MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 168

Episode Date: August 14, 2014

Featuring Eddie Alvarez, Ryan Couture, Uriah Hall, Cub Swanson, Jimi Manuwa, Bjorn Rebney, and Dennis Bermudez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudulian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

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February, February, Monday, Monday in February. I was just telling someone yesterday, my most hated month of the year is February. It feels like a long Sunday. It just, it's right before March, hope springs eternal, it's right after the holidays, come back to school, you're kind of in the dog days of the year, just, I don't know, something about it. I don't like it. It feels like a long Sunday. But anyway, the good news is we have a great show lined up for you today on the MMA hour. We're being joined in the back by the usual suspects. We've got Isaac, no buzzkill, we've got Will the Thrill. We've got New York, Rick, who'll hear from in the third hour. We'll get to him in a second. And we've got Leanne in the back there, a full house.

is a crowd. We got them in the back. Can't wait to get the show started. As I mentioned, New York, Rick. He is in the back. Good news for him. No big fights this weekend, so he didn't lose any money. I don't think he lost money. I don't think he bet on Bellator. We'll find out when we talked to him in the third hour. Rick's Pakes Challenge, he's at around $60 now. So he lost 40, hoping to get to 400 by April 28th. We'll find out what he's thinking about come Saturday. UFC on Fuel TV number seven, an amazing card, arguably the best fuel TV card. you know, since they started this a year and change ago. It's a great card, Wembley Arena in London.

Michael May Day McDonald is looking to make history. He wants to become the youngest champion in UFC history when he faces the interim champion, Hennon Burrow. Talk about that fight in the third hour. We'll also talk to a few of the big names on that card a little later on in the show. At around 240, though, we'll talk to Dennis Bermudez who faces Mack Rice, UFC 157.

That's in two weeks. That's the big Ronda Rousey, Liz Karmouche card. I'll talk to you a bit about what I thought of the UFC primetime that aired last week. If you missed it, you better go check it out. Uriah Hall, the talk of the MMA world, the talk of the ultimate fighter with the spinning kick heard around the world. Last week on the show, we'll talk to him at around 220 about how his life has changed since that aired last week on FX. Ryan Couture, the son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, he will stop by to talk about his upcoming fight against Ross Pearson. And the other comings and goings in his life at around 140.

We'll talk to Bjorn Rebney, the Belator CEO, another strong showing for Bellator on Thursday. Alexander Schlomenko is their new middleweight champion. He defeated Mikel Falcao, and they continue to roll along. They got another event this Thursday. So we'll talk to Bjorn about that. At around 120 p.m. Eastern, we'll talk to Cub Swanson. He faces Dustin Porreier this Saturday, UFC on Fuel TV 7. And that is the big card of the weekend, as I mentioned.

And so we'll talk a lot more about that card as the show continues. And if you want to talk to us about that card about anything going on in the world of MMA, Chris Cyborg, there's Josh Barnett. There's a lot going on. Pettisaldo, that happened after our interview last week. Hit us up on Twitter. Use the hashtag the MMA hour. And the best question via Twitter gets a prize.

One of these round five dollars. We'll announce it later on. You see a lot of them here. And also hit us up using the website because we like to go to the website as well. but first let us go to the phone lines and welcome in a man who will be facing

Cyril the Snake Diabate this Saturday UFC on Fuel TV 7 he is the man they call poster boy Jimmy Manuel he joins us right now Jimmy how are you

I'm good thanks I'm good great to have you on the show thanks for stopping by I always wondered why do they call you poster boy it's just a thing for my first fight

when I saw the posters and everything and I start to stuck with it And I did a day I want to be this poster boy of MMA by my career. So you gave yourself the nickname or did someone else give it to you? Did we lose Jimmy? He was there. Oh, Jimmy, are you there?

Yes, can you hear me? Oh, yeah, we lost you for a second. Now you're back. I was wondering, did you give yourself that nickname or did someone give it to you? No, my girlfriend gave it to me when I had my first fight. Okay, now it's okay. give yourself a nickname, it's kind of frowned upon on this side of the girl.

You know what I mean? Yeah, no, no, my girlfriend here, for me. Are you guys still together? Is she your wife now? Yeah, no, I'm not married. We're still together, yeah. Okay, well, that is good to know. Now, you're going into your second UFC fight week. You're your first fight. Couldn't have gotten any better. You beat up Kyle Kingsbury.

Does it feel any different going into the second fight? Less nervous, you know, maybe a little more relaxed. How are you feeling as opposed to the first one in September? Yeah, I'm feeling a lot more calm But I don't know I've just I've just kept my head down as usual And kept training

And just keep Just keep on beating them bags up and everything And training hard and that So yeah, I'm feeling great for it How did life change for you after that fight I mean has anything changed in your life Since you look so great in your debut I don't

I'm not sure A little bit Like I've got a lot more Twitter follow and stuff like that. But, you know, I haven't really been out or anything like that. I've just kept my head down back. So I took about a week off and straight back into the gym. And I've just kept my head down since then.

And just been training hard. So you're not letting you get your head? No, no, no, not really, no. So you've only fought in England thus far. Your first fight in UFC was in England. This one's in England. Do you like that? Or would you rather broaden your horizons a bit?

I'd like to broaden my horizons a bit and to see how I feel like fighting outside of England I think I'd perform better as well I can concentrate and just settle down in training camp and stuff like that but I don't know we'll see we'll start after this fight but it's great to be fighting in front of my home crowd

and yeah it just feels great how far away from Wembley Arena do you live I'm, that's North London. I live South London, so I don't know, about 45 minutes to an hour. Oh, okay. Yeah, not that far. So will you be staying in the fighter hotel, or are you staying at home for this fight week?

I've been told I have to stay in the hotel. What? Yeah, I'll be making a couple of trips home, though. I've got my kids there and everything. So you wanted to stay at home, and they told you you had to stay at the hotel? I don't know. They said I'd have to stay at the hotel, so. You want me to make a call?

Yeah, make a call for me, I real, man. Well, that would be a pleasure. I just think if you have the luxury of staying at home, I would rather stay at home than stay at a hotel, personally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know. I don't mind. I'll just get my game head on and settle down and fight.

There could be some distractions at home. You mentioned you have kids, so maybe it is for the best. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I don't mind. I don't mind. Whatever. So, I mean, at least in our world, I know a lot of the British fans, the European fans,

they've been following you, they've been talking about you, almost wanting us to talk more about fighters like you, but a lot of the American fans may not know a lot about you. So just want to take a couple of steps back. You obviously turned a lot of your life around after coming out of jail, right? Would you agree that was a major turning point in your life? And explain to us why you were in jail in the first place?

I don't know, just the things I did when I was younger and stuff that I were going to jail. trouble, but it was no different from all my friends and what we used to get up to and stuff like that. But when I came out and I found MMA, I started training. And, you know, I just fell in love because I was to fight a lot on the roads

and on the street and that and the clubs and stuff like that. So I've always liked fighting stuff like that. So I think MMA was made for me. So, yeah. How long were you in jail for? About two years Something like that Two years

And what were you put in for Just like fighting Just general craziness Or something No It was some conspiracy Some conspiracy stuff And

Oh Yeah that's all in the past And I just You know Okay I've turned my life around And My MMA's away

And I'm making a good career I have it Who introduced you to MMA Um My friends was, uh, used to fight for,

uh, cage in, in the UK and that. And at first, I didn't, I didn't, uh, like,

really follow him or stuff like that, but I started watching UFC. And, um, I really got into it and I saw like TORTs and rampage and all of them, like knocking people out. And I was like, wow.

So I mean, so, yeah, then, then, then I had a big injury when I was, a weightlifting. And,

uh, from then, I couldn't push any way because I used to go to the gym a lot and stuff like that so from then I started doing cardio I took a couple of MMA classes and then that was it after like I think I had my first fight with like three weeks training but I think I won that straight into professional as well so yeah I won that and I didn't look back ever since kept training and everything and then that was it

so you're 32 now does a party you almost wish like wow if I would have done this maybe a few years earlier, I could really be far along in my career. 100%, 100%. If I decided when I was in my teenage years or whatever, I could have been a lot more further. But, you know,

I'm a good, I'm at a good age and maybe things seems to be falling in place at a moment for me. So, yeah, I've still got a lot of years. I'm still relatively young in my air maker. I only started. I picked my first set of gloves when I was like 28, so

I've been training for four and a half years. So, yeah. So you have never. ever taste defeating an MMA, amateur or pro, right? You're undefeated as a pro. You said you had one fight as an amateur. So you don't even know what it feels. No, no.

Yeah, I didn't have any amateur fire. Oh, really? Went straight into pro, yeah. Yeah, straight into pro. Have you ever even been hurt in a fight? Has someone even rocked you? I thought for Bama once. I got punched.

You got punched? Wow. I got punched. And, yeah, no, no, I took a good shot. And that, but, you know, I thought. We spar really hard when I spar. Sparring pro boxes and kickboxes and so we have a lot of wars in the gym and everything. I'm used to taking shots and stuff like that.

Yeah, I've got hit. I've been here a few, a few times in it and a few of my fights, yeah. And speaking of some big punches, you sparred with and you trained with Rampage leading up to both your fights, right? And he said that you really rocked him a few times. What was it like? And you say that, you know, Rampage was a guy you looked up to, then to get to train with him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was great training with Rampage. We took a couple of days to settle down and get used to each other and that, but there was a few wars at the beginning and that, and he nearly knocked me out. I nearly knocked him out, but it was good. It was good, yeah, good fire.

But he showed me a lot of little tricks who I didn't know in the wrestling side of things and just a few clinked stuff and stuff like that. So, yeah, you show me a good thing. It's great training with them. How comfortable do you feel on the ground these days? I'm comfortable on the ground, man. I'm relaxed and everything.

I'm good at defending. I'm good at getting back out. I'm good at some missions as well. You know what I mean? But I prefer to stand up. I prefer to stand up and end the fight. I don't really like going to the floor. And it's like you get there and, like, just make for a boring fight.

Like, exciting fights and good finishes. everything else, you know? True or false? Did the UFC come to you twice in the past to offer you fights on their cards and you turned them down? And if so, why? Yeah, they can't...

I had an offer really early in my class. I think I was like 5 or 6 or no, or something and I was like, no way, no, not at all. And then the other one, what was the other one? The other one, I was just coming off a long injury. I had 40 months off

and I'd be a dislocated shoulder and they offered me to I think it was 1.38 or something they offered me and I was like, no, I don't really want to jump straight into a big fight after such a long injury in case of a ring rust or anything like that so I went I think I went, I defended my title one more time

at Ultimate Challenge and then I fought on BAMRD and then that contract kind of fizzled out. So we signed with UFC after that. That's got to be tough, though, for a guy who's been through so much, and again, you're a little further along in your life and career, to have the patience to turn down a UFC contract, you don't see a lot of people doing that.

Was that a hard decision, or was it easy? Do you know what? For me, it was a big decision, but it's quite an easy decision because I knew I didn't want to jump. I knew I'd end up in the UFC, because I just had to, I've got confidence in my skills and everything. I knew I'd end up there anyway. I just wanted to go to it the right time.

I want to be one of them fighters who fought in the UFC and then got thrown out. I'll have a long run in the UFC and do things properly, you know. I don't want to fight for them once or twice lose because of lack of experience or lack of skill or whatever and then get thrown out, you know. So your debut, like I said, it went to be. spectacularly. I mean, you beat up Kyle Kingsbury. At any point, though, were you wondering, what do I really need to do to actually

knock this guy out? Because some of the shots that you were hitting, I mean, it was unbelievable that he was standing. Yeah, yeah, no, it's a really tough dude, man. I've got a big respect for Carl Kingsbury. But at the same time, I didn't really catch him with anything that I like. Well, I like that. I'll call him

with a good couple of knees and a good kick, but I didn't really catch him with a good knockout punch or something like that, and I didn't get a finished. what I'm kind of pissed about. But, you know, I took a lot of experience at that fight and now I'll be a lot more patient in getting the finish and that. So, yeah.

So you were actually pissed after that fight? A little bit, yeah. I didn't get a finish, yeah. Did you see his face? Yeah, I did, yeah. Yeah. That's, I mean, that's kind of a badge of honor for you, I guess, in the fight game. Oh, no, I know, I know, but, you know,

with the MMA to fight, we all sign the contract to fight, you know, what can happen, and lucky the referee was there to stop it, so, I mean, getting me any further damage. So that's the name of the game. He would have done the same to me, you know? Sure, for sure.

Now, you like this matchup against Surreal? I mean, on paper, two great strikers. I mean, he's been around this sport for a hell of a long time. Is this one that when you got the offer, excited you? Yeah. Yeah, it excited me because it's a big challenge. He's a really experience.

He's been around the block. He's fought in pride. He's fought in a... He's fighting in dream? I'm not sure if I'm going to play in a block. He's fought for a long time. He's very experienced. And he's a great striker.

And he's not too bad on the floor, and he's taken down. He's trained with Dan Henderson and all that lot. So, yeah, I'm expecting a great fight. I don't think he's going to stand with me, though. I don't know. I don't know I don't know

But you know I've trained for every situation there is But I always predict the knockout You know Yeah But what about his stuff I mean he's typically

I know he has a few submissions Here and there But you know typically I think he likes to To stand straight I know his last fight I mean that was a little different He did rock the guy

Did rock Chad Griggs And then eventually submitted him But you really think He's gonna try to take you down Early in this fight I don't know I don't know I don't know

I'm just prepared for every situation what comes, you know? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

I'm just drilling. We're just drilling bad situations and everything. But to stand with me, I don't know. I wouldn't. What you're trying to say is if he stands with you,

he's crazy, right? If he stands with me, he's going to come off worth, I think. Yeah. I think I've got too much power. and explosivesness and think

and he's a technical striker but I'm not going to be standing I'm not even going to slide you know I don't think I don't think he'll be standing with me after a couple of minutes anyway if he's going to try and take that

and be down and by the way would you like to be put on the sort of Glover-Teshara like track I mean he fought Kingsbury beat him then he fought Maldonado and then he gets a big fight like Rampage in other words if you get a big win here on Saturday would you like to then be in the sort of

top 10, you know, discussion, or are you, are you cool with waiting and, you know, since you're so, you're so patient and whatnot about your career? Yeah, I'm patient. I don't mind. I don't mind. I don't mind. I'm not calling out anyone. I'm not staying on top 10 or anything.

I just want to take things like, I'm in the UFC now, and I'm going to do things right, you know? I'm working my way to the top anyways, so regardless who they put in front of me next, like, it's going to be no? Yeah, I do know. All right. Well, good luck to you, Jimmy. I'm looking forward to this fight.

I loved your debut. It was a fantastic performance on your end. I mean, the violence that you put forth there was shocking. I mean, the eye from Kyle Kingsbury was unbelievable. Looking forward to this one, I think it will be a lot of fun. Looking forward if you can remain undefeated and seeing what they do with you next. First things first, first Saturday night. Good luck to you.

Thank you so much for stopping by. We'll talk to you very soon. Thanks, sir. me, man. I'm looking forward to it as well. Keep a night for that fight as well, man, trust me. All right. We will be watching for sure. Thanks so much. All right, mate. Cheers.

There he is. Poster boy, Jimmy Manua stopping by. He faces Cyril the Snake Diabate in what is a very stacked card on Fuel TV. If you don't know the card by now, it all kicks off at... Well, it actually kicks off at 2 p.m. Eastern. There's a pre-fight show. But actually

at 12, 15 p.m. Eastern, There's a loaded Facebook prelim card. Some interesting fights on that card. Ulysses Gomez versus Phil Harris. That's a good flyweight fight. Stanislav Nedkov versus Tom Watson. Kong is back. Andy Ogle versus Josh Crispy.

Danny Castillo versus Paul Sass. It's a very good card. And then the main card, Che Mills versus Matthew Riddle, Ryan Jimo versus James Tihuna, Gunner Nelson versus Jorge Santiago. That's an awesome fight. Cyril de Vate versus Jimmy Manuel, as I mentioned,

Henan Burrow versus Michael Mayday McDonald, and then Dustin Porriere versus our next guest. Joining us from London, England right now is Cubb Swanson. Cub, how are you? I'm pretty good, Ariel. How are you? I'm doing great. Thanks so much for stopping by.

So I know you went out there a little early. How's London treating you so far? That's pretty cold and wet. But luckily the hotel is real nice, the view is nice, so I haven't had to venture out too much. Are you like exactly across the street from the hotel? Because I saw a picture of you eating breakfast, and the arena, the Wembley Arena, was right in back of you. Yeah, it's literally like right here. There's nothing in between the hotel and Wembley.

That's great. Now, were you coming from California or were you coming from New Mexico? I came from New Mexico. Okay. So this weather or not as much of a shock as if you were coming from California, right? I mean, it's pretty cold in New Mexico these days, right? Or is it not? Am I wrong?

It's a little bit colder in New Mexico. Okay. But it gets colder at night. Here it's like cold the entire time. You know, it's like it's just like there's no sun. It's like the same weather all day and night. So you left on Friday. Why so early?

Well, originally. I was supposed to fight Dennis Seaver, and I was a little bit more worried about him having the advantage of not traveling so far. So I wanted to get out here and really make sure that I adjusted well. And then when they switched the opponent, I didn't. I was like, ah, you know, I just go out there for the last week. I got Georgie Karnakarian with me here, training with me every day. So I feel good.

And which matchup did you like better? Did you like the Siever matchup more than Dustin Poirier or vice versa? I like them both. You know, I'm really up for challenges, and they both bring a different challenge. But I had been wanting to fight a South Pole for a little while because, you know, I did back-to-back camp for Eric Koch and never got to fight them. So when they told me the opponent was Poet, I was like, man, that's an awesome matchup for me. I'm excited. When did you have to do back-to-back camps for Coke?

Um, last, my debut in the UFC was supposed to be coke. Oh, okay. Before I fought Llamis, I was supposed to fight them. And then a week before I got, like, really sick because my wisdom teeth got infected. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So I had to get those pulled, and then they rescheduled the fight. And then, you know, then I had the training accident and had to have the face surgery. So, you know, I trained, like, eight months straight for a South ball.

I never got to fight one. So now you get to take all that aggression out on Dustin Porier. Exactly. Now, what's your take, speaking of all those guys? I mean, what's your take now? Very hot topic. It's amazing. Like, it feels like almost in the last year the featherweight division has been forgotten about,

maybe because Aldo was injured for so long, but now it's one of the most talked about divisions. What's your take on the whole Anthony Pettis, Aldo thing? Does he deserve it? Does he deserve it? Are you okay with it as a guy who actually fights in the division? It is what it is. You know, it's an exciting matchup, and as a fan, I'm excited for it. But as someone who's in the division, you know, it's a little bit like, oh, okay, this guy can just come over and get a title shot.

You know, it's a little bit annoying, but my time will come. I'm not too stressed about it. And, you know, if everybody keeps dropping to 45, who knows, maybe I'll move up to 55. Would you like that? I mean, that's not ideal for you, right? I could. You know, I've been walking around like 80, 85, so, you know, I could if I wanted to, but I think I'll stick around 45 for a while.

