MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | What's Next For Francis Nagnnou? Matches To Make After UFC Vegas 67

Episode Date: January 15, 2023

While the UFC returning to action seemed like the MMA community was returning to some sense of normalcy following a chaotic start to 2023, that all changed very quickly before Saturday came to an end as UFC president Dana White announced that Francis Ngannou was no longer the UFC heavyweight champion, or a UFC fighter at all, and that Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane will fight for the vacant heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 285 in March. On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss Ngannou becoming an unrestricted free agent, predict who his next opponent could be, and promotion he will fight for. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Sean Strickland following his short notice decision win against Nassourdine Imavov in the main event of UFC Vegas 67. Future matchups are also discussed for Dan Ige, Roman Kopylov, Raquel Pennington, Umar Nurmagomedov, and more. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Ikea. Bring home to life. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Everybody and welcome to the very first matchmaking episode of On to the next one of 2003. And holy smokes, there is so much going on in the world of MMA and the UFC. Not to mention the first UFC card of the year is in the books, UFC Vegas 67, which Sean Strickland placed spoiler to Nasardine Imov on less than a week's notice. and that might be, through no fault of Sean Strickland's, the eighth most interesting thing that happened yesterday.

But we have a lot to talk about this week from a matchmaking perspective and a show perspective. But I am Mike Heck and joining me as always, the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the prince of positivity, and my best friend. Alexander Kay Lee, hello AK. My best friend, it is so good to be doing a traditional,

odd-no episode with you and the listeners again. I mean, the episodes we did in between were fun. All the, all the, all the shows we did for Otno and every other, all the other holiday podcast content, super enjoyable. People, if you've got time this week, I know we got a pay-per-view around the corner, but hey, if you need, now as good at times I need to catch up on any of any, M.A. fighting podcast content you might have a miss. But yeah, we actually have a car, a UFC card to talk about.

We have matchups to talk about. And a pretty decent card, I thought. I was on Jake Paul duty if, Jake Paul, excuse me, CSI duty officially. KSI versus phase temper misfits boxing four and it was

fine. Whatever, that event was fine for what it was and KSI got a knockout in the main event, good for him. The other guy was completely overmatched. But yeah, then I had the luxury of kind of just getting to watch along with you guys as a fan and just slack off for the rest of the night.

and I enjoyed the card I said before the show Mike gymnastics rating like degree of difficulty like in the low eights range 8.1, 8.2 I think it came maybe just a little bit short it was missing like a fight of the night it would have been nice with there

some back and forth banger on there I really enjoyed like Bosharat and Mendoza but probably not really a fight of the night. Other than that though yeah entertaining good finishes some prospects showing out some people bouncing back getting back in the wind column.

I liked it. I thought it was an enjoyable card. Look, A.K., we have a job to do. And we're going to do it. My best friend, we're damn what we're going to do it. We are going to matchmaking for Sean Strickland and the other main card winners and much more. Plus, we're going to get the listener matchmaking picks him.

We're going to do all of that stuff. But we enter a historic time on the program, A.K., because as Dana White revealed after UFC Vegas 67, he confirmed a report from the T-Mobile billboard from an intern who probably I mean he can't be fired because he just has to live with the shame that's his punishment

that's how we're going along with this but John Jones is fighting Cyril Gahn in the main event of UFC 285 and not only that the fight is for the UFC heavyweight title because Dana also revealed that Francis and Ghanu is not only no longer the UFC heavyweight champion he's been officially stripped of the title.

He's no longer a UFC fighter. He's an unrestricted free agent. He is free to sign wherever he wants right this second. He can sign a contract to fight Tyson Fury tomorrow. So for us, AK, that means no more matchmaking for Francis and Gano. No more matchmaking for Francis. Unless somehow cooler heads prevail and he ends up back into the UFC, but something tells me, that ain't going to happen.

But what is your reaction to this news, AK? That's actually what I was going to say is like, well, okay, my reaction to the news, of course, was somewhat happy for Francis. I mean, listen, we had been, I think we had said, like, we really believed that of all the fighters who have ever sort of taken this stance, like, he was actually going to go through with it. He was not going to fight for a year. He was going to let that sunset clause in his contract go off. There was done with some doubters. I'm sure people thought, oh, maybe he can work something out. Again, maybe the John Jones fight could have happened last year.

you know, eventually they'll meet the middle ground. Maybe Francis is just cave. You know, most of the fighters just cave at some point. The UFC makes some semi-decent offer. And a lot of the fighters are like, well, they kind of take a look at the big picture and say, wow, how much, you know, how many fights do I have left in me? Am I that much of a draw without the UFC? And Francis never wavered, man.

Francis and Gano has always kind of been very calm, very measured about the situation. And all those interviews are just saying, like, yep, I'm just waiting it out. I'm waiting it out. And the game of chicken is over. Again, you can debate who won. I think both sides. I think Francis for me, I think is a huge winner, him being a free agent. So it's not going to be easy.

Let me say, I think most of us agree he's going to find great riches outside of the UFC. But he does have to find the right opportunity. It's not like every opportunity that's out there for him is like, oh, well, it's a can't miss. He's going to have to find the right opportunity. And I do think he will. Yeah, I actually do think it's going to be easy for him. I think he just needs to sit down and wait for everybody to come to him. And I think he is a ginormous winner in this.

And here's why I feel this way. And I was thinking about this as we were doing the reaction to all of this last night slash the post-fight show. Francis Ghanou, by all accounts. And obviously, I had been reporting for months. Ariel had also been reporting for a little while now that it seemed like things were heading in the right direction. to get Francis re-signed and this fight with John Jones on the books,

whether it be for March 4th or wherever. But the plan was always that John was going to fight March 4th. And it seemed like heading into 2023, things were still kind of in a optimistic feel, but the confidence levels were a little bit lower. Talking to Eric Nixick, and he said, 50-50 for March, that gave me a little bit of pause, but I still thought ultimately,

eh, maybe it's just an injury. It's taking a little bit longer to heal. I mean, the dude shredded his entire knee. So, yeah, they'll get this on the book. This fight's too big to not put together. And then this happens. And I thought to myself, just watching Dana at that press conference,

I think he handled it as about as best as you possibly could. You could see the frustration in his face. And I think a part of that frustration is the billboard who broke the news of this fight. And secondly, I think Francis just strung them along for a year. And the UFs, they had the U.S., him, his management, I think they had the UFC feeling pretty good about this. And then they offer him this big contract.

The UFC's thinking there's no way he's going to say, no, it's the biggest contract ever for a UFC heavyweight. And then Francis just says, thanks but no thanks. I'm out of here. Francis is a huge winner for me. And he has so many options right now. And this is not like, this is not Sergey Pavlovich becoming a free agent.

Like, Sergey is very marketable. You can just show highlights of him. But Francis is like the most terrifying guy. Like he, like, when you think of MMA fighters, like Francis is the quintessential MMA fighter. That's who you would think of if you're not a fan of the sports. Big, hulking giant guy who just hits it so hard. Knox dudes unconscious.

The Alster Overim knockout is still one of the gnarly knockouts of all time. So easy to market. and all these suitors are going to be running to him right now. And Francis can be so creative with this. And, man, I can't wait to see what's going to happen. I am so happy for this guy. And this is going to be very, very interesting. Will he go to Bellator?

Will he go to PFL? Will he go to 1? Will he go to Risen? Will he go to Fight Circus, AK? Will he go box Tysifery? Will he box underneath a KSI card for Misfits boxing? I mean, so many options for the fight. this guy and

he's just not going to fight in the UFC anymore and don't miss me with this whole oh he's scared to fight John Jones bullshit. It ain't true it just ain't true so knock that shit off. I swear I've sworn twice already I tried to be better with this but good for

Francis man so if you had to take an educated guess here okay where do you think he ends up? That Tyson Fury fight is going to happen everything the world broke for me like when connor mcgregor fought uh floyd mayweather that just broke everything down and we haven't had a crossover bout quite like it since and i think we're due uh you know tyson fehrie wants it you know franzanaganu wants it the money is going to be you know the purse

agreement is is going to be a sticking point probably for a while but the fact that i'm even talking about francis and ganu getting to be involved in a purse negotiation is thrilling. It's thrilling because that's not even the kind of conversation you can have in MMA. It just doesn't happen. So even if it comes out like Tyson Fury is making whatever, I don't know, considerably more than Francis for the matchup,

which is entirely possible, I guarantee whatever Francis makes will be more than he made probably in all as the UFC fights combined. Again, he's not a McGregor level star. I understand that. But if anyone just looks at like what McGregor made for the Mayweather fight, the numbers were truly, truly

insane. We're life-changing numbers. um that's just what happens guys with boxing that's just it's just been around for so much longer uh it just has that that structure to it that again a fighter can negotiate for so much more money than they could than if they stayed with the ufc or again any promotion i'm not just saying the ufc but obviously we're talking with the ufc in this case um because of uh state that you know it's in ganu and also what dana said him being the highest paid heavyweight i'm sure he would have been very well off if he'd stay with the ufc he would have made a lot of money but unless they're paying him like I'm just trying to think of a number.

25 million guaranteed, 30 million guaranteed to fight. No chance. There's no chance. And so why would he say? Because again, one boxing match, he can make, I bet a fight with Fury. And if it gets paper viewpoints, boy, I mean, we're talking well over, like, at least near the $75 million range. I think, I think personally, that might be a little too high, but I'm just saying the potential is there. And that was there.

