MMA Fighting - The A-Side Live Chat | UFC Vegas 17 fallout, UFC Fight Island lineup, Anthony Pettis' free agency, Greg Hardy's future, favorite fights from 2020, more

Episode Date: December 24, 2020

For this episode, José Youngs, Mike Heck, and E. Casey Leydon react to some of the biggest storylines in MMA. Some topics include fallout from UFC Vegas 17, featuring standout performances from Stephen Thompson, Jose Aldo, Anthony Pettis, and Rob Font. The three will also look ahead to the recently announced UFC Fight Island lineup, featuring Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor, Leon Edwards vs. Khamzat Chimaev, and Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar. Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. We're live, pal. Hey, we're live, pal. Welcome everyone to another edition of the Aiside Live chat. I'mafining.com. I am, of course, your host, Jose Young. It's a slow week because there's no UFC for the first time since, I don't know, the millennia turned to turn.

So no media day. So we'll bring you your content anyway. But joining us this week, it's his re-debue on the A-Side Live. the last time he was on, Casey Ladin wasn't even a regular yet. It was still the old style of A-side where I was reading the questions off of a screen and you guys wouldn't get to see it. It was back in the dark eras where, I don't know, my live stream would crash every other day and people would make fun of me in the comment section

for my audio difficulties or everything freezing and the world seemed against me. But rejoining us this week, making his re-debue since joining Team of him, fighting is you know him his voice from our preview shows post-fight shows way in shows between the links what the heck anything else you host mike it's mike heck by the way what else you host i don't know i'm just happy to not be hosting anything so there must be yeah there must be something about the holidays because the last time i was on it was Thanksgiving eve it's christmas eve eve so i mean must be a holiday thing but i'm happy to be here thanks for having me gentlemen yeah so everyone who's been curious hey my hosts all the time but what's

his thoughts and opinions and everything in the world of MMA. Now you can hear them. Mike, thanks for joining us. But Casey, how's life? And you're, my goodness. Look at that. Feliz Navirad. Fless Navar.

Button your top button, sir. Oh, yeah, yeah. You got a little scan that I'm a little too much eggnog, you know? I know. It's too much eggnog at 10 a.m. Silknog. Is that a blanket hanging behind you or a puzzle or what? Oh, wow.

I'm sorry, I had my headphones out. What is it? What is it? So for those of you that listen, Casey Leiden is, has a fireplace going. He has a brown cardigan over a flannel shirt, drinking a smoothie. He has a little backdrop. You go to the mall. You know, you have Santis in front of it and stuff.

He has a backdrop of some festive Christmas themed mall. He has a grave diggers poster. And who's that referee covered in blood? Hold on. Oh, and he has to go get something. Fun story. Oh, about that. There you go.

I was wondering. I was hoping he was about to get that. And he has, which referee is that? Is this Tony Weeks? No, no, Tony. I think so. Yeah, Tony Weeks. This is one of my best you know.

It's probably one of the five greatest photos in the history of combat sports of referee Tony. Tony Weeks, right? Yeah, yeah. Covered in blood after a very, I can't remember the match. But I remember when that photo was taken. She sent to the Slack Group back when she worked inmate fighting. Yeah, that is an epic, epic picture. And fun story, Mike.

I think it was March. It might have been March or December. I can't quite remember. But it was one of the fight cards that when we could actually go to fight cards, you went out to eat one dinner. And that referee walked into the restaurant, like a month after Esther shot that photo. So. What?

Yeah. We were like ordering. We sat down. And then all of a sudden we look. I'm like, hey, Esther, that's the bloody guy for your picture. She's like, oh, yeah, that guy. So it was a little coincidence. But anyway, you guys know the drill.

This is the A-side Live, Chad. You can ask us anything you want. I am here in Arizona where the pandemic has hit a mask. Despite I'm staying here for Christmas. Mike's, how's the holidays over in bitter cold New England? Snowy. We got like two feet of snow last week. So that's fun.

But then it's going to be in the 50s the next couple of days. So now there's flood watches everywhere. here in Massachusetts because all the snow is going to melt. That sounds like a classic New England winter. I get a seven-year-old, so the spirit is high here in good old Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Has you been good for Santa? Sometimes. 50-50.

Yeah, he's good. It's a good answer. He's good. Anyway, you got, go ahead. Oh, before we get to the questions, have you guys ever seen that movie Claws, the animated? film. It's got a Clause. It's not like Santa Claus, not Clause, but have you heard about that? No. I haven't seen it. I highly recommend it. It came out about, I think, two years ago, a year ago. I think it was nominated for Best Animated Film or whatever. Man, it is such a good Christmas film. I'm just saying, check it out. It's a great family of them. Clause. Yeah, like Santa Claus. Yeah. Yeah. It's on Netflix. And yeah, I just saw it last. night and like it is just a terrific animated um family christmas film i i don't watch a lot of

christmas films um not that i have anything against it i just it's never been my thing but yeah i'll give it a shot i like me me neither but i felt like you know watching a christmas film last night and i got a good recommendation from it and it came through oh here oh wait hold on you got a time to say hi yeah yes look at that special guests everywhere which one is this this is phozek is she the one that sits on me

yeah yeah she's the one that barks of you if you're sitting under if you're sleeping on her no she doesn't bark she just sits she doesn't even like make a scene like so I stayed at their I stayed at their house once Mike when I went to LA to first independent wrestling show and they said I could sleep on their couch

which is fezx spot to sleep so instead of barking or growling or finding a new place she just went to her spot, which happens to be where I was laying and just laid basically like on my face. She goes, this is my spot. I don't care if you're there. I'm sitting here. So that's that dog. And we've been bonded ever since. Anyway, you guys know the drill. You can ask any question you want, on YouTube comments, on Twitter, on the site. I have a few computer is going to shut down at any moment for whatever reason. So yeah, let's do it. You know what? First thing, we're going to go to a big old

question. Lots of questions in this one. My goodness, from T. Gordette, 1982, is this the Tristan Gordette that blows up our comments every single show? Probably. What's up, Tristan? Two, M.MA fighting. And he gave us three questions. Number one, looks like Chandler and Hooker verbally agreed to fight at UFC 27. Who you got? Now, keep in mind what Hooker did to get two other fighters that are 5'8 in height, Pearson and Miller. Number two, on an episode of On to the next one, Heckin A.K. Lee suggested E. E.gay's next fight be against Burgos.

It was then reported by Mike Head back in November. That'll be Burgos versus DeWatu at UFC 257. It will now make sense for the UFC to hold Ege versus Hall onto that card as well. At EG versus Hall onto that card as well. Number three, with Monell Cape's UFC debut versus Pantosia being in the works of getting rebooked sometime in February, how much you think his entrance of flyaway bolsters the division even more as a whole. So a lot to unpack from Mr. Tristan Gordette. So we'll start with number one.

If it looks like Chandlin Hooker verbally agreed U.S. 2507, have them. they? Have they? I would say that that report at best is premature. That's all at the moment. It's not done. It hasn't been signed.

I'm sure Hoker would be very excited to get that fight. From everything that I've heard and I know Damon Martin has heard this as well, that is not wholly accurate. So I wouldn't get too excited about that one just yet. I wish.

I wish that fight happened, but there's a lot of fights for Chandler. I like the Chandler versus Gathey fight, I think would be the one that most people want to see. Maybe the winner of that fights the winner of Porre and McGregor for the vacant lightweight title, depending on how Danes, I mean, when the Bive goes. But if Gathe wants to wait and fight the winner of Porier versus McGregor for at a later date and Chandler fights Hooker, I think that's the next best thing. And of course, the theme of all of this is Charles Oliverians, that once again, the forgotten man. but who you got I don't know man that's a tough fight

poker does really good against fighters really well against fighters that are much smaller than him but Chandler is one of the toughest individuals I've ever seen in my entire life

so it's awesome in my mind I just got it's good fight oh no it's excellent but honestly Chandler against anyone the top 5 10 I mean that's just

we just want to see it we just want to see Chandler I'm kind of over this whole like Chandler this channel of that like you know i mean i felt like it should be how long has this been going for now like what's the long time like what's the hold up are they still what they is it is it is it is it money what's the hold up like i thought the contract already handler so he cut weight he cuts a lot of weight it's like a wake the weight cut's not easy for him and since he cut in november or

october whatever the the fight was for the as the backup for habib gaiji he didn't want a quick turnaround in december to recut so he said january would be fine So he pretty much weighed in as the backup and didn't want to turn around right away. I guess it's to hold up on the, is to hold up the date or the opponent? I think it's the opponent. Or they're waiting for the meeting with Habib. Because if Habib doesn't retire, maybe that throws a big wrench into the lightweight picture. But if he does retire and there's now vacant, that probably opens up a lot more possibilities.

