MMA Fighting - The MMA Hour - Episode 176

Episode Date: August 14, 2014

Featuring CM Punk, Cat Zingano, Kelvin Gastelum, Tommy Toe Hold, John Crouch, Lorenz Larkin, Ulysses Gomez, and Roxanne Modafferi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the Downloaded 2, 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?

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for the show comes from Odu. Running a business is hard enough, so why make it harder with a dozen different apps that don't talk to talk to each other. Introducing O-DU. It's the only business software you'll ever need. It's an all-in-one fully integrated platform that makes your work easier,

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beautiful Monday afternoon here in New York City. And I hope it is as beautiful wherever you may be joining us. And who knows, maybe you're a first-time listener or watcher of the show. For a specific reason, we'll get to that. little later on. Joined in the back, as always, by Mr. New York Rick, Mr. Buzzkill Brendan, Will, Michael, they're all back there, doing great work as always. And we have a stacked show, my friends.

Of course, on Saturday night, it was the Tough 17 finale in Las Vegas. And what a card it was from Katzen Gano's win over Misha Tate, from Kelvin Gasselm, shocking the world and defeating Uriah Hall from Travis Brown's. Illegal Elbows? Or not illegal elbows? We call those legal elbows. We'll talk about that. And of course,

Uriah Faber looking so good against Scott Jorgensen. Much to discuss on this show. We'll talk about Tough 18, in particular, excuse me, 17, in particular in the third hour. We'll also be talking about

Tough 18 in the third hour. Roxanne Modifery, fan of the show, friend of the show, longtime mixed martial artist. She flew all the way from Japan to Las Vegas to try out for Tough 18. Of course,

Tough 18 is the historic show that will feature. both men and women in the house at the same time, 135-pounders, and now we know that Ronda Rousey, Katzenegano, will serve as the coaches. We're also going to be talking to Ulysses Gomez, who just told me that he is not allowed to try out for the show. Of course, he was once a flyweight in the UFC, tried out at 135 where I wanted to try out, and they just told him, he just told me this right now. They're not letting him try out, but we're going to talk to him anyways, see what exactly happened there.

We'll also take a look at Rick's Pick's Challenge, see how he did on Saturday night, and look ahead to the stacked UFC on Fox 7 card. We have a poll right now on the site about which fight are you most looking forward to on Saturday. It's a great main card, Strike Force versus the UFC, great undercard as well on FX. We'll talk about that in the third hour. We also want you to hit us up on Twitter using the hashtag the MMA hour, or leave us some questions in the comment section below. one gets a prize and also today's pose of the day you guys have been liking this well it's an

obvious one it's frank me your face use the hashtag frank mir face we've got some good ones this time and uh the prizes maybe and i know i've said this a lot maybe the best one we've ever had uh it was just delivered to us this morning i'll tell you about it later but trust me it's worth it's worth your time especially all we're asking for as a picture now let's run down the guests here quickly and of course i am ariel halwani welcome back to the m m m m hour at around And 240, the internet sensation known as Tommy Tollhold will be stopping by. So many of you have been harassing me to have this guy, this character, this I don't know what he is, a face. Looks like those Canadian figures on South Park.

You know what I'm talking about. Very popular. There's a great job every Wednesday with his new episode. The Tommy Tollhold show, he'll be stopping by at 240. 220. We'll talk to Demand soon. Lorenz Larkin. He makes his UFC debut against Francis Caramont.

And then at 2 o'clock, C.M. Punk, the former WWE champion, the guy who should still be the WWE champion. He was in attendance on Saturday at the Tough 17 finale, first UFC event that he took in live. We'll talk to him about that. John Crouch is the head coach over at the Lab in Arizona. He's also longtime coach of won Benson Henderson, the UFC lightweight champion. Huge weekend coming up for Benson. So he faces Gilbert Melendez for the UFC Lightweight Championship. It's a unification bout.

I was thinking about this this morning. I think it's the first unification bout in UFC since 82, Dan Hendo versus Anderson. Right? I think so. Anyway, we'll talk to John Crouch about the fight. At 120, we'll talk to Katzen Gano. Of course, huge comeback win over Misha Tate on Saturday night. But first, let us begin with the man of the hour, the man who stole the show, the underdog of all underdogs,

perhaps the biggest underdog to win the ultimate fighter in its own. 17 seasons, a great performance, an inspiring performance, and he joins us via the magic of Skype. There he is. Calvin Gasselm joins us right now. Kelvin, how are you? Good, man. Thanks for having me on. You didn't believe us. Well, what is that? I've never had a tweet like that, where someone didn't actually believe that he was going to be on the show. What's up with that? Why don't you trust us? No, it's not that I didn't believe in you, man. I just didn't know for sure if it's going through. So, well, it's great to have you here. And first off, congratulations on an amazing win and inspiring win, as I said.

