MMA Fighting - The A-Side Live Chat | Jiri Prochazka’s future, Diego Sanchez vs. UFC, Archuleta vs Pettis, UFC Vegas 26, more

Episode Date: May 5, 2021

For this episode, Kristen King joins José Youngs and E. Casey Leydon to react to some of the biggest news in MMA. Some topics include fallout from UFC Vegas 25​, Jiri Prochazka’s KO of Dominick Reyes, Diego Sanchez’s recent interview, and more. The three will also look ahead to UFC Vegas 26​, Bellator 258​, headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Juan Archuleta vs. Sergio Pettis, PFL 3​, featuring Fabricio Werdum vs. Renan Ferreira & Kayla Harrison vs. Mariana Morais, and more Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc Follow Kristen King: @KristenKingMMA 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

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Hey, we're live, pal. Welcome everyone to another episode of the A-Side live of chat here on MAPplain.com. Welcome everyone to our, welcome everyone from Twitter and Facebook. As you know, we're streaming from there now. So if you're new to the show, new to the program, welcome. Hello, it's all of our longtime YouTube listeners. And for those of us, those of you that are listening after this is live on all the podcast, We haven't forgot about you.

We just hear from the show. We don't hear from you until the show is over, so we don't get to interrupt much. But hello, everyone. I am, of course, Jose Young's host of the A-Side Live chat. Well, one hour early because Bellator decided they needed to do immediately. Right in the middle of our normally scheduled A-side slot. But that's out of here nor there. Welcome back this week, Kristen King, longtime friend of the show.

She's my friend and yours. Kristen, how's life in Florida? Life is good in Florida. I can't really complain, honestly. Thank you guys for having me back. Yeah, we've been wanting to get Christian back on for a long time, man. Today's the day it's done. And of course, on the ones and twos, Casey,

how's your Cinco de Mayo, then? It's not Cinco Tamayo. It is the two-year anniversary of me marrying Esther freaking Len. All right. That's fair. Oh, happy anniversary. Well, happy anniversary, Casey. Happy anniversary of Mexico for winning,

defeating Texas in that one battle. Yeah. F-U, Texas. It didn't work out. Even through a big wedding to celebrate it. That's true. Anyway, you guys know the drill. Ask all the questions you want.

Kristen, I, or Casey, will try to answer it. If you're on Twitter or Facebook, leave it in the comments, or you can tweet at us, or you can message us, or you can go on the MAPFighton. find the A side post, ask the question there. Casey's may in the comment section ask any and all things you want. I'm assuming most of it will be about MMA, but you never

know. Last week when we had Ant, we talked about 45 minutes on one topic and got very sidetrats. We will try not to do that, but no promises. Anyway. There we go, it's it. Got a bunch of questions. I don't really put them in any order, so

let's see what happens. Good. It looks weird. Leon and Nate's fight being pushed back from Tristan Gordet on site. Which UFC pay-per-view car? Do you think Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards would have been better on? UFC 262 or now UFC 263

or doesn't even matter. With the fight being pushed back to UFC 263, the minor injury to Nate may have been a blessing in disguise. I think USC 263 is shaping to be one of the most impressive paper-view cars of the year so far. So yes, for those of you who aren't aware, Nate Diaz, or Leon Edwards versus Nate Diaz, was previously scheduled to be the co-main event.

USC 262 in Houston in a few weeks. in a few weeks. It was a five-round co-main event, historic five-round co-main event. That is now happening UFC 263 on June 12th

here in Arizona. No idea if it's going to be five rounds, but we'll get to that in a second. Kristen, which card benefits most from this, which card would have benefited most

from this fight happening on that card? I feel like now probably UFC 263 just because it's such a stacked card. Like we already had Izzy and Vittory. We had Davis and Figuary. We had Davis and Figurie.

Eureto and Brandon Moreno. And now we have Nate and Leon on this card. I'm truly jealous of all you people in Arizona because you guys are getting such a good card. Yeah, I know you're happy about this, Jose. You can sleep in your own bed for five week and all that stuff. And you get a stellar pay-per-view card. That's great.

So I feel like UFC 23 benefits the most. And it's just going to be a really fun card. Hopefully it stays together because for whatever reason, it seems like Leon Edwards always gets the short end of the stick with this type of stuff. I mean, he's been away for a little bit. He recently fought with Bilal Muhammad, but then that ended in controversy due to an eye poke.

So I am hoping it sticks together for the sake of this card. And even if it doesn't, it's still going to be a very good card. Casey, which fight should this, which fight would benefit the most from Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards being on it?

Oh, the Houston card. That card needs it. It's got a fake title fight. and this was clearly the people's main event. So, yeah, now, yeah, the Houston card is now just one twisted ankle, one COVID test, one visa, no, travel visa doesn't go through that. We don't have a main event. So I know the UFC is, you know, super, like, crossing fingers and sweating that that Houston card comes through with Chandler-Oliverr. Because, yeah, if that one drops out, that's a whole lot of bad. or the UFC.

And yeah, and the Phoenix, the Phoenix, oh, the Glendale car. Yeah. Is there a difference? Yes, very much so. Oh. Yeah. This car, and the Arizona, Arizona car, it was fine. Now it was just extra loaded.

Now it was going to have, the problem, though, is it's going to have three, basically three title fights, three 25-minute fights. So, uh, no, two, two, six to one. that proved to be awesome, but, you know, it's, it's risky. But here we are. And I'm looking at the main card. 463. I'm trying to see, because obviously Nate, Leon, or Leon Nate would be right below the title fights. So you'd have to bump Craig, Jamal Hill, Damien Maya, Blah, Mohamed, or Drew Dober, Brad Redell.

I imagine they're going to drop the light heavyweight, maybe Paul Craig, Jamal Hill, to the featured ESPN card because the rest of that card well maybe because Lauren Murphy and Joanne Calderwood is on that card too that might have to be the top featured prelim but I have no idea because I do not want a six-fight main card

especially with three 25 minute fights but we've had we just we were supposed to have three 25 minute fights in Jacksonville and none of them lasted 25 minutes so who knows which is very rare very very rare that also happened to that was the second short

something like second shortest pay-per-view ever yeah you UFC 217 was the same way that had the Garbrand getting caoed by Dillishaw rose K-O and Yawanna and GSP tapping out Bisman and I was also on the East Coast so something about the East East East Coast cards they fight gods are just like you know what you don't have to stay in the arena until five in the morning but uh chances are I think Figueratum Rand will probably go five rounds again because that fight first fight was a bang

her. And then who knows? Other than that, it's a bunch of really, really high-low, Damien Meyer's retirement fight, allegedly, I imagine we'll stay on the main card.

Is it a retirement fight? That's what our own Gareme, that's what our own Gareme Cruz has been reporting that this would be his last fight, but like I haven't heard it from Damien Meyer. Yeah, I feel like this is.

But I trust Gare, I trust Gareme, and he's been on that beat for a long time. We've been trying to fancy match make that fight for a while. We thought it was going to be, it was going to be Diego Sanchez, but that's another can of worms.

we will probably open later on but I agree with you Casey. Houston would have been great but I'm not complaining if it's an important card. But you know it kind of as a bummer if that if it is true Damiena

retiring on the Glendo card it kind of sucks that Nate and Lee on that card because I mean of course because that would be maybe kind of the feature fight outside of the title fights

and now I feel like the Damon in my retirement is going to get kind of overshadowed no matter what happens you know so that's all just a bummer for Damien me in, but, you know, whatever. He hasn't fought since getting,

losing to Gilbert Burns. That was the first pandemic card. Remember, they turned all the fans away. So maybe he's changed his mind. I don't know. We'll find out. Yeah, yeah, you're right. Congratulations to Guillermo for becoming a dad.

Becoming a dad. So I was going to say, I'll find out from Guillermo, but he has much needed time away from the fight scene, deal with the birth of his first kid. I like he posted that photo of him and his wife, Carol, Carol, and the baby, like, I mean, but like the baby was fresh. I mean, it looked like about 30 seconds old. I was like, that's the freshest baby I've ever seen on Instagram. Wow.

So, yeah. I'm pretty sure Jenny Androdd, like, posted a video of her, like, giving birth on her Instagram. All right. It's talk, M.A. Yeah, don't find. Don't look for it. They do it differently down in Brazil. Thank you.

Anyway, thank you for the question, Tristan. Long time commented. All right. This is kind of a broad question. Biazrafique. I apologize if I mispronounce your name on Twitter. How do you see contract works? Please give a thorough explanation.

Well, we're the wrong person to ask. If you want, was it a bloody elbow, what's his first name? Jason. John Nash? Josh. John, John Nash. That's right.

