MMA Fighting - The A-Side Live Chat | Jan Błachowicz’s win, Israel Adesanya’s future, Petr Yan’s DQ loss, UFC 259 fallout, more

Episode Date: March 10, 2021

WWE​ Superstar Big E joins José Youngs and E. Casey Leydon to react to some of the biggest stories in MMA. Some POSSIBLE topics include fallout from UFC 259​, Jan Blachowicz’s win over Israel Adesanya, Amanda Nunes’ TKO over Megan Anderson, Petr Yan’s DQ loss to Aljamain Sterling, and more. The three will also look ahead to UFC Vegas 21 this weekend, headlined by Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad. Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc Follow Big E: @WWEBigE 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. Hey, we're live, pal. Welcome everyone to another edition of the Aiside Lab Chat here on MMAFighton.com. It was, of course, Wednesday, 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific. So I hope you're watching live. I am, of course, Jose Young's, host of the Aiside Lab Chat. Joining us Casey Leiden on the ones and twos per usual, but I am very excited to introduce.

We've only had one reigning champion ever on this show. And that was when Elima Lea McFarlane, who was at the time, was the Belator Flyway Champion of the world, joined us. But I am proud to say, you've been asking for him back. And he is here once again, Big E, reigning WWW Intercontinental Champion and noted mixed martial arts. Big Easter, how are you? I'm good. Have people actually been asking about me? Or is that just one of those things you say to be nice?

No, man. People do ask because I think lately, especially because I interviewed Israel out of Sonia, this. past a week before USC 259. And we spoke about everything other than mixed martial arts. And people have said it was refreshing interviews, refreshing take. They want more of this content. They want non-MMA fans or non-MMA fighters on the show again. And two people brought you up.

They thoroughly enjoyed your interview. We've had Hurricane was on the show at one point. He kind of went off on the characters of MMA. We've had a few other wrestlers on the show. But you specifically have, have the big WW24 on the network. Case, I don't know if you saw it. If you haven't, go watch it.

You have your project. Our Heroes Rock that you're going right now. We can plug that later, of course. So what better time to get you back on the show? I appreciate it. And also coming off a big UFC pay-per-view. I think on paper, one of the best cards in over a year, a couple years? I don't know.

100%. Yeah. And I loved not saying the main card was enjoyable for sure, but the prelims, my God, were outstanding. So I thoroughly enjoyed. You didn't have anything to worry about. He goes, because whenever we get a wrestler on or a non-MMA fighter or someone from like our world from the outside, they're like, do you think they watch the prelims?

Should we ask about the prelims? Yes. And I'm like, and I was like, Casey, I don't think you remember the last time, Biggie, you were on the show. I said, what are some of your favorite fights from my thing was 2018, 2019? I can't quite remember the year. And you said, Brian Barbaran and Vicente Lucan. From that point, from that point on, I was like, oh, he's in it. He knows exactly what he's talking about.

Well, that fight was absurd. It was. Yeah, of course. Of course. There's a fun story about that fight where Vicente Leuke came back to do the interviews. And he said he had, he still had blood all over his face. And his hair was all matted up. And he goes, hold on.

The blood acts like hair Joe. And he's like fixing his hair with Brian Barberane's blood. And I was like, oh, God, this was a metal thing I've ever heard. I love it. I love it so much. But anyway, you guys know the drill. Any question you want in the world of mixed martial arts, ask away because we have an informed fan joining us this week.

Jessica Crystal Crew, before we begin the question, Jessica Crystal Cruz, of course, long-time listener. What are your thoughts on crystals in Crystal Healing, Biggie? Oh, no, my man. Isn't it, I know Jared Kennanier is a big crystal guy, right? That's where it started. So I plead ignorance. I don't know enough, but like this, I'm much more in tune with like, I meditate regularly now.

You know, so I'm more open to such things. I don't know enough. It seems weird to me, but that's me speaking ignorantly. So I'm going to withhold my judgment until I learn more. Well, the only reason we ask this, and people that watch this show have heard the story a thousand times. Maybe you heard it too, but Brian Callagher is also a longtime proponent of the crystals. and he was fought O'Day Osborne on, I think, UFC 246. He was on the prelims.

I think he might even even in the fight past prelims. He asked me for a crystal that Jessica sent. I was supposed to hand him off a crystal after the Wayans, and I gave him a tiger's-eyed crystal, which we inevitably found out is supposed to increase monetary wealth in gain. That's what it's supposed to do. And two hours later, Claudio Gidele and Alexa Grasso falls off the main card. Brian Kelleher's fight gets bun.

to the main card of a Connor McGregor fight card, and he wins the $50,000 bonus. So I'm not saying it wasn't the crystal, but it was 100% the crystal. It had to be the crystal. I might be in that, just based on that story. Or Robert Whitaker likes to argue coffee over crystals.

That was his argument for defeating Jared Cannonair. See, I don't drink coffee either, so I'm missing out either way. There you go. Too past you can research. But anyway, thanks for the question. Jessica, we had to get that one out of the way. John Deegan, Dangan, I apologize for Ms.

Bernarduson, New Day Rocks, of course. You know what? We were just talking about Robert Whitaker, so let's bring up his question right now. There you go. Another question from John Deegan. Do you think the winner of Whitaker cost a matchup is kind of pointless now because Izzy lost on Saturday? Bobby Knuckles was already the obvious choice for Izzy's next middleweight title defense.

So yes, I think Casey and I both agree if we're talking of deserving. Robert Whitaker already deserves the rematch, Israelados down there. I'm on the side of the, I'm on the train where Izzy and Robert Whitaker are the two best minutes in the world. If they fight 10 times, it might be 50-50. I just think Robert Whitaker lost that one fight. It was a long layoff.

He said he was burnt out going into that fight. And since then, he's rattled off two wins over number one contender. So Biggie, I'll start with you. Is Robert Whitaker the next logical matchup? If he wins, if he beats Paula Costa, and should they even be fighting? Does he already not deserve the title shot?

MMA is not a meritocracy. So I'm not sure that really matters. I do agree with you wholeheartedly that Bobby Knuckles deserves the next shot. But it's also interesting that Izzy has been talking about Darren Till, who doesn't really deserve the next shot. But if Till rattles off another win, much like the Romero fight, if I recall correctly, the Romero fight happened because Izzy kept saying his name.

And, you know, he's at a point now where he has enough. plout and can kind of call the shot. So it seems, you know, it could be that if Daryntill gets a win, I don't know if he has a fight booked yet. And if Bobby Knuckles also has a win that somehow Daryntill slides by Bobby, which seems a bit absurd right now. I think Whitaker is clearly the next one up. I don't know if people don't have as much of an appetite for it because he lost pretty

resoundingly and it wasn't that long ago. But he also had a pretty. solid run as champion. If we're talking about merit only, it's clearly Robert Whitaker. I don't think the Costa fight needs to happen. I'd rather see, like, I'd be cool with a Costa Till

or Acosta cannadier, maybe. But yeah, it's this weird area where I think we all know who deserves it, but, you know, is he's kind of, you know, pushing it in another direction. Yeah, if you look at the upcoming middleweight fights, you got Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland.

Kevin Holland, I believe, went 5 and O last year. He has some sort of issue with Izzy. I guess they ran into each other, and he called him out after his fight. Israel Adasania said he's a little far down the road. He's already knocked out Derek Brunson. He's already knocked out Robert Whitaker. He's already knocked out Paulo Costa. And then Marvin Vittori is scheduled to fight Darren until next.

He's already beaten Marvin Vittori in the second fight. So the only one of those fights, the only two fighters he hasn't fought coming up is Kevin Holland and Darren Till. He already said Kevin Holland's a little far down the path. I also don't really favor Kevin Holland against Derek Brunson. So if Darren Till wins and Robert Whitaker wins, I have a feeling Izzy's going to fight Darren Till because he really, really wants to fight him. But he also says if we're talking about deserving, that's another argument.

Casey, where do you fall on this argument right now of who should fight Izzy next? Is this a main event? Yeah. That's a main event. All the middleweight fights coming up are main events. Yeah, I don't. I I don't like this fight

because what if Costa wins? What are you going to do? Right. Yeah, it's a cool fight because I like seeing top level guys to punch each other. But yeah, I'm just honest. I mean, Whitaker already ordered a shot.

And yeah, I just don't, I don't like it. But Whitaker Costa is. I don't like a lot of things, but here I am. Whitaker, Robert Whitaker, Paula Costa is the same night as Jake Paul versus Ben Ascran. Oh God, don't get me starting on now. But it's interesting. I don't know if there's much of an appetite for it,

but Vittori was a, he got a card. He won one card against Israel. And the wrestling, it was something that he did pretty well then. Of course, this was what? I think 2018, 19 at the later. So it's a little while ago, but Vittori's been on a nice run. So it would be interesting to see if Votori can pick up another win and possibly.

