MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | What's Next For Joaquin Buckley After Lopsided UFC Tampa Win Over Colby Covington?

Episode Date: December 15, 2024

Joaquin Buckley is officially a player in the UFC's welterweight championship conversation after battering Colby Covington en route to a third-round TKO win in the main event of UFC Tampa. After an incredible 4-0 run in 2024, where does "New Mansa" go heading into 2025? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what's next for Buckley after the biggest win of his career. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Cub Swanson after his Fight of the Night knockout of Billy Quarantillo, Manel Kape following his phenomenal finish of Bruno Silva, Dustin Jacoby after his highlight-reel knockout of Vitor Petrino, along with fellow main card winners Daniel Marcos and Navajo Stirling, 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

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Well, hello there, everybody, and welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one. As a matter of fact, the final matchmaking edition of the program for 2024 as we are coming off of final event for the UFC in 2024, UFC Tampa. And it was a pretty damn good card. A lot happened, a lot to discuss from a matchmaking perspective. And it should be a lot of fun. I am Mike Heck, and joining me in all this fun is the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity, and my best friend, Mr. Alexander, Kaylee, A.K., how are we doing on this Sunday morning?

My best friend were doing great. What a weirdly timed card. I still don't understand the West Coast timing for an East Coast event. I mean, you were there, you were there live. You were feeling that 3.30 in the morning energy. That's about when they finally let you go free, right, from or obligations, you finally got to leave the arena around the time, right? Yeah, I think we officially got the boot at, like, right around three. They were just like, all right, three o'clock, he got to go. This would have been, and we were talking about it all week, because there were just a lot of fights, and especially when there's a six-fight main card, this should have been a 5 p.m.

Eastern. Yes. At the absolute latest with an 8 p.m. main card, like, this would have been absolutely perfect. but considering what the card was and there were a lot of fights, it went by pretty quick. Oh. Even though it was like super late. At least that's how it seemed just being in the arena and working the whole time

because once the fighter started coming back, it was just nonstop and it was chaos. So it went by a little bit quicker. I don't know how the viewing experience was for you guys. Yeah, the pacing felt insane. I swear they were still scraping Vito Petrino off the mat by the time Manel, Cop, and Bruno Silver were making their walk. out there. It did help that we had kind of a weird, I don't know if it's unprecedented. I feel like

Michael Carroll out there, MJC flipped the script, would know this. I don't know if you tweeted about it. Like four straight third round finishes to close out the card. We don't see that very often. So it's not like there was like, it's not like, you know, Jacoby knocked up Petrino in the first and then they went to. Like essentially some of these fights were very close to their duration. And then there was a finish. And they're like, oh, yeah, well, let's just go to the next fight. So I think it felt maybe faster than it was. But either way, the pacing worked out great, great for the UFC. Like, it's, it's, you know, just it kept flowing. We had all, like, a lot of good fights. I think we had three fights that I would have considered worthy of winning fight of the night. Swanson and Quarantillo, good for them.

They deserved it. I wish they'd just doubled up for Swanson. Like, this felt like a six bonus card. Like, they should have given an extra performance than I bonus for Swanson. I felt like Joel Alvarez could have gotten one to, even Sean Woodson. I felt so bad for him. Open the night with a pretty good knockout. Called for like the 50 G's interview, which you kind of then knew, like, oh, he's, that's, he screwed himself. Like, just don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't curse yourself with the post-pipe 50Gs call out. And, of course, he was left out. And, again, a really nice win against the top opponent.

So most importantly, Mike, like, no weirdness, right? There was some officiating weirdness. We definitely had some, but that was like, at that point, at this point it's not even weird anymore. Like the stuff we complained about with referees, like, oh, not taking points and not being stern enough. That's, like, normal now. Like, we have those tweets loaded up when that kind of stuff happens.

But no weird scorecards. I think I saw maybe someone complaining about, which one was it? The Yanis fight was like the weirdest one. Yeah, like some, yeah, maybe that. But even that fight was so close. It was so good that it's like you almost feel like you're fine with the

widespread of scores. It's very, very tough fight for both guys. I think a little bit of a tough fight to score. But other than that, again, no one's complaining about the results. I don't think anyone's saying like Yanyes got robbed. So, yeah, we had a nice normal evening. as normal an evening as you can have when one of the main adventures walks out with the decrepit corpse of Hulk Hogan. Yeah, he looks rough, man.

Yeah, but otherwise, free of controversy, right? Like, this was pretty, this was as smooth a ride as UFC could get for their final show of the year. And, of course, yet another North American record breaking gate for a flight night of it. Yeah, Tampa, Tampa is on fire all week. They were, they were ready to go. they were all things UFC they packed that place real early as soon as the first fight was underway

there was probably like 75% full and by the time Colby walked it was I mean there were so many people in there it was a very cool event it was a very cool week and now we get to I guess start the process of putting it all behind us by discussing the matchmaking coming out of this event

and let's just get right to it let's get to the main event of the evening I was baffled by this fight. Once it got put together, I had no idea what this is going to look like. But I kept saying all week, we will know within the first 10 minutes what this fight is going to be. It's either going to be a quintessential Colby Covingtonning to Joaquin Buckley or walking Buckley is going to thump him up proper until the fight is over. And we got the ladder here.

Walking Buckley looked fantastic. And in the second round, Colby was able to get a takedown, wasn't able to do much with it. And when Colby couldn't get a takedown, boy, did he pay the price. And Buckley just battered, bloodied up Colby, cut him open early. The blood just continued to pour. And then in round three, Buckley is doing Buckley things, just hammering away on Colby, who shows his chaos durability. And they paused the action so the doctor can take a look at the cut.

And we kind of all knew there's a very real chance that this fight would get stopped, even though most people disagreed with it, but that is ultimately what happened. Buckley was not thrilled that the fight was stopped. Dana White was not overly thrilled that the stoppage occurred. But this to me, AK, this was what the UFC 244 BMF title main event was with Mazadol and Diaz. Sure, unfortunate stoppage, but in the end, it seems like the commission protected Colby Covington from taking more of a beating, just like the New York Commission protected Nate Diaz from taking more of a beating from Jorge Mazdaal because that wasn't going to get

much better for him. I don't think this is going to get much better for Colby Covington. So Buckley looks tremendous. And AK, I just want to say this publicly. And I hope Joaquin Buckley is hearing the words that are about to come out of my mouth. Because I'm dead serious when I say this. Joaquin Buckley, I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you.

You have shown the world that you could be in the low. lowest place in the sport, the perception of you can be so incredibly low that you cannot find any way to dig yourself out of it. But in a matter of months, you have not only done that, you are a first team 2024 do the thing all star because the win over Wonder Boy, the mic work afterwards, the attitude that you've been showing has been incredible. And then you put on this performance against a guy like Colby Covington, you get the Florida crowd, Colby's home state behind you, as is all going on. And then terrific work on the mic again.

You let the fans decide your fate. And I thought that was great. I thought his attitude all fight week was spectacular. And then he shows with the post-fight press conference and just does a one-minute promo, drops the mic and leaves. And I get to tell you, A.K., as someone who's in the back all night long, and we're thinking to ourselves, you might not get out of here until 5 a.m.

Joaquin Buckley is a hero to us all. He just, normally people are like, oh, that's it. Collectively, between the UFC, the arena workers, and the media, we're just like, this guy's a king. I was like, I might just make him my fighter of the year just based on what he did here so we could actually get out of this building at a normal hour. But all joking aside, Wachin, you are the man.

and to the Marab de Wilesh Willys and the Jamal Hills of the world, you need to hire this man. You need to get on a phone call of this man, a Zoom chat, whatever the kids are doing these days, and grab a notebook and take notes because Joaquin Buckley is just crushing it right now. And now, A.K., he's become a very interesting story to watch heading into 2025.

