MMA Fighting - On To the Next One | What's Next For Reinier de Ridder After UFC Abu Dhabi?

Episode Date: July 27, 2025

Reinier de Ridder might find himself in a UFC title fight in his next octagon appearance after picking up the biggest win of his career with a razor-close split decision sin over former champ Robert Whittaker. Could "RDR" face the winner of the UFC 319 championship main event between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev? On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee discuss what could be next for de Ridder after defeating Whittaker in the UFC Abu Dhabi headliner. Additionally, future matchups are discussed for Petr Yan following his co-main event win against Marcus McGhee, along with fellow main card winners Shara Magomedov, Asu Almabayev, Bogdan Guskov, and more. Follow Mike Heck: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@m_heckjr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

When I got a great deal on a great gift at Winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. It's just $39.99? How could I resist? This luxurious will throw for my sister. This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss?

Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard? At these prices, could I find something for everyone at Winners? Stop wondering. Start gifting. Winners. Find Fabulous for less. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Well, hello there, everybody. Welcome to a brand new edition of On to the next one. The matchmaking crowns have returned following UFC Abu Dhabi, an interesting event.

A pretty fun card, and early day MMA is always fun, and that is why I feel much more refreshed on this Sunday morning, as does the man who will be joining me to matchmake following UFC Abu Dhabi, the co-host, the co-matchmaker, the Prince of Positivity. And my best friend, the one and only, Alexander Cayley, aka, how we feeling? We're doing this on like a normal night's sleep after a UFC event. This is, this is pretty refreshing. Speak for yourself, Mike.

I was up partying all night. I was out at the club, getting numbers, getting crunk. You know how your boy do. You know how your boy do? No, I got quite a bit of sleep. Yeah, those noon cards, noon Eastern Time cards are pretty great overall. Like, I think you don't want them all the time because they do like take up the middle chunk of your day. Like it is sometimes nice to have those late cars where you essentially have, you know, most of the day to go get a brunch, go see some family, go on some errands.

But every now and then, yeah, yeah, man, nice to be done by around 7 or 8 o'clock Eastern Time. Just kind of chilling for the rest of the night. And given us plenty of time, Mike, I think, to think about our matchups. it was a good card I don't know I don't know if we did I know we did the post fight show we didn't really do a sort of review

of the card itself did it like I don't think we did we give it like a rating or anything right I don't know what was your overall vibe coming out or even I just say not coming out like right now now that you've had a proper night's sleep to reflect on what we just saw

it was like a step above fine that's or what like it wasn't great it was probably good. I'll probably put it in good. Like a B minus. I think that's pretty fair grade.

B B minus. What did you enjoy more, Mike? Watching UFC Abu Dhabi or watching Happy Gilmore too. Oh God. I haven't seen it yet. I haven't seen it. Dude, it stinks.

And I saw like so many, I saw so many people like say it's bad. But I'm like, you know what? I even legitimately told my wife and son right before we hit play on Netflix. I'm going in this with so much positivity that I don't care how bad this is. This is not going to be a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination.

We are going to go into this and we are going to have fun. And very little fun was had. I could not believe how bad it was. I really could not believe it. Like there are moments of nostalgia where I was like, oh, that's kind of cool. And there were some really good cameos. And I thought like a lot of the cameoed people like knocked it out of the part. I thought MJF was like the best thing in the whole movie.

Boy, it's it's it's sucked it to the yucks. It's real bad. I was so, so upset. It was as bad as it was. I am worried. Like I am seeing on social media a lot of positivity around it. Not anyone's saying it's like the greatest movie ever, but just like, oh, it was a fun watch. But so far, the M.

May fighting crew who has seen it has been unanimously like, not just that they didn't enjoy it. That is it is bad. Seriously. It's just too much happening and like, it's just. It's so, it's awful, man. And I'm like one of the biggest happy Gilmore marks of all time. Even my kid was like, like 45 minutes in the movie. He was just like, Daddy, I got to be honest with you.

I don't like this. Oh, no. The first one's way better. I'm like, yeah, I know that. I mean, we knew that was going to be the case anyways. He's like, I don't get it. I don't get it. And I'm like, no, I understand where you're coming from.

It is, and I suffered through the rest of it. I didn't want to. I wanted to turn it off so badly, but I went through the rest of it, and I was like, okay, it is what it is. That's a dark day when the kids aren't enjoying the Sandman. When the kids are like, I don't get an Adam Sandler movie, that's a dark day. And I mean, there's Adam Sandler movies kids won't get, but I mean, you know, one of these meant to be sort of family affair, lighthearted films. And then a kid is like, no, not for me. It's bad.

I was so pumped for it, too. Like, ever since they announced it, I was like, yes, I can't wait until this movie comes out. And then at the end of it, my first comment was, it was two sentences. One was, yeah, that happened. And the other one was, you know, maybe they should have just left the first one, as is. You know, it was a classic. I didn't realize, like, how dark the movie is going to get, like, right away, as you'll see when you check it out. But what wasn't dark was the night for RDR.

I mean, maybe it was dark outside, but there was a lot of light for Rineer to Ritter. two of the judges, and that's all he needed, scored the fight for him against Robert Whitaker. It was a fun scrap back and forth, a lot of swings. Both guys are nearly finished in this fight, but RDR just continues to do the damn thing, AKA, he is 4 and O in the UFC now since coming over from one. He had some interesting wins and finishes, struggled a bit against Robert Whitaker as we expected him to do, but a lot of questions were answered here, AK. What happens if we go to the championship?

Chip Browns. This is the toughest test of his career by far. How will he handle it? And even if he got, even if he didn't get the two scorecards, I think he would have got a passing grade either way, because he answered a lot of the questions that we had. But in the end, he gets the job done. So are we doing, are we doing the Jedbushu thing, aka, are we just throwing him right in there with DDP if he beat Tom Zat Shima, what are we thinking here for Rineer, Derritter? He's on the short. list and should maybe at least, I wonder if the U.C. will bring him in as the backup. I would think they would prefer him as the backup over Paulo Costa, because Paula Costa is a guy who himself needs a backup constantly, and I know Paulo Costa will be in Chicago anyway.

Is he planned to be there in fighting shape? I don't know. I don't know. It would be a bit of a tough turnaround for Costa to make weight again like four or five weeks after he just fought. So R.D. I should be the backup for that fight. I know he fought more recently, but I just have, as I have to say, I have more confidence that he can make 185 again shortly, but damn, he is a, he's a big ass dude. He's a big ass dude. Yeah, maybe neither does it make it. I think Mike, as he proposed Saturday night, what makes the most sense is we're going to have to wait for that inevitable RDR DDP dream match. And instead, the next logical matchup is Anthony Hernandez, Roman Delisie winner, which happens August 9. So people out there, I took that from Mike. That is a Mike heck original. And I take, I take no credit for this. Oh, it's fluffy. Fluffy's got to beat Roman DeLise. He's going to make Roman DeLiexie suffer for his sins, so to speak.

And it really is, there's no sin at all. It's just you're, you sign the contract. That will be the sin. And Anthony is just got a fluffy all over Roman DeLizze get a win. And then we're going to see Anthony Hernandez versus RDR. And then eventually we'll see Anthony Hernandez versus DDP. And I love both of those fights. I love both of those ideas.

And Roman Delizze has played spoiler a few times already. So perhaps he could do it again. I just don't see it happening. I think five rounds is Anthony Hernandez is bread and butter. And it's going to be really difficult to beat him unless there's an injury or something like that. So yeah, RDR versus Fluffy. Let's run it. And it'll be fun as hell.