Yeah. I was, there's a million John's. Jason's, whatever's in the world. Yes. He would be the better one to ask because this is basically right up his alley. Or Stephen Morocco probably knows a lot more than we do. But normally fight contracts, a normal one would be like your rookie one, four fight deal.

You make X amount to make weight. And if you make weight, you get that. And if you win, you get the exact same amount as a quote unquote win bonus plus whatever performance bonus you get. So say you sign a four fight contract for 40K to show, 40K to win. you can walk away with with air quotes $80,000 before taxes. But that's how contracts work for those low level. Yeah, those that is a very low level.

And like, because I'm not, I don't, I'm not privy to Connor McGregor's finances with the UFC. If that's what you're asking. Generally, contract, UFC contracts work where you sign a contract, you have to obey everything in it. And the UFC decides they want to change something. They can do it. Yes. Can't get cut off. Don't normally get cut off a win, but that is proven not to be factual in some cases.

Yeah. Anyway, go as Stephen or John. And they're super, super, super, UFC is super secretive about what's in the contracts. Very much so. Yeah. So that's why you don't see fighters and managers just showing their contracts publicly because I'm pretty sure they can get in trouble for that. Right. Four corner sports on Twitter.

Sorry, my already answered this. You can read it. With Nate Diaz versus Leon Edwards off UFC 262 and moved to USC 263, what does this favor? Who does this favor more for weeks to prep for their opponent? Well, it's Leon versus Nate, higher-ranked opponent against top billing. I don't care if Nate's more popular. Anyway, Kristen, who does this benefit more between the fighters?

I mean, I guess Nate maybe just because he's been away for such a long time and he gets a little bit more to prepare. But then I'm like, it's off the end of an injury. So I'm not really sure how that's going to play a role in his preparation now that he's taken on like, what rank is Leon Edwards right now? Is he number three at Walterweight? He's up there. He's three or two. Yeah. What is he in your own personal rankings?

because the UFC rankings are a pile of pooh-poo. So that's all that matters. I just kept right your rankings, Kristen. I put him too. Yeah, I would put him at two as well. Yeah, I feel like Leon Edwards is probably way overdue for a title shot at this point. And I guess Nate is going to probably need more time to prepare for someone who is probably going to contend for the title by the end of the year. Hopefully, hopefully, but we really don't know.

So I think it's better for Nate. It's getting better for Nate because he's injured. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, because we remember what happened when he lost, when he lost to Jorge,

he said he had a little injury and he wasn't allowed to, he wasn't able to get his cardio right. That's what, that was his big, that was his big thing at the end. Like he, he wanted to pace himself at the beginning so he could, uh,

kind of pick it up and the pick, pick up the pace at the end. He wasn't able to because his face got gashed open. Uh, he also found, it opened up the same cut. Yep. From the pedus,

according to the U.S. according to the U.S. rankings. Leon Edwards is the third ranked welterweight. Like obviously, Usman's champion, and then Covington Burns Edwards. I'd probably,

in my rankings, I'd just swap Edwards and Burns, but that's, yeah, I think so too. One swap is the same. That's the same. Yeah.

Yeah. And then Stephen Thompson's four and Mazvidol fell to five. I don't have an issue with any of those. Wait, where was Mosbado? I think Maz, I believe Mazudal was two or three.

So wait, how do you get, I don't understand. I can't. I think we had this, we did interview with, with Shane Burgos. After he lost to Emmett,

he was ranked number 14, and then he didn't bite by nine months, and now he's ranked at number nine. He's like, cool. I don't know. I went up six spots in the rankings. I didn't fight once. Yeah, that's odd.

That's... Like, while he was away, like, who fought, who lost, and then he just got... Yeah, a lot of it, like, if the last time Shane Burgos lost, since then, Yusef has lost, Hakeem Dawyer's cracked at the top of 15,

Gaya Chikaze just like knocked a bunch of people down so he just got elevated by default it looks like promotion by combat like Wonder Boy went up a spot because Mazurah got knocked out you know just weird how things

I don't know and for whatever he was in Michael Kees had jumped up one spot I feel like I feel like all the rankings have like a plus or minus two at least like you can rank someone three and they could be four or they could be two.

It's like, whatever. As long as they're not like 10. It's like, yeah, it's in the area. Yeah. Yeah. Once you're in the top five, you're golden. Anyway, thank you for the question. Another one from four-quare-n-n-n-n-one.

Nope. Four-corner sports, again, with Diaz and Edwards, Edwards and Diaz, out of U.S. 262, and Randy Costa and Adrianianis asking the U.S. to bump their fight. Ju-U.C. is 262. What are the chances the U.S. puts them on that card, considering they are asking for it, and Yanez is from Houston.

Man, it makes sense, but it's the UFC and it's MMA. And this is a silly sport and nothing we want happens. But Kristen, what are the chances that fight fans and the fighters get what they want? I mean, it happened with the making of this fight. I mean, this is probably one of the most wholesome fight bookings that we've seen in recent months, just because it literally started over such a cute beef between Dr. Pepper and Reese's peanut butter cups. That's hilarious. is. I love Reese's, and I love Dr. Pepper. I eat them together sometimes. So I love this fight.

And I hope that if the UFC is seeing what kind of traction this type of stuff is getting on social media and you see that they're tagging the UFC brass and stuff, I would hope that they add it to the main card. And Yanaz is such a good, like, prospect. So is, so is Costa. That's a perfect showcase fight for this division. Why not put it on the main card? Well, it is not a loaded card. So, yeah, it would fit up there. And yeah, and you got in the 35ers, correct? Yeah, so the best division in the sport.

Yeah, might as well highlight a super. Yeah, that's actually a perfect opener for the pay-per-view, to be honest. I was going to say, yeah, have them open the card. That's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, Houston. There are some really good prelim fights. Not going to lie. Yeah, good prelim fights, but not the ones that fans care about.

Hermanson Shabazian's a scrap. Yeah. That's on the prelims? Is that the future prelims? No, that's right in the middle of ESPN. That's like smack in the middle. In the middle? Wow.

And Andrea Lee, Anthonya Schifchenko, Landauvinata's on the fight past prelons versus Mike Grundy. That's a great fight. Kevin Aguilar. Yeah, there's a good scrap. Beverly Hills Dinjus back. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm surprised Hermansen Shabazian is not on the featured prelim or on the pay-per-view, but whatever. Shockeret's on the prelims, too. Decent scraps. What's the new Coleman event is Tony Ferguson, Benile Derews? Good fight. Oh, yeah. That should be, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm not arguing that, but it's not Nate Diaz and Leon Edwards, or Leon Edwards, Nate Diaz. Anyway, thank you for the question for Corner Sports. It is true. It is not those two other guys. Oh, Matt Snells supposedly on this card too. from Azon Zaman. Apologies if I mispronounce your name.

Questions. Why don't fighters make better use of their interviews by calling all viable opponents? Most of them end up thanking family and sponsors or name someone way ahead of them. Should Anil versus Magny get the co-man event over a cowboy versus Moreno or Marano? What's next to Ryan Hall?

Due to 37 years old and I don't think he can be champ. What? Zodon Shabazzian versus the Joker. So we're going to go, we're going to start at the top. Why don't most fighters make better use why don't most fighters make better use of their injuries by calling out viable opponents most of them end up thanking family and sponsors

or name some way out of them well I don't know ask them I have no idea I don't personally care like obviously I would prefer callouts um dude shoot your shot if you want to fight someone way ahead of you

what are you going to do what's the worst that could happen you don't get it whatever this question is Mr. the man where he goes Most, it was like, most of them end up thanking family and sponsors. Like, how dare they?

What is, like, I mean, you got to make, you got to make money somehow. So I would hope you thank your sponsors at the end of a week. No, thank your coaches. Thank the people who got you there. It's like, this is a, this is a freaking team sport. No one gets there alone. Most, most fighters, when they're done fighting, they've been training for eight to 11 weeks. they just got in a fist fight

they've been punched a whole lot they're exhausted I am pretty confident they don't want to think about doing all that again right away so if you're talking about interviews if you're talking about interviews immediately after they're probably

they don't want to talk about fighting or think about the next opponent they just want to talk like you know get back to their family like Brennan Allen when he went in Jacksonville just gone his car and drove home all the way back to Louisiana

he's like I just want to see my kid I don't want to talk about fighting yeah I mean I can appreciate calling out an opponent, but do I necessarily need it? No, not really. And if you call someone way ahead of you, what's the issue in that? Like, what's that quote that says, like, shoot for the moon and even if you don't, you'll land among the stars? Go for it. Call somebody out. Even if you're ranked number 59, I'd hope you call for someone in like the top 15 because that means you want to be there. And you may not get it, but at least you have initiative because you're like, yeah, I want to

be up there with those guys. I'm fine with that. But you know what? When people call up, this is all dependent on whoever is making the call-out everything is dependent on your opinion of them before Kamar Uzon was champ he was always calling out people people and he never got that fight and all the fans were like

look at this guy just whining for big fights he doesn't deserve a big fight so like it's just it all depends on who you are and the idea that you have to call someone out like that matters it doesn't matter the only thing that matters is what the matchmakers feel matters I got not embarrassed, but when Whitaker beat Jacques Rae, I asked Whitaker in the postpresser.