You're in Las Vegas right now. You're at the tough tryouts. Is that right? Yeah, I'm at the tryouts. I got my buddy. I got two buddies trying out, actually. So you're not there just to tell people this could be you one day. You're actually there to help your friends try to get it on the show.

That's right. Is it a little weird, though? I mean, you just came off the show. You were that guy just a few months ago. You see there's probably nerves in the building, anxiety. Now you're kind of living the life. You're on cloud nine. is it weird to now see the other side of the fence where you were just a few months back?

Yeah, man. It's a totally different perspective from what I am now. And, you know, it's just incredible on the journey I've been with since then. So this happened less than 48 hours ago. Can you put into words how you're feeling now? Has it sunk in? Are you a believer of this situation? What's going on in your mind?

I can't even put it in words, man. I don't even know. I'm, you know, I don't know. I'm so, I'm speechless, I guess. You haven't been home yet, right? No, I'll be home tomorrow. Was your mother in attendance on Saturday? Yes, you were.

Okay, so, of course, they had a great, you know, profile on you before the fight and whatnot. The discussion with your mom when you first saw her, what was that like? You were so emotional afterwards. You were crying. It was a great scene. What did she tell you when she saw you? You know, obviously it was very emotional. She just said that I deserved all this and congrats.

At what point did you start to realize that you can actually win this thing? Was it before you got into the house? Was it when you saw the competition after your first win in the house? At what point did you really start to believe in yourself? Because let's be honest, it seemed like the coaches didn't. You were the last pick on the team. Yeah, I mean, I expected them to really pick out to be one of the last picks. You know, I didn't really perform in my first fight to get into the house.

So I kind of expected it coming in, but, I mean, I don't know if I expected to win. I just expected to go out there and fight hard, each and every single fight, and that's exactly what happened. The outcome speaks to himself. Why do you think you didn't perform well in the first fight to get into the house? Probably just the nerves, you know, the nerves got the better of me. I didn't use my hands as much as I would like to, and just my all-around game.

I didn't get to really put it all together very well, just mostly because of nerves. I kept hearing on the show that people were saying, like, in practice you're going at 70%, you may not be giving you're 100%, but then when you get in there, you're a totally different guy. You rise to the occasion. Do you think that's accurate?

Somewhat, I guess. I mean, I'm not in the sparring room trying to knock people, wow, you know, I go in there trying to get better. So, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty accurate, I guess. So you've had, you know, you've been living on this sort of big news story for the last few months where you couldn't tell anyone really, you're doing interviews and whatnot, but you couldn't tell anyone that you made the finals until last Wednesday.

How difficult was that? You know, it was pretty hard. You know, I really wanted to, yeah, it was. And, but, you know, I kept that pretty simple for myself. I stayed away from all the big media stuff. It just kept it pretty simple for myself. I just trained hard and got ready for the flight. I know it's fresh, but do you have a sense now

as to how your life will change? Do you feel like people are coming out of the woodwork? People are talking to you, bugging you, asking you for things, approaching you. Do you sense this? Yeah, yeah. It's already been going on all day today. You know, these guys coming up to me

and asking for pictures, you know. just a couple of months ago, I was these guys' shoes, so it's a new experience. So the people trying out today are asking you for a photo? Yeah. Is that surreal? I mean, I guess it is. You know, I'd be doing the same thing if I was in their shoes. So you're 21 years old.

