MMA Fighting - The A-Side Live Chat | Miocic vs. Ngannou 2, Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland’s futures, UFC 260, more

Episode Date: March 26, 2021

Some topics include the aftermath of Derek Brunson’s decisive win over Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 22, the upcoming heavyweight championship rematch between Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, Julija Stoliarenko’s frightening fainting spell at this past Friday’s weigh-ins, and more. The three will also dig into the other storylines heading into Saturday’s pay-per-view. Follow Alex K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc Follow Alex Savas: @alexsavas 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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We are going live, friend, as they always say on this show. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the A-Side Live chat. This is not sweet, sweet, sweet, dulcet tones of regular host Jose Youngs. This is guest host, Alexander K. Lee, with me. I am very excited to be here. Of course, Jose is on site at U.S. Apex and Las Vegas for all the UFC 260 covers that you will be getting this week.

But I am very excited today because the top team and the game is back. It is two Alex too fierce today as I am joined by the cool Alex, Alex Savas. Two Alex, too furious. I almost quit when I saw that, but go ahead. Just wait for Alex and Alex Tokyo Drifts if they let us do this again. And then of course, the man on the ones and twos, the truck P. Casey Leiden.

Oh, stage fright. There he is. Oh. Happy birthday. It is not my birthday. Happy birthday. It is not my birthday.

This has to stop. We have people, we have colleagues of ours on Twitter and messaging me, DMing me when they see your comments and tell you happy birthday. You know how rude it is? Tell people, please, it's not my birthday. Shut up.

It's a very rude and harsh thing to have to say, but I really have no other. Anyway, yeah, so guys, you guys know the deal. You guys tune in every week. with Jose. We are here to answer your questions and comments. Everything related to UFC 260. Everything related to UFC Vegas 22, which went down, everything else, all the other craziness that's going down in the anime world. I know we have some questions on the site. We've got some questions on social media. Of course, if you're watching on YouTube live right now,

leave your comments. What is up? Jesso Crystal Crew. Crystal Squad. Yes, two crystals, not three, because one crystal for Alex Savas, one for Casey. I am not a crystal believer, as we know. And since I'm hosting the show, I'm allowed to make this a crystal free zone. When Jose comes back, you guys have all the crystal talk you want. But thank you, Jessica, for tuning in. Thank you everyone for tuning in. Thank you for all of our podcast listeners. Casey, is there anything already? I've been hosting for two minutes. Well, you've been hosting for two minutes. Cool acts has already turned in her letter of resignation, apparently. Oh, stop it. Stop it. Dude, you're, you're birthday is off to a horrible start. I just got to say it's you know I'm not a fan of them I'm not a

fan of them uh I'll play the breath music that doesn't make it work uh all right guys what do we got here yeah let's hello Joseph Boza regular regular regular viewer regular listener why is you're always appreciate it I'm feeling this is passive aggressive no that's it you know what I learned guys I'm old but you know what I learned is a lot of the kids these days is they use the LOL as like a it's like you know you see you see someone you haven't seen a while It's like, ha, you just kind of awkward smile and laugh. That's like what the LOL is now. Yeah.

I get the end. I have a few millennial friends. And when they text me, everything's all like, like, hey, you want to have lunch today? L.O.L. I don't get it. Everything's like, right? Or the opposite. Yeah, or like you message them with a question and they just answer L.O.

And it's like, no, I'm so this like a yes or no where we're trying to make plans here. Like what? I don't know, guys. Millennial Talk with AK. Who's not a. I'm not a millennial. I'm right at the border. I'm right at the line between menial and Gen X.

I'm in there. You're millennial. You're definitely millennial. Yeah. I'm on the younger end of millennials. I think people think millennials are a lot younger than they are. Yeah. Right.

After like 40 or something. Yeah. I think we have a pretty strong millennial viewership, listenership, I would guess. I could be wrong. Again, some of these people could be, I don't know the few. These could be, I see a lot of our regular viewers commenting. I know these guys could be children for all I know. But we'll try and keep it PG.

Casey, do have our first question. Yeah, we do, but we're talking about other stuff right now. Oh, I don't know how the show. I don't know how the show works. Do I look tired? Do I like my eyes extra baggy today? I think because you usually have your glasses on, maybe people are noticing your eyes more. Oh, true.

Yeah. Oh, there it is. Look at that he brightened up. See, John DeNinez. He brightened up just for you. Oh, okay. Well, let's tone it down a little bit. Now we're going too far the other way.

Yeah. Now it's just awkwarding. For those listening, Casey's eyes got as big as a cartoon character there, and it was very disturbing. And I'm glad that you did not. And now we can't monetize any of this. Yeah, yeah. All right. We'll fix it in post.

We'll fix it in post. It's fine. All right. First question. First question. Yeah. Okay. You're the host.

You know what? You read it? Well, no, I listen, I didn't want to read. I know, because it's from a young man named Jed Michue, who some people may have heard of in the M. And he says, is cool Alex, our dear L. of you tomorrow. I'm apparently they have been conscripted to battle Jed once again

in the ultimate Battle of Good and Evil on Between the Links tomorrow. So watch for that. People Between the Lanks live after the UFC 260 press conference, I believe. That's our tentative plan for now. Where I will look to pick up my third win and I believe will be like my 16th or 17th between the Lexx.

You're the only person in double digit losses. It's very impressive. I just keep coming back. I just keep coming back. That third win is going to be sweet and going to happen tomorrow. And if Alex Savage could be there to back me up, again, that would be great. But no, no promises. I mean, really, if you could just fight Jed for me, I think that would be great.

But we've been called out once again. But anyway, speaking of fighting, speaking of fighting, it's like, once I get my second vaccine shot, I got to find my way to get me some fight circus action. I don't know. I'm going to go to Thailand. I don't think you need even need vaccine. I think, you know, John Nutt from Full Metal Dojo will smuggle you in. He'll smuggle you.

Don't worry about it. I don't want to question the safety protocol of Full Metal Dojo and Fight Circus. I'm just saying I don't believe all those people are vaccinated and necessarily following, you know, the most highly suggested COVID-19 protocol. But how dare I question that? Red Circus, but coming back in April. Yay. Fight. Fisting for dollars.

I didn't want to say it. It's a children's show. No. What do you mean? It's like punching. What are you talking about? Oh, like punching. Oh, yeah, I know.

Well, yeah, no, you're right. Jeez, man. There's only one way that could be interpreted. Yeah. Get your head out of the Canadian gutters. Here we go. A question. Thank you from regular listener, viewer.

Scott McCray. Thank you for Scott. Straw weight potential. Can you speculate on the potential of Miranda Maverick and Kay Hansen? Are they all top, future top 15 straw weights? do you see a possible contender for a title out of this group, this group being a group of two, I assume. But Alex, I'll go to you first.

Miranda Maverick, 23 years old, I think. Kay Hanson, I believe, is only 20. She's 21 now. Yeah. So obviously, I think Miranda's only fought once in the OCEK has also only fought. Was it only the genuine? She's fought twice now. Twice.

And she lost her last fight, yeah. What do you think? What do you think of these two so far from what you've seen in Vycta? But, you know, yeah, what do you think of their potential? Real quick, Miranda is a flyweight, not a straw weight. Oh, Miranda's a fly, okay. Yeah. Oh, she's playing Julian Robertson, right, on Saturday?

Yeah, that is a flyweight. Okay, but either way, either. Do you see them as top of dean in their respective divisions? Not yet. I think it's too soon to tell. But, you know, these are, when we interview like vets, you know, UFC vets, people have been around forever. They were always talking about that new up-and-coming group.

The people who grew up watching UFC and who started training MMA. They didn't start with, you know, wrestling and then sort of, you know, started working and striking later on. These people have been training MMA since they could probably walk. So I think, you know, there's going to be a whole shift eventually where, like, obviously, the vets are going to get older and retire, and then all of a summer is going to have, like, this massive amount of MMA full-rounded fighters. So I don't know, like, what's going to really separate each other, you know, when

their skills, that are very similar. Kay Hansen, if I'm going to pick somebody who I think is going to go, like, really far. I'm going to pick Miranda Maverick. I mean, one, the name is just, like, insane. And M.MA, like, your name is Miranda Maverick. Like, I don't know how you beat that. But she's also strikes me as a kind of person who's just, who will stop at nothing. Like, she has that personality to me. She's going for her PhD, which is like nuts at the same time as, you know, her getting into the UFC. I mean, this is the kind of person that I think people will look up to for a very long time. I just see her with massive start potential.

Casey, when you grew up, do you want to be like Miranda Maverick? Yes, I'm, I was at Miranda Mavericks. I'm pretty sure I was at her, at least her Invicted debut, maybe her MMA debut, I'm not sure. Or she was like 1-10, man, like, when I first saw her training and I first saw her fight, I was like, that lady is going to be a star. And I actually, the two fighters mentioned here, I think Miranda Maverick has higher potential, although I think Kay Hansen is also very good, too. and beyond Kay Hanson's

her fighting skills. I'm kind of just, I'm relieved. I don't want to get into details about it. It's more of her story, but she kind of had some, an overbearing parent control her life, especially 13 years, kind of getting her ready for that transition to a professional fighter.