And he would never come near anything like that. in the UFC. Not even close. So again, even if my estimate is off, and even as close to 50, $55 million, that's still an insane payday. And I think there's other big boxing matches for him and other fights. Plus, it could be a one-off thing. That's a beauty of boxing. Someone contrasted this beautifully, a lot of good pundits on, you know, of our fellow media members. Like, this kind of got buried was that John Jones signed the eight-fight deal with the UFC. Now, John Jones, his leverage is probably hurt by the fact he hasn't fought in a while. Of course, he has a lot outside the case issue. So his reputation,

is not what it could be. So he's going to sign this eight-fight deal. If you're Francis, signing an eight-fight deal is crazy. It's crazy, considering the leverage again. And all the things you said, that he could be this big star outside the UFC. That I think he's great with the media. Like, I think he's just a great media guy.

I think whatever company or whoever works with him is going to love having him out there promoting fights. He's not a brash trash talker, but you can go a long way and make a lot of money being a gentleman champion. George St. Pierre, obviously, number one. Lennox Lewis made a lot. of money as a boxer i mentioned two canadians of course because you know that's how we do um so it's

it's you're you're totally right mike he's a huge winner and i'm definitely seeing at least one boxing matches that does he does he have like a you know how many boxing matches does he take i don't know but that tyson fury fight will happen and i think it'll happen it's where i think we're at least a year or two away yeah could be happening could be three like we're a long way away very's like boxing boxing yeah the gear the gear is like boxing on these things can move pretty slowly, unfortunately. Yeah. Yes.

But it is blank check time for Bellator for PFL, for one, for everybody else. And someone asked this on the preview show or the post-fight show last night. And the more I think about it, the more I'm confident that this is true. Whoever gets Francis and Ghanu is the number two promotion of the sport. It's official, like it's official. If one gets them, they're the number two promotion in the sport. PFL gets him. They jump Bellator.

Belator gets it. They cement their place for a long time as the number two promotion. It's a game changer. Can you imagine, I'm just imagining the PFL logo with France and Gano on one side and Jake Paul on the other side. Like, who would have ever imagined that even being a possibility? And like, I don't know if they have the strongest, like, you know, the strongest case, but it is distinctly in the realm of possibility. I still think I think the Francis Ngano, his mom wearing the PFL shirt, very intentional troll. I think very well done by whoever, if it was him or whoever came up with that.

And then PFL last night doing the Hogan NWO GIF after as soon as the news broke. I thought that was very funny. Again, this could all lead to nothing. You know, but I think I just think I love that people are playing the game publicly and I think it's very funny. I do think there's an outside shot that he just returns to the UFC. Probably not this year. I don't think so. You don't think ever?

No. I think the UFC could offer him a floppy trillion dollars right now. And his happiness and his peace of mind is more valuable than any amount of money the UFC would give him. I was going to say. I think he's at that point. That's the only real sticking point is that you can't put a price on feeling, on being respected by the company.

Right. And, you know, based on this, based on this and Dana White straight up saying, I'm waiving any sort of whatever negotiation hold. that we have in his contract. Forget it, he's free to go. Based on that, it sounds like things probably got a little tense. And I don't think they took, I don't think they ever took his request to, you know, sign a UFC contract and also box on the side seriously.

And again, we said this beginning, he never wavered on that. He always said he wanted to fight an M.A. But also have the option to box. Why can't we work this out? I have a feeling the U.S. Again, Dana White, the UFC. Everyone from that company negotiating with him never entertained that. Said, no, you're in the UFC, you're a UFC fighter.

And if you're Francis, you're like, well, I've made my stance. And the fact that, and you guys not respecting that, I'm going to remember that. I'm going to keep that in mind. So money talks, Mike. So I always think if they can come to the right price, I'll come back. But yes, there is a lack. There are hurt feelings here. And it's going to take some time, I think, to get over that.

The whole thing was just kind of funny. Dana just kind of laying everything out even. I'm sure he had dinners with Francis and was somewhat privy to the negotiations. but we all know at this point, Dana isn't doing those deals. Hunter Campbell is doing those deals. What do you mean? I said, I know, right? Dana does everything.

What do you mean? According to Dana- I know if he leaves. The promotion dies. He does everything. He does, he invented UFC. It's just. I saw a documentary.

He said he invented UFC. It's crazy. The whole thing was funny. And one reporter had asked him, well, if Francis was going to get this big time money to fight John Jones, Cyril, gone is, of course, getting this life-changing money, right? And Dan is like, no, he's got a deal. Francis didn't.

And they're like, well, what about John Jones? He goes, oh, yeah, we just signed him to a brand new eight-fight contract. I was like, what? I was like, Cyril, no, Cyril, you got to. No. John, yeah, go ahead. I don't want Cyril getting locked into an eight-fight contract, but I would love to have heard that he got some sort of new deal that included a huge, huge boost in money.

It does not sound like that that is what happened. Yeah. By the way, UFC fighters, if you're listening to this right now, if you're up and coming and you're like, oh, I may it accomplish my dream. I'm in the UFC. Good for you. I congratulate you for that.

But let me just say this. And I know I'm not your manager. I have nothing. I don't know anything about it. But what I do know is, don't you ever sign an eight fight deal. Don't ever sign an eight fight contract with the UFC. Unless.

Absolutely insane. Unless it's like eight fights for like $60 million or something. But if you're getting Raphael Deber's money, then go for it. If you're getting eight fights for $331 million, then sign that shit. You're not getting that. So, yeah, sign four fight deals.

Let's go. Because they can cut you at any time. They can just boot you out any time. Yeah, it's crazy. Eight fights, like, starting at, like, 16 and 16 and 16 with escalating of like, oh, it'll go up by like 32, 32 by the end. It's like, no, no. Do not sign that.

We will see what happens with this. I hope Francis makes all the monies. And more importantly, like I said earlier, I hope he's happy. I hope he is fulfilled. I hope he gets everything he did not get from the UFC. So happy trails, Francis. We wish you the best in this new chapter that is unrestricted free agency. And one last thing I want to say about this,

Shaheen Al-Shadi kind of blew my mind last night. And now I'm like fully on board with this. Nate Diaz needs to get Francis on the phone and they need to become like this super duper tag team. Like sign a real fight ink. You guys are a package, the two of you guys. How cool that. They would flip the M.M.A. world upside down.

If them two were like, not only we're doing this, but we're going to start a fighters association, we're going to do all these things to get everybody on board. And those two are the faces. Like Jake Paul and Anderson Silva, they're going to be like, what? Get out of here. I'm going with these two guys. Like just flips everything upside down. I love the potential of all these different things that can happen.

How about Nate Diaz on the? the Niners, that playoff game intro. Damn. Dude's a star. That's nice. He's the star. That's good work. Got him all fired up. So that's Francis and got him. Boarding for flight 246 to Toronto is delayed 50 minutes.

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Conditions apply. Like I mentioned earlier, A.K., although the news cycle is insane, we still have the job to do. and Sean Strickland shut a lot of people up. And no, I did not pick Sean Strickland to win, so I'm not going to give myself a full pat on the back. But I did predict that he was quite live in the fight. I said this would be a very competitive fight. And in the end, Strickland goes in there and just won.

He just kind of outclass and outworked Nassardine Imovov. I scored at 4847 doing the live blog, the same way Mike Bell scored it. Two judges scored at 4946. Got no issue with that score either. but just a massive win for Sean Strickland, one he needed badly. Now what do we do, my best friend? What do we do now?

I think it's time. I guess we have to do this. I feel like we've called for this fight multiple times. And this is crazy, by the way, Mike, that a month ago, we weren't even mentioning John Strickland because he lost. He was in the losers column. He didn't make the Otno predictions chart. And he picked a very, I think we all agreed, he picked a smart. fight to take against a guy who's like not a bad stylistic matchup who has a lot of buzz you know

everyone was saying you move off probably would have run through gasolm i think that's what people were expecting though now looking at this fight gaslam might have presented some of the similar challenges um and now here strickland is holding onto his spot again it was a light heavyweight fight whatever essentially a middleweight fight but any other name he's going to hold on his ranking and yeah now he gets uh he gets some uh some career advice from us Apollo Costa until it happens, I guess. I guess there's always a chance Costa Whitaker, you know, that that gets resolved. But I feel like the water's been muddied pretty badly there.

And Whitaker, I think, will want to, he's down to fight whoever. I'm sure he'd love to fight Costa. He also just probably wants to get a fight as soon as possible. And I don't know what's going on with Costa and the UFC. So we do know he has one fight left. I think that's what Bohicino has said. He has one fight left in his current contract. and Strickland would be a good choice.

If you're going to leave the company, why not doing it fighting a company man? I assume the matchmakers and officials would be optimistic that Strickland could send cost out on a loss. And if not, whatever, it's, it'll be a, I hesitate to say entertaining buildup. I'm not a fan of Sean Strickland on the mic. I know a lot of people are,

but there would be some memorable moments. There you go. That's the nice thing I'll say if these two got booked. this is an interesting one because he's fought a lot of these guys already. Like the ones who are in play, he's already fought him. And I don't think he would get the Whitaker fight. I don't think he's there just yet. I think Whitaker's kind of at this.

Maybe he gets the Costa fight just because it's so interesting. And I think that's a very strategic move on the UFC's part. With Costa having one fight left in his deal, let's chuck him in there with Robert Whitaker. Because stylistically, that is a horrible matcher for Paul Costa. So I don't think Strickland would sneak into that spot. I know Brunson is fighting Drick's Duplice. March 4th. You can maybe do the winner of that.

But since we're already halfway, we're not even halfway through the month yet. And there's so many firsts that have happened. And since we're just going full chaos, cue the music. Friends forever. Strickland versus Paul Costa. It's just, I mean, the chaotic flow of 2023, just throwing that in there, it wouldn't even, like, enhance the wind speed.

It's just like, oh, okay, this just fits right in perfectly. So I would consider this that you probably agree with everything going on contractually, with Costa being who he is. It's a magic wand pick, no doubt about it. But I ultimately think Costa in the UFC will figure things out. And the build to that one would just be ridiculous. I'm not saying, like, good ridiculous. it would just be ridiculous. So chaos card slammed back down on the table.