Kind of a mini tournament. If he doesn't retire again, doesn't? Yes. Anyway, number two, Mike, all I do. answer this one on the on to the next one. Achilles suggested Ige against Barbosa, but you have reported Burgos and Duwado, which I

freaking love. So Ige Hall, question mark. You like that fight? Sure. Ryan Hall against anybody is an excellent fight. Dan Ige is coming off the loss to Calvin Cater. He's looked great besides that. He's come, he's had a really good stretch and losing

the Cater. There's no shame in that whatsoever. So Ige versus Hall will be a really interesting stylistic matchup. So I'd be down for that sure Casey would love that too. If Dan E. Gay is brave enough to step and try that octagon and risk his life, his well-being, his knees to face the goat, the greatest ever, Ryan Hall. You go for it, Dan. Yeah, it's, if Bryce, if, what it was it, if Andre Feeley had beaten Bryce Mitchell, the fights like would have been Mitchell Ege, just because they've had a lot of, bad blood over the last few like the last year just a lot of greasiness thrown back and

forth between another but brightsmanchle one he gets to move on so yeah he gave versus hall sounds good to me or hall versus brysmanchell if if if uh brian hall just wants a fighter coming off a win but ege is the higher range fighter so i'm obviously not a favor that one so yeah sign me up and then the winners of those fights can fight each other yeah right i dig it there you go you're welcome ufc ryan hall is he in front of is Ryan Hall ranked? On the UFC? He is ranked, right?

Okay, I wasn't, I can't remember. He's 13. So he's in front of Mitchell, correct? By one spot. One spot? By one. If they want to make that fight cool, but if they don't want to make a grappler versus grapple fight, why not? That'd be a drastic clash and personalities, too.

Yeah. My goodness. Yeah. I want them to hold up on Hall Mitchell, because I think that, that fight, that fight's like a, I wanted to be like a main event or a co-main event, a main event for a fight night or at least a co-main event for a pay-per-view. So I think that's such a dynamic matchup, both style-wise and personality-wise, that I hope it gets the proper build-up.

I agree. I agree. But if they book it, I won't complain. Anyway, number three, Manil Cape's usually debut versus Bantosia might get re-booked for February. What does his addition do for the Flyweight Division? Mike, you've interviewed Manel, Kate, probably more than any other Mnallahe journalist out there in the last few months. what is his addition at 125 do for that division

right this second amongst like ufc fans it does very little but the second they see him fight it'll do a lot it's just one of those things like there's a lot of people who watch risin and see when he's done over the last couple of years 2019 specifically that's when he's really started to turn it on and i felt like once he got signed back in february of march those fans are just like oh my god it's happening but then they slotted him in as sort of as the backup fighter for the main event between Figuero and Moreno at UFC 256 and people were like, huh? Who's this guy? They had no idea.

But once they see this man fight and show that killer instinct, I think he's going to be a welcome addition to the division. I think people are going to be really excited to see him moving forward. I think he's like, as soon as you see him fight, you're just going to be like, holy cow, this guy is legit. Not saying Pantos is a guy that is a walkover or anything like that, but Cape's kind of a killer. And I think people are going to be excited to see his future once they actually see that transpire. Casey, I know you're a huge man all Cape fan, and you're probably more excited than anybody

to see this man make his UFC debut. Oh, absolutely. I'm just, I'm really worried about the, it's a year. He's going to have over a year layoff. That's, because the last time he fought was New Year's Eve in Japan last year. So, man, like, yeah. I'm just, I'm just, I'm just, um, how was it okay? How, you ask him about just the layoff, Mike?

What do you say? Yeah. Like, I mean, that has to stress them out, you know? It's the longest, it's the longest of his career. So he's just like, he's just hanging out and trying to get better. But he's, he's of that mindset. Just like, listen, everything happens for a reason. If my time hasn't come yet, it will.

And it's okay. Cool. So he's way more cool about than I thought he's going to be. I thought he's going to be like, decide himself. antsy about it. I feel like I'm more stressed out than he is. Yeah, well, what he has going for him is it's not like he was injured and on

a long layoff. Like he's been through fight camps. So he's been in fight shape at least like, you know, it's not like Rob Font where he had to sit and then rehab his martial art. He was still in fight camp. But I think what sucks is, remember when I was at UFC 256, I asked Dana White about Aminell Cape and he was like

yeah, fighter stepping up is great. It was clearly, Dana White had absolutely no idea. I know it. which is unfortunate because he got the Michael Chandler treatment pretty much outside of all of the promo videos of him working out. He got to come in right away and be the backup for a flyaway title fight. But honestly, I think the draw might do benefit him because now he's not going to thrust in the title picture right away.

We still have to do the rematch and then if Manel Cape does what Manel Cape does and then gets one more fight in and does what Manel Cape does back-to-back fights, and he gets that title fight, people are going to be more excited. He's not getting rushed into a title fight. Anyway, I agree. Thank you for the three questions, Tristan. I hope we answered all of them. Yeah, break him up next time, man.

Jeez. It's like, all right, I'm going to go to the YouTubers. Too, do, do, do, do, do, do. I lost my question. Where do you go? Here we go. Sandy, fam, a long-time commenter. What is up with the whole thing about Dana saying Rose doesn't want to fight Wiley

Zhang. For those of you not seeing this, I'm making the money sign with my fingers. That's probably what the hold up is. So yes, for those of you aren't aware, U.S. President Dana White said Rose doesn't want to fight Zhang Wiley, the UFC strawweight champion.

So he's looking to book Wiley versus Carlos Sparza and then have Rose matched up with Jan Jiao Nan, who is another Chinese fighter that has been on an absolute tear. At Strawway, she hasn't lost, I think, in the UFC at all. A lot of wins over some big name competition right away.

So we all assumed it was Rose Wiley. Apparently there's a holdup. I think we were all under the same assumption that it's money. Like Rose just wanted money or maybe she didn't want to fight on a Fight Islander. I'm not sure. We don't know. I'm not in Rose's camp. But I like the Carla versus Wiley fight,

but I like the Rose versus Wiley fight way more. Casey, at one point in time, you said Rose versus Wiley was your most anticipated type of all of the year. and then you remembered Habib Gaiti still had to happen. So Rose Wiley might not happen yet. What are your thoughts? I'm just bummed. That's all.

I just, I wish, I wish UFC and Dana could agree to financial terms with Rose. You know, I wish Dana didn't have to throw this whole, oh, she doesn't want the title. It's like all that,

all that BS. Just say it. Just say, we're having some contract negotiations, you know, and that's it. You know, we get that.

I didn't know. This is a prize fighting. But just to kind of put it out there that she's not a warrior and all that stuff, come on. So I'm just, I'm just bummed, but this is all expected now. Yeah. When they announced it, I think a couple of years ago, I would have been more annoyed. But now I'm just like, this is all that at this point. Like, remember when I joked on our preview and post-fight shows,

the U.S.C. never wants to make matches that we want to see. Yeah. Exhibit A. Exhibit A. Mike, what are your thoughts on Dana Mike, possibly skipping over Rose Wiley right now? I don't even know if it's, I think money's, I mean, money seems to be part of every type of conversation like this, but I think it's more impatience. I think they have a date in mind and when they want this fight. And Rose Namibunis isn't the same fighter she was on the ultimate fighter.