So I ask you, A.K., Joaquin Buckley laid out a bunch of different options that made sense to him. The fans seemed to. react mostly to Kamara Usman. What did we land on for Numanza? First, he's pretty close buddies with Jamal Hill, right? Aren't they buddies? I feel like he, I feel like it's not a phone call away. I feel like they could have a nice sit-down powwow session and actually like, Joaquin Buckley can help this man. Now, Jamal Hill sucks, unfortunately, but you're, but you're right from a, from a microphone perspective, like, yeah, there's a lot

he can do. And of course, he's still in light, he's still top 10, like heavyweight, still a guy that probably is two fights away from competing for a title if he plays his cards right. So, yeah, I would like to see Buckley help me. It's been shocking. It's been shocking. And in a, you know, I laid out in our, one of our Slack channels, sort of our candidates for a fighter of the year this year. It's a pretty, like, intriguing race this year of not just champions. There's definitely two or three, I think UFC champions in there.

But there's a lot of guys who just made statements, established themselves, contenders for a huge 2025. And, like, Buckley's one of them. So for him to make it, like, I think when people see. the ballot or just look back on the year and that kind of the variety of names that either again won and defended UFC titles or just had really really good 3 and 0 runs like convincing victories knocking off multiple ranked opponents like the fact that Buckley is in that conversation after what we saw to start the year is just shocking it is shocking uh so yes got a major props to him in a great most importantly great performance in the cage love the callouts love that he had like a list i don't think he has to fight both edwards and Usman to get that title shot against Muhammad, assuming it is Muhammad or against Shopcott, possibly by the time by the time Buckley is actually in that position. But I like how the name he started off with. I think Edwards is the right one.

We've heard a rumor. When I say rumor, I think it was Sean Brady, just an interview saying that like, Sean Brady has heard that Usman is going to fight Jack Delamadena in Sydney. No confirmation on that yet. Again, just as far as we know, hearsay from a fighter. I don't know if we had any actual ground, you know, ground covered on confirming that. But I am really out for Usman now. Even if he wasn't booked, I think I would still lean towards Edwards.

I can't remember what I said for Usman. I think I've already matched him up with someone. I think I still like a matchup with him. And Gary is also a possibility. So I'm going with Edwards. I think that's a really, that would be an amazing move for Buckley to go and fight Edwards in Manchester. Headlight at the main event there. You go international, he pulls off that win.

Man, that's when you're just sitting in waiting for a title shot at that point. If you go 6 and 0 at 170, knocks off the recent champion, he should be campaigning for that fight hard. Love the list. Love the list. He's his head's in the right place. And I think he's right. I think he has to start with Edwards. So let's make that happen.

Yeah, I mean, this isn't really a friend's forever moment. It's just kind of based on availability. And the whole Sean Brady thing is funny because I think Sean is just doing what a lot of fans do because it's not like Sean is calling the matchmakers and calling managers trying to confirm fights. He's seeing what's on social media and what's trending quote unquote. And he just sort of bases things like most fighters do on that because they don't know what the what the direct MMA media is in these accounts just get so popular even though they just

spurt out a bunch of bullshit all the time. And I have no idea whether this that fight is true or not or if it's even being discussed. but if Kamara Usman wasn't going to fight Shafcott for an interim title and probably his best chance to cut the line, why in the world would that man go to Australia and fight Jack Delam Adelana? That is insane, especially with the taxes and all that. If he's being super picky about his matchups, which is, it's his right,

why would he not fight Shafkat for a shot at the title in Bilal Muhammad to fight Jack Delamadalana 100 hours of? away on an airplane from where he lives. I just don't see a world where that happens. I just don't see it. I'll be, I will have mad props and respect for Kumar if he does do that. I just don't see a world where that happens. Having said that, I love the Buckley Leon Edwards idea. To me, that is, that is the on-deck circle idea. And the at-bat prediction in pick is there is no, it's not a fight per se, but it's a position with the company per se. He's the backup fighter. He said it best. He walked in during his one minute press conference and said,

didn't mention any of those names. He said, look, I know Shafkot's next. I'm putting good positive vibes on that fight. However, if something were to happen with Bilal or Shafkot and they can't make it to the date the UFC wants, I'm in. Just give me a call. And you know what?

I think he's got a damn good case to be the backup fighter. And if I'm him, go be the backup fighter. Go be the backup fighters, especially since a lot of these big names aren't fighting until the until later in the year like even ean gary said international fight week is when he wants to return so even if buckley is the backup fighter and doesn't fight and waits till june or july to fight ian gary he beats jang he's probably still in the same position he's in now if not better so try to be the backup but if not if they offer you leon edwards in in the u.k you take it and if he wins he's getting a title fight man what a crazy

turn around. Well done. It's unbelievable. Well done, Buckley. In the driver's seat right now, in the driver's seat right now, as much as you can be in the UFC. Yeah, I think he's a spot behind Schofcott. Right now, like the pecking order is Shafcott, Garee, even though Ian's coming off of a loss. So, and Oosman just continues to fall further down. And yeah, I think he's going to kick himself for a long time for not taking that Shafcott fight. But let's go to, do you have any thoughts about Colby? Just in the, in the performance and everything? Tough matchup for him. Tough matchup for him for sure, a guy who has some pretty good wrestling.

I was a little concerned about Buckley's defensive wrestling. I think that was my thing. I thought like, oh, if Colby comes out with his usual pressure, you know, maybe he can wear him down. And then in rounds three, four, and five, we'll see Kobe sort of pull away. So I wasn't like, I wasn't, after round one, I was a little worried for Colby because he doesn't fight well going backwards. And right away, like, from the beginning of the fight, he was moving back. I'm like, well, that's not good.

He's not a counterfighter. He's never been a counterfighter. He needs to be coming forward. easier said than done against an absolute monster in buckley and then when he missed the first takedown as you mentioned then we're really like oh shit that was like the uh steep a missing the takedown in the first uh the second in gunfight we were like oh it's going to be bad um and then as through the second round it looked like buckley was clearly in control which is weird because it was like sort of a better round for colby but i think that was a problem like it was a better round for

colby and i still felt like buckley once i was like man i don't know like comington was running out of options and then um and then of course the third just uh another clear buckley round up until the point where the fight just gets stopped by that by the doctor. So I don't know. It's a little harsh to criticize Colby too much. I think he is up there in age in a division that is, I know it's not like 155 and under, but 170 is pretty unforgiving too once you hit a certain mark, unless you're fighting opponents who are closer to your age, like we just saw with

Mokiesa and Max Griffin. So I don't know if his pressure game, if he can do that anymore, he still has the durability. But that's a scary place to be in when you're still in where you're still tough enough to take a beating, but you're not tough enough to get your offense going anymore. And that might be where Covington is. He had some good excuses for the Edwards fights and altitude sickness. I also believe he injured his foot in the first round. I can't remember if that was ever confirmed.

But I think on the night of, Mike, we were watching him. I was like, something looks wrong with him. Like I thought Edward was going to beat him anyway. But he looked just so off from the Covington that we know that I was like, something happened. Something happened in the first round and going into the fight. So not to make excuses for him, but I think there's two fights in a row. where he's facing difficult circumstance.

But also, you're just getting older, and he's been in some wars, and I do think the clock is ticking. I don't think he's done. Like, I think we'll see him fight at least one or two more times. There's still a reaction to him. Again, he still has that durability. In his mind, he probably thinks he's still, you give him five rounders. If he still make his way into five rounders,

he probably thinks he can outpace anyone. So we haven't seen the last of them. I would imagine we've seen the last of him as a title, This would have been, if he had earned a shot off, this would have been his fourth shot at an undisputed title, which no one would have been clamoring for. And they're certainly not expecting that now. Yeah, it's a, it's, it's a nail in the coffin, unfortunately. And probably like, the only thing he could possibly do is go to is just go to lightweight, because that's something he's been talking about for a long time. And even then, it don't get much easier for him, although he gets to fight some, some bigger names and, in all that. But. Maybe him and Michael Kiesa actually makes a lot of sense. Like I would be totally, like that is an apex made event for sure. You could definitely do that as an apex headliner. So yeah, we'll see.