That's magic wand pick. I just think that one makes too much sense. I originally wanted a few months ago. I wanted Roman DeLisei to fight the winner of this main event when it was Gaslum imavov. And I think it would have been perfect if Deleese hadn't just done a quick turnaround and already booked himself to fight Vittori. But I would have liked that. I would have liked to have seen Deleetze and Strickland happen.

But who knows, hey, if God forbid something happens to to Votori, you know, Strickland's probably just going to jump right in there. So, I mean, it's still possible, but I think Strickland Delizze would have been great. But nope, Delizzee has a dance partner. And it looks like Strickland and Costa are that much closer to finally getting

to that cage together. So if you hear this like random beeping, and I'm not cutting this out because I think this is just hilarious. We have this, you know, those like little robotic vacuums. Yeah. That go around.

Robo. Like, yeah, this is, uh, an oofy. So we have an oofy. We had one and it like died. So we got a new one. And at first we're like, oh, this thing's great. Like, this is way better than the other one. And now we've realized that we have, we bought like the dumbest one ever because he just keeps getting stuck in the same spot every day. And it's so frustrating. Like, he gets stuck in the same random places every single time. And I like how he's, he's now a person. But the vacuum gets stuck every time. It just beeps and you pull him out. And he goes again. And then it just beeps again, 10 seconds.

later because he's back at the same freaking spot. It's supposed to be a smart vacuum. Know where you're going. It drives me crazy. Proof. Oh, man. But tremendous win for Dan Ege, back on track. Goes out there and just knocks out Damon Jackson.

Looked fantastic. Three-fight losing streak is over after the memorable walkoff. He was very emotional after the win. And as happy as I am for Mr. 50K, I have to keep things real and keep things in perspective. The win was great, but it really doesn't improve his position in that division all that much. Gaykeeper, a lot of people look at as a disrespectful term. I don't when I talk about Danny Gay and a lot of other people in that position because he is the litmus test. If you have a surging contender in the division and you want to see if they are for real, you chuck them in there

with Danny Gay because Danny Gay will fight them and give them a hell of a time. So my pick, Dan Ege versus JSP. Let's see how JSP does against Dan Ege. Because JSP's look great. The Darren Elkins win. Like, a lot of people thought that that's like, oh man, this guy's top,

he should be a top 10 guy. No, doesn't do it for me. But if you feel that way, and I would like to see JSP tested in a way he hasn't been tested before, let's do this one. Because this is what he needs to kind of put it over the top.

The other big test he had was Joe Lozahn and he got crushed in seconds. So throw him in there with Dan and see if this is for real and if he could be a top 10 guy. What say you? Yeah, I mean, that might be where E.G is at now. I went a different direction, but I do like your thinking because we had Damon Jackson, four-fight win streak, different stage of his career than Jonathan Pierce is, certainly. But he was on a four-fight win streak. Not like I said, JSP, five-fight win streak.

If you're E-Gay, yeah, this might be your only chance to sort of build up your contender resumes is by stopping other people from coming up into that top 10. So it's a spot that he was briefly in. I think in the UFC rankings for sure he was top 10. I think he wasn't ours as well. I'd have to go back and look to the archives. I was pretty sure he was in the global rankings as well. So yeah, and he hit a tough spot with Morzov, zombie, Cater.

It's nothing wrong with losing some of those names. So I went a different direction. I went with someone who's coming off a loss, but was on a pretty good hot streak for a while. I think him and Bryce Mitchell would be interesting. I think there's some heat there. I still want to see what we have with Bryce. I think he has obvious limitations as a striker.

He will say, of course, that he wasn't 100% going to that last fight. He read off a laundry list of injuries and interviews following his recent loss to, but I think there's a ceiling there right now. I'm not saying it can't be moved, but I think we've seen what Mitchell can do and I want to seem up against Egey,

a guy who, as we've kind of both said, is just well-rounded, a really good grappler. So for Mitchell to, you know, to just go to his wrestling, I don't know if that's what necessarily work against Ege. And striking, listen, we know what Ege can do. He's gone to decisions with some very, very good strikers and we saw some of the power and some of the technique on Saturday.

So, yeah, maybe that's where we go right now. Ege, just back in the wind column, Mitchell, his first, quote, unquote, first official, pro loss. I could see that happening. And I know there's been some heat there in the past from like a few years ago or something. So even if that's kind of died down, they're just around the same area of the rankings for me. Yeah, I'm in for that.

And judging by the quick gander I had at the listener picks, I think that's a pretty popular one. Yeah, I saw a lot of E. E.G. A lot of that. Roman Copulov, kind of making me look like a genius, AK. Did he? My one regret is that I didn't pick them. I was going to say, let me.

I did not pick him. Let me call you out here, my best friend, because I did have someone say, I had a couple of people refer to, oh, Mike's best friend, Roman Koppelov. Maybe this is just jealousy speaking, okay, because, listen, I'm your best friend, and Roman Koppelov can be your friend. I don't know he's your best friend. You did not believe in him. You had picked Puna by decision or something? Puna by, I don't know, I don't you.

No, I picked Puna by second round K.O. Okay. Because I think the first round went the way I kind of thought it would, and then I thought Puna would just get crazy and get after it. but man roman's good roman's good he's super good he beat the hell out of punna i did not see that coming i really didn't i have my moments and this was one where i actually had it pegged like perfectly

the only thing is i wish i picked a knockout but uh i specifically like man puna's just his body shot defense isn't there it's kind of how he lost his last fight and roman coppelov has really good body shots so i'm like i just there's just like a basic math in my head i'm like pretty sure coppelov's going to work the body here and just avoid hopefully avoid getting haymakered And that's what happened. So I had a good feel for it. I had picked copp.

I think that was my only perfect pick of the night. Koppelov second round. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Ege was my perfect pick. Koppelov, I wish I'd done it. But yeah, Koppelov looked, he's looking good. He's looking more like the sort of the prospect that he was billed as coming in.

So, Mike, I don't know what route you went. I was kind of lazy with it. I just want to say the reason I didn't pick Koppelow. Please, explain yourself. It wasn't the offensive skill set. it was sort of the defensive skill set. I just thought at some point Puna was going to hit him in the chin

and he was going to go down. And lo and behold, not only is his offense improved, his defense has improved, and his chin seems to have improved too. So a lot of the, I mean, I'm not saying, I didn't think Koppilov couldn't win.

I just thought at some point Kov's going to touch him and he's going to go down. And, excuse me, Puna was going to touch him and Koppelof was going to go down. And that just didn't happen here. So super impressive performance. And I'm a believer now, A.K.

Like, I'm fully on board. I just want to see him go in there and just chuck them with somebody. So there's no need to get cute. My first thought was Cheedy and Jokwani. And then I realized if I just went out and said this into a live microphone, that would be the first doo-do pick of 2023 because he is booked to fight Albert Deraf. So I didn't go with that. So then I said, you know what?

Let's just do it. Let's just throw them in there with a guy who everybody. knows, who is a celebrity. He now has IMDB credits for his appearance on Cobra Kai. He's coming off of a big win himself. And maybe this is

a bit of a step up in competition, but I don't care. I think Roman's ready for this after seeing that performance on Saturday. Give me Roman Coppulov versus your boy, Eric Anders. Let's do it. Let's get it. I'm in Chuckham.

Yeah, I love it. that'd be a good test that'd be a really good test Eric Anders is he's such a tough out he's such a tough out and if Koppelov could knock him out I'd that would be something else I went with I said obvious

I just went Al Hassan just pulled out pulled another winner from the prelims Abdul Razak Al Hassan put him in there with Koppelov there you go got yourself a banger someone's getting knocked out yeah that's about all I saw a lot of people saying Al-Hassan and Anders but I don't know I like I like

Koppelov and Abdul Razak Al-Hassan I mean after Abdul Rzhak al-Hassan's post-fight media scrum. He doesn't get to fight Buckley again. Why? Why? You have to do it now.

No, you don't. Neither of those two guys are going really anywhere in this division, like, towards a ranking or anything. Like, they're just fun, middle, like, that first fight was not good. But I think if they fought again, it would be kind of what we would expect in the first fight. But I'm sorry, but I'm sorry. I hate when people recently fight and then say, like, oh, if I see. you, I'm going to kill you. I'm like, you had 15 minutes in the cage, buddy. You had 15 minutes

in the cage. I mean, it takes two to tango. I'm not blaming him for that fight being very, very disappointing. But like, you had 15 minutes. That wasn't that long ago either. This was like a year ago. So, no, you don't get to have that. If Buckley's down for it, fine. But I, I'm sorry, take the L for now. If somehow you're past cross again, I wouldn't be against it. But no, man, I'll miss me with all that. That, that, a year later, oh, I'm still mad about it. It's like, no, man. I mean, we saw he won Al-Hasson for a little while

before he delivered the knockout. So I think maybe he's playing some mind games here saying try to wrestle me. Now I'm ready for you. Yeah. We'll see what happens. Good win for Roman Coppuluff. Kids coming along. Raquel Pennington, AK, five wins in a row. Wins a splitie against

Kettlin Vieira. Everything's just coming up rocky these days. She's getting on the right end of these splities. She's about to become a parent, a mom with Tisha Torres for the first time. That's coming pretty soon. And the big question on everybody's mind, A.K., has she done enough to get back in there with Amanda Nunes?

And the answer to me is probably, but it's not where I'm going. So let's go ahead and just knock a couple of answers to questions out in one fight. Let's do Raquel Pennington versus Juliana Pena. Title I'm a story there from being on the same season of tough. Raquel Pennington is never going to be Giuliana Pena's friend and vice versa. Pena, at least to me, with how that second fight with Nunes went, she needs to get a win outside of Nunes to get back to that fight. I think we saw enough in that second fight where it's just like, look, you were admirable.