She's very clearheaded, very goal oriented. She doesn't just make decisions on a whim. She likes to analyze and interpret everything that she does. And I don't see anything wrong with that. What's more interesting about this whole situation is that Zhang Wei Li, Carla Sparza, and Rosnami Unis are all represented by the same manager. They all have the same manager. So negotiations is going to be super fun.

I would love to kind of be in the room and see what the conversations are like, since it's the same management company for three of the four fighters involved here. But I feel like at the end of the day, Rosnamu Yunis will end up getting the title shot because I just feel like it's a bigger fight. And I'm not saying, and I'm not defaming Carla Sparsa here because I think that she's done enough to earn an opportunity at this point, especially after everything going on. I still think Carla needs one more win. I would like to see her fight Yawani and Jacek. I think that's a rematch that I kind of want to see again in 2020. The first fight was a beating. But I feel if Carla for her to get back there and actually like officially earn that shot, I think she if she beats Yowana, it's a no brainer. There's no doubt kind of a situation and people can move on from this. well, she's only lucky because one extra judge gave her a round and won her the fight.

I like all those ideas. I also like the idea of qualified in Jan Jan Janon for a number of contender, maybe on the same, on the undercard of a Rose Wiley, so they're all in the same time frame. And then if you want to really wants to come back soon, she could fight if Amanda Hebas wins. Amanda seems to be kind of on the up and up to its drawaway. I think they really wanted to fast track her in terms of the title fight.

but if Rose and Jan and everyone else is holding up the picture, Yuanamanda Ebas is awesome too. That is a huge clash of personalities, especially in terms of media and hype and everything. But I think they're very genuine people. What you see is what you get all the time. So I wouldn't hate that either, but Strawway rules, that's the end of the story.

It is by far the most activated of women's MMA. I felt like when Dana mentioned this about the Sparza, Wei Levi I thought it brought me back to when Sarge Eubanks was going to be the main event against Valentin like no one believed it but it was clearly

a threat you know at Well they booked that fight Didn't they sign contract? It was booked yeah It was signed contract But what does that mean Yeah

And then Sejar I ended up fighting in MSG anyway I missed weight Oh good time Bomber Thank you very much, Sandy Fam. All right, go back to some Twitter comments. From longtime commenter Trumbo,

co-main for Connor v. Dustin v. Dustin's ranked higher. Co-main event for this event is currently listed as Ivers Coulterwood. Well, not a bad finance zone certainly falls short for a co-main event of a huge pay-per-view card. You think they are still working on this card? because besides the main event, it's pretty thin name and starwise. So do you think this is more likely that what we'll see going into the future for cards with high-profile main events similar to boxing cards? And the people buy it mostly only for the main event.

Is this going to be the trend in 2021 as fallout from UFC parting ways with old and more established veterans of the sport? This question is very reminiscent of the last time Connor fought. When Connor fought Cowboys, the co-main event was Holly versus Rick. Kell right yeah was that the original main of co-main event though does something fall out or did that get moved around no that was original that was original coming yeah actually on that card pre-pandemic there were um you know in typology when they have all the fights that kind of fell out there's almost nothing on it it's like that car was actually has

booked and now now the um the you know those are longer than the actual card itself the cancellation it's uh that's this is going to be the trend i think with conter fights because A, it's going to sell well no matter what. So you don't need to stack the card and get all these eyeballs on these up-and-coming fighters. But, like, UFC 229 was absolutely stacked. That was Habib Connor. UFC 205 is probably one of the most stacked cards in the history of the UFC. That was the first MSG card.

USC 202, I think, was thin on paper outside of the top two fights, but it ended up being amazing because, like, Cody Garbrandt was on that card. Who else? there was a lot of that was the Matt Brown was that Brown on that no Donald Serroney Patrick Cote was on that card the co-made event was wrong Glover so these cards end up being really good in the long run so but this is going to be the tram of Connor correct me from wrong though Mike probably I mean but but still it's kind of like the first question we got we still have the looming Michael Chandler factor like we assume he's going to be on this card somewhere whether it's Dan Hooker whether it's Justin Gaichie whether it's Paul Felder, I mean, who knows, whether it's somebody who's 55 or could be RDA, I think they're going to do everything in their power to get Chandler on this card and put them in the co-made event slot.

And again, nothing wrong with Jessica I versus Joanne Calderwood being the co-main event. I mean, this is a good card. You got Rodriguez and Hebas. You got Shane Burgos and Duwado. It's still a pretty good card. I mean, it's not like, it's not like gangbusters across the board. But this is one thing that Bellator always needed to do better.

And they have done better over the years is you put this main event that creates all of this buzz, but then you don't set it up so that like your younger talented fighters or you're trying to put over, get that spotlight showed on them. And I feel like the UFC's actually done a pretty good job of this with Connor fights and giving these guys opportunities to grow and establishes it. It's huge for Brian Callagher. I mean, look at Brian Keller. He wasn't supposed to be on the main card of that January card, but he got up there because there was an injury or somebody falling up. No, it was the crystal.

It was the crystal. That's right. And then he gets the submission, saves his job, and a lot of, he got a lot of buzz out of that. So I feel like some of these fighters can get that same rub with this whole thing. But who knows? I mean, Chandler's still a factor. Just how he factors in, we don't really know just yet. Well said.

How many pay-per-views did Connor claim was sold when he fought Donna Saroni? At 1.3, 1.3, 1.2 million, something like that? Yeah. I think, yeah, I think by the amount of those buys, the UFC, they know, they can make Connor versus a doorknob and they can still sell a million pay-per-views. So while we might get some good prospects under undercard, yeah, it's not going to mean any name value. Although I am very excited to see Jojo versus I, but, I mean, but we're not, we're not the fans that make. the UFC a billion dollar company. We're the ones that keep...

Yeah. Someone mentioned in a tweet to me once, or I saw it on Twitter, I can't quite remember, but allegedly this fight, these fights are going to have fans. Allegedly, that's what Dana White, like, it's a possibility, Dan White said. They're still trying to figure everything out. Now, if there's no bubble or, like, Dana White's, again, he's trying to figure everything out. He doesn't want people to quarantine for two weeks.

He wants to do it smart. If there are fans and he gets to do international fight with all these people, I doubt he wants to put a ton of huge names that could all possibly be at risk. He doesn't want to lose these fights, tie him up. But like, someone also replied to that and was like, what if Poria gets COVID? And then the main event is out.

Like, that's, like, this isn't a pay-per-view card without the main event. Like, yeah, you could do Chandler versus Hooker, maybe, or Chandler versus RDA for an interim title. But like, who wants that? Like, put, I think they need one more fight on this card just as a precautionary. But I think they should do that for every card moving forward.

Like we saw like Hamza and Leon Edwards fell out. That sucked. But then when Thompson and Jeff Deal got bumped up, still a great fight, there was a lot of great fights you could elevate on that card. I think they need a backup on all these massive cards moving forward. That card had like 27 fights on it at one point. No. I remember on we were doing a preview or post-fight show or something

and they were moving, they were re-booking all these fights. And I was like, you think half these fights are even going to happen? Like, it's just, it's written in the stars. You get 20 fights on a card. You're going to end up with 10 by the time fighting that comes around. And four of them are going to fall out the day of the fight. That's true. I've been doing, I have a long little Twitter thread of all the canceled fights

from the last three weeks. It's getting ridiculous. Mattius Nicolao is on UFC 257, right? against the dreaded TBD. Yeah, against TBD. They re-signed. Wasn't he in Brave, right? He was supposed to be in the flyway tournament,

was Shorty. Yep. Man, they just do not want to resign Shorty. I know. That's what a bummer. Yeah, I know. Speaking of, oh, man, I don't want to. Yeah.

We'll talk about the big fight booking that was announced yesterday. Oh, God. Joseph Bozocke. Mike Jackson and Dean Barry meeting the World Trade Division at U.S.E Fight Night 1-85

Edwards versus Shemaiah. I swore Jackson was cut. Yeah, you know why? Because Dana White said he'll never get a fight, but Dana White says a lot of things that don't happen. So yeah, Mike Jackson's back.