How do you stop this from getting to your head, from getting a big head because of all this? Shoot, I don't know, man. I just keep it pretty simple. You know, I don't try to let anything get to my head. So you're not the kind of guy who believes your own hype? No, I guess not. I mean, I have confidence to myself and believe I can do whatever. You know, I can win fights and stuff,

but I don't go out there and overthink stuff. I don't know. I just keep it pretty simple for myself, though. So let me ask you, do you think Yariah believed his own height? on Saturday? I don't think he did. You know, he did. You know, people are saying he didn't perform

and I would, I guess I would have to agree, you know, mostly because I was putting the pressure on him and actually bringing the fight, which is, you know, what a lot of the guys didn't do. Adam Sella was the guy that brought the fight to him until he stayed really stationary

in the last couple seconds that got caught with that clean kick. And then the other guys were just scared. And I wasn't scared. I was about to fight, too. But did you expect more out of him when you, you know, you've trained with the guy. You were on his team for so long. So when you got in there and actually had to compete against him,

were you thinking to yourself that I expected more out of him? Yeah, kind of. You know, I expected to be a war, which it was. But I expected more flashy stuff for him to try and keep me away. from him, but he let me, you know, he let me implement my game plan more than he did his. So, you know, obviously it worked out of my favor. UFC President Dana White said that he mentally broke in the fight. Do you think you were the guy who, was it because of you, or do you think he was broken going

into it? Did you get that sense out of him? To be honest, I don't know what was going on with him. I really wanted to know. Well, he said he had a hard time kind of getting up for you because he liked you so much and respected you, your friends. Why didn't you have that problem? I don't know, man.

I mean, we were in the same situation with every other guy at the house. He performed really well. You know, he said he liked Dylan, and he beat Dylan. I was able to perform. I don't know what the case was. But for me, for me, you know, I go into the fight thinking that he's trying to take something that I got and you know I'm not going to let him take something that uh that I earned obviously that's that's my that's my mentality going into the fight you know obviously I like the guy

and we had a great friendship in the show and we trained a lot together but uh for 15 minutes you know I got to I got to make myself believe that that I hate him so it seemed like you guys were uh you know you're obviously very respectful after the fight you embraced did he say anything to you after the fight he just said that he you know he just said that he you know He's very proud of me and that I deserved it. Yeah, and whose idea was it for you to try out for the show? Mine. Yeah, I was sitting in my office one day, and then I seen an ad on MMA junkie,

and I was like, hey, I guess I'm going to go, you know, try out and see what happens. I saw, before that. Go ahead. Sorry. No, no, go ahead. Because before that, you know, I was struggling. And I was about ready to quit MMA for a while and just, get another job because obviously I wasn't

doing so well financially but I was about ready to quit M&A for a while. Really? Despite the fact that you were undefeated, you had some nice finishes. Why do you think that this was not for you? I didn't say it wasn't for me. It just had I quit temporarily to get another job. I wasn't doing so well financially.

So if you didn't get on the show, you probably would have quit? Yeah, for a while. Wow. And do you think you would have come back? Yeah, yeah, of course. I know I've always wanted to fight, and I'm always going to continue to fight, no matter what it happens. So what's for a while, like a year or two or more than that? Yeah, I would say I probably would have quit for about a year,

and then starting easing back into it since my financial situation was well, and now for me to quit a job. So was that in your mind when you were trying out? Did you put pressure on yourself? Did you say this is do or die for me? Yeah, kind of. you know, I was like, man, if I don't make it, you know, it's going to be a while until I'm back in a cage somewhere, you know. And, you know, luckily, it worked out all in my favor.

If you didn't win the show, do you think you still would have quit? No. No. Because once you got on the show, at least you would have got a shot in the UFC, at least one fight, right? Exactly, exactly. You know, I saw an interview that you did after one of your rage in the cage fights, and you said, yeah, it's time for me to go down to 170. And then after the fight, Mike Dolce tweeted to you saying, hey, let's talk about that weight class.

Are you moving down to 170? You know, that's something that I haven't talked with Dana, Joe, anybody. But, yeah, that's what my next move is. What I want to be. I haven't really talked to anybody about it yet. Can you make 170? Are you confident you can make it? Yeah, I am.

Have you fought at 170 before? No, all my fights have been to what you've fought, but I know that once I get the diet going and my workouts, I'll be able to make one-sevahs for sure. And why at 170, though? You just won the show, you just beat Uriah Hall. You look good at 185. Why do you feel like you need to go down?

You know, he felt real strong. Uraith felt real strong, and I wasn't able to control him like I wanted to and really finished the fight. You know, that was the first fight that I haven't finished. in my career. So, you know, I'm not a point fighter. I go out there and I try and finish fights.

So that's the only thing, you know, he felt really strong. How was your cardio, the fact that you went 15 minutes? How did you feel afterwards? I felt all right, man. You know, I tried to fight for 15 minutes hard, and I felt good. You talk to one of these guys now, and they say, you know, I'm not really sure about going on this show. I don't know if it's for me, I'm going to be away from my family.