We haven't really heard much from Colby. So we'll see what he's up to. I'm sure he will talk. We'll hear from him on Twitch at some point. So yeah, congratulations to Joaquin Buckley. Let's go to, this is a night of the OG. He's just a liberate, AK. First Michael Johnson just brutally knocks out Otman as I tar.

to the much to the delight of the Amalie Arena crowd. They went bananas for that knockout. But also Cubs Watson, AK, goes in there with Billy Corantillo, and this was a perfect co-made event. And a lot of people were like, oh, McKenzie Dern and Amanda Hebas, like this car needed it. No, it didn't because then we wouldn't have gotten Cubs Swanson versus Billy Q in the Coomain event spot.

And those two dudes just beat the living hell out of each other. It was terrific fight, ups and downs and swings and everything. and in the end, Cub Swanson just lands the big one, does Cub Swanson things, and he stops Billy Quintillo in round three. And we all thought to ourselves, there's no way he's going to keep fighting. It does not get much better than this. You're in front of a sold-out arena. You're in a fight of the year contender.

And you deliver an incredible knockout. You just got to go, man. It doesn't get much better than this. But Cub being the Cub Swanson, we all know and love, he's just like, yeah, Maybe it isn't. I don't know. So, AK, what are we doing with good old Cubs Swanson? I'm not ready to say goodbye, man. I'm not ready to say goodbye to the Cubs experience. For him and his family, of course. Like, if he decides tomorrow that he's done, you know, nothing but love. I will not feel like he left anything on the table. But when you look at it, so he beats, let's look at his last C-fights.

He beats even his last five fights. Went over Darren Elkins. That's tough as well ago, 2021. Jonathan Martinez, a bantamweight fight. He never should, the bantam weight move was confusing. I never enjoyed it. You know, he made the weight fine, but then he gets Jonathan Martinez. He's an absolute killer at 135. And then bounced back, unanimous decision win over Dawadu. Split call with Andre Feeley in like a really competitive fight.

And then knockout, a third round knockout of Kvila, of course, on Saturday. So he's still so competitive. He's still collecting fight-of-the-night bonuses. It's like, it'd be a shame to see him. and walk away, though this is a great, great note to go out on, but following up with what I said after, uh, off the UFC 310 main card opener, I want that doho Choi too fight, man. I want that rematch. I think there's a little chance to run it back.

I know he talked about it at the, uh, with the reporters. I think you asked him, Mike. I think it was you that brought it up. I sure did. You sure. Of course you did. You know, you had to do it for your best friend. Um, and he kind of joked like, man, the way he looked against, uh, Nate Land were

maybe I just want to enjoy watching Troy from now on. But, uh, with respect. to Nate Landwer. I'm a huge train fan, as we will know. I don't think he's as versed as a martial artist as Cubs Swanson is. I don't see Choi using the same tactics to beat Swanson that he used to beat Nate. It might be, again, it must like a Billy Q. I think Billy Q could have wrestled more on Saturday, but you kind of know you're in there with Cove. You want to put on a show. And I think Troy would be the same way, no matter where the fight was. Like you want the first fights in the Hall of Fame. What if you could become the first two-time fight wins, inductees.

So I still think there's a chance. I don't know how much Cove wants it. Like, I think he was joking about how good Choi is, but also like, yeah, there's probably a part of him that's like, how much to want to keep getting my brain beaten in. Because that corantillo fight wasn't easy either. But I think we want to see it. So I'll follow up on that. Nothing's changed our mind. I would love to see that rematch. Yeah, I'm going to do. So my do-ho Choi pick was Algebra and Sterling, which I think is still very possible because I don't think the UFC is going to book Al Jermaine Sterling. And not saying that there's any easy fight to 1.45, but anything that will get him rising up the ladder quickly because it just doesn't seem like that's the thing the UFC wants to do with the guy like Al Jermaine Sterling. So if the UFC does not offer them out, Du Ho Choi Al Jermaine Sterling, you have to run this one back.

You just have to do it. If it's the Swan song for Cub Swanson and he picks Du Ho Choi, because I got to tell you, he would love to do that again. Even though he won, the look in his face, and I asked him that question, I was just like, oh, snap, he's going to try to fight this dude. And who wouldn't want to see it? Who would not want to see it? And maybe we get, maybe we get the duo Choi who fought with really high fight IQ and just took advantage of some holes in Nate Land Wehr's game. But there aren't a ton of them in Cubs game. His biggest hole is just that he's up there in age and he's just so battle tested.

But, dude, that fight is incredible. I would be so intrigued to see that one again all these years later, which is what, eight years later after the first one? Yeah. And I was thinking of the same thing. Could a matchup get in the Hall of Fame twice? I don't know if we'll ever see that again. So, yeah, I love that.

Shout out to Cubs Swanson. I thought he was sort of the MVP of the media work. He's not going to get all the shine and the tension away from the Colby's and the Wachines and the Dana Whites, but just the thoughtful answers and the way he approaches the fight game. and now he's got all these different layers to his fighting career where it's not just him competing. He's dabbling into the managerial side of things, the coaching, the training, all of it. He's just, he cubs the man.

So congratulations to him and what a performance. AK, I'm going to go to the MVP of UFC Tampa. It's not Joachim Buckley. It's not Cub Swanson. It's not Michael Johnson. It is Minalcop. Menel Cop is the MVP of UFC Tampa, okay? Because as a man who has been on that train,

I think E Casey Liden and I were the drivers of that train, when the UFC signed Minelkoff from Risen, we were like, watch out for this dude. I'm telling you, this guy is the freaking man. Wait till you see what this guy could do a 125. I'm telling you. And sure, and I even asked him this during his scrum. We saw flashes of that.

We never got the Medell Cop that Casey, myself, and others had promised UFC fans. We got it last night. He beat the living hell out of Bruno Silva. And not only that, he got kicked in the ding ding many times. He got fouled many times. And I was thinking to myself, oh my God, this guy is going to somehow lose this fight because he was illegally hit a million. in times. The ref didn't take a point. This is the Muhammad al-Kaya fight all over again, but this is more fun.

And Cop just kept going and kept fighting and eventually just put poor Brudo Silva out of his misery. Bruno Silva was a guy that everyone was like, this dude is, if he beats Spinell Cop, he's fighting for the belt. And there were a lot of people who thought he was going to go in there and do just that. I'm an Allison as good as people were saying he is, overrated, all that. And this was a, this was the performance from an al-Cob that we've been waiting for. This is the one that we wanted. And even he admitted himself, like, this felt like a rise in performance. This felt like one of the fights on my rise.

And A.K., as a man who has been very skeptical of the Menel-Cop hype, AK. What was your reaction to the performance from Minn-L-Cop? And was this enough to earn that rematch with the flyway champion, Alexander Pantoja. You're all welcome. All of you, cop supporters, are welcome. I have been hating on this man for many years. You said skeptical.

That was a very nice way to put it. I've been straight up hating. I'm straight up hating on Minal Cop for some of his disappointing performances, for not living up to this. Oh, I knocked out cars and their second flight. Oh, my gosh, it's so good. And I'm like, okay, all right, I believe you. I have a lot of respect for he didn't rise in.

Let's see it. And then he dropped some stink bombs. There was, I shouldn't say toll stink bombs. I think there was, what was the first Nikolao fight, right? The first Nikolao fight was really, really close. So it's not like, it's not like, oh, well, he lost to Pentosia and then he lost to Nikolao. It's like, okay, you saw stuff in the Nikola fight.

