MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 91

Episode Date: April 28, 2024

Alex Perez has the weight of the world on his shoulders, likely putting his UFC career on the line against Matheus Nicolau in the main event of UFC Vegas 91. In the end, the one-time UFC title challenger was able to pick up his first win inside the octagon in nearly four years with a sensational knockout of Nicolau to close the show on Saturday. Now that he's back in the win column, what should come next for Perez? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss who Perez could face next following his big win. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Bogdan Guskov following his second-round finish of Ryan Spann in the co-main event, Karine Silva after earning a hard fought unanimous decision victory over Ariane da Silva in the featured flyweight bout, along with fellow main card winners Jhonata Diaz, David Onama, Uros Medic, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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See how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started at LinkedIn.com slash campaign. Terms and conditions apply. To the Vox Media Podcast Network. Hi everybody and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one. Yes, we are back after. a week hiatus, as was the UFC, as they returned to the world's most famous Apex for a

just memorable UFC Vegas 91 event. An event we will go back and watch for years and years to come, heading into a pay-per-view that I think we're going to go back and re-watch for years and years to come. UFC 301, but thank you for joining us. I am Mike Kack. And collabing with me, as always, on this here program. The co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity. And my best friend, Alexander K. Lee, the draft man did very, very well in the enemy fighting.

Finally. 2024 draft. The people really liked what he's doing with KSW. How are he doing, Nakey? My best friend, it's not me. It is the promotion. It is KSW. People love, listen, people love there.

We should have included, this was the first year we did KSW. And we should have included them before. They are a very powerful global brand. Again, probably outside of Europe, you know, not as big. But to say that they don't have, haven't had some success outside of some buzz, outside of North America, I think would be wrong. So I was very happy to do it. And it is certainly easy.

You're having the number one pick, not being the UFC, which I was the first year, where you're just playing defense the whole time and everyone's just taking your assets. So, yes, if I didn't do better than like 20% of the fan vote this time, I pretty much just get kicked off because you can't. The circumstances I had where all you'd use is you just couldn't fail. I got Connor and I got Francis. I mean, what can you do from that? So, yeah.

I mean, I might as well ask you, A.K. Because obviously some big news happened last night. Yeah. During the BKFC Knucklemania 4 event, your first draft pick, Connor McGregor. Uh-huh. He's not going to be fighting for us over at BKFC, but he does have ownership stake. He is a co-owner. I own you now.

I think I own you now. KSW now owns technically, I own Connor McGregor. So now I also own the BKFC. I think I really, what's so? I don't know. I think you were leading, right?

You're in first place in the draft? Your fan vote, aren't you number one? Yeah. So technically those votes are all mine now. So I'm at like almost 50% of the vote. Well, I mean, I guess you're, they're co-votes. So you get like a percentage of them and I still think I win.

Ah, right. You know, only because you're my best friend. If this was Jed, I'd be taking all those points. Oh, yeah, 100%. Mercilessly, I'd be taking all those points, just as you took all of his, all the fighters he wanted. This is my favorite draft of all time,

not just because I got BKFC, but just because of all of that. So let's get into the matchmaking for UFC Vegas 91. Like I said, the Go Home Show for UFC 301. Knucklemania was a way better watch than this was, but it was fine. It's just what an apex card is at this point. Shout out to Charlie Arnold, who played multiple roles, even, she might be one of the best ring announcers at MMA.

Just, she had no practice doing it. She had a great job. She made history. She made history. I was trying to remember if she'd ever had to do ring announcing for WWE. I don't think so. I'm pretty sure when she was with the WWE, they used her in kind of the same capacity, like backstage reporter.

So like doing interviews and so like that. I don't think she ever even, I'm trying to remember. Did they bring her in NXT? I don't think she's ever done it. But yeah, she got to do what? The result of the Silva to Silva fight. and then introduce Goosecov and Span. And then did Joe Martinez come back for the Goosecob Span decision,

or he came back only for the main event? He came back only for the main event. Okay. So she got to do one whole, yeah. She got to do one whole, one whole fight. Yeah. I'll tell you, for someone who, like you said, I think our captioned in May fighting was Charlie on the spot.

And I think that's pretty accurate. Like that is not an easy thing. That's not easy to do if you're prepared to do it, much less than saying, hey, you have a microphone in your hand. We know you know how to talk. Can you get in there? get in there. On national television, ESPN, and do this.

I was curious to see, because she seems pretty bright, like when it comes to that stuff. I was curious to see if she did get the main event, how she would have done it. Would she have just done what Joe Bartiz does? She already have her own plan, like main event tagline, like Bruce Buffer, it's time. Like, I was very curious to see what she had come up with, but she did do a good job. It is a little crazy. to see her back on ESPN TV, considering she had an acrimonious departure from the organization. And by that, you know, I'll just say, like, I, so Charlie's with like outkick and Fox News, so I don't know.

Our politics might have been on the same page, but if we're just talking about her performance on Saturday, it really was, honestly, it really was impressive. I was like, because we love Joe Martinez. Joe Martinez, I think we all, most of us in May fighting, I think we think he's the best ring announcer in the game right now. And replacing him is not easy. And again, on zero notice, step in there. It's a little bit easier, I guess, because at the apex, it might have been crazier if it was in some arena somewhere, but I think she still probably would have done fine.

So, yeah, that was, I really, I really, I really was impressed by her doing that. That was not. Yeah, that was really good. Yeah, it's so difficult. You know, you know who else I was impressed with on Saturday, AK? Who? Alex Perez. Good.

Very impressive. The guy with the weight of the world on his shoulders enters a main event, fight that he took on short notice against Téas Nicolao was on a long losing streak. Hadn't won a fight. I mean, we were knocking on the door four years since that went over Juicier Formiga, hadn't won since he got a title shot. And the weirdest tapology page in all of mixed martial arts right now, outside of maybe Jay Ellis, just so many gray marks of canceled fights over and over again.

Him and Matt Schnell, this should just be like a 30 for 30. based on those two never fighting each other. But he goes out there, was very aggressive, fought like a guy who was fighting for his, for his career in a lot of respects. Not to say that, probably his UFC career,

because he would have got snagged up. He's got a name, he's fought for a UFC title. If he had gone into free agency, someone to snatch him up. But as far as his UFC career goes, he needed to win this fight. He took a big risk here,

and he goes out there and delivers a great performance. First round was super close. and then he goes out and just thumbs up Mateus Nicola proper, knocks him out in round two with a beautiful, beautiful shot. And now he's back in play because Flyweight is such a strange division right now, AK, but how much in play is Alex Perez right now?

The commentary team, for some reason, we're saying things like, oh, he might just get a title shot after this win, which I think is egregious. And I like Alex Perez, very happy for the guy. I've been interviewing him for a long time. but a title shot? Like I think we're getting a little too crazy here.

Where does he go? What's the right place for him? Yeah, he's two wins away. I mean, it's not crazy to say he could fight for a title still someday in the future. I know we've all seen a lot of Alex Perez. I know like he had his shot once upon a time. And I think after losing street, people kind of wrote him up. I know I did.

This was a classic. Y'all must have forgot performance. I mean, you look at the people he lost to and you're like, Mackay, Tosia, the current champion, Biggie, former champion, Joseph Benavides. Those are his four UFC losses. Joseph Benavita is one of the greatest flyways of all time. And yeah, it's very easy to write someone off when you just see three straight losses.

Again, I had done the same thing. I thought, well, he can't, you know, maybe he's just a notch below elite guys. And Nicolao is, like, right on the border. I know people would probably not call Nicolao Elite, and I would probably also stop short. But I do think Nicolao is a legit, like, top seven or eight guy. and I had him just outpointing Alex Prez here and was super wrong. Very high for Alex Prez. A great win.

He is one or two fights. He's two fights away, I think. One fight that will get him that much closer. And I'm booking this fight now, essentially, it's a magic wand. The most magic wandy of magic wand picks, Mike, because there's almost no chance that happens given both men's history of canceled fights. Oh, no. I'd like to see him.