Delizze would like deserve it too, though, if he got it. He would deserve them. I keep forgetting Deletes is on a win streak. Like he did that weird and Anthony Smith fight, which kind of, which had him ranked it to a. of five at the time because i think anthony was still like in the top 12 so it was so such a strange like just nonsense fight but also kind of meaningful for roman and that got him back on the winning track because he went two straight fights since then so four straight like i know people don't see

them on the same path i think we're all like oh r d r d r d'r is one fight away from a title shot i don't know people are saying roman de lice's one fight away from a title shot but if he upset anthony hernandez and then he upset r d r d r d'r damn you would have you would have to give roman deletze a tell a shot which sounds weird but um again stranger things have in the MA. So yeah, I think you and I are both leaning towards Fluffy, but if Roman pulls it off, you make that fight happen, I guess. Yeah, I'm trying to find the, uh, the betting lines for that fight. I'm having a tough time finding. Oh, Fluffy and Roman. Yeah. My guess would be Fluffy's got to be minus 250. It could be higher, but I don't know. I think there's some respect for Roman, right?

Or not respect for Roma and also, uh, I think, I feel like Fluffy is still kind of flying under the radar. With minus 350. Minus 350. Okay. That's not crazy. That's not crazy. Yeah. Minas 50 plus 275 the comeback, uh, on Roman DeLiese as of right now.

So yeah, two weeks, two weeks from now, uh, we'll have an answer to that question. And hopefully it'll be a very easy start to hot no, UFC Vegas, whatever the hell it is. I have a feeling we're on the same page with our next pick as well, Mike. Title shot for Mr. Piotr, Jan. Kind of? Oh. Kind of.

I'm more specific. Okay. I'm just keeping it very simple. Obviously, Peodor Yan beat Marcus McGee. I thought he won all three rounds. One of the judges gave McGee around, or all three judges gave McGee around.

I don't think it's like the worst thing in the world, but it was just one of those fights where it was a classic Peuterion fight. First round, I thought he won, but he did take some shots in that fight, because that's usually what happens in a first round of a Peodorian fight. And then he just beat the hell out of Marcus McGee the rest of the way. And I'll get Marcus McGee a ton of credit. I thought he's just going to get the doors blown off him in this fight.

And for the vast majority of it, he kind of did. But dude, it was tough as hell. He got hurt multiple times in this fight, but battled through it, showed that gritty chin. He'll be a fun watch in this division for quite some time. Not a guy that's going to fight for a belt, but that's okay. And now, Piotr, I think he has done enough. Three straight wins, three very quality. wins. He's gone back and done the UFC a favor. Hey, fight this song yidong guy. All right,

bet. Go fight this former champion in Macau. Sure, bet. I'll do that. And then, hey, I need you to go backwards and fight Marcus McGee, who nobody knows, but is very, very good. And he's like, sure, I'll do that. So three wins in a row. Marab and San Haggator fighting UFC 320 at one of my most anticipated fights of the year. And I think Piatorian should get the winner without question. Yeah. And Marab has called for it. So it's certainly not like crazy. It didn't make sense at the time, I think, of Marab called for it. I think it was like a year ago. We were all kind of rolling our eyes.

And then we ended up getting a rematch that was arguably even less deserved with the O'Malley one. But, Mike, it doesn't quite sit well with me that two of Marab's title defenses will be rematches, which again, which makes sense because, you know, one was the O'Malley fight. The other is the, he's cleared out the division, like the top 10 division before becoming the champion. So it's kind of like he's going to have to fight one of those guys again. And Peerrery on makes a ton of sense. But Mike, I am going instead with. a different kind of rematch.

I'm going Jan Sanhagan 2 specifically because Corey is going to beat Marab Tavajvoli at UFC 320. I'm calling my shot, Mike. I'm calling my shot. We will have a new champion. Now, will they likely give Marab a instant rematch? Probably.

Oh, you don't think so. I don't know. I just... They should, but... I know. I just look at their history of... And I think they've been... I want to say they've been doing it less recently,

but again, we literally just saw O'Malley get a reaffirited get every match after like doing nothing for what like nine months um so sorry there's just something going on in my in our our place um so yeah so i like i like the i definitely one i've always wanted to see uh yon and san hagen run it back like i just love the idea that first fight that first fight was so good um and secondly i just like i don't know i got a feeling like i know maybe and maybe it's because i think core is on my fantasy team right i think i drafted cora i was just going to say fantasy team may be honestly fantasy maybe screwing up my matchmaking my fight predictions my general prognosis on the remainder of 2025 i fully admit this uh but yeah i think there could you know

we talk all the time about guys being overly active i think even the great maraub de ball is really can be affected by that so i'm calling a san hagen win i'm calling a rematch with yon and what was one of my favorite fights of like the past five years and uh yeah so he's fighting for a title i agree with my peyote dion's fighting for a title i'm just calling my shot let's go let's go yon Sanhagen too. He should absolutely be the backup for this fight either way and who knows there's been a history with

both guys at times not being able to make it to fights. Corey Sanhagen has been one of those guys either snake bitten whether it's him or an opponent so you never know maybe if you're on on Yon slides in there and fights for a bell now Yon is on my fantasy team so I wouldn't hate for that to happen

but that might be the only Yon fight I get this year and that's okay A win is a win, and I got a ranked win for the fantasy squad, which is always good. So, yeah, good performance, Piori, I think, I saw a lot of people saying he should just rematch O'Malley. Not a fan of that at all, because I think Jan dusts up Sean, and there's just, because what if Sean wins? Then we're just right back, and I, I just not that awful. Someday, someday, I do want to see that fight. I love that first fight. Yon has so many good fights, yeah.

is like, I think we all, I don't want to say he's overlooked. I think we all love Piotr-Yon. I thought Saturday was a fun fight as well. But I like, I can't wait until we get the chance to hopefully not a time soon, but look back on this guy's brides. We're like, holy crap. Like this guy was like not just a champion. He was like low-key, one of the, one of the most exciting, consistently exciting guys like

in the UFC, like, love Yon. That was great to watch. And shout out to Marcus McGee, you know, he did. I thought he put in a good effort. I think he looked like a guy who can compete with top 10 fighters. I don't know if he is a top 10 fighter, but absolutely. looked like he belonged. I thought like he did a great job. So shout out to Marcus. Agreed. Let's go to Shara Bullet robbery. It was a robbery on the scorecards. MAB, I thought pulled off

the upset. I should have cashed that ticket. I joke, but I would take that bet a hundred times out of 100 on MAB. It was a good bet overall because he should not have been that big of an underdog. In fact, I thought he won the second round And he did get fight of the night So a plus 560 underdog or whatever Should not be winning fight of the nights against anybody But that is what happened here But Charabot looked good man

I had questions after the Michael Venom page fight I think people are still sort of overrating His overall skill set I don't think this is a dude It's going to be fighting for a belt I don't think he's going to be like a top 10 guy Or anything of that nature But could be a very fun guy to watch

in this loaded middleweight division for a long time. And he's a guy that anytime they go to Saudi or Abu Dhabi, he can easily fight on that card. So, AK, probably the toughest guy to matchmake on this entire roster, if we're being honest, because you have to pick the right card.

You have to pray for availability for it to make sense. But where did you land on Sharra bullet here? How is it with Sharra? Like, even like he wins. And I, I believe we have the same conversation every time. Or it's just even after like the Arma,

Not Armand. Yes, the Armand Petrosian win. Like, amazing knockout. Great highlight. But there was no part of me that was like, ah, now this guy's, now he's shown me as clearly a top 10 guy. Like, it's just so weird. I always feel oddly disappointed after I see Sharra Bulletfight.

Maybe it's because there's too much hype. There was a lot of pre-UFC hype. Maybe it's because his fame, his level of fame. Like, we know he's very popular, especially on like social media, has sort of outgrown, has definitely, sorry, has definitely outgrown the actual in cage results. But he's clearly not bad. He's 16 and 1 as a pro, 4 and 1 of the UFC.