Like, he could have done more. That fight is actually kind of a microcosm of what you're talking about, like, the flashes. Like, if you watch the Nikola fight, like, I think Nikola won fairly. Like, I don't think that's a robbery. But there were definitely moments where like, oh, wow, Cap, like, turned it on if he strings it together. Like, he's clearly a better fighter.

and the Nikola. He just wasn't on that night. And then he was clearly the better fighter than Bruno Silva on Saturday. I mean, he, he, it wasn't just a matchup. I think he was really locked in because I don't think people realize how good Bruno Silva is, or at least how impressive his run was before Saturday, four straight finishes, all performance of the night bonuses. At Flyweight, this is not normal. So I thought he was a legitimate sleeper contender. You're right. If he had won, you have to give Bulldog Silva Pentosia. But he did not look like he was in the same league as cop if you didn't know about bruno sylva's record uh going in you would have said like this was like you would just thought there was a mismatch you would have thought like how did

they match these two up together like cop was so fast so sharp for this striking he was winning nine out of ten exchanges i mean i'm 19 i don't know how you want like that might be underselling it almost like he won every exchange in the fight landing hard putting on a show eating uh eating groin kicks i love that he i think it was a kick to the body at the end though uh bulldog did completely complained that it was a little low. It might have glanced his cup. But for me, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Like, I almost, I almost wished that cop did catch him because I'm like, you know what? Hey, he got you three times. You should be allowed one free shot. And if that's what's set up that finishing combo, I have no criticism of cop. I think that was, that was spectacular. So, yeah,

I still feel justified in my, my criticism of his career up to this point. I think, like you said, even he knows, he knows this. He just, he hasn't, he didn't quite hit that peak. I mean, this was his first knockout in three years for a guy who's touted as this incredible knockout artist. And again, he's facing good competition, so I don't blame him. Like, I think David Devorak is tougher than people give him credit for. I think Mikhailov, that fight was just weird. And I don't think anyone was expecting him to Kehoe Makayev. So this was what he needed.

And I have no problem with the rematch him and Pentosia. The first fight was quite some time ago. I don't believe that, like, oh, well, Pontasia beat him. What was this three years ago? And like, oh, the cop can't beat him this time. It's like, I don't know. if this version of cop shows up like I thought Kai Asakura had a chance

against uh against uh pentosia and uh the cop that showed up today looked way better than the Alakura that showed up against uh shot up against cop and I thought Asikar did okay against uh against Pantosia and I thought Oscar did okay against Pantosia before

you know just succumbing to one of our great champions so that's uh I think that is my pick oh no I didn't go with that I didn't go with that Mike I want to hear I want to hear what you said first and I'll give you my pick Oh, give him the title fight. I mean, come on. Just give it to him. This was just watching like dance around like that.

Like everything about that performance was like, yeah, this is, this is a freaking star boy, man. And I know it's been inconsistent. And I know there's been issues. But then it was just about like the moment with Dana White that was on the broadcast of, but I'll just be like, look, man, I never, I've never asked for anything and all that. And Dana's like, all right, man, just just have your moment. And then in five minutes, we'll talk. And then Dana White shows at the press conference.

He's like, no, he's not getting a title fight. And I'm like, what, wait, what? Why? Why are you not giving him a title fight? Because there are a lot of people who thought cop won the first Pantosia fight. So there's like, there's history there. And then to me was like, all right, can, can cop deliver the cherry on top of the Sunday? Can he cut the promo?

And boy, did he. That was just excellent stuff. F. Adasanya, F. Kai Kar, France, F. Brandon Moreno. and then he just put himself over. I'm the best. I'm beautiful. I'm terrific.

That was my favorite. I'm terrific. And boy, was he last night. So, yeah, Medal Cop, just give him the frigate title fight. Like, nothing. If you want to do him in Royval or, like, him in Moreno, like, I'm not going to complain about it because both of those fights are absolute bangers. But just, I say just give it to him, man. Like, what do we have to lose here?

I really wanted to, you know, after a score a loss, I said, I think, I assumed, you know, like I said, I was picking Bruno Silva. So I thought, oh, Cop loses, that's perfect. You do Asa Kerr and Cop 3. I still want to see it, but it just doesn't make sense right now after that performance. Like, there's just no way I can stick with it. Maybe somewhere down the road, right? Maybe somewhere down the road we see that fight again.

But Ascar pretty clearly lost to Pantosia. Cop pretty clearly stamped himself as, if not the number one contender, right in that mix with everyone else we've mentioned over the past six months, you know, other flywoods who put on great performances. So if you got the title shot, no problem with it. If anything, that's what I expect to happen. But you don't say F. Brandon Marino. You do not say F. Brandon Marino, Menel Cop. And if you do, I get to fight Brandon Marino.

So, again, maybe there's the fight that happens down the road, and it's not next. But I would love to see him in Brandon Reno match up. And then we get a total contender out of that. But that spot is wide open. There is no one locked into that Pentosia spot. And Cop might have done it. He might have locked himself down. Yeah, that's how you do the damn thing.

So good win for Minnell Cup. Let's go to the light heavyweight division. It was a big one for Dustin Jacoby. He was coming off two straight losses. He needed to win badly. And he was fighting Vitor Petrino, who Vito Petrino just had suffered his first career loss, did so to Dustin Jacoby's teammate, Anthony Smith, a UFC 301. So Factory X is looking to make it 2-0 against Vitor Petrino.

And the fight wasn't a thrilling affair through most of it. and Jacoby even said like, look, man, it was all about me winning. My coach stretched patience and all that. But boy, it was, it wasn't thrilling until the fight ended because Dustin Jacoby just annihilated. Poor Vitor Petrito, who has now lost two straight, finished in two straight fights, both to Factory X, Mark Montoya, trained light heavy weights. This was just an absolutely sensational win for Dustin Jacoby.

sensational knockout. It was a mirror image of Uspen knocking out Mazadol. Like even the way Petrino fell, like everything about it, even from the sweat coming off of his face after the punch landed. Like everything about it was just so reminiscent of that knockout. And there are some years where that knockout would be a knockout of the year contender. It won't be this year, but it's a damn good one. But much need to win for Dustin Jacoby.

and there's a fight coming up at UFC 311 in January in La La Land between one Johnny Walker and Bogdan Gooskoff. I'm going to go with the loser of that fight, but if it's the winner who really cares, but my official pick will be the loser of that fight. And Jacobi against either of those two guys is super weird and fun. Yeah, I wrongly thought that Jacobi's days of playing the spoiler were over. I was like, surely.

Surely Vito Petrina has learned from that Anthony, that disappointing Anthony Smith's fight, and we'll kind of get it together. Like, I don't know if I trusted him to win like a methodical three-round decision, and he might have been on his way to losing a decision anyway. I think it was tied. I think on all three judges scorecards, it was 19, 18. How does fighting scoring work, Mike? How does it work again? Tens and nines. Tens and nines.

19. That's what I meant to say. Yes, it was. I believe it was one round apiece. heading into the third before, he has a fateful, a fateful K-O punch. So good for Dustin Jacoby. I don't think anyone should criticize his strategy. You look at Petrino, the guy's a beast. If you try to stand toe-to-to-to-with him, he is going to absolutely wreck you. Though I don't know what he's going to do going forward because this is back-to-back losses that I feel like he was,

I think he's pretty heavily favor in both. I like Jacoby. I feel like Ryan Spann. I think Ryan Span's a pretty clear choice. I don't mind yours either, Mike. But, yeah, I think, you know, we're sticking with somewhere in the 9 to 16 range at light heavyweight. The division is a mess. Just keep Justin Jacoby in the mix.

He's always either having fun fights or inevitably creating a memorable moment as he did on Saturday. So, yeah, you know, if you're Dustin Jacoby, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not, you're not trying to call out top five guys. You know, you're just trying to keep things interesting in the top 15 of the rankings. And I think he can do that with Ryan Spann. I'm hearing some rumor and in you. I know about Ryan Span and what could potentially be next for him. We haven't fully confirmed it. I'll let the fight kind of play itself out, but I'll tell you off air, okay.

Oh my gosh. It's a weird one. It's super weird. Okay. But we'll move on. Let's go to the Banoit Division. Daniel Marcos still undefeated defeats Adrian Yanez. It was a great fight.

it was a fight that I had scored for Adrianiananas. Again, like you said, this is not a robbery. But this at worst probably should have been a draw or a Yanaz win because the fouls in this fight were egregious. The double foul, you have to take a point. He kicked him in the balls. And this is not like a tick to the ding ding. This was full on 57-yard field goal kick to the. ding, ding, plus an eye poke with, it started with one finger and then kind of ended with

the second finger. So this is like a triple foul all in one shot. Yannis can't see. His eye is just obliterated and no point. Just a stern warning. And what people don't understand when we say, well, you gave him a warning, the first warning happens before the fight. They're in the back and the referee's giving them instructions.