They really just wanted someone to fight on Fight Island. Mike Jackson's fellow MMA media member who was the only one of only two. Mike, were you on the site for USC 247 yet? That was John Jones and Reyes. I was not there for that one now. So for that one, that was like one of the last few pen.

That was the last non-Fegas card in the United States before the pandemic really happens for a pay-per-view. And in the Post-Fight Press Congress, while we were killing time, I was walking around interviewing media members on how they score the main event. And Mike Jackson, I think, had it four rounds to one, John Jones. And I was like, what in the world?

Where did you get that score from? He was the only one. So yeah, fellow MMA media member. Maybe he wants to go cover, Fight Island. So, but yeah, he's back. What do you think of the return of the truth, Mike Jackson, Mike Heck? Why not? I dig it.

I mean, listen, let's call this for what it is. There is a lot of excitement surrounding an electric guy, unbelievable kickboxer. The dude is legit. And when he got signed to the UFC, I was like, wow. This is a Bellator type of signing. They're jumping on this guy quick so that Bellator doesn't pick him up. And I totally understood why, because this guy is really good. Owen Roddy is a striking coach.

I mean, the guy has so much potential. It's unbelievable. But we have to showcase that. You can't put him in there with Tyron Woodley right now or, you know, anybody at 55. So this one's going to be at 70. I think it's a good test for him. And Mike's, you know, Mike is what it is. Like he gets an opportunity.

and what's he going to do? Say no. Of course he's going to get it. When I found out about this fight yesterday, I was told by a source, I was actually texted, Dean Barry's fighting Mike Jackson on January 20th. I'm like, Mike the truth, Jackson?

And he said yes. And I was like, wow, this is unbelievable. So here we are. This is 2021. Good opportunity. M.A. And you can't sleep on anybody. And Mike Jackson has been in this game,

whether covering it or actually competing in some form of combat sports for quite some time now. So why not? Interesting. It's got people talking, that's for sure. Yeah, people are, I don't want to say excited, but at least they know him. He's clearly one, like, he's more popular than fires out of rent.

Get people will remember him. More popular than Dean Barry. It's for sure. Popular than Dean Barry. Mike Jackson is the A side on that fight. Let's talk about that. Yeah. You're not wrong.

You fought at, was it 225? Or 238? 225. So that was, Chicago. Romero, too. Yeah. We fought CM Punk.

That was one of my, Alex and I was fan side days. I think, Mike, you were a fan side of too then. I was. That was, yeah, there was Mike Jackson's UFC debut

is against Mickey Gall. And the winner was going to fight it was the battle to who's going to fight CM Punk first. I, talked to Mike Jackson a lot that week because like interviews and then he came into the fan side of the office for a thing and he was saying before that Mickey Gall fight

he was pretty much primarily going in the direction of boxing as his career so he hadn't grappled he had he had it kicked he hadn't done moitai in a long time and then he signed fight Mickey Gall and got pieced up he said after that fight

in preparation for seeing punk he actually had a full MMA camp so he was actually training so he's like people who think that this clown's going to submit me, I think those are his exact words are full of it because I'm going to run through this guy. So he talks me into it. He talks to me and knew it. But still no word from CNN Punk about if he's coming back anytime soon. He's a good dude. Like Mike's actually a really nice guy. And I'm actually very, I'm very happy for Mike. I've known him for a while. I remember after the CM Punk fight, Daniel Brian from the

WWE, like, called him out for a fight. It was like, WV versus UFC kind of a thing. And that was, like, a huge deal. It's just good for Mike, man. Like, I'm happy to see him get this opportunity. He was, uh, he also, as you know, like, he has, like, the black power, fist and everything on his chest and everything.

And that was the week, the Eagles were uninvited to the White House. So he had a lot of things to say about that. Yeah. Him and, uh, him and, um, him and CN Punk. Anyway. Good luck to Mike Jackson. Jackson and Dean Baring, I'm excited for both those guys. And the cool part about Mike Jackson fighting on that card,

he fights to fight, and then he stays the next couple of days, and he gets to watch Connor Dustin in the media tent. There you go. Get those views, son. Good photographer, too. Yeah. Really good. Very good photographer.

And he would have been just, who is the last fighter to honestly be cut off a win? I really... Gerald Harris? Cut or not, I guess not resigned or was he? No, I think they cut him. Can you cut him? Can he cut someone on a win?

I guess, you know what? I guess Mike, he hasn't any, has he done any interviews yet? No, I was talking to, I believe he's going to be speaking with our own Damon Martin sometime today. Very interested. Like, you know, was he just owed this fight or did he? Like, I don't know how it works. I wonder if it's one of those situations, like, remember Mark Hunt where like the U.S. an original fight

when we had the Pride contract where they just tried to buy him out but he's like no no I want a fight I want to yeah yeah yeah that USC 225 I just compared Mike Jackson

and Markhont though that's Dan Ige was the opening fight on the entire car in USC 225 and then a young Charles Oliver was the next fight and then a young

Sergio Pettis beat Joe B and then Anthony Smith crushed Rashad Evans. Those are all on the fight past prelims. So crazy looking back at some of those old cards. The fight past prelims of that card, I'm looking at it, is just blows the actual Fox Sports

one prelimb of water. We had Chris Delo Rocha, who I don't even think is in the UFC anymore. Beck Dick is on a little bit of a slide. And then Claudia and Curtis Blades are great. But like the UFC fight past prelons ruled. And then the main card was awesome too. anyway thank you for the question joseph boza maybe this is the other fight that was announced yesterday nina is from roberto baryantos apologies if i mispronounce your name is nina answer off a step

too big for durn first of all speaking of chicago fight cards ufc 238 was the last time nina answer a fought what if i told you that nita anteroff would lose on that card have a baby and return before Tatiana Suarez, who also fought on that car. That is just an absolute bummer. I know our own Alex Davis is like the president of the Tatiana Suarez fan club. The fact that we're having all these conversations about the women's strawweight title and she can't be involved right now because of her neck is an absolute bummer because I thought she was going to be, I thought she'd be championed by now.

But you can't mess around and injure neck. But Casey, I'll start with you. Is Nina Anteroff a step too big for McKenzie Dernsey. who's coming off the win over gender, but has been pretty active in 2020. I think people don't realize. No, this feels right. And if I'm McKenzie Dern, this is a, I think a,

it sounds mean, but this is a big, this is a good opportunity to fight Anserov. She has the big layoff. She made a baby, you know. So there's a lot going on in her life. So will this need of answer off be, you know, the same one, you know, a year ago. Real quick, someone in the YouTube comments is

Anserov versus Dern for the baddest mother. Just the baddest mother. I like it. I like that. That's funny. Would, is this, would this be the highest ranking mom fight? Yeah, it's got to be. It's up there, yeah. Probably. Have any moms been UFC champions yet? No, there's been no mom champ.

Michelle Waterson wanted to be the first mom champ. Okay. Casangano almost, obviously. Off of the title. Yeah. So we've had moms fight for the title, but no mom has won the title. Okay. You know, Lauren Murphy's, of course, close to.

But she hasn't got that fight yet. No, this thing is. Wait, no. So in terms of high-range fight, like, what about Andrea Lee and Lauren Murphy when they fought? They're both moms. They're both high-ranked. They were on that Houston card. You're right.

Yeah. But neither was in the top five at the time. Yeah. Yeah. So, the answer off and Dern are outside the top five, too. But just a big mom fight. Yeah, baddest moms. But back to the actual question.

No, this feels right. And I think we're all slightly surprised but excited to see Ney Ansarov back so soon. But if she says she's ready and obviously she has a couple more months for this fight, yeah, super cool. I'm excited. Does, do we technically have a mom champ champ right now, though? Oh, yeah, well, well. Is Amanda Noon?