Basically, I think Luke Rockhold was, you know, talking crap on Twitter at that time to Whitaker. I asked him about, would you want to face Rockhold next? Because he didn't call anyone out. And Whitaker kind of looked at me because, like, bro, I just got in a fight with Jacques Ray in the main event or whatever. It's like, I don't want to think about this. I just want to go home, rest a couple weeks, hand it. hang up my family, hang up my family and everything.

And then I'll start thinking about my fights. I don't want to think about that right now. I was like, oh, fair enough. That's Robert Werdaker, you know? So, like, it doesn't matter. It's like, it's just, if a bite makes sense, it'll happen. Just don't say whatever the matchmakers won't. Can we disagree on that?

Oh, yeah, no, that's the one thing you never say. Yeah. Okay. There are some that I, that say that, Like when Henry Corrales said it, he's like, whatever the matchmakers want, they don't even have to call me. Just say I'm in. Like, I was like, yeah, that's how you do it. Don't even, don't even call me.

Don't even tell me who it is. Just be like, Henry will fight you because I'm there. Yeah. And I was like, that's like, well, that's Henry Corralis. Yeah, that's his personality. Do you, you know, he's just like, I don't know. I'll punch anyone. Pay me.

Yeah, I'll punch anyone for money. Should Neil versus, should Jeff Neal versus Neil versus Neal versus Neal McGon to get co-main event over Cowboy Marono? know, they're all three-round fights. I think Cowboys way more popular than any of those individuals, unfortunately. Not unfortunately, but I don't know. Doesn't bother me. Cowboy is the one that's going to drive, is the one that everyone's going to know. Yes, it should.

Yeah, I agree. It should. Yeah, that's a higher-level fight, better. That's fine. It doesn't bother me one way or another. They're both going to happen. They're both going to be three-round fights. It's not going to affect anyone.

Like, right now Jeff Neal fights third from the top, and Donald Storon, only fight second from the top. Like, if they just want to switch it, great. If they don't, great. Yeah, but I think, like, Neil and Matt has more of a, like, a title contention type of thing, like an eliminator. So I feel like that would have been better as the co-main. But nothing against Cowboy or Moreno.

That's great. That's a great fight. But I think Neil and Magny should have got precedence over that one. Two guys not ranked in the top 10. Yeah, over, yeah. Sure. We respect the rank and we expect the hard work. The nil and the double nils got to.

got there. Respect that. Cool. Yeah. Doesn't bother me one way or another that fights are going to happen.

What's next to Ryan Hall? Dude is 37 years old and I don't think he can be champ. Well, he could be champ but I want to see him fight first because I've

been saying this forever. Ryan Hall's UFC career. Call out everyone in the top 15. Doesn't get it. Gets booked against someone. Wins. Calls out everyone

on the top 15. Get someone in the top like ranked 11. Pulls out. Rinse and repeat. So I just want to see him fight. Don't care who he fights right now because he's a very exciting individual. And as this individual has pointed out, he's 37, not getting younger.

Just want to see him in there. And then we can talk about champ fights. Casey, I know you want to talk a lot. What the idea is I don't think he'll be champ. Dude, 95% of the fighters on the roster aren't going to be champs. So what does that mean? It doesn't mean anything. Ryan Hall rules.

Sucks that he gets injured. Sucks that he doesn't get the fight he wants. Hopefully he gets better. And he's exciting. I want to see him fight. That's all. I just want to see him in there. I don't care who it is.

I hope he gets healthy. I think he's actually scheduled to fight in July. I believe it's against the Georgian fight. Ilya, I believe. Hopefully he'll get to that fight. But no Ryan Hall slander here. We don't like that. Casey doesn't like that.

No one likes that. I'm pretty indifferent. Thoughts on Shabazzin versus the booker. You're indifferent to slander? Why are we slandering these gentlemen fighting? Well, I don't, saying he, I don't think he'd be champions. I don't think that's slander. That's just like, okay.

Cool story, bro. Yeah, cool story. Like, I like blue otter pops. I like purple otter pops. Cool story, bro. Like, that's just your opinion, man. Wait, wait, you don't like blue ones? No, I love blue ones.

Okay. I like all the otter pops. But I'm saying, like, if someone, purple is purple. No, purple is terrible. All right. See, that's a cool story, bro. Same thing. That's the correct story, Kristen.

Thank you. Thank you. Everyone knows it's blue or red, but okay. What shirt are you wearing, Casey? Casey, what hoodie is that? I don't know. Since I've been slimming down, I can, this is actually Esther's clothes. I can fit into some of her clothes now.

This is Catholic High Wrestling. Yeah. That's all. Just two young men, you know, getting sweaty together, you know, Catholic High. Where is Catholic High? Your heart? Definitely not. With Instacard, you get groceries that over-deliver,

so you can over-share your preferences. Want russet potatoes with no brown spots? You got it. Want turnips that look light but feel heavy? Easy. Want honey-crisp apples that are firm, green, and definitely not Macintosh like last year when you lost the fall bake-off to perfect Penelope Johnson.

Okay, a bit TMI, but we're here for it. So download the app today and get you, get zero delivery fees on your first three orders. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Service fees exclusions and terms apply. Thoughts. Thoughts on Shabazzian versus Jackramansen. Awesome.

Yeah. That's my. Casey? Awesome. But does, with Shabazian's age, do you think he needs to be slow-rolled a little more after taking that big loss to Brunston? The big, the big whoopin from Brunson.

he got. I think he's alluded to that. He said he kind of changed up the way that he was training for this fight. And I believe even after the Brunson fight, like his team was somewhat appreciative for Derek Brunson of like teaching him a lesson, I guess. And I guess it's good to have it early on in his career so he can learn from it. But I would assume if he would like to get to the top again, he would slow down just a little bit. And especially against someone like Jack Hermanson, it would probably be his. best bet, but I love this fight. I'm looking for a showcase fight at middleweight

because it's so fun right now. So hopefully this can be one of those. I love it. I don't think he needs to be slow rolled because if you're ready, you're ready, and he just lost a really high-level middle-weight that we can, Derek Barnsie, we can kind of all agree,

is one of the more underappreciated middle-weights in MMA history has a lot of high-level wins and has only lost to the best of the best. So a loss to Jack Cramanson won't be the end of the world for Ebene Chabazzian. Will it be terrible for his career? In the moment, yes, but he's very young still and has a very bright prospect. But, I mean, can we agree that in that Derek Brunson fight, I saw a lot of the reaction,

and they expected him to absolutely steamroll Derek Brunson. Yeah, it was weird. Yeah, it was very weird and all that stuff. And then he got, I think he wasn't even the main event at that point. I think the original one fell off of that card. And then he got picked up. So I think a lot of high expectations were made for him because he was like the next big thing. and then that didn't happen.

Shibazio was like a three to one favorite going to that fight. Yeah. It's like that's more about Derek Brunt. That's more about the whole world underestimating Derek Brunson than overvaluing Shabazian, I feel like. Was Kevin Holland a favorite against Brunson too? Yeah, a heavy favorite. Yeah.

That's so weird. That's what I mean. Yeah. Even after he beat Shabazzian, he was still a giant underdog against Kevin Holland. That's so bizarre to me. Like his last four losses are to Adasanya, Jacare. Anderson Silva, I'm using in quotes, because I think he definitely won that fight. And then Robert Whitaker.

And then he's beating Machita, Uriah Hall, like Lorenz Larkin, Ian Heinish, like good wins, real good wins. Just underappreciated individual. And he kind of put the blueprint out for Kevin Holland as Marvin Tori showed. Yep. All right. The loss would be rough for Jack, though. That's back-to-back losses against, like, the new guard at middleweight. A loss will be rough for both of them.

Sure, but I think Jack's age. Of his age, maybe. And he's had a lot of losses, and he's kind of gotten to, like, remember when he beat Jacqueray and his next fight against Jack, Canineer? Like, if he had won, he probably would have got the title shot and he got knocked out. And then he beats Kelvin really quickly. And then he gets, and then he loses to Marvin. So, like, he's right there.

And he just can't break that top three. Yeah. Yeah, he loses that. He loses the fight to get to that number one contenders fight. Yes. Yeah, he's never one fight away, but yeah, he's always right there. But that's what we call it. That's what we like to call gatekeepers.