That is the first. be only warning and a foul that egregious should have been a point. And I asked Daniel Marcus about that at the at the scrum. And you know what? Body language tells me everything I need to know. Even he knows, I think deep down that a point should have been taken because he said he had no comment about it. I'm not a judge.

I have nothing to say about it. You know what happened. You know you got to wait with one, my friend. But it all works out. Always cheat, especially in today's UFC and MMA. Marcos gets a big win over a pretty significant name. Where do we go from here? Because there are people in the media room that were like,

oh, this dude should get a rank guy. And I'm like, you are all a little bit crazy right now. Do you understand that the division that these guys fight in? Adrian Yana is not a rank guy. Why are we in such a rush to get him up there? But who knows? Maybe you give him a push? I don't know.

What did you think? Yeah, this division is just crazy. Just heading into it. I was just looking at their resume. It's like, Yanyes was, I think, what, six in the, two, I think, going in and just like so many tough fights. Marco, 60 and O is a pro. Got the one-no contest in there.

And then four, a three and O in the UFC. So, like, not only was this a fight between unranked guys, it's a fight where no matter who the winner was, probably also still wasn't going to be ranked. That's how deep bantam weight is. Like, 135 is amazingly tough. And my matchup that I have for Dan Marcos probably isn't getting him or his opponent ranked either. It is crazy.

Like, I just don't know how you move up in this division without going on. I think the current champion. It sums it up. Marab had to win, and it was a different circumstance, obviously, his best friend had the title. But Marab had to win like nine, ten straight fights for getting a title shot. It is really difficult. Even Sean O'Malley, a guy who people think was like fast-tracked. He had to, what, he started his career like six and one, seven and one of the UFC before finally getting his title. And this was with the UFC like pushing him hard, right? It is really, really difficult. Al Jameen Sterling had to scrape and clob for all the guys who won the UFC Bantamate title had like an amazingly tough climb. and Janyes was in that position.

I still think he could. It's just, again, it's a tough, tough run. And Dan Marcos certainly can. That undefeated shine is always lovely. So, Mike, I have a feeling. I have a feeling for these last two picks of the main card. You and I might be friends. I think we could have back-to-back friend forever.

I feel very confident about the next one. I feel very confident in the next one for sure. Maybe it's just because a lot of the listeners also had this, so I feel like it's just maybe seemingly obvious. but for Dale Marcos Marcus McGee No Okay

Oh God no Why so aggressive Because Marcus McGee beat Jonathan Martinez Who beat Adrianianez And did on a paper view I'm a math I just

It was a fine performance But I wasn't like I just wasn't blown away by it I just I don't know I'm happy to give him I did not go that direction I gave him a bigger name than Marcus Begui, but a guy who is definitely lower ranked by probably 10 to 15 spots in Marks.

Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, well, I have McGee and my UFC rankings. I have him top 15 because of the win over Martinez. And he's four and no. So, oh, okay, where did you land with Marcos? Charles Jordan. Oh, okay, more veteran guy. Well, I got, I shouldn't say more veteran than Janias,

but more veteran than McGee. Yeah, I won't that. Yeah, people were just like, yeah, let's just throw him right in there. I'm like, he called out Jose Al, though. He's a zero percent chance of getting an effort. Don't do that. Don't do that. Zero percent chance.

And I just, again, there's something there. He's clearly a talented guy. I don't know. I think his, you know, you go out there and you beat Jordane. Like, that's especially with how Jordane looked in his beating, doing what he did to Victor freaking Henry. Like, that's impressive. That to me is like, if you want to throw Jordan in there with Marcus McGee,

like that to me is you have, there's a better case for that. So that's where I'm at. So yeah, give him Jordan and beats Jordan. Sure, we could start talking about ranked opposition and the, you know, McGee's and Jonathan Martinez is. And, you know, could they just chuck Mario Batista in there with him? Because Batista, like, did the bad thing in the Jose Aldo fight? Sure, you could, you could give him a little quote unquote punishment.

but I just don't think Marcos, even with his undefeated record, is going to get a fight like that. But we shall see. But now you got me intrigued day, yeah. Okay, we've got to do that. We're counting to three on this one. Okay. Navajo Sterling, I mean, gets the win.

Sorry to steal your recap mojo here, Mike, but gets the win. It's only his sixth pro bout, so you don't want to be hard on him. He said after, like, oh, Tuko Tokos, you know, wasn't exactly the best out of this match up for him and didn't feel like he was engaging him. in like a meaningful way, which fair, you know, we can criticize Sterling for not finishing a pretty overwhelmed opponent. But it is true, I guess.

If there's no, if the opponent isn't a little more aggressive and doesn't give me openings for finish, it's hard. Jed, it was what and I were saying on Slack that like, man, it did look like Tokos was open for some body shots there, but this is us watching from our couches. We're not in the cage. We're not the one staring down, you know, another human being and trying to put them away. So Sterling gets the win, improves to 6 and 0. again, very, very raw as a light, high-heavy prospect.

I think you had to keep him near, like, the very, very bottom of the division as far as matchups go. And if you're going to, other than picking up someone else from the contenders series now match up with him, Mike, I think we know the right name. Someone who recently, like, was also kind of brought in just, I think, to lose. Should we count to three and do this? Oh, okay. I think. Oh, you know what I'm thinking, but you didn't think this? I don't know. on.

Okay. See, let's go with what you think I'm going to say. Don't go with your pick yet. Go with what you think I'm going to say. Let's count a three and do that. With what I think you're going to say? What do you think I'm going to say? Yeah. I might not be your pick. I don't know. All right. One, two, three, Ozzy Diaz. But you didn't think this. Yeah. But you didn't think. No, I did. Oh, it's amazing. Of course. Oh. Hold on. The van. Hold on. We didn't do a proper. Okay. Okay. Okay. Hold on. three, two, one, Fran.

Yeah, that's the fight. 100%. That has to be it. Please. Enhancer talent is the best talent. Let's go. There we go. Nothing more needs to be said.

That was perfect. Perfect. So let's go to the wild card around, A.K., lots of interesting options to choose from here. By the way, shout out to Navajo Sterling for a couple of reasons. One, that is a large man. He is huge. He's got a look that he could be a star.

That plus, that was only a sixth pro-MMA fight and he did it on the main card of a sold out UFC fight night card and I thought he took the booze in stride and let me just also say there is there might not be a better natural mixed martial artist name than Navajo Sterling

I even asked him when he did his crime I was like do you have the best name in MMA because like Navajo Sterling is like that's a fighter damn and he was like yeah man because I don't look like I don't look like anybody else i have the only i'm like the only navajo sterling that that i've ever met and he's absolutely right that name absolutely rules and they they got something with him another ckb guy to watch out for

but let's go to the wild car round a k select one fighter we have not match made four and we'll match make for them right now lots of options to choose from okay what did we go with and joel apparese uh another finish this dude is just pretty damn good uh i thought close i thought close was going to win this one uh just because I'm a big Jakkar guy and I was just waiting for Jakkar to have kind of have his moments. He's had such a shaky, you know, career recently. And for reasons outside of control that Jeremy Stevens push was just so bizarre and I think like just affected him in like a bad way. But even with that, was on a seven and one run going into this fight, four straight wins

and just really needed that like ranked opponent. Need that ranked opponent need that statement win. I think Joel is ranked in the UFC rankings and it's like a far of an ours. If he's not, he might be ranked after this, because Stopping Jekar is not easy. Not an easy thing to do. Just a second got to do it. Three straight now for Joel Alvarez. He's a tall glass of water.

He's a big guy. I still want to see a move to 170. Same with him and Jalen Turner. But he said he'll stay in 155. If he can, as long as he's making it, if he can get a U.S. Spain booking. Can I get him and Dan Hooker? Is this a possibility in 2025? final.

