MMA Fighting - Reaction: Khabib Retires, Oliveira vs. Chandler At UFC 262, Big Matchups at 135

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

After a crazy Thursday night full of news in the MMA world, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee react to Khabib Nurmagomedov officially closing the door on a return following his retirement announcement at UFC 254 in October, the UFC 262 main event between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler to crown a new lightweight champion on May 15, and two massive bantamweight headliners between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw on May 8, along with Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt on May 15. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All right, everybody, Mike Heck here from MMAfighting.com. And every once in a while, I think to myself, you know, it's going to be a busy couple of days. I'm going to get some decent sleep tonight, finish my ship, brush my teeth, wash my face, go to sleep around 1045 Eastern Time. And I slept like a baby. So a little update on that. But I wake up and my phone had gone absolutely crazy with a flurry of news. The lightweight division has taken a massive step with the official, official retirement of Habibn-Namagam.

made off UFC President Dana White essentially waived the white flag on trying to convince Habib to get that elusive 30 and O. So after all the quote unquote decisions, meetings, dinners, updates, etc., nothing changed since UFC 254 in October when Habib submitted Justin Gagey in the main event to retain his title. But let me just say, I understand why Dana White was trying to get Habib back in the fold. He's obviously become one of the biggest stars in the sport, the appreciation for. for Habib's ability, his incredible talent, has risen to massive heights over the last couple of years and rightfully so. But just hearing what Habib had to say

after the win against Justin Gagy in October, making a promise to his mom that he was done after the passing of his father who was really close to, it just seemed like his decision was made back then. But, you know, he wanted to give Dana the opportunity to say his peace, and that's it.

Habib's a company guy. He's a professional. And he now retires as the lightweight champion of the world. undefeated, and now the title is, I wouldn't say officially vacated, but we will have a new champion crowned, hopefully on May 15th and the main event of UFC 262, when Michael Chandler and Charles Olivera will battle it out. So we got a lot of news concerning the UFC's lightweight division.

We got a lot of news concerning the UFC's bantamweight division. More on that a little bit later on, but right now to discuss a soon-to-be new era in the most interesting division in the UFC right now, the lightweight division. Let us welcome in. My good friend, the Prince of positivity, Alex Keeley. How are you, my friend? News. News. News is happening, like, what? Where did all this come from? If anyone, if anyone on the East Coast went to bed at a reasonable time on Thursday night, they missed everything. All this. Everything you just mentioned did not find out until this morning. I was up. So, I mean, I saw it, but I'm trying to imagine how people just

woke up and we're like, what? Like what? What's going on? Garbrand? What, Adela Shah? What? Khabibh? Wait, wasn't he already retired? What's going on? Amazing. Just an amazing, amazing late Thursday evening news dump. And I'm very excited to talk about it and sort of sort through it. All right. Well, let us start with Habib Naramagamadav, aka Dana White made it official last night. He spoke with Habib. Habib sticking to his guns. He's not coming back and the division will move forward without him as a fighter. Of course, his presence will be felt as a coach and a corner man. But on a scale of 1 to 10, A.K., how surprised were you by this news? And Dana basically saying, I tried, but it's just not happening.

I'll go like a one or a two. I'm with most people. No, look, I'm with most people who said, and look, as we were putting together, or actually our team, I wrote maybe one thing, but our amazing team was putting together some of the stories last night. It was kind of weird how to phrase it. It's like, it's not an announcement of retirement. We had the announcement of the retirement months ago, in October. So it's sort of a confirmation, or at least, or a Dana White announcement. Dana White announces, I am no longer pursuing a comeback for someone else, which is an insane statement. I mean, grammatically, it's a nightmare. But that is what happened, isn't it? I mean, that kind of is what happened to our sport. Given all the news, anyone who's kept up with the drama,

it has been like every week some update of Dana White going, I'm not done yet, or saying, I'm giving up and then literally like two days later in another interview saying, I know I said I was giving up, but I got a text from Habib the other day that made me think, ah, maybe I shouldn't give up. And then Habib himself put out that something on Twitter

saying like, oh, I'm meeting up with Lorenzo Fretta and his classic send location quote and people got all excited again. But I don't think he was ever meant to tease that he was actually going to fight again. It was just he was in Vegas and meeting up with his business partners and I guess and probably wanting to make it very, very clear that it's over. I would really like to know what it is

that Habib said this time that made Dana say, okay, now because Dana has said in interviews, he's never really told me flat out that he's done. But so many of the public statements, weren't they saying Habib was done? Maybe he had to say to Dana's face. That's the only confusing part for me,

but no, not particularly surprising, very low on the scale, a two at most. Yeah, I know Dana's thing was, well, you never said, like, stop asking me about it. And that was, like, kind of the point of contention with Dana, like, wanting to pursue this.