Lisa. I think he might be two wins away, but that fight does entreat me. But I don't think it has the same app. But with MMA fans, at least casuals, no one knows who Marvin Vittori is. But it's a great fight on paper. Yeah, Marvin, to his credit, took that fight against Jackermanston on, he was scheduled for the card anyway. I think he's supposed to fight Jacques Ray. And then who got who's supposed to be the main? Oh, Darren Till was supposed to fight Jack Manson, Till got hurt, Vittori stepped up and fought five rounds and won easily. So, yeah, if he wins, probably one more, I think they got to see what happens. Because if Costa and Vittori wins and win, they probably got a fight.

They probably have to fight next. And Izzy can wait for it to play out. But let's see these fights play out first. Because, as I always say, both men have to get into the octagon before this fight is official. Remember what happened to Chad Skel. He walked into the octagon and his fight still fell apart. I couldn't believe it. I don't think I've ever seen that.

A man standing in the octagon and somehow his fight doesn't happen. The closest we got was Kevin Holland and Trevin Giles. Kevin had his hands wrapped and he was going to walk out second and Trevin Giles passed out in the back. So twice this has happened. We've also had fighters weigh in and still not make the fight for COVID reason. So let's get to the fight first before we can fantasy matchmake. But thank you for the question.

What is our next one, Casey? I'd also like to say I'm very happy the Bobby Knuckles nickname has now overre agree. The Reaper? The Reaper. It's a way better nickname than the Reaper. Bobby Nichols. That sounds so better.

It's so good. Yeah. Shout out to our friends at the co-made event podcast, Ben and Chad. They're the ones that kind of trademarks that. The unfortunate thing with that is Robert Whitaker's logo that he has, like the R.W that with all that he sells merch on, has the scythe of like a grim reaper. So he's already kind of down that path. No, no, like Alice over him. He used to be like the demolition man.

You know, he had the big hammer. He became Uber-Reme and everything. So, you know, you... And then he became the ream. The ream, yeah. You know, Josh Bardett was the baby-faced assassin. They became the war master. So good for Robert Whitaker to accept these changes.

Change is good. That's my hot take. That's all I got. Have you ever listened to Robert Whitaker's podcast? The Grains TV, I think. It's unbelievable. And his co-host wants... was for a long time

was trying to get Robert Whitaker's nickname to be the biracial angel. You know what? I know I'm going off of nicknames a bit, but I want to say that is a big issue with Jan Blahovic. Yon Boehovich. He has no nickname.

Polish power, baby. That's not, it's not, that's like a thing. That's not really a nickname. He has Polish power, but maybe it should be his thing. I'll bring it up. in the next, I'll bring it up in his next fight because Glove de Cher also doesn't have a nickname and they're supposed to fight. Yeah, these guys are like, they've been fighting for like 50 years. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. If we're talking nicknames, I think Luis Pena's violent Bob Ross is maybe the best to know him. It's up there. Yeah, that's way up there. It's the point where I've interviewed him and he's like, people think my name is Robert.

Like they don't know his real name. They'll see him and they'll be like, Rob, Bob. He's like, you talking to me? fun guy I'm hoping for Whitaker like people are like how are you doing Mr. Knuckles you know I want

I want that to happen right there you go big dream thank you for the question all right um we got some

here we go from Reddit I'm actually incredibly curious what he's takes are on MMR on MMR hopefully they're not

shit once well as you've heard he is an informed fan sir I think they're decent takes yeah I know there are fans that don't watch all the prelim fights, and this cat does.

I got to say, I was like, hey, Jose, is this just going to be Connor Gregor questions for an hour? No, man. Come on, man. Come on, man. I love watching the prelims, too. I think they started this past weekend. It was like 5.15 or something.

So I made sure to clear my schedule, sat down. The nice part with you used to be on the road, like, every Saturday. So I'd be at the gym, to catch the prelims, or I'd have to watch when I got home. But the nice part is, with everything slowing down with pandemic, is I'm home on Saturdays. So that's the highlight of my Saturdays.

And, man, we've had, what, at one point, I don't remember what the streak was, but we were getting a card every single week. They did a few Wednesday cards, too. I don't think it was until, like, the end of the year. We got a little bit of a break, but. We had a card. It was after the first Fight Island card,

which had the triple title fight headliner, which it was, that was the Mazurl-Uzman one that started it. And then they had Whitaker and Till, and then they had Figurato, Benevitas, two. And then when they got back, there was, like, I think a week or two break. And then they had the first apex card, which was Woodley and Burns. And then from that point on, we went all the way through December every single week because they had to fit them all in a week. And then we had a couple breaks coming back from Fight Islands and such. But yeah, you're not wrong.

And it's been a lot of you. And it was, UFC was the only game in town for a while because Bellator, PFL and Victed. everyone we're holding on. Wait, wait till April is around. That's when Bellator starts kicking off, and Bellator's got awesome cards coming up. I think the first week of Bellator, the main event is going to be Rumble versus Romero. So just throw away your weekend. Just throw it away.

I love that we get that in the first round, too. Like, they didn't mess around and try to book it for the five. Because you never know. They're not young. So I love that that's a first-round matchup, man. I'm in. Yeah, we get two weeks. no UFC in April, the first two weeks of April, I think, but during that span, PFL, kickstarts

this next season, and Bellas will return. So, yeah, there's, for everyone that I used to only UFC, sorry about it. Jose, I'm, I'm, I'm so happy this, this gentleman, Biggie is on the show. The fact, the fact that he even knew about the tournament and, like, the way they didn't book, they put him in the same side of the bracket and everything. Sorry, you make me so happy. My pleasure. My pleasure. You're right. I was like, you're right. I don't know what. You know what? Sorry, this Fight Circus part, dude. That is my troll account. I'm sorry. I put my own comment up here. There you go. Did you watch Fight Circus, Big? No.

Do you know what Fight Circus is? No, I'm out of the loophole. Oh, my God. So our own Jedmin's shoe is probably kicking his chair right now. So don't search Fight Circus on a public computer because a certain site that elicit adult content is the one. that put it together. And they put on this crazy, it was like pro wrestling meets MMA where they did a three on one fight where they had like two, they had like a big guy versus a small guy

and then two guys off the street. So it was a three on one. They did a Rochambeau fight where it was only leg kicks. So it was a fight with only leg kicks. Right. They had a spinning shit only fight. They had a spinning shit only fight

so you could only throw spinning back kicks and spinning elbows and everything. And then of course at the end, And you know Bob Sat made an appearance to call out the winner of the main event. So, of course. Go watch Fight Circus 1 and 2. Just block off a whole day and you'll be sucked in. All right.

I think I'm in. I got some time today, so I'm in. And remember, when you watch it, incognito browser. Just saying. Yes. Borrow your friend's computer. All those pop-ups. God dang it.

All right, here we go. Oscar or no Oscar from MMG 2K20. on the site, some MMA media were very quick to suggest that there was absolutely no chance that Aldo could have acted hurt, though I personally believe that he was hurt for real and I'm a huge Aljo fan. I don't completely dismiss the idea that he could have acted, even Josh Thompson and Big John suggested it. Aljo was exhausted, Don was tripping him up and taking him over.

Had Aljo lost, he would have had to go on another run of beating killers to get another title shot. Now his next fight is a guaranteed championship fight and he hits pay-view points. He is a prize fighter after all. So can you really guarantee there are absolutely no tactical acting involved? So we're going to use this question. Just talk about the Al Jermaine Sterling, Peter Yan fight. I was there.

The media, the whole wind from the media room just got sucked out. Because that was the fight everyone had circled, possible fight a night, possible fight of the year. A bunch of media were even standing up, like, watching it and kind of like, do it, like, you know, getting into it. So when you're watching this fight, eat, and you see. see the illegal knee from Peter Young just blast Al Jansamein in the face. What's your initial thought? My thought was as a fighter, I was confused as to why he was even asking his corner if it was legal or whatever conversation was going on there, I found confusing. So that was very odd for me. I'm still unsure what was going on there. I know the reports that I think D.C. said Khab was there

and said that one of Jan's cornermen said to throw the knee. So I don't know exactly what happened. My thing with the acting or whether he's not acting is, I don't think the onus should be on the fighter. I think the rule needs to change. And it should be if the illegal knee, the referee needs to make a decision on whether the fighter can continue or not, or should continue.

I think it shouldn't matter whatsoever. if Al Jermaine was acting or if he wasn't, I feel like it's odd. Same thing, you know, people talked about the Anthony Smith fight too with Bones where he could have won a title. And that's a whole other conversation too because, you know, we do a lot of weird things in pro wrestling.