Wow. We keep hearing rumors about Dan. Dan is recovering from another. I'm hearing some, I don't know. I'm hearing some things about Dan's next fight. No, we keep hearing this. I can assure you,

if what I'm hearing is true, I don't think he'll have any interest in fighting Joel lovers. Probably not. I'll leave it at that. But I want it. I want it. That's wild, man.

I want it. Interesting. Wow. Wow. Dan Hook. It's so funny. Dan Hooker goes in there and pulls off like a major upset against Batush Gamron. And you're like,

congratulations, Dan. All this talk about a BMF title tournament. And you're being paired with guys like Max Holloway, Dustin Porre, and Justin Gage, amongst other names. But hey, Dana White loved the idea,

but you know, he decided you have to go fight the unranked Joel Alvarez, who even calls himself what everybody else calls him, the boogeyman of the lightweight division. Hey. Which you'd probably take that fight, but Joel. Joel should be in that turn.

tournament. He's a bad mother effort. He should be in a you do BMF tournament lightweight and you need you need like you get three big names and then throw like a, uh, uh, the dark horse guy in there. That's so all for us, man. He's as bad as resume wise, like, or at least, you know, just a finishing rate. He's as bad as any of those dudes. And I'd love to see him get a chance to mix it up with someone in the top. Yeah. Whitsy, seven and one in his last eight, his one loss. He got battered, battered by Arm and Suruki in the next lightweight champion. Yes, true. Uh, stay tuned for that. So. Yeah, I'm still, I'm, I'm blown away by that pick, AK. Because I love it. And here's my issue with the pick. And it has nothing to do with you because I love you. You got to do the thing a little bit. Joe Alvers did not do the thing. And if you watch his,

I don't know if we posted his post fight. Oh, no, I think we posted a clip of it. He called out Donald Seroni. Like, come on. I, nobody wants to ignore. I tried to ignore. Nobody wants to see that. It's a terrible call.

You might kill him. Like you might hurt You might just hurt this band so badly But if it gets him to 170 Dude like they should just do Joel Alvers versus Jalen Turner at 170 The former lightweights who are too big for lightweight But

God If he called out Dan Hooker and like That would be interesting But yeah The Cerrone call was just super weird And I understand he did it like respectfully But it was just like ooh You don't really know I see that

I went with A similar name A different division a.k. Sean Woodson. This guy isn't lost in forever. Eight fight unbeaten streak. He's only, he's seven one and one in the UFC, just quietly putting together a super impressive resume. I like Sean Woodson was very surprised that they matched him up with Fernando Padilla. One, because of the run that Sean Woodson is on. And two, because Fernando Padilla is another freakishly tall featherweight. And it was just really funny seeing those two guys face off

against one another. But man, it was just one of those things like once Sean got going, he couldn't miss. He just, that knockout was like 18 punches and he landed every single one of them. And Sean is very, very good. I really wish Sean had a name because even on the broadcast after Sean got the knockout and they're showing the replay, they're like, Sean, just do your work on the mic. He told us he has a name in mind. And then all Sean said was rank me. I want somebody in the rankings. And even at the post-fight press, when I talked to him, I was like, they said you had a name. What's the name? He's like, oh, no, I never said that. I just said I want somebody ranked. I'm like, no, Sean, no, what are you doing? However, I do think the UFC is going to

give him his opportunity. So when you're a guy like Sean Woodson and you're trying to break through and get over that hump, so to speak, who do you throw him in there with, AK? Who's the guy that you got to give him to see if he's a tough 15 guy or not. And I think this is a dynamite idea, one that could net both guys 50K. It's Danny Gaye. Sean Woodson versus Danny Gay. Let's go. Let's just see what he can do, man.

Like he's earned it. 7-1-1 hasn't lost in years. And especially coming off of his first finish in three years. Let's go, man. Let's see what he can do. Dan Ige, the gatekeeper. we say with the utmost respect. Someone who when we refer to him as a gatekeeper,

we mean it completely as a positive. Creeping towards 20 pro fight, 20 UFC fights, excuse me. We'll probably have 30 UFC fights by the end and a number of future champions, past champions. Yeah, that's what Dan Igay does. Great litmus test for Sean Woodson.

I think you're spot on there, Mike. And I would not be surprised if even if it's not next, that we see Woodson and EGay sometime in 2025. I think it's going to happen. Yes. Anybody submit anything for points or check the tapes or anybody calling us out for some sort of act? They probably did, but I honestly haven't checked. I'll be honest.

I've done a very lacklesser job of checking, of acknowledging check the tapes things this year in 2024. Hopefully in 2025 we can hit the ground a little differently and just kind of reset, cleanse the palate. And I'll do a better job keeping track. It's just a little bit harder these days. Time is not what it used to be. and credit to all you guys out there who have sent in the picks every week. And I'm sure you guys have nailed some

and if I've missed it, I apologize. But just keep them coming, guys. Keep them coming. Because I do love reading them, even if I don't necessarily remember when it comes time to give out points. But yeah, we had a lot of great picks. We had a lot of great picks.

We had one do-do pick, Mike, that was submitted by multiple people. Oh, no. What is it? And I will. Let's get out of the way. Let's get out of the way. Let's scoop up the doo-do.

Well, Dustin Jacoby, you know, and great performance. A lot of people want to see him fight. I say a lot, maybe I call people. Want to see him fight. Philippe Lins. And people, how dare you? Philippe Lins is no longer in the UFC roster,

despite ending on like a four-fight win streak. His contract was not renewed. And he is now a member of the hottest promotion in all of MMA, the Global Fight League. Global Fight League, Global Fight League, Global Fighting League. Hold on. I should. The GFL, baby.

The GFI, I overshot. Global Fight League. Excuse me. Global Fight League. Shame on all of you for not being able to know every member of the 100 people that they just signed in the last week or so, which includes former NFL champion Philippe Linz. So for those of you who sent in to Covey v. Linz, I sentenced you to watching the first card of the Global Fight League, assuming that they ever actually put on a show. So, yes, that's it, Mike. That was really the only real serious doo-do I saw.

And really, it's probably just best to let people know that, yeah, Felipe Linz is not in the roster. because yes, I actually did not know that until I saw his name on the GFL fighter list. I think there were reports. I don't know if we wrote it up in the main fighting. I do remember people mentioning that the very odd circumstance of Lynn's being, I think, on like a four-fight win streak and then just not getting re-signed, which very few people made us think about. So maybe Philippe's UFC career not exactly the most memorable so far.

but I don't know. Weird circumstance. Maybe he's going to be the star of GFL. I don't know. Maybe he'll go on on impa Kisanga and I like run out there and just make himself some big dough. But yeah, he already conquered the BFL. Conquered the UFC.

Again, went out, 4-0, went out on top. Sorry, four straight wins, went out on top. And now heads into the white hot global fight league. What a time, AK. What a time. All right, let's get into it. I got a few submissions from the peeps. We'll rattle through these.

I do have an interview coming up shortly. with a name you guys will want to hear from. So stay tuned for that. Micah Phelan kicks us off. Picks for UFC Tampa. Excellent card. Buckley versus Uspen unless he's fighting JDM and Sydney. Covington versus Gary.

I know Colby should fight down, but the press conference would be fun. First of all, it wouldn't be fun. And second of all, the fight probably wouldn't be fun either because I think Ian Gary will thump up Colby pretty proper and I don't know if we want to see that.

Swanson versus Doho Choi, too. If he chooses not to retire, make this a five-round comane as a quote-unquote Swanson-Swan song fight. Love that. Quintillo versus Fili, cop versus Carr, France, Silva versus Van.

Wow, you match it for everybody. All right, I'm skipping through the loser ones. Jacoby versus Min-Yang Zhang. Wow, that would be interesting. I almost went there, but I think Zhang needs like another win. Yeah, I feel like. I feel like Jacob could spoil that one too. Markos versus

Batista Sterling versus the winner of Lopez versus Gadija Sulov Johnson versus Elvis Brenner Ooh, that's fun Yeah, it's kind of fun I dig that And finally

Joel Alvler Joel Alvarez versus Benoit Santini either in Spain or France is a five-round co-main event for a fight night or pay-per-view And in parentheses if it's a Seporia pay-per-view

The undercard doesn't need to be stacked. Why even give them the five rounds? They're not going to need it. Why even give that? Don't even bother. Let's do a rare two round fight. How about that? Let's short it. Let's go to John Ray. I mean, this is speech your language, okay? A little Rodriguez versus Rodriguez action, Pierre versus Marina. I mean, yeah, Marina Rodriguez. I like that. Okay. Sure. You know what? I don't know why. I'm not. is into that gimmicky. Yeah, fine, sure.

