MMA Fighting - The 2025 MMA Draft! | Which 28 Fighters Do You Build A Promotion Around?

Episode Date: April 24, 2025

With the 2025 NFL Draft set to take place this week, it's once again time for the MMA Fighting team to don the hats of the premier combat sports promotions in the world and select the 28 fighters they would most want to have on roster to build a promotion around. Listen as Jed Meshew guides the action and the staff drafts seven fighters to their respective organizations: the UFC, PFL, BKFC, and newcomer GFL. Other promoters include Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Alexander K. Lee. Who will be the first overall pick? And which drafter is best set up for the next five years? Tune in to find out. Follow Jed Meshew @JedKMeshew Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Follow Alexander K. Lee @AlexanderKLee Follow Damon Martin @DamonMartin 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

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. That's right, everybody. This is Jedmishuvenmyfight.com, and it is time for our yearly promotional draft. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, listen up because it will all become clear in a matter of moments. But the past few years, this week, in fact, every year, we do a MMA promotional. draft to coincide with the NFL draft, which goes down this Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin. And so we will gather the brain trust of MMA fighting once again to functionally tell you who the biggest stars and best fighters in the world are today.

Very, very simply, what is about to happen is we have collected myself, Damon Martin, Alexander K. Lee, and Mike Heck to draft as representatives of the biggest MMA promotions in the world. and GFL. So before we hop into things, I explain the rules to all the listeners, et cetera. Damon, Mike, AK, how are we doing? How excited are we for this year's MMA promotional draft? The fact that we have the fact that we have GFL this year is pretty awesome because it's

probably the only year we're going to have the GFL. So let's go, baby. Yeah. GFL is going to get more shine in the next hour than they're going to have. the next six months. So it's going to be great. I'm as excited for this draft as I was for the 2024 NBA draft, which for any NBA fans out there knows, that's an amazing comparison. So who will be the Zachary Vissachet of our draft this year? Who will be the Zachary Eadie of the 2025 M.A Fighting Promotional Draft? We will find out. Thrilling stuff.

it's a bit tough that this project, which started in 2022, feels like it's gotten worse every year, which really speaks to the level of star power in the sport. Because originally it conceived of this as a, hey, like, who are the biggest stars in the sport? If you're starting an MMA promotion and got to draft from the pool of talent, who would be the people you wanted on your roster? And, you know, the first year we did this, 2022, it was Francis Inganu, Israel, Adisina, Hamzaa Chimayev, Kamar Usman, Charles Olivaire, they all went in the top round of action.

And this year, those are still arguably some of the biggest stars in the sport, and only one of them could be considered rising. And that is Hamzaa Shmaev. The rest of them are on their, near, nearing the end of their careers and kind of speaks to the broader, what is star power in the sport these days? Because I don't know in 2025, but we are going to dive in. and figure out. A very quick rundown of the rules, everybody, very simply.

A.K. Damon, Mike, and myself were taking the reins of one of the top four MMA promotions in the world. This year, those promotions are the UFC, obviously, PFL, BKFC, another returning organization, and we mixed things up. We got rid of one championship in KSW because one championship barely does MMA anymore. KSW, God love them. Super looking forward to their event this weekend, frankly. There's still a regional promotion.

And let's just, let's be honest here. Might be the only year. Probably is the only year. We're going to get to use GFL. They are the new kids on the block. They've certainly made a big splash in the sport in their brief time of tepidly existing. And so we thought we'd bring them in.

Plus, it opens up a world of opportunities to have fun with GFL for whoever ends up getting them. What we will do. I'm about to spin a big wheel, randomly select teams. Then we draft seven rounds. hearing the NFL draft. Any fighter in the world is available to be drafted. Also, you can even take some creative liberties.

You know, you want to draft Joe Rogan, I guess have fun with it. Drafting that individual will lock it them into a five-year contract with your organization or probably a one-event contract if your GFL, God love them. Getting a fighter under contract does not mean they have to fight for you. You just get the rights to them. So you're still going to have to negotiate with John Jones to pay him, Tom Aspinall Money, if that is a thing you are trying to do. And as I said, seven rounds.

At the end of it, there will be a written component of this going up on mbfighting.com. Great website. You all vote on who is the winner. Last year's winner, Mr. Michael Heck, had BKFC,

a terrific showing from Mike Heck last year. Took Alex Pereira with his first round pick, never looked back. I want to say dominant performance, but not quite. Very, very good, clear winner. but a lot of support as well for AK and myself, Damon, had the hardest job of all last year. Drafting for the UFC is very, very tough, even though at the end of this exercise, everybody

reverts to their original promotion. So any questions from y'all before we spin this wheel and get into it? I was just reminded of, you were talking about the only year we got to do, versus we did to do GFL. Remember the first year we did this? It was like we had Eagle Fighting Championship, right? Sure did. Eagle FC was, uh, was the other man in the room.

Boy, that's not a good omen for GFL, like if it's taking the eagle spot. Basically every year we've swapped somebody out. Yeah, but I mean, hopefully the promotion hangs there. I think we had fight circus, so that was okay. I think we had fight circus in there one time, and they're all right, they're still around. No, no, we talked at length about having fights circus.

Oh, we did, okay. And I don't believe we ever pulled the trigger on that because it seemed a bit too fun. Yeah. I look forward to this draft. years from now when Darren Owen returns with UFL or AFL or whatever I say there's already a UFL, he can't be a

UFL. AFL, ZFL, some other names. I look for the XFL. NFL, the Multiversal Fight League maybe? Just old OFL, old fight league. Wait, Metaverse. Get a combo up with O-F, be doing

great things promotionally there. All right, then let us spin this wheel. There is not going to be noise coming through. the wheel I spin, but you all will get to see as we determine who drafts first overall, aka who is representing the GFL this year. The wheel is spinning. Do do, do, do, do, do, do. Oh, God.