I mean, I think at some point I'd move up. My thing is, I love the fight. I mean, it's a fun fight stylistically and whatnot. I just, it kind of bugs me, and I guess I kind of put myself in your shoes, in Ricardo Lomas's shoes, and the Korean zombie's shoes. if you're kind of in a division working your way up the ladder and then someone who may or may not have a bigger name just kind of plops in there and delays things for you,

I mean, putting myself in your shoes, I would be frustrated by that. That's really my only beef in all of this. I feel like in this sport where it's always been clear who's climbing the ladder, now we're kind of confusing everyone. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, I mean, it seems like we're going along that road now

that everyone criticized boxing for. Yeah. They're putting the biggest names. together, not necessarily the people who earn the shot. So, you know, we're seem to be going down that road, but, you know, there's nothing we can do, but just, you know, keep trying to win and get on those streaks, and, you know, you never know what happens. One of them might get injured, so.

What do you think of Aldo's performance against Edgar? Do you think he deserved to win the fight? Yeah, I thought he won the fight. I think he looked pretty sharp. in my opinion early, and then he started to fade out. And Frankie came on strong, but I think, you know, you got to beat the champ. And I don't think he did enough to beat Aldo. And what about Pettus?

What kind of shot do you give him? It's interesting, you know. Most of the guys that Aldo's fought have been trying to take him down, and only Hominic has ever really been able to stand there in front of us. them and throw down and I think that is we'll have that kind of matchup. So it's interesting. I'm excited about that fight to be honest. But who are you picking?

That's the thing. I'd have to say although only because these guys keep dropping weight. And I think that they should take a fight to see how their body is, you know. Yeah. My teammate Clay just, just chopped down to 45 and won the fight. and a lot of people were like, it's not the best play we've seen. You know, I thought he did real good,

but I know he's still feeling the adjustments of the division, you know. And I think Frankie should have taken a fight before he's got a title fight, and I think Petter should have taken a fight before he got a title fight. Do you think that's a good move for Clay? Because I thought he was okay at 155. You know, I really do. I think it's, you know, a fresh start for him. And to be honest, me and him have been training side by side for a while.

and majority of the camps, I've been heavier than him, like the whole training camp, and I'm a weight class below him. So I think 45 is a good weight class for him. You know, obviously, I remember it very well. I was there. I'm sure you do as well, the first fight against Aldo. How often do you think about that and how much do you think that's a roadblock and what you're trying to do now?

I mean, people that keep throwing that in my face, you know, And I'm like, you know, that was like three and a half years ago. And have I not redeem myself? Am I not doing everything that I need to do to, you know, deserve a shot and deserve to get my name back up in the mix? So it's a little annoying, but it is what it is. It's a fight game. So who are these people?

Do you mean the media? Yeah, the media and then people on Twitter. Yeah. It's funny to me because I'll say something on Twitter. to like my average fans, you know, and like, whatever it is, and then someone will write back, oh, like, the time you got me in the face by all, though. Oh. And I'm like, you know, out of nowhere.

And I'm just like, yeah, like, just like that. Yeah, that makes sense. You know what's funny about that? I was actually just going to say this earlier in the show. There seems to be a lot of hate these days on Twitter. It's reached, I don't know if it's in every sport, probably. But in the last week or so, you're familiar with trolling, right? the phenomenon known as trolling, like people just trying to get a rise out of you.

Like, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Why, who sits there and waits for someone to write what you did and then waits and gets a kick out of responding how they do? It really doesn't make any sense to me. What kind of people are these? I don't know. I think there are people that have nothing going for them, and it sucks because, you know, it does get a rise out of us sometimes, and you really have to, like, go out of your way to ignore it. But, I mean, these people usually have nothing going on for them.

but I mean even the fighters I'll remind like teammates sometimes like we'll be watching a football game or whatever any other sport and we'll start trash talking an athlete they'll be hey buddy you don't like when they do that to you so and they'll be like yeah true I haven't really thought about it like that

I think when people get like invested in a certain athlete they tend to hate other ones you know it's like they got their favorites and I think I have a lot of people that don't like me just because I've fought one of their favorite fighters, you know? Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

It just, I don't know, I find it very frustrating, especially on your end, you guys are the ones going inside the cage and doing what you do. Now, speaking of doing what you do, you've won your last three in a row very impressively, the Charles Olivera fight. I mean, that to me was certainly a candidate for a knockout of the year. I've never really seen, maybe if I have to think about it, but have you ever been in a situation in an actual fight, or have you ever seen that before?

I know it can happen in sparring, but where you knock, where you punch a guy, really hard and then he has a delayed reaction like that and then eventually falls. Does that happen to you? Yeah, and sparring, you know, with like 16s and head here and stuff. But yeah, like you said, not in a fight.

It was very strange for me because, I mean, after the fight, I was just kind of like, really? That was it. I don't know. It kind of frustrated me, but I was happy to have the win and happy to have a win over a guy that that had his strength was supposedly my weakness.

So, you know, like I said, I want to fight all different styles, and that was a style I had been wanting to fight against. The word you use is frustrated. You were frustrated after knocking a guy out like that? I mean, what could be frustrating about that? I just felt like it was one of the most unsatisfying knockouts, you know, because it wasn't, you know, I don't know. It was hard to explain.

And, like, the Rup and the Pearson, those were, like, fights. You know, we were getting after it. And that fight, I felt like I hit him one time really hard, and he just, I honestly felt like he quit. I honestly don't feel like I knocked him out. Really? Yeah, I think he had a really hard weight cut. He didn't. He never made weight.

I hit him in the body, and I think that really hurt him. And then when I hit him in the head, if you take a really hard body shot and a hard shot to the head, it's very hard to fight after that. And then I was going to go in for some more shots, and I think he just curled up. So when you went back to the locker room, when you went home, you left with a feeling of you wanted more. Like something was missing.

You didn't get that complete victory satisfaction feeling, right? Yeah, exactly. Wow. That is shocking to me. That is amazing. I mean, you look at that on paper. You watch that. You think that you leave on Cloud 9, on Cloud 11,

if such a thing exists. And it's interesting to hear that perspective of it. So at the end of the day, though, it is a victory. You've won a bunch in a row now. Is there something different than the Cups wanton we saw in WC? Is there something different about your life, about your training that's allowed you to go on this streak? Man, I keep getting asked this question over and over,

and I can give a different answer every time. But, I mean, I don't mind. It's a number of things. I had that injury. it made me contemplate retiring and it just I sat in bed just rethinking everything

my strategy, how I went about training how to be the most efficient with my training things I could get better at and my mind just wouldn't stop thinking and I felt like in the WC I had a lot ups and downs and kind of roadblocks

that stopped my progression and I felt like I was doing a lot of trial and error in my career where I was like really trying to find who I was as a fighter. And I just feel like at this point, I'm the most mature in all aspects of my game. And I believe in myself and my abilities. Like I take, I have the best coaches and I trust them and they trust me. And everything's working perfectly right now. I'm on top of my game. Looking back, how close were you to retiring?

You know, I was pretty close. I was just thinking about it heavily because, I mean, people don't even understand what it was like. You know, I had the whole left side of my face pretty much destroyed. I had a plastic surgeon and an oral surgeon work on me at the same time. Peace my face back together with plates. And my mom and my stepmom were there at the time, and they were both crying.

and, you know, they're like, you're really going to keep doing this. And, you know, it made me think that I had never seen the effects that I had on the people around me and this sport, you know, because I could take the pain, you know, I could take the damage, but I didn't know that it was affecting my family like that. So I just thought about it, and I was like, man, if you retire right now, are you satisfied with how far you came? Are you content with your record and what you've done? And the answer is no. So I take every fight from now on like it's my last. And I know that anything can happen. And every fight I'm going to go out there like it's my last fight

and try to be the best I can possibly be before I do end up retiring at some point. And by the way, for those that don't know, who gave you that injury? Who are you training with when that happened, your facial injury? I'm sure you guys You know, it's out there But I mean, I'm not trying to throw blame on people But I mean It was a former teammate

And you know, it is what it is Okay, I was just trying to paint the picture here A lot of people may not know about the story That's all Okay Fair enough Yeah, I just don't want You know, I don't want any heat on it, you know

I understand 100% Now what about Dustin Porier I mean he had that tough loss To the Korean zombie Came back, looked very good Have you been impressed with them other WC guy? Yeah, I am impressed with him.

And, you know, he kind of reminds me of me when I was in the WC, you know, kind of up and down, you know, trying to figure it all out, you know, still young in the sport. I feel like he's really tough and always comes in shape and he's good everywhere. He just, you know, I don't think he's great anywhere yet. And I feel like he's a really good. matchup for me, for me to go ahead and showcase my skills and, you know, really, really show the best me so far.

So, I mean, I'm not taking this guy lightly at all. I mean, that's a very game, very tough fighter. But I just know I match up well, and I'm excited about this matchup. Did you watch his last fight against Dustin Poria, excuse me, I didn't know, Justin Poria against Jonathan Brookins? Yeah, I was actually there, like, front row. it was my brother's birthday and me and my two brothers went

to go check it out and happen to you know be there watching it it's all live and rewatch it a bunch of times on tape and you know we got a little bit from that a little bit from the other fights and do you feel like he's a different guy than the guy who fought say the Korean zombie

before because he changed camps and whatnot I mean from what you saw I know it was a short fight but did you notice anything different about him he's now with ATT um not I think he grapples a little bit more than he strikes, and that's about it. I didn't see any, like, crazy improvement or anything. You win on Saturday.

I know you say people ask you questions all the time and whatnot. Now with the rankings so much in discussion, now with the featherweight division being talked about so much, other than just your fourth win in a row, what's at stake here? I mean, how close away do you think you are from a title shot? in what appears to be a pretty wide open division other than what's going on at the top with Pettus? You know, who knows? Like I said, I just got to take it one-fights at a time because, you know, I just keep thinking if I put on a good performance, like I have been that I'll, you know, get really pushed up there.

But obviously, Alamos hasn't lost. And just because he has that went over me, he's ahead of me in the rankings, per se. he's not getting his title shot that he actually deserves, you know? So I really don't know. But I just, I'm glad that my name's finally being mentioned up there that that makes me happy because I feel like I deserve to be in that in that top talks. And, you know, when when the title shot comes, you know, I'll be happy. But until then, I'm just enjoying life and enjoying fighting and enjoying becoming a better

and better fighter every day. By the way, I always wanted to ask you this. Where did you get the nickname Cub? I like it very much. Oh, thank you. It's funny. I was, when I was born, I was like chubby little baby, and my brothers are both lighter skin,

and I was like, I'm the darkest one out of my brothers, and because I'm half Swedish, half Mexican. And so I was like a little chubby bear, but the real reason that they first started calling me that my brother couldn't pronounce my name, my real name's Kevin, and he would call me Cub, and because I was a chubby little brown baby, it stuck, and I've always been called Cub, Cubby all growing up in all life. I have distant relatives that don't even know my real name. Wow, that's amazing, and now it's just, it's not even like your nickname.

People just think it's your real name at this point. They don't even say your real name Kevin, right? I mean, Kevin, they don't even say that. they just say Cubs Swanson, and it fits. I like the way it sounds. Yeah. Well, thank you. I mean, my whole life, everyone's called me Cubs.

So, I mean, when people try to be funny and they call me Kevin, I'm just like, it doesn't seem like my name. Well, I look forward to seeing you back in action. You've really looked good over the last few weeks. It's been a lot of fun. A few weeks over the last few fights, it's been a lot of fun watching you rise and climb that ladder. What's the plan, by the way, for the rest of the week in England?

I know it's nighttime, so Monday's out of the way. But as we get closer to the wayans, what's on the docket? You know, just training, getting my weight down. You know, I'm super happy to be right here next to Wembley. And hopefully it doesn't snow tomorrow. Me and Georgie and my buddy, Comey, we might try to go get a tour of this thing. Nice. That's like the thing I'm most excited about.

I'm a huge soccer fan. and being here next to this stadium is just like, you know, a dream come true. So I'm going to go check that out and just, you know, keep my mind off the fight. You know, when the day comes, I'll flip that switch, you know, go into kill mode. But until then, I'm just trying to enjoy my time. Huge soccer fan. Are you big fan of the English Premier League? Yeah, yeah, I like the English Premier League.

What's your team? You know, I really like Man You, but, I mean, I kind of have grown. to like all the teams. You know, I play football a lot on PlayStation and, you know, I like Man You, Man City. Let's see, Arsenal. Yes.

Oh, Chelsea. I used to not like Chelsea, but they're kind of grown on me. No, I never like Chelsea. I don't like the teams that try to buy a championship, you know. To me, you got to stick with the guys. I can't stand the goalie in his helmet anywhere. It drives me nuts. Poor guy. had a head injury. Peter Check,

I mean, the guy, he's not just doing that for fun. You should sympathize with that. Come on. Yeah,

well, I just, I mean, he's wearing Edgar. They don't let us wear Edgar. That's true, but he may get up really from a fighter.

You're really calling this guy out for his head injury. It seems a little sensitive. No, I'm kidding, but that's a great way

to get into, if the fans were kind of on the fence about this fight, now you kind of gave them another reason to like you because now you're a

soccer fan and maybe Pory is not. at least you're talking about it here. So now they have a reason to vote or to root for you as opposed to Dustin. So well done on that front, even if you're not a soccer fan. I played soccer my whole life all the way to junior college. Who knew?

Who knew? You and Kenny Floreen. Who's better? Do you know? I think he played at a higher collegiate level, but I mean, who knows? Until we play one-on-one, we'll see. All right. Georgia here used to play semi-pro down in Mexico.

And so, I mean, there's a bunch of us that came from soccer background. That's true. Aldo as well, the background in soccer. It helps with the kicks, right? It helps with the agility. I mean, it can help you a lot with fighting, right? And footwork. I mean, I think soccer is the best sport for kids because the coordination it takes to play.

You know, soccer is crazy. so I think it helps in the long run. Well, now you're officially a fan favorite England. Great job, Cub. I'm really looking forward to this fight. People on Twitter telling me it's their vote for the eventual fight of the night. A lot of people looking forward to this featherweight clash. Dustin Porre v. Cups Swanson Saturday night, Fuel TV,

actually airing Saturday during the day here in the United States. Good luck to you, Cub. Always a pleasure. We'll talk to you soon. All right, thanks, buddy. There he is. Cub Swanson stopping by from John. Jolly Old England.

That's two guests in a row from England. UFC on Fuel TV 7 is going down this Saturday. As I mentioned, 12.15 p.m. Eastern Facebook prelims, 2 o'clock. The pre-show on Fuel TV, 3 o'clock are the fights. And I believe they go up until 6, and then it's the post-fight show on Fuel TV. So a lot to look forward to after what was a relatively quiet weekend in the world of MMA, as Major League MMA. Now, we were supposed to have Bjorn Rebney, the Belator CEO, on at 140 p.m. Eastern, and that was

five minutes ago, and now all of a sudden I'm being told Bjorn cannot stop by at 140, so we're trying to switch things around here. Meanwhile, I'm looking at Twitter, always multitasking. And I'm getting a lot of people. Thank you very much to Dana. I mean, I was talking about the level of trolling on the internet these days. It feels like In the last week, maybe I'm just a little more, my troll radar is on or something, but in the last week or so, it just seems to be at an all-time high. And Dana White himself getting involved in the mix, tweeting to me and someone else, Ariel is terrified of the internet, as are most of the MMA media.

And thus, an onslaught of tweets has come my way, have come my way. and it's just all very pleasant. I appreciate it very much. Afraid of the internet. I'm not quite sure what that means, but nevertheless, if he wants to say it, let him believe it. I guess that's what a troll does.

Is Dana a troll? I don't think so. But I'm not sure why he keeps saying this. Now, after Bjorn Rebney, we're supposed to be joined by Ryan Couture, and I think what's happening in the back there, if I can see correctly, is New York Rick trying to do something?

something. I think he's moving and shaking back there. He's not doing anything. Jeez, what are you doing? You're not even on the phone. I thought you were moving and shaking. We're waiting for a call from Ryan Couture right now. I love this. Okay, so is he able to do the swaparoo for us or what? That's what I understand. Okay. Well, now we're on to something. So, we were supposed to have Bjorn at 140. I know a lot of you, including Eddie Alvarez. Eddie Alvarez tweeted, he said, what was his exact tweet? Because I don't know if it was a typo or not. where let me find it. Can I find it? Yep, here it is. I don't know if it was a typo or not, but he tweeted, got some questions for Mrs. Rebney. Maybe I'll call in. Mrs. He spelled it M-R-S. Now, was that a

typo? I hope so, because if so, if not, them's fighting words, in my opinion. So Bjorn Rebney, I guess is going to come on at a round two something now. Hopefully we'll get Ryan Kattour. Now, Ryan Kattour, you may have missed it. It was announced over the weekend that he will be facing Ross Pearson at UFC on Fuel TV number nine in Stockholm, Sweden, a bunch of fights were announced for that card. Matt Matrione versus Phil DeFries was also announced. And of course, the main event is Alexander Gustafson versus Gagher Musassi. A lot of you thinking that Ryan Gattour is being thrown to the wolves here, I don't know

about that. I mean, you just beat KJ Noons. Ross Pearson moved up, fought George Sutteroplas. this is the UFC. Sure, could he have fought someone or been matched up with someone who's a little less good or smaller name than Ross Pearson? Sure, but you know what? I feel like Ryan Couture has a name himself, and you might as well capitalize on that. Surprise that he's not fighting in Las Vegas, and a lot of people have brought this up to me. You know, Dana said two weeks ago in Las Vegas that Randy Couture, who's now part of Fightmaster, that that show, on the reality show on Spike TV that's going to air a little later on in the year, and we wanted to talk to Bjorn about that. Dana White said that Randy will not be allowed to corner his son.

But what happens if it's an event overseas where the UFC is kind of calling the shots a little more than, say, Las Vegas? Because I thought for sure Ryan Couture would be fighting over in Las Vegas, hometown guy. I mean, he's got a big name there. The gym is there and whatnot. But he's fighting in Sweden. So how's that going to work out? Will he be able to apply for a license?

His father. It's a father-son situation. Kind of a weird one. So we'll see how that turns out. As I mentioned earlier, UFC primetime aired last week on Fuel TV. If you haven't seen it by now, I would suggest checking it out.

In particular for the closing scene where Ronda Rousey talks about her father who committed suicide when she was younger after a horrible sledding injury. And just the way she was, she talks about her father and the way she talks about how her father may or may not have been used to sell her story or to be a part of her story is, I mean, as fascinating slash emotional mixed martial arts TV that you will see or at least have seen over the last couple of years.

That is real stuff. That is not fabricated. And I thought she came off very well. And as did Liz, even though she wasn't featured as much. I thought it was a very honest portrayal of Liz. They weren't making her out to be larger than life, something that she's not, et cetera, et cetera. They were saying that she works at the gym and, you know, she's kind of a, you know,

she's not driving a fancy car, she's not driving a BMW. They talked about her sexual orientation, her girlfriend and whatnot, how she feels more comfortable now. I mean, it felt to me like, you know, sometimes on these countdown shows, they gloss over the stuff. They don't talk about the losses. They don't talk about the bad stuff. and on this show it really felt like

this was as real as it gets to borrow a phrase. So I liked it. I thought it was great. And according to Ronda's Twitter, the next one airs on oh, on Thursday. I thought it was Wednesday, on Valentine's Day, February 14th. So that's the next one.