But one of the things I think we get right is a title should not change hands with a DQ. I don't know if that means the title's now vacant. I'm not sure. I feel it feels so wrong that Al Jermaine is wearing a title now after DQ win. I think that's problematic. And I think the fact that the fighter has to decide whether they can continue or not,

I think you put that in the hands of the referee or of the doctor. I think to have the fighter be in a position where he almost has to perform, because let's say Al Jermaine comes back and says, I can continue, but maybe he's not out from the knee. Maybe he's not concussed, but he's damaged by it. And now you put this onus on a guy who you expect to be a warrior, to be a fighter, and now you expect him to fight for another round or more, depending on the circumstance, and he's behind the eight ball a little bit because of this knee.

So I think that whole system needs to be tweaked and looked at, because it's just you shouldn't put the fighter in that position. Because if I'm Al Jermaine, he made the smart decision, whether he was acting or wasn't. Because like the viewer said, like now you have pay-per-view points, you have the fact that he can put on his resume that he is a former or current UFC champion, there really is no incentive for Al Jemaine to continue fighting.

What reason, besides the fact that he is a warrior or if this is what he does, financially, career-wise, like he's pretty much guaranteed himself another Yon fight or for some reason they decide not to go with another Yon fight. He's going to have another title fight next. That's guaranteed. So there's no incentive for him, not to.

I just think they need to really look at that and not put the onus in the hands of the fighter there. Biggie, can't wait. I understand what you're saying completely. Does that mean that Anthony Smith made the dumbest decision ever?

That's the issue. I mean, I can agree. I can agree with you're saying, but then we also go, well, Anthony Smith, he's a warrior. He took this shot, but he, no, he continued the fight. But I guess, like, being a warrior

doesn't pay your bills. You know what I mean? It doesn't keep your career escalating. So I get it. As fans, we sink our teeth into that narrative of, man, look at this guy who did things the right way. And sure, he didn't get the win, but we applaud him. But he goes home at night.

He doesn't have more money because of it. His career is not in a better position because of it. So it's great for us as fans. We love it. But it just doesn't do anything for him. Not really. Completely agree. And with your point that it shouldn't be up to the fighters,

if anyone hasn't watched it after this stream, go watch it. Our own Damon Martin sat down for 40 minutes with Al Jermaine Sterling. And Alzheimer and Sterling is a completely agreement. He goes, it shouldn't be up to me. Because if you ask me right up, I'm going to say I can fight. He doesn't know a single fighter that says, I don't want to keep fighting. It should be up to the referee. It should be up to the cornermen, doctors, whatever.

I also think there should be no time if someone gets blasted in the face. Like all time like counter. like five minutes, I want to see him 100%. I don't care how long it takes to clear him in there. But I agree with you. It's just a disappointing situation all around. And Alzheimer also wants to clear up that he's not posting stuff with the belt. Those are all his friends.

He thinks his own words were I think the belt is collecting dust until we run it back. That was his phrasing. Someone on Twitter also wants to know if Peter Yan wins the rematch, does that set up the trilogy fight? I guess it depends on the nature of that fight. If it's another close one and it's controversial, if he goes out there and he finishes Aljo in the first round, then let's move on. But 135, maybe 155, I'd say it's still the premier division in MMA.

But 135 is stacked, and you've got so many guys who deserve that opportunity. And now we're holding up this title. And that's another issue, too. that's what bothers me is that 135 just has so many intriguing matchups, and now we're just kind of stuck in this quagmire trying to figure out what we're going to do with Jan and Sterling. Yeah, I think the three most active things right now, in no particular order 135, 155, 170.

And I think the thing about 170 is no one in the top five has fought each other outside of Kamara Usman has beaten them all. And then the top five at Bannamweight, if you want to argue that it's better than the top five and the lightweight, I'm not going to argue against you, but I do think 155 is probably still the Premier Division. But 2020, man, Bannamweight. We're talking about the whole world, not just the UFC,

because there's a bunch of killers of Bannibal in Bannetor, Rise, and won. Because technically, Demetrius Johnson fights 135 over in one championship. If you was in the UFC, and you want to throw Demetrius Johnson in there against these Bannamweight, like, sign me up. Too bad that's not happening. Also, someone says, Casey, your audio is a little low. Oh, it is? Okay. I will speak.

closer to the mic thank you what do you think about the tj dillow shot possibly getting a title shot on his return big uh I don't love it I don't love it again 135 there's many guys who've been active

and I'd love to see him get one more I'd be cool with him having a like a number one contenders fight and moving on as to who that would be against it's probably it's most likely Sanhagen I think Sanhagen has done enough all right He's has back to, he's wheel kicked Malmarais and then flying need, Frankie Edgar. His last loss, so you got put to sleep against Al Jermaine. That's the only knock against him.

So if Yon had won, Jan Sannhagen all the way. But, because, like, Corey Sanhagen is probably the second biggest loser after this. Because now he has to wait longer. So the Dillishaw fight, I think, is the one to make. Yeah. If it gets him paid, I'm cool with it. I think San Higgins has done enough right now, winning spectacularly. but yeah, I'm not mad at that

But yeah, I don't like the idea of Dillard Coming off of a two-year suspension Going right into a title fight Just doesn't feel good at all Biggie, I like what you said too about It being a DQ Like I have no issue with Yon getting the loss And the actual L on his record

And Aljo getting the W But I really wish With a DQ, the belt had become vacant rather than Aljo becoming the champion. I really think that's the issue here. People just don't like the idea of Aljo being the champion. I think him winning the technical, he got a W on his record.

That's whatever. We can deal with that. But the belt means something. So I think, I just think that's the issue. And if they rematch for a vacant belt, I think that kind of solves a lot of problems. Completely. I guess as an Aljo fan, the one thing that makes me kind of okay with it is I'd like to see all fighters get paid more, but to see him get points is a good thing.

But I agree with you completely because wrapping the title. I'm taking out the financial stuff. I'm just talking about the financial stuff, of course, yeah. Yeah. But I know, I'm with you completely because winning that title should mean something. And I think it devalues the title when you see someone win based on a DQ. And honestly, if it was Sterling just really putting it on, Yon, and then the knee happens, then I'd be maybe a little bit more okay with it.

But when you see that the tide was kind of turning and it looked like if that fight was going to go five rounds, I'd probably give that fight to Jan. That's, yeah, that's the part that makes it even more hard to digest. I said this on Twitter because if when a, when a DQ, when an illegal strike that ends the fight happens, you go to the scorecards. And if say, Jan who was winning the fight was up on the scorecards, but he threw the illegal strike, then it becomes a DQ or no contest. But if it was the other way around, it's just like, sorry, I'm game kind of stuck. If Aljo, wait, if Aljo was. If Aljo through the knee, if Aljo was winning. Well, you know what I'm saying.

Yeah, sorry. I got lost in my head. I like what you brought up about the vacant title because remember, like, when Junioux Frye missed weight as the reigning champion and Invicta, they took her belt away. The belt, the belt, like, you miss weight as a champion. The belt is vacant. So it's something I hadn't, I hadn't pondered. But yes, you're right. I don't disagree with that.

All right. Thank you very much. Oh, wait, did we? Yeah, we got it all. All right. One more question about Yon. From Tristan Gordetta on the site, Jan's confusion. After watching the video dialogue between Yon's coaching Yon himself for the illegal knee strike,

isn't every coach on the fighter staff clarified about the rules before entering the octagon, including Yon himself? How can there be confusion? Case and point. If you remember the fight between Vicente. Luca and Randy Brown, Luca clearly knew the rules, knowing that both hands of Brown were on the mat,

making him a down fighter. Lucay lifted Brown up where his hands were then off the mat. Thus, it was a legal to throw a strike. I think that's another argument that Alamede Sterling has. It's like the referee goes in there and breaks it down. Like we've seen the video of Herb Dean, like holding a piece of paper behind the head. And he goes, anything the paper's touching is illegal,

like hands down, palms down. I don't know if it was a, if it was a lost, translation with Jan's Russian English, but it is a legitimate argument that even T.J. Dillochel brought up. Like, how can you be a champion and not know the rules? Yeah, I agree. And that

seems like it should be pretty obvious. Us as fans, when we watch it live, and I get it's different being in the heat of the moment, but we know the rules. But I do think one of the issues, too, is that there's no, the rules aren't uniform from state to state. That's one of the things that I don't

like, is I wish, and I get there are different state commissions, but I feel like the rules for grounded fighters should be the same across the board, whether we're in Tuscaloosa or whether we're in Paris. Like, I feel like the rules should be the same, but I understand, too, that's not necessarily in the hands of UFC because you have all these state commissions. You have commissions elsewhere, and that's one of the things that I don't know if that contributed to any kind of confusion here, but that's one of the things that erupts me the wrong way to the rules being different in different states.

See, but you're making sense, Biggie. And one of our models on this board is MMA doesn't make sense. MMA is a silly world. Yeah, well, that's what we say in wrestling too, so I get it. How do you handle this, Biggie? You know, you wrestle one match or one city in the next match, this guy brings out a table and a chair.