No. Damon is the winner. So excited. Damon talked a lot about this when we were conceiving of this. He has a plan. I love his plan. I was probably going to steal it. Damon, I think you're in pole position.

for success here. Everybody wanted to be GFL this year, I think. I can't, I just need to warn listeners right now. David is about to send this draft all the way off the rails right away, like right out the gate. Forget your big board. I don't know what big boards you guys have at home in preparation for listening to this podcast. Throw it out the window. It is not going to go, it is not going to go that way. We are getting kooky right out of the bat. For PFL, probably, I mean, the UFC is the worst organization to have. PFL feels like it's a tough one to have as well. And unfortunately, that goes to Alexander K. Lee.

I want it. I am the consummate professional, Jed. And who better to run the most professional fighter league in the world than I? Well, you can't do worse than Don Davis, at least being the public face. And Mike, that means it's between you and me for BKFC and UFC. One of these you clearly would like to have, certainly you being a back-to-back BKFC representative, the other one. Nobody has ever won with the UFC in this thing. It is extremely tough. Let's see where we go as we spin the wheel. Honestly, I have a plan if I'm the UFC and it will be

quite silly. I am BKFC. Mike, you do not get to run it back. I believe you've been the UFC once before. They've rehired you to take control of the reins. And so we have Damon Martin picking first, A.K. Lee, picking second for PFL. Jedd Michoud myself, taking. over the reins for BKFC and bringing up the final pick of each round will be Michael, heck, for the UFC. So fellas, the wheel is

done. Everything is ready to go. I hope you've got your big boards ready. This is where, if I was a better host, I would give you the NFL draft sound, but instead, Damon Martin, you are on the clock for GFL and the first overall draft pick. I don't need any time to make this selection.

I was hoping I would get GFL. I got GFL and my first pick to no one's surprise should be none other than the future president of Ireland, Connor McGregor, because not only is he the biggest star in the sport and he's over 35, which is our demographic, we're hoping that he can give us a loan of money so we can actually operate. So, Connor, welcome, but your contract is you have to loan us money to fight here. So thank you, Connor. We appreciate you contributing to the future two events that will. ever be held by the GFL. Welcome to the GFL. Over 35 year old, rich, Conover, Greger. Thanks for that check,

buddy. Wow. Jed, how do you feel about what just happened there? You just took your money, man, like right out of the equation. You know, we were trying to set up an eventual long game fight with Mike Perry, but we're all so realistic. We know. We knew that he wasn't, he wasn't going to actually ever fight for us because he's never going to fight. And so if they want to take him, Connor's got plenty of money to keep, you know, keep giving us some cash on the side, a little under the table business. A, okay, we're happy for Connor.

We support our partners, and Connor McGregor is our partner. So BKFC applauds you because, honestly, great fit, just a terrific promotional fit. Connor's never going to fight again. You're never going to actually hold an event.

I think it just, it's locked in A plus stuff there. David Martin has kicked things off, A-K, where is PFL going with their first overall draft pick? I have no idea. Can you put me on a clock or something? 60 seconds?

I'll do it myself. I have no idea. I'm going to use some of this time to talk about Damon's pick. I'm on the clock right now, 60 seconds. That's so good. That is just so good. Just financially. He's exactly the kind of person that I think you have a 20-minute meeting with

McGregor and he'd be like he's all in. He'd be all in like, oh, yeah, yeah, what do you need? What do you need? What do you need? Like, yeah. Oh, God, that's ridiculous. And he has more money than he knows what to do with. This is so weird.

It clearly has more money than the GFL actually does. He does, exactly. Now we know, you know, Phil I was asking, where's GFL getting this money from? Now you know. Connor's name. He's like, well, he just got bankrolled. Oh, my goodness me. All right, I got about 30 seconds here.

This is kind of weird. I didn't expect to get PFL because oddly, some of my high picks are PFL people, if you can believe that. So I have to go. go outside of the box here, or now inside the box, I was going to go outside. Let me get, let me get a man, obviously, it's obviously what I'm trying to set up here. I'll go Tommy Aspinall. I'm going Tommy Aspinall, my number one pick. Again, we all know, this is, I'm hoping to get him and Francis in there. We'll see. I'm a, one of you guys might poach Francis, and I'm okay with

that too. I, you know, I don't know how many fights Francis has left. If we're looking ahead, like five years, I think I can get more out of Tom Aspinall. The man has been done wrong by John Jones in the UFC. I'm going to get him some fights at least. He is the real, and listen, and we can keep that in Gondu gimmick and say we have the real number one heavy way in the world. So let's go that way for now. I think that's honestly a pretty good pick as far as what PFL are doing. You potentially get a ready-made fight for them. Tom Aspinall was number three on my big board, frankly, just as a young guy who is exciting. And there's certainly a dearth of those. running around right now. So, AK, I don't hate that pick at all. I am going to follow that up with

BKFC on the clock now, and I'll just be the most boring person that I can be. Obviously, BKFC has this particular set of skills that we're looking for in this sport, and I just don't think he can go wrong. I know he's a little old. I know he's no longer a UFC champion. Don't think it matters one bit for our promotion or the fan interest. I mean, this man carried Mike Hector victory last year as the first overall draft pick. I'm going to take Alex Pereira because he just, he fits like a glove with us over here in BKFC. So Poetan, come on down. You will be fighting Mike Perry sooner rather than later than the BKFC ring.

I love how in our universe Alex Panetta has been with the BKFC for the past two years. We live in a better world where he's a BKFC fighter. Now, you might think you might think Pereira being over 35 that that's going to hurt the GFL, but you got to understand. Pereira's still got a couple of years left. We don't want that. We don't want that around here. He's way too relevant for us. So no, we don't want.

He's over 35 and good, which is, it's not really your wheelhouse. Dave and Mike, UFC is always the toughest promotion because you're basically playing defense all day here. though you do get the benefit of getting all the undrafted fighters. And let's be honest, this year you might get most of your champions back. Because I don't know if there's a line out the door to draft Marabh Valshvili or draft Malamah Mohamed or Magma Anklayev right now. So, Mike, where are you going with the who are you protecting? Or are you going to poach somebody as Dakota Ditchieva coming on down to the promotion?

Do I get two picks or one here? You get one pick. We're not snake drafting anything. UFC has all the other advantages in life. This one you get hurt in. I mean, I got to pick Gilliott, Teporia. I mean, we have, let me be honest. Let me put my Dana White hat on for a second.