Check it out. It's airing all over the place. It's even airing now. You can see it online. You can see it on TV if you want. See him punk raving about it online. So check it out if you have in Primetime episode one. There are three episodes as we move towards UFC 157 next weekend, not this weekend, next weekend in Anaheim, California.

Also came out last week as we wait for either Ryan or Bjorn to show up first. It's a bit of a race, if you will. I know you're all sitting at the edge of your seats here. Josh Barnett, turning down, contract from the UFC? Where will he sign? Not a lot of options for him. I mean, obviously there's Belator, but who's he going to fight in Belator Heavyweight Division? Cole Conrad's gone.

There really isn't, I mean, it's a lot, I guess Richard Hale. I mean, that's an interesting fight. But other than that, it's a lot of Nandors over there, if you know what I'm saying. But it appears as though the door has been closed on the Josh Barnett UFC comeback, which is unfortunate because I thought he really could have, he could have mixed things up a little bit. I know I said on the fuel show that I thought it would been interesting if he fought JDS next. I still would rather see the JDS Overeign fight now. Now that they're both coming off losses, now that they're both, you know, willing and able to fight each other, it seems.

Although JDS was tweeting about fighting Kane now, I think it just makes more sense from a promotional standpoint to have JDS go out, beat someone if he can, and then he looks strong going into the third fight against Kane Velasquez. But what the heck do I know? I was the guy who was saying I didn't really feel like Aldo versus Pettus made sense, especially in August. A lot of you saying that I was being too negative, complaining too much on last week's MMA beat. And maybe, am I complaining or am I just being real? I don't know. Or am I just saying what you don't want to say?

That at the end of the day, what has been always great about this sport, in my opinion, is that guys climb the ladder, is that there's a goal at the end. of the journey that you know that if you're a guy starting your career in the UFC's featherweight division, for example, you know that you have to win five, six, seven, eight in a row to get to the title shot. You know that you have to work your way up there. And if you win enough, as the UFC matchmakers have always told us, their job is not to create champions. It is to create contenders. If you win enough, you will be standing at the top of the mountain. Now if you look at the last year or so in the UFC, you've got what,

Chaos Sondon jumped the line fighting John Jones. Pettis jumped the line fighting Aldo. Frankie. Even though I thought that one was deserving and a little different, did jump the line and fought Jose Aldo as well. I feel like I'm missing another one. Well, you've got the Nick Diaz situation coming off a loss. He gets GSP, although he didn't come from another division.

But it's not as clear as it once was. Back in the day, when a UFC event finished, you kind of knew who was there. You kind of knew who the next guy was. You had an idea that it was either this guy or that guy, and if it wasn't clear, they would fight each other, and then there would be a number one contender, a clear-cut number-one contender.

Now, it's chaos. Maybe not chaos, but it's a little more confusing. All right, enough of that. Let's move along. Let's welcome in our next guest. He is the man who will be making his UFC debut in April against Ross Pearson. He is Ryan Couture. Ryan, how are you?

Doing great. How are you? Great to have you on the show, Ryan. Thanks so much for stopping by. A lot of people when this fight was announced were like, wow, Ross Pearson, they're throwing him to the wolves. What was your reaction? I mean, I just fought KJ. Noon,

so I don't feel like it's that huge of a jump from that fight, and I'm excited about it. I had a lot of respect for Ross. I was watching him fight, so looking forward to getting in there and tangling with him. So this wasn't a surprise.

This was the kind of opponent, as far as talent level goes that you were expecting? Yeah, I had a feeling that they haven't given me an easy fight in maybe ever, so I had a feeling to be somebody tough and it's an interesting progression of what we've had to work on for the last couple of opponents. I've been fighting pretty consistently, having a handed dangerous strikers,

and there's just another revolution of that process. So I think it'll be fun continuation of the things I've been trying to build on in training, and I think we're going to put it. kind of hell of a show. Are you surprised that you're not fighting in Las Vegas? You know, I was sort of hoping I'd end up maybe on that tough finale the following weekend just because it's always easier to fight at home than it is to travel,

but I'm also really excited to go see Sweden. So, you know, fair trade either way. So now that you're a member of the UFC, now that you're coming off that win, I mean, anything changed in the life of Ryan Couture? Is this kind of a, you know, same old, same old? I don't know if you know this, you're going to make history when you fight in April. you'll be the first son of a UFC fighter to fight in the UFC. I think that's kind of cool and exciting,

but really as far as my day-to-day life goes, not much has changed. The next fight got announced a lot quicker than it probably would have if we were still doing the Strike Force thing, but beyond that, you know, it's still the same game, so I'm excited. You're cool to be more active? Do you want to fight more than maybe that you were getting in the U.S.?

Excuse me, in Strike Force? Yeah, I mean, those long breaks are, sort of a blessing because you have a chance to really learn a lot of new things and improve if you use your time wisely. But, you know, it's always nice to be getting a paycheck more consistently. So I'm excited to stay more active and just really keep progressing and stepping things up. Can you tell us, and I'm sure you knew this was coming, can you tell us about this phone call that you got from Dana White asking you if you wanted your release from the UFC after everything that happened between him and your father? Yeah, it was, it was kind of a, you know, kind of a. a surreal experience and unexpected, but, you know, I had been sort of wondering where I would

land in the midst of all of the issues that were going on between Dad and Dana, and so I appreciate that he, you know, showed me that he cared enough to call and kind of let me know exactly what his take was on the situation. So, you know, obviously it's, it's good to know. I have a home in the UFC, and I'm happy to be there, and I definitely wasn't hoping. to be released and, you know, I feel like it's been a long process and have worked hard to get there and really want to make it go at it and try and be successful there. So I'm happy to know that I'll have that opportunity. And, you know, the flip side of that being that the dad's not welcome in the corner is unfortunate and I'm not, you know, that's definitely a loss,

both personally and professionally, but, you know, we'll do what we got to do there. You know, the UFC's where I want to be. And if that's what it takes, then I can work with it. Will he even apply to get a cornerman's license, or after Dana said that, will he not even try? You know, I think most likely we'll just go along because it's just, I don't want to be fighting with them. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to burn up that good well

that was extended my way. And, you know, I think, especially for the first fight out of the gate, it'd be best not to have the other issues that would come along with picking that fight, I think. And, you know, I think that schedule may not even permit him to make that trip. So it may be a non-issue anyway. And in your corner, I mean, who is the head coach, if you will? I mean, is this a massive loss? I mean, it's not just a coach.

It's your father at the end of the day, and to boot one of the greatest of all time. But, you know, are you losing your head coach here, or are you able to replace him as best as possible? Well, I mean, the guys that I spend the most time with in the gym are Tim Lane on my kickboxing and Neil Molinson on my ground game. So they're both still going to be there. And really, we've always just sort of played it, you know, depending on how the fight's going is who steps up and does most of the talking. So it's still going to be that. You know, if I'm in a stand-up fight, then Tim's going to be giving me pointers and tell me what adjustments to make. And if it's a ground battle, then Neil's going to be doing that.

So not a ton changes in that regard, but definitely all. notice that his voice is absent, obviously, him being my father. It's the one that comes through the clearest, and that I usually am able to tune into the best. So that'll be something that I'll have to adjust to, but, you know, I think I'll be fine. Has he been in your corner for every one of your pro fights? Yeah, he has. Okay, and, I mean, did you have a conversation with him before all this happened? Did he even run a by you? Like, this could happen? Are you okay with it? Or did you find out maybe after the fact? I mean, how big of a part of the discussion were you?

I mean, I was training for a fight, and he didn't want to interfere with that. And I also don't know how much he would have been able to talk about as far as his contracts were concerned and everything. So I knew very little. Most of what I even still know about, it came from the press release that they did and all of that. So he just sort of gave me a heads up that, you know, some things were changing for him, and it could make things interesting and just wanted me to know that he was going to do everything he could to keep me out. of it and keep me from being involved and, you know, beyond that, I was just focused on getting ready to fight and then, you know, everything sort of happened quickly after that. But, you know,

I think that he definitely, that was on his mind and that he was trying his best to look out for me while still doing the things that he felt like he needed to do. So, you know, he and I are good with, you know, I think he knew there'd be some consequences and we're going to just make the best of it. Initially, did you think you would get released? I didn't really know. I wasn't sure. I really felt like that would have been pretty drastic and that there was no reason for that

because it genuinely does have nothing to do with me. It's an issue between that and the UFC and it should stay that way. So that would have come as a shock if I had just been cut off and not been given the opportunity. But I really didn't know what was coming my way. And I mean, the story,

The story that Dana told us about this, did you see that clip when he kind of recounted the conversation that he had with you? I guess it was like a day or so before that press conference. Have you seen it? And I'm wondering, is it how it all went down? Was it an accurate story? I read a write-up of the press conference that glossed over it. And it sounded pretty close to how I remember it. I mean, like I said, the whole thing was sort of surreal and sort of a blur.

And I think the entire phone conversation lasted two minutes. Oh, wow. But I was emphatic about the fact that the UFC was where I wanted to be, and he said, okay, we're happy to have you if that's where you want to be, and just he let me know after that was settled that Dad's not welcome at events. And I said he's still going to be a part of my training team. And I think it didn't fully, the implications of what we were talking about, didn't fully set in until after we hung up.

But, you know, Dana understands that Dad, my dad and he's also a part of my training team and that that's not going to change. And then the issue about cornering, I guess, kind of settled in after the fact, but it is what it is. Did you even think about it? Did you have to sit there and think maybe I'm going to say thanks, but no thanks? Or is this 100% you wanted to be in the UFC no matter what? No, I wanted to be in the UFC no matter what. My mind was made up on that before he ever called.

Did you think you'd get to the UFC this quickly? No, absolutely not. This is all the last, really the steps up that I've taken over the last four fights have all way exceeded what I would have thought. My sort of progression would be in the sport, and I'm really pleased with it. It's sort of lit a fire under me and been a great challenge that I feel like I've really risen to. But definitely wasn't, you know, if you'd asked me a year and a half, two years ago how I saw my career unfolding, it's definitely going a lot faster than I expected. Did you expect to one day make it to the UFC?

Absolutely, yeah. Okay, some people, maybe they don't think that they're good enough. But at the end of the day, you have that famous last name, you have that bullseye on your back. It seems like throughout your entire career thus far you've had a bullseye. Now you kind of have this other bullseye because of the issue between Dana and Randy. Do you feel like you have now maybe two bullseyes? Like there are some people who do believe that the UFC is trying to quote-unquote weed you out.

Put you up there against the game. tough guys and get rid of you. Do you feel that way? No, not at all. You know, I think if that's what they were trying to do, they would have matched me up differently than they did. And I feel like not in any way to say that Ross is an easy

matchup. He's not. He's a dangerous guy. He's very, very tough. And I've been a fan of his for a long time. But I feel like, just with the progression that I've been on, he's a logical next step. And, you know, I'm going to have to work my butt off to rise to yet another challenge, but I know I'm

capable of doing it. I saw that Ross tweeted today that his training camp started today. When does your start? I had a long weekend planned to California, so as soon as I get back, I'll beat you back in the gym, and that'll be tomorrow. True or false? You were at Disneyland today or yesterday? Yesterday and the day before I was at Disneyland, yes.

Two days at Disneyland. You couldn't squeeze it all into one day? Just took our time and had some different friends that were joining us on the two different days, so split it up. Was this an adult trip or were their kids involved as well? Adult trip. Wow. An adult trip to Disneyland?

Yeah, we had a good time. Wow, that's amazing. You know, I'm actually kind of jealous. You would recommend this? Absolutely. Go do it sometime. Really? What was the highlight of the trip?

I don't know. That's tough, tough call. It was all fun. And just was hanging out with good people. So that was the more important part for me. That is very true. That's always a good thing. Now, a couple more questions and we'll let you go,

and we appreciate the time very much. much, Ryan. You know, again, going back to the situation with your dad for a second, will you even try to convince the UFC to change things, or are you done with this? You know, I think maybe it's something that we could talk about down the line after things sort of calm down and settle in. But, you know, like I said, I don't want to end up making a big fight out of it. I'd rather stay focused on training and on fighting. And, you know, that's what's important to me at the end of the day is that I get to fight and compete. and the more I can minimize anything extraneous to that

that's going to distract from it, the better. So, you know, if we can have a conversation about it and sort of plead our case for maybe making a change down the line, then I would like that, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Have you watched your fight against K.J. Noon since it obviously happened a couple weeks ago? Yeah, I have. I watched it. It took me a couple weeks to track it down,

but I did watch it the other day. Track it down. They couldn't give you a tape? I didn't want to bother anybody. Man, you're too polite. You're a UFC fighter now. You've got to ask for things. Anyway, the point was of the original question,

do you still think you deserve to win that fight? I still think it was a very close fight, and I think the decision was justified, yes. Okay, how much heat did you get for that? Because it seemed like a lot of people were up in arms about it. I didn't see too terribly much of that, and the people whose opinions matter to me all were on my side. You know, I knew as soon as the fight ended, even though, you know, when you just came through a hard fight like that, you're never too sure of anything.

Or at least I'm not. But I knew the fact that my dad and Neil and Tim were all saying, you know, he won the first, you won the third. And this is why, you know, those guys don't, they don't BS me. So, you know, if they felt like I lost them, then they would have told me so. So I was confident in their opinions that the decision was right. Did you watch Ross's last fight at 155, which was, of course, his return to 145? I did, yeah, against George. That was a great fight.

He looked awesome on that fight and a ton of respect for George as well, so I know I've got my hands pull. Is it fair to say he's better at 155 than he is at 145, based on what you've seen? Yeah, I think maybe that weight cut takes a little too much out of him. He's huge for 145. He's a good size lightweight, and I... I think that's probably the difference between the two-way classes for him. All right. Well, I look forward to it.

By the way, is it on the main card or is it on the undercard? They haven't really announced that. Do you know? I don't know for sure. Fingers crossed, hopefully it'll be on the main card. That would be awesome. That will be awesome. In any event, history will be made when you do fight Ross Pearson in April.

It will be the first time, as I mentioned, that the son of a UFC fighter, not just a UFC fighter, one of the greatest of all time. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, his son, Ryan Couture, will be fighting Ross Pearson. That is a UFC first. we can't wait for it. I appreciate the time, Ryan. I know some of the questions not, you know, as favorable as others, but I know it's a family thing, but I appreciate the time and the candor,

and I wish you the best of luck as you prepare for Ross Pearson coming up in April. Thank you. I appreciate you having me on. It's always good talking to you, Ariel. All right, there he is. Ryan Couture is stopping by from California. He was in Disneyland, and he makes his way back to Las Vegas tomorrow, as he said, and he prepares in the next, what?

seven or so weeks, eight or so weeks, seven or so weeks for Ross Pearson, which is shaping up to be, those fuel TV cards, I must say, not just because I work for Fuel TV, by the way. They are shaping up to be some amazing cards. UFC on Fuel TV 7, UFC on Fuel TV 8 in Japan, Brian Stan versus Vanderlai Silva, that's a great one. Mark Hunt versus Stefan Struve, and then number nine, Gustafson versus Musassi, I mean, geez, those are some amazing cards.

The next one is the sad. Saturdays, I keep reminding you. Okay, in a minute we'll be joined by Bjorn Rebony. I think we figured out the issue with him. Lots of talk to the Bellator CEO about. They had a show this past Thursday. They've got another one coming up this coming Thursday, and it is Bellator 89,

although they don't really use the numbers anymore. This one going down at the Bojangles Coliseum. Remember that place? That's where Roy Nelson fought, Stefan Struve. And the lights went out, like in the Super Bowl. The Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Eduardo Dantes versus Marcus Galvon for the Bantam for the Bantam. The first time we see Eduardo Dantus,

is it the first time we see Eduardo Dantus since he was knocked out by Tyson Am? He was knocked out by Tyson Nam. Let me check. That's right. It is the first time we've seen Eduardo Dantus. I won the Bell Tour title over Zach McCovsky in April. Then lost to Tyson NAM in August. Oh.

Okay. Tell me to sit down. How's this? Better? Yes. Okay. My head, my noggin, getting cut off at the top. Anyway, so he's coming back.

He's fighting Marcus Galval. Also, Dan Kramer versus Brian Rogers. It's the start of the middleweight tournament. One thing I don't like, they shouldn't put the first round middleweight fights on the undercard. because you want to see these guys, you want to get invested in them. One of the fights is on the undercard. Doug Marshall fighting, Andrea Spang. That's an interesting fight.

Brett Cooper also on the card. So that kicks off at 10 p.m. Eastern on Spike TV. At 8 p.m. Eastern, you've got the undercard on SpikeTV.com. Any interesting fights on that one? Any interesting names? No one that really jumps out at me. You can watch those on SpikeTV.com and then 10 o'clock. The main card.

after Bjorn Rebney, we'll be talking to Uriah Hall. He had the knockout heard around the world on the Ultimate Fighter last week. An amazing knockout. And then we'll round out the show with Dennis Bermudez as he prepares for Matt Grice at UFC 157. First, let's go back to the phone lines. Let's welcome in the CEO of Belator. Mr. Bjorn Rebney. Bjorn, how are you?

I'm doing pretty good. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Are you traveling today? Yeah, I'm traveling. today. Surprise, surprise, surprise. 240 days out of every year. So you're off to North Carolina? Yeah, I'm off to North Carolina. Big show caught up on Thursday night. Big World

Title fight. I've been looking forward to for a while with Marcus against Eduardo, kind of mentor versus student, father versus son, if you will, which is something that you get to see every once in our game. So exciting and some crazy middleweights kicking off the toughest tournament at sport. So pretty exciting. So just curious, how many days do you get at home in between, you know, the season here where you go back to back to back. Not many, brother. You know, and I'm not complaining. I mean, I got the greatest job in the world.

But not many. You know, I usually get a day, day and a half at home. I get to do some laundry and see the kids and send some good quality time with an amazing wife. And then I bounce back on another flight and get on the road on a Monday. And, you know, I usually get home late Fridays or Saturdays. So, you know, it's a quick turnaround, but I am absolutely not complaining. You look at the first few weeks here on Spike.

How much different is your world now that you're on Spike TV as opposed to MTV 2? Well, the working mechanisms of it aren't that different. You know, I've been blessed. I've got an amazing team around me in terms of the production, personnel, and operations and promotions and marketing people. We really got a family out there on the road. So what we're doing, event to event, hasn't changed that substantially. Obviously, the platform is much different.

You know, we're on spike week in and week out on Thursday nights, which is absolutely awesome. Dream come true in terms of being an MMA fan and being on the network that really gave birth to this whole sport for us. So, you know, but in what we're doing, it hasn't changed that substantially. You know, we're just, we're always trying to perfect it, but it's been that same kind of movement since the very first day we kicked off in 2009. How much different is your role now that Viacom is the majority owner of Belator? My role hasn't changed. I think the substantive difference in my role is that I've got a lot of additional really smart people around me, which is what I've always been striving to try to achieve, is that when you're running a company,

if you can surround yourself with really smart people who have a huge amount of experience and expertise, and who love the sport the way you do, you dramatically enhance your chances for success. So, you know, I'm able to talk to Kevin K. four times a day and guys like John Slusser, and there's an entire team of people that I work with day in and day out that has. have a complete affinity for our game. They love the game. They've been in it deep, in the deep end of the pool since 2005. They know it, they love it, they want to make it better.