And I don't think it was, she admits it. It was not good for her. So I think this adult young lady, young adult Kay Hansen is going to be very interesting. And I think she just had pulled up to do an injury very recently from a fight, I think, last week. Oh, yeah, yeah, she was, she was supposed to fight Cheyenne Bayes. And then she was supposed to say, so I'm not sure what happened with that. I don't know, I don't know what, hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, I don't know, hopefully it's, I don't know,

it's just bad. Hopefully she's okay. I was going, no, hopefully it's just corona. I was like, no, that doesn't make sense either. Hopefully she's okay. Hopefully she's okay. Whatever it is, hopefully. Yeah, so, but they're both obviously very good fighters,

and I do think Maverick has the higher potential, but who knows? I like them both. Now, I'll break it down for both you guys. Okay, so the question is top 15 could be in the top 15 eventually. Scott doesn't really put a timetable on the question. So let's say the look here, this is the UFC's top 15. Not though, we don't have to look at the whole top of Dean, but breaking into, let's say, the bottom five of that top.

You know, Casey, you love top 15 rankings. You always say how much. I've heard you say 11 to 15 is just as important as 1 to 10 I think you've said that many times So right now 11 to 15 at straw weights This will be Miranda Mavre

Sorry, this will be for Kay Hanson Will be McKenzie Dern Angela Hill Vienna Gendjoba And I'm proven that And Amanda Lamos and Felice Herrick I think that's a pretty

She's still ranked Yes, she's still ranked Which for her So this is why I want to get a little deeper of the question because it is different the respective rankings because I do think that's a top 15 like I could see uh Kay Hansen taking that 15 spot by the end of the year if she gets a couple of wins um because as we said, Felice Herrick's been been an active courts with injuries and other things and at flyweight your uh bottom five in the top 15 is angia Lee Antonina Shvchenko

Tylos Santos Macy Barber and Jillian Robertson I think that's a little bit tougher um to break into right now So for me, I guess, yes, I guess I'm leaning a little more towards Kay Hansen. Not necessarily, I think I know Alex said how excited you are about Maverick as a prospect of her talent. So this is not speaking towards their talents. This is other fighters' talents. This is just looking at me looking at kind of their road to get into one of the top 15s. So I think Hanson has a little bit of an easier path. But either way, I think by the end of the year, yeah, if both women are active, they can sneak in there.

I think flywood's a little tougher. Yeah, I think just the opposite. I thought Maverick's got a better road to the top 15. Hmm. I think, I think, she's already fighting number 15. This is true. Oh, this is true.

That's good logic. Well, I guess, I guess what I, you know what? Do you watch M.A. regular Alex? You know, it's just a question. I'm not, not, not, you know, you know, cool Alex brings up a good point. Ah, ah, uh, but what if Jillian Robertson wins? Julia Robertson. See, that's what I'm seeing.

I was assuming my fellow Canadian would win. And that's why I was like, oh, and that's going to, you know, that loss is going to bump Miranda Maverick back further and she can have to work harder to get back. So my comment, there was a logic to it. There was a logic to, I assure you. All right. Next question. But either way, both ones to watch for sure, Miranda Maverick and Kay Hansen have long careers ahead of them.

Woodley, another one from Scott. Woodley versus Luke A is the outcome predictable. They're fighting, of course, a Saturday at UFC 260. Are they the comain? Are they not? I think now they are. Yeah. For now.

Scott says, after watching Tyron Woodley's last three fights, I almost want to bet everything that Vicente Lucay will get his hand raised. But this thing, and that means we'll go out at K.L.L. Luke A in the first round, right? Or will this fight go exactly like Woodley's last three bouts? That's a good question. First of all, of course, the usual disclaimer, never bet on MMA. That is always my number one advice. I think I go ahead.

Yeah, Casey, what do you think? I think the question here really is not really about Woodley, but is Lucke on the level of Kobe Covington, Gilbert Burns, and Kamar Uzman. because that's who we're talking about who wouldley lost to woodley hasn't lost to Joe welterweight i don't know you know he's losing to guys who are fighting for the title or or one and two he's not losing two

bums he's losing the top of the top and honestly he's not getting he's not getting he's getting outworked i don't really think he's getting well the coming to invite me he did break a rib in the fight but in generally like he still walks out of the fight fight looking normal you know his face isn't like you know falling apart he just gets outworked and the ozma fight the burns fight and the coving fight and all three of those fights did he spend most of those 25 minutes each fight on his butt or on his back from what his but or against the

cage yeah so i think that was that's the that's the site that people really hate to see is when he backs himself up against the cage and kind of just stays there that's the woodley that people are really concerned about so of those of all those the last 75 minutes of fighting Would I be accurate to say maybe, I don't know, 70 minutes of those seem to be like Willie either on his back, if it's back against the cage or the mat? I feel like it, right? Yes, I think that there's certainly how I would perceive it. Now, can Lucke do the same thing?

Is that the way to beat Woody or would Lucie just be able to just to outstrike Woodley and actually kind of finish him on his feet? Do we think Willie has lost all of that? Or is it just like a really heavy pressure wrestler is actually, guys a big willy. No, well, I think that's what Scott is asking. I think it's, like you said, the level of competition you just mentioned, super high, Burns, Cumberton, Ouzman, of course, they could be anyone.

It's the way he lost that's so disturbing. I think, you know, I think people thought we've had this conversation before the Covington fight. We said, look, this is the fight that's going to bring back the old tire. You know, he hates Colby Compton. If he cannot get up for this fight, you know, what fight is he going to be super motivated for, right? So I think the fact that he seems so tentative. Yes, Scott outworked, you know, credit to Colby Compton.

Comington, you know, of course, just for being the better fighter that night. But it was what they saw in that fight. It was what they saw in the Burns fight, what they saw in the Udman fight. That, that, it's so cliche, but that inability to pull the trigger. And when you're 38, I think he's a month away from being 39 years old. And more importantly, more importantly, he has a lot of fight mileage on him and combat sports mileage. Of course, a strong amateur, a long amateur wrestling career.

He's got a lot of combat sports mileage on him. And you do wonder, is, it. regardless of who he's fighting, is that in him anymore, when he stepped, I bet in the training, I bet he's crushing it. A bit training is the same old tyrant, probably better than ever. When he steps into that cage, it's a completely different beast. I'm sure most fighters would agree. And can he turn that switch on anymore?

So, and against an aggressive guy like Lucke, is this going to send him right back into his shell? I don't know. Alex Savage, what do you think? Yeah. I mean, what Casey said, like, we're going to see if Vicente Lucay is on the same level as Burns, Usman and Covington. And I think that this is going to be probably the pivotal moment where we discover what Woodley's really all about. I mean, because I don't think Luke is on the same level yet.

So if we see the exact same thing happen to Woodley again, then I think maybe, you know, we're going to start looking, we're going to start watching Woodley really dropping the rankings and just find that match that's good for him. You know, I mean, I don't think he's talking about retirement yet. I know we always talk about retirement whenever people get, you know, three losses in a row and they're getting older. But like, he's still ranked what, seven, eight, I don't know. He is seven, I believe. So your seventh best in the world, hypothetically? I mean, just talking to UFC, obviously, that's pretty freaking remarkable, you know,

like even if you're 30th in the world, you know, best at something. Like, I don't think you just throw in the, you know, throw on the towel. I mean, if he's done, he's done, but I don't, I think he still has a lot left in him, personally. Alex, Alex, can we get a fight prediction? Can I get, can I get a three days in advance fight prediction? Sure, I'll pick Woodley. Let's see

Woodley by decision Wow Okay Woodley by this So you think we're going to see A little bit of the old Woodyback You think Or also as you kind of mention

That Lucke Maybe isn't at that level Of the guys who Who beat Woodley lately Well Luke ain't I mean Luke ain't That's the problem right now Luke has to prove he's at that level

When he has fought When Lucke has fought The elite Walter White He has lost And I mean No one likes to say it Because we all love

Lukeie as a great action fighter But he is a very high level a gatekeeper, much like we thought of Derek Brunson. He's really good, but he just loses to those guys at the very top. And Lukie's been the same way. What are there's two losses? His big, Stephen Thompson, top five. And Leon Edwards, who wasn't top five, I think, at the time,

but obviously his top, we know as a top five fighter now. So, yeah, those are his two UFC losses. So this is, this is actually great matchmaking by the UFC, honestly. This is, this gives a chance for Luque to, you know, establish himself as an elite Walterweight, not just a really good action at Walterweight. and to see if Woodley's still an elite Walter Wake, too. Obviously, a lot of people crap on Woodley and stuff, but like you mentioned it too,

a.K., dude's old. He's just old. I mean, for it. I mean, and he's going to lose a step. And I don't know. And we'll see if he, if age is going to catch up. I'm kind of with Savas. I'm still poking Woodley because I'm still a believer. But if, if, Obviously, Willi Addis Prime, I think, easily beats Lucke. But I don't think we don't have Willie Edis Prime. So we'll see what's left. With Instacard, you get groceries that over-deliver so you can over-share your preferences. Want russet potatoes with no brown spots?