I am the star of this promotion. We are in such a mediocre phase of this company right now where we can't even put together a main event for International Fight Week right now. We're trying, but we have no star power to make this event any more special than what 314 was 311 was 312 was or even 315 we don't have anything right now so the closest thing we have to a star or a guy that can become a star is ilia tipporia like he's the guy right now now we're taking a big risk he's moving up to lightweight and if he loses whatever title fight he's going to have at lightweight you know it stings it's going to be a rough little stretch for him but he's young he's hungry

he might be the best fighter in the world right now. But we're going to find out soon enough. So Iliate Tepori is going to stay with us. That is my defensive move. I got to keep him for multiple reasons. I think that that's just obviously the correct choice. Number one on my big board. Just not a scheme fit as far as BKFC goes.

He's a little too young in his career for us, frankly, but it makes total sense for you. And Damon, we wheel back around round two. GFL. What old geezer you drafted? out this time. 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. At 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. Well, before then, I'd like to make a special announcement since we're on this draft and you know how great GFL is at drafts. I do want to throw this out that we have just signed it. I just said, like, spit up. I just want to throw out, we have signed a broadcast deal for our first show. We are on Spike TV.

We have signed with Spike TV. Hold on. Hold on. What's that? What's that? Hold on. Hold on. Oh, Spike TV isn't a network anymore. The debt doesn't matter us. With my second selection, listen, we're going to get one fight card.

Might as well go bigger, go home. So we got to go with another guy over 35 who is actually a champion. And, you know, maybe he'll fight. I don't know, we'll see. Got to go with John Jones, greatest of all time. He's on our roster. He's over 35 and he probably has one fight left. Perfect for the GFL.

I mean, look, in GFL, he might have plenty of fights left, too. Tom Aspinall is not in GFL. So John Jones is probably much more willing to take a big paycheck. and fight since A.K. took Tommy away from him. I had a bad choice. I just love this because I had

a separate board of just two names. The board is the under no circumstances board. There's only two names on it. And it was Carter McGregor and John Jones. I can't wait for the first GFL main event, John Jones versus Alir Latifie.

It's going to be the best. That'd be amazing. Honestly, if they could get that to happen, that would actually be incredible. I'm in. Couldn't be more than that one. Why not John versus Connor? Who cares?

Let's have some fun with the GFL. Biggest fight you can make in the sport right now. John versus Connor, AKPFL is back on the clock. Which way are we going following up your Tommy Aspenol pick? I'm putting myself on the clock. Openly, I have to defend, like I feel like I have to defend Francis now because I don't know if the GFL, he fits their criteria perfectly.

He does. They just got John Jones. Conner Regregor is going to pay both men, what, 50 million each, to make the fight happen, apparently. I think, like, or whatever, a dual Bitcoin, whatever it is the gambling website. He's going to make that fight happen. So, but is that where Damon's going to go? How long do I have to wait to take Francis? Oh, boy.

And I have people I want to defend, too. Well, one person. 30 seconds. This got really hard, really fast. Can I just say that? Like, I'll go. PFL's a tough chair. It's a tough chair.

No, no. We have so many already built in advantages. I will go with, I need this guy. It's probably way too early. No, I can't do it. I'll take Islam. Islam. Islam.

I'm taking Islam. I'm taking Islam. See, he's like a perfect fit for PFL. Yeah. It's absolutely the right choice for what you guys are doing very low on my draft board overall, despite being the best pound fighter in the world. I think that that makes total sense, especially like that's just right up PFL's wheelhouse at this point in time,

which then puts me back on the clock for BKFC's second round pick. And I have a couple of options here, and I don't know what to do. I could play defensive, certainly, but I think I'm just for now, I'm probably about to go off the grid for my next five selections, but for now I will adhere to my big board, not just because one of the best fighters in the world,

not just because I actually think he would fit quite nicely with us, but because he's been my boy for longer than anybody out there. Just one of my guys, and we can match him up with Alex Pereira over in BKFC. It'll be deeply fun. I'm speaking, of course, about still Knox, Drickus DuPlessy, the middleweight champion of the world, number two on my draft board overall,

and my guy, he's coming home, BKFC, off. to an astounding start. Mike, you look unhappy about this selection. Yeah, I mean, you're basically ripping off my entire draft from last year, which is, it's a great strategy, by the way. Alex Pere and. If it ain't broke, we don't fix it, you know? Yeah.

So I feel like I'm just going to have to like, because that was going to be my play to play defense against you. Because I figured there was only one person that would take DDP and that was you. And unfortunately, that didn't come my way. So I'm going to play a little offense here, gentlemen. And I'm sorry to my best friend, Alexander K. Lee, because I know we wanted to play defense at one point. But I know that if I don't take this particular fighter here, I will be defense out of this pick. So Dakota Ditchiva, let's put a smile on that face.

Come on over to the UFC. And let's have some big fights with either Valentina Shufchenko or Manon Fioro or, hell, you can just put the boots to Rosnami Unis for a little while. Whatever you want. Come on over and join the fun. Had to be done. Had to be done. I think that's an A plus pick, Mike, because one, the highest rated woman on my draft board. Two, really good chance to, like, a lot of her potential UFC opponents won't even be stolen from you.

Because, like, you're trying to draft a Valentina Shvchenko when she's this deep into her career, could retire at any moment. Like, are you trying to do that? I don't know. So I think that's an A plus part. That's how you play offense with the UFC. a good rebound after I stole DDP right from under you. And Damon, back to the top of the batting order. GFL on the clock for round three.

You guys are, I don't know who all these young people are you are drafting. This is a weird draft. I don't understand that logic here. I have to go, listen, if I'm going to make one fight card, which is probably all we can afford, and depending on how deep, you know, Conner's pockets are and the amount of loans he can get, sorry AK, I got to do it.

I'm taking Francis Ingano. He's 38, 39, probably got two or three fights left. Maybe he fights Tyson Fury never fights for us because there's a high likelihood that happened. So got to go to Francis. Maybe I make John Jones Francis. He didn't get Tommy Aspenall,

but he can still get Francis Ngano. And that is a very favorable, much more favorable fight for John Jones. So let's go with Francis. Big Frank is coming home to the GFL. AK, are you reeling right now, Who, back to back, PFL superstars have been taken. I hate Damon and the GFL so much because you can't even get him back.