Like, that's hard to do. So I don't know. But actually, that's what was pretty easy. It did take me the longest probably of everyone we matched up this week, but it wasn't that long. I think he gets a guy who is coming off a loss and will be a really good stylist of matchup for him. And vice versa. Like someone, I think someone's going to, we'll get an exciting fight out of it. Roman Copulov, Mike.

Roman Coppola. Oh, yeah. I've lost to Costa. I still have Coppulov ranked higher than Shara. So this is a guy coming off a loss, but this also, for me, gives Shara a chance to bump up the rankings and not, not like too fast. Like if he beats Roman, we're not like throwing against top five guy next. We can keep kind of like having them creep up. And I think that's the way to go.

Roman is 15 in the UFC's official ranking. So there you go. Shara, you want a top 15 spot. It's literally right there. But you got to pass a tough test? That's not a bad one. I don't mind that one. This is sort of a theme for the rest of the program.

And it's pretty much a theme for every pick that I've had on this main card is there's a fight that needs to happen and then we'll decide. Again, I truly do not know what to do with this man. So I'm just kind of going with who is fighting near when Sharer just fought and how could we make this work? Their Sultan-Ruza Biaf is fighting Brian Battle at UFC. 319, I believe, in a couple of weeks time. The winner of that at UFC 321, Abu Dhabi in October. Go ahead and chuck those dudes in there. And if Brian Battle somehow wins this fight,

and Brian Battle has to go to Abu Dhabi and fight Shara Bullet, he is going to be like the venomous heel in this whole thing, and he will thrive on that, and Shara Bullitt will look like the ultimate baby phase. So, but Rubey and Shara would be a pretty interesting fight too. Shara's fun, man. He's going to be a guy that we'll enjoy watching, but there's clearly a ceiling to

what he can do and how far he can go. So, yeah, I think that's fine. Or if you just want to throw him in there with dudes that he could just dust up, I'm totally fine with that too. If we want a Malcolm Wellmaker this whole thing with Shara Bullet,

cool. Like, he wants to win a belt. He's not going to win a belt. And that's fine. That's totally fine. But yeah. We'll do Roots Abayev, battle winner in Abu Dhabi, be fun as hell. I thought I knew where you were going to go, Mike.

I was totally wrong. I thought you were going to give him the Muniz Shabasian winner with, you know, angling towards Shabazian because I think that fight makes so much sense someday. I've seen, I saw, I'll say a lot of listeners saying like Shabazian win-l loser draw, and I'm like, yeah, I actually really like that. But again, it might not be next. Especially if Shabazian beats Munez, I don't think they necessarily don't know I'm in there with Shara next. but they're going to fight.

Those two are going to fight. That's an awesome matchup. So I hope we see that soon. So yeah, I thought that's where you were going. But yeah, certainly no sultan or Brian Battle also fitting opponent. I don't hate it. That makes sense. It's just too far away.

Like Shara has to fight at 321. He's not fighting anywhere else. You know what I mean? He can only fight in Abu Dhabi and Saudi because of the guy. Oh, this is true. All that stuff. So he can only fight there. So unless they pull, if something happens with Boutis and he can't fight

Shabazzian to 320, then we'll, we'll pull Shabazi and we'll throw them into 321 and we'll do that. But that's why I didn't, mostly didn't go in that direction. It says we have to be very picky with Sharabulles in terms of where he could fight. Yeah. Let's go to the flyweight division. Asu al-Mabayev gets the victory. And I'm going to be, I'm going to say this as respectfully as possible. This is like the worst possible result, honestly, because we saw him, we saw,

I'm Abayev, and he's a very tough out for anybody. But we gave him the big step up against Medal Kopp, and he got run over in that fight. So I don't, I, I truly don't, he said he wants to fight Josh Van. No. That was one of the worst. What are you doing? Maybe he was really bad. Was there a mistranslation?

I mean, I definitely thought, think I saw him say the words Josh Van, even before the translation, but oh my gosh. So Josh, Josh, Josh, we were supposed to fight before. Now we can fight. no you can't because Josh Vann is about to fight for a belt and you're coming off of a brutal knockout loss to metal cop not that long ago and you just beat an unranked guy who's very good

Jose Ocho is a good fighter top 10 worst callouts of 2025 I mean it's really bad I think it's higher I think we get a top five more credit yeah this was this was the ultimate doo-do that was live doo-do that was live do-do in Abu Dhabi you don't see that often but that was like

It's not like Albaio wasn't watching Pantosia and Van just fight three weeks ago and saw the face off in the middle of the Octagon. So for his sins. Cue of the band. We are, I think we're on the same page. All right. You're going with a winner. Or do you actually have a specific name? I'm going with a winner of a fight that is booked.

Oh, I think we're on the same page. All right. You want to want to create? This is, how do we say it? How do you want to say? Just say both fighters. So winner of is already said. Oh, okay.

All right. All right. So we'll just say one, two, three. Just say the matchup. All right. Ready? One, two, three. Charles Johnson versus Tariara.

Nope, I'm going. We nailed it. We nailed it. Cue up the band. Cue of the band. Nope. They're shaking their heads. They're shaking their heads at us.

Like what was that? Because Assyoma Vyf after that call will not be getting either of those guys. He's going to fight either Charles Johnson or Lonnie Cavanaeis. The winner of that fight. at UFC Shanghai, August 23rd. We couldn't be further apart. Come on. That's where at.

That's who we're at. He was supposed to fight a top 15 guy. He was supposed to fight Temarov and then he beats a short notice replacement. Which hurts my soul because that was my flyweight and fantasy and I was feeling super good about that. And I just can't draft fly weights to save my life. And first half, it was Asu and then he screwed you. Now is the other way. I'm a buy of the first half and then that didn't.

And then. No, I had Alessandro Costa. Oh, Alessandro Costa. That's right. He was going to be 500 points after running through Machnell. And instead, oh, sorry, I can't make it. And then I think no one got the points. I think it was a camera who came in and then beat up Matchnell.

Cody Darden got the fight on short notice. British. He certainly did. Any shocking development. Damn, I thought we were on the same page. I liked your pick, though. I think it's probably the loser of that fight. Oh, maybe.

Maybe. I'm okay with that. Alliteration battles always tickle me. And there's so many of flyweight. There's weirdly like so many of flyways. Where do we go with Bogdan Goose Coffee, Kay? This was also easy. Mike, I think right.

No, I'm not going to do that again. I embarrassed us by trying. That was so far off. There's an obvious name he should fight. I just don't think it's going to happen next. I'm scared. I'm scared now. I think you should go first.

In a perfect world, he should fight Jamal. Hill. Like that should be the fight. But Jamal has said he's going to take a bunch of time off. He's going to heal up. And that is 1,000% what he should be doing. He has either gotten brutally knocked out or gotten badly beat up in his last three fights. So he should definitely take some time off because he is literally, it is like moment of truth time for Jamal Hill the next time he steps to that octagon. And I like the match with Goosecup. But if you're not 100% or close to it, you cannot take that fight because you will get rid over. So there is a big fight coming up.

Shanghai is just getting a lot of popular popularity here. It is the main event of UFC Shanghai. Zhang Mingyang versus one Jonathan Walker. I think the winner of that fight should fight Bogdan Goosekopf in a main event on either at the world's most famous Apex or in some arena near you. That fight's just going to rock. that's where we're going. Are we queuing up the band? They left, Mike. Not, Mike, they left. They left. They were deeply insulted, I think, by our presumptuous, our pre-kewing. You know, we don't do a lot of pre-kewing. And I think, oh, wait, are they coming back, Mike?