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Service fees exclusions and terms apply. And by the way, when we say old, we mean sober. He's venerated. He means over. He's going to step into that cage on, sorry, under the scale Friday, looking like a million bucks. Oh, yeah. I wish when I am Tyron Woodley's age that I look like Tyrone and perform like Tyrone Woodley.

But, yeah, we have to be realistic here in fight years. There's a lot of mileage. And yeah, he hasn't been the same guy. That's just that's just being straight. We keep it real with guys. We keep it real with the A side of viewers and listeners. Oh, I like this question. Scott again, okay, well, you know what, Scott?

This is Scott's show. Scott, but this is a good question. Laura Sanko on her way to stardom as an MMA commentator. Laura Sanko has been color commentating LFA fight cards for the last few months when she isn't working UFC fights. Her commentary is wonderful. She makes smart, concise points and is effortlessly funny and entertaining. Do you think we will see her working?

as a commentator for the U.S.C. before the end of 2021. I will, do we think it'll happen? Also, yeah, one, should it happen? It should have happened a year ago. Will it happen? Absolutely. Yeah, I actually wageriegerie. It will happen.

I've got a shout out, first of all. Sorry, guys, I take this off topic for saying, or somewhat an aside. Our own TSN in Canada is having its first all women's broadcast of a Toronto Raptors basketball game. So shoutouts to Kayla Gray, Kia Nurse, and the rest of the crew, Kate Burness, I'm going to leave somebody out, I know, so I feel to Amy Odebert, because, yeah, we are having,

and this, again, something should have happened a long time ago. Play-by-play, too? They're doing play-by-play, yes, everything. Analysts, it's a full, it's full all-women's on-screen team. I'm so happy. It's these women are overqualified. These women who have played basketball in the past, who are current basketball players, W&B All-Star,

and, of course, just a qualified journalist and analysts. So it's very exciting. To bring me back to Lorisanko, yeah, She's more than qualified for it. It's funny how many people don't know that she fought. I don't know so many people who don't know that she has a pro-MMA fight, which again, is more than it. I was there. I shot video of it.

I was at her fight. Casey, Casey, people don't know. People, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, she's, it's going to sound so insult to the MMA fighters, but she's so intelligent. She presents herself so well that people don't realize that, yeah, she herself was once an MMA fighter. So she comes from a very legit background. And, and even if she.

hadn't. I mean, this is in addition to the hundreds of hours of footage that I made that she's watched live events she's attended. Yeah, I think anyone who's heard Laura speak and, like I said, do LFA commentary, her work on contender series. She'll, she's more than qualified, do play-play. Sorry, I didn't mean to jump all over answering the question. But yeah, I'm very excited at the prospect of Laura Sanko getting her shot. Alex Savas, what do you think? So the way that I look at society right now is that there's two types of companies, right? There's companies that will do the right thing on their own, and there's companies that will do the right thing when facing enormous amounts of pressure. I think the UFC needs to face that pressure.

I think the media needs to be questioning Dana White at press conferences about this. Why have we not seen a female commentator at Cage side yet? I think the fans need to be tweeting. I think we need to be talking about this and this is great already because I don't think that UFC is going to make that decision on their own. So, you know, even given the current climate of things, because like you said, it should have happened a year or two, three years ago, whatever. So let's start pushing that pressure. You know, next time that I'm at a press conference, I'll ask Dana White. You know, like, people need to be putting that pressure because they will eventually have to do the right thing. If they don't want to by now, that's whatever, that's their problem. I'm,

I'm sure that the conversation has come up. I'd be shocked if that conversation hasn't come up in the UFC yet. And for some reason, it hasn't gotten done. So put that pressure on them. Ooh. Wow. Regaton Airhorn also would have an appropriate, Casey. That was, uh, this is why, There we go. Perfect. See, this is why she's the cool Alex, because I'm very passive. I'm very like, oh, well, no, it'd be swell if this happened. Alex Savis is saying, I am going to make this happen.

I'm just too cynical. I just don't believe people will do the right thing on their own. Dana White better not see me because it's on site. It is on site with Dana. Lorisenko clearly is qualified to be a fight commentator, a color commentator during the fight sitting cage site. She's obviously qualified for it. She does a great job.

My only worry is the UFC's, Dana White in particular, his obsession with having UFC fighters be the color commentator. Remember they got rid of Jimmy Smith, a great commentator. I mean, great color commentator. They got rid of him because, well, you're not a fighter for the UFC. Look who they have. Felder, or is it Felder, Bisbane, D.C. Who else?

Cruz. They got rid of Hardy. But who else is color commentator? Oh, I was totally just blanked out there. You said, didn't you not say everyone? You said, Bissing, Hardy, Cormier, Felder. That it? Would you miss?

You miss anyone, I think you got everyone. I feel, but now I feel bad if we're leaving someone out, but. Rogan's kind of like the celebrity color commentator. Yeah, but the issue is like, yeah, Laura, like you said, people don't know she fought MMA and she didn't do it in the UFC. So I hope that doesn't hold her back because. I just had a horrible thought of, thought of her having to play, like, the John Anick role and kind of mediate, like, Joe Rogan and, and a Cormier comedy, a comedy night. And I'm just, I just, I just, I just had, got like a mic.

I mean, don't get any wrong. She could handle those knuckleheads. I'm just saying it's, if that was, like, her debut, I would, I would, I would, I wish she would get, she would get a chance for a two, two person, uh, call first. I think that would be great. But I don't know. They seem obsessed with three, three person groups. Dude, one of my biggest pet peeves, always of fans is how they, nobody knows the difference between the play by play in a color commentator it does blur it does blur sometimes it does in the ufc it does especially

yeah the way the ufc does commentating yeah yeah it's more clear on some other sports in the in the ufsd sometimes it just depends kind of the who's talking and yeah yeah it was usually it's just people talking and then anic reading promos yeah that's it but yes people if you want to see lor sanco in the commentator booth let let your voice be heard otherwise aloxalice will take care of it don't worry about that but i mean it'll help if you guys hit dana white up on twitter social media make those demands. Get those comments up on the screen during fight night, like four Casey's been trying to do for the last two years. All right, here we go. We're going to the YouTuber comments. Oh, dear. Oh, God.

Joseph Boza, speaking for the people, apparently. He says, fans are, can I say this word, Casey, on our podcast slash YouTube? Oh, it's encouraged. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Fans are pissed. I put a little extra sauce on it. Fans are pissed that Volcanowski Ortega is off. only reason is that the only reason is that they can't take Alex as the featherweight champion. Why can't fans take Alex seriously as champ? I saw on Twitter. He's a fake slash fraud champ. Well, I mean, if Twitter said it, then so it is.

Is this one of the best, though? I look, this is one of those loaded questions where it's like I feel weird. I feel weird answering it because I feel like depending how I answer it, it's almost like I'm agreeing with what Joseph. Thank you for the question, Joseph. No, yeah, okay, let's take this point. Point by point, I don't think that's the only reason people are upset about not getting to see. It's a great fight. It's a great fight. I do think there's a lot of Ortega fans out there. And I think anyone who kind of was like halfway off the bandwagon got back on with that great performance against Zombie.

But I mean, no, I was going to throw it to you guys a second. But I, for one, I'm big on the Volcanowski bandwagon. I will say I'm one of the big defenders that he won both fights. I mean, the first one was clear. I hate that the second one was so close that people were like going back. to the first one and saying that that was a win for Holloway, which is like, guys, just rewatch that one. That one wasn't close. It wasn't like a super exciting fight, but Volcanowski clearly won.

Second one, much better arguments he made for Holloway, but I don't know. Alex Adams, do you feel like that there's that much resentment for Volcanowski? I don't know if, again, I don't know how much you're reading these social media responses to Volcanovsky's brain and whatnot, but what's your vibe on that. Yeah, no, I'm getting the same vibes Joseph Bosa here. People love Max Holloway, right? I mean, he is just like one of the all-time most likable fighters.

And for him to lose a title fight twice by close decision, like, it pissed a lot of people off. Whether that's justified, no. No, but no, I'm with you. I'm on the Volcanowski bandwagon, a thousand percent, too. And the reason I think if people are pissed that Volcanozegovsky Ortega is off is one because it was a bomb fight, but too, also, I think people want to see the title change hands. and maybe, I don't know, get him out of there for some reason. I just feel so bad because I feel like if any other circumstances, if Volcanovsky had won this title by first round knockout,

people would be on board. Volkanowski is such an amazing person. He's an amazing fighter. And it just sucks that he's got to get all of this heat because he beat a very likable guy, you know, unfortunately. Yeah, this is one of those things we're like, the popularity didn't transfer over. So, you know, also we like to see.

A likable champion, a fighter beats another likable champion. And it's like, oh, the popularity should transfer over. Instead, it was like pure, filtered through the MMA thing of pure hatred and came up the other end very poorly for Volcanowski. Casey, what do you think? It's weird for the hate for Volcanowski. Yeah, I thought Volcanowski won the first fight against Holloway. I thought he lost the second fight against Holloway. I thought they were both obviously very close.