Can we consider Amanda Nuna as a mom champ champ? She's a mother, but she didn't, she didn't, she didn't, she didn't have the baby, though. Fair play, fair play. I just wanted to clarify, because I know people are going to talk about that. Anyway, thank you for the question, Roberto. From Daniel Pompeo on Twitter, did Josea out show everyone how to get around the sponsorship band with that sticker? Is he a pioneer? or he'd be made an example of.

He is not a pioneer because Casey you've watched millions of fights. Mike, you've watched millions of fights. Even now on the regional circuit, you know what happens in KSW. You know what happens in Russia all the time. How many times have we seen temporary stickers on these fighters, especially they're back? I'm pretty sure if you watch the old TKO fights on George St. Pierre's early days, he has stickers all over, like on his chest or his back and we all rub off. And remember San Alvey did the spray tan on his chest too?

So I think from fighter fans that are relatively new to the sport Or don't watch a lot of the regional scene They might say that but no not a not a Pioneer if anything he's bringing it back Yeah Was it a sticker or was it a tattoo a temporary tattoo that rips off? Not sure I'm not sure

Yeah interesting But it was like the Brazil Navy flag or whatever People were talking about it I'm actually kind of bummed it wasn't a straight-up sponsor I'm bummed there wasn't some energy drink. I'm bummed that wasn't a tattoo because that wasn't, I'm like, I look at it. I'm like, that tattoo is so well done if that's a real tattoo. That looks like a sticker and then blow of a hold.

Blow of a hold. From Terrence Leverett on Twitter, another long time commenter. Which event this year you had the opportunity to cover in person this year? Which event this year you had the opportunity to cover in person? And also which fight would you like to cover next year if you had the choose to pick one? I think he's missing. Thanks for the great coverage this year while I worked from home. So I'm assuming which event was your favorite that you had the opportunity to cover,

but which event next year do you want to... We're waiting for it. We're waiting for it. Oh, man. Oh, no. Oh, no. Damn it. So now I have to...

You got to host. Are you hosting? This is your day off, too, and you're hosting again. Oh, man. All right. All right. So, Casey, let me just say, I have not covered a single event in 2020, not a one on location. The last events I covered live was UFC 244 in New York.

That was the last one that I was live for. So Casey, what, you've covered a few. You covered all the pre-pandemic events. And I think you covered maybe two or three post-pandemic events. I just covered two. I just covered one pay-per-view. I covered Stepe DC3 and Dan Hooker versus Dustin Poirier. What was your favorite of all the ones you covered this year?

Oh, I was at 248. I mean, I thought that was awesome. We actually did, Jose, who was here a moment ago before his computer exploded. We had the privilege of doing a nice sit-down 45-minute. interview, oh, who's, here we go, 45-minute interview with Mr. Adasagna in his hotel room. Oh, hey. Am I back? You're back.

So, for those, I probably sound a lot worse, too, because for those that aren't part of the anime fighting team, we get our work computers that are forced to update at certain times. And mine decided it needed to update right now. My whole computer just turned off. so my microphone and my HDK streaming camera are unusable for the next 47 minutes while my computer decides to update so what did I miss? Same. As ask our new host, Mike Heck. I was asking Casey what is the favorite event to cover this year was and he said 248 because you guys had that sit down with Adasanya for

for a lot for what 45 minutes or so so yeah that was his favorite i guess Jose's updates might be coming to a close pretty soon judging by that sound no it's 48 minutes this is restarted what a bizarre hard anyway oh man so can you guys even can you guys even hear me right now you're it's a little hollow but we can hear you we got you Because I have to use this thing. Sorry about that, everyone.

Mike, you didn't get to cover any events this year, right? Nope. Last one I covered was 244. But Mike, have you ever out? Go ahead. Mike, have you interviewed more fighters this year than ever before? Maybe not because it's a little different now. Yeah, because you have at least five a week, you know?

Five a week for the last 30 weeks. I would say I interviewed more fighters last year than I did this year. Okay. Just because, like, that's all I did last year was just interview fighters. But it was more, I mean, I was interviewing like regional fighters, amateurs, pros, all over, all different promotions. So I would say, I would say quantity was more than quality last year. I don't know if that's fair.

But yeah, I interviewed more fighters last year. But it was funny, like, a good chunk of those fighters got into the UFC this year. So it was kind of good to set the table in that. That's always fun. Yeah. Yeah. I know the way you feel when you talk about, you know, you see the guys on the regional circuit, you know, now you see, you know, in the big show, making, you know, making some decent coin. Like, I felt the same way.

Like, when I was at all the early Invicto shows, like, I was at Tisha Torres's first fight. I was at Jojo Carterwood's first, you know, domestic American fight. Carla Spars before she was Carla Sparza, you know what I mean? Like, I just saw. So I totally get that, like. Oh, you know, you're just, you're just, you know, you're happy for him. Yeah, I interviewed, I interviewed Shorty Torres for the first time before his pro debut. Like, wow.

Before, like, it was crazy. And then to see him get to the UFC, like, that's one of the ones that, like, stuck out to me. Because I remembered he was fighting for Titan FC at the time. And their PR rep was like, you've got to interview this guy. I know he's got no pro fights, but interview this guy, I'm telling you, you're going to be blown away by him. And I was like, eh, all right. And then I interviewed him. And I was like, you were right.

blew me away indeed i remember when mike and i worked a fan side i'm pretty sure we were one of the ones that broke shorty signing with uh the ufc because he got that last minute fight in utica which i went to because we had plans to shoot some sort of embedded style thing like you did with a lima in hawai um casey the fight was like 11 12 days notice and he was bulking up to fight at 145 and then had to cut down to 125 so he just physically was not up to it or we got there. But that was the worst I've ever seen him in terms of his, because he's obviously a really good talker.

It was hard to get like three words out of him because it looked like he was about to pass out at every point of the day. Oh, way kidding. That was a fight between two of, that was a fight between two of the more underrated talkers in the sport. Like, Shorty's obviously great. Jared Brooks is excellent too. And that's another guy you should probably be back at the UFC.

But it's not. It's just, it's crazy. The monkey god? Yes. Is that his name? Yeah. Yep. But to answer Mr. Terence Leverett's question,

because I, 249 probably. The first Jacksonville pay-per-view. The Tony Gatje one. Because that one was just, that was the first pandemic card. And that fight ruled and I sat octagon side for it. So just the sounds. I'll never forget the sounds of that fight, being like 10 feet away from it. And when Justin Gage, you just got just, he got the worst low blow I've ever heard,

but only because there was no one there, so just echoed. And the cries of agony from a low blow, I'll never forget. I hate covering, I hate, I hate, I mean, covering pandemic fights, we're kind of like with all the protocols. It's a good experience, but overall, it sucks compared to a normal fight week. would you say so I was like spending five weeks in Abu Dhabi that was a grind

Oh dude I was I was worried about I was worried about everyone's like mental health there You know you guys The staff just like Oscar and I were Oscar and I were talking about this When I was up in Las Vegas last

Like by week four We just we would see each other Be like hey One more week to go One more week to go And then by the time abid fight week came around we were all back into it but like you go through that you go through it's like fun it's interesting and then by like the middle of week three you just know the routine

and there's nothing to do and then once the habib fight came around it was awesome the audison it cost a fight week was a lot of fun though mostly because they got that interview with the city kickboxing guys now that where they just seemed to have fun izzie it seems old hat for them but the fact that, like, Kai, Redell, and Shane got the shine, too. Like, they were excited for that interview. And then Blood Diamond. And then Carlos Olberg, who's now in the U.S. Yeah, Albert.

I interviewed him five weeks before his Contender Series fight. And during the thing, he goes, I'm just ready right now if they need a Contender Series guy. So, yeah, that was probably my favorite of the Avaldami Fight Weeks. Cool. Thank you much. Can we answer everything? Oh, no, it was the second part of the question. Which one do you want to cover next year?

If it's a pandemic card, I will cover it because that's my job. But, I mean, it's, they're just not fun to cover. Everything's at a distance, protocols. It's just, you know, once you do it, once you go to Abu Dhabi two times, you got it, you know. Are you looking, is it, what are you looking forward to, Jose? Any event in general? You know, how about the first event where fans are going to be back? That's going to be just weird.