Like what's the, what's what they're, how can we retaliate? He's, he's a corner, he's a wounded animal, like they're cornered and just lashing out wildly. You can't do anything. I mean, you can take, uh, Timor Aliev. I could. I'm trying to think of like, who. Holly home. Kevin Lee.

You take Holly home. You take Holly home. Kevin Lee's only 32. You're on a favor? I'd be doing him a favor. I've been doing him a favor. He doesn't even want. Oh, what's his name?

Frigan, the guy who never fights. Dylan Dallas. Thank you. It's right there. Oh, my goodness. So many options. What are you talking about? Oh, gosh.

You can take the guy who did their AI draft imaging. I'm so done taking UFC champions right now. I'm just going to do it. I need to get this guy eventually. I can probably get him later. But you know what? This is a confidence thing. This is to show him that we believe.

even him. I lost one illiteratively named English star. I need this person. I need some Patty the Batty Pimblit. You're son of a bitch. I need some Patty Pimlet. I need it. I need it. I need it. PADD. PADD. PADD. PADD. PADD. PADD.

Patty was number five on my big board. I just didn't take him because he doesn't really fit in BKFC at all. But like, I think Patty is a sneaky great choice here. PFL. It's an incredible choice because that was because that was my, do I, that was my whole strategy. First of all, I asked if I could snake draft because I would have drafted Ily and Patty back to back. Like that would have been my two picks.

And then the choice for round two and three was either Patty or Dakota. Because I had a feeling that if I picked one, you would have taken the other, but I had to try to find a percentage that made sense. And just really well done, A.K. I don't even have anything bad to say about you. He was a must have. If I left this draft without Patty and Lost Dakota,

I think I'd be screwed. I think I'd legitimately be screwed. So I had to get one. I will see I could get him later because, again, Damon, way too young for Damon. Doesn't fit BKFC. Clearly, it's an old. But I know my best friend is smart.

And at some point in the top four rounds, he was going to protect Patty. So I'm like, I got to just do it. Yeah, good pick. That's a great pick. This puts me in a very interesting position because there are two names that I'm looking at right now.

I guess three, I don't want a third, but I think this third guy I can leave. out there. And I want to do, I'm going to, I'm going to draft with my heart. I'm going to draft with what I said was going to be my game plan coming in

if I got into this particular seat. You're going to draft a guy who, this is going to hurt the UFC, frankly. It's going to hurt them pretty badly because they have an event coming up on Saturday and suddenly one half of their main event is no longer on the roster. Because if there's a fighter in the promotion

that makes sense in BKFC, it's Carlos protest. That dude is a violent, violent man. And let's just take the gloves off him. Doesn't need him. He can get out there, ripping the Marlboro Reds, and then step on some.

There's not a fighter maybe in the world who fits our ethos more than Carlos protest. So the first of the fighting nerds comes to BKFC. Mike, I'm so sorry that your Kansas City card is now in disarray. Well, I'm so happy that, that I am left with this choice, because I was going to wait, I was going to wait on this choice, but I feel like now is the time to do it because, one, it ruins another main event this weekend.

Two, it takes a big name off the table for you, Jed. And three, it might cripple Damon Martin's entire draft. I am now, because look, if there's one thing the UFC is missing, it is fun, especially in the heavyweight division. That needs all the fun in the world right now, because John Jones is not fighting Tom Aspinall. In fact, that can't happen now. so let's just get weird and wild and let's just bring in Marius Puginowski

48 years old, it's a little weird but you know what? Let's just chuck them in there with like Chris Barnett or something and just have some weird wacky fun because Jesus Christ, the UFC is so boring right now and Marius Pugianowski just put the

fun factor back into this thing and I got to ruin some organizations in the process with this draft pick. You might think you're ruining me but I thought for a second you're going to steal my sleeper pick, which is Alexi Olinick. So I'm glad you didn't go there. So thank you, Mike.

Mike, I'm just going to let you know right now. If you don't also draft Eddie Hall, I will personally drive to South Carolina and fist fight you because that is my most anticipated fight of the year. And you're trying to take it away from me if you don't draft Eddie Hall. So throwing it out there, make sure you are aware of the consequences of your actions. But, Damon, GFL is back on the clock for round four. Listen, the GFL is all about opportunity for retired or nearly retired fighters, and we need star power.

We need people to show up for our first and probably only card. So with this pick, how can I not go with somebody else who will probably never fight for us? But you never know. There's always that possibility that Connor puts just enough money together to have us a card. So I am with my fourth pick overall picking one of the other biggest stars in this sport. Welcome to the GFL Rhonda Rousey. Thank you, Rhonda, for joining us. We appreciate that.

We're going to put you in there with, I don't know who's out there. Maybe we can get Betch Gahey off the pile, something like that. You have Holly home. You have her own roster. Yeah. So Rhonda, you may not fight again, but that's kind of our, that's kind of our M.O. So welcome to the GFL Rhonda Rousey. I hate you, Damon.

Not because I was going to pick her. I just like, this isn't a. She was also on your never, never touched board. I hadn't even thought of her. Are there rules here? Is this legal? Not really. We're having a good time, okay?

This is an abomination. We were drafting John Anakin past drafts. I think you're on to Rousey. That's a great pick. Okay, that puts you back on the clock at PFL. This won't take long. I just laughing at the thought of them doing those canned recorded like, oh my God, I got drafted videos with like Connor, John Jones.

we get to see Travis Brown losing it in the background Oh my gosh You got picked I can't believe it You can't just see Rhonda Rousey in the green room Just like being hugged by her family Because she's she's going to JFL Oh man

I'm going away from again I want UFC fighters I'm going away from star From the champions excuse me I think this guy is a star And I think I might be blocking Jed at some point I think Because I'm a little surprised

You went Carlos Pratchez over this man, Jean Silva. Oh my God, you fucking... I'm taking Jean Silva. I thought I was going to get him later. No, I thought you'd get him first. I was about to get him in this round. Hey, hey, stop reading my mind.