You tried really hard. You were tough as hell. And we appreciate that, but the levels to this are a little crazy. I think we just need to see you get one more win. And I think Pennington would be undeniable if she beat Pena. We all remember what happened with Nunes, Pennington won. It was not close. It was not competitive.

But I think if she goes out there and beats Pena, and that's six wins in a row, she has done more than enough to get that fight. So I think that fight makes sense. You could throw Arrini Aldana in there with Nunes. If they can't get the Chivchenko-Nunes fight done, I think there's plenty of meat on that bone with Pennington and Pena. There's a story.

It's easy to sell. That's where I'm going. What do you think? Okay, this was a hard one because I had to do some math like in my head. What like what do we do if Amandauna says, hey, I'm ready to defend my title. I want to do it on the Jones gone card March 4th. You know, like just slide right into that comane. I want to get a big paycheck first quarter of 2023.

What do we do? I mean, we have to, it has to be either Raquel Pennington or a Rene Aldana, right? Unless, unless they really, unless God forbid, Juliana Pena gets a trilogy about, but I, no. No. That's, yeah, okay, good. So that's out of the equation. You're missing another option. Who's the, who's a who my?

It's short, we're less than two months away. Oh, no, no, Mike, no. Noron Dumont. Mike, no. I'm telling you, that's in play. I don't want to see a featherweight. The featherweight title is not a thing. It's not a thing.

Nobody cares. Nobody cares. It's about Amanda fighting somebody. They just want to see Amanda just fight somebody. And I don't think she's getting on that card anyways, but maybe. What was Norma Dumont? What does she do? Did she do the thing?

No, what did she? What was her? Unanimous decision over Danielle Wolfe. A dominant decision, okay. Dominant. No, I don't care. I don't. Okay.

It's in play. I'm telling you. Alicia Spencer, sure. Okay, that wasn't that long ago. Aspen Ladd, okay. Yeah. Main eventer, Norman Dumont, by the way. She missed weight and lost a split decision to Macy Chiasen, but you cannot give this person a title shot.

I know I say titles or props. You gave Megan Anderson a title shot, AK. If we're going to ignore, listen, I'm all in favor of, again, titles or props, I'm all in favor of not factoring that in for, you know, should this fight happen. But like, even, so let's say remove that. I don't care about seeing Amanda Nunes fight Norma Dumont. I guess if, you know what, Amanda Nunes is generally pretty fun to watch. So I guess whatever gets her in there.

But I think it, like, the thing is she has options of phantom weight. Pennington, you said, has she done enough? Yeah, she kind of has. I don't think I will stand by what I said in the preview show. No one is clamoring for this rematch. Rocky, God bless her, she wins fights. That's all you should have to do to earn a title shot. and she does it as well as anyone that has ever competed at 135 pounds in the UFC.

But the frights aren't super memorable. Saturday's fight was fine and wasn't a bad fight at all, but it's not a fight we'll be talking about by the end of the year. It's not a fight we'll be talking about next month. But if you're just going by wins, she has done more than enough. Aldana has a win over her from a while ago, and after that knockout, that bizarre and really cool knockout of Jaston, she's also done enough.

So should she get the tell shot instead? I don't know Mike I settled on the rematch I said yes if Amade de Nunes wants to fight any time within the next three months it should be Pennington nobody else

but obviously you can give out of the shot and then Pennington versus Pena makes way more sense so I don't know Benton wait Kettlen Vera why couldn't Kettlen Vera just win Mike why couldn't she do the thing

Her and Marinas man Her and Marino right there couldn't get the shot and now it's probably very unlikely either of them ever gets a UFC title fight. I'll say this. I'm just kind of sad to think about.

I bet Raquel Pennington does a better, is not beaten as badly in a rematch. There you go. That's my, Prince of positivity. Prince of positivity right there. I agree. I agree. But I, I, this is do the freaking Pania fight. Who cares?

A.K. Umar and Armaga Madov. He is the real, real. Holy cow. He knocks out Hione Barcelos with a lethal. yet extremely nonsensical combination that I've watched a thousand times probably at this point and I still don't get it. I don't understand it. I don't understand how he did it.

And I don't understand how he did it with the amount of power and effect that it actually had on Hione Barcellos. And then before he could deliver even another blow, he showed remorse and he cradles his head and showed compassion. Like this dude, this finish had every. Everything. I mean, the sky is the limit for this guy. How high are we going here? Typically, you play things a little bit safer, but are we willing to, uh, to let this man off the leash and take a sprint towards the top 10, the top five? What do we think? I'm still playing a save. And let me just say that whole knockout sequence you just described was one of the like, like, somehow it was both cold and warm at the same time. It was cold as in like the delivery of the knockout was. So he did throw a hammer fist after, but that's because, I mean, the fight wasn't over.

And I think even, I think even he didn't realize how badly that little short, like, shot had knocked straight up, knocked up Bracela's. I think he probably couldn't believe it. So obviously he goes in, instinctively goes in for that hammer fist. And then he lands one and then just stops himself. Yeah. And then the cradling, like, I almost thought he, someone tweeted, they thought he was going to start giving Barcellus CPR, which I thought was, you know, I mean, you know, in the wake of the Hamlin incident, maybe not the funniest thing. still, it got a chuckle out of me. Maybe I'm just that person, but I am so impressed.

I think we all thought the odds were a little disrespectful to Barcelos going in. He was like a, what, plus 700 something underdog, and Umar was like minus 900 something favorite. But he is the real deal. I mean, I, this is definitely being a victim of the moment. I immediately messaged our pal Jed Mishu, the master of bumping people, like, way up the rankings after strong performance. And I said, I'm like 80% sure that Umar would F up Aljo. I realize like this guy is, Jed was way early on the Islam bandwagon. He'd been saying forever Islam was going to be the champion.

I think a lot of people were. So I'm very happy to do that, give that same kind of treatment to Umar. I, you know what, I didn't go, I didn't go conservative on this one, Mike. He should get the title shot sometime this year. And he should have, and he should get it by knocking off Marab. I think you just go to do him and devalice really. That's the way to go. You just go him, it's a great matchup.

Marab, listen, he's Aljo's bodyguard. And if Aljoin needs a bodyguard against any of the division, is this frigging, undefeated U-Martur-Magamatov that is rocketing off the charts. looks like he could again if you made this if you booked this to happen at a upcoming peer review i would put money on umar so maraub protect your boy uh maybe stop this before it even happens yeah i like for a minute i thought i thought the biggest loser and all this was rickie simone because i mean i literally talked to rick simone like four days ago and was i was talking about like the ufc's going to throw you in there with marab like that's what they're going to do it just

makes all the sense in the world right now there's a story there you're coming off this incredible win over Jack Shore. The first fight ended in such a dramatic way that it almost makes, you almost have to run it back at some point. I feel like the time is now. And the way this division is being booked right now with some of the veteran guys

fighting some of the up-and-comers are seeing it with Rob Fawn, Adrianiannas, and other examples of that. We saw it with Peoria and John O'Malley. I just felt like Ricky Simone versus Moraab two made a ton of sense. And then Umar just lethal combination in his way. He just kind of shoved

Ricky Simone off to the side. And now you have to do this fight. Like you have to do Umar versus Maraam. Nothing else makes sense to me. You can't like him versus Ricky Simone is interesting. I would like to see it. But no, no. Chuck him in there with Maraub.

That's it. Like that's it. That's the fight. Kill the music. Friends forever. Friends forever. Two times at one show. I mean, it's a no-brainer. This is probably the easiest pick of the entire card for me. And which is Marab. Nothing else makes sense.

And weirdly, I feel like Marab is a better matchup than Aljo. I'm not sure how to explain that. We'll see if it gets booked. I'll have to look into that a little deeper. But off the top of my head, and I'm not saying Maraub's a better fighter than Aljo. I just feel like he matches it better with Umar. I don't know. It's kind of weird.

M.M.A math thing. Yeah. I'm super intrigued by that fight. Two guys who are like the boogey men in this division, two guys where if you see their name, on the other side of a contract, you're like, ugh, really? All right. But now you just kind of knock one of them out of there and craziness, man. Umar is, I mean, what a performance, what a combination.

I mean, I literally, during the post-fight show, I watched it in slow motion like 20 times in a row. And I just couldn't stop. I'm like, I don't know how he did it. How the hell did he do that? So we'll see what happens, but. He felt so bad after two. I know. I felt bad.

I felt bad. I felt sorry. And then he was like, I've never. He looked like he was in shock. He was like, I've never, because I think he was, this is only his second, I think, knockout victory, right? Let me check the notes right.

He has like a, I think he has some clubbing subs. I'm pretty sure this is only his second, uh, fight that he's actually won, you know, just straight up colding someone. Or maybe it's the first time he's straight up cold someone. I think the other win was a, was a TKO. Yeah, one, uh, so now two KOs, seven subs in his career. And we know he can strike.

I mean, that's the whole thing. That's, you know, one of the great things about him is he's, uh, when he came in. into the OCPO's saying, yeah, he's the Norma Medov who can also strike, which scared the hell out of people. But yeah, even he seemed shocked that he landed a knock up like that and just remorseful, completely remorseful. So hopefully he can recover from this incident and get back in there soon. Yeah. Let's go to the first wildcard pick of 2023. We'll select one fighter we have not match made for yet. And we will do so right now. So AK, I have a feeling we're picking the same guy,

but it could be wrong. Could be wrong. Who are you going with? Can we keep talking about bantam weights? Mike, can we keep talking about bantam weights? I mean, we're picking the same guy, I'm sure. And we might even pick, this book could be a third friend's forever. We'll see.