But Volkanowski got the decision. And, yeah, and like, I don't. But I get Volcanowski is still is a champion. and that's why this fight for Tago is so important because this would finally because I guess he's a bit of a paper champion. I think this fight would have legitimized his championship and we're just pissed that we don't get to see that resolution. I think Piss is really just replacement for sad, just bummed. And I think that's why we can't take Alex seriously as the champ because we just feel like, you know, he did it win that clean. And I want to kind of compare this to say John Jones versus Reyes.

I feel like just as many people thought Ray has won that fight, but we still consider John Jones, no, John Jones, because he had all that previous wins. So he had a lot of history coming into that. And Volcanowski just didn't have that long history of dominant wins to kind of go, well, okay, everyone gets a freebie, you know, a bad decision that goes in their favor. But I think the biggest reason fans should be pissed,

and I know we don't need to get into it big time, but the bubble got burst. They caught the dang virus. in Vegas. And that is a giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant, giant issue. This is what, this was the whole op-man and the potato bag thing was. It broke the bubble, you know, that's why the whole thing was like, like, like, he got released because he, he, he broke COVID protocols. Somebody broke COVID protocols at the UFC in the bubble and caused the entire, not entire, but like, I'm, I'm assuming, have they, as safe as,

Have they said officially Brad Riddell got COVID too? Brad Radell said he himself posted on social media. He said I do. He said he said he tested negative. As far as he knows, he said twice he tested negative. So I don't know if it's someone else in this camp team. Yeah. And not necessarily tested about that like you said, maybe they broke protocol.

And the USC was aware of that. Because, yeah, if anyone, I don't think he archived it, unfortunately. I don't think he made a formal post because he did it like an Instagram story. But yeah, Brad Riddell said something to the effect of as far as I know, I did not test positive. So I don't know. He's very, obviously, very frustrated with the situation. He was supposed to fight Gilbert Gillespie this past Saturday.

Now we don't know what's, you know, the status of that about is going to be if they reschedule. So, yeah, so Bradra Dell, of course, traveling from the oceanic region, Okunovsky, of course, a champion from the oceanic region. Now, there's reports. We don't know for sure. Shane Young, supposed to be fighting Omar Morales this Saturday. As far as we know, the fight is still on, the UFC still has it on their broadcasting schedule, but there are reports that they want to do further testing. So we don't know.

So that's three fighters from the Oceanic Regents, who I know at least a couple of them at least sometimes trained together. So we don't know. It's a very, like you said, it's a very strange, kind of scary situation. Yeah. How, where did this happen? At what point did the chain of protocol break down? We have no idea. And this was like just a couple of weeks ago in Fight Island.

This was like a big deal. Like, oh, they released a fighter. It was like a big deal. And the same thing happened here in Vegas. And we're kind of like just him and, you know, oh, whatever, you know, we'll rescheduled the fight, you know. I don't know. It's just to me it's a very big deal, but obviously the UFC doesn't want to make it a big deal because that doesn't. Well, yeah, UFC, I just want to remind people. UFC 261, tickets will be on sale for 15,000 seats sold out of five-star veterans Coliseum and UFC 262.

So it's going to sell for that event soon at Toyota Center in Houston, 19,000 max capacity. So there to go. NBC, Jose Young's there. Give him a hug. Oh, my goodness. We'll edit that part out. We won't. Well, yeah, we'll fix it. We'll fix it in post.

John Daniel wants to know any success, getting any information about Ottman's package from Abuazitar. We must know what was in that package. I, you know, so obviously Abu as I tire is fighting, excuse me, he was fighting this Saturday against, is he fighting Barrio? He's fighting by Barrio, I believe. Amit is fighting his brother. Oh, Abu is his brother. This will be Abu's first fight in, I think. almost like two years.

I'm like, sorry, sorry, 2019. So late 2019. So I imagine there will be more questions this week. Obviously, we don't have an answer to this. I would just tell John, tune in to Media Day. I don't know, I don't think I was going to be there. Do you have the media? It would just be the main card, right?

I don't have, I don't actually have who's going to be on it right now in front of me. All right. Either way, I suppose that will be present. Someone will speak to him. I would say, keep your ears to the, and maybe someone. But right now they were joking around. What did they say? what the managers say

there's like potatoes or something like that or I was on who said it was potatoes I don't know so we're joking around with that yeah we don't know the UFC seems to have lost interest in investigating or at least let us know what it was but yeah I don't think but was it a boy potato or a girl potato

oh my god don't stop that's not stop this isn't one of those stop it don't cool ass please don't go please please please I'm going to meet my I got to meet myself all right

Anyone watching live, Cool Alas is not going anywhere. Please don't turn off the stream. Oh, there we go. From our own dear, dear Jose Young's taking a moment out of his busy, insanely busy schedule to ask to say, this is now a podcast about soup. Okay, well, he's the boss.

He's the regular host. Cool, Alex, since you are from Chicago, when is the most overrated soup and bread combo? Okay, for those who don't know, Chicago's not. It's all you. But those you don't know that Chicago is the city of soup, It is a city of soup.

So go on. It's not the city of soup. And the best pizza from Chicago you will find at Chicago pizza and oven grinders on Clark. Thank you for the question, Jose Yucks. So Alex. Thank you. Thank you, Yon, Jose. Well, hold on.

Alex. Her ears are tripping up. What is your favorite soup from Chicago? No answer to Chicago. No, we have the decision. Do not punish my. city of soup. Wait, are you against soup in general?

No, because listen, there's an episode of New Girl where they were talking about Chicago because you know how Winston and Nick are from Chicago and they go, Winston goes, Chicago, city of soup. And they just like move on from there. Like nobody, it's not known as the city of soup by any of the circumstances. The writers just like went rogue on this episode and just decided to call it the city of soup. And now, you know, Jose and Casey just really run with it. Chicago, City of Soup.

You Photoshop that whole thing when we were in Houston. There we go. We're good. Thanks for the question, Jose. Deep dish pizza. What's the popcorn where they mix the caramel

and the Chicago-style popcorn? Yeah, I don't like that. I don't want to mix that. Chicago-style popcorn is the bomb. Shout-outs in the YouTube if you guys love Chicago-style popcorn. That stuff is the bomb. John Danion wants us know.

Do you think the names, Oh, heading in, so this is, you know, I've got to preface these things. So heading in, of course, to Stipe's rematch with Francis Ngano in the main event of UFC 260 this Saturday. John Danion asked, do you think the names on Steve's resume solidify him as the heavyweight goat? Or do you think that in order to surpass his achievements, heavyweight champ must break the three title defense record? Well, to surpass the, he owns the record. That's his record. Yes.

Yeah. I guess he's asking, does he need to do more, to go do more than that? But again, it's a little confusing question. Yeah, so he already has the record. He then lost the talent, of course, to Kormier and then won it back. So this will be his first defense of his second reign. But yeah, cool, Alex, what do you think? Second events.

Second events. This will be the second defense in the rematch, too. He won it back and then beat him in it. That's correct. So this will be the second defense of his second reign. I'll throw out some of the names. Let's look what we got here. I'll just go from the UFC notable names.

Roy Nelson, Gabe Gonzaga, Mark Hunt, Arloskey, Fabricio Verdum, Overim, JDS, Inganu, and Cormier twice, and possibly in Gondu again this Saturday. So, Savas, is that the goat right there? I hate goat questions. Me too. Sure. Thanks, John. Steve pays the goat. I don't know.

Sure. Just like, it's so irrelevant to me because it's just, it can go a million different directions. I mean, yeah, as of right now, sure, Steve pays the goat. I don't know what else you have to do. Alex, are you a believer in the GSP mentality of you're really the best fighter on that given night, and that's really all that matters. Any other talk is silly. I like that.

That makes sense, yeah. Actually, I like that a lot, too, because I don't really understand the goat question either because, like, are we talking, no, like, from a certain era? I mean, like, when do you become the goat? okay, are you always the goat? Because obviously when Steve A, when he got knocked out by Stefan Struve, he wasn't a goat that day. So, I mean, how do we, I don't know when we decide when he became the goat and when you're solidified. Or is it kind of more like, you know, kind of, I don't know, employing them.

Like, to me, the goat, the conversation would mean like, okay, it's the end of MMA. MMA is no longer in existence. Let's look back at who's the greatest of all time. Like, that's what a goat talk means to me. like, okay, basketball's over. There's no more basketball in the world. Was Michael Jordan or LeBron James the goat? Because neither are playing anymore.

And nobody in the world is playing basketball anymore. So that's how the goat should work. I think, yeah, look, I'll go ahead, Casey. I think so much of this goat conversation is so dependent on what happens this Saturday. I think a lot of it would steep, because I think from most part, I mean, Nagon is the favorite. I think we should, for the most part, we go, okay. Steve B fought Nagano early in his career. He was only four years into his professional career.