Let's put it on paper, at least. Let's put him and Manel Koff on paper. I'm sure nothing will go wrong, and I'm sure they'll make it to fight night unscathed. We already tried this. It doesn't happen. They made it all the way to fight night. That's how close we were. How close we were.

Boy, Manel Kopp's turnaround on Alex Perez was something, because he said some pretty horrible things about him after Perez got ill, but then he put him over big time after this victory. So maybe a friendship could happen after all this. That is not where I went here. I honestly think I'm with you to some extent. There is a world where Alex Perez could get back to a title fight, but I think we're talking three or four fights before that can happen.

And I think he's going to be sort of in a position where it's a great win. And Matez Nicolao was a top five guy entering this fight. But I think he's going to have to play sort of that defensive. role where he has to sort of defend his spot, at least for his next fight. So I say Alex Perez should face the winner of a very intriguing matchup that was just announced for June 1st, UFC 302, a battle between flyweight prospects won Tetsuro Taira against Josh Van. I think that's the one. If Tyra goes through Josh Van, like he's gone through everybody else, he was supposed to

fight Tim Elliott. So they were going to give him like a top 10 guy anyways. He goes out there and just melts Josh Van. I think Alex Perez is a perfect next step. And if Josh Van goes out and beats Tatsura, Tyra, who we are incredibly high on here at M-Afighting.com, that's a huge win. He should get a big name as well and to do it on pay-per-view. And that fight should open up the main card in my opinion because it's that good. And it's that intriguing. So yeah, Perez versus the winner of that fight, I think is a good next step. it's hard for me to say um because tyra has has had a little bit more ufc experience so i think i'd like his chances in his frizz more and i know van is a blue chipper i love van but he's so he's like

ten years younger than alex freds so i like the choice i like the choice i think i would favor i guess it depends how whatever if josh van goes there and some of like starches tyra in like 90 seconds and obviously he's comes the hot name at 125 if tyra submits van even if tyra has like a dominant three-on performance i think he keeps sort of the the buzz that he's had around him. And yeah, maybe either of them would go in favor

against Alex Perez. But, man, I got to remember not to count these guys out, you know, it's, we do it so quickly. We did it with,

I did it with Max Holloway. I did it with Alasquez. I've done it with countless other names. Somehow I never learned. Mike, today's the day I learn. All right, today's the day I learn.

I will be picking Alex Perez to beat either of those guys if, if that matchup happens. I will tell you, this is on a record. This is on record. All right. And listen,

I don't think that's, that's a bad choice, but I think at this point, you know, Mejahev has already gotten those big names. A lot of people feel like at this point, Tyra might be the better prospect or the more intriguing prospect in terms of title implication

and where he could go, the longevity, up at the top of this division. And Josh Van, like you said, is a blue chipper. So, yeah, I love that. I love that fight so much. It's really good. I love the Tim Elliott fight for Tyra, but somehow in a strange way,

I like this one so much more, even though I'm typically the guy that doesn't like to match up these prospects. Just seeing the poster, I was like, you know what? Damn, this is a really good fight. So I think Alex Perez sort of awaits the winner. And the good news is all three of these guys have the same manager. So this would be a very easy fight to put together.

And that's a beautiful thing. Let's move on to the co-made event. Possibly the overall MVP of UFC Vegas 91, not just for the work inside the octagon during the fight, but the work inside the octagon after the fight with the microphone in his hand. Bogdan Guskoff is just a pleasure to listen to. He's a pleasure to watch fight. He's a get-or-get-got guy.

And boy, does the light heavyweight division outside of maybe the top five guys needs a guy like this? Need some interest, needs some fun, some fun. And Bogdan Gouskopf sort of checks off all those boxes. Gets a big win over Ryan's band, gets the finish in round two. Again, I'm going to kind of go to the, there's a fight coming up very soon. So let's do the winner. There is a fight coming up on May 11th in St. Louis between Alonzo Menafield and Carlos

Ulberg, two guys who are on nice winning streaks. I feel like Alonzo Menafield might be, have the quietest winning streak in the light heavyweight division because he's unbeaten in like five fights and nobody knows that because everyone's looking at Carlos Ulberg. Bogdong Goosecott versus the winner of that fight seems like a very nice next test. but there's a lot of ways you go at Bogdan and I don't hate a lot of them, but I don't want to shoot them up too too quickly, if that makes sense. So let's go with the winner of that fight.

Yeah, I'm with you on not shooting him up too quickly. He's going to have a number next to his name in the UFC rankings for sure. I think he might sneak in at 15 in ours. Span, it was 14 in the MA fighting global rankings. So as long as only too crazy happens, Goosecott should either take his spot or slide in at 15, depending on if anything else happens at at light heavyweight

in between now and our next rankings update. Yeah, I Sorry, I had a weird just pop in my in my here, my headphones there. Sorry, guys. I'm being a little stubborn here, Mike. I'm going to go with a matchup that I wanted before when Goosecoff won his first fight,

his second UFC fight. I called for this and then he got booked with Ryan Span instead, which is fine. I still, Mike, I still wanted to fight you on Kuchelava. It's a step back at this point. Oh, literal step back. But I want him to fight the, oh, I think I said win, loser draw. Or I said the loser of the Philippe Lin's Kuchelaba fight or the winner of that fight.

Either way. Really, I just want him to fight you on Kuchelaba. I stand by it. I just want some chaos. And this is assuming that Gousgob just wants to get back in there sooner rather than later. Because I saw some other fights. There's some other fights ahead. I was like, I don't want him to wait for this winner.

like this fight's happening in June. I think the iron is warm right now. I think you want to at least you want to ding this iron while it's still warm. Like you said, he's kind of showing his personality. We know he's a get-or-get-got guy. Fans love that. The UFC loves that.

So give me more chaos. Give me him in Kuchelab. It's not going to help him in the rankings at all. If anything, he will now be risking the spot that he has just earned. But I'm confident he can win that and win it in a really fun way. My first choice was him versus Johnny Walker,

like immediately and I know Johnny is booked already against Volkan Ozedimir. Yeah. So if, so bait like the only change to all of this would be is if something happens to either of those guys and we need a like a short notice guy to step in. Bogdons the dude.

Whether it's Johnny or Vulcan, I think that's perfect to have him just step in there and try to play spoiler against one of those guys. I think it would be absolutely hilarious to watch him and Johnny Walker fight each other. But that's fights not until June. I just feel like it's too long to keep them out of the octagon, even though.

But that's one of those ones that I think can build over time, much like Justin Gagie and Max Holloway or even Dominic Reyes versus Dusted Jacoby, pushing that fight for like three years now on this program and we're finally going to get it. In Louisville, Kentucky, of all places, because no one demanded that fight more than Louisville, Kentucky. Race the runners. Raise the sails. Raise the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over.

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Terms and conditions apply. Defenders and cybersecurity are always there when we need them. They should get a parade every time they block a novel. threats and have streets, sandwiches, and babies named in their honor. But most of all, they deserve AI cybersecurity that can stop novel threats before they become breaches across email, clouds, networks, and more. DarkTrace is the cybersecurity defenders deserve and the one they need to defend beyond. Visit darktrace.com forward slash defenders for more information. Let us move on here to the women's flyweight division just continues to get interesting.

We have up-and-comers ready to make their move. It's kind of slow rolling right now because of what's going on at the top. But Karinei Silva just continues to go in there and do the damn thing. She beats Ariani da Silva, frequently known as Ariani Lipski. Good fight. It was a good scrap between the two of them. And Silva goes out and gets the unanimous decision win, AK, where is Crine Silva going? Man, I like Karine Silva a lot.