They want to make it more entertaining for fans and give them the greatest fights possible. So, you know, the substantial difference has been. I've just got more really smart people that are vested in this sport that are working with me. I think what we've learned over the last 10 years or so in MMA is that when there's a guy at the top calling the shots, it usually works out better for the promotion.

when there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen, things could get a little testy, confusing, et cetera, et cetera. Who at the end of the day calls the final shot for Bellator? Well, look, I call the final shots for Bellator. I'm the chairman of the board and the CEO of the company. But I think when you've got a series of cooks in the kitchen and they're all working as part of one cohesive team and they're all really good,

you see what happened with Miami last year in the NBA. And you see what can happen when you get a group of people who really know their special. space and are good at it together, and they start working in unison. You can create some beautiful, beautiful things, which they did, and, you know, which we're striving to do. So, you know, look, I've talked to you about it before. My mom used to always say to me, in terms of business, strive to not be the smartest guy in the room. And if you've got an ego that can withstand that, which I absolutely do, you can really enhance your brand and enhance your product.

And that's what we're doing. I mean, you saw it last Thursday night. You'll see it, you know, combined over a million people last Thursday and got an amazing card coming up this Thursday and the stories behind the fighters and every element of it. It's getting better and it's getting better because I've got really smart people working with me as partners, which is, you know, the ideal situation you want to be in. How do you feel about the ratings? I know, you know, they obviously started very, very well, went down a little bit, went back up. I mean, it seems like you're kind of settling in there. Do you like that number? It seems like around the 800, 900, 900 mark, maybe, you know, give or take a few

100,000, I don't know, it kind of been fluctuating, but it seems like that's sort of the point that we're hitting now with these ratings. Are you happy with that number, not happy? You think you could do better? How are you feeling? You know, I've always looked at this as a marathon and not as a sprint, so I don't get too terribly caught up in the numbers. What I do is hyper-focus on the one thing that I absolutely can impact, and that's how good does the show look, how good of the fights, who are we recruiting, who is stepping foot inside of that Bellator cage? And the, and the three, rest of it is really going to take care of itself. You know, it just, it isn't, we're, we're in a real

infancy stage in terms of our relationship with spike and this kickoff in, in this evolution of the Bellator brand. So, you know, you and I should have a conversation about that in nine to 12 months, and we can kind of talk more substantively in terms of what kind of empirical data is out there. How have we done over time? Where have been the increases? What have fans wanted to see? We're still tinkering and adjusting. We're still trying to figure out what can we change and what can we adjust to give fans more of what they want on a regular and reoccurring basis. So I just, I really don't get too caught up at this very, very early stage of what we're doing. Obviously, you know, Bel-Tor is the number two, right?

I mean, you are the top competition for the UFC these days. There really isn't anyone out there as far as North American MMA and really global MMA is concerned. Do you feel like you have the players now intact to make that run? to someday be number one, or are you guys actively searching? I mean, there's a lot of interesting names out there these days. Are you on the free agent market? Are you looking to sign people? You never stop searching.

You never stop searching, and we've talked about it before. I've never been one to plant the flag in the ground and defend it in a custer-like way. You know, we're never going to do this or we're never going to do that. We adapted with the championship rematch clause. I've signed guys from other organizations when I thought the fit was right. I mean, King Moe is a perfect example. He was a strike force champion.

He had all the pieces to the puzzle to ultimately put him in our organization, let him have a chance to potentially earn a world title in our organization going through the toughest tournament in sports. And then also compete for TNA and compete for Dixie. So if guys come up and whether there's a crossover or not with TNA or anything else that's going on on Spike, when guys come up that we think of the right fit, we'll make the move. But, you know, I mean, look, our bread and butter has been creating and working with incredibly talented, like Pat Curran and Michael Chandler, guys like that, that we ultimately can take from an infancy stage in their career

or an early stage and then build up to be considered amongst the very top in the world and they're given weight. So that's going to be our bread and butter because I think that's how you ultimately create your own brand. But when there's great fighters available, and they're exciting to watch fight, and I think they can compete at a high level in one of our divisions absolutely will sign them.

Where do we stand with Eddie Alvarez right now? I just remain hopeful that we can get resolved. I think a good resolution to something like this is always 120% preferable to continuing to let there be conflict and let there be a court case. So I still remain hopeful that we can get it resolved, and I know that's what our guys are working toward. When you say resolved, does that mean to have Eddie come back to Bellator? Does that mean resolve to you? Yeah, sure. I mean it means a resolution that puts Eddie back in the Bellator cage.

But, you know, in any situation like this where there's a conflict, you've got to be willing to get it. You're not going to be able to just, in a situation like this so that it works for both parties, you've got to be willing to give, you've got to be willing to mold, you've got to be willing to accept less than you might otherwise have accepted in some circumstances. It's just the nature of trying to reach resolution instead of putting your foot down hard in the ground and saying it's going to be our way or no way. It's just not the way I think you can effectively approach conflict if you're hoping to get it resolved for everyone's benefit. And it seems to me, based on his tweets and what he says, Eddie doesn't want to come back to Belator.

Do you want someone like that fighting for you? You know, it depends. I mean, it depends on a lot of different factors. But, you know, of course, there's fights out there that we would like to make. And, you know, we've stated the position pretty clearly in terms of what our beliefs were in terms of the contract. And we expect people to honor those contracts just like anybody would, just like the UFC would or just like the Denver Nuggets would in the NBA. You expect guys to honor the contracts when they sign them.

And, you know, my hope against hope is we don't have to go through an elongated court process to get there. But we'll see. Will you try, like, I mean, now that that court, that court appearance happened, I think it was like January 25th, right? Has there been talked? Like, let's try to figure this out without having to go through that. Let's talk.

Let's, you know, throw something else out there. Let's, you know, just, you know, the team that started here, you know, way back when. Or at this point, are you resolved that you just have to go that route? You never resolved that you have to go any route. The key to this industry, the key to entertainment, the key to work and things like this out, is just being willing and able to adapt, willing and able to adapt, and willing and able to listen to people, and not putting any kind of hard line down in the sand. And that's the approach we've taken, and that's the approach I've given the instruction to our guys to take.

It's not a hard and fast line in the sand, but to talk with people and try to work out conflict. So that's what they're doing. So have you talked to – has anyone talked to Eddie since that court case, that court appearance? I have it. To the best of my knowledge, you know, I've been pulled out of it. Oh, really? out of it as well. But, I mean, just in terms of the day-to-day, I mean, when you get attorneys, and when you get attorneys involved and engaged in a situation, they ultimately are the ones

that end up talking about it. But I know that the attorneys are talking. I know I've got an email saying, hey, we spoke with Ed to counsel, and they're bright people and they're not bad folks. So, again, I hope they can get it worked out. If Eddie says to you, hey, or says to anyone in your team, hey, you know, fine, it could be the same, it could not be the same, but at the end of the day, I want to fight for the UFC, why not just honor that? Why not just say, okay, you know what, if you don't want to be here, we'll let you go. Or do you feel like because he signed the contract, you have to honor that, the contract?

Well, you know, I mean, there's a lot that goes behind it, Ariel. You know, you sign a contract with somebody and they pay you a very large amount of money, and there's terms in that contract, and there's an expectation that you will live up to those terms, just like there was an expectation on Ed's part that we would live up to those terms and pay him the money we paid him and give him the bonuses we gave him, et cetera. So, you know, when you sign a contract, you don't do it so that at some point someone can just simply say, I don't feel like this works for me anymore. You sign it, you have good attorneys, and managers look over it if you're a fighter,

and you have good attorneys and people look at it if you're a promoter, and both sides are expected to live up to it. There's not an expectation that you just have a change of heart, and that at some point you can just walk away from it. It doesn't work like that. I don't know if you saw him when he was on our show, but he said something that I wanted to get your take on and see if you had a response, or if it bothered you at all?

He said there are two sides to Bjorn Rebney, and the side that we see isn't the real side. Is that unfair? I think there's multiple sides to everybody. I think that, you know, there's, I don't think anybody is just one pure thing. I try to be as level-headed as I can possibly be. I try not to get too terribly upset. You know, some of the best advice I was ever given,

ever given in sports management, sports representation, and agency when I was representing athletes is, if you're ever too happy or you're ever too sad, don't respond to people. In other words, you know, respond when you're level-headed, respond when your emotions are not on fire in terms of either anger or happiness, because either one of the emotions is going to guide you to a place that isn't probably going to be the smartest place. And, you know, I'm not a kid anymore,

and I've learned to kind of approach everything I do in business with that type of format. Nobody's wrong all the time. Nobody's right all the time. and when I'm too angry or I'm too happy, I have a tendency to kind of go for a walk, turn off the phone, relax, not respond to emails, et cetera. So I think I've reached a pretty good place in terms of kind of how I deal with people. I've got a lot of respect for the interns who work at our company. I've got a lot of respect for the guys who come in it at 1 and 0 looking for a shot inside our cage.

I just think that's where you've got to approach things. So I think I'm pretty much what I appear to be. But I also respect the fact that other people have. I've got opinions and desires, and they've got places they want to go with their career or their vision or their head. And there's nothing wrong with that either. You've got to respect what people think. Very, very well said. I don't know if you follow Eddie on Twitter, but he's been sort of live tweeting the whole day about this.

And we did not set this up, but he has called into the show and he wants to talk to you. Are you interested in taking that call, Bjorn, or do you want me to say no? You know what? I would love to talk to Ed, but I don't want to talk to Ed in the public forum. Eddie and I spoke for four years straight in a private forum, and he shared things. that he wanted to hopefully accomplish with me, ask me for favors and advice on things, and I did exactly the same for Ed.

But I don't think that a conflict any more than you would want to put a conflict between your wife or girlfriend or boyfriend out on an open forum, I don't want to put a conflict with Ed on an open forum. If Eddie wants to sit down, I will fly him into Los Angeles. I will take him out to lunch or dinner. It could just be he and I. We can talk like men and try to work something out. but I don't have a lot of interest in getting on an open forum

and having that kind of conflict with that. I don't think it would be in any way helpful to try to resolve the situation. I think Eddie and I just sitting down alone might be a great way to resolve the situation, but I don't think doing it on a radio show is going to give us much traction. It could be positive. I could be the mediator that you guys have been missing. I can make the deal right now. Yeah, I don't think that happens, brother.

As much as I trust your mediation skills, like I said, I think the best way for this to get resolved. It's for Eddie and I to sit down face-to-face hand or for Ed's folks to keep talking to our folks and hopefully get this thing resolved. Well, Eddie, I know you're listening out of respect to Bjorn. I appreciate the call, but we will respectfully decline then, and thank you for the response, Bjorn. Just a few more questions. When do you expect this to be resolved? When do we have a final resolution that Eddie is going either here or there?

I have no idea. I couldn't even begin to tell you. Look, my focus is on Thursday night our world title fight and some incredible middleweight. got fighting for us. And then the next week when we got King Mo coming back to the cage and some amazing fights, and Rad Martinez and his compelling story, I've got that's my focus. I've got good people who I trust, who share my vision for how things hopefully can get resolved that are working on it. And, you know, those people are, I'm sure, going to be in contact with Ed's people. I know Ed's people have reached out and spoken with our people. So hopefully

they can get resolved. I don't know. Could be a week, could be a month. Could be a year. I have no idea. Are you interested in Josh Barnett now that he's officially declined the UFC's offer? You know, I've always liked Josh. I know Josh probably better as a person than I do as a fighter because, you know, he hasn't done a lot of fighting here in the States and everything. A lot of the stuff I've seen of his has been overseas and different organizations, but as a guy, I like him a lot. He's a great personality. He knows the game backward and forward. He has lived in kind of every domain in every organization. He's a very talented fighter.

I don't know. I don't know. That's a good question. You know, Josh's, we would have to see. I don't know. I would never put my foot down and say not interested in a Josh Barnett because he's a great fighter. He's got a lot of skill. He's one of those guys that you remember from the old days, but still is capable of

competing at a very high level today. So, you know, you never know. Have you talked to him? You know, because of where Josh is located and because of where we all live and kind of where we all frequent in terms of gyms and people and stuff like that, we bump into them on a pretty consistent basis. And so, you know, we're always, you know, there's always kind of communication going. But, you know, you never know. You never know where that could take, where that could go, where that could end up. What about Rampage?

I like Rampage. I mean, you know, how can you not like Rampage? I mean, it's just Rampage is Rampage. Rampage is one of those guys where, you know, you forget about the last couple fights, just because Rampage is Rampage, and you remember, you know, you remember the incredible Chuck fight. You remember the slams in pride. You remember the change. You remember the howls.

When you think a Rampage, he kind of has been such a big personality in the game and has had so many amazing wins that you kind of are able as a fan, or at least I do. I kind of divorce myself from what's happened very recently, and my recollections, The brightest recollections are those of him being Rampage, you know, with just like this terror that walked into the cage that was bigger than life. So I'm a Rampage fan, and we'll see. You know, we haven't sat down and talked with Rampage. So I don't know if Rampage is interested in continuing a career inside the cage or whether he's going to go make another 18 movie and make more movies

and do all kinds of other crazy stuff. So, you know, he's sure, I would assume he sure got a lot of options being thrown at him at this point. And you mentioned the Bantamway title fight. It's a great weekend for the bantam weights. You've got your title fight on Thursday. You've got the UFC title fight on Saturday. This is the first time that we've seen your champion, Eduardo Dantes, since his knockout loss to Tyson NAM.

Do you feel like that hurt him, you know, as far as the way he's viewed by the Beltoe audience, or do you almost wish or think that people didn't see that fight? It wasn't, you know, here in North America. You have to be an internet fan to see it, that it's kind of, you know, neither here nor there, sweep it under the rug. You know, my focus on the Dantes, the entire Dantes situation is how does that impact him?

Because we've seen an awful lot of guys that have had incredible kind of leaps and climbs up the ladder of being close to or reaching the top of the world in terms of where people thought they fit at 135. And going into that fight, everybody was talking about Dantes as one of the best 135 pounds on Earth. He was just, his ascension was huge and rapid across everybody's world ranking and he was busting into that. the top five in most rankings across the board. You know, then he takes a charity fight, which was supposed to generate money for charity, and he gets knocked out, and it wasn't just, it wasn't, you know, he didn't get submitted. It wasn't a bunch of shots. It was one clean shot knockout, and he's never been knocked out like that before.

So my question on the Dantus front isn't so much kind of how it's going to affect public perception. My question is, how's it going to affect him? How's it going to affect his head? where is his head going to be going into this fight? Does that go for broke style, that kind of Jose Aldo style out of that camp, Marlon Sondro, et cetera, those guys who are just throwing punches and knees and Superman punches and everything and anything at you, including the kitchen sink, does that get pulled back?

Or do we see that same guy? And then how does it affect him emotionally that he's fighting a guy that was virtually a father to him? How does it affect him that he's fighting a guy that when he was 13 pulled into the gym off the street to teach him Jiu-Jitsu, a guy who literally has been in his corner, literally and figuratively since he was a 13-year-old kid, how does that impact you? Combined with the fact that you're coming off of a knockout loss, it's a very interesting fight that will answer a lot of questions. Marcos Galval right now is fighting, I believe, top six, top seven in the world level at 135.

And so where does this thing play itself out? You've got more storylines here than you could possibly write. So I'm hugely interested in seeing this fight. I love both those guys. They're both great, great guys, and you couldn't lose by having either one of them as your champion. But, boy, there's a lot of storyline underneath what's going on in this fight. I'm looking forward to seeing it unfold live on Spike on Thursday.

Yeah, that was a great preview right there. It all kicks off 8 p.m. Eastern on Spiketiv.com. Then 10 p.m. Eastern on Big Spike. The main channel, you can catch it this Thursday night. I always appreciate the time and the insight, Bjorn. and, by the way, Eddie is still on hold. You reconsider? You want to talk to him?

Say hello or no? I'd be happy to meet with Ed face-to-face and spend all the time in the world with him. I still like Eddie Alvarez, and hopefully they'll come a time not in the not too distant future when he and I can sit down. Appreciate the time, Bjorn.

Thank you. All right, man. There he is. Bjorn Rebney joining us. Let's transition now and bring in Eddie. Eddie, are you there? Is Eddie there? Let's go to Eddie.

I'm here, Ariel. What's going on, man? What happened? I don't know. man, I just wanted to have a chat, and it didn't go on. What did you want to say to him? I didn't really know. I figured I'd get on the line, me and him haven't talked in a while.

There's been a lot of he said, she said, and I just want to clear everything up, you know. I don't feel like it's right. You know, he said on air that I have to live up to my end of the bargain that I have a contract that I'm obligated to. and I feel like I fulfilled that contract throwing through. And I fought everybody they wanted me to fight. And what I don't feel like is that they're filling up their end of the contract. So at this point, where do we stand? Sort of at a standstill, things are trying to get worked out.

You know, the biggest thing that's bugging me is that I went to this court case for the injunction. Right. And the attorneys, of Bellator and these people via common flight, you know, they're telling, they've bold-faced lie to the judge. The judge asked if they had a fight lined up for me. Do they have a fight, a paper-view fight lined up for Ed Alvarez? And the guy waited a second.

He looked to the side. He figured out whether he's going to lie or not, and then decided, yeah, I'm going to lie because if I don't lie, then Ed Alvarez is going to win this injunction. So he tells the judge. we have the fight for him. We have it. We have it. It's signed sealed.

We have the fight. And then Mike Channler does an interview two days later saying we never heard anything about a fight with Ed Alvarez. Anything. And I know that they didn't hear anything. I know from inside sources that they don't have anything. So it's frustrating because I'm beginning to feel like they were, they were going to say regardless that they were going to match, regardless of whether they knew they could or knew they couldn't,

that they were going to put me through this either way. You know, and it's just not fair, you know. I fought everybody they wanted me to fight. I, you know, I fought some tough fights toward the end with Patricie and Aoki, and I possibly could have lost, and it could have really messed my career up. But, you know, I fought the fight, that everything they wanted me to fight, and I thought I did my job,

and if they are going to keep me, then just, you know, compensate me the way that I would be paid, you know, by another promotion. The whole idea of being a free agent for me to see what my value was, to see what my value was. And now that I see that,

all that I want Belltor to do is rightfully match, not just say we match, not to say, yeah, we could do a pay-per-view, they could do a pay-per-view, we could do a pay-per-view. You know, I just feel like, Maybe they were going to do this anyway, regardless of whether I, you know, what happened. They were going to say they matched regardless. Am I correct in stating that you don't want to go back to Belatorre,

even if they do really match it at this point, has that bridge been burned? No, no, absolutely not. Okay. Absolutely not. Look, I want to fight the best in the world, and I want to do that. All my fans want me to do that, and I'm with you guys. I'm on Twitter with them every day, and we chat, and, you know, I have hopes and goals and dreams that I want to achieve, but I did sign that contract.