And Steve A obviously has big cardio and wrestling issues that fight. Is now that we're going to, hopefully we get a Francis Nagano that's more mature and that we're going to see a prime Francis Nagano rather than, you know, a prospect kind of fighting in the heavyweight title fight as he did in the first time. Can Steve be beat this kind of prime version of Francis Nagano? And I think if he does, then, yeah, the goat question will be, you know, I mean, statistically, I think he is the goat, but image-wise or kind of like, I don't know, the way you feel. I just don't see steep he has the goat, but I don't feel it yet because he just doesn't have that aura that, say, you know, that the Fedor had or even, even like Negara or even Lesnar's. And he just doesn't have that aura about him.

and I think a lot of what the goat status kind of is a lot of it is that. Yeah, so much of it is optics, right? I mean, look, we have people that think Connor McGregor is the greatest fighter of all time. So there you go, if that tells you anything about how much of his perception and personality and how you present yourself. John wants to clarify, Casey, I don't know if you saw it. He wants to clarify his question.

We have an addendum to the question. He meant, he meant, we don't, John, we normally don't allow this. You're on such the nice. You've been banned so many times before. I don't know, I don't know why you've. keep pushing us. He says, what I meant to say was, what does a future heavyweight champ have to do to become the greatest over Stepe?

Would breaking the three defense record do it or something? Yeah, I mean, I think breaking this, again, it's a number of things. I think breaking the tele defense record would help. Again, maybe it's Ingana. I think beating, obviously Inganu beating Stepe in the rematch would go a long way. You know, you always want to beat the guy who was, you know, considered the best. It's not a prerequisite, but if you get the chance, it always helps. And then, and then, yes, I think three.

straight defenses, force rate defenses, that's really how you need to go. So, yeah, these things matter to people. Though, I think as we mentioned with the, with sort of the Habib talk, title defenses don't always mean, like, don't always measure how run well, because the UFs decides you fight for titles. You could be fighting a world, world class world title opponent for like two years before getting a title shot, right? So title defenses are great and they look cool. And again, if you're like GSP, like perfectly timed, you fight all your great.

opponents while you're champion, but it's, it's really, really out of your control. So I look at a Gondage record already. He's been a lot of great guys. If he never, if he never records him in two more than two consecutive tele defenses, like if should he beat Steepay, how far does that bump him down? I don't know. You know, I don't know if it bumps him down that much. So I don't know, just letting him to consider.

The resume question is interesting because look at Francis's resume. I mean, that's, you know, that's just as impressive, I think, you know, especially the dominance of Francis wins, too. So, yeah, if you go title fights, yeah, of course. Me, Yos just has it. And you know what? Once this fight happens Saturday, and once John Jones finally gets a real fight at heavyweight, then, man, we're going to be talking about this ad nauseum.

Oh, I can't wait. I hope I'm not on that episode, I'll say. Same. Oh, please be, please be back and get some poor suck of like Jedmishu or Matt Wells or something to be stuck answering those questions. from 1882, I know this is a moisture since you're dead.

Weight cutting. We heard the explanation from Julia Reco that the reason why she fainted twice on the scale during the official wayans for U.S. Vegas 22, saying it wasn't a weight issue, more of fact that she made weight too early. Okay? Now, I know

Julia said that she felt fine afterwards. There's no lingering health concerns her, and however, in your opinion, does the process of weight cutting need to change altogether all together, should all the commissions in each state follow California rules when it comes to this issue? I'm going to say yes for now. I'm going to let you guys go ahead first, but I mean, obviously I'm leaning towards yes.

But Casey, let me go to you first. What do you think? What do you think of that whole mess? So when you talks about the California rules, basically that comes down to a rehydration kind of percentage, whatever your rehydration percentage is, when they say California rules, is that what they're easy talking about? That too. I think California also does, didn't they also do periodic weigh-ins during fight week?

I think they're one of the only commissions that do that. Yeah, they weigh in during fight week. Multiple times. Yeah. Yeah, so there's a percentage. They release the fight night weights publicly. They're the only commission that's doing that. So, yeah, there's a few little things they've been doing, which I think are very helpful.

Yeah, I mean, California has got a better idea of it. I mean, the big thing is if you really want to eliminate a lot of this, you have to do, like, day of way-ins. So fighters will basically can't, they're not going to be doing these massive weight cuts because they know they can't fight safely or strategically well at having a big weight cut, only hours before the fight. I think like wrestling does a lot of this too. I'm not sure. But I know amateur MMA you weigh in the same day.

You don't weigh in the day before. So you can't cut lots of weight because you're not going to have time to rehydrate. The Stolorenko, though, I think that was, I think even a few fighters and some nutritionists said, yeah, as bad as that looked, that kind of happens a lot. We just happen to see it on camera this time. And I've heard all the time of fighters fainting during weight cuts, and they actually go on, weigh in properly, and fight great next night and win. It's just, yeah, I mean, it was actually, she actually probably did do a safe.

safe weight cut, but like she said, she cut weight too early, which is a mistake she made because otherwise, you know, you can make weight on Wednesday, you know. Oh, sorry, sorry, make weight like on. Yeah, did you hear that? I was like, yeah, the demon within. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, she messed up and I think it looked a lot worse than what it was. But yeah, it brings up a lot of good questions.

and do you guys know why we have weigh-ins a day before rather than day of you know why? Well, I think, well, I mean, I think there's media reasons, but also I heard that some back in the day, like some boxing, you know, did try to do same-day wins and people still tried to cut stupid amounts of weights. Yeah, I mean, it's all promotional reasons. So they have another day to sell a fight. So if you move it closer to the actual fight time, the idea is like, people. like you can't you will cut less weight. I think the rehydration percentages, which I'm not, I can't speak greatly with good accuracy on, but you would need to bring a nutritious on.

And I think Mark Romani knows a lot about this. He's one that knows a lot about this. He knows a lot about pro rasslin and I don't know. I don't know if he's really the guy we want to go to. For Casey, can we shrink this question down a little bit? This is, for anyone, sorry, who's listening. It's this question, just literally, there's a box of jabging into my neck and covering the bottom of August Saps's face on our YouTube video.

But, Alice, I want to go to you because, Alex, you were watching this as it went down. You actually had to message me to let me know it happened. I was occupied with something else. So you were watching as it went down, what was your read on this, what I still think, even knowing after that she's fine? I feel like it was a super scary situation. And what do you think of kind of her explanation after and what some other, you know, kind of nutritionists have said about the incident?

Yeah, I agree with Casey where like this stuff happens all the time. I just didn't see it on camera. I mean, when you, when the fact that she was on way too early, I mean, now you're dehydrated, you went to bed, you didn't wake up, you've been dehydrated this whole time. Normally, you know, they're going to probably dehydrate and then get right on a scale and then start rehydrating right afterwards. And it was just, it's too long for the body to go like that. It's just not sustainable.

So, yeah, that's a mistake. And yeah, obviously something needs to change because for as long as people will be able to drop 25 pounds in a wake up, they will do it. you know so you can't leave it to the fighters to make the decision to move up a weight class or to do a healthier weight cut they're just we we've seen time and time again the fighters aren't always going to make the best decision it's going to be whatever's best for their career whatever's going to guarantee him that w the next night i mean so yeah there's there needs to be way more i mean this is serious stuff you don't want to you know mess around dehydrating your body like that and not being able to properly rehydrate afterwards so yeah i'm all four like when you show up to fight week you need to be at a certain weight percentage you know you You can't show up too heavy that week and expect to drop a certain amount of percentage of your weight by weigh-ins. That's something that I would look into. So, I mean, it just seems like a no-brainer to me that there needs to be more regulation on this.

Yeah, the California Commission is definitely on the right track. Again, we're not saying they've fixed weight cutting or anything. There's always people that are going to find new ways to kind of try and game the system. But this certainly, the things they've been doing certainly make things more difficult. I don't know how many fighters they've actually been able to get to move. I know they've at least recommended to at least a few, a separate. several fighters to move up. I don't know how many have actually done it.

Because it is, the commission has kind of made it clear, like, this is our recommendation. We are not like, you know, forbidding them from fighting. If they don't change weight class

for the next fight, I guess if it's chronic, then maybe they would, but so far I haven't heard any follow-up where they'd, like, force anyone to stay up. One, of course, one championship,

you know, I also has some hydration testing that they do to make sure if fighters don't get too big. Their whole, their whole process is a little bit shrouded mystery. I wish there was more disclosure there with sort of how their way-ins

are done, things of that, but the theory of it is good. So I think if you take ideas from there, take ideas from California, guys, we might be able to, we might be able to solve this. And of course, as you guys kind of both touched upon, the fighters themselves, the fighters themselves have to really fix this culture because, again, as long as there's, it's the prisoner, it's the prisoner's dilemma, right? As long as one prisoner thinks they'll get a little less jail time than the other,

then they have no reason to compromise. So, yes, it sucks. But I do think we are. Yeah, go ahead. Is this legit? Is this legit? Jessica Pinet. Is this legit?

Yeah. I see a random YouTube comment. Her opponent was it Hannah Goldie? Anna Goldie, correct. Yeah, she just Instagramed that she's out of the fight because of COVID. Because of the COVID. Okay. So we are maybe down to 10, potentially nine, depending on the status of the Young Morales fight.