But I'm curious, like, with all this coming out, like, do you think, honestly, anything would have enticed him to come back for one more. Like I know Tony Ferguson fighting Charles Olivaira, like had he won that fight, people were thinking, hmm, the one that got away, maybe there's a chance. And then there's Connor McGregor and Dustin Porre too. Like maybe if Connor won massive, massive fight, I'd say doubtful, but maybe for the kind of money that one would have made, possibly. Maybe Charles Olivaa. I mean, it seemed like that one was steak, but it didn't really had the sizzle on it, like the competitor in Habib liked that fight, but all things considered,

didn't really check all the boxes. And then there was the looming George St. Pierre possibility, which in my eyes, it didn't seem like anything was ever going to come from that idea from either side. So, I mean, do you honestly think anything could have convinced Habib AK to shoot for the big three O? It would have been GSP. It would have been both guys having to get paid eight figures, show money at least, plus whatever, you know, pay-per-view bonuses, whatever other incentives they get throw in there. So it would have to be a huge, huge payday for both guys. It probably would have to have been at least like 18 months ago. Even I think if it had realistically been floated this year, I don't think GSP would have gone for it. I think he might be, I think this year is kind of like,

you know, he's done a lot of interviews and it's just like I'm pretty, I'm pretty much done. But 18 months ago, two years ago, that was probably your window. Now I, now I can't imagine that was even realistic. But that's what would have been in. Eight figure deal for both guys, a lot of money and a legacy fight. Probably either at, again, probably a 170, do a catchway. I know Dana White hates those, but that would have been a big money thing. But again, UFC and the Dana White, I don't think they were ever realistically entertaining that. I think the cost was just too high.

And there was a fair point or if it was done at lightweight, what do you do if GSP wins the belt and retires again and, you know, leaves the lightweight? So there were reasons not to make it happen with that, but that would have been the one to do it. I am of the theory, though, Mike, that he will fight again someday. I just think right now he's only, he's 32. I just think right now there is not the, there's no reason for him to stick around and just take fights that don't interest him. So I think there's plenty of time for him to come back. And I, if I had to bet, I say,

Habib Namaama McAv will fight again someday, but it won't be for at least like two years. And the UFC and the lightweight landscape will look very, very, very different by then. Yeah, I could definitely see that happening. So with this, Habib will move on. He will eventually no longer be the champion. I'm not really sure how that works right now. but normally in these situations,

it's like once the first punch is thrown in the Michael Chandler versus Charles-Lavera fight, then the title will be vacant, and whoever wins that fight at UFC 262 will become the new champion. So kind of talking about this new made of NACA, it seemed like with the pieces that we've seen put in place, this was a three-man race.

This is Olivera, this is Michael Chandler. This is Justin Gaecchi, especially with Dustin Porier and Connor McGregor seemingly tied up for their trilogy fight, whenever that happens, possibly the summer. What are your thoughts on, this piece of business, the UFC going with Chandler versus Olivera to crown a new champion? I love it. I love it. I love it. I would have had, you know, for me, I think Porreier should

should have been in any, any match, but he has made it clear that he wants that McGregor trilogy, which as we know could end up being more lucrative than a vacant lightweight title of place. So no one to blame here for if there's any pooret fans there who are like, oh, why didn't, why didn't, you know, they screwed him. And it's like, nah, no, he wanted this. I think I'm sure he's told the UFC, he's told McGregor's team, let's work this out. They want to find a in the summer. It might be a little bit later than that, but that is what they want. And for perfectly good reason. And Charles Olivaa and Chandler, this is the next logical matchup. I think the UFC, the matchmakers, the managers, everyone involved here, I think

they did a great job. I know we have a tendency to nitpick these things. And again, I could easily complain, oh, why not Porre versus Oliva, what have you? But this is what seems to be what everybody wanted. And Chandler, he's like maybe the biggest winner in all this, because, yes, it's great for Olivera that he got this title shot after, you know, probably deserving it. for a while, but for Chandler to just come from Bellator and get that one win and cut a big promo and take advantage of

all the push the UFC has given him, he did an amazing job. And the fact that he could be the UFC lightweight champion come May 15th the evening of May 15th. It sounds crazy. It sounds a little crazy if you mentioned this like a year ago. But I'm sure if you asked Michael Chandler, he would tell you

this was fate. It's fate accompli. He knew that this day would come and he's getting a shot. It's great. So what do we do at Justin Gaei then? Because reports are surfacing that the UFC was working on Gachi versus Chandler. The UFC obviously called an audible and Gachi is kind of the odd man out of this equation. What do we do with him right now? Because this seems to be the big question right now.