I know I did that, and I do have a family that I need to take care of, and money comes into play. And since I signed that contract, it's only right for me to, you know, if they do the right thing and step up and compensate me the way that the seat was going to, then I found that contract. That's what I'm doing before. But you can't just say you match. You can't just say that. You know,

me and my friend were talking, we were, you know, it's like they didn't have to prove anything yet. You know, it's like a 400-pound guy going up to a registration deck when he's about to run a marathon. He never ran a day in his life,

and he tells the people of the registration desk, I want my number, and the people of the registration desk look at him like, he's crazy. This guy's going to run a marathon? Like, the guy don't have to prove himself. You know, he's just saying, I want to run.

It's just, it's frustrating, man, because they didn't have to prove to the judge whether they could do a paper view or not. They didn't have to prove anything during the injunction trial. So I was told I couldn't fight because they don't have to prove anything. But, you know, I have a good feeling when it comes down to prove himself that they're going to run in a little bit of trouble, especially considered their champion, heard nothing of a fight with me. They signed a contract on December 10th, December 10th, saying that we have a pay-per-view title fight lined up for you right now.

That's what they said. A paper-view title fight right now. And then maybe a week ago, two weeks ago, Mike Chandler does an interview saying, I never even heard of, I was never even called. and either with my manager. I never heard of a thing. I don't even know what they're talking about. Yeah, he actually said that on this show last week as well.

He said that. Yeah. Yeah, and he still continued to say it. Right. And I'm okay with Mike Chan. I think Mike Cheney's a great champion, but like it's Spike and Tom and Bjorn Redney and whoever's doing this,

things don't add up. I'll have a conversation with Bjorn on air. I'll have a conversation with any one of them on air. I have nothing to hospital. There's obviously something to hide. Why can we have this conversation? What do you make of that? Him saying that he didn't want to talk to you.

What does that say to you? I don't know. I'm not going to assume anything. What does it say to you guys? What does it say to anyone listening? I was surprised he didn't take the call. I'm willing to speak on this subject with anyone at any time in front of any audience. Remember Scott Coker?

Way back when took your call when you were just a guy trying to fight Gilbert Melendez on this show. You remember that? Scott did. Scott didn't care. He went and he took the call and he explained to me and he was manning off to answer the questions. I mean, I'm not in the high in front of the audience. And, you know, at least whether Scott was in the wrong or not, just took the call, you know. If you want to sit out, can you sit out and come back like in a year or what are we looking at here?

I don't want to sit out, man. I want to fight. I've already shot for three months, maybe plus. and I'm already itching to fight. So, you know, I don't know. There's, you know, I speak on my management every day on the subject, and, you know, there's options, and, you know, we're just, we're trying to figure it out, man.

We're trying to figure out what can possibly be done about this. We don't want to go through a trial either. I don't want to go through a trial. It's a stupid. I want to fight. So either step up and, you know, make it comparable or, you know, let us go. But don't lie, don't lie to the fans, don't lie to the media.

Don't lie to everyone. If you can't fulfill your end of the obligation, then say we can't. We can't. We can't do it. Not at this time, not at this juncture or whatever big words he has to say. But it's just not fair, man, what's going on. It's not fair that you can lie and just get away with it, not have to prove yourself.

Just say, I can do this and not ever have to prove yourself. Is there a date, like, is there another sort of, you know, day on the calendar that we should be circling that we'll find the sort of next chapter of this thing unfolding? Or what are we doing here? Are we just sitting around and waiting? Like, what is going on behind the scenes? When's the next big date?

Is there anything you can give us as far as your schedule here? I'll tell you what's going on in my life. I have rental properties here in Philadelphia, and I'm in the middle of renovating them, and I'm going to sell them, and I'm going to head down Florida with me and my family, and I'm going to make a run at, you know, whoever I'm signed with,

I'm going to be all in, and I'm headed down Florida probably this summer, and I'm going to move my family, my kids in the school, and right now I'm preparing, and preparing on that transition. Wow. You're leaving Philly. Some properties that I have,

some investment properties that I head up, and I'm going to sell them, and we're all headed down Florida. We're going to take these next six and seven years as serious as we can, and whoever I'm fighting for, I'm going to, I'm going to do it down flooding

Well Eddie I appreciate you stopping by Really sorry we couldn't make that happen I thought it would have been a cool moment I mean selfishly for the show I thought it would have been great for us And I thought it would have been I don't know Maybe uh maybe it would have been like the old days

Just you and Bjorn sitting down talking Maybe something could have happened Maybe it's just wishful thinking But I appreciate you trying and tweeting About the show and whatnot It means a lot to us And most importantly I wish you the best of luck I know it's very frustrating

I just hope this can be resolved Some way soon enough So we can see you fight again because I know that's what everyone wants. So I appreciate it. Thanks for keeping us posted and hope to talk to you soon with some better news. Thanks, Ariel. And I want to thank all my friends out there,

you know, all my Twitter friends, on Facebook people. You guys didn't give me numb but support throughout this whole situation. A guy even yelled Free Eddie Alvarez on a live at Belvoir broadcast. I appreciate that, man. And, you know, whoever I do fight for,

whatever pollution does have me, you're going to have the best of me. So I'm excited about whatever is to come next. And thank you guys so much, man. Thanks, Eddie. Talk to you soon. All right. There he is. Eddie Alvarez, the former Belator Lightweight Champion

after Bjorn Rebney stopped by. That was potentially an explosive moment in MMA hour history. But I got to respect the fact. That's why I had to ask Bjorn if he was willing to take the call. I didn't want to ambush him and didn't want to take it, and I have to respect that. So it is what it is, as Cubs Swanson said earlier in the show, and let us move along now. Let us welcome in the man who has been the talk of the MMA world for the last week. I assure you if you are a fan of mixed martial arts, if you watch this show, you have seen his knockout last week on the Ultimate Fighter 17,

arguably the greatest knockout in tough history, and one of the greatest we've seen in UFC history. He joins us right now. His name is Uriah Hall. Uriah, how are you? I'm good, man. What's going on? Good to talk to a guy who's helping to put New York MMA on the map. We are biased towards New York MMA here, so very good to have you on the show. We appreciate the time. No problem. Thanks for having me, bro.

So how has life changed for you since last Tuesday? I've seen the articles where you went into the bathroom. You didn't want to deal with everyone, the text, the phone calls, and whatnot. Have you come out of the bathroom? Because it kind of sounds like you're still in one. right now. No, I'm actually in one of my buddies's office. I just can't stop by this place I told me I didn't even a little private room. Okay. I can talk on the phone. So how has life change for you? It's not really that much. The only thing that I've been really, you know, going crazy,

I've been going crazy, like, you know, Facebook, Twitter, and all that stuff. Occasionally I get stopped, But if I could, you know, inspire someone or someone sees me as a good idol, I'm not going to throw it away. I'm looking at that. You know, it's pretty cool. I like it. But in the beginning, it was just like swarm. And I guess it was just overwhelming, but I'm gradually handling it. When did that knockout actually happen?

What month was that? Tell you truth, I don't really remember because we're on a show, you know. The only thing we had control of me was time. I mean, at one point, I lost what day it was. because all we did was restrained. So I don't really remember until you're just. I'm guessing it was maybe two, three months ago. What I'm getting at is, is it weird to then experience something that,

because usually in a fight, you know, it happens that moment your phone blows up, but now you're kind of waiting for it. It's like the storm about to come. They're teasing it. They're teasing it. And then bang, the world sees what you've known. It's almost like the secret that you have. Is that a weird feeling for a guy who prior to that was, you know,

fighting a normal shows, not on a reality show? It's not a weird feeling. The only thing different about it was just, you know, me viewing it from a different angle as far as TV goes. You know, being there is different. You know, I know what happened, but watching it on TV and how they portrayed everything and how it came out, it looked really cool. And, again, with fighting for me sometimes when I go out there, I don't really remember half the stuff I've done or did. So I knew I through that kick. And when I saw it, I was, oh, that's how I did.

Oh, that's cool. it's just different for me to see it from a different angle. Is this something that you have practiced? I mean, obviously you didn't pull it out of your behind, but is this a go-to move for you? Definitely one of my favorite techniques. I definitely like, you know, the unorthodox

techniques, fitting techniques. I call for crazy stuff, you know, what the hell was that? Because for me, I love to think outside the box. And I grew up in my youth, I was inspired by certain video games and certain techniques they do, and I would try that I would say, man, if I could pull something like this off, it would be cool.

But, you know, my background is a little bit traditional, and, you know, if I could show them themselves, saw that kick. And, you know, it wasn't something we focused on too much because you've got to have really good timing with it and gradually over time, it'll probably hurt your knee, but I love that kick, and I try to perfect. I don't still think I'm, you know, 100% affected it yet,

but it's something I'm still working on. but I just love it, man. It's my favorite thing. What's going on between, and the guy you knocked out, of course, was Adam Sella. What's going on? I saw an article, and then I saw someone tweeted at you and you took the high road. But is he trying to downplay the kick? Is he saying that it's not as impressive as it looks on TV and it didn't hurt him as much?

What's going on there? I read part of that article. I didn't really focus on it. I could probably put myself in his shoes and say, I guess, you know, people are looking at like, dude, you got knocked the F out. and, you know, to him, it's probably like, oh, shit, well, well, everyone's going to look at me like this, what can I do? And I could see where he's coming from, so he didn't really bother me what he said.

I think he was just probably saying that wasn't a spectacular kick. You know, I came to after and all was, you know, fine and whatever. I just didn't pay attention to it. It's nothing for me to pay attention to. You know, I think people are just blowing stuff out of context. You know, you leave stuff to the critics and they'll just make it into a form. And, you know, it's pretty much the ticket to the highway after that. But I don't think of it's for that.

I really don't care. Based on how, you know, you've dealt with this news and, you know, we were saying kind of the overwhelming response and whatnot, what's it like watching yourself on TV? I know it's only been three weeks, and there's more to come. But are you the kind of guy that likes this sort of thing, likes being on a reality TV show? You get a lot of people around you, watch the show. I mean, is this something that you're relishing right now? personally for me as a fighter I went on the show to pursue one of my biggest dreams which is to pretty much be in the UFC and just through the journey that I've counted on the show

and what I've learned you know it made me a better person overall but I don't get the hype over it you know for me it's my oh man come check this out I'm just happy the fact that I was able to do it and being on the show I I was looking for the best competition, not to say I'm the man, because I clear I don't think I am. But I feel like for me I would just grow as a fighter. And at one point in the show and show that, hey, man, who would you rather, you know, this guy, this guy? And I told him to give me the best guys because I didn't go at it to say,

all right, let me just do this and try to make the finals. I was trying to just beat the best guys or go up against the best guys and see how well I match up. That's how I was looking at it. but I don't get all done how about it. You know, I kind of don't even like it to you because I don't know how celebrities do this stuff, man. You don't have time to yourself. And again, it's overwhelming. And, you know, I'm just looking at the positive side of it.

If I can influence someone to, you know, gain from this and being a positive structure from this, hey, I'm all about it. But I'm not going to give into all that, you know, BS and, you know, be all glamour about it because that's not really me. So, I mean, obviously in New York, there are celebrities everywhere. I mean, it feels like you, if you look hard enough on one day, you'll find someone, and it's a very busy place. And at the end of the day, it almost feels like no one really gives a crap about what you do and your personal story. I mean, everyone's kind of grinding and doing their own thing. So I'm wondering, in the last week, has anyone stopped you on the street, subway, anything like that? Has anyone come up to you and been like, hey, you're the guy who just got that knockout on tough?

Yeah, I got a bunch of those, actually. Nice. I was in Union Square, and I think I was rushing to get to training. No, not Union Square. I think it's 42nd Street. And this lady I saw in my peripheral, she was just coming by. And I thought it was someone like handing me a flyer or something because we get a lot of that in the city. And, you know, she's waving.

And I waved. I'm like, who the heck of this lady? And she came up to me. She's like, I know you. I know. You can't take a picture? And me, you know, I don't know what's going on. I'm like, why?

I asked the why. And she's like, oh, you're on the table. And me and my husband follow you. Like, oh, yeah, sure, no problem. And it was pretty cool. But she definitely called me off guard. You know, it happened to me a couple of times. Even at, you know, I think the last season of season 16, you know, I was there watching.

And somebody thought I was Chicago. Wow. And she asked me to, yeah, she asked me to sign a shirt. And again, I'm like, why? It's just like, I want you, Chicago? I'm like, no, man. I'm just some regular dude. It's kind of cool.

It's funny. I have moments. So you've been in this sport for a few years now. Why didn't you try out for Tough earlier? Well, I don't think the opportunity got me at certain time. I don't know one time I missed it. And another time I was actually going to go, and my coach at the time didn't feel like I was ready to par with everything.

I was more of a striker. And I trust my coach, so he didn't feel confident in my, you know, all-around games. as far as my wrestling and my jih Tutsu. So, you know, I hang back for that. But, you know, I think everything happens for a reason, and it was a great opportunity when this happened. And it was my first time trying out for it.

And I just went out there with the attitude to say, you know, what I'm going to make it? And there's nothing going to really stand in my way. You know, the elephant in the room when you do these tough interviews is that you actually know how the show turned out. You know who made it to the finals. It could be you. But we don't know, and you're not obviously a lot to talk.

talk about it. Is that weird? Is it weird to have this secret that everyone except for yourself is wondering about and maybe trying to, you know, figure it out, ask you know, maybe the deceiving questions and trying to trick you and things like that? Is that a weird situation to be in right now? It's not really weird. I mean, even when I think they had a bunch of pictures on the UFC website and they were saying, who's going to make it and who's not going to make it, or is this guy going to be the next ultimate fighter? And I just kind of sat back and just watch how people just come up with stuff. And I'm like, wow, this is actually pretty interesting.

So in a way, it's kind of cool to not, you know, for me to know and for people to not know and just see how they bring things out or what their opinion is and what their perspective is. And now some people don't like a spoiler or, you know, upset. So it's not really weird. I just kind of hang back and watch them put their stuff together. and doesn't come with their stories, and then, you know, when stuff happens, they just go, oh, crap, I guess that's what really happened. You started your career in 2005, but then your next fight was in 2009.

Why such a big break? 2005, I think at the time I was just focusing more on, you know, striking, because that was my biggest background, and I was comfortable there. I did WCL, and we traveled a lot, and I did an MMA ballot. I don't remember, I think maybe 0, 0, 4, one of those. And I wanted to add, you know, I would have knock out. So I didn't really get a chance to go out there and just do a lot and showcase what I had. And, you know, to take such a big gap, the opportunity just came, and I just jumped on it.

So I just think everything just falls into place. You know, I got a little better where I should have been, and there was still some holes in my game, even when that happened. And after that, it was just constant improvement. And I'm just looking to improve overall. Are you the most famous fighter to come from Jamaica? I don't really know any other fighters from Jamaica. I know you saying Bo is tearing it up. Yeah.

But as far as fighting go, I don't really know of any other fighter from Jamaica. Maybe there's some guys in there to have a background of, you know, Jamaica. But yeah, that's my homeland, man. And we're going to go back someday. I got to tell you, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with Jamaica. I used to wear the Jamaican flag, you know, on T-shirts. I would do projects about the Rastafarians and stuff. I think it was because Patrick Ewing was my favorite basketball player,

and he's originally from Kingston. But there was something about Jamaica. Cool Runnings, of course, was a great movie, and I loved that story. I was waiting for that. It's just such a great place. And I've had the opportunity to visit Jamaica. and the people are so nice, and obviously there's Bob Marley and all that,

it's just such a great place. There's just something about Jamaicans that I really do enjoy. I must say that. Well, you know, everyone has their different view of people, and you see those commercials, like, oh, come to Jamaica is one of the coolest places. For me growing up there, everything was just cool, you know,

and I guess at that point I wasn't exposed to certain things, and one of my interviews I talked about it, making that transition from there to here. It was more like, oh, wow, I realize that, you know, you got to dress a certain way, and you got to use a certain crowd, and none of that was exposed to me. It was more like, all right, we're cool, you're cool, and that's it. And it was just such a big transition,

and it just took me a while to grasp, you know. And, again, bullying was one of the things, and I don't know for some people who never got bullied. It's horrible, man. It's a horrible feeling. And what's worse about it is, you know, the lifestyle I was used to back home was just so different. It was just so friendly and positive. And just to come from that to just, you know, not to say anything bad on America.

I love this place because it's a land of, you know, opportunities. But the environment that I was in at the time was just a bad place. And I just thank God that, you know, who brought me out of it. And hopefully if I can inspire someone, you know, to get out of whatever dark places they're from, then that would be great. But Jamaica's an awesome place, man. I recommend it for a great vacation. One of the most coolest tropical place on the planet.

Just don't go out too far. They're close to resort. In fact, when my son was born, all I played for him was Bob Marley music because I thought it was so happy and I wanted him to come up to a happy world. So, okay, that's enough about me and my obsession with Jamaica. Is that why you got into fighting because you were bullied? I got into, well, I've always loved martial arts. and I didn't get a chance to do it

and just come in here just watching movies and, you know, playing video games. I was more interested in just learning those cool things. I don't know what it was. If I see something cool, I was like, oh, wow, I got to learn that. And I just picked up on it, and that's where the talent kind of came in. I would just see it, and I would just copy it, and I would do it. But, you know, in school I got picked and I got bullied,

so I didn't really out of fight. but something inside me just told me to do something, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. And I guess martial arts just came in, again, at the right time, just said, all right, you got the spirit, and I let's teach you how to do the right stuff. And it just changed my life completely to, you know, help me to carry myself a lot better.

You know, it changed my demeanor, because when you're more, when you're not offend yourself, you know, you do less aggressive and you're more assertive, so it definitely helped me. One of the interesting things that happened since the knockout last, last week was your fight against Chris Weidman resurfaced online. It seems like everyone was like, oh, wow,

this guy actually fought Chris Wyman. Was that a bummer? Because you lost him, and of course that was early in your career, but was that annoying? Yeah, I mean, it was kind of funny to look at it. I would expect something like this to happen. In any transition you make in life,

you're always going to have the people behind you, and you're always going to have those people against you. It's just, it's human nature. And I think, you know, being on the show, I've just learned to handle that. There's nothing you can really do about it. The best thing you can do about someone hating on you is just accept it and look at it as a positive thing. Because if they talk behind your back, you know, it means you're definitely ahead of them and in front of them. And it clearly means you're doing something right, which gives them enough time to think about you.

So I just look at it as a positive thing. At the time, you know, I lost, I accept it. is one of the hardest thing I have to encounter because I'm not used to losing, but I'm glad it happened, and it needed to happen, because it makes you appreciate those wins. And, you know, as a fighter, you're going to grow winning or losing. It's just how you look at it. But when they resurface all that stuff, like, okay, he's not all that.

He lost to this guy. I'm like, all right, I really don't give two shits about it. But it's just them putting their stuff together, you know, and I guess, you know, I got to have a hate it, too. But if I have a lot of haters, that's fine, man. It really doesn't bother me. It's not going to let me not sleep at night. I actually will sleep.