Pierre Aramarina. Yeah, okay. Good hashtag, all right, sure. Miranda Maverick, who's very hard on herself in her performance versus Karine Silva. I actually like that matchup as well. That's a good one.

That's good. Lima versus Casaris. I'm not going to call this doo-doo because Lima has had two, I believe both of his fights were at 45 in the UFC. Yeah. One he took on short notice. This one he also took on short notice.

He's a ban, but he's a bantam weight. Like, he will be a bantam weight. He just, it's just circumstances that has pushed him there. We even asked him about at the press conference and he's like, no, I'm, I'm a, I'm a Bannamweight. I just happened to be fighting it this way.

And Miles Johns is a Banimoyt too. Right. But it was just a quick thing. So just moving forward when we match me for Mr. Lima, he's going to be a Bannamweight. Sean Woodson versus Giga Chikaze. I like that one. Alvarez versus the other middleweight fighting it lightweight,

Jalen Turner, Johnson versus Jim Effing Miller. Wow. How is it? And then he asked how has that never been booked? How has that never been? I don't know. I had to double and triple check.

I got a lot of that, too. That was a very popular pick. And I was like, well, like, again, not even a fight that was scheduled and canceled. Just, uh, those ships just have never crossed paths somehow. Marcos versus Gutierrez. I like that one. Jacoby, he's with me. Jacoby versus the Walker, Goosecoughloosk off loser.

Another cop KKF. Covington versus Chandler at 170. Do you have any interest in that fight? Moving. Pass. Pass moving up Buckley versus Gary boring answer

But I think Usman is going to fight JDM Boy Sean Brady has gotten the entire MMA community talking about this What a potster What a potster you are Sean Brady I'm going to give him some shit I might call him on the drive home Be like what do you do it man

Let's go to Alex Hey Mike great night of fights tonight Hopefully matched by some great picks Another Buckley versus Usman We have anything new here She's with you Jacoby versus Ryan Span Navajo Sterling versus

Yvon Erslan Alvarez versus Sonsidi Oh gosh, I keep forgetting Is it Erslan or Oslan that has a rumored bout I got confused ever since I matched those two up One of them has room maybe that's maybe he's free I actually don't remember that Could be

Ooh, this is interesting IK Although I do think Sean kind of deserves a step up More than this gentleman But it's hard to deny that one, this wouldn't be Incredibly fun And two, this guy's had a tremendous year To earn himself a big fight Sean Woodson versus

Oh, no, is this Sudik Yusuf? Yeah, never mind. I thought he's saying Yusuf Salah for a second because that would be fun as hell too. I think people, when you're writing When you're making 145-time matchup and you say Yusuf, again, generally I assume

people are referring to last name. They're spelled differently, but yeah, I got a little more excited for the Zalala idea than the Sudik idea from being honest. Yeah, yeah. But okay, but Sadiq, but Sadiq also makes sense in a way as well. Sure.

I don't know that's yet. And then we go to left lane to close this out. Um, Buckley versus, oh, okay. Buckley versus Usman, sure. Colby versus Proaches. I wanted Colby knocked out here, so I'm not satisfied. Wow. She's harsh.

Uh, let's see if we get anything. No. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Dustin Chicobe versus Navajo Sterling left lane. Let Sterling cook a little bit. Jeez, Louise. He is.

We're just going to throw him in there after. You're fighting Tuko Tokos with Dustin Jacoby? This is crazy matchmaking. This is nuts. No. No. This isn't technically Doodoo, but we're flirting. We're flirting with doo-do right here, okay?

That's way too soon. That's just irresponsible. He is nowhere near ready to fight someone like Dustin Jacoby. The experience just isn't there. I mean, I'm not saying it's MMA. Anything can happen. He's a huge guy. Maybe he lands a power shot.

But, I mean, you saw how Vitor Petrino struggled with Jacoby. and he's got a little more experience than Navajo. So I think that's like 3027 Jokov be written all over. But stranger things that happen. I really hope they don't make that matchup. Oh, how dare you left lane? Petrino to GFL. Marcos versus a hobby.

I don't mind that one. Johnson versus Bobby Green. I keep asking for Joel Alvers versus Jalen Turner, but that's the lightweight Lewis versus Rosenstrike so it won't happen. What's another Woodson versus Giga? Lima versus Landware if he stays at featherweight, but Yanez if he goes to Bannamweight. Grant versus Talbot.

after he beats Barcelos, that's a real test for Peyton. And then Left Lane realized, oh, maybe the rumors about Usman fighting JDM are true. Thank you, Sean Brady again. Then do Buckley v. Leon in London. So your official pick is going to be Buckley versus Usman, by the way, Left Lane. So if they do Buckley versus Leon,

you will not receive an on no point, nor a fraction have said on no point. So, AK, let us, let's turn it on over to you. Yeah. What do we got? I got a few. And let's let me say for Left Lane. I actually like the Marcos,

the hobby pick, just because this is an insane cluster. at 135 pounds because Marcos is 4-0 in the UFC with the no contest Zahabis won five straight Montel Jackson, who I've ranked about both them, four straight wins, Sae de Mergamette-a-meda-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-a-ha have above them, seven-and-two in the UFC. He's not in the street, but he's, you know, in a pretty good stretch of fights. Jonathan Martinez is on a losing streak, and I have him above them. So just a ridiculously deep, deep division.

So I think you really can't go wrong with Marcos. I do want to see what we have with him. Don't know if he's a top-five guy yet, but like we said, undefeated, is undefeated, and there's something there. Yes, we had a lot of good consensus picks here. Edwards and Usman, of course, pretty clearly for Buckley. Cara France for Prantosia for COP. I don't think Michael Johnson versus Jim Miller was a popular one,

as was a Woodson and Giga Chikaze. So that's good. Marcus McGehy on Twitter. He too, Mike, loved the Cubs swan song play on words. So he's like, you know, this edition of Otno should be called that. Let's see what we got interesting here. Alvarez versus Dawson, Diego, Faheda, winner. Alvarez is a Texas guy, right? He doesn't train with

he doesn't train with Diego. I don't think. I don't know. Oh, I'm sorry. No. He's fighting out of Spain. He's fighting out of Spain. Anyway, so I'm fighting out of Texas. For some reason, I keep getting Joel Alvarez confused with Jonathan Martinez. Not even in the same division. I think because they're both big guys in a division. That's about it. Other than that, I don't know why I could get into mixed up. So apologies to both. I was just dumb. Wudson versus Cater

That's not bad Felipe Lima versus the Loke Dog Saeed Narmagomedov winner The fighting in Riyadh, apparently Pierre Rodriguez Carolina Colvo Kovicavitz I don't mind that I don't mind that

Some good stuff here Finn Hamilton Hold on Woodson versus Cater is Man I'm like mad of myself That's a tough matchup though There's a lot of good test There's a lot of good test

If he's gonna crack that top 10 It is not easy You're getting a Danny Gay You're getting a cater you're getting a chikaze like all fights that again don't even guarantee you a top 10 spot but i feel like you have to fight those guys so you even have a chance uh we said listen bantamway further away lightweight it's so hard to advance so hard to advance in the top of theme um fin hamilton michael johnson king green i like that Felipe lima and montel jackson

good stuff tech MMA cop and Roy Val yeah I I don't think they're going to do it I don't think they're going to book that I just think they have them on different paths but it does make sense given their position but we'll see about that

and then Woodson versus Joe Anderson Brito ah man love me some Joe Anderson I think Watson deserves I think he needs to there's a higher rank guy but I do that could be a fun matchup Four Corner Sports.