Oh, so. I was so looking forward to Jessica Penny's return. Oh, my. Her first fight in over 1,400 days. 1,400 days. That's like a century. In the MMA time? I think most people didn't realize she was still with the promotion.

Obviously, there was a USADA suspension in there, but yeah, very unfortunate for herself in hand of the fight will not go down. You hear how Dominic Cruz in multiple interviews kind of came to Jessica Penny's defense and say basically she just got royally screwed. But, oh, man, we're just kidding. Four year. Four year. God dang it.

And she had, it was a second infraction, you got a four, I don't know, did she end up, sir, it was reduced. Okay, it was reduced in four years. I'm sorry, to 20 months. That's still a long time. 20 months, a long time of fighter's career. Yes. Yes. And I've heard this is maybe more, uh, you saw a shenanigans.

So yeah, very, very bad news. So hopefully, but again, hopefully if there's nothing wrong on her end, we will see, uh, Jessica Payne, uh, compete again soon. Yeah, but that's a way cut. That's fight camp. That's money. You know, it's a lot of, I know for fans, all we care about like, oh, it's a long. to get in the cage and punch, but man, there is so, so much more outside, like, that, for that 15 minutes, it's just like 15,000 hours to get ready for that 15 minutes.

Has she been running an only fan? She, she who's been running an only fans, right? I think, I think she, I believe she was one of the first fighters. I could be wrong. I do remember, though, that when I, that's, I think that's almost how I first heard about only fans. I swear it was, that's how you heard about it. This is a long time ago.

This is, this is before. Wait, wait. You're worried about, Hey, am I allowed to say pissed? Now, hold on. And now you're like, let's talk only fans, guys. Only fans is a legitimate venture, all right? And just because I have my own only fans now

does not mean that I, I like, follow all these other only fans. And then I'm hip to the only fans culture. I'm very new to this, all right? But yeah, you guys subscribe $5 a month. Okay, low low price or annual. If you can survive annually, 18% off. That's cheap. You use code.

Use code Candy Lee and you will answer with a K, Candy Lee, and you'll get 20% off. No, but I just want to bring it up because I do see there's that, you know, this whole discourse like, oh, the fighters, it's, you know, women fighters specifically, I guess, because I guess they're the ones that are starting, most of the only fans. Shouldn't do like OnlyFans. I'm like, what? I'm like, they're making money for it. They're making money for it.

It's their decisions. You put whatever they want on there. And some of the middle of the point, a lot of them are probably making more money from OnlyFans than they make with the UFC. So make of that what you will, guys. And so I'm fully supporting. If I can make money on old fans, they'd all be doing it in a heartbeat. Give me a great.

Of course they would. Derek Lewis would be charging $1999 a month for his only fans if he thought that he could, you know, whatever, post memes and whatever belly, belly picks on there or what have your, I don't know. I don't know what if Derek Lewis would put. YouTube, shut out in the YouTube comments. What do you think? Oh, no, no, no, don't actually. Don't do that. Don't do that.

I'm sorry, don't do that. Don't do that. But, yeah, that's my, that's my mini-only fans rant. That was the mini-ran? That was, that was the thesis, man. Come on. That was a doctorate, man. That was like, if I was, if I was Jose, that would have been three times longer.

Come on. Oh, no, yeah, there's no criticism in all of fighters who were doing only fans. Wait, how, how do we go from that? Because Jessica Pene, I'm saying, I'm saying Jessica Pene has probably been, among other things. like sponsorships that have stuck with her as probably making some money to only fans and good for her. She hasn't fought

since 2017. Guys, that was her, she's a professional UFC fighter and is probably not getting a lot of income from the UFC over the last four years. I don't think that's a bold statement. So what do we got? Fans, if you want, if you like a fighter and you want to support them outside of the cage,

subscribe to their only fans or I don't know, buy a t-shirt or something from them. Or do, I don't know, I know. I know that's a pro wrestler thing, but I don't know if I think fighters should do more like, I don't think fighters sell enough t-shirts on their own. Like I like how Angela Hill is real good about that. She has a store in pro wrestling teas.

Fighters sell more shirts. People like, I don't know. That's how you do it. It's cheaper than a pay-per-view. Yeah. Slightly more expensive than a monthly subscription to regular Alex's only fan. So. promo code candy candy lee all right i'm just saying

m m g 2k20 thanks for chatting and as always this is justin sane he spelled it justin sane jason the name justin and sane sane sane sannie he said a year ago g is one of the first names we mentioned when it comes to the lightweight division and fighting for the title he is arguably the most exciting emma fighter ever and he is touted as the guy who might be able to beat habib one year later how has he all of a sudden become the men out. Where does he go from here? Surely he is one win away from a title shot. So yes, the lightweight division has has sorted itself out somewhat after. Thank goodness. The retirement of Habib has been accepted by Dana White and the UFC. So now we can all move on with our lives.

It has been accepted. You know, there's a lot of paperwork. You retire in October. You know, you're not officially retired to like, you know, four months later. That's how these things work. So, Alex, what do you think? How did Justin get left out of all these, this sweet, sweet, lightweight matchups. Two words. Here's what changed for Justin Gagee. Connor McGregor came back,

threw a wrench in the gears. Everything has to be McGregor-centric, you know? So, you know, Dustin Porriere passed up on the title fight to fight McGregor, smart move. I would have done the same. And yeah,

that's it. I don't know. That's what happens. You got to stay relevant. You got to stay in the headlines. And he didn't do that. And we'll get back there, you know, it'll happen. The new cycle will switch and all of a sudden it'll be all about Gae again.

Come around. That's how it works. That McGregor factor just throws everyone's lives into people, including ours, whenever that guy, mirrors his head. Casey, what do you think? Is it that simple? Two words, Connor McGregor? No, I don't think it's that.

Actually, I mean, Conno McGregor is part of it, but I just think Charles Oliver fights for cheaper. That's all. I mean, is this prize fighting? The UFC's a business? before anything. They are a business that is here to make money. And Charles Oliver fights a lot cheaper than Justin Gagchi.

Look, that's just a fact. That is, listen, this is the sort of the price of success in the UFC when you become a top name. Look at Jorge Mosvidal. Jorge Mosvidal fought himself into a prime, prime money-making position. Suddenly, the UFC does not seem as eager to just, you know, throw any fight Jorge Mazdaul's way. And at the same time, on Harry Mosvidal's side, he's not eager to success. accept any fight. Now there's a price tag. I got a brand name that's coming the way.

Justin Gachey, two years ago, throw any name in front of him, give him the reasonable you know, reasonable paycheck. He's down to clown. He's right in there. But guess what? Now he's former interim champion Gagee. Yeah, and I don't want to hear any crap from fans saying basically, oh, well, Gachie's coming off a loss

and stuff. It's like, so? It's like, Josie Otto got a title fight off a loss. Mazurah's getting a title fight off a loss. I mean, like, what are you talking about, man? It's like, no, clearly there was something, there was something that went on behind the scenes, where the money wasn't agreed upon between both sides, between the fighter and the UFC, Gaichi and the UFC and Oliver, they went with Oliver. And that's all, that's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I mean, and me, sorry, go on. Go ahead. Yep. Let's not forget Michael Chet. Yeah. Go. obviously the Connor part with and Dustin and Dustin wanting to fight Connor. And obviously the way the contracts are set up,

how Dustin is going to get more money off a potential Connor victory than he would off a title fight. And maybe even for Dustin, he's like, you know, for Dustin is like, oh, and that's just a, in his mind, a more easier, a fight, not easier, but a fight he can go into more confidentlyly than saying fighting Justin Gae, Oliver or Chandler. Because I think that's pretty much where we're kind of talking about those four guys as far as fighting for that title. But yeah, here we are. The Connor belt is worth more than the lightweight, sorry, lightweight title fight, which is. We knew that. And we knew that, but they need to make a belt. There should be like I beat Connor belt.

Let's just do that. They made it be a Melfth belt. Make an I make. Dude, wouldn't you buy, how many UFC replica I beat Connor McGregor belts? they sell. I think way more than... I don't even want to think about it. I don't want to go down to my local mall and when we can... That's an official...

To me, that's a kind of unofficial championship. If you beat Conn McGregor, you kind of have an unofficial title. I really think. I mean, more people will... I mean, there's probably people there who think that Dustin Porre is the UFC lightweight champion now because he beat McGregor in January. I feel like, oh, Dustin Porre won the... He's the best in the UFC now?

Dude, Floyd Mayweather got a belt. For beating Connor McGregor. He did, yes. I'm not kidding. What do you guys think is next for Gagin? Does he have to wait? Does he have to wait for the rest of these matches to shape up? There are names out there who are unbooked.

I mean, I know who I want to see him. I've been campaigning for this fight for a while, but I'll want to hear kind of if you guys got any names you want to shoot out there first. For Gigi. I know, I know this got to be. You want me to tell you? Give me it.

Give me it. I really want to see him fight Hafe-Al dos anion. You really want to see that. I really want to see that fight. Are you a big RDA fan? I'm a huge RDA fan, yeah. Like, you're like, I said, I got, it's like, RDA is unembedded. I got to watch this.