But thanks for the haters who have time to think about me. I appreciate it. And by the way, how did you live? I mean, I can't even imagine the people on the Ultimate Fighter live who were there for like 12, 13 weeks. How were you able to be in a house like that for six or something weeks? No TV, no internet, all that stuff. Mike Ritchie told us, you know, before his fight on the finale,

that, you know, he even thought about suing the UFC, because it played so many tricks and it was so damaging to his mind. How did you deal with that? What? Yeah, crazy, right? First of all, I would like to recommend that. Recommend it. Maybe take out the fighting and just go to a place where only, you know,

the only thing you have is your thoughts. Wow. For me, again, I needed to either reflect on things and there was just a lot of emotions running wild, and it taught me to control that. It taught me to control that. And I met people on a show that helped me to control that. So in an environment at that where there's no TV, there's nothing, basically, it's just food, sleep, and training. For the tournament, that's what it is for.

It's perfect. It's perfect. And some people, when they get there, they choose right there and there. You know what? I'm not going to be broken. I'm going to take all these challenges, and I'm going to go all the way. And some people could give in. And, you know, like Chelle said, it's a choice.

You either choose to go right or you choose to go left. And it's not easy, man, because at times you want to talk yourself out of it. You're like, shit, I just want to go home and see my family. I'm like, God, I want to use a phone. You know, God forbid you have a little confrontation with someone. You want to go watch a movie or something. You can't do that. You only have your thoughts to reflect on.

And for me personally, I think it builds me not only as a fighter, but, you know, as a human being, as a person. And, again, I needed that. And I definitely recommend it for anybody. And for that guy who said he wants to do you, do the UFC, I should smack him for saying. It doesn't know what you're saying. Well, his name is Mike Ritchie, so if you see him around, that's the one who said.

I mean, I don't think he was being like a whiny little brat about it, but he just didn't appreciate the experience, I guess, as much as... Don't go on the show. Yeah. Don't go on the show. That simple. That's true. Great opportunity.

Why would you ever talk bad about it? Well, very well said. I look forward to seeing how you do on the show. You've got our attention. You could be the guy who has revolutionized the ultimate fighter. You got a lot of people talking last week. week. We'll see how you do throughout the rest of the show. And the finale is in April. They just booked a great fight for the finale. We'll talk about that in a second. But it was great talking to you

for the first time, Your Eye. And if you want to talk to Your Honor, hit them up on Twitter. Twitter.com slash Uriah Hall MMA. Keep representing New York. Keep representing Jamaica very well. And we'll talk to you very soon, Uriah. Good luck to you. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. There he is. Uriah Hall stopping by of the Ultimate Fighter Season 17. As I mentioned, his Twitter, is Twitter.com slash Uriah Hall MMA. And if you missed that CO, I mean, what more can you say about it? Spinning kick to the head, Adam Sulla kind of downplaying it a little bit.

It was amazing. They showed it from all angles. He was okay afterwards. And he right now appears to be one of the front runners on the 17th season of the Ultimate Fighter. Now, our final guest of the day is a guy who made it all the way to the finals of the ultimate. fighter a couple of years back less than a year and a half or so ago. And now doing very well in the UFC. He fights at UFC 157.

That's coming up in less than two weeks. He fights Mack Rice in Anaheim. We're calling it Rhonda at the Honda or maybe the Ronda Center. We're not sure yet. It's Ronda Rousey versus Liz Karmouche, but also on that card. It is Mac Rice versus this man. Dennis Bermudez. There he is.

Dennis, how are you? What's up, guys? How are you doing? Great to have you on the show. this is a good time for New York MMA. I feel like you got Chris Wyman doing this thing. You're Raya Hall, who we just talked to, you're doing your thing.

It feels like New York MMA is really starting to get on track here. Do you agree? I agree with you. Yeah, New York's definitely picking up. We've got a bunch of talented fighters, and hopefully we get this show on the road and get legalized in New York so we can fight in front of our hometown fans.

Yeah, that is a depressing situation. Hopefully it happens this year, and they talk about MSG. That would be a dream for someone like you, right? the 20th anniversary show, MSG, November. No doubt about it, right? A thousand percent, man. If we got Madison Square Garden, man, that would sell out probably in like a day or two.

And, yeah, I'd have a bunch of fans there for sure. Now, do you live on Long Island? Yes, I do. I'm currently living in West Iceland. So how is the Blizzard situation for you this weekend? It doesn't really faze me too much. I got a pretty diesel truck. It's not diesel, but my truck's pretty B-A.

And it gets me where I need to go. So you weren't snowed in. You were able to train all that stuff. Man, I get the shovel out. Get shoveling. And I get ready to go, man. That's a good workout in itself. Yes.

My strength and conditioning coach texted me when we got all the snow. It was like, today's workout. See if you could shovel my drive, wait in 30 minutes. That's great. Okay, so, you know, I don't know if you know this, but Chad Mendes tweeted yesterday that his fight is off. He's not fighting Manny Gamburian anymore. Gambrian got injured and they couldn't find a replacement. So now it seems like everything may have moved up a slot on the card.

Does this mean that your fight will now be on the FX prelims? Hopefully, that would be sweet. I would, you know, because a lot of my fans here are kind of bummed that's on Facebook and stuff like that. Not going to lie, I'm a little bit bummed, but, I mean, the show must go on. I'm still going to take care of business, you know, the same. But, yeah, that would be sweet for everybody to be able to tune in and watch it on television. I wanted to ask you about that. I mean, you look so good in your last fight.

You look good in the fight before that. Even the guy you beat Pablo Garza, he was fighting on pay-per-view. So why are you on Facebook? I don't know. I guess I got asked either that. I don't know. It's funny because the finale, right, I was a co-main event. Yeah.

Then I fought Pablo on, you know, the main card. And then the last fight, I was, you know, pretty much the main event of the prelims. And now I'm on Facebook. I'm like, I don't know. Are they trying to get rid of me? What's good? So did you, I mean, did your manager? Did someone ask these questions?

Um, no. I just, I mean, the car is pretty stacked, you know? So, um, I mean, not saying that I don't, don't think I don't belong on the same cars these guys. I mean, there are a lot of great fighters on it. But with Mendez and Gambini, Gambini, you know, being, uh, bumped out, you know, if I could move up, that'd be real sweet. Can you, can you, how'd you say his name? That was a very interesting pronunciation of Manny's last name. What was that?

I don't know what it's a name, man. Gambinian. Gambinian. You tried to, like, sort of mumble it like I wouldn't notice. Gamburian. Gamburian. Yes, that's it. Nice try.

Are you trying to call him out? Is that your way of picking a fight with Mani? No, that's not it. I just, I can't say his name, I guess. I don't know. Hey, no disrespect to Matt Grice, but why didn't you, maybe call out Chad Mendez and try to get that spot? You know, I'm still kind of new to the UFC, so I mean, I'm just waiting, just waiting,

to stay in my role for now, you know, once I start beating some guys, and once my rank gets up, then we'll start calling some people out. So what do you think of Matt Rice? You know, he's kind of reinvented himself a little bit at 145. What do you think about him? Um, well, I mean, I really don't know too much about him. I just know that he is a, you know, a stud wrestler in high school. He was like the number one recruit, went to Oklahoma State, redshirted, which most freshmen do,

and then he got injured and kind of fell off the wrestling scene. And he came. He appeared back on the scene in the UFC and did pretty well, then got bumped off, and now he's back. Man, you say you don't know much about him. Usually when guys say that they actually really don't know much about him, you just told me his whole life history there. That was impressive. I don't know the wrestling background. That's it.

But then you stopped at the MMA stuff, which would actually kind of help you. so you don't watch any tape on him or anything like that because he looked good in his last fight. No, I haven't personally watched any tape on him. I have my trainers watch tape on them, and then they train me the way that they want me to fight him. Now, are you only staying on Long Island to train for this, or do you move around?

No, you guys stayed on Long Island. I trained at Belmore Kickbox in my striking. That's where I always do my striking. And I do all my jitzu and here at Long Island MMA. And then I train my wrestling over at Hofster University. How do you feel about the whole Ronda Rousey Karmouche main eventing situation? That's the main event of your card.

Some don't like it. Some don't think they deserve it, all that stuff. What's your take? In the middle, you know, I think there's good things about it and bad things. Some of the good things being that it's the first female fight in UFC history. So that's a reason for it to be a main card. On the contrary, you know, Dan Hendo is a legend of the sport. And a lot of people think that he should be the main event in the card.

Either way, I'm still being, you know, I'm part of history being on the car. I'm the first female fight in UFC history, and I'm on that car. Are you a fan of women's MMA? Rhonda is a bad chick. I like watching her fight. I went to an amateur fight in Virginia not too long ago, and the last fight was these two girls, and they fought better than all the guys, you know? So, but, I mean, on the elite level, you know, I was rather watching guys fight than the girls' fight,

I mean, there's still one girl fighting a whole guy card is, you know, it's something different, you know, it changes it up and look forward to those. I'll once in a while, I'll see, you know. So as far as technique goes, you think they're exciting, but maybe not quite at the level as the men, right? I mean, they're technically sound. It's just like strength and having power to knock, you know, there's not a lot of knockouts. It's more submissions in girls MMA than knockouts or TKOs, I think.

Do you think we'll ever see a battle of the sexes, if you will, man versus woman in the UFC, and would you like to maybe offer up your services for that fight? I personally wouldn't want to. I know, like, you know, growing up wrestling, you know, they came across that, you know, guys had to wrestle girls. And it was a lose-lose either way, where if you beat up the girl and you'd beat the snobber,

you were, you know, it's bad, like you're a woman-beater. And then if you lost, you lost to a girl. So you couldn't win either way. And I wouldn't want to fight a girl for that reason. And I mean, with the way our government is these days and like how corrupt everything is. There's no chance that would ever happen. That's true.

But did you ever wrestle a girl in college or high school? No. Oh, okay. All right, that's good. Now, what's going on with the hair and beard situation here? Your hair looks a little longer than usual. Hair, beard? I'm switching it up, man.

I have to keep fans on the edge, you know? So is it going to be longer for the fight? What's going on? Yeah, it's not getting cut. I might let it grow out for a while. We can like, maybe we'll do, like, cornrows to hear and let, like, the dragon fire long hair in the back. Wow. So you're going, you're going that route?

You're going to corn row, like, the crazy hair, Cleggrito route. Yeah. I think so. Whoa. This is a big revelation. I know, man. We're trying to, you know, if I'm going to be like a vampire werewolf, I figure we'll throw a little style on there and get nuts. Is this your way of maybe marketing yourself?

Like, do you feel like you need a look? Um, not, not really. But if people like it, you know, we'll stick with it, though, you know. Now, what do the people around you say? Well, Long Island in general, they're all clean-cut, kind of, edgy, guido kind of, you know. So they're like, dude, you need a haircut. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'm from upstate New York where, you know, beards are on the rag, you know.

I like the beards very much. Now, are you going to keep this beard as well? Are you letting that grow as well? No, the beard will be cut after the, or trim down after the fight. Well, that's your mistake. Cut the hair, leave the beard. That's what I go with. Yeah.

Switch it up. Think about it. Okay, I will. I will. Now, you trained that Blackman M.M.A., right? That's where I originally trained that. Yeah, yeah, back in the day. Is that Steve Blackman, the former WWU wrestler?

You bet it. So he was the guy that trained you in the early portion of your career. He was legit. The lethal weapon, yep. The lethal weapon was actually a legit martial artist.

Yeah, because he was on the road with Ken Shamrock, and he kind of picked up some things here and there from Ken Shamrock beyond the road, just kind of mess around

their free time and, you know, he studied jitzy for a while and he knows some other, like, shit with some, like, wooden... Yeah, yeah.

He used to have the sticks all the time. The Kendo sticks, right. He said anything with a point you could throw it into a wall. He's got a, extreme gun collection. Wow. It was he your first instructor?

Yes. Wow. I went in there the first day and I said, where's your best guy? They sent me in the back of the cage and I worked with some of their jitzo guys and it took them like, probably within like 15 minutes

they got to tap me out, but I didn't know. I'd just go in there just wrestling on it. What prompted you to do that? Um, I don't know, because I would watch before I can start, well,

Originally my first fight, it was an amateur fight, I was already signed to fight before I even had started training at all. A friend kind of talked me into it. I was like, all right, and then I went back to Pennsylvania. I guess I got to start training. So that was the only gym that was in the area. I went back in there. I'd watch TV. I'm like, man, I could beat that guy. I could beat that guy. So I was like, where's your best guy? It's rock and roll. And did you know that Steve Blackman was this pro wrestler guy? Yeah. You did? Okay.

He was big in the area that I was living at the time. Oh, he was. And was he at the gym often? Yeah. He didn't pay a lot of attention to me until I went pro, though. Oh, he was one of those. Yeah. And then what?

He saw that I was pretty talented. And he wouldn't stop following me around everywhere I went to the gym. You know, I told me about this and this. But the way you describe it, it was like he just got some tips from Kent Chamrock while they're on the road. Like he didn't really have this vast knowledge. of martial arts? He's got the, I mean, I've told the guys there in the gym, and a lot of the guys that Jim knew it,

is like he's got a very great gym for starters. Like all his, all his amateurs were like undefeated, and his amateur record was, he had like three times as many, or four times as many wins from his guys in losses. And then when we had the pro, you know, they were about 50-50. You know, so he's got a very great fundamental.

gym. Is it still around? I don't believe so. I think because he's into trading and stuff like that. He goes to a lot of like shows where they auctions and stuff like that. Oh yeah, yeah. And he deals and deals like that. He'll buy a whole warehouse and then flip it and sell it like that. So he's actually, he knows the stuff

in like antiques and stuff of that and guns and baseball cards and stuff like that. I think that's where he makes a lot of his money. So one of his students, Jeff Smith, who was on the, he fought to get in the house for season 15 of the Ultimate Fighter. Okay. He kind of took over and it's called Unrival Athletics. That's right. Yeah, I saw that when I was trying to figure out what was going on.

Final question on Steve, just because I'm kind of fascinated about this. Was he as dry in person as he was on camera? He is pretty stiff. He opens up if you know him in person. Okay. You know, you can really get some things out of him. But yeah, he's definitely a tough guy. Okay.

All right. Well, it's good that he's not kind of hanging around you now trying to, you know, mooch off your success. Well, no, I still talk to him. Oh, you do? Anytime I go back to Pennsylvania, you know, hit him up and how you do it? How you do? We'll go get lunch or something like that. All right.

Well, tell him I say hi. I will. All right. So now you got this fight coming up. You got Matt Grice. I mean, is the goal here? Do you feel like with this division, I think it's kind of wide open other than what's going on at the top, the log jam, if you will. Do you feel like you should start to be talked about in those sort of top 10, top 15 fights at Featherweight if you win this fight?

Yeah, a thousand percent. Yeah, I think, you know, after I win this fight, yeah, I should be definitely considering the top 10, top 15. Are you cool with Pettis getting the title shot? Am I what? Are you cool with Pettis getting a title shot when he hasn't fought in the division leapfrogging guys like Lamas and the Korean zombie? Yes and no. I mean, I understand whether UFC's going with it. The UFC kind of gives the fans what they want. You know, if they want, you know, the UFC in general, the fans want to see big names, fight big names.

You know, so us guys that are kind of coming up that our name isn't as big, you know, we kind of get, you know, shuffled down compared to, you know, Pettison was the WC champ, you know, at 155, so why can he win the 45-pound division? So, I mean, I get it, but, I mean, I don't, yeah, like you said, I don't really agree with it too much, so. Are you going to take to Twitter to try to get the... This seems to be the end vogue thing to do to get on the FX prelims now that one fight has been bumped up. Get the people behind you, you know what I'm saying? I never thought about it, but yeah, I should try to do that. Oh, come on.

That's what everyone does. When you want something in MMA, take to Twitter, and usually they listen to you. That's what I've learned over the last year. Right. I'm not too much of a talker. I try to really prove things with my actions, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

But that's... Hey, look at the last year in M.A. That doesn't really get you anywhere. I agree. I know. I got to speak up. Okay, final thing. I don't think I've ever asked you this.

The Menace. That comes from Dennis the Menace, right? Your first name's Dennis. Your nickname's The Menace. But where did it come from? Who gave it to you? Well, when I worked at UPS... Oh, nice.

There it is. Yeah. Worker UPS. When I was funny for Steve Blackman. There was a guy that I worked with. He was his mid-30s, you know, a little higher up. He was a driver.

and, you know, he was asking about when I first thought my fight name was the truth. Oh. People were like, you know, somebody who has that name, as you guys know. Yeah, it's Brandon Vera. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, hey, whatever. So he was like, what's your, what you're fighting? The truth.

He goes, no, you can't be the truth. And anything he ever said to me, kind of made sense and was, you know, sounded good, you know. So he's like, I'm going to come back this weekend and I'm going to have a nickname for you. So it was a Friday. So come Monday, he's like, comes in my truck, the menace. I'm like, what? It's like, your fight name's going to be the menace. I was like, I already thought about it.

Like, you know how in high school or college there was a question that was too easy? So you didn't pick the right answer? Yeah. Like the answer was too obvious that you didn't pick it. Right. That's how I felt about the mess. I felt like I needed something deeper than, you know. Yeah.

He's like, the mess. Man, you know, anything Dennis the menace touches, he destroys. You know, he's constantly, you know, Mr. Wilson's face, like, getting problems, and he's funny, he's a character, he's like, that's like, that's you. I was like, now he said that. Like, I like it. So that's where the mask is.

And you still have the hat. You actually walk around with that hat? Yeah, this is actually a hard hat to get. Yes. This is down. That looks incredible. This is not your standard hat. It looks very comfy.

Yeah, it is, man. What's inside? Everybody at the gym here wants it. What is it? What is it wool or something? I'll put it up. But isn't it illegal to dress up as a delivery guy? Because I always wanted to be a Domino's Pizza delivery guy, and they always told me I couldn't get the uniform.

Now that you don't work for a UPS, isn't that illegal in some ways? I mean, come get me if you can. Oh, damn, right. I still rock it. I mean, I'm not delivering anything, but. No, I know. That's the problem. You could be portray.

I mean, not I think you were going to, but, you know, someone could think you are you a PS guy if you're doing something bad, you know, et cetera, et cetera. Well, I remember when I worked at UPS, I'm always telling me about some guy who took like a regular box truck, painted it brown, put the UPS thing on it, and was like transporting like a ton of weed. Wow. And got pulled over. Yeah. I was like, wow, that's pretty ingenious way of moving some weed is. You know, why would you pull over a UPS truck? That's true.

And did it happen? What he was doing? Was it a success? Was it a mission accomplished? No. He got. Oh, he did. Okay.

Nice. Good story. All right, Dennis. Well, appreciate the time. Good luck to you. And take the Twitter today. If you take the Twitter, no need for a shout-out. Don't credit me or anything.

But if you get on the FX prelims, I want 1% of the contract, all right? Oh, 1,000%? I'm putting you on the tweet, too. Oh, okay, perfect. Maybe I'll retweet it. You said that I should be. Yes, exactly. And maybe for lucky I'll retweet it.