Like, what are you doing, man? Like, come on. It's so confusing, you know? No, I'm with you. I'm with you. The rules change by the day. We throw logic out the window where I work. Logic has no meaning.

just we just dismiss it. Oh, you work in MMA, I guess. All right, cool. Yeah, it's all the same. There you go. I'm glad this guy brought up the Luke game fight too because I had a but actually, but I'm glad you brought that up too because this is, to me, this, another issue, this just shows me how kind of stupid the rule is because if the rule is made to protect

the fighter, so really I'm just going to lift you up and throw the same dang strike, like that somehow makes it safer. it's just to me the way the rule is written it's very dumb I just don't like the idea that won the underground versus right here

you can hit me you can't hit me champion lose the belt you know but that's a whole other well there are also people who say like we have

way too many rules in MMA and that it should all be illegal let's bring back soccer kicks let's bring it all back because it is It's like how far do you get away from the purity of fighting and fight sports when you have all of these rules? Even like, I know Rogan will always talk about the fact that, you know, the football field. He talks about that.

He talks about not breaking guys in the clinch that it shouldn't matter if fans are bored. Like, so these are all things that I think are interesting topics, you know, because it is a fight. And there's certain there should be certain rules. Like, I don't want to see guys have their eyeballs hanging from their face because they've been gouged out. But should a need, should that be a thing? If I'm, you know, should I be able to throw a knee while you're on your knees? I don't know. I remember talking to Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker years ago.

And he was talking about how early, in early UFC's groin shots were legal. Oh, yeah. Gron shots were legal. But he also said, but you know what? You protected yourself then. If you got hit in the groin, all of a sudden you keep fighting. That's part of your tactics. That's part of your tactics.

And you, you, you, you, you, you adjust for that, you know. And I think that creates a lot of problems with the underground because, um, in our interview that Damon Martin did of Al Jermaine, he said, well, that position, I don't have to protect my head, you know, and so. Because it's, it's, it would be illegal to throw. Yeah. Yeah. And it just kind of goes against what the entire sport is about, you know, like it's a fight.

And you're literally kind of manipulating. I'm not blaming Aljo on this, but it's just the way the rules are. He can manipulate the rules and the position of yourself so I can rest in this position. And Peter Yon was like, I can't, well, I mean, there's your face. And I've been training my whole life to punch people in the face, but for some reason, right now, I can't. So I completely get why Yon did it. And the whole idea, like, he doesn't know the rules? Well, you know who people consider the greatest fighter ever, John Jones?

His only loss comes from breaking the rules. And we go back to Anthony Smith situation. That could have been his second loss from breaking the rules. the idea a champ doesn't know the rules. I just, I don't like that narrative. I think, you know, it just doesn't. Also, it goes rough to ref depending on what they enforce and not too, unfortunately. Because like Al Jermain Sterling said, he goes,

when's the last time we've had a point deduction for a groin shot? Like, if I'm not afraid of losing a point, why don't I just run out and blast the guy in the junk right away? And now he's affected the whole fight, and I have nothing to worry about. I just get a warning. Like, come on. But who's the ref that, that, that, did we get a point deduction on the serial gone? fight card or was it the

they broke him up fairly early? The De La Rosa. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, Montana de la Rosa, right? I forgot her opponent's name. Monce. Yeah.

But she dominated the fight, but there's one takedown at the beginning of the fight where she grabbed the cage and they took an entire point which made the fight a draw. Even though De La Rosa's by the end of the fight,

her eye balls basically hanging out of her face. There you go. But it's weird. I'm all for a half point deductions, but that's a whole other time. I agree. Sure, sure. We could talk about this for an hour.

All the rules we want to change. Anyway, thank you for the question, Tristan. Long time commenter. All right, all right. How many comments does he have, like 50? Yeah. I really drop some million. Let me go to this.

That's annoying. What? You're a muffler. You don't hear it? Oh, I don't even notice it. I usually drown it out with the radio. How's this? Oh, yeah.

Way better. Save on insurance by switching to Bell Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bell Air Direct, insurance simplified. Conditions apply. Dustin Connor 3 from Key of D minor on the site. I'm increasingly concerned that Dustin Connor 3 will be for the belt. Oh, don't put that out on the ether. This makes me sick.

Please convince me I'm wrong. If they pull this stunt at hardcore fans organized and effective boycott, U.S. pay attention. A, no, because Dustin Connor 3, is going to make a lot of money. And if they put a belt on the line, it's going to make even more money, probably. But I actually don't think Dustin Connerthy will be for the belt.

But what's your thoughts on this hypothetical, nightmare scenario that this commenter left on? I guess if you're a fan of doing things the right way and being fair, then I'm right there with you because it should not be for the belt. But can we also leave this poor man, Khabib, alone? Can we let him retire? Can we formally strip him of the title? Or, you know, I feel like the division just needs to move on.

Like we talked about lightweight being the premier division in the UFC. I feel like that will allow a little bit more normalcy in trying to determine where we are with this division and who's actually going to fight for the title. And I think that's also helping to muddy things. I don't want to see Connor Dustin 3 for the title next. I'd love to see Connor get one more win, but he's also Connor McGregor,

who has the biggest name in the sport. It'll, if we look at the UFC as a business, that's the right business decision because it'll do way more pay-per-views than any other Dustin fight would. It's pretty obvious. So I'm okay with it. I'll enjoy the fight.

Like, it's not something that would cause me. It's not worth striking over. There's so many other things in MMA that are worth striking over. This isn't it. Let's pick another battle, you know. Fighter pay, other other things worth griping over. This isn't it.

I don't want to see this next, but I'll watch it and I'll be excited about it. Yeah, I think that fight will probably happen in May or June if they go back to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi or Singapore, wherever they want to go. If it was up to you, if you were the matchmaker, E, which two lightweights do you want fighting for, and we're going to say vacant because I'm with you, Habib's not the champion. even though Dana White is He's not made also he's not making 155 Anytime soon he was walking around Fight Island in the fighter hotel He's a big boy

Dude is not a cruiserweight dude is not fighting for the cruiserweight title In the WWE anytime soon Yeah I bet Man my man oliver is just getting pushed aside And he's been on a hell of a run So give me man That's Dustin Olivera is that's a fight man That's the fight that's what I want

That's the fight to make that makes sense and I think Dustin will fight Connor next. And if that's the case, I wouldn't hate Chandler versus Oliver or Gagey versus Oliver. Either one I'm fine with or if they want to do Chandler, Gaichi, number one contender fight, fights Dustin or whatever. I'm fine with that too.

Again, I just want lightweight to be active. Yeah, same. They're not going to do this, but I'd love a tournament, man. Give me a good old-fashioned eight-man lightweight tournament. Again, you're making sense, man. Or even a six-man tournament, too guys. I know, I know. They're not going to do it, but the division is so much fun.

And there's so many guys who are right there. And you could say who you could see holding a title that that would be a ton of fun. It really would. Biggie, I know we're on the other side. I'm on the other side of the country premiere right now, but I just want to hug you. Yeah. Once we get, once this pandemic's over, we're all vaccinated. I'm giving you a big hug.

I owe you one. There's someone on, someone on, someone on. Someone on Twitter put this scenario together that the tournament should be to fight Dustin. Dustin has already secured himself in title shot, and he thinks Oliver should fight Chandler slash Gachie. And then the winner of that fight fights Porre for the vacant belt. So it's a tournament to fight Porriere, which I am all in favor for. Justin's done enough. He really has.

And that last, the Dustin Connor fight, I don't know if Connor deserved the title shot, but it should have been for the title. And it's a bit bizarre to me that Khabib has. It's interesting to hear Dana's comments. And then to also hear, to see the interviews that I've seen from Khabib, he sounds very much like a man. He's over it. Yeah, he's doing a great job coaching. He was in Islam's Corner, right? He seems to really enjoy that.

I know he's also talked about starting his own organization. Eagle fighting championship. Sorry, just kicked off. Right. So he seems to have a lot of other. irons in the fire. He's doing a great job, it seems, at those. Let's let the man do what he wants with his career. He's giving us enough. So I'd love to see the division move on and let's officially, I like that idea. Let's let, you know, let's let's let Porriade sit and, you know, rest up.

And let's let the rest of the division clear itself up and make that title fight. He was also, Habib was also in the corner of Umar, Nirmagamem, on Fight Island, because now people are calling for Habib to be the early frontrunner for coach of the year, 2021. because he's 2 and 0. He was also the translator for Umar, and the media had some fun with that. And what people didn't see is I'm sure you saw the video, if you haven't, it's on our site of Connor arriving to Unfight Island in the Fighter

Hotel. He's walking through without a shirt and like his Gucci pants holding his son. Right around the corner was Habib collecting an award for the submission of the year. And we were about 10 feet away from Habib and Connor crossing pass in the hotel with with Connor holding his kid and Habib holding an award for a submission of the year, which I know the USC security was like, Khabi, can you just wait like two seconds? Something is happening.