Because this guy, Javid Bachelat is legit. I mean, he's, you know, I don't always approve of this, Mike. But this boy is mixing the martial arts at a very high level in, you know, what we consider to be one of the three deepest, toughest divisions in MMA. I know he was fighting guy making his debut, but Mattius Mendoza is no joke. That to me, I thought, was like a very dangerous matchup actually for Javid. Because, again, it's a new guy, but also a guy who's looked really, really good before coming to the UFC. So solid decision win.

He still needs a finish. I get it. I know people want to see those highlight real finishes. That's fine. But I think he's been facing good competition, so it doesn't surprise me that he hasn't just been blowing the doors off of some of these guys. And I tweeted after that Javid Basharat will be a top 10. sorry, excuse me, in the rankings, top 15 in the M-A's ranking, M-A-fighting rankings by the end of 2023.

So let's keep them going in that direction. Give him a guy who I have ranked just a little bit higher. And again, would just be another fun battle at 135 pounds. Javid Basharat and Montel Jackson. Oh. Oh, no? Nope. Mike, where'd you go?

There's a lot of options. So many options. I'm given, I'm with, I'm with the embassurad. This dude's legit. And his post-fight interview, was maybe the most realistic post-fight interview that I've ever heard. This is a guy who was like, I fought this guy, I fought this guy, I fought this guy, he goes, look, he basically said, like, you may not know who these all are, he goes,

but if you really dig into it, these are all risky fights. Every single one was a super risky fight. Gravely, this undefeated guy, all those other opponents, like all risky fights. So he's like, so give me somebody else. Like, let's give me a step up. I took all the risk. Now let's reward me. He threw out a name and I'm with it.

I'm with it. Javid Basharat versus Chris Gutierrez. Sign me up, dude, because not just the coaching battles, not just the game plan and the scheming, the striking exchanges, the grappling exchanges, the exchange of kicks between those two guys. It would be incredibly fascinating theater. So I'm going with it.

I love the callout. Gutierrez might not be overly thrilled by getting that name on the other side of a contract coming off the Frankie Edgar win, but I don't, like, I just don't know if that win does a whole lot for him. Like, he's certainly not, I mean, could you chuck him in there with like a Ricky Simone, maybe? I don't think Ricky would be too thrilled with that idea either.

So yeah, let's do it. Basharab versus Gutierrez. Let's have some fun. I think that fight is super compelling. Yeah, there's, there's, listen, Javid now won his third UFC fight. That's usually when I say it's time. depending on the division you're in, it's time for a step up.

So, yeah, he's got to go up. And, yeah, Gutierrez would be an amazing choice. There's no, there are no easy, well, like I said, he hasn't had any easy fights, Jabid Bajarat. And there's certainly no easy fights going ahead if he wants to be a contender by the end of the year. Yeah, Chris Gutierrez makes a lot of sense. So, but yeah, just very exciting to see what's an extra job. And hopefully no injuries this year.

Get three, four fights inside the Octagon. And, man, I don't know. If he's consistent and just stays healthy and get in there, we could really be talking about him as a player at the end of 23 heading into 2024. I have to admit, I love the Montel Jackson fight too. Just, I mean, so many good options. I admire it. I admire the pick.

Do we have any extracurriculars before we go to the peeps? Not really. I will tell people I'm going to try and keep better track of, uh, no points. I kind of fell off near the second half of the year. It just got so busy, like as far as people sending in submissions. I'm like, well, I'd rather spend more time just like sorting through submissions than trying to keep track of like who picked one. But I always tell you'll, nudge me.

Nudge me. If there's some really unique pick you had that I forgot, that I just didn't, that you think I forgot. Again, always send me a message, and I'll try to mention it some way. But we do have a title, Marcus McGahey, calling this the thick Strickland edition of on to the next one. Strickland coming at 204 pounds for a light heavyweight bout, 10 pounds heavier than EMAVov. But we don't think that made a difference, right? Just sort of a funny little notes, sort of a funny little note. It did make it.

I think it definitely made a difference in that fight. I don't know. Yeah. I think they were the same. Yeah, but rounds four and five when like Shricling had him up against the fence, he definitely wore on him. But I think he could do that. I think he could do that at one.

I think he would have done that. They'd both wait in, you know, 185, 186 range too. I don't know. It's a big difference, man. It's a big difference. Well, that thickness, if that thickness might have paid out. Yes. This episode is brought to you by Peloton.

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Please, guys, pay attention to the weight class. Have these people fought already? Notable injury that we know we're not going to see someone for a while. Released, as this person already booked, that's the easiest thing to check. Are they teammates? A little bit harder to remember sometimes, but there's some very glaring cases where you should not be matched people up. And, of course, your pick just might be do-do, and we don't want to read it.

and the special one this week, for anyone that meant, I saw at least one or two people mentioned Pennington versus Aldana. I need that two in there, Mike. I feel like people forgot that they fought already. Their first fight was not super memorable, but it was a split nod for Aldana. So please, anyone mentioning Penning versus Aldana.

I want to see that too there. You got to mention that's a rematch. Otherwise, it's a little sprinkling of doo-doo there. Okay, so before I go into the picks, and I'll admit I have not seen all of these yet. I just kind of chucked them. I took like a quick gander and just went through, just wanted to see how many we had.

How tough are we going to be here? It's the first show of the year. Are we going to be a little more lenient with the doo-doo? Or are we just getting after it? Yeah, yeah. I had quite a few doo-do drops in my, what I saw so far. And I'm not going to mention them on.

I think I'm not, I think I told them, most people, I'm not going to mention them on air if I can avoid it. but so yeah so i'm going to let's try to be lenient mike let's let's try and not name names or if it happens just kind of move on and skip over it i can't promise you that but we'll say all right let's go robbie ryan happy new year you blokes let's get ot no umar nirmie versus rickie simone if you have a number 11 next to your name you need to be fighting similarly ranked guys uh pennington versus aldana i'm going to say he wrote it too he takes though.

There's no... Guys, what do we do? See? I knew this would come with your picks too. I knew it. That's why I had to put into the disclaimer.

Guys, it is a rematch. Dan E. Gay versus JSP. Danny Gay is falling short against higher-ranked opponents, gives an opportunity to young contend to rise. Sean Strickland versus Jared Canaaner

two to settle the debate. There you go. What? Well, it's close fight. It's close fight. Why would you run that one back? Why would you run it back so soon? Who wants this?

I think, Bept. Shots Strickland doesn't even want to have that fight again right now. Why would you? He's back in the wind column. He doesn't care about that fight anymore. Listen, you know,

if you could settle a little debate, let's just settle a damn debate, you know? We're trying to be lenient, A.K., trying to be lenient. Okay. Oh, boy. Dad Jackson.

Tough 2022 for Dad Jackson, but he did come along. The, maybe the fourth quarter of the year. No doo-doo that I can remember. He was, I mean, he was in he definitely was in a position

where if he had one more doo-do pick, he was like off the show for a while. But he kind of earned his way back. But let's see what Dad, Dad Jackson says to say. Abdul Razaka-Hassan versus Roman Coppilov. Easy I know. Umar is coming.

Umar versus Javid Basharat. Again, easy I know. I don't think it's that easy. I don't hate it. I don't hate it either. I always tell people I don't care about protecting people's like records or protecting contenders. I just want to see if you're good.

If you're good, let's see how good you are. But I just think there are better options for both guys now. It's not like they're on this like collision course where there's no other. Both guys have several really good options. So if they made it, I wouldn't be mad. But I just think that we could be a little more creative with those two. Yes. I'm just looking up one thing real quick.

Because I don't know if he's booked or not. It is Dad Jackson. So I'm calling out of all. Give me the name. Give me the name. Nope, he's good. Danny Gay versus Sudden. Dick Gusev. So, Dicuosov is not booked.

So there you go. Sean Strickland versus the winner of Martin Vittori versus Roman DeLizze and Imovov can take the loser. And he says, ready for another great year of avoiding Otno Jail. All right. Terd Ferguson. Barely. Barely. Don't get cocky.

Yeah. We're one for one, but come on. Otno picks from Turd Ferguson. Sean Strickland versus Paulo Costa. Dan Igay versus Edson Barbosa. to Roman Kabulov versus Anthony Hernandez

Pennington Pena Umar Tamagamata versus Jack Shore I need a ruling here AK is this doo-do or not due to do-do since Jack Shore

is moving up to 145 and we've talked about this before so who was is Jack Shore for his two Umar but Jack Shore is moving up to featherweight that is straight up Deter

okay ruling gabbled down Did he not already fight? He hasn't done it yet, though. He hasn't fought yet. No, because he was hurt after the Simone fight. Was he scheduled for, and he was scheduled, he was scheduled, right, for a, I got a.

I was also trying to look up. Yeah, me too. I was also looking up if Anthony Hernandez had, had, was scheduled. I'm sorry, so I was distracted. Kyler. He is. Goel-ups, that's right. He was scheduled for a bantamweight bout.

No, you know what? I'm sorry. I scoop the doo-doo back up. Scoop it up. Okay. That's fine. All right. He has not officially moved to the featherweight division.

Who knows what could have. Okay. So there is an announcement. Yeah. Javid Basharav versus Timor Vallev. Like that fight. Abdul Rzak Al-Assan versus Phil Haas. Matej Raviski versus Jared Gordon.

Wow. We're going from Nick Fiore to Jared Gord. I saw some people. Listen, it wasn't the greatest debut. for Rebecca. But it was a win. It was no doubt a win. It wasn't, it wasn't, again, not the most memorable performance.