Mike, are they coming back? Should we? I don't know. I don't know. I can't hear. Oh, yeah. I mean, because I also went with, well, I specifically said Zeng. Okay. I will say, I will say. Either way. We should get a little. I think we still. but up but up up up that we are so off today so you are so

so you are predicting most are predicting that Ming Yang Zhang is going to defeat Jonathan Walker yeah because Bogdan and Johnny were supposed to fight before and then they kind of joke like

ah we're buddies we're buddies now like blah blah or I think it was John who was it Johnny that was joking or or Goose god that was joking after like F this guy like and then they're like no no no I think it was Bogdan right he was like I don't know I'm kidding I'm kidding we're friends.

Not to say they won't fight, but I like the story that I'm more of like, Jean-Beat's Johnny Walker and then Gustav avenges his buddy, avenges Johnny Walker. But Johnny Walker is certainly not, sorry, yes, Walker, excuse me, is certainly not a lock to win that,

to lose that fight. So, like, I shouldn't just assume it's to me, John and Gustav, like two up-and-comers going after each other. Johnny's got a lot more experience, so I could definitely pull off the upset. But, yeah, I'm leaning towards John and Guskov.

I think that's interesting. But you mentioned Guskov-Gamahl Hill, Jamal would still be favorite going into that fight, right? I would probably favor him. Not heavily, not heavily, but like minus 175. If that fight was booked for like UFC 320, I bet by the time the fight started, Guscoff would be the slight favorite.

I think money would come in on Gooscoff. Man, Jamal has just looked so bad. But the competition, the level of competition, face the top five guys. That's true, but I mean, he's, Yuri dead at him, Pereira, memed him forever. And then Khalil just, what Khalil did do, it might have been worse than all of them. True, true.

So I don't know, man. But I love, I love Goosegop Jamal Hill. It's just, I don't know when Jamal's going to fight again. I'm no Jamal Hill fan. But if I was getting him on Plus Money on Fight Day, what a couple of bucks on there. Yeah. Let's go to the wild card round, AK.

Let's pick one fighter we have not match made for yet. Let's matchmake for them right now. I'll just get mine out of the way. Typically, I just go to you because I know you're not a fan of this individual and you don't even want to mention them, but I'm just going back to the well. Bryce Mitchell beat Syed and Armaghamehadoff. It was not a fight.

We will ever go back and rewatch. Bryce Mitchell, I will give him credit, very honest about the fight, saying that Syed hurt him bad. He doesn't remember most of the first round after getting badly hurt by Saeed. getting that knee. He said he had to basically pray during the fight because Said was such a dangerous guy.

And I'm going to say this publicly. I said it on Twitter, it hurts my soul so much to watch a guy as talented as Saeed or Magamayanaf is have some of the worst pound-for-pound fight IQ I have ever seen. How, like this was such a wittable fight for him in the long run. He had Bryce hurt so bad. he's like, yeah, you know what I'll do? I'll just jump right into his guard. What are you doing?

It just hurt my soul. Like, I, I, if I had, like, a big bet on Saeed as an underdog, I would have lost my shit watching him fight. It was just so brutal. But I just, I want Saeed to just think about what he's doing before he does it. You know, we walk before we run. But nevertheless, Bryce Mitchell gets a win. He's got to fight Loak Dog, man. Like, we got to do that.

Like, this is the Bannonweight John Silva kind of thing where it's sink or swim, shitter get off the pot. Like, this is what we're at. Like, Bryce is not going. Mara Rav DeWalshili and any of the top five guys, they slept so soundly last night after watching Bryce Mitchell fights. I and Ramaka Madov. But Bryce is, has a very good skill set that can get him far in this division because he's a

hoss and he's got an incredible guy. tag. But throw him in there with Loke Dog. He goes out there and beats Loke Dog. I look at Bryce Mitchell and say, you know what? I still don't think he's going to win a belt, but perhaps this guy can get to like the top five to seven if he beats a guy like Loke Dogg. So yeah, that's where I'm going.

Bryce Mitchell's segment of the show ends. I turn it over to you. Yeah, standard disclaimer for me is like I would prefer Bryce Mitchell just never fought in the UFC again. But I'll say, we have a lot of it. had a lot of good Bryce Mitchell matchups suggested, so I will be reading those. And yeah, as far as Saeed goes, like, this is why I always say keep the martial arts apart, Mike.

Keep the martial arts apart. Sometimes you don't got to mix them. That was a guy on autopilot. He lands that huge knee, and then he sees his opponent on the ground. And the guy's his brain just flicks on, I guess. Like, well, I'm a good mixed martial artist. My opponent is on the ground. I must go to the ground and fight him there.

I must engage him on the ground because I mix the martial arts. And I'm like, no, you back up, especially when we learned later, just how badly, Bryce was hurt, like by his own account, did not even remember half the first round, was not there mentally. And I'm sure on autopilot, maybe he could have survived, even if Saeed had let him back up. But he would have been in a ton of trouble, way more trouble on the feet trying to, trying to dance with Saeed than he was, like, on his back, just kind of fighting to, you know, yeah, keep his opponent in guard and getting that time to recover. We see that all the time. It's exactly what he needed. And Saeed gave it to him.

Just incredibly irritating. Saigonemina Megamato is a very good fighter. That was not his best moment. I went with the lowest hang fruit, Mike. So down with the Kenan Kung Fu. I can't believe we were all counting about it. I did too. I didn't want to.

I was like, I think we went to the preview show in my mind. I was going to pick Selikov. But you, Mike, and the rest of them make me, you're so persuasive. And you guys were like, wow, Carlos Liao is going to run through him. And I was like, well, I guess they're right. And you know what? They did it. Because Muslim Selikov, 41 years young.

He even said that live in the mic, my favorite line. when people say that 41 years young as fresh as a daisy and then does the perfect call out calls for a fight with stephen wonder boy thompson karate versus kung fu let's do it i'm all in he you know muslim salikov he just turned he's really a fresh 41 like he's not that old guy he turned 41 in june and uh mike i didn't get him anything for birthday and i don't think you did either so this is it this is our gift to him stephen thompson if you're out there please I hope you heard that call out it was very respectful you guys are around the same age to put it nicely

and I think this fight has to happen at some point this keeps both you guys going win or lose doesn't matter I don't think either guy has to retire off this loss I don't think other guys can't tell a shot off this loss let's just have some fun I don't know man Wonderboys got one fight left on his contract he'll sign a new one he'll sign an eight fight deal after his next fight he doesn't need to do this after he after he 2928's salikov i mean come on he'll after you lose a robbery split decision to salikov 29 28 like he just lost the gabriel bond

beam that was that sucked it because like whatever whatever next fight wonder boy has like it could be the last fight of his career if it's with some salkoff like i'm fine with that i'm fine with age appropriate matchmaking but if wonder boy gets to call the shots and he wants to fight carl's Prachas who's fighting Jeff Neal like I'm cool with that as well so yeah look good call-out great performance Muslim gets it done 41 years young love to see it king of kung fu versus wonder boy I dig it let's go to the peeps okay I don't know if we got any check the tapes or anybody talking some smack or anything like that so I don't think so I'll call it out if I see it I don't All right.

All right. Let's rifle through these. John Ray kicks us off, said he didn't have time to matchmake for the entire card. So he kept it very simple. RDR versus DDP if he loses, Jan title shot, Sharra Bullitt versus Kelvin Gassim. Cool. Dawson Boyd, Gouskoff versus Jamal Hill, Asu Amabaya versus Amir Al-Bazi after he loses to Tyra. Sharra Bullitt versus Greg K.

What do you think about that idea? I actually like that idea. I saw a lot of that and I'm a fan. I'm a fan. It makes a lot of sense for both guys. Peter Yan versus Umar Naraga Madoff. I don't think there's any chance that fight happens next. I would love this should have been the fight they made like yesterday. I asked John, I'm like, why didn't they make this fight?