Yes. Ooh. Uh-oh. Whoa. There we go. Stay still, Kristen. President. President for a day.

per Haska for a title. Question for Christian. If you were UFC president for a week to make one major change, what would it be? Hmm. What would I do with such power? You know what? I would bring back the sponsorship shorts

and like the banners that the fighters used to walk out with. I just, I'm a proponent of those individuals who participate in this sport to get paid as much as they keep. can while they're in it. And I think those are like the best option to do it. Obviously, things have changed and you kind of go the route of social media and you could post ads over there for different supplements and whatnot that you may have used and that'll probably get a fighter

money. But honestly, I got into the sport when the fighters were rocking like the Condom Depot banners on their shorts and stuff like that. And I, I liked it. It told me a lot about a fighter outside of their interviews and stuff like that. And it made them money. I would bring that back. I mean, I like the minimalistic approach to the fight kits. I think they look sleek. I think they look nice. And I'm all for simplicity. But there's just something about making money and being able to showcase your personality that just tops all of that for me.

So I want my fighters to make even more money than what they're making now. Bring back all the sponsorships. Boom. There you go. Thank you. Key of D minor. Anyway, what were you saying? Listen, real quick.

I hear that a lot. I like the simplicity. I like the simple design. But that doesn't work for everybody. That works for just, yeah. Yeah, I think that it just makes it look a little bit more cleaner. And I think the purpose of getting away from those sponsorship shorts and those banners is because they would like to be taken more seriously. And by seriously, they, I mean, MMA, would like to be taken more seriously as a sport instead of being just the proverbial redheaded stepchild that it's constantly been called.

I like it. I know some people don't. I think they think that it's bland. But I mean, if this is... Where does that criticism come from? The whole like, oh, I would like cage fighting, but I see too many advertisements on his shorts. So this sport isn't for me.

It's super weird. I just don't understand. It's like, oh, I like watching cars drive around in a circle for hours and hours. But there's too many advertisements on that car, so I'm not going to watch NASCAR. I don't understand that logic. Yeah, it's super bizarre. I don't know why people have that same idea.

To me, it doesn't really matter anyway, but I'm more so worried about getting the chain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? If they want to come out in a smurf outfit, they go, hey, man, they paid me $100,000 to wear this. Cool. As long as my legs can still move, I can fight in it, cool.

As long as you don't come out in, who was that, what was that fighter that basically wore a thong to the fight? Was that Dennis Hallman? Dennis Hallman. Yeah. Yeah. Don't do that. But if you were sponsored to do it, consider it.

We're still talking about them. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I remember that. You remember. Clearly. Yeah. But those, okay, there are speedos and there's like kind of wrestling type speedos, which are a little more fit and don't.

Because his speedos had like a little bit of a gap. So in certain spots, you go, whoa, I'm seeing way too much in a sawman. Even more than I. Well, we didn't have to see him for that much longer because I just call him. West Arrow hair man. Ryan Ebersol. Yeah, there you go. He finished that pretty quickly,

so we didn't have to look at it too long. It's called the Mero. The Mero. That's what that is called. Yeah. He got a lot of money for beating down to Hulman quickly that night. Anyway, second question from Kiev D minor. Question for the group.

If Chandler can get a title shot after one impressive win, then Shirley Prohaskan get a title shot after two impressive U.S. he wins. Yes, logic would dictate that Jerry Prohasker, who just decapitated a human being on national television last week, should get a title shot next against the winner of Jan Belhoits and Glover to Chera. I am very much in favor of him fighting Alexander Ratchik, as people pointed out, I was saying his name incorrectly last time.

Alexander Ratchik is the co-main event slot just to be on standby because Jan and Gloverts are fighting in September. That's a long way away. If they were fighting quickly, like in June, then yeah, Jerry should get it. But it's up to Jerry, I guess. He wants to wait or not because Ratchik also has a claim to being number one contender, I think. Jury just wins way more impressively.

And as this individual said, Michael Chandler gets one big win. Yeri gets two. However, I think Michael Chandler came in with a lot more fanfare. And he weighed in as a backup for a Habib fight. But Kristen, what say you about this Yuri Michael Chandler comparison? Yeah, I mean, I definitely think Yuri should get a title shot based of that performance. I think that Alexander, I'm not even going to say the last name because I don't want to be yelled at. I think his last fight against Tiago Santos was supposed to be that type of showcase fight.

So he could prove that he was going to be next in line after Glover. And it just wasn't the most exciting win. I think a lot of people expected fireworks in that fight. And it was quite boring, to be honest. And I mean, do what you got to do to win. That's fine. but when you have someone as dynamic as Yuri and such an interesting character, and as you so eloquently put it, decapitated a man last Saturday night,

you start to look at, well, what is going to be a more fascinating fight? In my mind right now, it's definitely going to be Yuri versus Yan, and Jan seems to be receptive to that idea as well. He also said that he was going to still take on Glover, but I do have concerns that it's going to be so much later on in the year, I don't know if something could happen to either of those people. Hopefully it doesn't. But if it does, I would probably pick Yuri to step in over Alexander right now,

just because I think that'd be an incredible fight. Well, Casey, because I know you love the UFC rankings so much. Yuri jumped up three spots after his win over Reyes and knocked off Ratchik from the two spot. So he is sitting at two and Ratchik is sitting at three. So rankings would dictate Yuri's up next. But I still think they should fight as the comane

just because they should all be on the same timeline. You serve the backup. We can avoid the Cory Anderson-Yon situation when they fought and well, I guess we didn't avoid anything. But you know what we're saying. We wanted Corey Anderson-Yon

be on the same card as John Jones and Reyes, not one week apart. But that's neither here nor there. I'm fine if Yuri gets to the next shot. But personally, I want to see him fight Ratchik. No, I think I think Uri should have the next shot. I don't like the two number one.

You say no? No. Yeah. No. No. No. I was like, no, no. I was like, no.

I think Yuri should get a next shot. Yuri shouldn't have to fight. Parasca. Yrii shouldn't have to fight. Not Parach. Rackett. Rackett. Okay, just go over this.

Rat chick. Rat chick. Probably. Someone's going to yell at somebody. Rat chick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You should get the next shot. and then Ratchik, one more fight. But back to the question about the whole, I've hated this whole, this narrative too. Like, you have to fight this many times in the UFC before you get a title shot.

No, you don't, because they fought before. Yeri has like 30-something fights already. He's not a contender series prospect coming in. This guy's coming in, like, ready to go for the title shot. So that's ridiculous. Same with Chandler. Now, should Chandler get a title shot? I don't think so, but Dustin passed up the title shot for the Connor McGregor belt.

So that's on him. So yes, Chandler was next in line for the title shot. It should have been, if Dustin passes it, it should have been Gaci Oliver, I think. Well, Gage, do we know what happened? What's his story of that? Yeah, Gachi said he was getting ready because he was under the impression he was fighting Chandler. And then he found out that it was Olivera Chandler the same way everyone else did. So Oliver took less money, probably?

Yes. Which is when that fight came out, I was like, oh, this is just simply the cheapest title fight that the UFC could put out there. Not saying it's a bad title fight because obviously both men are incredible fighters, Oliver and Chandler, but payroll-wise, this is definitely less than Gage. So that's what we got. Yeah. But how many impressive, wins you have to get in a for like people you only have two impressive wins

to get a title shot how many impressive wins what's the what's the scale I don't get it I think it depends on division honestly because I feel like

if you win two wins in light heavyweight you're already like skyrocketed into a title shot but two wins over top 10 opponents too and Domyn Reyes who was top five

not just two it's like you do that in any division right and they were former title challengers Vulcan was and Dominic So you just be, Dom was the champ.

He just didn't get it. He was a champ. Okay. Well, yeah, you made a point. But yeah, it's good. You made a point. Yay. All right, show's over.

Um, yeah, like I said, I'm not, if Yuri gets the next title shot, awesome because I want to see him fight for the title. But if he wants to fight and he doesn't want to wait, then why I'm not going to stop him? I'm not,

also, It's an awesome fight. No, no, no. If they're waiting, timeline, if they don't want to, if Yuri doesn't want to wait, yeah, I get that fight. And now, do the matchmakers want to eliminate a number one contender? Because one of those guys are going to lose, you know, and then how many wins does he need to get back for a title? I don't know how you have the UFC maybe one win, maybe two wins. So that's up to the UFC matchmakers, how they want to handle that.

But it's obviously a great fight. Yeah, the timeline does suck because I want to see Yuri fight every week. Right. And like I said on the post show, if the world opens more by September, and they can hold events in that part of the world because these, like, because Jan, Ratch, Ratchik and Yeri are all part of like the European MMA scene. And they want to throw a fight night like in Croatia or like Hamburg or whatever. Toss those guys on it.