She's kind of benefiting from the, more hyped up, Sylvan, Natalia Natty Ice, of course, being ahead of her because she's quietly putting together like a really good win streak. I thought this was a good win. I know it wasn't like the most exciting win, but man, she is a like, in my prediction,

again, another wrong one. Please don't look at my picks, guys on NNMaflating.com, especially for this card. Horrible, horrible, picks. In my predictions, I said, I don't think she can just like Hulk her way to a win because she's like such a a strong grappler and some of her wins were literally just grabbing the other woman and

just dragging them down to the mat. And I didn't think she could do that to the former Lipski to Ariane and to Silva. But she did that a lot. She's got really good cardio. I mean, I don't know how this is going to work against the best of the best. But man, that grappling is a weapon. And she's real dangerous. So, yeah, 4 and O in the UFC, her first three wins were by submission.

I think she's one of only like a few fighters to win her first three, to win their first three UFC fights by submission. So very impressive. Nine straight overall, going back to her pre-UFC career. man, where do we go with her? I think the obvious matchup is Tracy Cortez, but I feel like we keep matching up Tracy and she's just such a wild card.

We never know when she's coming back. So again, I'm waving my magic wand and making this happen. I have Tracy. I still have Tracy like a spot ahead. I could see people putting Karina above her, which totally makes sense. I think she's beaten slightly better competition. But I have Tracy just ahead.

So you know what? Karina can just fight for that spot and jump either jump. take one spot or depending on impressive performances, maybe move. Maybe creep into the top 10. But yeah, it's Silva, the Silva and Silva. And I guess now to Silva, taking over the flyweight division. I'm looking at your picks in our Slack channel.

Oh, God. This is a tough one. This is tough one. I've been there many, many of time with these apex cards. I actually did pretty well. Casey. Casey Leiden. Nine of four.

11 out of 13. Yeah. I assume he changed. Shows Taco, right? Of course. She shows Taco and Victor Henry. Yeah. I also pick Taco.

I also picked Taco for the record. You know what? I should have followed Casey all along. I don't want to, I don't want to pull the curtain back too much here, or call out my fellow MMAFer. But I'll tell you right now, Casey, he did not know who some of these people are on this card. I'll tell you that right now. And I probably didn't before this card, like some of these fighters were announced this card. I'll admit it.

But I researched. Mike, I watch video. I look at their records. I listen to people smarter than me. I look at what they're saying. And I put a lot of time into thinking about these picks. I got like four out of 13 or something. Five, okay.

Five, thank you. What was, did I have five? Casey, 11 out of 13. And he won UFC 300, by the way. He also won our USC 300 picks. 10 out of 13 or 10 out of 12, how many, how many fights that was. So Casey is on a hot street.

The man's just got, he's got a feel for it. Sometimes he's got to feel it. He's got to feel for it. He's got the good vibes right now. He's got the good vibes. Great vibes. As far as Creed A. Silva goes. Hold on.

What is that sound? What does that sound? Are they? No, it's not the band. It's not the band. It sounds like a train. It sounds like a train's coming. Chook, chook.

Chook. Chook, chook. Oh, it says chook, chook, but her name is not Chukagan anymore. It's Caitlin Sermin hour time. This is the one. let's just do that. I just don't know what else to do. Like, I already matched Lauren Murphy up with Natty Ice.

Because I know Krieney and Lauren Murphy were sort of matched up before, but Lauren wasn't ready to come back just yet. And I like Krienei Silva a lot. And, like, I'm not telling her that she needs to be like, hey, you're taking everything I work for, I'm ever. But she didn't really have a name or anything. But I still, like, in this division, you could still get decent competition without doing that. So I kind of feel like Serminara is really the way to go here.

And I feel like the clock is ticking on Serminara's career at this point. And I think she's admitted as such over the last couple of years. So I think she probably wants to get back in there relatively quick after the Macy Barber lost. She didn't take like a ton of damage in that fight. So I think Kureeniazegov makes sense. Mike, you went a long way for that Chukagian chuk chuk chug gag. Are you proud of yourself? I'm very happy with it.

Of what happened? I'm happy with it. Your reaction of just like half laughter, half get me off the show was exactly what I was hoping for. Did anyone do the thing on the microphone on Saturday? I don't know. I feel like everyone did the, I'm just looking to keep, stay busy or just, I want to fight someone. Like, I don't feel like anyone had a name. Taco did the thing.

Who did he call out? Who did he call out? He called out, um, help me. Beditez. Did he not? I had to, I do not remember. Yeah, he called out Gabriel Bintag. That's not bad.

That's a pretty smart callout. Okay, I should, I respect that. Yeah, I don't know if anybody really did the thing. Bogd didn't have to have. I don't remember who exactly he called up. No, no name. He had no name. I think he said, no, he did not.

I appreciate he said, because they asked him again. They asked him again post-fight, like the scrum and just nothing, no name. Just keep me busy. I love the UFC. I love the matchmakers. Keep me busy. All right, Bob. I wonder who David, if David O'na would call anybody else.

I don't think anyone did. I think it was a lot of, it was a lot of just, I just want to stay busy. Thank you, Data White. Thank you matchmakers, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, keep doing the thing, everybody. You're just crushing it. Absolutely crushed it. Let's go to the heavyweight division.

Jonata Denise going out there and doing heavyweight things to Austin Lane. Tough start for him. But then Denise goes ahead and puts the former Jacksonville Jaguar drafty. to sleep with a nasty knockout. I've been waiting, and I still don't even know if this is the right one to match up with this individual, but I just feel like it's going to be super fun. We're not going to get a ton of grappling or anything. It's just going to be a stand-up war.

I've been waiting for the right fight for this man, and since Rocky Martinez doesn't seem to be coming back to the UFC anytime soon, Janice v. Chris Barnett is where I'm going, AK. Yeah, that's excellent. about it. I don't know. I think I want Chris to get a more, I don't know, a bigger name. Not that it matters. It's not that Chris Barnett cares. Not that we need that from Chris Barnett. Anytime Chris Burnett is the A-side in any

fight he's in, so he doesn't need a bigger name. But I cheated. I just went with someone who fought tonight. He could get an exciting fight out of Dantel Mays, right? I think win or lose. I think Denise is getting an exciting fight out of Dantel. Someone can. And I think Janata's that guy.

Maybe? No. I don't. I don't. I don't. don't know that that I'm sorry to not talk about Jeanette a great debut as advertised we know what this guy's going to do he's just going into knock you a lot because he's putting his back he's going to whatever he's going to hold on for a round so he can get up and then he's going to try again the next round to just ham awesome lane by the way the matchmakers perfect opponent he did not he did not have the cardio to employ that strategy of like holy he could not do that we all knew it I was not that word for he did look I mean Austin Lane did look really good in round one but you knew if he went past, if he didn't finish in the first,

with like ground and pound, as soon as he came out for the second round, you're like, oh, this is a, this guy's toast. He's a dead man walking. And sure enough, like, once they actually had to trade hands for more than like five consecutive seconds, I've Jonata just put it on him. I, that, that May's Machado fight was,

I don't want to say it was, it's not even like the war. It's just, and we could have said this about several of the prelims. It was so forgettable. It was just such aimless, like, clashes of, of, sorry, indeterminate striking exchanges, no real swings of action. Just like, what a poor, poor, poor set of prelims. The main card was, like, fine. If you only watched the main card, or you started with the Victor Henry Yaya fight even,

you probably had a, you had a decent time. You had a decent time. If you had to watch this from beginning to end, man, it was a slog for a lot of the freelance. I mean, Card was okay. But, yes, Janata Dinesh, please bite Dantel Maze and get some excitement out of them. Yeah, I mean, I use this reference from time to time, but I think this is the perfect one to do it. Dante Maze versus Kyle Machado was buying a Toyota in the 90s. It was everything we hoped for and more.

It was exactly what we expected. Sure. Like it's, yeah, leafy greens, as Jed likes to say, it was vanilla ice cream. It was just plain Jane, you know exactly what you're getting, and it was a heavyweight. Maybe the easiest bet on the entire car was going heavyweight over with that one, and boy, did it deliver. And shout out to the commentary team who tried to make it seem like that was Matt Holloway, Justin G. No, Hart, too. Even when Don Tail, he's got the knockdown in round one, there was no part.