He said it was offered to him as the original main event of UFC Baku, but Umar couldn't, couldn't do it. Now there's reports of Umar possibly fighting Mario Batista at some point this year, which I actually think makes a lot of sense. I think it's a good fight. Kind of like, let's just see what Mario Batis's got. But Jan isn't going to fight Umar at this point.

And it's not him ducking him. He has been very vocal saying, hey, they offered me this fight. I said, yes, I'm not fighting again. Let's for the belt.

And I totally understand where he's coming from. Yeah. Why should he have to keep like, Umar's got to get back in there. It's been a long time since January. And I hope, I don't hope it's not a health thing. Hope Umar is all right.

But buddy, you got a fight again. You got to get back in there, man. Uh, Side note, Dossett asks, why is Umar still ranked number one, Banimait and Tapology, Marab disrespect. Yeah, it is what it is. He likes RDR versus Paulo Costa, which there's some heat there as well. We could do that, but I don't think Paul Costa is, I think Paul Costa is going to wait to see what happens at UFC 319, which he probably should do.

Steve Langford, RDR versus the winner of DDP Hamzad. What, holy shit, this is, you want to talk about journey here. Listen to this. RDR versus the winner of DDP Homsdot if Imov loses at UFC Paris and the winner of Fluffy Hernandez and Roman DeLizze and number more contender fight if Imov wins. That's one sentence. Grock,

Grock, can you break that down for me? I need to punch that into AI. RDR fights the GDP Homsat winner if Imov loses at UFC Paris. Okay. And the winner of Fluffy Hernandez and Roman DeLizze and a number one contender fight if Imov wins. If Imov wins RDR versus. Fluffy the Leedsay winner?

Yes. And if Ivovoff loses, then title shot. Okay, that wasn't too bad. All right. There's just a lot. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot to read. That's a lot. You get zero points for any of these predictions, by the way. I'm just throwing that out there. Oh, this is true. It's too many, too many conditions. Too much happening. Okay. If it's more than like six words, you can't get a point. You're disqualified. And I will say, you would have, they would have gotten a point, I think,

if they actually, instead of if they said this is what's going to happen. This is the, then you get a point. Then you get like two point a half. You can only travel one road. You can't go to the fork. There's no detours here in Otno land. Robert Whitaker versus Sean Strickland, I think makes all the sense of the world. It's just a matter of when.

Whitaker should probably take some time off. Strickland's suspended. We just don't know for how long. Hopefully you'll find that out soon. Jan gets a title shot. Sharra Bull versus Kevin Holland. Do you like this idea? Uh, again, one of those fights I think we'll see.

No, I don't like it because I just don't want to see Kevin Holland fight at middleweight ever again. And I get it. This makes sense because it's not a guy who's a heavy grappler. Though we did see him shoot for a takedown at the end there. But I don't think he's seeing it against Holland. So not out of the realm of possibility, but I'm just, Holland, just stay away from 185. Just don't, you don't need it. You can make a lot of money at 170.

There's so many fights at 170. You don't have to keep jumping up. Amabayev, Tagir, Ulan Bekhov, Gustavlovich. I don't mind that one. Bryce Mitchell versus Marcus McGee. Maybe. Maybe. I'd watch it.

Wouldn't be my first second or third choice. Salikov versus Wonderboy, Davy Graham versus Kyler Phillips, Tabitha Ritchie versus the Jessica Andrage, Lupi Godineas winner. Regis fought Lupi. Has she not? I think so.

I think I saw quite a bit of 2-2 with some Ritchie picks. I think they're forgetting a lot of her fights. Maybe I'm forgetting. Sorry, what was that name again? Oh, Lupi? Yes, she's a lot of. Yeah.

The Andrej will be winner. It was a while ago. But yes, we need those two. Throw those twos in there, guys. Do those twos in there. Record shattering Stephen Wynne versus Lucas Alexander. Martin Boudai MVP versus Sergei SVAC. Martin Boudai is such a hero.

And I can't believe anybody has suggested a Billy Al-A-Cana suggestion, but they did. Versus Jimmy Crute in Perth. I believe it at that. We're doing too much, guys. We're doing too much. I mean, actually, it's probably the most smart play to do Billy Ellicana picks because no one else is going to pick them. So if you get it right, you're guaranteed not put a void. All out no points are equal.

So if you get a main event play, if anything, main event fights are way hard to pick because we're all like, we are all kind of picking the same way. So yeah, go for those Billy Ellicana points, guys. Same value. Trevor, you might like some of his picks, AK. Trevor, RDR versus, I don't like this pick at all, by the way. RDR versus Izzy at MSG. RDR doesn't need to fight Izzy. I don't really have a ton of interest in that fight.

I do. I do. I just think it would be a good fight. This is me not caring about like keeping RDR in the championship path. This is not like, oh, I want to say, no, I don't care. I just like it would be a fun fight.

I think RDR just starts getting this reputation of like, yeah, man, I'm knocking off former UFC champ, blah, blah, and then until he gets, and then when he, should he eventually get his title fight, it'll be like, you know, it'll be much, much higher. level of anticipation. But, no, I see what you mean.

It's pointless as far as like, storyline-wise, but I just think it'd be a cool fight to watch. I think RDR absolutely malls. So, that's what I see. He says, we'd love to see RDR versus Jerkis now, but we'll have to wait for the winner of Cairo and Nassardine. This is the one you'll like, AK. Peter Ian versus Corey Sanhagen 2 after he submits Marab.

Whoa, even more specific than me, Colin the finish. Someone has to come in. Someone has to come down with a round. Now I want someone. Corey, submission, round,

whatever. I love this pick, by the way. Yeah, I like that pick. I also love this pick. Sharba versus Michelle Pereira, winner lose after his fight with Marco Tullio.

I think that's, that's a good pick right there. No fight. No fight. Left lane had a lot of repeats, but there were some different ones. Left lane says Whitaker versus the fluffy Delizze winner. He's with you.

Sharre versus Copulaf. We'll do it at Qatar in November. Bryce versus Henry Sehudo, Ritchie versus the Amanda Lemo Tatiana Suarez loser Stephen Wynn versus Jamal Emers. Oh, I got to check for the tape. I got to check the tapes for you, Mike.

I got to check the, hey, hey, left lane. I saw you, he was blown, Mike, I don't know if you saw us. He was blown up our preview show chat. I don't know if you were paying this to the YouTube chat on Friday. He was all like, Jose Ochoa. Why don't you guys talking about Jose Ochoa? Jose Ochoa is going to kill Osmovaev.

And he, don't be wrong, Jose Cho was fine. Like I, I picked him, but. Yes, and he did not embarrass himself at all. It was a, it was a competitive fight. But he certainly did not kill Osama Bia. So, uh, Leflane, I'm sorry we didn't get your comments up on that show, but also you got to show. If we're going to do something like that, you got to show up in the previous show after, and you got to, you got to work it out because, you know, now I wish we had brought it up because then I could, I could put Leflane on blast more.

But, no, nothing. I kid, I kid. I kid. I like Jose Ochoa. I do think there are big things ahead for him. Shout us to Peru. Shout us to my Peruvian. But yeah, I just thought it was funny. I found it funny anytime someone comes in the comments. And it's like, yo, you guys didn't talk about this enough on the show.

This guy's going to destroy the drew opponent. And then, and then they lose. You're all crazy. You're all crazy. You're passionate. But I, we love you guys. We'll end with Kyle. Peodorian versus O'Malley, too.

Not a fan. Sharra Bullitt versus Marvin Vittori. Oh, my Lord. I don't know how I feel about that fight. I guess if you are going to try to position Sharra Bullet as a guy who, if you're looking at Sharra Bullitt and you're thinking to yourself, we have to push him to get to a belt,

then Martin Vittori, I think makes kind of somewhat sense. other than that, like, I just have zero interest in that fight. It would, I only want to see that fight if it happens at the UFC Apex. And we've already talked about how difficult, how difficult it is to get, to potentially get Shara in there. So I understand the reasoning behind it. That could be a, no, you know what? I don't think it would be a stick bomb because I think Marvin would come forward. I think he would come forward.