Yeah, that's a tough one. You know, again, I know if you're Gachi, you know, you've had this career where you pretty much fight who, you know, you fight whoever, whenever. But, you know, again, him and his team have kind of realized his value, kind of as how big of a star he's become. So they could stand to be a little picky. I'm looking at some of the names here. I just hit up the rankings right now.

RDA, what's up with RDA? Nothing official yet? Nothing official yet, right? I like that. I think, I guess Makachev is the one that they think that that could happen there. And I have no problem with that matchup either. So I don't know, maybe G gets left out again. But I've been campaigning for an RDA, GatesG fight for a while.

So that I would like to see. Otherwise, yeah, he kind of has to wait. I'm just looking something. Ally Quinta's always waiting in the wings. I know that's a matchup, a lot of people would like to see. I still feel like he has a name. I still feel like when he comes back, it would be a big deal. So I think that's the option for Gates G as well.

But other than that, it is funny that for a lot of people who are saying he could have, he could have been one of the names competing for a vacant title. Now he finds himself not only waiting, but maybe having to win to stay in that conversation. So, yeah, I'm very surprised at that. But look, he is coming off a loss if we're being realistic. And while no one would have a problem with him fighting for the title, I think there's good matchups out there. Like I said, I think RDA, I think ally Aquinta,

I think either of those would be really fun. Winnable fights for him and stuff that would keep him, that make him the number one contender with a victory. Well, we wish Habe the best. He's obviously still going to be around, like we said, cornering fighters. Maybe he can help mold the aforementioned is a Machachev into a future lightweight champion in his own right.

But May 15th, we will hopefully have a new lightweight title hold and we can go from there. All right. Now, we also got big news in the 135 pound division. We're still waiting for the rematch between Peodor Yan and Al Jemaine Sterling to be booked. From what I've been told, the UFC was hoping to run that one back on May 15th

on the same card with Olivera and Chandler. It still could happen, but it all depends on when Algeman Sterling would be cleared from the concussion. But regardless, the rest of the division will shape up quite a bit. While we await that announcement, we found out last night,

that T.J. Dillishaw returns to action for the first time since his USADA suspension. He will face Corey Sanhagen in the main event on May 8th, and then two weeks later, Rob Font is going to fight Cody Garbrandt in the main event on May 22nd. So we have 10 potential rounds of unbelievable action

at 135 pounds. I love both of these fights, A.K., your reaction to these two headliners at 135 pounds in May. Bandaweights! Oh, Bertaweit's so good. It's so good. And Mike, a lot of our

we did the matchmaking show. A lot of our sort of future, like, excitement for the division was kind of the hopes that Garbrandt would stick around. Because, you know, there was a lot of talk that he was supposed to get the flyway title shot. So, you know, why not, in him and his team, why not to stay in that lane, wait to see how things shake out. And maybe you're still the number one contender and you get that flyway title shot anyway. But they're doing the right thing here, especially for Rob Font, who has been calling for and has deserved a really, really, really big name. And he's getting it in Garband. It's an awesome fight style-wise.

It's great for both guys. I think Garbrandt, like I said, even though Garbrandt might be passing up on a flyway title opportunity, we don't know what that situation is. Even if he is, I think this is great for him because, again, he has to remind people how good he is. I know the UFC's always pushing him. I know he's active on social media. I know he has a pretty hardcore fan base, but this is a what have you done for me lately sport. And if he can beat Rob Font, who has been one of the best, you know, banterweights over the last year, he's, again, then you can't deny him. You know, a lot of people, again, weren't sure why was he getting a flyway tell a shot?

he get the bantamweight rematch with TJ right away. With this win and his last appearance, then people will be like, okay, now we really, really, really want to see this guy get another title shot. He deserves it. He's an exciting fighter, so I love that. And TJ Dillishaw did the right thing too, taking a fight before just jumping into a title shot

and fighting a guy who probably should be getting a tell shot anyway in Corey Sannhagen, but who also would love to fight T.J. Dillishaw. So, Mike, this is weird. We usually do these reactions and we have a lot of fun bashing the UFC and their decision-making. But matchmakers did some, they did some good on Thursday, didn't they? I mean, I honestly cannot criticize these matchups. Do you think this is like maybe a mini tournament?