And I didn't bet, I wish I had. If I had the over, I would not have been sweating for a second. I would have been like, he's not following up. He's not finishing this. I think Mays, who did he knock out Arlofsky? Fine, whatever, he knocked Arloffsky. He did not go to Lovsky. Which is actually pretty impressive, considering Arlofski's like decisions.

That's like the, that's another fight I would have guaranteed an over. But yeah, this was as over as it gets. If I were still bidding on MMA, I would have bet mine, I would have been all the money I have, all the $25 I have in my checking account on that going over. I didn't actually take that one, but I did take two underdog picks and won both of those. So it's very happy. Shout out of my Gouskaf. And shout out to Austin Hubbard for getting the job done.

Let's move on to David Onama. He took on Jonathan Pierce. This is a fun fight. Yes, it was. It was. David Onama didn't miss weight, which is never a good thing. It doesn't seem like he particularly cared that much. But again, I say this all the time.

If you are a first or second tiered contracted UFC fighter, then who cares at the end of the day? Like you get dock 20%, but as long as you go out there and you get the win, then none of it really matters because you get that win bonus. I do think it costs, well,

not him because he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. I think it costs Jonathan Pierce a fight of the night. I said that on the post-in show. Like they may have still gone with the quad finish bonuses, but any chance that Jonathan Pierce had of getting 50K was wiped out

by David Onama. Tough hang, man. Tough hang, yeah. Tough hang. But it was a really fun fight. David Onama dug deep down the stretch because he was getting real tired. JSP was making him work. I thought his game plan was perfect,

especially in round one, just let David explode and get those reverses and get the sweeps and the transitions. And then JSP had a great second round, like a really dominant one. And then David Onama just, I know you love this so much, A.K., but David O'Nan proved he had a little bit more dogged him than JSP.

It was good stuff. I didn't really give him too much of a bump up. I think the weight miss, You don't really get to get a ranked dude or anybody truly that close to it. But I'm curious to see where you went. I don't know if we somehow landed on the same name. Because I could have, because, like, I planted the seed. So perhaps, whether you remember or not, perhaps this is the name you went with.

Because this is, kids, it pays to do your homework. And I brought up the Onama Pierce winner as a possibility for this man. The Canadian spoiler, as I like to call him one, Mr. Kyle Nelson. he has just been underdog in it left and right in his past three fights he would certainly be an underdog again in this matchup but this is how you treat a fighter who looked impressive but did miss weight you give them a tough opponent it's a winnable fight for them but also an opponent where they don't have a lot to gain from it if oama beats kyle nelson he's not shooting up the rankings he really just hold he's probably ranked behind or around kyle so

he really doesn't gain a lot but he does get another chance to make make weight, put on an exciting fight, possibly score a bonus. And again, get back in the good graces of the fans and officials. Because, yeah, that was a bad, he was, like, two and a half. That's a bad weight miss. Come on, David Onama. And David Onama is really good. And we all want to see him kind of, I think he's a top 15 talent.

I really do. So, yeah, let's give him a little bit of a road bump here and give him a real test. Because Kyle Nelson's tough. Like I said, Kyle Nelson's been upsetting people. So, Onama, if he's off his game, Nelson's going to pick him another W. So I'd love to see those two get matched up. Cue up the band, A.K. There it is.

Is what I would have said if Kyle Nelson's most recent opponent had won his next fight and you had gone with him. Two times today. Two times today, Mike. Do you got a train joke here? Just pulling the rug out from under. The band, don't apologize to me. Don't apologize to me.

I apologize to the band who haven't played in like weeks. Monday. The band's just getting it. getting paid to chill. I'm not paying them. Yeah. Otno points coming from, I mean, you know where your outno points are going out. You think you're getting like a half a point, but really give you a quarter point because you've got to pay the ban.

Bill Algeo is where I went with David Onama. I think that's just a fun little fight. And again, I'm not going to give David Onama like a huge step up after missing weight by two and a half pounds. So great fight, great performance, great win. And Bill Algeo is still a guy probably in the top. 30 to 35 range. So we'll see what he can do. It's a very tall, tough puzzle at 145 pounds.

Let's go to welterweight. Euros Medich. Man, AK, this guy has really put it together. He's coming on strong. A lot of people kind of gave up on him a little bit. Didn't think he was really going to be a viable contender, but he has come back and he's done very well. He's won three of his last four.

Look at it. Look at what his losses are. He's 10 and 2. His losses are to Jalen Turner and Mick Tebeck Oralby, who is just one of the scariest guys to come into the UFC. The guy who's going to have a very, very good future. But he comes in and knocks out Tim Means, does it with just a nasty, nasty uppercut. She's looked real good. I'm giving him Brian Battle, A.K., I'm just going to knock this out.

Brian Battle, I know we didn't really matchmake for him last time because of the weirdness that happened in that fight. and he was removed from Otno because it was a no contest after the weirdness that happened there. But now I'm ready to matchmake for Ryan Battle again. I think him and yours would be fun as hell. I'm going with another former middleweight, though he just, one who just recently dropped down to Welterweight. Give me Medich and Cheetah and Jacoani. I think that would be a fun test. I don't know what we have with Medici.

I feel like he's one of those guys, and I know we're pretty early in his UFC career. I feel like he's one of those guys who some nights he's going to look like an absolute, just like stunner, world beater, K-O machine. And there's other nights where we're going to be like, wow, what is going on with this guy. He doesn't belong near the top 20. So again, the results of an up and down. He's very fun. He doesn't go to decisions.

That's kind of the consequence of when you only go to finishes is sometimes you're night, sometimes you're not. And I don't know where to go yet. So let me give him cheaty, a really good vet. test and maybe we get a better gauge of where he is because he's in his prime he's in his prime now and the time to make a move is now maybe if he beats cheedy i'm looking at a top 25 opponent but for now i'm just i'm holding off a little bit like holding off on the uh hero shmditch stock yeah i like that i like that fight a lot let's go to the wild card round

a k we'll select one fighter we have not matched for yet we'll match big for them right now i'm curious where you went with this. Curious if we went with the same person. I'm curious if we actually went with the same fight. Because I mean, you had to dig down pretty deep to find something off of these prelims or with someone who lost on the main card. But where did you end up? I'm very sad Marnik Man didn't win. So I can make another Marnik Man Day joke.

I've been pushing it all weekend. It's a man. The whole song fell apart. And Orion Spanday. It was neither. It was neither Marnik Manday nor Ryan's Fanday. So again, thank goodness. I also did not take that parlay.

I was really eyeing that parlay. And I was like, no. I said, I'm done gambling on MAA for this year. I didn't do it. And it's good because the first leg broke and then the second leg, even if it had second leg, then shattered. So that joke is dead. And I do think we also might not see Marnik fight again in the UFC.

So it might be over for now. But I'm glad I got it out of my system. Shout out to the bang. Chris Medea, Mike? Do we both pick Chris? We did not. We did not. I thought we were both going to shout out Chris Medea.

Again, coming in five days notice, not at like a huge underdog. I think it was like two to one. I think because James Launtop is, oh, no, sorry, I should say. It's not three to one. So a sizable, sizable underdog. It's not like James Lawn Top has a lot of name value, but he was coming in with quite a bit of buzz, very gaudy-looking record. And he missed weight, which I don't know if helped or hurt the office. there, but the odds were pretty stacked.

And Chris Padilla, it did look like you're just getting lined up. Because I do think the UFC see something in Lawn Top. They tried, they worked really hard. Sorry, you guys hearing stuff in the background. They worked really hard to keep him on this card. Padilla was his third opponent. So this had all the makings of a showcase for Longtop. And Padilla said, uh-uh, no, sir.

Fought the right way when you're, the odds are against you, very aggressive, sticking to his strengths. Just, just nonstop pressure and gets to win first round. submission. Shoutouts to Casey Liden, one of of Chris Padilla's training partners.

Casey was super happy about it. Mike, I think we reward Chris Padilla with a trip to Manchester. I think he gets to go to England.