Recent fight of the night winner. Yeah, this is true. Middle eight is so hot right now. I actually think he would oddly bring out the best in Shara. So you know what? I don't mind it. I just don't know if it's next. But man, there's been like, it's so weird.

I don't know. Like I said Roman Coppulov, but there's like a dozen possible matchups for Shara. And I just, and like I see them all as being possible. I just don't know which one's next. That's all. Like I think he fights almost all the guys we mentioned today. I think he fights like maybe all but one. I just don't know when.

I don't know when. Kyle likes Amabaya versus Viti Sigs. win-lose-dra draw with park goose golf versus kuchelaba wow we are dude picks up the biggest win of his career and give him like three steps back yeah no disrespect to kutalava it's just kind of kutjava's probably like the 27th best late heavyweight in the world right now bryce mitchell versus the education system jesus uh and then kyle ends with also is there somewhere online where we can see how your guys is fantasy m-m-a teams are doing so jett is on vacation

he will be back, I think, like, Monday or Tuesday. And Jed usually will keep, Jed will usually post the updated scores after things happen. But like we said, he's, he's on vacation right now, so he may not be doing that. So I assume the next time any of us have competitors competing in our fantasy leagues,

Jed will post up updated graphics. So just follow Jed on social media, on Twitter more specifically. And I think we'll figure it out. So I turn it over to you. you, my best friend. Yeah, follow Jed, follow his new climb. He had a fancy climb graphic made, Mike.

I don't know if you saw that. That was nice. Yeah, so step one was complete. I think it was Peodor Young. I think I was just picked Peyoteon Money Line and step one of the new climb. He will make it, guys. He will one day make it at the top. I got a lot of picks here.

Let's start with Gerard Bejagan. I was betting somebody. I remember I actually liked a lot of these. I should have made more better notes. Shara Bullet versus Cesar Almeida, Mike. I like it. I think they're on different paths, but I do like it.

I do think it's like a stand-up battle. Oh, here's a go. Mike, what do you think of this? Bryce Mitchell. Patchy Mix? Oh. Grappling battle, hard, like, you know, a lot of scrambles, a lot of,

or we get some cardio kickboxing. I don't know. That's interesting. That is interesting. I got to ponder that. Okay, think about it. Gerard, I like that one. That one really caught my eye.

then I don't like this one. Muslim Salikov versus Vicente Lucke. Winner gets Wonderboy who fights once a year. I mean, we saw Stephen Thompson tune up Lucay. I don't think that needs to be run back. So just go with Muslim. Why are we overthinking this, guys? And, Jared, I'll mention Davey Grant versus Pedro Munoz here.

A lot of people called for this fight, but I'll just say, I do like it. Age-appropriate matchmaking. They haven't fought before, right? It feels a bit weird that they have it. Right, because Davy's kind of like inactive sometimes. Okay, well, anyway, good stuff for Davey Grant. And, yeah, him and Munoz makes a lot of sense. Also from Instagram, Tino Alvarez.

He also likes Sharra Bullitt and Robo Cop. I'm skipping some of the main events and co-main event picks, guys. We've gone over a lot of these. They're very similar. He also likes Bryce Mitchell versus Patching Mix. Man, hi, this is, you know, we got something going on here. Davey Grant versus Howany, Barcelos. Yes, let's keep throwing in these veterans with each other, guys.

This is good stuff. This is good thinking. Barry O'Reilly had some great picks. Where do I start? I can't read these all, but some of these were great. Tabitha Ritchie v. McKenzie Dern, I think it's really solid. Again, a fight I thought happened before but hasn't. Mike, what do you think of Davy Grant and Raoul Roses, Jr.?

Ooh. What do you think of that? Boy, that's real good. because I had been pushing for DeMond Blackshere to fight Raul Roche Jr. Uh-huh. So now Davy Grant by proxy. It's the sweepstakes. Could get the sweepstakes.

I like that. I actually, that's, actually, that's very, very good. Davey Grant is 39. I love this.

I love that idea. I know there were reports. I know there are reports that Roses was fighting Rob Fon. Uh, uh, it's not on the website. So that goes to show you everything that there is. Um,

I talked to multiple people who said there was no truth to that. I mean, I'm going to say there's no truth, but were discussions had like once upon a time, perhaps, sure. Did anything come of it? No. Could it happen? Maybe. But I say take that all off the table and do Rawler Studio versus Davey Grant, Noch, UFC. I love that idea.

David Grant is almost 20 years older than Roe Rose's true. That is wild. And yet it would, it would just be, it would be mind-blowing. I'm trying to, so Davey Grant turned pro and let me see here. Oh, nine. He's first amateur fight in 08 when Raoul-Roura-Rosa-Jr was four years old. Romo versus Jr. was four years old the first time Davey Grant stepped into a cage or a ring. I'm not sure what his first fight was to fight someone.

That is crazy. I love the idea. So, Barry, that's fantastic. I should read what he said. Grant's no pushover on the ground, as we saw, has great cardio, which is the perfect test of Rosa's weaknesses so far, sure. He's young enough that even if he loses, as we have seen before, he can easily bounce back and be better

while it continues this fun streak for a dangerous debut. Yeah, definitely. Bryce Mitchell versus Rob Font. This is kind of where Fontes right now. The UFC, unfortunately, seems like Bryce and his controversy. So if he beats the top 10 gatekeeper, they will be happy. Sure. Alibaya versus Asakura Elliott winner, Tim Elliott,

a fun fight, no matter who wins. Okay. And he wants, he likes the Sharibullah Shabal matchup. Win or lose versus Muni. Fun stand-of-battle with either guy adding a known name to their resume. He says Yon is Umar is the only fight to make. We've kind of gone over why that's very likely not going to happen, guys. Thanks, Barry. Those are some really, really good picks?

Mike, how do you feel out, Davy Grant's Cody Garbrandt? Sure. You're very reluctant there. Thank you. Thank you, DGP. Let's go. We got, oh, actually, one more pick from DGB. Robert Whitaker, Brendan, Alan, like Robert Whitaker and all in.

I mean, it makes sense. Oh, boy. Yeah, maybe. Damn. Man, this is where I was Rob now. People just come to take his spot. But he's been good at protecting it a few times. Iqrum, you know, if you beat Icrum.

Four corner sports. What do we got? He wants RDR versus DDP no matter what happens in, uh, at 319. We are one step away from Jed M. From a shoe getting what he wants. I will cancel all plans to see that fight. Yeah, I think a lot of us would for car sports. It's such a, such a sick matchup.

Whitaker versus MVP Canineer winner. Yes. We saw Whitaker tune up, Canineer. I don't know if I need to see that one again, guys. So please remember those twos. And for some reason, you really want to see that matchup. Mike, Bogdan Goosekhov versus Usdemeer, too. Is it too soon?

By the time Bogdan steps back in the cage, it will have been two years since they fought. That was Bogdan's UFC debut. Very tough matchup. Run it back. Give him another chance to take bulk on spot. or sure yeah yeah i could see it let's keep them active or something sure let's do it Zach Schultes is on the Whitaker out of sonya three train um which I see some goose car versus Alonzo menafield shore Gwynn versus Twymie combo quamba and then he put in

parentheses Jason Herzog did nothing wrong Zach come on come on Zack by Frod what is up picks by F rod Marcus McGee Marlon Vera yeah I could see that again another I see another Bogdan Kuskov Ustamir 2. Mike, I think we brought this up in passing. Bryce Mitchell and Peyton Talbot. I mean, I'd watch it. It's a weird fight. That's weird, right?

