remember, don't take this stuff too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun.

We'll have more fun right here next week. On to the next one, the podcast. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Okay, only 10 more presents to wrap. You're almost at the finish line. But first, there, the last one.

Enjoy a Coca-Cola for a pause that refreshes. Hi, I'm Sophia Loper Carroll, host of the Before the Chorus podcast. We dive into the life experiences behind the music we love. Artists of all genres are welcome, and I've been joined by some pretty amazing folks, like Glass Animals. I guess that was the idea, was to try something personal and see what happened. And Japanese breakfast. I thought that the most surprising thing I could offer was an album about joy.

You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and remember, so much happens before the chorus. Chris.