I would like to see him fight Jai Herbert. I think him and Jai Herbert could be really fun. Padilla is very, very experienced.

Again, this is a situation where no one knows much about this guy, knew much about this guy before coming to the UFC. Very experienced. He's been fighting for 10 years

over 20 pro bouts. He's fought several guys who were either in the UFC or were later in the UFC after fighting him. So, you know, he's 1-0 now in the UFC, but that does not speak to, like, the level that he's actually at his level of performance. He's 28.

He's in his prime. Let's give him another stiff test. Again, if he loses to Jai Herbert, great moment in Manchester. If he plays a spoiler, then you got another up-and-com. Yeah, I should say up-and-comer at lightweight, another fun guy that you can do on the mix with pretty much anyone. So, big hats off to what to Chris Padilla, and I'd love to see him

get a spot on that paper view. Shout out to Taco. Love seeing those stories to come to fruition. A guy who probably should have got the call like three or four years ago. Just kept grinding, kept battling, kept winning. And he got his opportunity. Boy, did he make the most of it?

I went with kind of a similar story to Chris Padilla's. Victor Henry. Victor Henry goes in, fights Honiaia. Great performance. That fight was really fun early on. The scrambles were incredibly fun. listening to Dominic Cruz try to predict what was about to happen because DC's like, oh, Victor Henry's going to scramble.

And Dominic Cruz would be like, no, it's honey, ay, man. He's done. This is what the rest of the round is going to end like. It's just being proven wrong, left and right and left and right. But that was kind of the story of Dominic Cruz's night. But Victor Henry goes in there, nasty body work, finishes honey, yeah, yeah, in round three. I think they got something with this guy. And I knew it when they first signed him, but I feel like he just hasn't been

getting the push. And unfortunately for him, he's known as the guy who got kicked in the balls as hard as anybody has ever been kicked in the UFC. And people are doubting that it actually happened when you could actually see the pain in this man's eyes. You can't, you can't fib that. So shout out to Victor Henry. Goes out and gets a big win. And Honeyiah spoke to our own gearmae cruise heading into this fight. And Honeyaya sort of ironed out and mapped out what he feels he would deserve and what he wanted with a victory over a guy like Victor Henry, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. So the winner gets the spoils, the winner gets the draw. And I think this fight would be super interesting and it would really make me happy to see it.

Victor Henry taking on the former UFC Bannonweight champion won Cody Garbrandt. That is some beautiful matchmaking. That is some beautiful matchmaking. When I figured out where you were going with it. I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, honey, yeah, one might say. Yeah, it's unfortunate for honey that he didn't get. Because that also would have been, like, that also would have been intriguing in its own way, Honey versus Cody Garbrant. But I do think Victor has now won the Cody Garbrand sweepstakes. That'd be a great name from having his resume. Victor Henry is just so much fun. Like I said, another guy, like I'm glad this guy's getting his shot. I'm glad he's getting relatively high profile opponents. Again, yeah, yeah,

one of the veterans of the game. Been around this WEC, man. I mean, this guy's been putting it at work. So to finish him is not easy. I know he's a bit up there in age. I'm sure people look at Hana, yeah, yeah, and say, oh, this guy's just like, people are just going to walk over at him at this stage. He's like, no, he's still very talented. I think what he's lost in whatever physical attributes,

you could see the experience. You can see how difficulty is for pretty much any style. So, yeah, I love to see Victor Henry pull that one off. And I would love to see him pull off a win against Cody Garbrant, too. And that's the way to go. Saving and investing well is an art. and a science. It requires high-level math, an intimate knowledge of economic history and a healthy dose of psychology. People have spent their whole careers and won Nobel Prizes,

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style at Sacks Fifth Avenue. Who wants Otno points, AK? Who wants Otno points? All right. Oh, you know what? A smattering. A smattering to everyone who called for Roundtree versus Hill right after U.S.C. 300.

I don't know if they expected it to be booked so quickly. I don't know if they thought it would happen like at 303, but it's happening. And it got announced like less than two weeks after Jamal Hill got brained by Alex Panetta. So there you go. So good job, everyone who had the foresight for that. I love that pick. I probably would have said like, if I had done a pick for Jamal Hill, which we didn't, I don't think I would have gone roundtree.

I might have gone a different way because I probably would have said, oh, Hill should take some time off and recover from that knockout, make sure that that Achilles injury is fully, you know, is altogether. there. Not that he's ever complained about it. He's never said that it's been an issue. So I thought he'd want to, you know, work on that, taking loss like that. But Jamal Hill getting right back on there, fighting Khalil and huge opportunity for Khalil

who, Mike, we have said many times on this show, how cool would it be if you fall Alex Padetta? He's the glory killer. Right? He's the glory killer. Maybe he's the guy at some day down the road to knock Alex Panetta off the top of the 205 pound mountain, assuming it's not like Angolae

or someone else. I love it. for Khalil and can't wait for that fight. Your pick excited the entire family. I heard. I know if you heard that crash of excitement. People were very excited about Jabal Hill versus Cleo Roundtree being booked and one of an opportunity for Khalil Roundtree. He doesn't have to do it at the apex, which is even better. Co-main eventing a Connum Reger card, it's pretty sick.

Huge. He's come a long way. What a story that is. So shout out to all 17,000 of you who selected that fight. after we tip the band, you will get a portion of an auto point. So direct deposited into your auto account. All right. You guys already know the rules.

No do-do. We'll call it out. Don't be that person. So I only got a couple of picks. I think people were just like, let's just get to 301. In fact, let's just get past this entire month and just get right to 302. We'll start with John Ray. He led off with Dontail May's, AK.

That's how memorable this card was for him. He let off. First choice was Don'tale May's. He's going with the WCA dispain winner. I don't know if you want to throw disband in there with Dantel Mays. Yeah, no. I don't want to see. Oh, him and Waldo is going to happen someday.

Take the over. Oh, it's definitely going to happen. Take the over. WCA might just be the correct answer. When losers are? Honestly, I've given WCA a lot of crap on the show. He's actually, like, more exciting than I thought. It's Rodrigo Nassimento, who is way less exciting.

And I think I got them confused. slightly. Excuse me. UFC's St. Louis headliner, Rodrigo Nassimento. Excuse me, sir. God, the amount of times I try to hype that fight up. It's just a bad main event, man.

By the way, if you're in the St. Louis area, there are plenty of tickets available for that card. Plenty. Really? More than I've seen for a UFC card in quite some time. So if you want to see Rodrigo Nassimento in his first main event, could be a trivia question. Who did Rodrigo Nassimento,

UFC heavyweight champion, be on his way to the top in his first main event? Although I don't think that's really going to have it. What game would have this as a tribute? Where are you finding this trivia question? I don't know, man. It could be like, what we're doing live shows on the road in like 2027.

Maybe that could be a trivia question. But he also likes Victor Henry versus Cody Garbrandt. He's also with you, A.K. as well. Euros Medich versus Kyle Nelson. He's with me again. David O'Nama versus Bilagio. And he's with me again. Creene Silva versus Caitlin Serbenara.

He even wrote Chuk-chuk. The train is coming. He did not. Gouskhov versus Philippe Lins. Nikolao versus Ulaan Bekhov, Alex Perez versus Kai Kaira, France. And then our friend Left Lane has come in, aka your reaction to this takes.

Was that fight booked? I was going to say they fought, but I bet I definitely didn't fight. It was, okay, it has been booked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm cool with the Perez, Kai Kar, France. I just, Alex Perez has had so many fights booked. I keep thinking he's fought all these people

and he hasn't fought like half of them. It's wild. And left lane, the only other pick I have unless, let me just check and make sure nobody came in last second. Yeah, yeah. Get those buzzer beers in there. That's usually what happens. Nobody did.

Like I said, people are just ready to move on. Alex Perez versus Ulan Beckoff. Goosecoph versus Anthony Smith, winner lose against Petrino. He likes Karine Silva versus Amanda Hebas. Denise versus Tafa. Almost went there. Which one?