Yeah. I can't put my finger on it. It just feels wrong. And yet I also don't have a strong, like, reason why it shouldn't happen, other than, again, the usual Bryce Mitchell objections. But, man, is that not too soon for Peyton? Could this not be another, like, Howany-Barsela situation? He's just a little overmatched experience-wise.

Maybe. Maybe not. He really impressed that last fight. He looked really good. Yeah, he looked really good. I don't know what's time yet. I know it's time yet. I know it's time yet.

I know Bryce Wilson might not be ranked at 135, like, officially, but after that win, he's probably top 25 at 135 pounds. And I wouldn't put Peyton there yet. Anyway, tack MMA. Tech MMA also wants Ritchie Dern, McGee, Marlon Vera. Thank you, Taka, Finn Hamilton. Finn Hamilton Jan back up at 320

fights to winner Maraugh Sanhagan of course McGee and Montel Jackson I would love that fight Montel can we get you back in there buddy can we get you back on the case sooner rather than later love that fight Ochoa versus Bruno Bulldog Silva I think

Bulldog was listed as being released I don't or maybe I'm just kidding I might be just getting my Bruno Silva's confused You might be Yeah because I guess Bulldog didn't fight that long ago, right? He had that fight with Josh Van. And we always say he's a guy that need to keep around because he's just excited. Either way, he's excited. He's getting a guy.

Okay, okay. Yeah, that's, uh, what, Ochoa? Oh, yeah. You know what? Sorry. Finhowitz and I bought that. Assuming, uh, bulldogs still on the roster. Sick fight. That's a freaking sick fight. Paul Ceponelli says, hopefully this isn't too late and apologizes if there's any due to because they were jet lag. Just do a quick skim here. I think you're good. Uh, see if not that you're good. Al-Mabayev Brandon Royval that's even further than I was going with the Tyra

Al-Bazi matchup No Okay firm no Sorry Paul Not doo-do Not do-do but it's a firm no From the boss Gustav versus Jan Blakov

Step up against a dude On his way out That's a bit disrespectful to Yom Blakwish But I see the logic I'm okay with it That's a fun fight and I love this suggestion.

F it, Davy Grant versus Adrian Yanyes, too. No real reason to run it back, other than it being a splitty and it being fun, but I'm a firm believer. You get two action fighters that make for fun fights. Just match them together every couple of years or so for our enjoyment. Paul, fully agree. A lot of fun fights ahead for both those guys.

Speezy, what is up, Speezy? Pretty fun card earlier today with a lot of underdog win. Oh, yeah, this was sent last night. Thank you, Speezy. Very prudent. And it was a fun card, I think. what do we got here that we haven't read out already another Bogdha versus Jan Blakovich

maybe some juice here Bryce versus Howony Barcellos? Sure Davy Grant versus Bexat Almacan Yeah Bexat was supposed to fight recently I think I feel like he dropped out of a fight Elakana versus Junior Tafa Poor I don't know what is Elikana experience

I'll be honest that could be another stink bomb That could be another real stink bomb what's arm and petrosian doing like just doing an open weight kind of a fight is uh it's kind of where we go mike what do you think of martin boudai versus tie to ivasa if tie can't get a win he has to get out of the rankings i have to think big marty is ranked higher than tie at this point right he's not he is not in the uc's rankings tie has like no interest in fighting this year tie's said in multiple interviews he's probably

not fighting until 2026. So Ty should probably not even be in the rankings. He is honest. I don't know if you guys have seen him an interview. He's looking healthy. Let me put that. This is the nice way to. He's looking healthy and well fed. And you're right, does not seem to be in camp shape at all. Yeah.

But he is number 10 in the rankings. So if you want to move Budai up and we should all be trying to move Marvin Boudai up, that is our goal. I feel like for the UFC. If Ty Tuivasa is going to fight again, we sign rebellious to Spain to a one-fight contract. Oh. And we do that. That's what we're doing.

Karate Combat King. Rebels to Spain. I don't know. USC might have to pay like $3 million for one fight. That day, do they spicy free agent again. Wildcard Rob versus Brennan. Sure, sure, sure. I got a few more here.

Thomas Collins. Thomas Collins. What is up, my friend. Davey Grant versus Pedro. I mean, yes, I like that. Again, age-appropriate. A lot of age-appropriate matchmaking Muslim and Wonderboy. Nothing really new here, Bogdan, Yon.

May I just son do this Bogdan Yon thing? Oh, maybe I'm missing out on it. Jonah Friedman. This is both trolling me and also just making me happy. RDR versus Torres Finney. Let's do it. Torres is free. You know what?

He had a fight book, fell out. Maybe we can wait, wait for that one. Win or lose, he wanted thug nasty, Bryce Mitchell versus Peyton Talbot. This was sent to me on, I think he said this me on either early Saturday or Friday. I think this is just a calling their shot. And Jason Herzog versus the biggest guy in prison on the first day because of the yeah yeah fight.

We like Jason Herzog. He's a little, he's had some high profile weird calls this year. This just kind of happens, I think, one, when you get more assignments and you get like, you know, a lot of high profile fights. But yes, I do feel like he's entering a little bit of Herb Dean territory where we like him and we kind of acknowledge his baseline competency. But I wonder if he's maybe getting some credit for his past. consistency as opposed to recently.

I feel like we've been talking about Jason Herzog a little too much this year and not a great way. I know Jason's doing his best. I'm just saying like that was inexcusable on Saturday. I know I harped about it a lot on the Post-Fi show, so I'm sorry, I've got off my soapbox, but that was just so hard to watch. And I really feel like I'm more disappointed in Yaya's corner for sure.

Like Yaya's corner has got to just at some point throw in the towel. You guys taking up eating. Letting him go off for the second round was effing irresponsible. Just should not have happened. but Herzog is a close second. He's got to stop that in the first round. That guy was out of it. Can we,

since we, you know, occasionally we give referee's nicknames, Keith Peterson's no nonsense, John McCarthy's big John McCarthy. How about Jason the overcompensator Herzog? Oh. Because when he's too quick on the trigger,

somebody might die the next event. So there is going to be, there is going to be a bad early stoppage, probably this coming Saturday. This is what he's been doing all year. Why would you say these things? I'm sorry. I just call it like I see it.

You're saying when when Elezu Zaleski like clips Neil Magny with a spin kick and like it just wobbles him that, but like he doesn't go down. Herzog's going to jump in there. There will be a stop in where Herzog jumps in and the fighter he's like, what are you doing? Why are you stopping this? Oh. I'm going to predict it's the Danny Silva Kevin Vallejo. This is the worst segment of Otna ever. We should not.

What a horrible thing to read. I hope neither of us are right. I hope, Jason Herzog, I hope you have a perfect night. If you are working, an apex card, just assume you are. I hope you have a perfect night where we're not even mentioning your name at the end, other than to say, didn't Jason Herzog look sharp in the cage tonight? That's it. I hope we have nothing.

We don't have any more. The only thing that can save him, at least in the short term, is if there's a fight that he is refereeing and somebody grabs the fence and he immediately takes a point, then we will go on the. post-fight show and praise this man for doing a terrific job. But outside of that, like, he's, he's not in hokey-pokey-pokey herb territory, but tough scenes. All right, let's wrap up with for you emails here from some, from some classics. Tristan Gordette, our pal, Tabith, Tabitha, Tabithi.

I'm said Tabithi, Mike. It's time to wrap up the show. Tabith Ritchie versus Nisi Gomez. Stephen Nguyen versus Jung-Yong-Lee, Muslim Salikov, Chris Curtis. Oh, right. Chris Curtis back at Walterways. I actually really liked that, Tristan. I had not thought about that.