And I think his, maybe just Octagon jitters, Mike. Maybe he gets a second chance to make a first impression. Because I did see people already wanting to kind of, yeah, put him in there with a veteran UFC lightweight. All right. Alon Nassimento versus Tumedegi, Dan Argeta versus Herbert Burns, Charles Johnson, versus Cody Dirty. Drew Hilty.

Before we get to more Dan Argetta matchups, is he not a Bantam? Like I know he's he I'm not calling any of these picks DUDU by the way He's only fought at featherweight In the UFC so far He looks probably pretty happy Not cutting weight

But is he not a bandt I just see him And I see a bet He fought in bantamweight Obviously before UFC I look at him And I feel like he's a pretty Like pretty small feather weight

Did we not think that he should return To 135 Mike? If he wants He can go right ahead and do it So I mean at least for now We can we can chuck in Some different matches Yeah nothing against his picks

Nothing against his picks He is a UFC featherweight, so nothing against his picks. Just weird to me. I just assumed he was going to, because he took the first fight with Damon Jackson on short notice. And I'm like, oh, well, yeah, obviously he's just going to drop back down after. But he's not got a win, so we'll see. That's true. Drew Hilty.

Happy New Year, been a while. First UFC card was okay. Strickland looked good for just rolling off the coach, but I think a little of that was Imovov might just not be that guy right now. Strickland versus DDP if he beats Brunson. Good win for EGay, but I need you to defend your top 15 spot again, and this time against the winner of Lerone. Murphy versus Nathaniel Wood. You'll be proud of Drew. Pennington versus Aldana, too, AK.

There you go, thank you. The two. Coppulov versus Joaquin Buckley makes sense. Umar is the uncrown king. He can outstrike everyone that has the grappling chops to hang with him on the mat and outgraple everyone who can hang with him on the feet. Umar versus Marab as punishment for what Marab did to Jose Aldo, okay? That wasn't Marab's fault.

Let's not blame Mara for that fight being booked, okay? You can fault the strategy all you want, but I mean, if you're fighting Aldo, that probably was the best way to do it. And don't blame him for that fight being booked. And then the ensuing, the chain reaction that led to one-armed T.J. Dillashaw getting a fight with, I'm still mad about it. We're in 2023, Mike, and I'm still stewing about how that whole situation unfolded. Horrible.

Wow, okay. This might be a hot take, but I think we're going to be talking about Charles Johnson being a borderline top 10 guy at the end of the year. It's like Jed says being an athlete in M.A. is a cheat code. And he's definitely one of the best peer athletes at 125. And he's picking Charles Johnson versus Tyson Nam AK. Like I like that fight. I saw a lot of that.

And I think Charles Johnson would be favored in that matchup. I like the, I like, I like the reception I've seen to Charles Johnson so far because he was brought in, of course, to sort of be fed to Muhammad McKay. of and listen, no one expected him to win that fight, but listen, he got outwrestled, soundly outrestled for three rounds. It wasn't close. But he also wasn't in danger of getting finished. So that, to me, was like a strong sign of how effective he could be in the UFC. The Zumagulov fight, a little controversial, again.

You know, you could certainly say that maybe he didn't deserve to get that nod. But that's another tough opponent. So he had two really tough opponents start off. Jimmy Flick, I was picking Flick to come back and have this. great moment, you know, uh, come out of retirement, another first round submission and,

uh, questionable stoppage, I think, but Charles Johnson took care of business. So two and one, his two and one in the UFC, uh, looks better than it is,

if that makes sense. Like it's, it's, it is just two and one, but I like that people can have, I feel like they've been paying attention to his performances and seeing like, yeah,

with the right matchups, I don't think it's crazy at all to say he could be ranked someday. So, um, we'll see, we'll see. Uh, flyweight is not,

not the deepest division, but it is really, really tough, so there's a long way to go, but would not, him becoming a top, top 10, maybe is a bit much, but him getting a number next to his name, would not shock me at all. Yeah, he's good. He's looked good, and yeah, I hated that stoppage. Not a fan of it.

I'm surprised he wasn't more, like, I'm surprised he wasn't more, he kind of protested it, but wasn't, like, more outraged about it. I think he knew he was in a bad position, so, and whatever, and he's a pretty, like, mature guy, but I would have been pissed if I was him having that come back and just like I'm working off my back

I fight I you have to know this what he does I fight off my back you have to know this and fine I'm taking some damage but I'm gonna that's what happens in MMA when you have that strategy is you're gonna take some damage and it often leads to dramatic submissions or sweeps so

you know Charles Johnson all credit to him good performance but I would have let that go a little bit longer I don't think Jamie Flick was in the crazy this danger. And listen, I'm Mr. Early Stoppich. People know me, I favor early stoppages nine times out of ten. This one was too quick even for me.

Yeah, it was not good. He also likes Bosharat versus Sergei Morozov, not completely sold on Boshrap being a top 15 guy just yet. John Ray, Johnson versus Nassameh, Mento. Let's just match up a couple of the winners. Bosharov versus Davy Grant, Umar, Narmagamadeh v.

Songyedongyong, Y, Jop versus the Jung Park, Tullian winner, Ege versus Pierce, Marnoff versus Chris Curtis. Yeah, I like that one. We do Eric Nixick versus Eric Dixen versus Fernand Lopez again. I like it.

Gasolm versus Tiltu Luser Leaves Town. And Inganu versus Overim 2 at the one FC openweight Moitai Grand Prix AK. Who tweeted that earlier today? A screenshot of Overeem or a screenshot

of Francis saying oh, what was it? then a screenshot of one of our articles of the, the announcement of the, yeah, that's good. At, I can't even read this hashtag, but yeah, someone tweeted in the headline for one championship announces wacky, unless that M.A.M.A. Mania, I think, but any, wacky million-dollar open-moly-tie tournament, garners interest of Alistair Overim, and yeah, alongside a picture of Van Gano, and I'm like, it'd be kind of fun. Chhatri, I'm saying. Let's go. Yeah, well, Chachar, is like, well, we don't need to sign, Francis, because we're

1B to the UFC. This is true. This is true. Tragedy-fringing crazy. Let's go to Marcus. He's got some check the tapes. Shared Otno points. Corey Sanhagan, Marlon Vera.

He wants a full point for Brennan Ward versus Saba Hamasi, which, again, we've already talked about this. We're not giving Bellatora. No points. Yeah. And shared point for Casey O'Neill, Jennifer Maya. I guess people should get a shared point for like Usman,

Edwards 3. How Barry? did that announcement get, by the way. I have to question them making that announcement last night. I know they're in a hurry to make as many big announcements as they can with the first, technically the first week of the UFC. And obviously with some of the bullshit that's happened, you know, Dana White,

you want to get as much big news out there as possible and just have everyone buzzing about the 2020-3 schedule. But I wonder if they could have pushed back the Usman Edwards announcement a week, though they might have assumed it would have leaked in that time. But yeah, almost no. one right now as of this morning I can tell you almost nobody is talking about that fight becoming official

maybe it's because we knew it was going to happen maybe that's the other side of it yeah I don't know but Leon Edwards went on Michael Business podcast and said yeah the UFC told me it's done and it's happening yeah yeah I guess it kind of broke sure yeah

Marcus also likes Javid Basharav versus Sayyukh Akramanov Umar Marab we got another one there he likes Pennington Nunes 2 Coppilov Armin Petrosi Ege versus Bryce Mitchell is with you

What about this, AK? What about this one? Sean Strickland versus Hamzaa Shimaev. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's still in play.

It's still a light, heavyweight too. I'm into it. I'm into it. I think Hamzat completely smashes Strickland. But Strickland is such a

tricky guy, though. I will say, who was the last person that we could say, I was going to say who was the last person that we said smashed them just a few months ago.

Before, before, Alex Pereira. Wow, before that, he was knocked up by Eleususolesu Zaleski dos Santos. In the weight class, he probably shouldn't have been fighting at. I think he was a big welterweight at the time. Yeah.

So probably wasn't, yeah, I mean, yeah, other than Alex Praterna. Or that March 4th card. That would make sense. Nobody really smokes him. So I think Hamza would, but again, I'd like to see, I'd like to see Hamza prove that he could. Because on paper, for sure, I think it's a stoppage win for Hamza, but listen I also thought

Imov was going to win a decision on Saturday so maybe I don't know maybe I don't know Strickland's let's see what Toby has to say he's I mean he did it for everybody so I'm going to narrow this down Strickland Gasolm Iga giga Coppulov

Olegze Chuck Pennington Pena Umar Ricky Simone won't be the last time they fight okay Javid Montel Jackson he's with you I saw a few of those ones We said that one. Rebecca versus Christos Gagos.

That's a little more like it in my eyes. I like that one. Nassimento, Durdin, Argeta, Gavin Tucker, Charles Johnson, Jeff Molina. Do we, I feel like Jeff, I feel like Jeff Molina might be kind of tough to book right now. Oh, that's the other, that's the other disclaimer I should add, because I guess I did get a Molina thing, and I was like,

I don't know if we'll be seen Malina fight anytime soon. I mean, who knows? He's about to face the Nevada Athletic Commission on Tuesday, sometime next week, and we'll let you know what happens there. Fingers crossed. A couple more. Gerard. Sean Strickland will be the opponent for Robert Whitaker.

All right. I don't think that happens, but could. And he likes Imava v. Brad Tavar's, Pontivar's recovery. Coppilov versus Wellington Termin. Umar versus Pedro Munoz. I actually would like that fight as well. and then the others have been said. Chris London,

Happy New Year, Imava versus Kyle Barallio, AK. Do you like that idea? I kind of do. What was the other though? I saw someone, was that the one I liked?