Justin. Justin. Okay. Okay. David Onama versus Sadiq Yusuf, I can't do it. I thought about that, but I just can't do it. After missing weight by two and a half pounds, you don't get twice. It doesn't deserve it.

Eusev. Uros Mettage versus Santiago Ponsonibio. I like that fight. Wow. I like that fight a lot. Austin Hubbard. By the way, Austin Hubbard versus Michael Fielack might be the best match prelim in UFC history. Those two guys are so evenly matched.

It was one of the closest fights I ever watched. There were two evenly matched, though. It was, like I said, and it was, I'm not pointing out of the Machado maze level. It was certainly more entertaining. But it was just so hard to parse who was winning. And that doesn't make it a bad fight. That does not make it a bad fight. It's just, it was such a weird, like, I don't know.

Somebody of the prelims felt just blobby to me. They felt middle weighty, a little middle weighty. And I apologize to Hubbard Big Black because that is not an accurate description of how well they fought. It's just, again, I don't know if I will remember the Hubbard-Viglack fight a week from now. Like, it's just, and it's not, it's neither man's fault. It's just like you said, they're so closely matched up that their skills really blended almost to the point of being like indeterminate as far as what was happening. I don't know. Maybe I need to learn how to watch Eminemay.

Yeah, it was just, it was really interesting. Hubbard versus Mahashata, who got a decision win on the card, although most people believe he didn't. I'm one of those people with that Benitez won that fight, but it's okay. It wasn't like a robbery or anything. The taffas are going to be busy, A.K. Dantale Mays versus junior Tafa. From left lane,

maybe we could throw that on the same card. We really should just say, you know what? I asked you to clarify which Tava before. We really should just say Tafa, now that we know, apparently they're allowed to just switch out willy-nilly. Like, I think, you know what? From now on, anyone in the future, if you used to say Tafa and you don't specify which one,

I'm not, I'm not, that's not do-do. because you're right. It is now just, they are just one entity. They are one taffa who apparently again, Justin wants to step in for junior. It's allowed junior can step in for Justin, no issue. I don't know anymore. Just think of the fun you can have just doing that.

Throwing both those guys like in the mix, keeping them in the same training camp. You could have them both come out in like lucha masks and like the opponent doesn't even know which one it is. And he has to like pick one, but he doesn't know which guy he's fighting until he actually removes the mask and fights or a wheel. all of these things.

It would be more fun if they had different styles. Like I wish, like, if they're going to go with that gimmick, one of them needs to become more of like a wrestler so that you really don't know what's going to happen. You're like, oh, I think it's junior. I think this is the one who, like, he just got his brown belt and in jujitsu. I think I've got to be careful. Oh, no, he's throwing, like he's throwing haymakers and head kicks. It's Justin's.

So I would love it. I would love it if that happened. But it's hard. It's, you know, it's probably not beneficial to their careers to make that kind of change. This would be a great gimmick for PFL. Just a tremendous gimmick. And he wraps up with Taco Padilla versus Roosevelt Roberts, AK. I actually like this fight a lot.

Yeah, yeah. That's good one. That's good. Okay. That's it, man. I've only got a few more. Jay Donaggy from via the emails. Perez Kopp, love it, Nikola Ulan Bekhov, Gouskhov, Anthony Smith again.

Mike, we can't have Gusekopf and Anthony Smith to actually fight each other, can we? We don't want this. Do you want this? Nobody wants this. I don't want it. I'm with you, A.K., I don't want it. I want them to be like buds. Just think of the content those two guys can make.

If Bogdan Goosekopf is not on Believe You Me this week, it is a fail and a half. It just is. Those two guys should be doing a program together. I think Damon needs to get him on fight over his writer as well. I just think he should be getting all these opportunities. He should fight Petrino, right? if Petrino beats Anthony Smith. He should just be like the Anthony Smith.

Like the clean-up guy? Clean-up guy, yeah. Win or lose, whoever Anthony Smith fights. I don't want to see them fight. What we got? Janice and Mick Parkin. Undefeated heavyweight overs. Yeah, probably.

Medici, Phil Roe, Jake Matthews, winner leaning towards Roe and wild card. Victor Henry Pedro Munoz. I'd like to see that someday, but I just don't think we need to see Victor Henry Munoz now. I get it. Two experienced guys would be a very fun fight. Gerard Biaghan, I'll just read this once.

I saw a lot of people picking this. Alex Perez and Amir Al-Bazi. Yeah, I think that's a really good pick. Whereas Al-Bazi, as far as we know, just recovering from whatever, forced him to withdraw from the last fight, I guess. From the Marina, yeah. Sure. He wants the Tyra van winner for Nicolao.

I don't think Nicolao can get that fight now. I think whoever wins that fight might be a little too, a little too spicy for him. Goosecob OSP, Kereenay Silva, Natty Silva, not now. No, no, no. I mean, if they're both the top five someday. It's not technically doo-do, but in like my eye, that is do-do. Why? No.

You can't do it. You just can't do it. Not now. Not now. Notty. Natty Ice is like, it's not like Natty Ice is calling out everybody, but she's doing the thing in a much different way. She is the one, like, you push. And Krieney could.

up being the better fighter all and all. Like, it's possible. But in terms of what the UFC is trying to accomplish and what their business practices and pushing prospects, like Natty Ice, they should be pushing her to the moon right now. Sure. Like, she should be, they should, their focus in that division should be, how do we get Natalia Silva to a title fight in 2025?

That should be their, their motivation for this entire division. How, what are the steps we need to take to get her to a title fight? it's not that way with Karinae right now. I'm sorry, it's just a bad recommendation. It's just a bad recommendation. It's too soon. It's too soon. And this is coming from a guy who loves Tetsu Retire versus Josh Van.

I think it's perfect timing. It's a perfect division for that. Same weight class, but just, you know, but at the end of the day, it's just, I just don't want to see it right now. Maybe for a number one contender fight, but it's just too soon. Let's get craney in there. But let's throw the wily vets in there with these young up-and-comers. Like, let's build them both up. And if they fight for a number one contendership, fine.

They fight for the belt, even better. But I don't want to see it right now. Sorry, Gerard. Maybe just a little too early with this pick. Just a little too early with this big. Victor Henry and Farid Bosch-Farat. So kind of used to victory. Victors of veteran tests.

Yeah. Both are a lot of ways you can go. Losses, are they not? No, didn't. No, one of them is. is Farid the one one of them still undefeated, I believe let me check real quick.

I thought Farid lost his last way unless I'm just insane. No, Javid lost. Farid is the one who is still undefeated. Taylor Label. Javid is the one who lost. Amon's a happy, very good performance, by Eamon.

So, yeah, so now I've, okay, so he wants the undefeated one, yeah. Again, I'm not against it. I don't really want to use Victor as just like a building block for younger guys. but the UFC may see it differently. I'm not sure. Let's go to Tino Alvarez.

Victor Henry versus Daniel Marcos, sexy mexy winner. Who's the sexy mexy? John Castaneda. John Castaneda. Sorry, John Castaneda. I should have remembered that. Okay, I'm fine with that.

Euros Medici, Manuel Torres, at the sphere. I like this one. Onama, Yusuf Zalal. I actually thought about that as well. Yusuf, I don't think, is books. No, he just got a nice victory. He did.

Oh, he came back. Right, right. He came back and, uh, right, really impressed us with how he's come along. Yes, Billy Q. Uh, Alex President L. Cop. Yeah, I'm all for it. All right.

Let's finish with our Twitter beasts here. Chris, what's up, Chris? Long time listener. A close friend of the show. Denise and Dontail Mayes. Denise looks like a fun prospect to watch. Yeah, listen, Chris, I'm with you again. I think he can get a fun fight out of Don'tale.

Braden. Neil. Let me see we've got anything new here. Guskov Mirzikanov. Janese Lukish Breskes-Gi-Breskes-Ski. Breschis. Breschki. Onama Kassaris-Wudson winner. I don't hate it. I don't hate it.