We're not going to tell you what's happening, but we don't want this situation on our hands right now. But I was like right in the middle. I was like, please let it happen. Like I had my camera. I was ready to go. It was fun. Like we didn't see it.

I had my phone and a camera. Dude, I was there. I was all there for it. They purposely, because Umar was supposed to fight on the Connor. Dustin Cart. And they moved him to the Wednesday card because they didn't want that interaction to happen. But this is nice, Connor.

This is non-chit-talking Connor. Oh, my fault. This is good fight, Dustin Connor. So who knows what would have happened? I don't know. This is dad, Connor. Yeah, Dad, Connor. Do we like Nice Connor?

I am all for him growing as a person. If we're just into sheer entertainment, it's not the same. I'm not as entertained. But I also don't want to see him continue to dig himself in this hole, whether it's the stuff with the court stuff, that's really, a lot of that stuff is real dark. And I don't know if all that's cleared up yet.

So I hope for his sake, as a fan, I want to see him move his life in a great direction, but also as a fan, we don't want to, we don't care about any of that. We want to see destruction and chaos. We want to see, we want to hear stories. of Mike Tyson doing Coke at all hours of the morning and then going, you know, that's, that's what entertains us. But also as a performer, I want to see fellow performers, people in entertainment and

sports get their lives together. So I'm, I'm, you know, I don't know how exactly to feel. Yeah, I think the problem of Conner, because there's like, like you said, like kind of dark stuff that, you know, we don't need to get into. But like, like, like, like, like, I loved when Chelle took his losses, Chelle was still claiming he was undefeated. You know, I love stuff like that. but but fortunately for each other was no like you know it was just all like in cage stuff but

right yeah he's uh floyd mother said like connor's taking his his path he's caught him because remember when he was pretty boy floyd and then he went to money mayweather and he was talking all that greasiness and throwing his money around and just remember he was burning money on one of the 20 on like the the countdowns or whatever and now i can write a floyd mayweather promo hell of a fighter super super super super talented young buck old lion all that kind of stuff and he's super complimentary because he knows you're going to buy it regardless maybe Connor's doing that too I don't know yeah good point

MMG 2K 20 some quickies being a hardcore casual with zero knowledge regarding anything to do with fighter financials how much do you think Glover roughly got paid from the UFC covering only his fight camp costs compared to what he would have got if they paid him show money second question should I'll do embrace the hate and turn quote, heal, claiming to be a rightful champ and telling everyone else to shove it. Also, do you guys believe even the sick shirt curse, just kidding. I'll address the last one at the end.

But I have absolutely no idea what Glovercher got paid. Dana White's already said they covered his camp. Or no, our own Guillermo Cruz said, who reported that they covered his camp cost, but they didn't give him a show money or anything. So I don't know how much his camp costs. I'm not going to try and guess. But I'll let you take this long.

Aljo just go full heel and just watch. walk around with the belt and declare the champion. Well, this is my area of expertise. And here's the problem. When you're determining heel and baby face roles is you have to know who your opponent is. His opponent is a frightening Russian man named Piotr, Piero, I don't know how to pronounce it, Jan. And so if Aljo was a turn heel, he needs to do it against a guy who can be a baby face. I like Jan.

I'm thoroughly entertained by him. I don't find him to be like the guy. we can get behind as a baby face. So I would say no. I think Aljo is our baby face. He's a charismatic guy. He comes out with the gold, dukey chain.

He's got the sweet sort of like high top pro. That's our baby face, man. Let's not, I'd be okay with the heel turn. If maybe like Sanhagen, I think it's a baby face we could all get behind. Maybe we do a bit of a turn there. I think with our opponent, if our next opponent is going to be Yon,

if I'm the booker here, I say we fight it. Let's keep our baby face Sterling here. And let's let Yon be. the scary Russian man who knocks people's heads off. I just don't, I will say it felt like Aljo had a lot of goodwill, and I'm not saying this is his fault by any means. And he was a guy that I thought a lot of people got behind,

and it's kind of hurting me a little bit to see the way things have unfolded, and now people have kind of soured on him because of things that aren't really his fault. Agreed. Casey, what do you got? Should you go full heel? Because, you know, Chale Sondon said, remember one, John Jones's toe ripped in half? And if he had gone out, if they had noticed that and he had survived to the next round, you know, because he would have gotten hurt and lost, Chale would have been champ.

You know, Chale would have walked around with the belt. You know what, of course. That's Chale. And very, very few professional fighters can pull that sort of acting off. You know, and I kind of, that's why I love MMA and that's why I love pro wrestling. but I don't I kind of don't love him when they're the same and I don't I don't I don't want I don't want Aljo not to be himself I don't mind fighters being maybe like exaggerations of themselves but to be just just a lie I don't I just don't think I don't think Aljo's a good enough actor to do that

for months and months at a time chel it's in him you know he just has that in him I just I just it's not it's not natural and that's why I don't like it but it's fun it's fun think about though it's kind of it's kind of fun to think about it but um it is fun to think about unfortunately that's why this is in may you know that we have pro wrestling we have in may we have no i just think they're two different things right and to address the six shirt curse don't put that in the ether big i don't know if if you watch the press conference when izzie and mcgen anderson said six shirt to one of the reporters at the press conference that was this guy and apparently they both lost well they did lose so don't this isn't a shan al shoddy curse that plagued m mhm

fighting for years where everyone he would write about would lose their next fight. So don't start that. Yeah, well, anyways, I don't know if you know this, Megan's a pro wrestling fan. We actually connected a while ago. We had a show in Kansas City and met up. And she's a sweetheart of a human being and one incredible person. And I root for her.

So it was a big bummer to see. But man, Amanda is just the greatest to ever do it. And it's not even like close in women's MMA. Not even close. And we're getting this a whole other discussion. but do we even, I think we need to take her out of that women's MMA bubble and start like saying, are we putting her up against the GSP's and the Bones is because, I don't know, because you start asking yourself, you know, level of competition and that's another debate,

but her resume, when it's all said and done, I think is going to be one that you can stack up against some of those top men. And it's an interesting game once you start moving her out of that. Because the women's MMA thing is not, it's not, she's blown by. It's not even a question anymore, you know. I think she's got to fight Juliana Pena next because, A, we talked about this on Between the Links yesterday. Julian, like, we talked about the pro wrestling angles and everything. Amanda has never had a foil, like, that can verbally yell at her. Like, she's never had someone that she can be, like, Ronda didn't do media, didn't help her.

And then who she fought after that, Raquel Pennington, Holly, GDR, Felicia Spencer, Megan. Like, the Cyborg one could have been it. but then Cyborg went to Belator she's never had that heated rivalry that Anderson had Cheo you know Camaro has Colby and Masvidol like you need that like now we can even we're even talking about Aljo and Jan

kind of being rivals right now I think Amanda needs to fight Julianna A because Casey said this a few times too Julianna's wrestling is so good for in women's MMA that we want to see Amanda on her back not just knocking people we want to see what she can do in these spots that we haven't seen her

so I think Julian is the fight to make And I think if she beats her, then it's no one else out there for her. Do you have, you don't have any other, do you have an appetite at all for a third Shevchenko fight? Oh, of course. But I think the UFC is leaning more towards Zhang Valentina than Valentina Amanda. But I'm never, like, those are the two best female fighters in the world, without a doubt. I actually think Valentina won the second fight in Edmonton.

And she was on her way to win in the first fight if it was five rounds. I think if that fight has sold better, pay-per-view-wise, I think Dana, would be pushing a lot more. But I think that that pay-per-view, the second one, which I think was in Edmonton. The original main event was Demetius Johnson versus Ray Borg. And then it fell out the last day. So I'm pretty confident that that pay-per-view did like, you know,

zero for, you know, the bank accounts for Dana. So I, that's what Dana kind of makes his match-ups by. So I think that's why we're, he soured on that, unfortunately. But man. but like but like the going to make the opinion thing Amanda Newton has just three losses all three of those losses were by fighters who put Amanda Nunes on her back

so that's why I think that's why I love that's why but that's why I thought Felicia Spencer when she bought Manda Nunes I thought that's why I thought it was gonna be a competitive fight turns out it wasn't but um I think I think yeah Nune is Julia Pena and like you say she needs a foil

Julia Pena isn't afraid to talk all sorts of crazy smack doesn't even make sense but she'll just say it and whatever. And that's her. That's her. She doesn't mind being the hill because that's, it's natural, you know.

So, I like the, I like the idea Juliana presents where they're both new moms that they fight on Mother's Day weekend. I like that idea. No bad at that. Also, our good friend Matt Wells,

who's been on the show before had wanted to chime in on the whole champion disqualification thing. He said, disagree on the vacant belt if the champ is decued. If the champ is clearly losing, he could just go out there, ruin the moment, for the challenger and get himself

dequeed and all of a sudden he still and all of a sudden he doesn't lose the belt. So if Yon was getting he was getting cooked up, he could just go out there and just junk kick Al Jermaine and get himself disqualified. That's what I was saying. If you go to the scorecards,

if you're down to the scorecards, it is a straight loss. Sure. You lose the belt. But if you're up on the score cards, the belt doesn't, like it goes like a no decision or no contest. Sure, sure, sure.