Let's do it. All right. Let's do it. All right. Good luck to you. We'll see you in a couple weeks in Anaheim, and always a pleasure to talk to you. Always. You're the man.

All right, there he is. Dennis, the Menace, Bermudez stopping by from snowy Long Island, New York. He has a fight coming up against Mac Rice, UFC 157, and that is in less than two weeks. Rhonda at the Honda, Ronda Ronda v. Liz Karmouche. I mentioned the tough finale. They just announced, the UFC just announced on the tough finale on April 13th. Misha Tate, the second women's UFC fight has been booked. Misha Tate versus Katzingano.

That's going down. Las Vegas. Second one. History has been made. Misha Tate has signed a multi-fight contract with the UFC. The release has been sent out. The dream has come true. And Misha's fighting Kat.

I like it. All right. That does it for the... Yep. That does it for the interviews today. Now, as I mentioned many times, UFC 157, that goes down this Saturday. not UFC 157

UFC on Fuel TV 7 goes down this Saturday UFC 157 goes down in less than two weeks and that means it is a return of Rick's Picks Challenge. I feel like we need to get a theme song or something for this. Can you work on that? Yeah, I'll think of something. What's going on back there today? I hear

a lot of laughing, a lot of good times. Is this what Leanne does back there? Is she infused this kind of happiness? She boosted the morale. Wow. All you were missing was a female. Is that it basically? Yeah. All right. Well, good to have you on the team, Leanne. Now, have you been focusing on the picks, though?

That's the most impressive, the most important question. Yes, I have. You have. So you're ready. There's a lot at stake here. You're at what now? I believe it's 6308. 63. Are you sure it's on 60?

Yeah. Maybe it's... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 6308? 6308? Yep. Yes. I need to go back to the videotape and make sure, because I, I, I, I, I,

I distinctly remember it being 60.3 something. But I could be making a mistake. Or you just moved the three over. That's true. Which sounds, you know, pretty reasonable. At the end of the day, you're still very far away from the $400 goal, which expires on April 28th. Do we just get a theme song there for a second? Nope.

Oh, okay. All right. So it's Field TV 7. It's Henan Burrow versus Michael McDonald. Are you making any picks? Because according to the site that you frequent, apparently all the lines are out. Yeah. Looks like the full card got posted.

So I don't know if I'm going to make official picks, but I'm definitely going to give some ideas on what I'm leaning toward this weekend. And I might even give a pick or two. Really? Yeah. Okay, but one last question. Before we get to the picks, did you make any picks this weekend? No, there was no picks.

No picks. No. You took the weekend off. Yeah. You felt like after the debacle at 156, you need to take a breath. You need to think a bit. and really sort of evaluate your strategy. I really, you know, I just went into a dark place,

really connected with myself and found myself again, and now I'm ready. And are you changing your strategy in any way? It might shift a little bit. As I said, I'm probably going to, I'm kind of up against the wall right now, so I'm probably going to have to up the bets a little bit to a level that I'm not really comfortable with,

but I have to do it. And are you doing live bets? Well, I'm going to be doing live bets, meaning I'm going to be able to bet in between rounds, before the fight. I'm going to be able to bet as long as there's a line out. So I have to keep myself honest with that. If Rick's, this is my favorite part of the show. If Rick makes $200, I'll drink gas. Done.

Make sure to favorite that so I can find that person. Roddy Karate is his name. Make sure to favorite that. Okay. All right, so what do we got? Let's start with the main event. Okay. Michael McDonald is an underdog.

He's plus 240 to Henan Murau minus 320. This line doesn't really reflect how close I think the fight is. I might favor Henan a little bit, but I don't think that Michael McDonald should be over two to one underdog. I think that they're both similarly athletic, similarly good in the striking department. Burow may have a slight edge in wrestling and grappling, but I don't think that it's worth having to be able to.

having him as a two to one dog. So I'm probably going to be betting on Michael McDonald's. I just have to figure out what the amount is, but I expect a bet on McDonald's coming. Really? I think that this fight on paper is pretty even. Now, it's hard to argue with Henan Burow's resume. You can't argue against a guy who's won that many fights in a row,

but it's not like McDonald has any blemishes on his either. So if you look at it and evaluate it skill for skill, I don't think that McDonald should beat a two to one dog. I really see this as pretty much down the middle 50-50. How much do you think? I mean, that's the first time that I can remember you betting on a underdog. How much do you think we're going to put down there? I mean, yeah, I didn't take Rampage Jackson.

Yeah, but I mean a smart underdog. Oh, I'm just kidding, Rampage. Ouch. Yes. I'm not sure how much, but it should be a significant amount because I think that he has a good chance to. Out of the two, I think McDonald has more power, more ability to finish the fight on the feet,

which I think that's where it'll play out. And I think that Barow's last two performances while dominant, while in control of the fight, were not overly impressive. They were obviously against really tough competition, but it's not like he just annihilated them. And I think that

McDonald's going to, at some point, be able to put his hands on him, and I think that he might build to finish this fight. Wow. Wow. Yeah. That's a shocking statement right there. I like McDonald's. I think that this, This could be the turning point for you. You're liking that?

I like that. I mean, it's an underdog. It's a main event. It's sexy. I like it. This is an interesting card, so we might have some more like that. What else are you thinking?

Porrier is the underdog to Swanson. Porrier is plus 105, and Swanson is minus 145. I also like the underdog in this one. I like Dustin. I think that Swanson's, first of all, Swanson's been on a tear. His last three fights have been,

you know, he's just manhandled guys. But I think that Corrie, his ability to mix in his submission game and his striking is among the top in the sport. And I really like his skill set going into this fight with Swanson. I think that at some point he might be able to either through like a knockdown or some kind of trip or something like that, get Swanson to the ground and possibly finish it. But more than likely, it's going to take place mostly on the feet. And I think he's more than capable of hanging in there with Cub. but you obviously

Cub could land a knockout punch at any time in this fight and it could be over just like that but I think that as an underdog the smart money is on Dustin here Whoa so that's another one Whoa I think that what really is happening is that you are feeling the heat

but not so much that you're starting to figure out how to actually bet on MMA fights that actually betting on the favorite doesn't make you money Well that would be false but yes but yeah there will be some more underdog picks than usual and it's all it's all reflective of the line it has nothing to do with i favor i i play it safe and only pick favorites or i only pick underdogs when i'm in a hole it's just the lines weren't reflective of what i thought was a good value but now they are i think that mcdonald is a great value at plus 240 and pori is not you know some it's not a fantastic value because i do think that uh swanson and porier are very closely matched and it's not a ridiculous line but i do favor

Dustin in this one. All right. What else? I believe the next fight is Diabate and Manoa. Is that right? Yep, yep, yep. Diabate is the underdog at plus 170. Manoa is minus 230. I think Manoa is

going to win the fight. I predict him to win, but it might be worth taking a look at Diabati at plus 170. Because this fight is going to play out mostly on its feet, I assume. And I think that Diabadi can hang with most guys on their feet.

His last loss was that Gustafson? Who took him down and subbed him, I think? UFC 120. But there's no shame in that. And he's a very high-level striker, and I think he's going to be able to hang in there with Manoa. But I think Jimmy will win the fight. That's one that I'm not going to make a pick on yet in terms of betting,

but I might play Diabate or just stay away altogether. I don't like Manoa at that price. but I think he will probably win the fight. Okay. Next is Gunner Nelson and Jorge Santiago. And by the way, amazingly, Diabate lost to Anthony Perosch at UFC 138. Well, there goes that. Someone else is saying that these picks will be your undoing.

Very possible. With the way I'm running, wouldn't surprise me. Really? Yeah. You're not confident going into these. Oh, I actually, I'm very confident going into these, but I was also confident that Overeem and Rashad Evans would win. That's true. And Jacob Volkman.

Okay, continue. We've got Gunner Nelson and Jorge Santiago. Yes. Can't wait for this. I really like Gunner Nelson in this one. And I think at minus 260, he's the favorite. Santiago is plus 180. I think that I'm going to go with Gunner.

I'm not sure if I'm going to play him straight up or put him in a parlay, but I like Gunner in this fight. he's just he's extremely talented i can't even sing his praises enough um i try he's one of the no i think he's one of the top guys in the sport and um the sky's the limit for him i think he's going to make it look pretty easy honestly i don't feel bad for horay in in this sense because like man you come back to the ufc 170 and you fight this guy yeah it's it's tough you know what's interesting about it i kind of feel like gunner nelson would be better at 155 and horay's a former 185 or now they're meeting at 170. Kind of weird.

Those kind of things happen these days though. Of course. It's not even that uncommon anymore. Sure, these things do happen in MMA, but... Like, what's a good one? Oh, Rumble Johnson's fighting at heavyweight now, and Charlie Brennaman is at 155.

Oh, that is crazy. And those guys fought at 170. That's the craziest one of them all. It's insane. They almost shouldn't even count that fight. Well, I wouldn't go that far. He made weight. I think.

Yeah, I think he made way for that one. That's true. So let's move down to the next one. Shane Mills and Matt Riddle. I like the underdog here, which is Matt Riddle at plus 190. Shane Mills is minus 270. I think that Riddle is going to be able to make this one dirty. He's going to be able to get him up against the cage, clinch, take downs.

It's not going to be a fight where Shane Mills is going to be comfortable and just stand in the pocket and be able to unload on Matt Riddle. So I think Matt Riddle is going to be able to wear on him throughout the fight, and I like his value in this one. So is that three underdogs? Porrier, McDonald, Riddle. yes. And I might be looking at Diabate, but probably not. Someone's asking if they should just bet the opposite of what you say. That's a pretty good...

Well, on the last card, they would have made quite a lot of money if they did that. Maybe it's a bit of a reverse psychology that you're doing on them. Well, I can't admit to that, but no, that's not the case. So that's the main card, right? Isn't it six? It is six. That was five? Yeah, that was five.

We have the last one is Tihuna and Juhna and... Gimo. Oh yeah, I like this one. See, I'm kind of torn on this one. I think that there's a possibility that Gimo could win because his style is so, he's one of those guys who gets in and out, and he doesn't just hang around waiting to get hit. And I think that he might be able to implement that against Tihuna, but, oh, let me read the odds, actually. Tihuna is the favorite minus 210. Gimo is plus 160. I think he might be able to do that

but if I'm picking right now I'm picking Tihuna I think that his hands are incredible the beatdowns that he's been delivering lately have been great oh his last loss was actually Gustafin now that I think about it yes yes yes three and one in the UFC

it's the only one in a while that he's lost and it was to Gustafin and I think that he's going to be able to at some point get his hands on GMO and hurt him but I would not be surprised if GMO was able to win this fight.

But I think this is one that I'm going to stay away from. I don't think I'm betting on either guy in this case. Although I'm high on Tuhuna's hands, I just can't because of GMO's style. So I think I'm staying away from this one. All right, that's fair. There's some other interesting fights on the undercard just to talk about them real quick. Sure, sure. And by the way, someone's just giving you props here.

My friend Aliso is giving you props to saying at least Rick is honest about how bad he sucks. So at least you're getting some kind of love. Make no mistake about it. Last week was horrible. Two weeks ago. You're right. Two weeks ago. I only tune in to see if today's the day that Rick's chair will break.

What's wrong with your chair? I don't know. He's just wishing for your chair to break? I suppose so. Oh, that's weird. It's not very funny. Let's be honest. What else are you thinking about?

Castillo and SAS. That's an interesting one. Now, I was in the same position the last time SAS fought, and I ended up going with SAS over Wyman, even though I made a game-tied decision. I had originally come in thinking Sass, I mean thinking Wyman, and then I picked Sass on there. So this one I'm going to be a little more cautious about and think about for a little more. But Danny Castillo and Paul Sass, Castillo is minus 110. Sass is minus 130.

So that would mean Sass is the slight favorite, actually. I'm thinking I lean toward Castillo on this one. I think he's going to be able to stay inside Sass's guard and not get himself into too much trouble, although that's quite tough when a guy's throwing triangles at you every single second that you're on the ground. SAS singles actually, they're called. Yes, SAS singles.

So I'm thinking I'm leaning toward Castillo. I might stay away from this one though just because SAS is so dangerous and yeah, that's a hard one to pick but an interesting fight for sure. Anything else? Let's see. That's pretty much it that I'm looking at.

There's some other interesting. Today was the day many moons ago that Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson. My friend Oreo Man's reminds me, Rick might honestly have a chance. Yeah. Upsets must be the thing to pick. Yeah, that is true. It makes me feel better. Thank you, whoever sent that in.

So are you actually doing any official bets today? Are you going to wait for the whole Friday? I have to wait for the numbers, but McDonald is going to be bet. Dustin Porriere is going to be bet. Gunner Nelson is going to be bet. And Matthew Riddle is also going to be bet. We actually have a guy by the name of Gipster MMA that wants to know what you think of Ogle versus Grisbee. Interesting fight, and the odds makers have that one as dead even right now.

It's minus 220, minus 120, minus 120. Ogles really impressed me with just how tough he is and how durable he is able to stay in fights. And he looked really good in his last fight. I think that was the one where he lost a tough decision. Am I wrong? Ogle, yeah, he fought Kara Korsani. and he had rocked him at multiple times but there were some who believed he actually won the fight right yeah that was that was a tough one and i was i was really i remember just being very impressed

with that coming away from it um whereas grispy has kind of been up and down he was looking like you know a future contender and then his his train kind of derailed a little bit um obviously the grappling department is going to be in the favor of grispy whereas ogle is going to be want to try and keep this standing a little more. I'm not sure who I would want to bet on, but I think that that fight has potential to be really good, just from a fan's perspective. And one thing to look out for,

Josh Crispy, who at one point was supposed to fight Jose Alda for the title before he got injured, has lost his last three in a row. You would think that this is do or die for him. My friend, and I apologize if I'm mispronouncing his name, Mike, it's either Boone or Bonn. He's a great young writer.

He works for MMMANia.com. He does amazing work. and you should follow him on Twitter. Mike B-O-H-N is his last name. He pointed out last week, and this is an amazing stat, which I expect out of you, every person on the undercard, every single person on the undercard,

is coming off a loss. Wow. That's crazy, right? That is crazy. I'm looking at it now. Wow. Yeah. I can't remember the last time that actually happened.

If I had to guess, I would say that never happened, but it could be. So the point is You think a lot of people When you see that You think that a lot of people Are going to try to go for broke maybe I mean there's a lot at stake here in the UFC these days

Any other picks before we go Nope Just stay tuned though Stay tuned for what For the picks down the line for the numbers And there will probably be some undercard Betts coming as well Okay and are you

So are you officially going to go the live betting route or what Yeah we're going to I'm going to be able to bet up until the book closes the line. Okay, and just let you know, there are some people who do like you. You know, some are saying, why am I being so mean to Rick? So this other guy's saying, I'm a Ricky Ever, which I guess is a play on, you know, Believer and Rick. When New York Rick loses all his money, just give him another fake $100. $100, him losing and you talking smack about it is hilarious.

So, you know, there is some love being thrown your way. I was feeling the love. I like the picks here, Bob. Roscoe saying, which means he is screwed. I was feeling the love over the weekend when the MMAB came out. Oh, yeah. What about that? What about that? There's a, there's a huge movement online of people wanting to get you on the MMA beat without even winning the challenge. I mean, that would be like a guy fighting in a division, losing, and then all of a sudden getting a title shot in another division. Well, I've been compared to Chale Sonnen before, so I think that speaks for itself. I will say right now, if you lose this challenge, you will not be sitting. I mean, what do I tell you? the other journalists, the guys who have actually worked hard, who have paid their dues in this business, who have done what has been asked of them, and then all of a sudden, New York, Rick,

who, you know, fancies himself some kind of better, who has a Twitter account with a, you know, a nice name attached to it, all of a sudden is sitting right next to them. Come on. Tell them it's time to hit the road. Do you even have a colored shirt? You know for a fact that I have a colored shirt. That's true. One. I know that you have one. All right. Well, those are the Rick's picks for this. week. Follow him on Twitter. Twitter.com

slash New York Rick. That's the handle. He'll be making his picks official on Friday. He may make them before, but knowing him usually makes him on Friday and then follow him on Saturday because not only does he sometimes

tweet out our videos, he also will be live betting. So check him out on Twitter. Twitter.com slash New York, Rick. Okay, we got some questions to answer and then we've got to get out of here because it's very cold in the studio today. My toes are very cold today.

I wish we could have had a shot outside, but unfortunately, while Will does bring a lot to the table, he doesn't bring this kind of technology that Buzzkill brings to the table. Is that not right, Will? You're not able to pull this off. Or are you? You got it. Get out of here.

Do we have a shot of outside? In five? Oh, we don't. What? You thought I was talking about the questions? Geez. I was talking about the outside shot. I love the outside shot.

And on a day like today after the snowstorm, the rain, it would have been nice. Anyway, before we get to the questions, what's at stake, New York, Rick? We have round five figures. So I think today we're going to give away the Mark Munoz figure. Okay. Where is that? Is that on the table? It should be close to you.

In the front somewhere. Oh, there it is. Mark Munoz. This is a cool one. Are we giving away UFC or WC? We're giving away that one right there. UFC. The one I'm holding?

Yep. Okay. Here we go. It's going to be in the box. right? No, yeah, just that version. Right, okay. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. The first question comes from the website. Yeah.

Where does Tiago Silva go now? He hasn't technically won a fight since knocking out Keith Jardine in August 2009. Yes, and he's coming off well, he was just suspended. He was coming off a win, but he was just suspended. He was fighting in Macau. Well, he's going to be out for a while because, according to that suspension, off the top of my head,

that's at least six months. and then he has to go through the rehab process. So, yeah, I don't really think Tiago's on the radar. That fight was in November, so he can't come back until May at least. Then he has to get cleared and whatnot. So, yeah, it's too early to talk about what's next for Tiago Silva. Great first question, though. That's it for the website.

Yeah, that was it. No, that can't be yet. I was looking at the website this morning, and there were a lot of good questions. Feel free. This is unbelievable. I have to look through the questions here. First off, I saw one. I'm going to even, because I remember it said pet peeve.

Pet peeve, right? He actually asked both of us a question. He said, I want to know what Ariel's and New York Rick's pet peeves are when it comes to MMA. That's a great question. That is a good question. You want to go first? Why didn't you pick it? You go first.

I need a minute to think about it. Oh, okay. There's a few things that I don't like about MMA these days If we're going to get into it right here and now Obviously the judging and the officiating has been talked about ad nauseum So I don't think I need to wax poetic on that It's a bad situation What I don't like about MMA these days, gosh

I mean I am a little annoyed of the whole I need to go on Twitter and campaign for things And if I do it loud enough, things will happen for me I am definitely sick of the, and I know this is kind of giving in to the trolls, but it's also giving in. I'm just, it's tired. It's like, it's like, think of something new. You know, it doesn't work.