That'd be a great five round of fight for a fight night. I would love for the UFC to eventually do a pay-per-view in Poland, right in KSW territory. Yeah, that'd be sweet. But you know what, though? Juana, Gamrod, all those guys on it. Man, but the Polish fans are going to be let down by the, because they're used to KSW shows.

Oh, yeah. I mean, they're not going to be let down by the fights themselves, but presentation is a different story. Very, very much so. Questionable bellets are cut. Any insight from Scott McCrite? Any insight on why did Bellator cut an undefeated woman's flyweight Mandy Bomb? She was ranked eighth in the recent women's flyweight rankings.

I have no insight, but I saw this and was a little surprised, but I have no idea what they're logical or logic or reasoning for it was. Casey, did you see this? I saw that, and it was surprising, but, um, basically something happened behind the scenes. That's all. Because it doesn't really make sense. So something happened behind the scenes. Who knows what happened?

Could have been money. It could be a money issue. It could be her management issue. Maybe it was just like, Scott Coker's like, I just hate that dude. You know, I don't know. There's just. No, no, no, not her. I'm not her, but her manager.

I'm assuming her manager is a jerk dude. That's a, I assume. But, yeah, there's a million reasons. We'll have Mike Heck in beautiful Uncasville this week covering Bellator, and we'll make sure Mike Heck ask Mr. Coker about that. There you go. How about that? Or she just signed a one-fight contract.

Like Phil Hawes fought once in the Bellator and then went on to Brave. So I don't, maybe it was just a one-fight deal. Well, they said release. They said release, so it implied that, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, and I think she has a fight already. She has another fight coming up. Yeah, she does. Yeah.

Yeah, it's, it's contract. Except it's nothing, it's nothing about her actually being a quality of a fighter she is. So this is two questions. From Terrence Leverett. Question one, T.J. Brown grabbed the fence five times and once it deducted a point. Luana Pinero got hit with what seemed to be a not-ending fight blow. Does that prove that winning at all costs is more important? and should Marcos have said she couldn't see,

I think is going to take a lot of a lot of fighter, not accepting fouls and quitting for them to change the rules. We're going to answer the first one first. Kristen, what were your thoughts on the T.J. Brown and Randamarko situations that we just saw U.C. Vegas 25. Yeah, I think the T.J. Brown thing is obviously terrible. I think Kai Kamaka's manager, he said he was going to appeal that decision.

I mean, if it was such a blatant, like, there's no way that person should have won the fight, then best of luck to you. But usually in these situations, nothing really changes. I feel like you could appeal as much as you'd like to, but sometimes the decision is always going to stand. And they're probably just going to have to take that loss, even though you know they won, as was brought up by Casey. You know, Dominic Reyes won his fight against John Jones. But it goes down as a loss on his record. So the Luana and Randa fight was very odd, and I legitimately thought that it might have been over after the eye poke, just because when the doctor was asking Randa, if she could see, I thought I heard her say, like, it's a little blurry or something. I just need more time.

Do Ipokes have like five minutes, like the same as like a foul when you get hit below the belt? Do they not have five minutes? Yeah. They're supposed to have five minutes, but that's, that's, that's, that's the doctor's discretion. The reason groin shots have five minutes is because, because of obvious reasons, the doctor can't come out there and just look at your junk in front of the crowd, but they can't look at your eye. So the idea is like the five minutes for groin shots, because, well, this is kind of an arbitrary amount because we can't give you a full examination right now. The I poke though is after you have time kind of but really after the doctor says can you fight or not there's that's really it. There's no real well my eyes going to get better.

So if the doctor decides, well let me give you, let me kind of him and haul with the ref for a little bit to give you some time. But you'll see it all the time. You'll see refs kind of talk to the doctor kind of slowly. What they're really doing is trying to give the, the ref is actually trying to give the fighter more time, you know, because the ref wants the fight to happen. You know, the ref respects the fighter. He wants it to happen. So that's really it.

It's kind of an unwritten rule. Yeah, I mean, no one wants a fight to end in a disqualification. Like, that is not the way any fighter would want their fight to end. But it just so happened that this happened because Miranda delivered an upkick to a grounded opponent. Those are the current rules, whether you like them or not. I know a lot of people. Look at Casey. He does not like that rule.

you should be able to strike a grounded opponent. Maybe if you are also grounded, that just makes sense. But those are not the rules right now. And it's unfortunate that we have to continue to do this defense of a fighter's reaction or way that they accept a fight. Because now that the whole Al Jermaine Sterling debacle happened, now it just seems like anybody who gets fouled is a faker and they're not a real fighter and they should be admonit.

Now, legitimately, I thought Luana was out of it. And as soon as they panned over to her, her eyes were kind of like glossed over. And she's like, what happened? Did I win? I was like, okay, at that point, you can't really fake that, can you? You can't fake that stuff? Unless you are just, I need this win. I need my win bonus.

I'm going to play it up. But I don't think she would do that. And I don't think Randa would have accepted a win that way either. You saw how fast you came out when the time was over. She really wanted that win. She was on like a three-fight losing streak. Now it's four because of the disqualification. So I don't think she would have taken that.

Randah had to get stitches in her eye. That's how bad her eye poke was. And those were multiple fouls. Multiple. It wasn't just like one thing. She got poked in the eye maybe two to three times prior to the upkick. Yeah. Fight shouldn't have been no contest.

That's all. Neither fighter is obligated to continue, as Michael Bisbing said. Rules are rules. And you might not agree with them. Those are both illegal fouls. Rhonda, Randa obviously continued. And Juana didn't. but now they're obligated.

Michael Bisbing laid it out pretty well in his podcast and said she got Kit with an illegal like it's like what we talk about. Like how many times have we seen a fighter get like a foul or warned or something for a low blow? Like very rarely. So why not just run out and blast him in the junk if you know you're not going to get in trouble? No one's obligated to continue. Anyway, number two, I remember hearing the people on Fight Island, the Dustin v. Conner fight weighed in on Friday and fought on Sunday morning.

They had two nights of sleep after. meaning they had more time to recover. Dustin cuts more weight with the next fight being in Vegas, less recovery time. Do you think this could affect the fight? Not a question, but if they do, the USC3 and USC4 press conference together,

that would be fire. They will not do them together. Connor and Dustin are going to get their own press conference. For sure. I could see 260 also because 263 is like a month away. So I don't think they're going to do them together. The Dustin, Connor Wayans, were they weighed in for us on Fight Island.

It was pretty early in the morning. Like we, the fights ended Sunday morning or whatever or started Sunday, whatever. I don't think there was a lot of difference in recovery time. It was just the fight was slated for prime time. It was prime time your guy's time, right? Like in America.

Habib? No, the Connor card. Connor was crime time. Habib was morning. Yeah, because that, yeah, I remember that. that because that the four weeks of the before the Hibqqar, we were getting to the arena at like midnight and then leaving at like five in the morning.

And that one was like normal time for us. And the carner went through everyone off. We got to the arena. It was nighttime. And we left and it was sunny. It was very bizarre. But yeah, there wasn't that much difference in recovery. And Dustin is a pro.

He's been doing this for a long time. I think he'll be fine. Yeah. let's go to our user comments do to do to do um

can someone can you please explain the the pfel rule set it's really frustrating to watch a fight and have no idea what acronyms they're referring to or what the point structure is uh what

do you know what what this individual is talking about Casey I think, you know, the six points for the first round finished, four points. Oh, oh, oh, oh, the point structure. I got it. I think they actually repeat that a lot during the show. I think maybe Mr. JK is looking at his phone too much during the fight. But I think they explained that pretty well, actually.

Their point system for their tournament. Yeah. Yeah, it's a little bit odd, but it's, I think it's three points. if you finish in the first round and then three points for winning overall and then as you go longer, the points deduct. So two points in the second round if you win

and then another three points if you just win entirely. And I think the less amount of points you can get is four? No, one actually. I think that just depends on what happens in the fight. But yeah, they explain it on the broadcast. Yeah, I feel they laid out because the opening the opening fights are kind of a round-robin

and then based on how many points you have, then you go into a tournament and then Yeah. Yes. It's basically an MMA World Cup where you have the tournament and then like the top like six move on or whatever to the the group of 16 if you will. But here it is win in any round automatically three points. So if you win, you get three. First round finish is six.

You get three extra points. Round two, two extra points. Round two extra points. Round three. One extra point. Because like we've seen some like absolute bangers. And like it's a back and forth. war and then you win in the third round and you get one point like i feel like that's a lot but

it is what it is uh so you win in the first if if christian this heel hooks casey and takes the coward's way out in the first round that's six points at sod strickland referred to bread of that was it a heel hook right yeah or yes i'm kind of ankle lock yeah it was like all right brood but if casey comes in and fights like a man and just front kicks christin into oblivion that's six points too. Don't do that. I've had extensive jaw surgery. Yeah, Casey.