I saw someone mention Barallio. Was that the one I liked? Hold on. Let me jump ahead here. Yes, yes, yes. Now, Hayes Bethard also mentioned that. And I'm like, yeah, Mr. Co-Mate events,

Kyle Baraglio. Okay, okay. That might be. I'm a little sad for imovov. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't feel bad for him, that like this performance really, really hurt his reputation. I think we talked about what's on the line for both guys in the preview show, Mike. And I was saying, like, I don't think a loss hurts Imov that much,

but I don't know, maybe the way it went down, the fact that Strickland was able to pressure him so easily that he really seemed to kind of dictate where the fight was going. Like, it wasn't like a back-and-forth. I mean, there was some back before, I shouldn't say, but it was, as you're watching the fight, it really felt like even though some of the rounds were close. I don't know. As I was watching, I felt Strickland was pretty clearly winning, at least or at least had a winning

strategy that would pay off by the end of 25 minutes. And I think that revealed a lot out of him of all that people didn't like. So I don't know. I hope people aren't giving up on him as a contender yet, but yeah, he might have to take a little bit of a step back here and face someone like Bahaya. Yeah, that's a pretty good fight. I don't love his... I mean, that's a really tough fight for him, too, stylistically. Because I think I could see Barallo doing pretty similar things

that Strickland was able to do that he found success with. So, yeah, I would watch that one. And now I think that loss for Imaba stings. I think that one stings quite a bit. And we'll see how he bounces back. Damon Jackson versus Andre Fili. Coppulov versus Muradoff. Puna Soriano versus Trin.

Trashon Gore, Barcelos versus Blacharat, Al-Hassan versus Marquez. That is do-do. Marquez is fighting Mark Andre Barrio. Oh, he did get a new. I'm going to be nice here, and I will say they should have known that,

but Marquez's schedule of the last few years has been so screwed up. Like, he just has had so much luck getting, like bad luck with fights that I almost want to excuse this person for not realizing he actually has it one booked already. So I'll be somewhat merciful But again, guys, typology Sure dog, M8fighting.com

Look it up Robesky versus Poyas Nassimento versus Matchnell Holy crap That would be fun Yep And Johnson versus David Dvorak So there you go

You're up All right Strickland people were pretty Mostly it was mostly Paul Ocosta I think that's what everyone wanted to see Ege Mitchell very popular Ege versus Billy Q

was also super popular So that's a good one. Yeah, I'd love to see that. Javid Basharra versus Jonathan Martinez. I saw a lot of that. That to me is a big jump up. I have Jonathan Martinez in the top 20 at Bantamweight, I want to say. So that for me would be, yeah, I have in my 7th, and just the UFC rankings, 17th,

a 17th ranked UFC bantamweight. So that'd be big for Javid. People want to see Javid. Again, I think they're like me. They think he really has a potential to be ranked sooner or else. than later. Koppelov, a bunch of options.

Armand for Trojan, Edmundsibazian, Bruno Blendado Silva. All right, let's get to some specific people here. Jay Donagy on email said,

Happy Holidays on all that garbage. Well, happy holidays to you too, sir. Umar and Ormago Medov versus Marab. Yeah, that's, again, just a few people wanted this.

Cop, I love this. Koppelov versus Michael Alexeach. I love that. I like that one. I think that's great. Mike, did you read out any Umar versus Sayyeds? Any Umar in a Megamatov versus Sayyden and Megamatov?

I did not. This is a couple before in a Megamatov on a Megamatov. I don't know. I do feel like it's going to happen at some point now. They're very close together in my rankings. I have them both in the top of Dean of my UFC rankings. So it does feel like it's possible. I don't know.

That would be a weird one. On Instagram, Bean's Extreme memes. Bashrod versus Cody Stamen. win, lose, or draw against Luan Lacerda, UFC 283, January 21st. That, to me, feels like a really good test for Java. I like that. He also mentioned Charles Johnson Molina when Molina gets a new coach.

Again, I don't know if it's that simple, but hopefully he can get back in there. Our pal Tristan Gordet had a few picks that everyone else had, but also Rebecca versus Natan Levy, and I'll go to Tino Alvarez, Charles Johnson versus Cody Durrell. Daniel Argretta versus T.J. Brown, Rebecca versus John McDessie. Mike Umar versus Pedro Munoz. I saw a few of those. I like it. I don't even have Munoz in my rankings. I don't think anyone does anymore.

Yeah. Umar is probably going to be the number seven Bannamweight in my rankings come January 25th or whatever. He's top the January cycle comes out. Yeah, he's top 10 in line for sure. Yeah, he will jump Rob Font. Yeah. And people should know it is a bit tough. That was a sticking point for me.

I actually have it. I wonder if he'll be in my top 10 because as people know, the global rankings includes all promotions. So we've got several Bell Tour guys in contention. I put him below, maybe I'm being too safe. I put him below Rob, right, one spot below Rob font for now. That was where I landed, though. I was like, should he be above Rob or below Rob? Because right above Rob and them is the clear top six, Cheeto, San Hagen, Marob, Peter

on O'Malley and Aljo. So, yeah, I don't know. Sean O'Malley really screwed things up. Because if you put Umar in there with Sean O'Malley, Umar is a minus 500, minus 600 favorite, maybe more. I don't know. And I would think he would just annihilate Sean O'Malley. But whatever, whatever.

Sean O'Malley won, not a robbery. Yeah, on Twitter, Marcus McGeheey, Penningdon versus Carol Hosa. What? Who is this? Marcus McGeys. Is Carol Hose? She's coming off a win, right?

Marcus, are you kidding me? Hold on, hold on, hold on. No, no, no, no, no, no. There's no, no, no, no. What is she done to you? That's what I want to know. She's won five in a row. She just, no, no, no, no, no.

She just not, she just beat. No, she just beat, in most people's minds, the number one contender in this division. For her fifth straight win, nobody in this division. Listen, we haven't even had five fights. in this division.

Michael. In the last like six. No, no, no, no, no. This is a bad pick. This is a bad pick. So instead of giving her Giuliana Pena, the rematch of the Rani Aldana,

or a title fight, we're giving her Carol Hosa? Are you kidding me? Carol, how many times did we, how many times did we try to book Carol Hosa versus Julia Avila? Do you remember that? Like 18 times?

And she pulled out of all of them. No. No, no, no, no. That's not good. I don't know what Raquel Penning did to you in a past life, but I mean, maybe it was just unforgivable, but to, you know what, I think it's a good idea. Let's throw in there with someone who probably should not be ranked globally.

Crazy. Carol is coming off a majority decision win over Lena Landsberg and has won five of her first six UFC fights. Yeah, but no. That's Sarah McAll. lost. That ceremony fan lost. They're in there with Carol Hosa. That makes sense.

That makes more sense. Marcus, I try it. Marcus, I did my best. Al-Alesson versus Dusko Tdorovich, Rebecca versus Hafer-Garcia. He's with me on-Hiavon-like that one. He's with me on Chavez v. Montel Jackson, come on. Argoeta versus Shane Young, Blake Builder, Blake Builder winner, UC-2-84. I was about to do-do him, too, but good on you.

Oh, no, no, no. Because I think he was going to go with Chuck. and young no no Marcus Marcus knows when matchups for having

I love you UFC 24 February 12 at someone's online Umar versus Song Yadong Yeah I got a few of those

What do you think That's fine Yeah Sure I think he's destroyed I think again I think I think O'R destroy

My I have to My recentcy finance is is just out of control right now So I did I kind of

You know I kind of want to keep him apart though I kind of want to keep him apart Right now Like songs

just coming Song's coming off a tough loss. Songs is main event with freaking Corey Sandhagen. Yeah. So, yeah, I would keep those two apart. Just those two. Song would jump on that, I think, though. Oronski, he said, I don't have to read this one on Otno, but I will.

Mike, Francis leaves for Bellator, and then Bellator gets bought by the UFC. Oh, what a cruel twist. What a cruel twist. So we're just going full WWE right now because the cons are reportedly interested in buying WWE right now. Your own AEW? Yep. That'd be wild. I mean, that would make, I would win the bold prediction game if that happened because if the UFC bought Bellator, then Belator would be sold and they would no longer be Bellator because they would just be gone.

They would just not be absorbed. Yeah. But that would never happen. Interesting. I love the outside thinking with this whole thing. Yeah, it's fun. It's fun. Speaking of Francis, Hayes III wants to know.

We kind of touched on this mic, where he might go. But Hayes was more specific. Who do you think he fights in his next combat sports event? Who do you think he actually, who do you think his, when we see him compete again, who will we actually be standing across from him? Man, I mean, it's probably depends on. Because like we said, Tyson Fury is not next. Where he ends up?

Yeah, Ty's not next. Like, it's going to happen. It's not next. It's not next. Tyson will be done boxing boxing. Okay. If he'll be legit retired from actual competition. He will not be a ranked heavyweight.

It's a post-retirement final payday kind of a thing. I mean, it all depends where he goes. I think. Arjun Bulr. Arjun Bulr. I'm going to say Ryan Bader. I'm putting my faith in Belator. I'm putting my faith in Belator.

I'm putting my faith in Belator. because I think Vader's going to be Fador and how cool it would it be if the lights just go out and Francis just is in the middle of the Bellator cage and the lights go back on? Oh my God. Like we got to go full poor wrestling with this whole thing. Like this needs to be UFC belt in the trash

like all the WDVs, all the pro wrestling storylines. This needs to, this cannot just be a simple press release that Francis has resigned. We got to sneak. this in we just sneak this in so nobody knows about it that's what we need to do speaking of which i think i think bellator's going to do it i think they have to i think they have to do this i think it's more important for bellotor to sign francis than anybody else right now that'd be crazy uh it's funny you mentioned pro wrestling because

maybe the next combat sports event he's at is like russomania imagine him and brocklesner in a w in a w maybe maybe it's him versus jakeer in an a e w ring I that would oh that would be fun uh this is tough uh I'll go anti delisia anti deletia uh PFL FFL champion versus UFC champion uh there you go that's Hayes that is my that is my answer to you sir super fight no tournament no turn you do that super fight right at the beginning that and that first Jake Paul led pay-per-view you have Francis and uh you have Jake Paul in the Coal Main and Francis anti-deleisha in the main event uh he had some recommendations here Koppeloff versus Haas, big win for my favorite fighter.