I don't even block you because I don't want to even give you the satisfaction of me acknowledging your presence, but just like the constant negativity is a very, I don't know, it's tiresome. So give it a rest or leave me alone or I don't know what it is. And I know that you're going to view this as a sign of weakness. What I love so much about the trolls on. Twitter is when they criticize you and then you respond. They're like, oh, why are you so sensitive? Am I not allowed to respond to your criticism? Why is that me being sensitive? Do you want me to just

let you continue to critique me? It doesn't make any sense to me. What else? I feel like the bad fashion has been phased out for the most part. I mean, there are some t-shirts still there. I think that's about it. That covers it. What about you? You touched on a lot of good things. One of my pet peeves is how after a guy loses, he's the worst fighter ever. Oh, from the fans perspective. Well, it's just an MMA type thing where this guy just nobody cares about him anymore after he loses. One loss. And it's like, oh, the sky is falling now that Rashad Evans has lost. Or now that Overim has lost. It's one of those things where I think people, you know, it's so shocking or even if it's not shocking, the impact, they build it into something

greater than it is where nobody can ever recover from it. And it's just one of my pet peeves where where, you know, this sport is so fluid and it moves so dynamically that a guy could be right back into title contention very quickly. And one loss isn't a big deal. So I think that just the overall sentiment that after a guy loses, it's over for him is one thing that just bothers me a little bit. Yeah. And, you know, by the way, there are a lot of quick questions here. I see one. Would you have a problem if the fighter is, if the fighter is, is, is, is,

person who had sex change something in his or her life. Stop it. Stop it. You're talking about trolling. Stop it. All I'm saying is I feel like you're not reading the questions well enough. Oh, believe me. I read that one.

Okay. But I like that pep people. That was a good one, right? And it was like the fourth one. I agree. That was a good one. Just stop with the negativity. You know what?

I'll stop as well. I won't complain anymore about the weird title shots and all that stuff. Just let's be a little more positive. Okay, more questions. These are from Twitter. Yeah. These are eligible for our. round five figure.

Okay. The first question from Kevin Cutler. Is Vitor Belfort's win over BISBing less impressive considering he was on TRT? Well, I think it would be, I think it would be irresponsible on my part to say it's less impressive because he didn't do anything illegal. At the end of the day, he did exactly what was asked of him, and he played by the rules. So how can I say it's less impressive? That would be me calling him a cheater.

That would be me saying that he did something illegal, did. and played by the rules, et cetera, et cetera. Now, are you asking, is TRT something that should be phased out of MMA? Well, I think at the end of the day, it needs to be looked at a little more closely. We need to figure out if the guys who are using TRT right now actually do need it. And then there's the question about if you have been caught using PEDs in the past, should you even be eligible to use TRT? Because when that happens, when you do abuse the steroids in particular, your test,

testosterone, you deplete your testosterone and your levels and all that nonsense, and then you can use TRT to get back up. So those are the questions. We've talked about this on the MMAB, I suggest checking it out. But the question you are asking me right now, is it less impressive? I can't say, yes, it is less impressive because he played by the rules. The rules, I think, need to be changed, but as they stand right now, he played by them. That's kind of why I think that, like, it's crazy to to vilify the Mark McGuire's of the world because at the time they were playing by the rules they didn't get caught. What's going on?

Nothing. Okay. Our next question is from Asian-Sensation-81. Okay. Bisbing's reaction to Vitor's TRT use was very classy. Because of this, should fighters be aware if an opponent is using TRT? I think so. And who's to say Bisping didn't know in this situation?

I mean, certainly he called Vitor every name in the book, but the more important point right now for Michael is that he did, he did react very, in a very classy manner, and he put out what was the only thing that he could really put out at this point. You know, take the high road. Say what you had to say, criticize a little, but at the end of the day, take the high road. And that was the first time that Michael Bisping, it felt like, put something out there and receive just 100% adulation, positive feedback, et cetera, et cetera. So kudos to Mike on that front.

I thought he did a great job with that, but it's hard not to feel for him. And again, he said a mistake cost him. At the end of the day, a mistake cost him. Turn out the field for him. He did lose a title shot. But, you know, those are the rules right now. And the same way if someone fights anyone on TRT these days. Those are the rules, I think, at the end of the day, to answer your question, yeah, you should know.

And if your opponent is using TRT and is doing so, you know, within the guidelines being set forth by the commission or the promotion or whatever, you should find. out you should do whatever you can to find out if he really does need it. That's all. I think this is going to be our, this is going to be our whatever that thing was that was found in the locker room of Mark McGuire. This is going to keep going on and on and on. It's going to be a topic of discussion until they figure it out right now. It doesn't seem like there's any real change in sight. I think it was Andrew, right? Was it Andrew? Yeah, something like that. Our next question from Tony Pinero. Yes. What are your thoughts on Tito announcing cyborg wants to get released? What's out there?

for her besides the Rousey fight? Not much. There isn't much out there at 145. I mean, I guess Bellator or Invicta can create a division around her, but there isn't much out there. That's the fight everyone wants to see. Even if it's not Ronda, there are more exciting fights for her at 135 in the UFC. Misha Tate, Sarah McMahon, Katzingano. I mean, even Sarah Koff, I mean, I guess there's a Marluse Kuhunin fight out there. She doesn't seem interested in going down to to 135, but they fought already. So do we really want to see that again? It's unfortunate.

The UFC hasn't responded. Try to get an update on the situation today. There isn't much of an update. They haven't officially released her based on what her manager told me. And that's not Tito. Her main manager, Stanley Day. So it sounds like that's what they want.

That is accurate. But I don't really know what the play is here. I guess she can't get down to 135 so she wants to go. but at the end of the day, with this fight coming up in less than two weeks, all the talk, especially afterwards if Rhonda wins, is going to be on this fight. And the timing sucks. It sucks for everyone. It sucks for the UFC.

It sucks for Cyborg. It sucks for Rhonda. It would have been the biggest fight in women's in May history. Hopefully, cooler heads prevail. Hopefully they could figure it out. But right now, she says she wants out. There are a lot of people who, you know, say she's scared or whatever. You've got to believe her at this point, though, right?

I mean... That she's scared? No, that she really just can't get down. there. I mean, this... Why wouldn't she want this fight? Exactly. She fought Gina. I don't believe she's scared. Yeah. I do believe, but I guess the question people are asking, why can't she get down there? Is she trying? You know, she has been accused of, I mean, she tested positive,

right? Is she taking something that is not allowing her to go down to 135? Things like that. Yeah. Next question. From Christian Cruz, if Gustafson wins against Musassi, that makes it seven in a row with at least four finishes. Is it even possible to deny him a title shot? Well, it certainly is possible in this MMA world of ours, but we'll think about it from a timing perspective. That fight is taking place April the 6th in Sweden. Then the title fight is April 27th.

The big key is, are they going to do John Jones versus Anderson Silva? That's what I'm wondering. If they do that fight, then it sounds like he's going to have to wait. If they don't do the fight, that he could be the number of contender, but what's happening with Hendo and Machita? Is the winner of that fight getting a title shot? I mean, I'd like to see some new blood, especially if he wins convincingly,

but you know how it's going to go on Fight Week. We're going to ask the question. Maybe it's going to be said to promote the fight, et cetera, et cetera. So honestly, in my heart of hearts, do I think he gets a title shot with a win? No. Does he deserve it? Yes, I just don't see him getting it.

So who gets it? You think that Silva, John Jones is happening? I think they're going to try to do that. Wow. Yeah. But hey, what happens if Anderson fights Wydenman in July? Will the timing work out? And on top of that, what if Wydenman wins?

And hey, what if Chale wins? A lot can happen. Our next question from our good friend, Aliso. Yes. Do you think that the Bellator brass are trying to take stabs at the U.S.C.? For example, the fight master coaches? I don't think they're trying to take stabs at them. I think they're trying to, they're looking at what works out there.

They're looking at, you know, what has worked in the past. and, you know, they're saying, okay, this is the model. This is what people are used to, especially on our network. The Ultimate Fighter started on Spike. They didn't come up with the idea, but it was perfected and it, you know, was made famous on Spike. I said on the MMA beat last week, I think it's a bit convoluted. You get on the show, you get to pick your coach. Well, what if everyone picks Randy Kutour?

What about Joe Warren? And you get to pick your opponent? Okay, that's the tagline, right? You get to pick your opponent. Well, wait a second. If I pick you, what if you don't want to? to fight me. Does everyone get to pick their opponent? So, you know, I think they're just trying to tweak what's already out there. I do like the fact that, you know, it's a little different as

far as the living conditions and whatnot. Don't love the name, Fightmaster, Inkmaster, Bar Rescue, Jim Rescue, something a little different would have been nice. But let's see what happens. I mean, they have four different personalities. They've got Greg, Greg Jackson, Frank Schamrock, Randy Couture, Joe Warren. Let's see what happens. But I don't think they're trying to take a stab. I think they're just trying to put on a successful show. Our next question from Big Dog Martial Arts. Do you think Dana will go through with preventing Randy from cornering Ryan Couture? I hope not.

Not so much because it's his coach or whatever. That's his father at the end of the day. And you know how I feel about father's sons right now. I mean, you know, that's his son. That's his father, Ryan's father, Randy's son. That's a great moment. That's historic. That's the first, you know, son of a U.S.

fighter, son of a U.C. Hall of Famer fighting in the UFC. But do I think so? Yeah. I mean, he said it. I don't think he would lie about something like that. So I think it will happen. I don't think Randy will be allowed. But I'd like to see it happen. Ricardo Lom, I'm sorry, this is from Matt Dunk, or Dumeke, or whatever the pronunciation is.

Yep. Ricardo Llamis tweeted over the weekend that he has accepted a fight in May. Who do you believe his opponent will be? If it's not the Korean zombie, then I would be shocked. Korean zombie said he wants to come back early to mid-summer. That kind of fits in line with that. They're the top contenders. They both say they want to fight each other,

where at least Korean zombie said about Lamas, it would only make sense for Lamas to fight him. It's a great fight on paper. If it's not the Korean zombie, I can't. I mean, who else is there, out there? It has to be him. Our next question is from Anthony Marchetto. Is Phil Davis taking the Magalesh fight

to squash personal issues slowing down his rise to the title picture? Well, as I said last week, I don't think Vinny is ranked as highly as Phil. I still have Phil ranked in my top five. I mean, he did beat Alexander Gustafson. He lost to Rashad. That's his only loss. He beat No Gera. I mean, I still have him up there.

The Wagner Prado thing kind of slowed him down a little bit, but he had to build himself back up after the loss to Rashad. I don't think it's slowing his rise, but, I mean, he doesn't gain as much as Vinny does if he wins. That's for sure. But a nice dominant win over someone like Vinny at this point is not. nice. And at light heavyweight, there isn't much out there for Phil Davis. So it doesn't bother me all that much. And at the end of the day, I'm sure the UFC was interested in the fight. If they weren't, you know, it's not like Phil went out there and asked for the fight.

UFC put it together. Vinny spoke loudly enough. So I don't think it's so bad. It happens. He's building himself back up. And if he wins this fight, then I think the light heavyweight picture will be a lot more clear come end of April. Our last question on Twitter is from Ash at a girly MMA. Oh. How much time does A is for Ariel? How much time does Ariel spend stroking his chin, water bottle, and other surrounding objects during each episode? I'm hypnotized.

Well, I'm not sure. I don't really pay attention. Have you been, I'm assuming since you picked this question like three hours ago, you would have been monitoring this. We actually have a clock back here that we've been keeping time. Yeah. And it's been 20 minutes and 39 seconds of stroking. Is that true? Oh, that would have been amazing.

I would have been so impressed if you did that. I do like to play with the facial hair. That is true. I am guilty on that count. The water bottle, do I really stroke the water bottle? What you do is you put your hand on top of it? I do. And you use it like a scepter of some sort?

It's a nice resting place for my wrist. I mean, God forbid we get some room in this studio here. It's a little tight. That's going to change, I'm told. But it is a little tight. So it's just a nice place to put my... I'm afraid if I touch this, this thing was going to collapse.

Speaking of space, somebody in the in the comment section noted your vine from earlier. Oh, yeah. And said, why don't we do the show out there on the couches that we have so much space? Do you really want me to answer that? No, just something. Do you want me to get fired? Water bottle, other surrounding objects. I mean, I don't touch much.

I did touch this Mark Runeo's doll that we're giving out. Is she making a play for this? I'm not sure. At the end of the day, she says she's hypnotized. So I'm not sure. This sounds almost like a compliment as opposed to an insult. I mean, let's be honest. It's an insult.

All right. She is a lovely young woman there. I see her there. A Girl M.A. Who knows if it's really her now with the catfishing these days and whatnot. But I'll take it. I'll take it. We have one caller if you want to take that.

Great. Who is it? His name is Adrian. Adrian from Alberta. Okay. let's go. Adrian from Alberta. Sounds like a made-up name. Adrian, are you there? Yeah, I'm here.

Usually when someone's first name has the same letter as the first name of where they're from, it seems a little fishy to me. Well, I'm from a heart of the state of Alberta. There you go. Is it closer to Calgary or Edmonton? Edmonton.

Okay. What's on your mind? Well, I was just wondering if you think that the Swedish UFC fans are kind of being taken a little bit for granted. You know, they get Gustafin in their main event, a great main event, and then it sells out immediately,

and then the card fills up with, you know, I know it's a fuel card, but basically it fills up with prelim fights, not to say they won't be great fights, but, you know, if they, you know, if it's a new market, you know, these guys want to see the big names as well, right? Just like every, just like the guys in Vegas. So, yeah, do you think they're kind of

taking advantage of a little bit, and do you think that'll come back to bite them next time the U.C. He comes back to Sweden. It's a valid question. Why are you so concerned about the Swedish fans? Are you Swedish? My ancestors from Sweden, yeah. Well, there you go.

And actually, actually the fight for my birthday. And I was actually going to, I was planning to make a trip to Sweden and buy tickets when they, because I'm on the fight club, I was applying to buy tickets on the seventh and make a trip to Sweden. On my birthday, I make a little vacation out of it, but I just couldn't get the days off. work. Oh, that's a bummer. And now you're hating on the card.

Listen, it's a few... No, I'm not necessarily hating on the card because, you know, when they came to Calgary for 149, that was the first only event I've been to. And even after all the cancellations and injuries and that, I was still stoked for it because, you know, I was really interested in the matchups, you know, Czech Congo versus Sean

Jordan was a big up-and-comer, you know, Hector Lombard's debut. And, you know, so even though on paper they weren't, you know, marquee matchups, I was still really excited for it. And, but that being said, you know like they did everything they could to bring in your shog and big nog and you know alves and like the big name guy so i just feel a little bit bad for the swedish fans who you know it's a new market and you know they're

obviously eaten up the tickets real fast and you know paying you know the ufc's making doing really well there you know i just feel and you know look at the brazilian Brazilian fans you know they get they get big names to it just feels like um you know if you have a feel kind of a boxing card you know with the with the one big main event and And then, you know, just, again, not to say it won't be great fights, but just on paper, you know, everyone wants a few big names, right? Yeah, they do. But look, I'm comparing this card to UFC on Fuel TV number two, which was the first one in Sweden. I like Gustafsson versus Musassi way better than Gustafsson versus Tiago Silva or the original opponent for Gustafsson, which was Littlenog.

Then you've got, okay, man, you know, I don't know, let's wait and see. but right now, I mean, who knows what the co-main event is. You got Stan Sakara, Tiago, CR, Diego Nunes, Dennis, DeMarcus Johnson, John McGuire, Brad Pickett, Demasio Page. Now, at Fuel TV 9, you've got DeFries, Mitrione, Ryan Coutur, Ross Pearson, that's interesting. Easton Pickett, interesting. Khorasani, Peralta. What else? Oh, you got Marcus Brimidge versus Connor McGregor.

I know a lot of people are interested in him coming out of Ireland. Yeah. Ryan LaFlair, undefeated, Chris Spang against Adlaan Amagov. I mean, I think it's pretty equal. And you've got a better main event. So I think Fuel TV 9 actually might win. Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Try to be positive.

You know, I was saying, be more positive. Yeah, I know that is really good. And on another positive, the fuel card before that, though, is just, I think it's the one before that is the one in Japan. That one's absolutely amazing. In my opinion, that's better than a lot of people. paper views. I think on paper, I think that one in 156 on paper some of the best cards they put together. That's an awesome

card. The first four or five months of the UFC schedule has been amazing and they're doing a great job and thank God there have been no injuries, serious ones thus far. The Fuel TV cards have been great. Hopefully continues. This is a great weekend coming up with the Belator Bantamweight title fight and then the UFC on

Fuel TV 7 card is I think it's one of the best fuel cards thus far of the 7 thus far. Eight is great. Nine is great. No room for complaints here. All right. I agree. Good attitude.

All right, man. Go Oilers. See you later. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you betcha. All right. There he is. Our buddy from nearby

Edmonton stopping by. Okay, is that it? No more calls? That was it. Who wins the Mark Munoz doll? And by the way, doesn't this neck, if you're listening, it just feels like this is a very uncomfortable pose.

It just bothers me to look at it. You know what I mean? It's photorealistic. It's a great one. It was at some point a photo of him punching like that. All right, all right. Just in that position right there.

And that's what we got. It's a great one. It looks like him. It just seems like it hurts. Who wins? I like the Tito Cyborg question, just because I thought that that was one that I hadn't seen a lot in the feed, and I thought it was pretty interesting.

What was it again? He was just asking about her being released and what else is out there for her. It's a hot topic. Razi's fighting. I could live with it. Was there any other one you were considering? The one about the Gustaf's title shot was good because we got into a a little bit about Silva Jones.

We had the one about Bisbing's comment on Belfort. You know, not bad. Classy. Our friend Aliso. You pick. You pick. My pick is Tito Cyber. Okay. So that's it. All right. That's it. We're done. Isaac, you get my music.

An eventful show, one that could have really gone down into the history books. But a fun show nonetheless. Plus three hours and five minutes strong. I could use a long nap right about now. And I won't be getting one, but it would be nice to think about one. So let us thank everyone who stopped by. Let us thank Dennis Bermudas. Really enjoyed this stuff out of Dennis this past week,

and I look forward to his fight against Mack Rice, and I see some people tweeting on his behalf to get on the FX prelims. Great idea. Very good idea. I want to thank Bjorn Rebney for stopping by, and good luck to him this. Thursday, 8 p.m. Eastern, SpikeTV.com, 10 p.m. Eastern, Spike TV, Bellator, 89, Eduardo Dantes versus Marcus Galvon.

He really sold that well. Jimmy Manoa, thank you so much to him. Good luck to him as he faces Cyril Diabate. UFC on Fuel TV 7. This Saturday on Fuel TV, it's a day fight, a day card. You'll love it. I enjoy the Saturday afternoon cards. A lot of fun. Cups Swanson, good luck to him against Dustin Poirier. Looking forward to that fight, very much. A big fight in the featherweight division. and Uriah Hall. Great guy. Really enjoyed the stuff out of him and looking forward to see how he does on the show.

And Ryan Couture, thank you so much. And Eddie Alvarez. Thank you so much for stopping by. Great stuff out of Eddie. Next week's show is coming together slowly but surely, but you'll have to follow me on Twitter to find out more about next week's show.

And it's a big one for our New York Rick. Will he be able to get back on track with Rick's Pick's Challenge? Follow him to find out UFC on Fuel TV 7. We will see you next week. Same time and place. Stitcher, iTunes, all that stuff for the replays. We'll see you next week. Peace.

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