RDA is getting his haircut. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in. I'm just, no, I think that's it. Why, why is why such a lack of enthusiasm for this matchup? Who am I missing? Am I missing?

Unbooks that are in his, that are in his reign? There's really not that many. Again, there's a lot of great lightweights that are coming up, but that are kind of, like you said, worth the time and Gatji's time and money. Uh, did Ferguson, Majef, did that kind of get, was that like a real?

No, it's Ferguson, that, Fergand Daryush is reportedly happening. I don't know if that's something. Oh, I like that. That is happening. I love the idea of Gigi Majjah. Is that what we're going with that?

Really? Mahjaf. Oh, yeah. Well, I think a lot of people like that possible. as well. The only thing is I think, I assume, I think Akrachev and Gaethear both dominance and Maga, so I would imagine. Well, so was, so was Abeeb. That's for the title, though. That's for the world title. Yeah, you're right, you're right. That's the thing. I think it's possible. I think it's possible. I imagine they sort of have a world title or no, no inter,

that's, that's right. That's right. That's right. Right. Iaquinta, whenever he comes back. It's a fight. Yeah, sure. We love it. It is a fight. Alex, any, any ideas, any suggestions which we prefer iiquita rda or just wait wait for one of these other matchup what do you think let's go iaquinta ia you went five rounds with kabib let's go do it i do it i do like iaqqa i like i like iiquinda more than rda even though rda ranking wise makes more sense for just my personal entertainment uh which is for real that matters um i go iiquinta too i think rda is more competitive too i i would think it would think you might smoke iiquinta but i think that's what they fight the place i think i think I think he smokes RDA, too.

Smokes him? Smokes him? Smokes. How dare you? And we know Gagee likes to smoke. He talked about it. This is a former world champion. What do we got?

GenMEC. RDA only fans is money well spent. Well, I'll have to check that up. We'll have to check it up. Thank you for recommendation, JetMack. That's a lie. I'm obviously already. I'm a huge RDA fan, so I can just verify that.

All right. Let me go back some more questions. We've got time for Pima more. We've got to go a little faster. I'm just... Hold on. I got it. We've covered a lot of questions. Yeah.

I think we've done a great job. We got another from Tristan, Tristan Gordet. Francis Ngong, this is big. Francis Ngano's adjustments. Heading into this title fight this Saturday, do you think Francis and Ghanu will make the necessary adjustments against Steepei? Coming off his lost steep back in 2018, Francis said he learned a lot from that fight.

Saturday he's been working on his takedown defense. He will also have Kamaro Usman in his corner, who's been training with him leading up to this title fight. So we've got experience in the first fight. We have a world champion in this corner who just so happens to be an excellent wrestler. Casey, what do you think? Do you think we'll see, I don't know if there's a lot to gauge from the four or the five fights he's had since then, if you even want to count the lowest fight?

But what do you think based on what we're hearing from his camp and the adjustments are making? Francis and Ghana is like kind of the most amazing anomaly of a fighter because everything was like, well, obviously he's the best, he's the most dangerous striker, but you just got to take him down. And it's like, but yet, for instance, Nagano has completely crushed the two best wrestlers in the heavyweight division. Well, maybe, we never fought DC, but he fought Kane and Razor Blades destroyed him and stuff. But of course, those guys never even got a chance to go for a take down because they got hit with so many fists. So that's the crazy part.

Francis Nagano, we're not counting the Derek Lewis fight. That was just a stupid horrible 15 minutes. I never want to speak about again. But post that, his four victories in a total of less than four minutes against top five heavyweights is just unreal. But at the same time, we literally learn nothing about Francis Naganah, which is the most amazing thing. Like how do you fight four top dudes in the UFC and we learn nothing about you? And so we're just kind of going on assumptions here. We're like, well, I just assume Francis has taken this seriously and has learned from his past.

failures and speaking of the first uh first steep fight and um i'm going to say he does he did learn from this i mean the fact that he just because he lost that one fight doesn't mean he loses his next fight i mean a lot of people saying well no this fight's going to go the same way it's like i don't see this fight going the same way i think francis is going to learn a lot from this and i think it's going to be a very very different fight i don't think this is going to be a 30 second you know boom boom francis wins type fight but um i i really i really heavily favor francis in this fight I think he will make the defense. I think he will make the adjustments.

He is currently minus 120 favorite, according to typology. So very, very slight. But 57% of topology voters are leaning towards Miochich. So, Alex, I'm going to rephrase a question slightly for you. Do you think it's important that he has made these adjustments and that he'll, that he is going to have to show off his kind of wrestling defense and getting up off his back and that? Or is it just a matter of him implementing his, what he does best first and just cracking steep A, and again, like he did in his past four fights, completely removing any sort of

wrestling or grappling from the equation. What do you think? Is it important that he is, that he is, has a Justin he's showing, or that he just does him, that he's, Francis does Francis. Yeah, and that's exactly what I was thinking this whole time. I hope he learned something, but at the same time, I hope he doesn't forget what makes Francis Inganu, Francis and Gano, sometimes, and we see this all the time when a striker's facing a really amazing wrestler, they're focusing so much on the wrestling and the takedown defense and how do I do this, that they forget to implement their game plan. You don't always want to just, you don't want to adjust too much to your opponent and to, you know, just focus on defending from them. You want to also make sure that you're getting your game plan out there.

And I don't think in God who's going to fall victim to this. I think in Goddors learned something and I'm with Casey. I think in God who's going to get it done. It's just, that's just how it's, you know, playing out of my head. And I don't know. That's, yeah, I'm running out of things to say with 50 hour mark. my brain's like Alex Davis,

first round knockout, first round knockout, second round knockout? What do you think? First or second round knockout? I think. First or second round knockout? Wow,

for Vincent. Okay, well, yeah, I mean, look, I'm leaning towards Inganu as well. So I'll have an official prediction on Friday, I'm sure we'll do a preview show

and I actually have to write these out and so you guys will see those by Saturday morning. But yeah, I don't see myself deviating from that either. I'm going on Ganu probably first for second round finish. So,

but hey, I did the same thing. I think I and a lot of people, I think, predicted the same thing ahead of the first fight. So there's a reason we've talked earlier. And that's not bad prediction. Have you got a chance to rewatch the first fight? I remember. I thought up until I think the fourth round, I'm like, I thought Inganu had a chance the whole time.

I was like, he absolutely has a chance. And the crazy part is like after that fight, after 25 minutes. And if you were just to show up right when that fight ended, you would think Francis Ngano won. Because Francis deGon was like, well, he's tired, but he looked fine. And Cepet was just exhausted. which is fine, you know, he fought 25 minutes, but he was just like, blah. Like he, he looks like he got hit by Ford Escort, but survived. And the Ford Escort ran out of gas, unfortunately.

You know, fortunately for Steve. But I think this Ford Escort would be a little more efficient with its, if it's gas this time. And we'll win. You really took that metaphor a long way, and I'm glad you did. Thank you. Ford, I hope that check is in the mail for Casey. Yeah. It's a fine motor vehicle.

motor vehicle five star five star safety rating i shouldn't say i'm going to get sued i shouldn't i shouldn't i i i'm sorry i uh this acey life chat brought to you by ford we cannot we cannot say that legal not not not not that for like uh box legal by fjords my um the um the water um you know what you're getting an email from box legal right now. I'm saying you cannot. Luckily for them, I don't check my email. Casey, what else?

What do we think? One more? Yeah, one more. One more? Two more? What do you think? You're the truck. You're driving the truck. You're driving the Ford Escort.

You're driving the fine Ford vehicle. Is this even a question? Oh, I like this question. Let's do this one. Okay. Oh, I'm terrible for this one, but okay. Off the record. Oh, this is from, from Key, Key of D minor.

Off the record, if we were in a bar and you could tell tales, air quotes off the record about the UFC, how much would we be shocked on a scale of 1 to 10? And parentheses, I'm not asking for the stories here, just the shock value of your secrets. So I am pretty worthless for this. I do not know a lot of fighters, coach, manager secrets,

at least as far as you guys listening and watching know. So I don't know. I can't really speak on this. I mean, there's certainly things I've heard, but nothing super inside. Alex, how about yourself? No, I think the UFC does a really poor job of keeping secrets secrets.

So I feel like we all know a lot of things, but I really want to hear Casey's answer to this on a scale of one. I was going to say Casey has lived the life and knows fighters, managers and things inside it out. Jose, I'm sure would have some great stories as well. So I almost wish, for the first time today, I wish Jose was here. That's not normal.

But Casey, what is your scale of one to 10? Scale of one to, so remember, it's not how scary the stories, but how shocked would people be? Because Alex was a big point. A lot of these stories are kind out there. Am I talking to? am I talking to just a regular sports fan? Am I talking to a hardcore fan?

If I'm talking to just a regular sports fan Yeah, casual sports fan Who's kind of heard about UFC and they go, Hey man, like Kimbo Slice, Brock Lesnar, man, You know, they're pretty cool, huh? Yeah, yeah. You practice UFC, bro? Yeah, I'll give it a solid nine then for off the record.