How rude. Okay. I won't kick you in the face, Kristen. Please, you'll hook me. Yeah. Slice up by ACL. Don't kick my face. Anyway.

Don Lily. What do you think of all the Bannon weights competing on Bellator on Friday night? Yes, we haven't talked about Bellator. Bellator has a very high-level fight. We lost, unfortunately. We're going to have to talk. about it. We lost Romero from the fight. So Anthony Johnson will still be fighting.

Jose Augusto Pitbull, uh, protege. So still a good fight, but he's not Yola Maro. Uh, and of course the rest of the main card, we got Patricie Pitbull, uh, not Patricea Pitbull, Patricie Pitbull versus Peter Quilly, SBG Ireland, uh, product. And then of course, Michael Vennepage finally fights Derek Anderson after a long time. And then we got Josh Hill, Ruffin Stats. We got Patchy Mix, Albert Morales. Of course, we've, we've, unfortunately lost James Gallagher from that card. So that's a bummer. Henry Corouse,

who just talked about fighting Johnny Gallus. El-Goyito Perez is fighting to kick off the card, if I remember correctly. So yeah, a lot of high-level bannam weights. Casey, you've been kind of fist-pumping and doing a jig while I've been reading off the fight card. What is your overall impressions of this card, even with Romero being off?

Even if Romero off this card, even if Gallagher off this card, total bummer, but this card is still freaking rules and it's clearly the best card of the weekend and I just hope people watch it and hope people support um mma and um I still hate bellator stupid round cage but as far as the fighters in there it's a great card and I'm super excited about it I'm excited to see patch you back in there I'm excited to I'm excited to see how good I'm excited for archelaida pettas I mean I want to see him I love Henry Corralis he's like to me he's he's belator's Matt brown just dude that just like I just want punch you you know and um um go ito eric perrez he's he's always had a lot of talent he seems

seems to be kind of up and down but uh i still believe in el go itoito and um and uh yeah rufe on stoft and josh which is um is it roof ruf on ruf on i'm not sure that's what i said yeah stats versus hill just uh i don't think a lot of fans know about either of those fighters but just great um bantamweight prospects so that's awesome but just bansom weight best division in the world. Well, let's, first of all, Henry Corrales, this is his Bannonweight debut. So let's see how he looks on that scene. Yeah, I'm hoping. When the dude went in at Featherway, it didn't look like he had a lot to lose. But we'll see. Anyway, Kristen, what are your thoughts on this epic card? I love it. I agree with Casey. This is probably the better card out of everything

that we have going on. I think we have PFO. We have BELA, UFC, but I'm definitely more focused on Bellator this weekend. And the Bannway Division is just so exciting. You know what? They should freaking do a grand prix for ban of weight i don't think they've done it already i think they've done feathery and now they're doing light heavy weight hopefully the next grand prix is going to be bannam weight because they could have easily stacked like one of these cards with a lot of these fights and that could have been for you know like an eight man or a sixteen man grand prix i would love to have seen that so hopefully bellator if you're listening here you go here's some free advice ban on weight grand prix next please would i hate it i think

the pausing of the featherweight Grand Prix just kind of put a wrench into everyone's plans. But they got the light, heavyweight Grand Prix going. They had the Welterweight Grand Prix. They had the heavyweight Grand Prix. They haven't had middleweight. So they're either going to do middleweight or bannamweight or lightweight next.

But I doubt Patricio Pitbull wants to be thrown into another Grand Prix because he's also the lightweight champion. So maybe he just defends. But or he gives it up and Patricke pit bull fights. But if he loses to AJ McKee, why wouldn't they just run a back at lightweight? And then AJ

McKee could have two belts all of a sudden. That's another story. I'm surprised Logan Storley's on the prelims. Way early. Of this club. Way early.

Dude was undefeated until he ran into Yoroslav, right? And he's like, he's fighting for the championship next if I remember correctly. Right? And he's like 25 and O

or something crazy like that. So man, how the mighty have fallen. But it is what it is. I'm very excited to see MVP throw down. I wish he was fighting for the championship or Lorenz Larkin, but it is what it is.

I'm always excited to watch it fight. And I feel like this is how many times has you been matched up with Derek Anderson? A lot. Yeah, I think it's like third and fourth time. Yeah. Yeah. And Derek Anderson is very well-rounded.

I think he has, what, 16, 15 wins and it's like pretty even on like he has like five KOs, five, like six submissions and like five decisions or something like that. He's pretty well-rounded. It doesn't get knocked out ever. I mean, Derek can't,

people don't know. I would say Derek Anderson is like a, he's a mid-card UFC Walter weight. I mean, that level. I wouldn't say he's top 15 overall, but he's UFC caliber, you know,

like one of the way, I don't know where I will rank him, but this is a, this is a real fight for Michael Page. This is, this isn't a can. So just because you may not have heard of him, he is,

100%. He is a quality, quality mixed martial arts fighter. I'm trying to find where the, I can't ever find the Bellator rankings oh here we go so Derek Anderson is the sixth ranked

Bellator Walterweight in the world MVP is MVP is two yeah these are the Bellator only rankings yeah yes promotional rankings and then we got Jason Jackson

Neiman Gracie Logan Storley Derek Anderson Joey Davis Paul Daley Sabah Masei and Oliver Encombe I like Jason Jackson I want to see him by oh he is he is He's very good.

He's a fun cat. Yeah. He's got the best nickname in the sport. What is it? The ass kicking machine. Yeah, the ass kicking machine. I mean, it's straight to the point. I want to wait for those reporters.

So, Jason, how did you get your nickname? Tell me the story. Just kicked ass. Kicked ass, bro. I'm a machine, you know. Man, could they do a middle-way grand? I don't think they could even do a Middle-A Grand Prix. Charlie Ward is the seventh ranked middleweight in Belmont.

Yeah, middleweight, yeah. I think Belvoir's been trying to concentrate in so many other divisions. Yeah, the middleweight one is pretty shallow. Yeah, just how it is. Austin Vanderford is third. Yeah. That is wild to me. Good fighters, but I never would have thought they would be like top 10.

Yeah. Diego Sanchez in the UFC Hall of Fame. While Diego has a fight that is already in the U.S. Hall of Fame, a lot to get in just based off his individual career, right? From Scott McCraight. You would imagine, but based

on what Diego Sanchez has been saying in the media yesterday, I'm not even say this week, like less than 12 hours ago, his chances of getting an individual nom have probably slimmed dramatically. I won't say he'll never get in, because, of course, Tito Ortiz is in, and Dana-Way and Tito basically were supposed to get

in a fist fight. That's how badly that relationship was. For money. Not just for fun. For money. Wasn't it supposed to be an exhibition match? And then the commission heard about it and they stepped in. I forgot out of the details of that one.

They made a countdown for it. I know. Oh, dude. If you can, if that countdown show is still out there, it is hilarious how bad and dated it is. Like everything, like the filmmaking,

the camera shots is just like, but that was the height of MMA. I don't think MMA was, ever like hotter than it was at that point in time. I think it would have taught the Ronda Connor era when they were both fighting that same year. That was probably peak of popularity. I think individual-wise, like Ronda and Connor were bigger as individual, like, celebrities, but like just the idea of ultimate fighting and we're in a cage, you know.

I'm more like that kind of era. That was kind of like the era when, like, UFC went from, you know, being, you know, that VHS blockbuster tape, you know, next to the faces of death videos to like something you actually buy, you know, for real. So, um, that's on me. But, uh, oh, man, I remember I saw the show. It was so good. So good.

Kristen, what do you make of, uh, Diego Sanchez's recent interview yesterday? I'm sure you saw it. Oh, I'm not watched that. He said, he said the, he was on serious XM. Anthony Smith and, um, and, uh, yes. And he said he's afraid the UFC might kill him. They might come after him for what he said. What did you make of that?

Yeah, I actually got through like half of it because it's about a 45-minute interview, like, before we went on air. And I'll start by saying this. I really do commend the sincerity in which R.J. Clifford and Anthony Smith are trying to understand the situation with Diego, because they are really trying to hone in the point that, you know, there are people that care about you. And perhaps the person you surround yourself with is not the best type of person. and I know a lot of people have also, like a lot of prominent figures in MMA have stepped in and said something to Diego. But the interview itself was very, I'll see this. If y'all haven't watched it, please watch it so you can kind of understand his point of view.