Yeah. I think that whenever that happens. We were talking about, like, I was going to have talking about that, too. We're still going to be nervous. Oh, yeah. The first time, like, we're still like, like, we were talking, like, say where the fans are allowed back in and it's a normal fight week, but you're still only allowed like they want. Because right now, each media aisle is pretty much only allowed one person backstage and the one person. that was at Octagon side.

So like if there was an event in Boston or if there was an event in like Ohio or something like that, like either Me or Casey or Alex would probably go and then like Mike or Damon would sit Octagon side and then the other one would be in the back doing the interviews. I still don't know if I would want to sit in an arena with fans everywhere just yet. Oh, it's going to, yeah. I don't expect it to happen late 2021 if that. when actual they can whatever local governments

or can deem it safe enough to have an actual arena where everyone can just breathe on each other what a weird dystopian statement but that I'm saying now that makes sense but a year ago like what but yeah

about you Mike what are you excited to cover next year if possible I have never covered a Connor card yeah that would be one yeah that would be one I'd like to

to see in person because I've just I haven't been there for a Connor fight yet I'm super curious how a pandemic countercard will go that's it that is interesting because Casey Casey has covered a million of them

I've covered I've covered all of them except for 229 because I had just joined fighting so I hadn't like you guys had your routine it was like 229 is my first favorite fighting so I was

still the new person so I didn't get to go and then they didn't do is doubling card because I couldn't afford to pay for myself to go to that one but the media turnout is insane and some media that don't cover MMA are so rude and they just think they can push in front of you and knock over everything start asking questions for everyone's ready it's very much like boxing media Casey you've covered boxing yeah boxing media and MMA media are night and day in terms of just manners uh but Casey you've been a now where like they have name tags everywhere you each get your own mic there's no pushing you don't have to get there super early to get a good spot i am very curious that that continues

with a con or card during during your pandemic i mean during the current protocols i mean i would think they have to yeah i mean i mean um esther she just um she just came back from san antonio when she worked on the Canelo fight, the Canelo card, and San Antonio, which would normally be, it's not the same, it's not the same as Connor hype, but it's up there, you know, especially with international media. Oh, yeah. She was just like, no, but pandemic protocols override everything, you know.

I mean, it can't get a little crowded and a little rude, you know, people going, hey, I should be over there, I need to get closer. But for the most part, it's pandemic protocols control, rule everything. before the the status of the fight how big it is. But yeah, I'll love,

but to see Connor in an empty arena walk out with no fans and just to hear his music playing just for people in the arena, I mean, for the, no, 30 people in the,

whatever, the fight spear, fight dome, whatever. Fight hanger, I don't know what they call it, I think.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind covering that fight, though, just to have that experience because I was at, UFC Dublin the Connor fight

we fought Diego Brando and even though I was at all the other big Connor pay-per-views that by far was the best one as far as just like the crowd, the intensity and at that point Connor was Connor was still Connor was a hero. There was no you know bust incident

there was no allegations there was no brawls it was just Connor on his ride so everything was rosy then so and that was It's just a magical night for Irish anime in general. Absolutely.

Because they all won. They all won big too, yep. Man, what a card. Cool, cool. Four Corner Sports, NY on Twitter. What are your thoughts of the three cards for Fight Island that Dana announced at which card as well as which main event are you most looking forward to and why? I think we just answered this in the last question.

I think we're all at least fascinated by the idea of Connor fighting on a pandemic card. the other main event is Hamzaa or Leon Edwards and Hamzaat and then the other main event is Max Holloway Calvin Cater all awesome fights Calvin Cater of course representing New England over Navadabi Max Holloway

I think it's weird that their fight two U.S. fighters are fighting in the main event and fight island but whatever it is what it is Mike what are you most looking forward to of the three cards it's got I mean obviously Connor Porier is super fascinating but and I love love me Calvin Cater

versus Max Hall or excuse me Max Holleyer versus Calvin Cater higher rank fighter first pal but Leon Edwards Leon Edwards versus Hamza at Shemayev man like I just have to see it like we missed out on it December 19th it is such a fascinating fight and I am responsible for writing the breakout fighter of the year for MMA fighting and I got to wax poetically on the winner a little bit I mean one of the nominees because obviously Shami is going to be in this conversation but the fact that he's fighting Leon Edwards in his fourth UFC fight is just so crazy to me. And we're finally going to see it hopefully on January 20th headlining that card sandwiched in between Cater Holloway and McGregor versus Porier. Man, oh man, I am fired up. That's such a fascinating

fight. I cannot wait to see the result of that and where it sends this division moving forward. I agree. I agree. Because this is going to be make or make a break for Shamiya, obviously. And Leon Edwards. If Leon Edwards does... If Leon Edwards does... doesn't look great against like an unranked fighter like I mean I get like a little bit of past and we just had COVID and he's been off for like more than a year so give him a little bit of a pass but it's not going to look great on his resume Casey what do you look closely forward to um I love all three of those main events I really do I love them all because every every single one of those fights have extremely high stakes and they're not they're not just fights I mean one

like Wonder Boy nil was a great fight there's two guys who wanted to see punch each other but the high stakes were really weren't there outside of the physical beating they were going to get. But this one, yeah, there's so much the line for Holloway. There's so much the line for Cater, so much line for every single fighter. And the only thing I can make it better is not necessarily that he deserves it,

but I think Connor versus Hoyer versus McGregor should be for the new, for the vacant 155 title. Not that I think Connor does. serves it, but I think that belt is vacated, Habib retired. So that belt should be vacated, and Dustin Poir should have the opportunity to fight for that title.

So I'm super excited about it. I like the idea of that fight being a non-longed tender fight for a vacant title, or at least like an opening of a tournament. Or the opening of a tournament, or like a part of a tournament, either way. Yeah. Yeah.

I just hate that idea. Someone presented. Sorry. Yeah, someone presented the idea if that's the opening of the tournament, but it's still a title fight. So it's like Ballator, where the title is part of, like, follows a fighter through. Don't hit that a day either. Because at the end, if Connor wins the tournament, you can't argue. He doesn't have to be champ, you know, the winner of the tournament.

So don't hate it either way, but I'm excited for Connor to get back in there. So it for Pori to get back in there. And for the Good Fight Foundation to get a whole bunch of money, more importantly. Yay. Taking out any title stuff. I do feel like I am a sucker. I did fall for it, but like I am into Shemaya versus Edwards. I hate that booking, but I love the chaos of it and the chaos that it can create, you know, in terms of rankings.

And all of a sudden, an unranked guy is now number three, a guy who was ranked number three. Maybe he's not even top ten. You know, I mean, like, you're just like, is Leon Edwards? Is he really good? I'm sorry? Has anyone had a faster rise? Tony Garberin's the only one I could think of. He fought Dominic Cruz after like a year.

Not not, not. Oh, well, no, no. I would say within the UFC, this could be the fastest rise outside of Anderson Silva. Within the UFC, not counting outside, no, like, because Anderson's always. And Anderson was Anderson. Yeah, that's a prize. There's not really count. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Because I was a huge mark for Anderson of pride. when he joined the UFC, I want him to fight Rich Franklin right away. Right away pretty much. I didn't think he needed to leave in fight. But it ended up working out because he looked so well. So he performed so well.

It just made that fight bigger, which is great. But, yeah, I don't know. I can't think of anyone that's gone. Yeah, he's passive treatment. You know, like, when Eddie Alvarez came to the UFC, if he wanted, like, just dusted a cowboy in his first fight, I'm sure his next fight would have been for the title. But obviously, he lost that fight.

100%. But as far as coming into the UFC, completely unknown, like being just a regional fighter, I can't, I can't think of a fighter coming faster, coming up the ladder. And who is the last minute replacement? Yeah, and a last minute replacement, yeah. You know who's also a last minute of replacement?

That's now one of the all-time greats, Valentina Shepchenko. Yep. She came on and I go, two weeks notice. Yeah, too. So Cody, Cody was 5 in 0 when he fought for the title. He debuted in January of 2015, and he fought Dominic Cruz in December of 2016.