Jean Silva was my next draft pick. Mike, I wouldn't have got him anyway. So you caught both of us all. Yeah, that's what I thought. Mike, we spent too much time together. I don't know if you know about it. Yeah, that's true. I think, I mean, a terrific, terrific pick.

I thought that I would just, you guys would overlook John Silva and call him. his protest does feel more BKFC spiritually than John Silva, but the fighting nerds obviously would have would have been a great home for me. So great pick. Uh, you did steal him from me. I didn't really have a great backup plan. So now I'm a little bit caught unawares. I mean, I always have the backup plan. And I guess I'm just going to go do it. And this will make Mike mad because really, really just going over the things he's done previously with BK. But it was so successful and I can't dispute it another one of my boys, a guy I've loved forever and a guy who I have said overtly, I desperately need to see him fight trickus duplecy at some point in my life.

Diri Perashka, you're sticking with BKFC. You were drafted there in the fourth round or third round last year. This year we're picking you up in the fourth yeary Perhashka. You are a BKFC fighter. Mike's shaking his head and disgust. That hurts. That was going to mean by defensive play. Blame A.K.

I was going to take Jean Silva and try and get Yerey in five. Blame Damon for doing whatever he's doing to this draft. At this point, I have to just make this move because, again, the UFC is so boring right now. We need memorable things. We need memorable moments. We need events to build up to and celebrate in positive ways. So, and because it's a one-year draft, and I don't need to worry about this having this fighter on roster next year, I have to, and this is fully out of respect for what this

Amanda has accomplished over the years, the Dustin Porre final fight is going to happen in the UFC. It is not going to happen anywhere else. It's not going to happen in the GFL. It's not going to happen in PFL. It's not going to happen to BKFC, although that would be super damn fun. Dustin Porre's last fight is going to be in the UFC. So he's going to stick around, and we're going to make a lot.

sure that happens and we're going to do it in new orleans and we'll give you whatever you want dustin so welcome back solid defensive effort boy yeah actually wasn't on my board just because i didn't i don't want his final fight to be in bkfc that feels that feels wrong frankly so great pick and damon i i gotta be honest i have no idea what you're doing because you have been completely off the rails from jump street here with gFL but round five kicks off with you sir So originally we were going to, we had a pick in the can, but unfortunately he denied us because he said he's just not coming back. So George St. Pierre, you're missing out, buddy. You should be in the GFL, but you're not.

So we're going to go with another classic fighter. We're going to ruin a potential retirement fight for Mike Hex's last choice. And I'm going to go with 36-year-old. It's a little young for us, but we're going to go anyways with 36-year-old Justin Gage. So Justin, welcome to the GFL. You can maybe fight Connor or you can, you know, maybe fight Tony Ferguson again. You could fight, you know, lots of possibilities.

Dylan Dennis. Maybe we do Dylan Danes versus Justin Gagee. Let's have some fun. So Justin Gagee, come on down. I would have a lot of fun with that. You're a little young for us. You're a little young for us. But 36, we'll welcome you to the organization.

Easily the best fighter that he's drafted as far as like, I guess John Jones theoretically still is relevant, but kind of not since he hasn't fought a real opponent in like four years. a bit of a departure, A.K., he didn't go totally off the board with Throndraousy, so, you know, maybe you cannot steal me and Mike's draft picks this time because you'll be more locked in on where you're going with PFL for round five. I'll just want to say it would be deeply hilarious if I brought Kayla back to PFL, but I'm not doing that yet.

I'm not doing that yet. We'll see how this shapes up in a couple of rounds. I don't mean Kayla would find that funny at all. She would, no, no, no, she would not be amused. She would not be amused. This is round five, right? we're around five. This is round five.

Boy, so three picks left for, three picks, two picks left for Damon, three picks left for the rest of us? Correct. Wow. Geez. Okay. Wow. Actually, this filled out a lot of quick and inside. All right.

I have some joke picks now, and I almost feel like I don't have space to use them. But I'll go, this is not a joke. This is a guy who I've always been a huge fan of. Might be the best fighter in the world if we can get them in there more than once a year. But, you know, we're the PFL. We don't book our stars for more than once a year anyway. So, Hamzaa Shamaa Shamaa. Hamzaa Shamaa.

Come on down. Big fan. Wow. How the mighty have fallen for Hamsat Shemayev. He was a first round draft pick in 2022, I think a second rounder in 2023, and then let me see where he was in 2024. Also, he was a third rounder. So just steadily falling down the list, Shemayev is, as he can't seem to get his opportunities

or make it to the cage all that often. Has AK drafted him every single time? He definitely drafted him last year. Did he draft him in 2020? I might have. It's a good question. I might. I almost definitely did.

You did not draft him in 2023. Sheen al-Shadi took him in the second round, first pick of the second round. And I drafted him in 2022 for PFL. So, but I believe this is back-to-back years that you have tied your wagon to Hamzaa Shemayev. We'll see how it goes for you. Didn't land last year. Maybe it'll land this year. That puts me and BKFC back on the clock.

Couple of opportunities here. I think round five is the time that we have to play some defense. I don't know that anyone would try and take Mike Perry here, but maybe I'm just supposed to take Mike Perry and cut that off from being a possibility. Screw it, you know. Mike Perry is going to be our selection. He's been the face of our promotion. We should make sure we keep our talent here.

I know he's doing his own thing. He's probably pretty close to that GFL age. So I don't know if he's there enough for Damon. He's 33. He's way too young for us. Way too young. But he is, he is,

you know, the face of our organization at this point. I think we need to keep him around. Mike Perry, you're sticking with BKFC for another year. And that leads me to, I know exactly where I'm going, going with my final two slots.

So that's perfect. Mike, the UFC, is back on the board for round five. Eddie Hall. We're making it might happen. Openweight, super heavyweight clash. Sorry, KSW. You're great people. I've gotten the chance to know you guys a little bit more this week.

But we need that fight way more than you guys do right now. You'll come up with something else. I have more faith than you guys doing something fun than us doing something fun. and so had to take that from you. You're good man, Mike. You're good man. Good man. Yeah.