I think he's more talking about the belt changing hands. He says he, Matt says title should always go to the winner, regardless of how it happened. Matt Wells, get that. Sure. Matt Wells. He's from Dallas from Houston, so his opinion means zero. Is that the thing?

Yeah. All right. And may, thank you for the question and creating this curse, MM2K20. Let's not make that a thing. Benevita is as being an elite flyway, another one from Tristan Gordet. Are Joseph Benavita's days over as far as contending against the elites in the flyaway division. We know he won't be able to compete for a title,

and he did look somewhat competitive against Ascroft, but also looked outclass. Casey, I'll start with you because you're really good friends with Joe. He's lost to who, Figurato and Ascaroff, who are one in three. One and three. That doesn't make him, you know, he's still going to be competitive.

He's still going to be competitive. He's not a top three flyweight, but what were your thoughts? This has always kind of been my big, I don't know, problem with him with prize fighting. and I never really understood. Like, say in NBA, you're an all-star for your first four or five seasons,

and then you finish your career, you know, riding the bench or whatever. In price fighting, it seems like once you're a champ or once you get that top five level, you're never allowed to be top 15 or top 10. You can only be that person. And like, like for Joseph Benavides, I think he was, you know, for his whole career, he's been a top, you know, five fighter, top one, top two fighter. I think now at his age and the rest of the fly weights, you know, I've kind of caught up to him. I think he's a solid top 10 guy.

If you want to call a top 10 elite, you know, that's up to you. But I did like, oh, Benaviz is done. Yeah, but like, yeah, I don't, I wouldn't put money on him winning a title or even fighting for a title, but he's still competitive. He fought maybe the second best flyweight out there. We don't know. And that's all. It's just he lost. to fight, he still went 15 minutes of a guy that came in overweight.

And that's true. And until Joe B loses to, you know, some rando contender series guy, I guess, I don't know. Yeah, if he wants to fight, you know, of course, he's not going to make as much money. No, you're not at the very, very top. But if it's worth his time and worth the damage to his body and everything like that, then, yeah, go for it. You know, I think just because you're not number one, just because you used to be number two, but you're not number two anymore. Does it mean you have no value, I guess?

Yeah, I agree with you. I think the only, when we make the NBA parallel, the only thing that comes to mind is I think when, when fans notice that there is a diminishment of skills is now you start wondering about damage, damage accumulated and now the damage that he might take. And not that he's been in a ton of wars, especially recently.

It's been, you know, and I agree, man, he looked competitive against Ascarov. He doesn't look shot at all. that's the only concern. I think he's such a likable guy. I've never met him. I don't know him, but I root for him. And I definitely think, I think you're right.

I think he beats a lot of guys from that five to 15 range. I still, he's probably like the fourth or fifth best in that division right now. But he's just not, you know, a top three guy. And I don't think he doesn't look like a guy like a BJ Penn at the end of his run where you're like, get this guy out of him. You know, stop, stop booking him. It's not that at all. And, you know, who knows? Maybe he makes some adjustments in his game and can make another run.

I agree with you. I don't foresee it happening. But when I watched him fight Ascrov, I didn't think that he was a guy who needed to hang it up. Yeah. Yeah, because if you look at Ascarov's record, his only blemish is his draw to Brandon Moreno, who just fought to a draw against the champion in one of the best fights I've ever seen. So, yeah, Joe B's not going. Also, I like what you said.

You never met him, but he seems like a nice guy. I don't think there's a single person in MMA that has. it's something negative to say about Joby. I think he's one of the few universally loved individuals in the entire sport. He's a great guy. He just might not be the second best fly away

in the world, which is like, it's like, well, we were just talking about Amanda Nunes, people saying like Felicia Spencer's not this, not a good fighter. Who has, who are only two losses to? Chris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes. And she beat everyone else. She lost her the two greatest female fighters of all time. And then everyone else.

She just sucks, right? And I hate fans that say, oh, she sucks. Like, dude, if I'm the number, if I'm the third best whatever in the world, I am very happy of what I've done in my life. You're like, oh, exactly. I'm the third best guy talking into a random microphone. I did it, man. I succeeded in life.

So, yeah, I just, I don't know. I even, I asked Dana and not to, this wasn't a knock at Joe B, but because like we've seen Dana say, I need to have that conversation with Tyron. I need to have that conversation with Jr. Like he's had, he's brought this up a lot. So I said, do you have to have the conversation with Joe just to be like to give because I didn't want Dana to just not get away with not talking about. And he's like, no, he's still.

I'm not having that conversation with Joe. So even Dana wants to see him keep fighting. So yeah, he's not going anywhere. Just not for a title. Yeah. I do think the big question Joe B has to ask himself though. You know, we have fighters. You know, if you're not, if you don't think, if you're not fighting for it to be the best,

why are you doing it? Can, can he sustain that level intensity and training and. commitment to the sport knowing you're not the best when for for most of his career you you've always no you've always believed you were the best and you know in the right night he could have been the best you know he just didn't win those fights against me just johnson but he earned a shot to get to get those fights is he going to be okay with basically being being a high level gatekeeper you know because that's how that's how the ufc is going to basically book him i think from now on it's like well if you want to fight for the title you got to beat a guy like joe b which i

I think the Askaroff fight was. You know, you got to be a guy like Joe B, if you think you're a good enough fight for the title. So that's what I guess Joe B has to ask himself if that's, if he's okay for that in his career. Because I think you got like say like Andre Arlowski, even like Overing before he was released. That's what the UFC was using at has, you know, when the guys like Walt Harris was fighting him. He was like, well, you need to beat guys like Overing to get to that next level. And it seems like, you know, these guys are okay because they're still making good paychecks. you're still enjoying the sport.

So I think that's questions for Joe B to ask himself. Well, Biggie, you got anywhere to be? You want to keep chatting? Let's go. Let's keep going. Let's keep going. That's why I like to hear. Criticism, Ratchik versus Santos.

Another one from Tristan. You think the criticism by the broadcast team was warranted for the fight between Sancho's versus Ratchik. The Ratchik approached the fight way too cautiously. So I'm going to be honest, when you're backstage in the media room, they usually mute the broadcast because fighters are. coming in for interviews. So I heard none of the broadcaster this. So you two gentlemen watched

it. What did you make of that? What did you make of the criticism in that fight, I guess, from the broadcasting? I suppose there's just at 205, you want a little bit more action. And I feel like if you have a similar

fight, I'd say 35 or 45, there isn't the same amount of criticism. I didn't have a massive problem. with it, I think the expectation is just a little bit higher because I don't want to watch a decision at 205 or heavyweight for the most part. You know, those fights, they don't tend to be that entertaining. But at lighter weights, I'm more okay with it.

So I think the standards are a little bit different. I didn't think the criticism was, I thought it was fairly warranted, I suppose. I don't know, I'm kind of on the fence with it. I didn't have a problem with it. Okay, so your thoughts, you've been openly critical. of Rogan, Rogan's broadcast in recent years. Was he unfair in this one?

I believe so. I think, because they, everyone kind of goes both the ways on these things. They go, you know, MMA, winning is all that matters.

You just got to get that W. But then when guys get this W and it's not a boring W, then they're like, well, you got to entertain the fans. It's like, well, yeah,

I get we want both all the time. But these are super high-level fighters. Santos is crazy, dangerous. Rackage is really good and Rackich made it his type of fight I think we wanted this the kind of the Santos

Jimmy Manuel fight just like this crazy brawl and stuff but like but that's how that's how guys get knocked out by Santos so I don't for Rackich is like he's not Rackich is not in the entertainment business he's in to get that W business

and to me like if he knocks out if he knocked out Santos in the first round he's still in the same position he's not getting a title shot next he won he fought 15 minutes of a very dangerous gentleman and he moves up the ladder and he's going to fight another guy that's going to be just as tough and then i think that rackage did it smart i mean unless you're going to pay any and the way the pay structure is you know you by by by by incentivize incentivizing that word um these guys to you know double their paycheck by getting that w

you're you're actually telling them get the W not fight entertaining so sure and especially and nothing's guaranteed like that 50 extra 50 grand that's not guaranteed and 50 grand still in the end of the day worth the risk of the knockout or the crazy you know brain damage you might get from trying to get a fight of the night that you're not guaranteed either it's that's just not worth it get that W your contract next pay he goes up higher you know you're higher on the card so um yeah I thought Raggich fought great. He fought like he's supposed to. And,

yeah, I know, I know you paid, I know you paid your paper view money for someone to get knocked out, but I think, I know, I think it might have been like what he said at the very beginning. The prelims were bananas.