Bryce Mitchell and Farid Basharad. Sure. Lucas Cortes, RDR title shot, let's face it, despite what Mike thinks, despite what Mike thinks coming at you. RDR is unquestionably the fighter of the year and deserves a title fight. Unquestionably. What? I mean, okay, I think they're rolling.

I think there's rolling. With two unregulated. wins that he was heavily favored. Mike, I was just trying to get a reaction out of you. Oh, you're just joking. No, no, no. He said this. That was, this is what.

How is he unquestionably the fighter? Then he writes, who else has ever beaten Kevin Holland? Probably no one. I'd be surprised anyone else will even sign the fight him. So he's trolling. He's trolling. Thank you. Thank you for getting that.

I just want. Daniel Rodriguez has a better case for Fighter of the Year. I'm just kidding. No, RDR is a case. But he's just not there. I'm sorry. Like Marab's two title defenses are enough. He's probably like, he's in the top five.

If the year ended right now, he would be on the list. But he's like fourth or fifth right now behind Marab, Ilya, Josh Van, those three just off the top of my head. And maybe John Silva. John Silva beats Diego Lopez. John Silva's jumping over RDR. I can't wait until you have to do the write-up for Fighter of the Year. And RDR is like fourth.

And then like you're going to get threats just like just like a breakthrough fight of the year again, Mike. He might be breakthrough fighter. He might. He's probably the breakthrough fighter at the year. Let's start into this controversy again. Anyway, yes, Lucas was strongly. Well done, Lucas. I was very happy to get a rise out of Mike.

Bullet versus Izzy. I think there's also a joke. A win over Bakrio basically guarantees he'll beat Izzy. Jan versus Umar, even with a solid win. Decision not enough to give him a title flight. I don't know about that. I don't know about that. Whitakervers, Alan, Davy Grant and Victor Henry.

I just think it would be fun. I'll always just every band to wait to fight Victor Henry because he's so fun to watch. Hope you guys are doing well. Is this Casey? This might be Casey. Lucas Cortes, I think, is a, uh, uh, what's the word? Oh my God.

What's the word for, uh, when an author uses a pseudonym, a pseudonym for E. Casey Lighten. And, uh, and I say, Annihilate the Playboys. Yeah, always a fun quote because we got a blast in the pasture, Mike. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I don't know original. Someone who was with us when this podcast just started off and we were only getting like two or three submissions a week. Toke Gerting Jensen. Tote Gertin Jensen. What is up? Toke. I have not heard for me in a while. He says he deleted X. That's why I'm emailing you my picks. Smart decision, my friend. Smart decision. If I did not need X for work, I would get off that in a second, hopefully.

Gotta be RDR versus Izzy. Damn, sorry, heck, you are wrong. Dead wrong. Edisina is not in fun. Guys, he says, it is not in a fun. That's right. That's literally does zero for me. And if RDR beats him, it literally does nothing for him. I wish this was a video pod because Mike has made some faces the last couple of emails, guys. What does he gain from beating Israel Adasandia? Seriously. Like what does he gain from beating Izzy? Gains nothing.

He gains nothing. It does not, that win does not matter right now after beating Robert Whitaker. Now, if they went to this fight, like if this is a suggestion after the Boeh-Nickel fight, yes, that makes sense. He needs a big name, a former champion. He got that already. Why would he go fight a guy on a three-fight losing streak right now? Or whatever on this. Who was the last time he want to fight?

Pereira? Is that his last win? I think so. Then what are we doing here? We're going to give RDR who could RDR could arguably fight for the belt right now. And you know what, RDR? We love you, buddy. Great job.

But we're going to send you back in the rankings and have you fight a guy who is not one a fight since Joe Biden was the president. So yeah, tough seeds. This fight's definitely happening now, Mike. You realize, you know this is like you protested too much. It is definitely happening. This person just took a straight up trolling you, Mike, because, you know what? You love that fluffy, fluffy deletes a winner to get an opportunity.

They want Whitaker instead. They want him to fight Winnecker instead of RDR, either fluffy or delete that. That is, I am okay with that. Because again, like, why not Fluffy Delizze fighting Izzy? Like, that makes sense. So is this the roadmap toke? So Fluffy beats Roman Delizze, which she's probably going to, and then beats Robert Whitaker. Will he then have to fight Israel at Asanya?

Is this what we're doing? You have to jump up and fight Whitaker and then you jump back to fight Izzy and then you jump up and fight somebody else. It's one or the other. You don't need to fight both guys. You guys are just not in the same page today. Shara, I'm sorry, Jan O'Malley 2. You already said you don't want that next. Shara, Marvin Vitori, you already said, you know, Mike is making so many faces.

Why would you throw Jan in there with shot O'Malley? This is great. Even Peter Yan at this point. Oh, man. Even Yon doesn't want that fight. Even he's like, fuck that. This is ridiculous. Like, he's literally said it.

Like, I've no interest in fighting this man. If Yon does he want it, why do, why would you even suggest? it. And we were all getting along so well, too. We almost made it out of this show unscathed. Amabaya of Timalia-Kasker, winner, Kuska, Volkaner. Hope you both are good. We were good, I think.

That was a great. That's a good pick. Yeah. That's a good pick. Amabia fighting like the back end of the top 15 is exactly where it needs to be. Tok, good to have you back. I'll say that. Good to have you back, guys.

We've got, we won't have another pay-per-view for a couple weeks. So, guys, please send us your picks because I thought they, I thought they were scintillating this week and got such a positive reaction out of Mike. Guys, hit me up, Alex dot Lee at SBNation.com on Twitter at Alexander K. Lee on Instagram at Alexander KK Lee.

My DMs are open. Mike, where can they reach you? I mean, after tokes picks, don't even try. Leave Mike alone. I'm just kidding. Find me on IG M underscore HeckJR. Guys, we're so back. We are so back.

Oh, we're back. The world's most famous apex. Once again has the world's most famous Octagon. And we got ourselves some fist fighting, ladies and gentlemen. We got UFC Vegas 108. UFC Vegas 108 going down. We've had some time away from the apex. And now we are back.

What are we looking at here? Are you fucking kidding me? 9 p.m. main card for this card? What are we doing here? Six-fight main card, 9 p.m. Ugh. Just brutal. Anyways, it's actually not a bad card.

I was about to put it over until I saw the start time. This is a 4-7 or a 3-6, if there ever was one. Amir al-Bazi Tetsu-Rotaira is the main event. Co-made event, Chris Duncan versus Batutrebechki. That is a terrific fight. Esteban Rivavich versus Elves Brenner, more lightweight action. That's the featured bout currently.

Carol Hosa versus Nora Cornel. aka women's phantom weight phantom weights not only happening but on the main card thoughts on that it's a big moment for the division

Carol Hosa is low key like one of the more exciting 135ers yeah I think people like I say this because like I think she's one of the only 135ers to get a fight of the night in the last like five years but it's my point stance yes Neil Magny versus Eliza Zolesi

Lusky, Danny Silva versus Kevin Vallejos. We already know how that's going to end. So just stay tuned. Don't do that, Mike. Nick Klein versus Andre Pulaev, Rinya Nakamura versus Nathan Fletcher, Hadoffa Vietta versus Trayshon Gore, Felipe Bunes versus Huffiel Estevam,

and Piera Rodriguez versus Ketlin Sosa. That is UFC Vegas 101.8. Pretty decent. pretty decent apex card like very little stakes but fun fights some very fun fights all the way around so it's good to see batush rabetschi finally back in there uh for his first fight since the ufc 308 fight i believe so i'm trying to think what i saw him yeah and what a fight that was so pretty good card i'm looking forward to it and can't wait to hear So much.

We appreciate you. Back next week. Doing the damn thing. Doing some matchmaking for A.K.I. and Mike Heck. Have a great rest of your weekend, everybody. And we'll see you next time right here. And on to the next one, the podcast.

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.