What else we got here? Maze versus Gazeve. Oh, my Lord. Apex Main Event. Smash the... Oh, God. That's not even a joke. That's not even joking. I'm joking. I am joking.

No. It's a thing that could happen, my friends. Petchevich, Jamie Linhorth, Mahashti, Natan Levy. I just read these from deep cuts. Figlack versus Yan'Al Ashmoos and Jonathan Pierce and Juicy J. Juliana Rosa, I swear in my mind that's happened, but I'm also pretty sure he's right that that has not happened.

Just one of those fights, I feel. Who is this, by the way? That was Brayden O'Neill. Braden O'Neill, I have a message for you, Braden O'Neill. Whoa. And let me just, let me just tell you, I'm going to turn my hat around for this one. A plus job here. Now, if you want, this is, this is a wily veteran.

I don't remember hearing this name that often, but this is a guy who's been listening to the program and he's waiting to pick his spots. He's going through different algorithms. He's putting out different formulas. How do I get the most value on onto the next one with the show being what it is? and just continuously growing and being just a part of everybody's lives every single Sunday after a UFC event.

The deep cuts is exactly what you need to do. This is how you get full Otno points. You might be somebody who is like, yeah, I get an Otno point for Cleo Roundtree versus Jamal Hill. But so did a thousand other people. But if you're throwing out games like Jamie Lynn Horth for fights, which are very, very viable, very possible, this is how you get full points.

This is how you just jump on everybody. So the people who got like 12 a lot, no point, 12 predictions correct, but are sharing it with a thousand other people, if you just get like two of these to hit, you win. You win. So tremendous effort.

And I think there should be, I think you should teach a class on this. I think you should teach a class on this. Seriously. Charge people like 10 bucks to come in and be like, yo, look at this fight night card. If this person wins, here's the names in like the top 60 that you can match these people up with.

And if any one of these hits, you got it. So there you go. Well done, Brayden O'Neill. You sounded like, Mike, you sounded for a minute there, like one of those YouTube ads that plays before where it's like you're the first five seconds. Like, listen, you think this is how you do auto picks. You've been doing it all wrong. This is the secret to making quality outno picks and becoming rich overnight and getting

out no points. And then like we all hit skip ad before it actually like plays out. But you almost sound like that for a second. I thought, but yeah, Braden, listen, high praise from the man himself. Tremendous. He's being very sincere. I thought he was doing a bit for a second. Oh, no, this is no bit.

This is no bit. This is how you do it. This is how you win on it. Braden, I probably owe you some points, too. So please, I don't always keep a good track of the past picks guys. I apologize. So if you see a fight get announced, Braden, and you called for it, just DM me anytime. Very, very dedicated sending your picks in.

I really appreciate it. Mike, I forget, did you read Four Corner Sports? You did, I think. I did not. You did not. Oh, 400 quarters sports. What's up? What are we got here?

Some we've already seen. Ryan Span, Jimmy Crute. Did that not happen? My memory is completely shot. Is Jimmy Crute even? He's still. Yeah. I know he didn't retire, but is he like taking a sabbatical from the sport for a while?

Just to recover. Yeah, recover from injuries. I think he came back too soon after the last one. And I think he's realized, like, let me get my. body to as close to 100% as possible. But it's still eligible to be picked. I have no problem with it. They were booked way, way back 2019.

I knew it sounded familiar with it. And I think they've been hovering around each other in the rankings for quite some time. So, yeah, I still like that big. I would like to see that fight for whenever Jimmy Crew comes back. But I imagine Span may fight before then. David O'Nama, Charles O'Don. Yes, yes.

That makes a lot of sense, I think. Yeah, that's a good one. He's with you with Medici in Battle and Jonathan Pierce. Cubs wants an Andre Feeley winner. sure sure I'm for it and we'll close out here with Barry O'Reilly let's hope Celtic and St. Mirren win

today in progress as this as we were recording Celtic was up 1-0-0. My picks are Mahasate Francisco Prado okay Ivana Petrovich, Ketland-Suzza, sure I just throw them in there together. Wait, Ketland-Souza those were Ketland-Suzza and

wait a minute Oh, different weight classes Oh. Different weight classes, Barry. Ketland dropped to Strawweight for this fight. This was her UFC Strawweight debut. I don't want to call that, dude. I can't call a fellow Celtic supporter.

Dudo on that, but just a little sprinkle on the wrist, as it were. A little ducy slap on the wrist. That seems almost porous, doesn't it? Dantel, Tai Tuivasa. I'm looking at this more for Ty who needs to step back and a win-mo fight that isn't just a gimmie. Not many of those in the top of Dean. And if Ty can't beat Mays, then he isn't U.S. caliber anymore.

True, but I just don't want to see that. Who is this? This is my boy, Barry O'Reilly. Barry, what I said about Braden O'Neill, I say the opposite to you. Come on. How dare you? How dare you match Tai Tui Vasa up with Dantel Maze? Like, Rebellus to Spain is the correct answer for this.

When Rebellis to Spain goes out there in St. Louis and does what he does, the correct answer is to Spain versus Tai Tui Vasa next. There's just no other fight to make. This is the one. And I think everybody should be on board with this. Just get on board because this is the direction we need to be going. Not Dantel Maze for Taito Ivasa. Come on, because Dantel Maze can just tackle Taitoivasa.

We don't want that. We don't want that to happen. We don't even want the chance of that happening. So, no. David Onama versus Chipe Mariscal. No, he doesn't deserve that fight. He doesn't deserve that. That would win a great pick.

If he had made weight, if he had made weight and won, the way he did, I would love to see him in Chepa, but sorry, that is a, that is a gift and, not as in a gift victory, as in a high profile, exciting fight. And sorry, David, you do not, David and I would do not serve that fight. Chepe, Chepet's stock is very high right now, and he should be moving up a little further. Corinne Silva, Lauren Murphy, yes, a very good pick. I just don't know if when Lauren comes back, not that she's ever super picky with her fights, but I think she's enjoying whatever time off she's taking again to just rest,

relaxed. She's had a lot of fights in her career. She's been fighting for a long time. She ain't doing any of that, man. I don't think she's incredibly busy. She's incredibly busy. She would fight Creighted Silva. I definitely think she'd fight her. Oh, 100%. She doesn't say, she doesn't say no to fights.

She really doesn't. I know, I know. But it's just she's just not fighting anybody right now. Okay. I mean, if they offer like a title fight, she'd probably take that. But she just, she's got other things. She's trying to focus on those. So she does, she did.

me she plans on fighting this year. She was totally fine with being taken out of the UFC rankings for, quote, unquote, inactivity. She could give two shits, honestly. I know people are up in arms about that, but I can assure you she cares not at all. So neither should, neither should we. So, but yeah, she'd fight Karina, so. Maybe it's Karina then. What did you think of, I can't remember if we heard this before, Guskov and Rockich?

Oh, man. I got to be honest with you. That was my first thought. I thought about it as well, yeah. But then the more I thought about it, maybe it's just after taking in all of knucklemania and just the chaos that brought and seeing people like maybe doing things a little too quickly,

I realized maybe that's not the way to go. Let's not throw Bogman into a situation like that. I don't, if the UFC did that, I'd be fine with it because this is the UFC just being like, all right, we're planting our flag here on this guy. and we want to get him to a title fight. Like, we think he could be a star. And that's a super tough fight.

But if somehow Bogdan pulls it off, it beats a guy like Rackich. Like, he's in a great spot. We could be living in a world where we get like Bogdan Guska versus Yuri Parashka in like a number one contender fight, which would be incredible. It would be incredible if we got that. But I just feel, I just feel like that'd be a really tough fight for Bogdan, at least right now.

So I think it's a little too soon. Let's slow our role. Just a touch. We should give him a name, give him a ranked guy. But throwing him in there with a guy like Rackage, it just seems like a little much, even though I did think about it. He also said like he's,

you know, he's a guy that he wants to go in there with people who are kind of willing to slug it out with him. And Rockets doesn't really fit. Not that Rockets can't knock him out, but it wouldn't be in the way that Goosecott likes. It wouldn't be like a back and forth. It's just like hammering. He would be picked apart or something like that.