For hardcore fans, I'll give them, I'll give it a six. Now, when you say, again, we don't want to go into, like you said, we don't necessarily want to tell me stories. Because I will get letters from Foxx. I will get letters from Foxx. I mean. But you mean as far as things like how negotiations go weight cutting, which you mentioned before, we mentioned like people knew about holy crap, all the weight cutting stories that

they don't hear and how common it is that fighters kind of, you know, suffers fainting spells and those kind of deleterious effects of weight cutting. Yeah, stuff like that, right? And negotiate, yeah. Honestly, the money part of the sport. Yeah, that's big. What we'll say about this off the record thing. it's like once once the mics and cameras are turned off you you would be it's it's it's kind of

shocking how much talk there is about money and how much I'm getting paid for this am I getting paid for this I'm getting paid for that you know when fighters you know when when they're on the camera you know like all of us you know it's like you know like hey I'm going to fight blah blah but after that it's just like they mean they have they fighting is just part of their life they still have cars paid for, they have children, you know, they're thinking about their future. So, like, they got to get paid, you know, they got to get paid. And a lot of what you hear off the record is all like, hey, I'm not getting paid. Why am I getting tax this? You know, it's a lot of, it's a lot of, it's a lot of, like, you don't want to see how the sausage is made. A lot,

a lot of that. A lot of that. Yeah, that's, that's really one of the biggest things I think when you cross over from, from being a fan to someone who works in the media, which is at which I, sort of, I imagine, as the case was all of us, is, you know, we were fans first. And then as to sort of peel away a lot of the layers, your enjoyment of what you're seeing and the product, it diminishes a little bit, which is, again, speaking for myself, I'll say, I still love watching AMA. I still, I still love watching the UFC. I know we criticize Dana White.

We criticize UFC all the time. We criticize some of the fighters in the UFC. But the, like, the art of fighting and the product that is still in there is, like, still so, to me, is still as, like, exhilarating, if not more so than the first time I watch it. So I still love watching, I mean covering it, but definitely there's aspects of it that you either have to, like, reconcile yourself with or flat out ignore. Honestly, on fight, and just not think about it because it sucks. Some of these aspects of this business suck. Okay, there's just no nice way to put it. So, yeah, and I agree. I think if it's money,

I think that's the thing that would surprise people the most, the financial side of things and just, and just generally how a lot of these fighters are living compared to what is, kind of what is presented on screen. You know what I mean? The glamour, the glamour, the glamour. of the sport, right? Yeah. Yeah. So much of the shock value that this question's about is really about money. And the shockingly little and sometimes shockingly, how much? It's all over the place. It's crazy. I mean, I just think about, you know, it's funny. I was watching how they presented Kevin Holland on Saturday. It's like, oh, he's got this really big shoe collection. He's doing really well.

Obviously, he fought, you know, that's the guy who's doing pretty well off in MMA. He's, he fought a lot of times. But look at this way. He had to fight five times in 2020 win some fight bonuses to kind of live this sort of lifestyle they're presenting, your average UFC fighter is not, probably does not have a massive shoe collection, is not, you know, driving around a fancy car unless they're, you know, it was set up like a photo shoot or something. And, and I think, yeah, that is surprised when, you know, you see what's presented, the kind of how, the videos they show, and then sort of like your average fighter, it's just kind of just like you and me probably and just trying to get by.

Real quick. Yeah, one last one time. Is this a good question? So many. Do you want one of the quickies? I'm kind of already talking. I'm trying to do a quickie. Oh, yeah. No, no.

Yeah, yeah. I want to. No. Oh, too complicated. I guess. Yeah. No, no one. Oh, my God.

What's going on? Trying it. Oh, my gosh. This is, well, look, for those playing at home, you can pause. And if you want to answer those questions yourself, it's going to be. Sorry, for anyone listening, we just flashed a bunch of questions on screen. Do we want to settle on this one? It's pretty heavy.

Casey, this kind of go. And it kind of relates to our last kind of what we just talked about. Yeah, we can read. There's nothing too much to say about it. Okay. Yeah, so this is a Dan Hardy question. This is from Tan Gwynne on Twitter. What do you think about the Dan Hardy situation?

Considering having heard from the female employee side of the story, is it wrong for the UFC to fire Dan without providing a clear explanation? So, first thing I'll say, guys, to give you guys a little bit of background, just from an interview that came out today with submission radio. This was transcribed by submission radio is Dennis Shuratov, so thank you, Dennis. You know, Dan Hardy's spoken about it a bunch of times. UFC has been very quiet about it. And here's what Dan had to say.

Sorry, I had this loaded up, actually. He says it was a disagreement between myself and another employee of the UFC who I feel was being obstructive and helped me do my job. I asked the person why. I felt like I was told a falsehood, which I called him out on. That's my side of it. So this is sort of the his side of the confrontation that has been sort of reported in the media. Is it wrong for the UFC to?

fire Dan without providing a clear explanation. Is it, okay, I need to think about this. So I'm going to chicken out and throw it to first. Alex Savas, is it wrong for the UFC to fire Dan without providing a clear explanation? No, it's not wrong. UFC is a company and they can fire and hire at will. They can do so without explaining it to the media, without explaining it to the fans. It doesn't really matter.

We don't have to hear the female side of the story as long as whoever was making that decision, heard both sides of the story, made the best decision. then that's all that we can do. We hope that that was the right decision as far as all we know. And that's that. Yeah. As long as there's no like discrimination laws or any like hiring and firing those type of laws weren't broken, it can essentially it can stay.

It can be a private matter within the UFC. As someone who loves gossip, yeah, I want to hear it, you know. As someone who know we want traffic to our website, yeah, we love to hear it. But we don't, it's not necessary. It's a private business matter. And like I said, unless there were hiring and firing laws that were broken, but only Dan Hardy knows that. And then that would involve, you know, getting a lawyer and all that stuff.

But otherwise, yeah, it's just how it is. Yeah. Listen, as cold as it sounds, if you're, yeah, unless you have to weigh, you have to weigh the cost and gain of addressing the issue publicly. I don't see what the UFC could gain from commenting on this. matter publicly. I don't think Dan Hardy said anything that has necessarily prompted a reaction of them. Like that he's given his side of the story. But if I'm the UFC, I'm just kind of like, okay, I'm okay to have that side of the story out there. We've already made our decision

doing anything for others. Might only make it look bad. So yeah, I know that's a pretty cold calculating answer. But that's, you know, that's what the show's all about. That's what the Aside Live show's all about. Sorry, guys. We don't like, at least when I'm around, when Jose is around, you guys can horse around all you want. When I'm around and Alex Savas are around, Alex Savas, all business, she's going to get Dana White to get Luracenko on that commentary desk the next time,

the next time she runs into him. So, yeah, this is the all business edition of the A side. But Casey, I think that is we'll have to wrap for now. Yeah. One last question. One last question. This is a quick question. Yeah, it's a quick yes or no.

Quick yes or no. Sure. Yeah, of course. Does Steve get immediate rematch if he loses? Yes, he does. Assuming he doesn't retire. Alex? I don't think so.

I think Dana White's frustrated with how how Steve A doesn't isn't as active as he probably wants a heavyweight champion to be. True, true. This is true. If Steve A loses, Francis will fight whoever accepts a cheaper contract, John Jones or Stepe. Guys, I told you, it's all business. All right. This is all business. It's all business.

If Jose was here, he'd say the same thing. Who am I kidding? Jose would say this same. real Jose's real. Jose would say the same thing. Does Sipe deserve one? Yes, if he loses. He does deserve because it'll be a great trilogy. It'll be a great. This like MMA price fighting is all about trilogy.

So yes, the trilogy would make perfect sense. Just like, just like as soon as Connor and Nate two happened, the immediate thing afterwards, who, can't wait for the trilogy, never got it. So because it was all about money. So the rematch should happen if he loses. But we have John Jones there. but we also have who's going to fight for less. Casey, I wish I had controlled the sound more

because I would have hit a buzzer there because you said, deserve. And we all know the D word is not existing combat sports. And we made it, oh, thank you. We made it over an hour. If you had said it in the first like five minutes of show, I would have said we got to call the show. That is the rap word.

Yes, there is no deserve. But thank you everyone for tuning in. Jose will be back next week. Thank God. Stay tuned to MMA. I have a tooth thick of my head. I don't know why. It's,

stay tuned. Stay tuned. It really feel like it can emphasize my point. Stay tuned to M.A. fighting this week, please, for the

excellent on-site coverage being provided by Jose. And, of course, all the other covers being provided by our site. Thank you, Alex Savas,

for joining me on this week's episode. And thank you, Casey, for handling everything in the truck. And thank you, everyone for tuning in, whether you're tuning on YouTube or on via podcast platform.

So thanks, everyone, and have a great rest of the week. U.S. 260 on Saturday. Can you do the thing of Benson and do that thing of Benson

that whole outro of the toothpake in your mouth now what does he do can you flip it can you flip it be careful though no wait save him with the only pants save for the only pants I'm out of here no we're not ending we're not ending with me dying all right that's not a good way to end the joke 499 a month subscribe now a k got his tongue pierced promo code candy with a k no candy lee with a k you're listening to the vox media podcast network Thank you.