And it's such a long card. It was such a long card. It was a long card. The prelims were bananas and violent. And I just think people were like, oh, let's keep up this knockout pace. And then when you get someone like Santos and Rochik,

Because also he fought the same way against Anthony Smith. Yeah. And then have the split loss to Vulcan. And then you have to go back, what, two years for his like head kicking against Jimmy. So I just think people are expecting that. But win is a win. It's not going to fight for the title next. That's going to be Glover.

And maybe. And the idea that you have to be exciting to move the ladder, Jan, Polish power of Blahwich, he fought one of the most boring main events I've ever seen against Jacques. And then he gets. rewarded by another main event against Corey Anderson. You got the big knockout and then you got the title fight and everything. But like the idea that it's just a W. Yeah, we get we get all, that was boring.

But you know what? We forget it in like 15 minutes. So. I'm sorry. I interrupt you, Jose. I like Ratchik versus the winner of Ray's and Jerry for the next title shot. Because Jerry and Ray is that fight rules. It's five rounds too.

Jerry Perhaska and Dominic Ray's and then they can fight Ratchett, Glover. Maybe the same card is Glover or Yon and Glovers. They're all in the same timeline. Anyway, I digress. Yeah, the only reason I don't like the bikes, I hate, I think 2-05 is a relatively shallow division and I hate top contenders knocking each other out.

Sure, sure. But it's just, I'm just trying to see if you want to stay active and get a paycheck. Yeah, it's more of active, just stay active paycheck. But I love that, too. Actually, I think, I think Rackich and Yeri are the future. Yeah. Ray is too is right there. Ray is too, yeah.

Yeah, so. All that is, is Belator's 205 found division better than the UFC's? Oh, well, we're going there now. I, so I am not, I need to watch more of their 205 division because I've heard of,

I will say I'm partially ignorant here because I'm not sure how it is top to bottom. But I might say, Yes, from I'm I'm pleading ignorant, but I think it's worth a discussion. It's a harm's worth of discussion. Here,

I'll pull up the, I'll pull up the, like the top light heavyweights are in Bellator are Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Rumble, Corey Anderson, Anthony Johnson.

I'm also saying a lot of former UFC fighters. Let's not forget that. Who else is in the tournament, Casey? Nimcoff, the current champion, Fado, Fador's protege. Technically, you could throw Machita in there, too.

Manhoof, McGeery, and then like light, heavyweight, pretty much everyone we said. So it's on par. The only knock I can have against Bellatorre is a lot of former UFC fighters, not a lot of homegrown talent. Right. Yeah, it doesn't seem like anyone from the UFC's

205 division has really emerged as a star. There's a lot of, it feels like, it feels like a division. I guess Yon's fought really well. But beyond that, it feels like a lot of guys who would just kind of knock each other out. That's my impression. You know, like they, like, you know what I mean? Like there's a lot of guys who as soon as they get to that, that number one contender spot, then someone else, it feels like a title that could swap hands a lot,

even though Yon is really good lately. It's, yeah, I don't know what to make of the division. I do agree that it does feel shallow. You see, like, a couple years ago, a guy like Johnny Walker and you think he's the next one up, and then he's had like what two or three bad losses he lost two in a row and then he just got back to the win column right dude there's a guy of anklaya is someone to watch for he's a young guy from russia he's been on a tear lately but he hasn't fought anyone in the top five yet so but yeah i'm looking at it jamaal hill he's the new guy from contender series right yeah he called out john jones after his first win god bless so at least he

has some character right he's ambitious big, man. It's like, I can't remember who it was. It might have been Marquez or someone. He won. He got the contentionaries to his contract. And then his first fight was on like the tough finale where Nika Montanio Farroxie.

And then he goes, I want to fight China Woodley next. I was like, you're four and oh in your career guy. But shoot for the stars. I guess. Love. One more question. UFC 262's missing main event. from Andy Burton, with most of the champions being booked or fought recently,

who will headline the UFC 262 pay-per-view? Maybe a man, Nunes, she wants to run around quickly, probably Juliana, Poria McNuggets three, and then some more quickies we can wrap it far after. But USC 262 is in, what, May, right? April May. Yeah, USC 262 is May. 261 is Valentin Androads, Zhang Wiley, and Rose. I, if I'm a betting man, I say Porre McGregor.

because you don't need a title. You can let the rest of the champions play it out. E, what's your thoughts? Stepe and Francis is already booked, right? March. That's the next pay-per-view in two weeks. So I love Stepey, but my hope is we get a quick Francis knockout and we get him right back in there for a 262.

Against John? Yes. Come on now. Tell me that isn't money. I mean, we said a few times the biggest fight they can make that's possible. now that Izzy has lost is John Francis or Francis versus John if he's the champion. Outside of Brock Lesnar versus John Jones, but I don't think Brock's coming back anytime soon. But Francis John is the biggest fight they can make in the heavyweight division.

I agree. I am salivating at the thought of it. Sign me up. Yeah. I mean, do you think John should have one fight at heavyweight first or do you think he should skip the cue and get the title fight right away? my fear is he doesn't look great in his heavyweight fight and now the luster for that heavyweight title fight is not really there because I don't see anyone besides Francis who I think it's a travesty if John skips the line ahead of him. Yeah.

I think, you know, Derek Lewis, you could argue my, but he's had a title shot not that long ago. I worry that especially because when you watch bones, you watch John's last few fights, you don't see the knockout power that you might want to see at heavyweight. You see he's still a pretty good defensive fighter, but I don't know. I worry that he goes out there

and he has the number one contender fight and he looks lackluster and now we don't have the same desire to. So I say I'm okay with him skipping line in this instance, especially when you, he's one of the greatest of all time. We can argue he's the best fighter who's ever done it. So I think he's warranted the ability to skip the line. Yeah, strike while they are on the eye, same argument we had for why Rumble and Romero

fighting in the first round. You don't want to lose that. So, yeah, I agree with you. I also think any time a champion changes weight class and they don't lose their belt, they have every right to skip the queue anyway. Like when T.J. dropped to fly away, skip the cue because you're still the champ. Some quickies. You want to do rapid fire with these, Casey?

Yeah, go for it. These prediction for female and male fighter of the year. so I'm assuming in 2021. That's a long way away. Yon right now, probably. If Porier goes 2 and O against McGregor and gets the title shot, maybe. But I have no idea.

FEMA fire a year. Probably Julia Penae because she'll submit New Jersey. There you go. And then they'll do a rematch later in the year and she'll submit New York twice. So Julia Pena, you know, by 2020, you know, Julia Pena is clearly the goat. What were we thinking?

there you go. Will Sohudo return this year? Yes or no? No. Casey? If the money is there, of course. If the money is there. I'm going to say yes because Henry Sehudo was at the apex for this card.

I think if Jan or Sterling had just won, I have a feeling Sehudo would have crashed the press conference. If Sehudo was maybe wrestling besides this gentleman in the middle of the screen, right, here. If Sehudo was doing that for a paycheck right now, then I would say no. But currently, I don't see him inside a wrestling ring. So, yeah, after his, after he beat Dominic Cruz, he's like, I'll go over and wrestle Ray Mysterio. I was like, random, but okay. Anyway, if McGregor versus Porier and Gaethe versus Chandler booked, what is the most likely outcome, Islam versus Oliver, or Derr-Yush versus Oliver? Not something I had pondered, but I'm going to say Islam,

just because they want, like, I think they want to push him. How besides, like, I know they respect Derrush, but I think the UFC is going to get behind Islam. And so they'll book him in a bigger fight than Derrush. Agreed. I think Islam, Mahajchev is probably the toughest guy for matchmakers to book. Who is going to accept a fight with him? RDA, because he did it twice.

Yeah. But what does that do for it? But the engagement is on to the same spot. I'm personally, I don't know if you guys watch the post. I know Casey watched the stream, but we're talking about wrestlers and storylines and everything. Islam called out Tony Ferguson to settle the issues with Tony Ferguson and his camp. And his phrasing was, I want to help him retire. And I want to put this Habib Tony rivalry behind us.

So if we're talking about Islam being the next coming of Habib, go ahead. I had not even thought about it. But as soon as Tony Ferguson left his lips, I'm like, I'm in, sign me up. Let's get it done. And the UFC just release all the old posters and just like cheaply Photoshop Islam. Yeah, 100%. Just like a little MS paint just scratch out the name. Like, macho.

That would be great. I'm not mad at it, even though I want to see one more action fight with Tony. So I'd rather see that because I don't, I think Islam beats him kind of handily too. I don't know how good he is. He could be, he could be Habib good. I don't know, but it's a strong possibility. He could be that good. 100%.

I just want to see him fight someone in the top 10. Yeah, me too. All right. I think we're good, Jose. All right. Actually, I got one question for E. Can we speak to chat now? I got one question for E.