You mean UFC debut or MMA debut? Yeah, UFC debut. Oh, UFC debut, okay. So he was 5 in 0. He fought Marcus Brimidge in his first UFC fight. You know, well, if Brandon Royval beat Brandon Moreno, he could have been the answer to this question. I agree. Cool, cool.

Thank you for your question. I like that question. Sammy. For another question from Four Corner Sports, what did you learn about Chaos Williams after, hey, don't tag. I know he tagged him.

If you learned about Cass Williams after a fight against Michelle for that, who do you want chaos to fight next? We had a similar question on the post-fight show, if I'm not mistaken. So, Mike, you were the host of that, and you did answer the next one, obviously. But for those of our listeners who miss the post-fight show or miss on to the next one or miss both, what's next for both chaos and Michelle Panette?

To kind of address the first question, I think we learned that chaos can fight beyond 30 seconds because I think that was a big question that people had heading into that fight. A lot of people also felt that Chaos Williams won that fight. So it is what it is. I don't think he lost a lot of steam. we kind of had these extreme expectations when we're talking about. As soon as chaos and Pajeda was booked, we were just like, oh, my God, this is really happening. And we just had these high expectations. And it just became more of a technical fight.

So I don't think we learned a whole lot more from that fight. I think we learned outset that he could fight for 30 seconds. As far as what I'd like to see next for chaos, I'd like to see him. And this is solely depending on the recovery of this man. I want to see Chaos fight Brian Barbarina and just let those two throw hands and have some fun in there. He's a veteran, he's been in the UFC for a long time,

he's been a part of some crazy fights in his career. I'd like to see him match up against a guy that is so super durable and can take a big shot and see how he plays out. Pajara, I mean, there's a lot of options for him right now. I'd like to see him get a step up. Someone like inside the top 20, but give Chaos a veteran

who's willing to scratch. and then Pajara, let's see what he can do, throw them into some deeper waters and see what happens. Casey, what's say you? What did I learn about them? Actually, I learned that chaos is actually a better fighter than... Actually, I didn't learn too much. I think they're both very talented fighters,

and the fight was super close. It was actually... It's one of those fights because it was so competitive. It kind of made it, you know, boring. It didn't make it the crazy fight of the year that we thought it was going to be because it was competitive, because these guys are actually good fighters,

and because they respected the other guy across the cage from them because they didn't want to get knocked out, you know, so they both had to fight smart. So actually, even though it wasn't the fight of the year that we thought it was going to be or fight a night, you know, I thought we learned that they were actually just smart, well-rounded fighters, actually. For chaos, though, next, yeah, I think what Mike said.

It's just a vet. I like that. I would love Robbie Lawler to fight either of these guys Either one I think I think I think I can go wrong Either way Why not Michelle Panetta

I'd like to see him fight Nicholas Dolby or Tim Means Because they're both coming off wins Like big wins in their career And they're both veterans Who have seen everything And at Cass Williams I want to fight Daniel Rodriguez

Just because that's super violent I agree I think both these guys I think you can it's really hard to it's kind of hard to mess with matchmaking of these guys to be honest I agree yeah also because I like the same means a lot too

we talk about the top of the welterweight division being so hyper competitive but I feel like the talent between like say 8 and 30 has a match up any of those guys and they'll fund like welterweight is like sneaky stacked outside the top 15

There's a lot of fun findings. I agree. Cool. Thank you much. What time is it? I can't even see my clock. Oh, we just went over an hour. We just went over an hour.

Let's do some. Let me go through the YouTube comments and see if, da-da-da. Let me get a couple more in here. Anita Seranga, apologize if I mispronounce your name. Do you guys think if Charles is able to? to equal Habib's winning streak, he'll entice Sabib to come back. I think it's a tough question. I think Mike is...

It's a tough question. What do you say, Mike? Mike is ready. Mike's got it. I think I'm not saying yes. I'm not saying no, though. I think obviously the GSP fight is the one that's been thrown around a lot, but if it's not GSP, I think honestly, there's only one guy that can get Habeb back, and it is Charles

Olivera. If he can go on in this insane run, maybe win the vacant title and go on a streak as impressive as Habebs, like if he wins 13, 14 in a row overall, if he wins four or five more fights in a row, there's a chance that I think Habe would come back and be like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, son, that's my record, you're not breaking it. So outside of GSP, I think Oliver is the one guy that might be able to entice Habib to come back just because of the competitive nature of it, but outside of that, I don't see it happening. I was going to say if there's one name that might bring him back, it might be Charles also solely because he's already said, like he's already tapped out poor, he's already tapped

out Conner, he's already beaten Gae, like Tony's lost, like he's beating everyone. There's no one else for him to beat. And if Charles goes on this, if Charles Oliver had won, got on the mic, called out Islam Makchib goes out there and beat Islamakshv, man, I bet Habib would have fought him. But you don't know. No one knows. Anyway, Casey, what do you think? Um, no. No. If on a scale of one to 100, it is like 95% sure Habib's retired. But if there's that 5%

Charles could be one of them just because Habib hasn't fought him. If Charles never had those issues at 45 and he was an undefeated, an undefeated lightweight and he was encroaching on that pound-for-pound best ever list maybe but I just I think Abeb's one of those guys like oh cool good for him and yeah I mean it's it's nice to think about it's like I mean I know we're already missing a beep you know but yeah where from Morel to Clegg where does Greg Hardy go from here outside of the top 20 in terms of an ex-opponent.

I don't know. They're not going to cut him. Like he's, he's, if you don't want, like, I know a lot of our followers aren't, like,

they don't follow up like American sports, but Greg Hardy is a name, like that people recognize, good and bad. Like, they either remember him for being the football player or they remember him

from the awful headlines that he was involved in during his NFL career. So they're not cutting him, but he obviously needs a drastic step down in competition in terms of talent. Mike, what do you say?

There's two ways you go with this. One, you throw him to like a guy like a Parker Porter, something in that realm because I think the UFC kind of see something in Parker Porter, but they also see something in Greg. It's a step back. It's a fun fight. And Parker's going to get right in his face and throw bombs. And then the other option is you give him a guy like a Tanner Bojure who's like on the

cusp of taking that next step towards the top 15 who's coming off a loss. to Andre Arlofsky that's looking to get back against a, you know, a recognizable name. So I, anywhere like in between those guys is fine too. But yeah, we're not throwing them into a top 15 or a top 20 matchup. It's either you take a giant step back or you take a partial step back. There's just there's just no in between. You can make arguments for both. But I'd like to see Greg take a giant step back and just see what he has.

Like Parker's a tough dude. Like if Parker Porter can get to the second round with Greg Hart, that's an interesting fight to me. And Tanner Bozer would be all over a matchup like that. So something like that, give him a step back for sure, though. Casey, what say you? I love, I love Greg Hardy versus Tanner Bozer. Bozer? Am I saying right?

Yeah. I think the UFC likes Tanner Bozzer. He fights for much cheaper than Greg Hardy does. I think Greg Hardy is for his ranking, for how good he is, how good his potential is. I think he is very expensive. And I know the UFC paid him a lot of money at the beginning because I know Dana thought Greg Hardy was going to be this top five, you know, title contender eventually.

Man, but what I saw, was that two weeks ago or last, was that this, when was that right? Last week. Yeah, sorry, we have so many cards. Last week. Yeah, it was so long ago now. that was that was one that honestly yeah i get great hardy can kick my ass man but in terms of ufc heavyweights that was a very very very bad performance the way he just completely yeah you look great one round cool but you still didn't you didn't drop tibur he didn't you 10 a'd him you just you won the

round but man the season's gas tank just that much and then when it goes to the ground even worse that mean if that was not greg hardy that was not Greg Hardy, you would, you, you're, you're not going, oh, I want to see that guy fight again. Just no way. So, um, I think Greg Hardy's next fight, we talk about Crossroads fights. Holy crap, he has to win the next fight, I think. It's so important. Because like, you know, all those like weird little losses.