Good man. And more importantly, Mike, you can give this the promotion it deserves because this is almost flying under the radar for KSW. Whereas the UFC, they could do the full 24-7 package. You give a three-month build, fly these men all around the world, promos every city. You can give it exactly the kind of hoopla it needs. So A-plus, A-plus. I'm obviously a huge fan of that, Mike.

There was absolutely world. We need to watch that fight live and on a watch party together. It's going to be dealt in your 4.0. It's going to be unbelievable. Legitimately my plan was to draft Puginowski and Eddie Hall 6 and 7 whatever my promotion was this year

just to put that fight together. So you upended me but I'm a okay with it. And Damon, your penultimate pick, round six has started with you and the GFL. Where are you going? I have no idea how this selection slipped all the way down to me,

and I'm so honored that I still get to make this pick. And I'll be completely honest. I'm actually shocked. GFL didn't sign this person when they were signing everybody to contracts that were never going to get paid out. So in my sixth selection, I'm going to make one of the biggest fights

that you could ever make in this sport in my selection. And technically, they never retired, so this is a legitimate pick, even better than some of my other picks. I'm going with none other than former Strike Force superstar, Gina Carrano. to the GFL, Gina Carano, you will be fighting Ronda Rousey, and you're returned to fighting a decade or like 12 years after you last fought. So Gina Carano, come on down.

You were fighting into GFL. I am also shocked that Gina Carano felt in the sixth. I want out. Tell me, tell me there's not some part of you that feels like this would have been like the ideal signing for GFL when they were just signing everybody. I mean, we're in a plot. If they sign Ronda, 100%, this is. terrific siding. You're doing

God's work with GFL over there. I want out. A.K. looks I want out. I'm tugging on my rope. I'm tugging on my rope. Pull me out. Okay.

A.K.'s reactions to my draft picks are second only to Walton Goggins' reactions in the White Lotus during that monologue scene with Sam Rockwell. He was nowhere as disturbed as I am. I'll tell you that right now. He is not having a good time. I'm going to say right now, if you, if you vote for Damon in our poll of who won this draft. You put your name in the comments below. No anonymous voting here. All right, you, you tell me, you tell me why you're doing it. Defend your choice. Defend your choice. All right. I want you to comment

in the post below because we'll have a poll. That's fine. Poll's great. I'd love to see what people think, but I want to know why. If you, I have no idea. I don't even care anymore. I don't even care anymore. I have just you've broken him entirely. I have two slots and I have three picks I need. I feel like I need. No, you know what? You have three picks that you need, okay. Out of two, but you know what? No, you know what? I know who the two are. I know the two are.

Okay. Tom Aspinon needs an opponent now. You know, I knew we were going to lose Francis. It's fine. Didn't want to play defense on there. But we can get another big star. A man who's, I'm not taking from anyone's promotion. Well, I mean, knowing that we're drafting with. I'm going to give the people Tom Aspinall and Roug-Rug.

Umar Kaine is now. part of the PFL and that is that is the heavyweight we are serving up he look he defeated anatoly maliccad absolutely did last year just the one champions i guess sort of not really sure if they still have champions over one but uh that will be very silly for all 60 seconds that that fight lasts i Ruger was on my uh long board if i was really going to get get to have some wonky fun so i don't hate it AK be kFC back on the clock i like you They're actually, I think, I knew what I was going to do, but then I realized there are actually a couple of other people I would like to have on my team for various reasons. Tough, tough to call.

I think we're going to circle this guy for our last round pick. And then it's just, do I want to do a bit for this penultimate pick? Or do I want to draft somebody who actually does fit the ethos of what we're going for here? I don't know the right answer, guys. So as the clock is winding down, you know what? Screw it. Because this guy deserves to get drafted because he's one of the best fighters in the world. And look, he's got a reputation.

Not the most exciting guy. But you know what BKFC is? It's a promotion that makes things exciting. It's impossible to be boring. in BKFC and so we've already got a lot of dudes around this weight classish anyway screw it

I'm going to pivot because I'll immediately lose the vote if I draft him actually there's no way to sell this screw it. We're going by plan B Joseo come on down all right I just realized what I was going to do was absolutely going to tank my voting and I'm not going to do that I would like to win with BKFC

Jose Aldo uh the reason I'm drafting Joseoaldo is aside from I just kind of think it'd fun to see him at BKFC. We can't fuck up his promotion worse than the UFC has. We won't be booking him against Amin Zahabi and Jonathan Martinez, all these dog shit bookings for one of the very greatest fighters ever lived. So Jose Aldo, we are going to give you a bag.

I don't even know who is our featherweight champion right now, our Bantamway champion. We're just going to have you do some fun things for your final fights instead of book you against guys who are going to hug you along the fence and pray that the judges give them a scorecard. I'm comfortable with this selection. Mike, UFC is on the clock for their penultimate pick. I truly don't. I can't even play defense anymore. Like, I'm willing, like, as a business who's not even sad.

Entertainment factor, I'm okay. I'm okay with you guys taking literally everybody else on the roster. Like, it's, it's fine. It doesn't hurt me in any way. So do I get like real hipster here? Because there is some and I hate to do this to my best friend But I don't think AK would play defense with this fighter But this is a sell I'm gonna be selfish this is a selfish pick

I think lightweights the best division in the sport And there are certain fighters in the professional fighters league who are lightweights that I would like to see tested in in the UFC Okay, and I know what you're thinking. Oh, you're just gonna pick Uson or Maga made off I mean, I could do that, but I don't think he's getting the same kind of buzz from the hardcore fan base that this guy is getting and has been getting for the last year and a half. So, Gazi Rabadanov is coming over to the UFC to test himself because I think right now he is the seventh or eighth best lightweight in the UFC immediately upon arrival. And he just is not getting tested by the Mark Jacassies of the world. Let's bring him over Let's have some fun

I think there's something to this guy He's gonna win $500,000 in this tournament He's gonna kill every single dude he fights And then probably not fight Oosman anyway So let's just separate those two dudes And let's bring him over Wicked hipster pick And I'm okay with it

Wasn't he signed with the UFC And got released when he didn't make weight or something Wasn't he actually on the UFC roster In probably 10 minutes at one point? Pretty sure he was I think he was I have no concept of this Yeah, I think he got signed and, like, missed weight, like on short notice.