A couple of good ones here. Covington. I still think there's still juice in this, Mike. Covington, a Wonderboy? Yeah, that's fine. Right? Yeah, that's fine. I think it's still in this juice there.

And Felipe Lima and Hakeem Dawadu. That's tough. That's a tough matchup. Barry O'Reilly. Grant Yannias, too. I love that. Love the idea. Maverick and Tracy Cortez.

They were booked earlier. The fight fell through. It actually also makes a lot of sense still. Michael Johnson and Tony Ferguson too No I don't want to see that I know it's actually like

like from an age perspective it makes sense but I think Michael Johnson might really hurt Tony Ferguson like real bad and I don't I'm not in the interest of seeing that and what do you think of Sterling and Petrino I don't know how to make a Patrino

I still don't think he's right like I still don't want to do that Yeah. Like, Sterling is a baby, man. Like, he's just, he's, he's so green. I just, I, that is like, that is like as high as, that is as high as I would go with him. But even then, I just think it's too soon. Like, it's baby steps with him. Especially after the way this fight looked and how the crowd reacted to it.

And I don't blame Sterling for this at all. I actually agree with him when he says, yeah, I fought a dude who didn't want to fight and just didn't, his whole goal was to not get finished. He's not wrong. So we need to give him a fight where he just obliterates somebody. And then we can start talking about those other things. Let's build his confidence up a little bit.

Yeah, I kind of like that with Oldberg, right? Overcame with a little bit of hype. And you know, it didn't look great his first fight and his first couple of fights, really. And look at him now, top 10. Uh, Instagram, Tino Alvarez. What's up, Tino?

Pierre Rodriguez, Denise Gomez, Cody Gibson, David Grant. I like that. Miranda Maverick and Viviana Arrucho. I really like that. Mike, I feel like we've talked about this before. Joel Alvarez and Rebetschke. That's fun, dude.

Yeah, it's a good fight. God, that's fun. That is violent. That's a violent fight. Gerard Biagin, Colby and Gilbert Burns. Has the ship sailed? Sure. I don't know.

You don't love it. I would have sent me on fire. 18 months ago, maybe. Woodson versus Orosa, too. I like that deep cut. Good call out. But I don't I don't I don't it doesn't make sense for what's in right now unfortunately like I think it'd be a cool fight but I just think he's got a little bit more steam than than erosa

Though again I do think it's a still competitive matchup and uh cop and uh succoura and uh yeah if they go to japan i think you could sell that to cop i think that'd be cool but again it's it's really hard to me that one happened right now based on the last couple weeks jason durnet uh swanson versus ryan hall and he says older a real fight low risk of damage can go out with intention. Excuse me. Do you want Cubs Johnson to die? Do you want him to die?

Because no one has entered... No one has entered the cage with Ryan Hall and then gone on to fight again. I'm pretty sure everyone who's fought him retired immediately after. No one won a title. No, no, no, no, no. I don't even know what you're obliquely referring to.

Ryan Hall kills people in there. I hate this pick, Jason. I don't know why you want Cubson. to his career and maybe his life to end like that. Oh, my God. Michael Johnson, Jai Herbert, sure. Joel Alvarez, Gamrodot. We're hearing rumors what, again, unconfirmed.

Yeah, we're hearing Gamron, but unconfirmed, unconfirmed, I do think that'd be a cool play. So here's a little update on that. We have not fully confirmed it. As you have seen, it's not an MA fighting.com. I'm told by multiple members of the Fizziv side that that fight was offered to them almost a month ago. And they were all in on it.

They verbally agreed to it. But Gamrod is out tweeting that it's fake news. So who the hell knows? We'll see. But, you know, and sometimes that happens. You hear stories of fighters being offered fights and saying yes. And then when you go ask the other side, it's like, I don't know what you're talking about. So could be one of those cases, but we'll see.

Yeah. There you are. He's with you on Woodson versus Ege. Miranda Maverick versus Casey O'Neill. I like that. Mike, what do you think of Davy Grant versus he's saying Talbot after he beats Barcelos at UFC 311? Just putting the horse way before the card, I think. I think Barcellos is an insanely tough test for Peyton.

But yeah, what do you think of all that, just that idea? But if he goes in there and just runs Barcellos, like, no disrespect to Dave Graham. Isn't that like a pretty significant step back? It's step back. Yeah, I don't think that fight happens. If somehow Barcellos beats Talit, then I think you could visit that. But I mean, if he beats Barcelos, he's probably like the 18th best band of weight in the world.

And Davey Grant is just, I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze to fight a guy like David Grant. And then just a couple of emails, Mike here before we let you go. Cubs Swanson from Lucas Cortest, Cubs Swanson and Barbosa, win-loser, draw against Steve Garcia. It's going on 522.2. What a great fight. And again, Swanson Barbosa, I had to look it up. I was like, that's never been minotched up. I love this matchup.

I just don't want to see it next. Sean Woodson and Gian Silva after he beats Bagdasarian at February 2nd. Quarantillo Landwer, sure, make it happen sometime. We'd love to see those two throw down. And Alvarez versus Fazeveh. And then Jay Donagie likes Alvarez and King Green. And for Cubs Swanson just says,

congratulations, enjoy retirement. So, Mike, we can't do an official happy trails here. But, you know, we'll revisit it on another show soon. we'll see what Cubs decides to do. But yeah, if he hangs it up, man, what a, what a legend. Just an absolute legend. Legend indeed. So here's how this show is going to work for the next few weeks.

No show next week. We'll recap our, and then we get to the year end stuff, which is like my favorite stuff to do on this program. Two weeks on this year podcast network, we'll have part one of the predictions extravaganza, which is always the look back at the year that was, where we go back through the old prediction show. we go through our picks and what our predictions were. We see who did best, who we predicted to be champions and all that fun stuff. And then the following week, the first Sunday in January, back to YouTube, live show, predictions, extravaganza for 2025.

And we need your help. So the same way you guys submit your picks, start sending in your questions for predictions for 2025. There's a theme to all of these if you're new to the program. these are buy-sell questions they can be as simple as buyer-sell john jones will fight two times in twenty-24 buy-sell connor mcgregor will have a fight in 2025 uh john jones whatever that it's twenty-t25 or we could be like we could do the weird things like who which group will have more fights uriah favor cub swanson and nick dyes or name three rando fighters like we could have

we could have a lot of fun will max hollow buyer so max holloway will throw more will land more significant strikes in his next fight than the golden state warriors were scoring like we could do fun stuff like that by or so by ourselves gfl announces a show for 2026 just announced oh yes there you go like this is what we're looking for that's a freebie that's a freebie guys that's yeah start start submit your questions uh in two weeks you guys can hear uh the prediction show from a year before you could so you could kind of see where we're going with it those are always incredibly fun And then as far as the matchmaking goes, we will return following the UFC's return. They're back at it, January 11th.

And boy, no better place to ring in a new year than the world's most famous apex with a 14 fight card. Right now, we got McKenzie Dern versus Amanda Hebas, Tiago Moises versus Trey Ogden, currently in the co-main event slot. Chris Curtis, Roman Coppulov, fun fight, Santiago, Ponson, Zinivio, Carlson, Harris, Austin, Austin, Bashi, Christian Rodriguez, really like that fight. The list goes on and on. Puna Soriana, Euros Medi. I'm not reading all these, but, you know, is that kind of card where, where, you're the great mic.

It's a month away. I don't blame you. I don't play you. I don't play. Yeah, so, well, so those are just sort of the highlights thus far for this event. So stick with us, Mbathiting.com. The UFC's year might be over. We're just getting started.

We get Furiousit coming up, the rematch on Saturday. Risen will have their New Year's Eve card and of course like we said we'll have awards and all sorts of fun stuff throughout the next few weeks to get you ready for 2025 and with that said you guys are all the best

but it's time for the off much but it's time for the off season whatever that is here in MMA and couldn't come soon enough so thank you all very much for A.K. I am Mikek. Always remember the golden rule. Don't take the stuff too seriously. M.A. is supposed to be fun.

We will have more fun in two weeks right here. And on onto the next one, the podcast. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.