Because I know it's very hard to see Diego probably in this state of mind. And you just want the best for a fighter, especially someone who is as long tenured as he was. I mean, he was the first ultimate fighter winner. And, you know, he's been with the company for 16 years and to see it all end so unceremoniously, it's like, I want answers. And I think you'll get a little bit of it in there. But it was very, it's unfortunate to hear those comments because you never want to see a fighter go out like this. And I just truly hope that, you know, Diego gets the help he may need if he needs it, if he sees fit. But yeah, y'all should watch that interview with Sirius XM because they really are trying to get to the root of the problem and explain to Diego that this is more so out of care for you as a person rather than just trying to rag on you and your coach.

Casey, what did you make of this interview if you read about it? I watched. I only had time to watch the first couple of minutes of it. It's something I want to watch later. I like RJ. I think Anthony Smith is great, too. I just love hearing Anthony's thoughts and things. So I can't have no real opinion on that.

But overall, is he a lot to get in the, is he locked to get in the UFC Hall of Fame based on his individual career? I would say no. I mean, only had one, no. He was never a title holder, fought for title ones. Great fight, but got his butt kicked by BJ. I mean, I guess just a popularity. I guess he can get in.

But, um, it's a very complicated issue the Diego situation because there's layers you know there's layers on it you know and the biggest so it just maybe Jose because you've probably I think

kept up of this a bit better than I have why did the UFC release Diego in one sentence Diego in one sentence Christ or two you know I mean like now if I Diego's team was asking for his medical history

directly to Hunter Campbell. Like Joshua Fabio was asking for medical, like medical history. Hunter Campbell said that's, we don't, we can't give you those. The commission can give you those. But like we don't deal that. Like we can't,

we don't do that. And then I think Joshua, and honestly, Stephen Morocco would be the best to answer this is I'm kind of paraphrasing right now. Joshua said he's like concerned about Diego's long-term health, this and that. And Hunter Campbell was like, can Diego fight Cowboy if you're having these concerns? Like, can he fight?

Yes or no? Like, I just need a yes or no. And he was kind of dancing around it. And then Hunter emailed Diego and was like, Diego, can you fight? I want to hear it from you. And he wasn't getting an answer. So Hunter's like, well, then you can't fight. And then that was the rap.

And this is all from whose point of it. of you who this is there are supposedly phone conversations that individuals have heard i heard i heard the the fabia one that he released of him having a conversation with hunter campbell well and while it sounded odd it was to me it just sounded a bunch of lawyers like a bunch of lawyer talk from hunter he's like well he's he's there protected ufc so he didn't want to say anything but you've seen at all liable so he was doing his job and i know people want to hate on josh fabia for many reasons. But to me, the call itself wasn't that horrible. He's just trying to figure out he just wants to collect all the medical information for his fighter, which seems fine. Right. And I think

that's fine. But Hunter, like, you had to go, I think he went to the wrong person. And I think, and I'm not defending the, I'm not a defender of the UFC or any of the practice. Yeah, I'm not defending either side. I just don't know the facts. If, if your coach is saying, we have concerns about my fighter's health, you say, well, that's alarming. Can he fight on Saturday then? You got like, that's just a, that's the obvious follow. Also, remember Chris Seibor got released because she like secretly filmed Dana White having a conversation and her team put it out there. Josh Fabia has now really, and Diego have now released like two separate videos of secret recordings and a fighter meeting and then recorded like one of the high apps of the UFC over the phone. So yeah. It probably wasn't going to

last much longer. Yeah, they say they have two years worth of recordings just for like an insurance policy. So who knows what's going to come out next? Yes. A lot of people are and I don't I have absolutely no idea how true this is but I've seen it a few times that that was fear that maybe

Joshua was trying to put together a case to sue the UFC for like having Diego fight when he shouldn't have. But I don't know how true that is. So there's a lot more of the story that we don't know. But yeah. this individuals correctly, I do believe Diego Sanchez was a lock. If Stefan Bonner's getting in, then Diego Sanchez can get in.

The Bonner get in on his own just... You know, he's an... He is an individual inductee. He's the... Him and Forrest Griffin are individual inductees. So if Stefan Bonner can get in, then Diego Sanchez is getting... Because Stephen Bonner did not win the ultimate fighter. He never fought for a championship. He's been in

one of the greatest fights ever. Deigo Sanchez has been in a lot of the greatest fights ever. He fought for a championship. He just ran into motivated BJ. Yeah. And won the ultimate fighter. Diego was a lock for sure, I think. He was like,

but Dana also has a soft spot. Well, didn't he induct like the entire class of the ultimate fighter season one? Or he wanted to at some point. Like he has a soft spot for that whole class. So I think he was a lock for sure before this. Okay. And honestly,

like he has like the Gilbert Melendez fight. You could just induct straight up as like one of the greatest fights ever. No one of that fight. He just go in as a fight. Yeah, for sure. His fight against Carl Peresian too. Remember that. fight, that fight was unbelievable too.

So, like, he has a lot of fight of the years that he should, he could get in for those fights. But that, dude, he posted the full fight of his Gilbert Melendez on his Instagram a while ago. And I forgot how insane that was. Third round, yeah. I still mean, I think Gil, I think Gil, I think Gil still won that third round. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. But, um, it was, the fight was crazy looking, but not as close as you remember, but it was crazy for sure. There are moments in that fight. There were moments for sure, for sure. And it's, uh, and it was such a big upset, man, because Gilbert was like number two or two or one at the time. And Diego was kind of, that was, that was, that is Gilbert Melendez is, and I'm using air quotes. That is his only win in the UFC.

Okay. Because he definitely beat Benson Henderson. Yeah, yeah. Um, after that he lost, after that he lost Anthony Pettas. He lost to Jeremy Stevens. I believe he lost to Edson Barbosa, Arnold Allen, Eddie Alvarez. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, and that. that's like this is like pre light heavyweight Daniel Cormier. And like Daniel Cormier would always get sandwiched between these epic performances. So everyone thought he was a boring fighter. Because it was like Gilbert Melendez, Diego Sanchez. Well, that was his second fight. That was his first fight because he was sandwiched between like all those knockouts, the Nate Diaz, Josh Thompson finished.

Oh, that was it. Yeah. And then he just kind of held Frank Mirr against the fence for three rounds. And then you saw Gilbert Melendez, Ben Sanderson. And then his follow up, it was like Gilbert, Diego and the Daniel Cormier, Roy Nelson and then Kane just like just slamming JDS on his head and knocking him out. So and also even before the Gil, the Gil, uh, Diego fight, we had like Gonzaga. I think it was Sean Jordan and I believe Dodson and Darry Montague, who was at the time

that Tachi Palace champ. So that was an insane card. And I will die on this hill. CB Dollyway definitely beat Tim Boch on that prelim. Anyway, I digress. That was also the fight, uh, Jessica, uh, quote unquote beat Sarah Kaufman. Why do I go to Tapology.com and just ask Jose. I don't know, man.

The human encyclopedia here. Yeah, that was the one that the Jets guys went over, Sarah Kaufman was overturned to a no contest. Remember all that? Oh, yeah. And Hector Lombard knocked out named Mark Hart and just literally sat him down. Oh, it was a bullshit decision of Kaufman, too, but that's another story. It was. It was.

It really was. We're going to fly through these now. We're going to fly through him. Fly. Here we go. We're flying. We're flying. Boom.

Oh, wait. Strongway is stacked. What does it win? Real quick, like just give you a real quick one sentence answer for this. What does a win do for Marina or Michelle mean for them? Kristen? It does a lot for Marina. I think she's like the new big thing at Strawweight.

So if she puts on a really good performance against Michelle, she'll probably be very close. And with Michelle, she's like a perennial contender anyway. So she's always going to be maybe one or two fights off from title contention. So I guess we'll see what happens. Casey. But to Meach, one went closer to. of the belt. Yes.

Also, this is a flyaway. It's a short notice fight. But it's a straw away fight. I know. I'm just saying if people that watch the Wains are going to be like, oh, yeah, yeah.

Like, no, it's a flyaway. Who would you want to see next with a win? Personally, I think Marine against Juana with a win, and I'd like to see Michelle versus McKenzie Dern if she can be successful.

I'm fine with anyone on the top 10 of Strawwhite, finding anyone in the top 10 of straw white, because that is the most stacked female division in M&A. Yeah, it makes sense. You can't,

You cannot F up the matchmaking. What's next for Cloudy Godelia? They won't. No worry. What's next for Claudia Gidella is the next one? I give her someone outside top 15. There's a bunch of names I can't think of one, but there's a lot of talent.

I don't know. Someone outside of top 15. Yep. What is happening with Tatiana Suarez? Is she still injured? There are rumors. is that she got so that she re-injured herself or uh she she might be out a little longer than because she was targeting summer she also hinted at coming back at flyweight and fighting valentina

well you got to do something yeah you can't do something first yeah no i agree so uh also the winner of murphy and jojo gets the next title shot against valentina even valentina knows that and we all agree uh but if she wants to come back and maybe fight the winner of like arroogio and who's arugio fighting She's fighting this She's fighting this next weekend. She's getting. Cool.