Is this a, you know, go and press me kid kind of a thing? Or, I mean, I look at it as Sanhagen Dillishaw, the next number one contender, Font Garbrandt on deck, maybe vice versa. Like, where are you looking at? I think Sanhagen Dillishaw, number one contender. But if, you know, if Rob Font does what? he did against Mara Maraeris to Cody Garbrandt and then Sanhagan and Dillishaw have like a five round really close decision. Could Rob Font jump the queue here?

Like how do you see this all working right now with what we see on paper? Yeah. If you're Dana White in the UFC, you're definitely favoring whoever gets a big finish, you know what I mean? Whether it be Dillashaw, whether it be Sanhagen, whether it be Font, whether it be Garbrand, right? Yeah, even given that Dillishaw and Sagan should be ahead of both Garbrandt and Font in the rankings, a huge knock, like Cody Garber meant 35 second knockout or something, a Rob Fon 35 second knockout, that'll leapfog him over. That'll leapfrog him over.

The good news is, I still don't think whoever wins has to fight again. I mean, you know, we know with all the delays that can have these title fights, they won't want to stay on the shelf for too long. But fingers crossed, at my most optimistic, if everyone's healthy again, they're both fighting in May. Whoever, you know, either the winners of both fights, one of them gets the shot, The other one maybe has to wait six months to fight again, but should get a title fight immediately. Whether they want to wait that long, who knows, again,

and whether they'll have to wait longer, if there's injuries, delays, withdrawals, surprise, ultimate fighter coaching positions offered, then they'll probably fight again. But otherwise, I feel like this is number one contender about 1A and number one contender about 1B. So hopefully the winners of both fights just get their shot and don't have to wait too long.

Can you think of the first of, the more exciting three or more, three or so month stretch covering the sport, AK? Like, we have at least seven title fights coming up between now and June 12th. We're going to move forward a bit at 155. We got some questions to be answered at 135 that hopefully will be answered. PFL's coming back. Belator is coming back. This is unbelievable, AK.

Like, this is a stretch that we need to cherish, right? But we need to kind of like bubble wrap it while we're at it, right? Yeah, I think one day, I think if we do our recap of like the biggest story, like I was just the other day, I was thinking of like, man, when we do the recap biggest stories of 2021, it's already going to be low. Like you could just take these first four months and do a whole article on that. Like it's just already loaded. But, Mike, you didn't even mention fight circus coming back in April. Cap kick mania, illegal knee mania that we've seen, the illegal knee controversies that we've had. Hans Molencamp becoming a guy now. Frank Mier, Triller, pro boxing, you know, it's Ben Asken pro boxing.

Like, you are right. I think, you know, I'd have my memory, I've been the memory of a goldfish. So I couldn't like pick some random four-month block of the last like 20 years and be like, oh, no, this four-month block had way more news. I'm sure there was something with McGregor. I'm sure if we find some McGregor news cycle thing, we could find it. But outside of that, I mean, no, this is, this is easily like the most packed thing. Again, just judging by last night.

You know, we kind of started by mentioning all the stuff that happened last night. all of that was kind of the culmination of storylines that have been bubbling for months for like these last few months first few months of 2021 as you mentioned and then just suddenly boom all kind of being resolved at once resolved slash taken to the next step of their

storyline of their narrative so yeah it's wild I have no I can't imagine that the rest of the 2021 will be as eventful but I feel like we said stuff about that in 2020 as well and we all remember what a what an S show that was not just in the UFC, but in general.

I didn't even think about April 17th and all that craziness, the middleweight division. I mean, there's just so much happening right now. Like, if you are a fan of the sport, get excited. Now, will all these things happen? I don't know. Hopefully they do. Knock on some wood. But if everything goes down according to plan right now, this is absolutely insane scheduling.

I can't wait for it. But clearly when they say don't blink an MMA, it doesn't just mean in the cage. It means out of it as well on the MMA B. quote unquote, so much going on. But a crazy night of news recapped for your viewing and listening pleasure as we get ready for UFC Vegas 22 tomorrow night. We'll have a preview show. We'll have a pre-fight show 30 minutes before the event.

And our post-fight show after Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland do their thing at 185 pounds. With that said, for Alex Keeley, I am Mike Heck. Thank you for watching. And we'll see you later on, my friends.