Umar, why did I cut that off? Basharat versus Font Yanez loser. UFC 287, April. God, that's April. That's so far away. I hope that stays together to Fontyana's fight. Hazer says, nice showing from Basharad. I think Mendonso still is a decent prospect.

I wish they gave Basharot someone farther up the ranks for this fight. Then again, Kimium Active isn't a bad call either. I like the Gutierrez call up, but I already have an opponent for him. I'll go with Yanez Fon loser. Either way, fun fight. I agree. Let's jump about to Alex McAdam. Strickland versus Robocop

with a win over Bruno Ferreira, UFC 283, January 21st. Sure. Soriano versus Kyle Dacus. I like that. Barry O'Reilly Argueta versus Pat Sabatini. That's a tough matchup.

This is what I was talking about was Rebecca, Mike. Rebecca versus Clay Guida. Yeah, maybe. I need to see him. No. I think they got something with this kid.

I honestly don't want to push him too fast at this point. I think he learned a lot. Like, I honestly think, like, if Nick Fiore listened to his team and just, I mean, I understand. Like, took this fight on super short notice. You fought a freaking tank. By far the toughest guy you've ever fought. Like, I get it. I get the nerves that come along with it.

But I thought, like, Tyson and crew. coached him perfectly. And if he just, if he just put on the pressure, I think, I actually think he could have beat him. Like, I think he had openings

in the second round where I think he could have beat him. And that's not a great sign because I didn't think that fight was going to get out of the first round. I just, you got to be careful with them. Let's let him learn a couple lessons.

Clay's tough, man, because if he doesn't get Clay out of there quick, Clay could just lay on him for two rounds and just make it ugly. I mean, if they book it, sure. I've talked to myself a little more into it.

I think a lot of people lost money on a Rebecca under bet on Saturday, I will say. There's probably heavy, heavy under money there. Nick's tough, man. But yeah, Barry says, didn't Clay say he wanted to fight up in commerce, Rebecca? 14, fight win streak. Happy to give him a veteran. Four corner sports and why. Mike, what do you think about just rebooking Imovov and Gasolm?

Sure. Or if Gregor, I mean, Gregor Rodriguez is going to. to probably kill a man next Saturday. And if Gregory does do exactly that, I kind of want to see him get that shot. So, yeah, it's one of those two guys. It's one of those two guys. Because I don't love,

I don't love the Gasolam match of free Imavov either. Like I, like I said, I thought, the one thing I, the one thing that I didn't love about the new main event is I thought that Gasolum and his ability to weather the storm, his ability to mix things up a little bit when he needs to. He's not the most exciting fighter of all time, but he's very smart in there. And I felt like we could have got more questions answered about himov fighting gasoline than

we would Sean Strickland. And it turns out I was completely wrong because Sean Strickland kind of wrote the blueprint on how to beat this guy, just get in front of him and throw a bunch punches at his face. And you could see him kind of wither a little bit. Yep. I mean, if they do that, I'm cool with it, just because I don't know. It just depends on how the UFC views him right now. The UFC is like, all right, this is just a slight step back.

Like, it was short notice, brand new opponent, brand new style. He had 10 pounds over you. Like, we'll cut you a little bit of a break. We still think you're a real legit contender in this division. Then that's the direction that they go. But if they saw kind of what I think I saw in this Strickland, fight where it's just like, eh, maybe he's just not ready for this just yet. Give him a little bit of a step back and then I'm trying to build himself back up.

Because I think Gasol, like, I think Gasolm is a tough fight for him. I really do. He is. There's one thing, though. I think he'd look huge. I think he'd be so much bigger than Gasolum. I think he would look huge compared to him. That's one difference between him is strict.

So him and Strickland pretty much the same size. I think Gasolm, he'd look a lot bigger, like, as far as the reach and length and everything. Yeah. But Gaslum uses. Gasolm, yeah, Gassim used that low center of gravity pretty well, though. He does. You know what I mean? He can wear on you.

Like, ask Israel out of Sanya. I mean, he put Izzy through a war because of that. So, yeah, I mean, if they book it cool. He's been riding that fight for years now, too. He's riding that fight in the rankings. Someone's got them in our rankings. I still don't get it. James McDonald's with you on Koppelov and Yeboy.

So you're two boys. He's into that. Emilio, Umar versus Cheeto, Sanhagen Loser, Shore. What else we got here? Coppola versus Buckley. I think it's super new. Strickland versus Muniz, Brendan Allen, loser. Oren Sleepwalker.

Strickland versus Vittori DeLite Lose. Yeah, Vittor. Yeah, so he could still get someone from that matchup. Yeah, I don't, again, I think he's going to, I don't think he's going to have to wait for that. I think he's going to book a fight sooner rather than later, so he's not going to wait. But I do like the thinking there. and Thomas Collins Hi, happy year to you

Happy New Year Thomas I hope you're in time for the show Thomas, you just made it Sean Strickland versus Paul Ocosta Javid versus Iman's a hobby Charles Johnson versus Tyson NAM's not booked, is he? No, no he's not.

I don't think so, no, no, no, no. I don't know if this, maybe this fight got canceled or something but anyway, he said Charles Johnson versus Tyson NAM Pitbull Silva winner Bulldogs, who's been pit bull Bulldog Silva winner I'd probably find with either of those guys

Yeah he's right he's right No but I What? No Yeah Tyson name is fighting So I forgot about that What? We broke that fight

We broke that fight Oh It's just not on topology It's a topology Not respecting our Our breaking news Yeah he is scheduled to fight Yes

When is that one? I'm on Wikipedia right now And I check the citation March 11th March 11th I just checked the citation for this story. Mike Heck, November 16th, 2020, Tyson Danvers, Brunner, Sylvan. Well, I should

read that website. M.A.Flighting.com more often. Seems like it has some pretty reliable sources. March 11th. So a little do-do for ourselves, guys, earlier for mentioning all the do-do picks. But you know what? A little, and a little extra credit to Thomas Collins for pointing that out to us. So yes, as Mike, as you mentioned, that fight is happening. Tyson Nam and Pit Bulldog Silva and the winner

that for as Charles Johnson. So you know what, Thomas? I'm giving you half an auto point to start off the year. Because that was a great... We should have known better. We should have known better, Mike. Like you said, you broke that story. This is how what you know we watched too much MMA and there's too many fights is you

broke a story and we forgot that it was happening. So, uh, 2020, off to a great start, Mike. Uh, guys, please keep sending in all your picks. Uh, you hit me up on my DMs on Twitter at Alexander K. Lee or on Instagram at Alexander KK Lee or email me at alex. Dot Lee at SBNation.com.

There you go. Follow me on Instagram. That's how you can submit yours M underscore HeckJR. We'll be live next week, AK, for the first time, because it'll be following a pay-per-view and we will be tired.

I will be admittedly grumpy probably because I'll be on like an hour of sleep after the watch party and talking for like nine straight hours. So it'll be a lot of fun as we recap and, and talk about the futures of some of the notable names coming out of UFC 283. The UFC's returned to Brazil for the first time in almost three years. That's normal.

That's normal. That's normal. Yes. America time? It is indeed. Okay. It is indeed. We have, how many, we have 15 fights on the books right now.

Go over to share Jamal Hill, the main event for the light heavyweight title. The flyweight championship unification bout, part four. for the tetrology. Let's go. Between Davis and Figurato and Brandon Moreno, Gilbert Burns versus Neil Magny, Jessica Androge versus Lauren Murphy. Paul Craig versus Johnny Walker.

That's your main card. That's pretty damn good main card. Prelims on ABC as well. Shogun Hua, Ihor, Petoria. Shogun Ophrina. Shogun. Prime time. Mike, prime time on ABC.

I am looking at this as positively as far. I was distraught that he was on the paper. review but I realized wait a minute he's going to be on at like ABC at like 730 on a Saturday night national television people will get to see the final fight of Maricio Shogun Huas so you know what you FC you actually did a good job with the schedule and I apologize for criticizing him not being on this paper view because more people will probably tune in to see this fight than if then then you know if they had waited for paper view uh Tiago Moises Melquiziel Costa Gabe Bonfine versus Monier Lazez

Jelton Almeda not getting the ABC treatment, fighting Shemiel Daraimov. I mean, they're probably not sure if this fight's going to happen, Mike. How many times? This is the heavyweight, the heavyweight in her Magamato-Ferguson-Fergus in here. Terence McKinney also not getting the ESPN treatment, fighting Isbel-Bon-Feemeam. Worley Alves, Nicholas Dalby, Josiani Nunes versus Zara Fienn, Luann, Lucerta, versus Cody Stamen, and Daniel Marcos versus Simon. Oliver, aka 15 fights.

It's kind of a mixed bag, you know? I'm, the main card's very solid. Freelims have some interesting matchups, but this is, I don't know, kind of like UFC 280-ish feeling, but in a different way. The atmosphere will be electric, though, because it will. First card in Brazil, and of course since the pandemic, and a Brazilian in every fight I mean this crowds is going to be invested

and drunk and probably extremely violent by the end of the night. That is true and we'll be back next week to recap it all from a match baking perspective so we appreciate you guys check out for AK I am Mike Heck. Always remember don't take this stuff too seriously. MMA is supposed to be fun and we'll have more fun

after the first UFC pay-per-view of 2023 right here on onto the next one the podcast.