In case you know the question I'm going to ask, not M&A related. We've asked every single guest we've asked, ever had on this show. If you had, this is a completely non-MMA, non- Wrestling-related question. Okay. How did this start, Casey? Did someone ask us this in the comments? Yeah, I think it was a, in a hypothetical world.

Wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on. I need the, I need the music. Right, here we go. Oh, okay. It's just like thinking music. Here we go. In this hypothetical world where you can solve world hunger and you have a Mega Man style cannon on your arm that can shoot one flavor of ice cream.

What flavor do you pick to solve world hunger? And keep in mind, this is not soft serve, this is one scoop shot. So it's like boom, boom, boom, rather than one continuous stream. What flavor are you picking to solve world hunger? Oh, man. Let's go with Rocky Road? I think I'm going to Rocky Road.

That's a good answer. That's a good answer. For a long time, I said cookies. There you go. for a long time I said cookies and creed because if you're solving world hunger you need something with like substance in there you don't just want like a singular flavor

right and that's like right Casey said mint chock chips yeah Casey said mint chinket I'm not on the mint flim well I forgot it was about world hunger I was just thinking like I just thought of a gun I was like oh the little mint that they're sharp they can really cut people up

yeah see you're thinking of like world hunger like whatever you're thinking of weaponizing dessert desserts. You know, you solve war on hunger by eliminating how many people are hungry. Right. So if you have to say cookies and cream for a long time. And then I presented this question, Israel, Adisania, and like Kai Kar, France, and the city kickboxing team. And they came to a consensus that it's Neapolitan ice cream, the three flavors and one, because then you have something for everyone.

Right. Didn't hate that. Didn't hate that idea either. This is America. We don't compromise. Oh, my fault. But does it melt? If it melts, then it all kind of becomes one.

Yeah, how do we handle that? In this world, we'll say it's normal ice cream, so it melts at normal temperature, but lactose intolerance does not exist. So you don't have to worry about dietary restrictions. The problem with Neapolitan is the flavors, you get three flavors in one, but they're really not that good on their own. No, they're not. They're not.

Right? I can't remember what Hurricane said. He said something similar to you where he came up with, like, the junkie idea. Pizza Carol, my former co-host said vanilla, which is the incorrect answer. Vanilla. There are no incorrect answers except for that one. Yeah, that was the wrong. But he also was under pressure and he hadn't had ice cream a long time because he has no childhood.

No more questions, right, Casey? We can't, I'd even touch that. I barely hit the YouTube comments. I'll ask this question because the last time you're on E, someone asked you if you could add one MMA fighter to the new day, who would you add? your answer was either Derek Lewis or Johnny Walker. Is those still your answers? Do you have any other names?

Those are actually pretty good answers. Man, let me think if I would. I should update this. Israel is an obvious choice. I'm really looking for personality here. And he's a hell of a dancer. My God, what a dancer. And even though, you know, he's coming off a loss,

I'm still going to Adasanya. To me, he's a star. He's still a star. He's got a ton of personality. He's got the hips. for the job. And we need some length. All of us are like six feet or like that five, like five, nine to six feet range. We need a guy with some length. And so we'll, we'll bring Izzy in for that. I like your mouth to come in and just give everyone motivational

speeches. Go. I love you. Go. Go. He just stares. Just go. One last question is, I think is kind of fun to talk about it'd be if i were to make a biopic about a u sd legend which fighter would you want the film to focus on i personally would be down to watch a gsp biopic oh i'm gonna they're currently making they're currently making one on mark curr starring the and the rock is producing and starring in it so oh true true oh wow that's a tough one kacy what are you you got you got an answer actually i i i think the mark cur story i think Mark because I love the smashing machine. I was I was actually at Mark Kerr's

final fight. Oh wow. Yeah, when he got. And they're also, they're making a biopic on Kimbo. I think, uh, was it Winston Duke. He played, he was in, uh, us and Black Panther. He's playing, yeah, he's playing Kimbo. And I mean, as soon as that and as soon as that came out, I was like, killer casting

right there. Yeah, that's actually your choice. I guess I was thinking maybe Matt's Sarah just like it's a really it's a rocky it's you know it's a great rocky story um yeah I don't know if there's enough you know in his like personal life to to make it a great one but that's it's yeah yeah artistic license you know I would not hate one on just the the UFC one in general just like the first ever event yeah like a dramatization of that because there are some characters in there. Yeah, I could see. Was that the one where Kimo walked out with the cross? No, I think I'll know it later, but yeah. We're going to, like, just that whole era.

We'll combine them all. We'll just, like, put the first, like, 15 shows into one show, you know, type of thing. Why not? Why not? Okay, which, wait, which female fighter? Valentina. Me too. I think Valentina, too.

I was going to say Valentini. Just because I know, we know nothing. Right. She could have the most interesting life in the world and no one knows anything about her because she travels all over the world training. She's James Bond. No, I think, do you watch Killing Eve? You know that show Killing Eve?

I love that show. I think she's, um, uh, Belin, what's the, uh, Villene, what's, uh, Villeneau? I think she's Belinnell. I think she's Belinnell. I think she's just her kind of her cover. I think she's Villeneau. I think she's out there. She, she goes to events across the world to say she's in an MMA fight, but really, you know.

She's an assassin. She's an assassin. She also, doesn't she speak like five languages? Yeah, like assassins do. You might be on to something. Yeah, I know. Darren Till has a pretty insane life story too. Like he had to go to Portugal because someone, I mean, my Portugal, Brazil,

because someone wanted to kill him in England. And that's why he knows Portuguese because he has to live in Brazil. You know who has, Ardom Lobov has a crazy story too. Like, did you know Artem is completely fluent in Spanish? I did not know that. Yeah, because he had to go. live in Argentina for a while. Like, why? Like,

Arden would make a great great one too. Anyway. And that's it? That's it. That's a different question. E. Biggie or Tupac? Tupac. Oh. I'm an East Coast guy. I grew up in East Coast, so I got to say Biggie. I only asked that because I think it was

close to the anniversary of Biggie's death. And And Andreis said, yep, Andreas message me said, ask E one thing about hip-hop. Because when Andreas is on the show, There's about 45 minutes of hip-hop talk in about 15 minutes of MMA in boxing. But anyway...

I believe it. I'm from Houston. I go fat pat. There you go. Anyway, the reason he's on the show is to plug his project. E. Tell us all about Our Heroes Rock. Yeah, this is something near and dear to my heart.

But essentially, we're starting a Kickstarter right now, and the link is Ourheroesrock.org. You can click the link. You can support it. But essentially, we're doing schoolhouse rock for important black figures. I think, you know, in schools, so many of these important people

we don't learn about at an early age. We wait till college. And I think black history is American history. It shouldn't just be confined to February. We want to use this vehicle of animation and sci-fi and hip-hop to tell these stories of all these important black figures that we should all know more about and to aim it for kids. And so that's our goal right now.

Hit the link. Once again, it's our heroes rock.org. We have Rhapsody, who is a two-time Grammy, She's incredible. She's going to be part of the project. But it's essentially a short film that we're hoping to eventually turn into a series. But the Kickstarter link has all the information. It's something that I'm working with Andreas Hale, your guy who you just mentioned, and my man Jonathan Davenport on this.

And it's been so fulfilling and rewarding for us. And we're telling, in this short film, we're telling the story of Ruby Bridges through, once again, through animation, through hip-hop and science fiction. It's fun, it's interactive, and we like to think of this. to think of this, the metaphor I've been using is it's like when your parents used to give you your medicine or your vitamins and they would crush them up and they would put it in the applesauce and they would mix it in and you'd have your applesauce and you wouldn't even know it.

So we want this to be much like that. We want you to enjoy this applesauce to be entertained and you walk away and you get your nutrients. You get some information about someone who was really important who did something very courageous and brave integrating school in New Orleans in 1960. That's Ruby Bridges. So that's our hope with this series. We don't want to beat you over the head with education, but we want to make it fun and entertaining and engaging.

And so please, please support our project. And just click the link. Ourheroesrock.org is our Kickstarter link. We have about 30-something days to go. We've already met our goal, thanks to everyone's support, but we have a stretch goal, which will allow us to make an even better project. And we've been really grateful for everyone reaching out,

but continue, please, to support and to back our project and also to spread the word. Yeah, let us know. But thank you guys so much for having me on. I love talking MMA with you guys. It's been a pleasure. It's been too long, too. So thanks for having me.

We'll change that. We'll get you back on again. I think you surprised Casey with your knowledge. Even he'll admit it himself. So you will become a regular, sir. And maybe even down the line, Casey, we can get on between the links. Mike Heck.

I don't know if you watch around the horn, you have our own versions of only MMA talk. Ooh, I like it. So maybe he can challenge someone for the BTL championship and he can get a second title. But for Jose, that's Casey. That's Biggie. You'll find this podcast on all everywhere spot.

Everywhere podcasts are with that. We'll see you next Wednesday. Remember, Black History Month is every month. Yes, sir. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.