They just dropped him, if I'm not mistaken. I think that's him. Very familiar. Yeah. Yeah, we could be mixing up the name. I'm not sure. I'll say, the only person I can think of is the dude who got arrested and convicted of drugs and gun charges in Manchester yesterday. Who had the exact same story and I don't know what to conflict those too.

I'm looking at tapology right now. Never booked for a UFC fight. Okay. Remember think about someone else? Yeah. For some reason, I thought he was. Mike, did you just do If you don't know

Now You Know segment with God Zerabanov Did that just happen? I don't know, man A little bit And I'm prompt to Dana See, this is like a This isn't Dana

Picking the co-main event For if you don't know Now you know Right, right This is a legit I can guarantee To you Dana White Has no idea

Who this guy is He has no clue With this guy's Sean Shelby and McMain know exactly who this guy is Dana has no clue of this guy is And that's just better for us

Don't hate it Don't hate it at all Damon, your last pick, you are back on the clock. GFL, quite possibly the final draft pick GFL will ever make. What's it going to be? Well, there are so many choices out there. And I know we're going to have a lot of the guys calling us for these contracts. And we appreciate that.

We'll try to sign as many of you off of AARP onto our contracts. But with our final selection, we're going all-star power all the time. And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a rebrand. of one of the biggest fights in the history of sport a fight that might actually motivate Connor McGregor to fight again. So welcome to the GFL Nate Diaz. We are welcoming you into your 40. You're right in our wheelhouse.

And technically you're still active. So Nate Diaz, come on down. I think that's an A plus pick. You really drafted the chair. David, like you drafted to GFL exceptionally well. So credit to you, A.K. How will PFL respond? Gaichi's a great pick too, but it like doesn't fit the mold.

You know what I mean in a weird way? So it's actually like, it's what the GFL should absolutely do, but they won't. So Dave, yeah, this is an excellent draft. Here's the other thing. Nate Diaz actually has good representation. So he already sued one promoter. There's a good chance he's going to sue us as well. So why not just go two for two with old Nate, you know?

Good call. I, uh, I'm keeping track of these picks as well. And, uh, I actually had to ask, sorry, you said Nate, Not Nick, right? Yes, Nate. Yeah, we thought about, we're going to weigh. I don't think Nick's going to be around for us. So, you know, because we were looking at Hoyce Gracie, but we thought he might, he might not want to come back.

He might be at that age where, like, he seriously doesn't want to consider. Although, you know, Ken Shamrock's out there, but we decided to go to Nate Diaz. I hate that I had to even ask. Solid choice. It was even possible that you were going to draft Nick. That makes me so angry. All right. My last pick, I'm going way off the board here, and I'll tell you why.

Guys, I want a promising UFC welterweight, Tembo Garumbo. I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Future Walterian champion? I didn't say that. I didn't say, I mean, in our promotion, yeah, maybe. Great story. Great story.

Rock's favorite fighter. Listen, again, with respect to Tembo, who again has an outstanding story of his own, I don't know if you guys heard. They don't talk about it a lot, that he's, you know, he's buddies with Dwayne Johnson. I don't feel able to talk about this. And we want that association. we want Dwayne to show up for us because let me tell you something if there's one thing I know about the rock it's when he invests in a storyline he follows through okay that is proven that is proven

he's definitely going to show up he's definitely going to show up uh he'll show up for you know temba signing or at least do like a video call in for temba signing and then we're not going to say he's going to show up at like the first event that that umba fights on but like if you know people will rightfully assume, and of course he'll be there. So I can't, you know, I can't wait. And if he doesn't show out, Travis Scott will be there instead. It'll be awesome. We do have Travis on call.

Yes, I assume, but with this pick, I also get Travis Scott. So I hope I'm not mistaken here. I think Wiz Khalifa should just fill the Travis Scott. Oh, yes. Oh, apologies to Wiz. I'm so sorry. Who also did two fantastic, of course, Fast and Furious songs. I'm so sorry, Wiz, you are the Travis Scott in this situation.

Deep, I would say deep cut. I'm not sure it's a deep cut, but I I saw where you were going. When you started it, I was like, oh, and then I saw where the plane was going to land. Excellent work, AK. And that leaves me my last pick. And this is where I have a battle, because I can choose to just copy Mike's homework from 2024, basically. A whole roster from last year, so you might as well.

I have half of my roster is the same. And I've mixed it up. But I could also just take one more. A guy who fits us would make sense, would be incredibly full. fun. We're not going to draft Max Holloway, which we could have done here, but we're going to pass a Max Holloway. And instead, we're going to go something a little off the beaten path for us. We're going to go for some young blood, some new talent, a guy who I think fits the ethos of BKFC and can help carry us forward as we look to develop new stars and continue our growth as a

promotion, a man who had a very big fight last year. Some say he won't. didn't ultimately get it, but A.K., I'm thieving from the PFL. Because give me big news, Paul Hughes, as a BKFC fighter, a guy who we can build our lighter weight classes around. I think he's just going to be, I think he's ready. He's ready to get dirty, getting the grit of BKFC. Can I send it to you? Can you take him after PFL Europe 1 coming up this?

Can you just get, can we have a three-week lean on this? I will have to negotiate off air I'm not going to give you that for nothing But potentially we're Look, BKFC, we're amenable to deals here I don't know what we can string together But maybe we can make that happen I'll just I'll want something extra

Have you heard of? I would ask for cash but y'all don't have that Oh wow wow How like that? Call Saudi baby You can get that Saudi money You're good GFL isn't have Saudi money Maybe Wiz Khalifa can make us like a BKFC song or

We'll negotiate the details, but I'm open to allowing it, is what I'm saying. So Jed is a scally wag, because I was set up the hipster pick just to get the right pick after and get Hughes. I was stunned when you started talking, like, I'm going Godsey. I was like, what the shit are you doing? Yeah, because I didn't think anybody would take Paul Hughes. And I certainly didn't think BKFC was going to take Paul Hughes by any stretch of the imagination. So I don't need to play defense anymore.