That's why I was the winner of that. If she wants to come to fly white, great. Other than that, just give her the highest ranked person at Straw White that's not fighting for the title. Yeah, yeah.

I like Suarez at Flyweight too. But she says she can make, whenever she fought like six years ago, so she says she makes Strawweight fine, but who knows. Thank you, Matt Bradbury on the site. Bellator is from Andy Burton.

A fight promotion. Kristen? Bellator is fun. Betoor is the second biggest promotion in the U.S. and their cages two round. Cool. Translates to Brave.

Marcos illegal upkick. You think Luana Pinero oversawls her inability to continue due to illegal upkick from random Marcos. Marcos felt the whole idea of suspect. and said that she wasn't leaving the octagon without a win because of Pinheiro's inability to fight she felt the opportunity

was stolen from her. The key word in there is illegal. She broke the rules. It is not up to Luana Pinero to continue. It is unfortunate if she was milking it and wasn't actually hurt, but it's just an unfortunate situation all around.

I don't think the situation was opportunity was stolen from her because I'm not in the mind of Luana Pinero. She might have had a concussion. I don't know. Casey? I have so many questions about this. If that was legitimate, a legitimate, you know, Panera was really hurt,

then Marcos must have the most violent, strongest up kicks I've ever seen in the sport because she was down for five minutes and was, and the paramedics didn't even bring a stretcher in. Her coach literally carried her out of the cage like a baby. So Marcos must have the strongest up kicks I've ever seen. I mean, Dom Reyes got decapitated and he walked out of the cage on his, He didn't have to be carried out. So Panero got even hit harder.

So I hope Panero is okay because she got just met that that upkick just, yeah, it was so violent. That's all. Kristen? I don't think she oversold it at all. I think she was legitimately hurt. And I don't think it was stolen. It is illegal. Those are the rules.

I know they suck, but you have to abide by them. And some people can eat upkicks like Yuri. Apparently, Yuri said that he ate an up. upkick from Dominic Reyes and was knocked out slightly, but recovered very quickly. So it just depends. It's different for everybody. You know, Luana may have been significantly hurt and Yuri is just like an alien and he's not. So it's different. Have you ever seen anyone more, more in pain than Pinera was from Upkick in all the years of watching MMA? Yes. Who?

Didn't Gaghan Musassi knock a person dead in Strike Force or D or Dream? Oh, it was Jacques-Rae? Yeah, one of those. It was Jacqueray and Musassi. It was one of them. Remember that shot that you saw was Jacerre's head turned sideways? Yes, I do. I hope I hope any arrows are right.

Nico Price, Nico Price not someone out with an upkick, correct? Wasn't it, uh, no, that was the hammer fits from the bottom. It was, um, James Vic. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they carried him out. Things hurt, man. Sometimes it's, remember how those shots looked?

Yeah. Sometimes you get not, sometimes you get caught cold. I'm not going to try and say she's milking it. Run it back. Run it back. Run it back. That's the easiest answer. Run it back.

Prediction for Pettus Archeletta. What's your lean? Also, Bellator has the habit of rushing new signing into title fights. And then if they lose, they wind up in weird purgatory for like two years. Pettus wasn't rushed. I think Pettus deserved this title. Yeah. Not rushed at all.

Super bums that Gallagher mixes off. Tough run of luck for Bellator lately. Yeah, it's a bummer. Gallagher's legitimately hurt, though. But I was very excited for that fight. patchy makes is the real deal and a lot of people think James Gallagher is super exciting

and the only person that beat him in Belator was just cut. Yeah, so Ricky Bandeias? Yeah, but he was coming off three losses. Bandaas did kind of looks like he hit a wall and he was kind of, yeah. The individual, Zach Freeman, the one that submitted Pico and Pico's debut

was also just recently cut. But he hasn't fought for a long time. He just got his butt kicked by Zawad, Ayad, Syad, Ayat. Yeah. Sadawada. And he also has a full-time job doing other things, too.

So MMA was kind of like a side gig. Also, the first thing Luana asked when her coaches came in was, did I lose? She was out of it. I understand that Mark was frustrated, but kind of classless to publicly make those accusations, in my opinion. Hey, man,

I just said she got hit the hardest kick I've ever seen. She had to be carried out. She had to be carried out by her coach. Yeah. She got hit. I mean, if she lost. Yeah. She's just frustrated.

You know, you say things that are, you're not thinking about, like, PR perspective. Like, how should I approach this? No, she's pissed off. You know, she's now on a four-fight losing street. This could very well end random Marco's career. I understand that. Run it back. Run it back.

Run it back. Run it back. Easy, easy, easy. Anyway. Okay. And we got a couple more from the comment section. Choo-choo-choo-choo-choo-choo-do. Wait, where to go?

Oh, there we go. Yay, Kristen Rules. Can you recommend a good horror movie you've watched recently from Jessica Crystal Crew on the YouTube comments? Jessica, she rules. She's the best. I still have my crystals on my desk anyway, and I appreciate them every day. A good horror movie that I watched recently. What is the one that is called? His House on Netflix is very interesting. It is like almost a social commentary on certain things. But it is scary. I like that one.

I also just rewatched this movie called Clown. Super underrated. It's about this dude that puts on a haunted clown costume, which, by the way, if you've seen this. That's redundant, by the way. Yeah, no, no, but hold on, hold on. Haunted clown costume. This one, this one was like about, because apparently clowns were like demons before. So he put it on for his kids, for his kids' birthday party.

And it's a terrible costume. No clown would look like this, but he ends up needing to feed on children so that he can sustain himself. And at first, when I first watched it, I was like, this is terrible. But it holds up. So watch that one. And last one for me, I also rewatch Terrifier. If you want to see some pretty messed up clownery, both of these are clowns, by the way. There's a pattern.

If you want to see some messed up kills that includes someone being sawed in half right where their nether regions are, fights for, I mean, movie is for you. Movie is for you. A lot of blood, a lot of gore. Pretty messed up, but, and I will actually hit Jessica. Are we talking to MMA or clown horror movies? What are we talking about? Clown horror movies.

Oh, clown horror movies. I'm going to hit up in the DM so that I have a list of this. I have a notes list of 70s, 80s, 90s, 2000s horror movies that are good to watch. So, Jessica, I got you. Don't worry. All right. I'll send it to both of you as well, because I know you guys like horror. movies. I love horror movies. I love horror movies. Good. There you go. Thank you for the question.

Jessica. Crystal Crew. Kristen, you just talked a lot about horror movies, but you know the drill. Anything else you want to plug? Anything else you want to say? M.MA or non-MMA related? The floor is yours. I will say thank you as always for having me back on here. I love doing this with you guys. And I would just like to make a mention that May is Mental Health Awareness Month. So, treat each other kindly. Be nice to each other. need help, please reach out for certain resources and stuff that are there for you. And just take care of yourselves. Take care of people around you. Be nice.

It's Mental Health Awareness Month. So do your best. Bam. Well said. 10 out of 10 promo. That's how you do it. It's Mental Health Awareness Month every month. Yeah.

Yeah. Be nice every month. Casey, what you got to say over in Englewood? Oh, Englewood's good. I just want to say, happy anniversary to my wife, Esther, and happy birthday AK. It's on the same day.

It's wild. Look at his commenter, man. He's back. Look at this name. I got to pull that out again. That guy, I got more tweets about that sweatshirt and DMs than I did about fights that week.

Please burn it. No way. That sweater rules. That rules. That sweater should be the new Venom Fight Kit. I don't need all this, like, cool stuff of fangs. I need, like, like, wear the, I want different options, man. Yeah.

More fangs, more sweater. I'll wear that to the A-Side next time. But anyway, stick around on on this site for the Bellator virtual media day. Like in two minutes. Yeah, next week, I don't know if we're going to do A-Side next week because I'll be in Houston, so we've got to figure out the PR schedule for that. Happy anniversary to Casey and Esther. Congratulations, Guillermo.

We're married. Belize. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. Sink of Des Mois, everyone. Flowers. They're beautiful. Who's this from?

Oh, a friend got senses. That's a way. It's really bright, but yeah. Aw. Esther, you're in camera. Man, you could white balance on those. Hi, Esther. Hi, Esther.

No, she's that away, yeah. Casey, you should, you can white balance using those things. My goodness. Anyway, congratulations to Gareme Cruz on becoming a dad. And Felice Cinco de Mayo, everyone. Enjoy your tacos and burritos, not Jimmy Chambles. And we'll see you next time. We're out.

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