They're like illegal elbow, I mean, illegal knees. What was that? When he had, he had, he had, he had, he had, he was decued for the illegal knee. And then it was a no contest because he used the inhaler. Yeah. And then, and all, even all his. wins or kind of they all seemed weird

you know just like you know Juan one um was it one Adams yeah just like grabbing his leg it was just um yeah no that was just like okay so we finally got the lost the great car like he just lost lost bad so whatever his next fight is man if he loses that next fight I just don't understand the UFC paying what he is paying paying paying the amount he gets to keep him around

so I think it's such an important fight for him Who do you think wins a long-distance race between Shane Carwin and Greg Hardy? Long distance. I'm talking about 80 yards? Like 2 40s in a row? Who runs 5 miles? Who runs a 5K? Who wins a 5-K between Greg Hardy and Shane Harding?

5K, like in a row? A 5K race, a fun run for charity. Yeah, see, that's tough. That's a good question. Shane Carwin will win an MMA fight 10 out of 10 times. But man, I was trying to, like, when I was watching that fight, I'm like I feel like there's a heavyweight out there that I'd seen this before. It's Shane Carlin when he fought Brockluster and he was just dead after the first round.

But as much as I want to see Greg Hardy versus Tanner Bozer, I think that's a really bad fight for Hardy. So I think all Hardy has, especially in that first round, he'll have speed. And guys like Bozor, I don't know necessarily. know how much faster he'll be than Bozer. And Bozer, you know what you're going to get from Greg Hardy, survive that first round, and then use your mixed martial arts, your full skill set and beat him in the second round.

But yeah, if I'm Greg Hardy, I try to find a big, slow heavyweight. Oh, talk about this. Before we jet. Update from Joseph Bozer. Anthony DePat is testing for agency, Connor's now ranks number 15 at well-te-old. or wait. Thoughts?

I have no thoughts. I have no thoughts on this. How about Anthony Peddiss? Talk about Connor McGregor falling from number one pound for pound in the world to 30 months later being outside the top of time. Man, what a drastic fall. That was a bug. I feel like.

Anyway, yeah, Anthony Pedest, go ahead. No, I feel like that happens once a month. It's crazy. Yeah. I'll go on UFC.com and be like, what? Like, how is this, how is this a thing? So Anthony Pettis announced yesterday he's going to test the free agency, test the open market. He is parting ways with the UFC after 12 years.

I think Mike and I, you said it a few times, especially on the post-fight show, like, his bags are packed. Like, he can say he wants to fight Tony, you can say he wants to get back to the belt and all this. His bags are already probably packed and leaving the UFC. So I would not be surprised whatsoever if we see him on Bellator. If PFL gets their app together, maybe he goes to the million dollars. and then retires. But yeah, no surprise for me when he made that announcement. Mike, what thought?

Oh, I'm with you. It seems like Bellator is like the best option for him. And I mean, just look at the fights we can make there. I mean, Jose, you just, the mere mention of Petters versus MVP on the post-fight show, just put the biggest smile on my face. Like, this is real. Like, this could really happen. Into my veins.

Yes. And I know he wants to go back to 55. and I feel like 55 is the best place for him, but man, him versus MVP is so much fun. I love it. Him versus Patrici Pitbull, man, that's so much fun. I love that too. But if he goes to PFL, I don't have an issue with that either.

Him versus Natanzhote would be so much fun. Like, that's a crazy fight to think about too. So, yeah, he's in a good place right now. And going in there and having a win like that against a guy like Marano who's tough his nails and throwing those combinations and getting on the highlight reels and getting on social media clips, that was huge for Anthony Pettis because now I feel like his stock is way higher than it was, you know, even coming out of the Saroni win.

Seems like a calculated move from Anthony Pettus to take specifically the Alex Marano fight, if I'm giving my opinion. But Eric Koch is apparently also no longer with UFC another Rufus Sport guy. I said on our Slack channel, it seems like there's an exodus of Rufus Sports Fighters from the UFC. I know there was that weird, Tyne Willey possibly being cut in, but the time will be cleared it up later. He's not cut from the UFC. That's like he said of himself and his manager confirmed. So, yeah.

Anthony Pettis versus MVP in Bellito would be awesome. But Anthony Pettis versus MVP in Risen in a ring would be a lot of them. So, I don't know if you can't have to do it. That's far less things to jump off of if you're Anthony Pettis. So fun. Or maybe there's more, Jose. Maybe there's more. Maybe it gets up on that top turn.

Those roads do have some spring. Yeah, they do have some spring in there. A little too cold Scorpio action. I love it. Yeah, we've seen enough lucha that you can jump pretty high off those ropes. Come on, man. anything Petis versus like

Larkin would be fun Lima would be fun Patrici Pippal obviously is a lot of fun if they want to do their own lightweight tournament after like their own lightweight Grand Prix have

Patricio vacate go for 135 because I think Patricio can make 135 and fight one archelaide tomorrow well obviously

you know come away but if Patricio wants to vacate because his brothers are 155 and then make that tournament

throw Anthony Pedersen there, I'm off for that. Any of those. I'm jumping in low ahead. I'm sorry. Go ahead. I'm jumping in lower. I'm jumping in low. I'm sorry.

I'm jumping low ahead, but, you know, AJ McKee has talked about, you know, he's eventually going to grow out of featherweight. So, me, there's just so many, just AJ McKee versus Petters. I mean, that's like a little bit away, but I'm just talking about, like, these are things that are just, just fun to think about.

It's just fun to think about. And I think this is really good. I think this is really, confirmation that Sergio Pettis is signing to Bellator, not just in the cage, but behind the scenes in the bank account and just the way they're treated. I think the Pettus household is very happy with the move to Bellator. I think if the brother, with the, with the brother, with Anthony leaving the UFC rather, I know he hasn't assigned to Bellator yet, but I think the Pettus household realizes that there are, there is life outside, a good life outside the U.S.

UFC. I agree. I'll tell you what, there's one organization that we're leaving out that made a big splash this year in a situation very similar to this. What about bare knuckle? Are they a player? Because we didn't think Page Vanzant was a player. And guess what? Curve ball. Maybe a one-off. Maybe a one-off for Pettus. I could see a quick one-off. But you know, the only reason I say no for that because I don't think if Pettis has having the necessarily the durability with the bones in his hand. His hands break a lot.

That's the only reason, but I do like the idea. The only reason I kind of wonder by that, but but you know what? It's safer. It is safer. It actually is safer. Not maybe not broken bones in the hand, but overall to your brain facilities, yeah, it is

actually safer. Anything else? Well, we're going to get Anthony Petis versus Hartson Lobov and Bear Knuckle. Ooh. Yes. I want to see Jason Knight back in... Sounds like a fight circus fight.

I want to see Jason Knight back in a cage doing MMA. I miss Jason Knight. Is he... I want to say he was supposed to... I think there was some promotion that was going to throw him in there. I thought he had a fight book for some promotion in a cage, but I don't think it ever actually happened. All right.

Do you want to take some more questions? Or we're at an hour 20. We can wrap it. We got a ton of time to film next. Yeah, we got a whole month. We got three weeks, guys. What answer are your Michita is Mitchie Tate coming back questions next week or the week after that? Yeah, a lot of page fans and questions.

Yeah. Now, I'm surprised if you're getting any questions about Dana White's. strange promo. We got a couple. Most of the Ascran versus Jake Paul. What a weird, silly sport this is. We got a few weeks. We got a few weeks.

Anyway, I'm Jose Young's. That's Casey. That's Mike. I'm sorry for the audio things. You can blame Fox. And they're forcing to update in the middle of a live stream. Anyway, that's Casey.

It's a research showing there. You can find Mike. Go listen between the links where him, A.K.D. and James Shue break down their picks for the end of the year awards. And then Thursday tomorrow, they'll be back with what the heck. You can find out, you know, I'm sure he's tweeted or will tweet the lineup soon. You can find all right there. You find this stuff along with all of the MMA fighting stuff on Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, all that. But until next Wednesday, Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas.

We're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Thank you.