So I'm just like, what would be cool? Would be just kind of a cool thing. I already got the coolest fight in MMA that can be made outside of the UFC. So we're good there. And unfortunately, I got to do it again to my best friend. I got to take more of a regional star. The UFC has more of a footprint in this area. And boy, those crowds are very lively with PFL.

Can only imagine what it will be like when the UFC returns to Paris. and when the fuck is this guy going to fight again, PFL? Not on your end of your organization anyways. Cedric Dubei, welcome to the UFC, my friend. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the big crowds. And we're going to matchmake for you so delightfully that you are just going to deliver highlight real knockouts every single time you step into this octagon.

Hold on you're not going to book him against a wrestler in his second ever fight. You're not going to do that? This is silly. I love that I I picked Tembo Grimbo instead of protecting Paul Hughes or Dumbay And I stand by it

I stand by it for the bit I had to do it for the bit I don't care Mike A plus choice Would you be open to a Paul Hughes For Cedric Dumbay trade right now I didn't even consider Cedric Dumebe

Which is probably a mistake on my part Because he'll never fight So I didn't think about him fighting No I have the better light In my opinion if those two guys fought Godzie and Paul Hughes,

Godsey is a very good chance of winning that fight. So I think I have a, I think I might actually have the better lightweight. It's a chance. It's not 100%, but there is a possibility. But there is just no way I'm giving up Cedric Dubei after you stole Paul Hughes for me. I don't care.

That's what I'm saying. I won't steal him. We'll just swap him. You'll get the younger guy, a guy you can build around the next Connor McGregor. I can get a dude who doesn't want to wrestle and can throw myths with Mike Perry. This feels like a great

trade for all of us. But it's just not going to happen though. I would rather you stew in regret than actually have Cedric Dumbay fighting in a BKFC ring, which by the way would be incredible. It would be incredible. I want to be clear.

The only regret I have is that the PFL sucks at promoting because had he fought in the last 14 months or whenever the shit it's been, I would have remembered that he's still an active fighter, but they never He never ever fights. His last fight was last May.

Okay, I have a trade. All right. I'm here open. Because I think honestly, I think this trade works well because I think both fighters work better for each other's organizations. Cedric Dumbay for Driggis duplice. Whoa. The problem is then I'm losing the DDP Yeri fight, which means a lot to me personally. Like personally, I just very.

much want to see those two bozos go at it. I'm going to pass, but I like, that's only a personal thing. I think, I think people would agree that that's a fair trade and a fitting one going to pass. I do, I wish I'd take a duvet instead of Paul Hughes, but I still think Paul Hughes can be the face of our organization. And ladies and gentlemen, that is it.

Every other undrafted fighter is now reverting to their previous contract. That's Julia, I got a pain you. Stay in with the UFC, baby. How many... So Tom Aspernel, John Jones, Islam Makachev, Drickus 2 Plus C, were drafted as UFC champions. And I believe that's it.

I believe those are the only four UFC champions that were taken this year, which is stunning, a stunning indictment of the Marraibov-Valishvili's, Maguette Ankyovs, Alexander Volkovsky, even. Tough, tough scenes there. So wait, did you count it?

You counted Aspinil, Tommy Aspinall. I did. Aspiral and John Jones. Machachev? Machetev and DDP. I believe that's the four. John Jones. No, there's five. I might count.

Oh, Taboria. Taboria is not a champion, bro. Oh, my gosh. Let's not get to that whole thing. You know what? There's a whole other episode. I'm so sorry to bring that up. Let's a whole other episode.

All right. Taboria is currently the number three ranked featherweight. Correct. Because that makes any sense at all. He is not, that's right. He's not the featherweight. Him being ranked number three, in the UFC Featherweight rankings is bananas, by the way.

But that's neither here nor there. Gentlemen, thank you for coming with me on this journey. A brief recap of our teams, and then we'll get out of here. David Martin representing GFL has Connor McGregor, John Jones, Francis Ngano, Ronda Rousey, Justin Gajee, Gina Carrano, and Nate Diaz. Again, really drafted his seat quite on the nose. Alexander K. Lee, representing PFL, drafted Tom Aspinall, Islam Makachev, Patty Pimlet, Jean Silva, Hamzaa Chimeev, Roug, Roug, and Thimba Grimbo,

it is final pick. Myself, Jedmichu, for BKFC, Alex Pallera, Pira, Drichis Duplasi, Carlos Pratis Yeri, Mike Perry, Jose Aldo and Paul Hughes, and Mike Heck, representing the U.S. Dioch, Yolita, Dakota, Ditchieva, Marius Puginowski, Dustin Porier, Eddie Hall, Gadzi Rabanov, and Cedric Dume. Bay. As mentioned, if you were listening to this and haven't been to the website, mbaflain.com has a written component where we will put up a poll and you can vote on who

won this fellas. Any last words before we get the heck on out of here? Don't vote for GFL. I think you have to. Don't do it. Don't do it. I think you have to. I think Damon did it right.

Like if GMVL wants to have a chance, they need to do what Damon did, honestly. I think he has to win. Seeing all those names together when Jed dissed the read over there, that was crazy. That looked crazy. Three of like the six biggest stars in UFC history plus Gina Crono and Nate Diaz. You should have drafted Brock. Brock was the only one you were missing. You should have gone after Brock.

Oh, really missed out of one. We didn't. Brock's got the lawsuit thing going on right now. Yeah. We want to avoid too much controversy. Yeah. Yeah. But in one single draft, I made Mike Hicks spit out his water.

And I made A.K. Look at me with such disappointing eyes for like the last hour. This is a win for me. I don't know how it's all going to turn out, but I feel like I've already won. It was the TV deal. You nailed. It just nailed it. It's so good. We know how good GFL is at drafts sent me.

That was a pretty tough scene for me for a minute. All right, fellas. Let's get on out of here. Thank you for hopping along for the 2025 MMA promotional draft. We will see you for whatever the next. bit of Tom Fullerian shenanigans we get into love you all