I mean, we didn't think we'd get that. We didn't think we'd get that from rackets against Yuri. And that was a slug fest, man. I mean, it turned into what Yeri wanted to become. Yeah. So maybe, maybe Bogdan has the same ability. Maybe he can't, he can't impose this as well on people. He kind of, again, did it to Span.

After Span, like it looked like he had a really good game plan in round one. And then for whatever reason, maybe he got tired. I think that's what Goosecob said after. He said after he's like, he think they got tired, that Span got tired and had no choice but to stand and kind of trade with him. So yeah, maybe Gooskov is the poor man's Alex Panetta. Maybe he has that same ability to take fighters who have a game plan and just take them out of it, right, after a round. Barry closes off with the Alex Bresmanel Cop.

Again, I love this. He says, wrong to keep rewarding this guy after weight misses another stuff. I'm talking about Cop. But I really want to see Cop versus Pantosia and a win here should steal that for Cop. Or we'll push Perez closer to a title shot. Yeah, I think that's the logic with that matchup. Cop would get a title shot after Perez would be, at least back in the conference. conversation.

See back, seriously back in the conversation. And he says, thanks for all the great content, looking forward to the podcast. Let me, let me ask you this. I kind of feel like,

even though he missed Wade and even though he pulled out of this fight, the longer Manel Kopp doesn't fight, the better his position in the title conversation has gotten. Like he's over, he's leaped over so many hurdles without actually walking to the octagon. Yeah. And even missing weight, the longer it takes him to fight,

he's getting in a better spot. Like, he might just be the next title challenger at 125 right now without fighting anybody with how this is all played out. It's very possible. It's very possible. That's how this business works, right? It's not always about results. It's about timely results and some of the stuff you do in between and the kind of reputation you can build.

So anyways, guys, that's it for this week. Listener picks. Please send more. Send them every week to at Alexander. Well, not next week. Not next week. Sorry, Mike. I was looking at the card and I just assumed it was a fight night and we would be doing a normal show.

But it is a pay-per-view. It is a paper-view next week. I mean, by definition, it's a pay-per-view? This is tough to spend your $80 on after you have C-300, ladies and gentlemen. And after seeing what 302 and 303 look like, it's just. It's fine. I honestly think it's going to be like a pretty decent watch. Yeah, I think on paper, some of the matchups are really good, are really excited.

Just but name value wise, this is. Yeah, this is a, we're not comparing to 300 to 299. We're saying like compared to your average pay-per-view last year or in 2022, this is very, it's lackluster. It's a lackluster. And it doesn't turn to star power. A lot of talented far as far as far as card. A lot, a lot, a lot of talented far as this card.

Maybe future stars. But current stars, nothing. This would be, like, if this was UFC St. Louis, this would be a tremendous fight night card. Awesome. It'd be a per, like, we've even had, like, better fight night cards on paper than this. Like, on the road shows, this would be just a tremendous fight night card. Like, a really good one at a decent arena. It would be exceptional.

It'd be, like, what every roadshow fight night card should look like. as a pay-per-view, especially after 298, 299, and 300. Like, this is the let-down pay-per-view, if there ever was one. Although I do love, from a, just a stylistic and intrigue perspective, Steve Ur-Segg, the chance, I'm sorry, Vincenzo Erseg, if Vichenzhenzo Erseg somehow leaves Rio with the flyway title, I mean, what a friggin story this guy would be? to actually win the belt before Belaw Muhammad gets a title shot would be, I mean, just be puzzling.

It would be one of the craziest things I've ever seen. But he's got to beat Alexander Pantosia to do that. I think Steve Versa has a chance to do it. If this fight could remain standing, I'm intrigued by it. I can't lie. Jonathan Martinez versus Jose Aldo, Jose Aldo, final fight on his UFC deal. And then he is just free and clear from the company. It's going to be interesting.

Anthony Smith versus Vitor Petrino is a featured bout in 2024 on a pay-per-view. Michelle Pereira versus Ehor, Poteeria. That's going to be fun as hell. He is, if he knocks out Eeyore, it is going to be the pop of the night. Because even more, maybe even more than the return of Jaze L, though, because I do not think Brazilians like Heor-Portaria after what he did to Shogun. I think this will be a cathartic experience for everyone. If he beats Pareda, oh boy, it's going to put on it.

Wow. A real damp run the evening. That fight's going to be nuts. It's going to be incredible. I can't wait for the watch for that fight in particular because G.C. and I are going to lose our shit. It's going to be incredible theater. Paul Craig versus Kyle Barallio.

I mean, look at Kyle Barallio getting demoted from Mr. Co-Mane event to Mr. Main Cart opener. Like, what the hell are we doing here? Joannerson Brito versus Jack Shore, really good fight. Carolina Colvukovic versus Yasmin Lissindo. Really good fight. The people's main event. This is my main event. Elvis Brenner versus Mick Tebeck Oralby.

Just shout out to Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby. This is A-plus matchmaking. I can tell you right now, Dana White had nothing to do with this fight because he probably has no idea who either of these two guys are, but we know, and it's going to be fan-freakantastic. John Silva versus William Gomi, Joaquin Silva versus Dracar Close, Maricio Hoffey versus Jamie Mularky,

Deoni Barbosa versus Ernesta Kara Katie, Ishmael Bonfim versus Vince Pichel and Alessandro Costa versus Kevin Borjas. That is UFC 301, ladies and gentlemen, aka... It's not a bad card. I would tell people definitely, obviously, if you have ESPN Plus, you know, check... I actually like the prelim card quite a bit. Yes, it's lacking in star power, but, you know, put it on if you're doing something else. So you got other sporting events on, NBA playoffs, whatever. Put some of these fights on. This is going to be some bangers. I do think some of these names that we mentioned as well are going to be future,

maybe not champions, but like contenders, mainstays in their divisions. So don't put that on. And if it delivers, you know what, then make the main card by a game time decision. You know, don't commit to spending that $80. But if you're, if that card is rolling, if you're feeling a buzz in the air after the first, what is it, seven, seven, eight prelims, nine, nine, oh my God, nine prelums. I didn't know that's how many free limbs there were. That's a lot of free limbs.

If you're feeling that buzz in the air, then maybe consider plunking down that 80. But, yes, I think the current read is, you know, if you only have a budget for six to eight UFC peer reviews a year, you might not be crying if you missed this one. Yeah, I think it'd be okay. Mnathain.com. Mnifidefine.com, guys. We'll have you covered. If you don't have a chance to watch it, we'll have your cover. Like you got two pay-per-views coming up in June.

Yeah. And if you really want to have like a combat sports night where you want to just watch everything, June 1st is a really busy day between boxing, between UFC 302, between like weird boxing with Mazadal and Diaz. Like if you will, if you buy the UFC card and Mazadal Diaz, you're spending $160 on on UFC on June 1st alone. Then you have the return of Connor McGregor, June 29th, against. Michael Chandler. Maybe you want to save your money.

But we get you covered. You can just join us for the watch party. We'll tell you everything that's going to happen. You can follow along with M.AFindon.com. It's a tremendous website. Plus spring is sprung. You might want to get outside and just enjoy the nice weather. And, you know, if it's raining, if it's a shitty day,

then, you know, drop the $80 and watch some fights, you know? But we're going to be watching, and we'll tell you everything that happens. And then we'll have a live program on Sunday morning after the fact. to let you know the futures of some of these fighters. And if Josie Alda wins, then we don't have to matchmate for him because he's going to probably be leaving the UFC. So thank you all very much. We appreciate you very much.

Back next week, live on the MA fighting YouTube channel for UFC 301. But until then, everybody, always remember the golden rule. Don't take this stuff too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun. And we're going to have as much fun as possible following UFC 301 right here. And on to the next one, the podcast. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Support for this show comes from Volkswagen.

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