Why should they do it? What's the best part of being on the show? Obviously, winning and all that. But as far as the experience being in the house and all that, what would you say to them? Yeah, the experience is awesome. You know, obviously I'm surrounded by a great group of guys. I think, you know, all of Team Sonning and the team sonny coaches there, Coach Hewley, Coach Clayton, Coach Scott.

They were all there. Obviously, Chale, they were all awesome. It was a great experience. I would have recommended it to anybody, you know? And you were okay with the cameras in your face and all that stuff? I mean, at first I was a little shy, you know. I was camera shy, which is why you didn't probably even see me much during the show. You know, when the cameras came, I'd hide.

But yeah, towards the end, it was like the ordeal there. Any truth to the rumor that you performed so well on Saturday that you rose to the occasion because Ronda Rousey was sitting in the front row. No, that's not the case. Did you get to meet her in person at the event? Of course, you met her before, but talked to her? Yeah, yeah, I saw her at the post-fight press office. What she said to you?

She said congrats, you know? Because, you know, she was friendly with your eye. They trained together and whatnot, you know, so I was just wondering what she said. She said congrats. All right. That's all. No, just wondering.

It was a nice scene when she was talking to you on the phone and all that. People were wondering. Yeah, it was cool. Of course. Any serious injuries coming off the fight? No, nothing serious. Just a few bruises here. And then my leg, you know, he kicked the crap out of my leg.

So when would you like to return? I'd say maybe in, like, four months, for sure. All right. Well, you deserve a break. You're going to go on vacation or something? Yeah, I'll probably travel around. I'm going to be up at... Well, hopefully I'll be able to get to Chelsea's fight in New Jersey.

All right. Well, hopefully we'll see you there. Congratulations, man. A great story, a great performance on Saturday. One of the best in Ultimate Fighter History. Enjoy it. Good luck with your teammates trying out there today and hope to talk to you very soon.

Thank you. I appreciate it, man. It's been a long-time dream coming on your show. pleasure. Great to have you on the show and enjoy everything that comes with winning the Ultimate Fighter. Thank you, man. Please, sir. There he is. The winner of the Ultimate Fighter season 17. Kelvin Gasselm. Great stuff. What's going on here? Hey, New York, Rick. Are you able to talk to me? People emailing me in the middle of the show, it's like, it's hard for me to respond to your requests about guests and whatnot in the middle of the show. You know what I'm saying? Trying to focus here on the moment. Trying to stay in the moment like Mr. Kelvin Gasselm did on Saturday.

He defeated Uriah Hall. He derailed, at least for now, the Uriah Hall hype train. And I know a lot of people will probably want to say, oh, he was all hype, oh, we were pushing him too fast. I actually thought all things considered that he was very humble. You know, when people ask him a question about fighting top ten guys and fighting guys above him, well, he's going to answer it. And then if you want to run with that, you can run with it. There's nothing wrong with it.

But I think deep down at his core, I don't think Uriah believed the hype. Maybe the moment got to him, you know, this is a guy who on the show, you know, perhaps he was lacking confidence. And I think that Chil Sondon deserves a lot of credit for being, in my opinion, arguably the best coach in the history of the Ultimate Fighter, because this was a guy who you could tell just watching that he really, he really was emotionally invested in his fighters. You know, he's there, he's giving them massages, he's loosening them up, he's giving them peptop. each guy he dealt with in a different way. And maybe it was a coincidence, maybe not. But both of his guys made it to the finals. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for that.

I didn't really expect anything less at a chale. That's the kind of coach. You expect that out of him if you know him a little bit. And I really think he did a great job. Off the top of my head, I'd say him, maybe Mayhem, as far as the best coaches in the show's history. Ken Shamrock. I'm just joking.

Not Ken Shamrock. Those two come to mind. And I think he did a great job. And, you know, maybe Uriah, he wasn't around Chale as much going into the fight. Maybe the moment, Mandalay Bay, the crowd, all that stuff. Maybe that got to him. I think, obviously, we'll see him back in the UFC. I'm curious to see how he responds.

Maybe with less on his plate, less attention, less buzz, all that stuff. You know, it's one thing to be kind of the, the, the co-main event, which is another thing to be on the prelims and, you know, kind of work your way up. So congratulations to Kelvin Gasselm, and I'm curious to see what he does next. It seems like 170 is in his future. Seems like that'd be better suited for him. Now, I forgot to mention, just one second, I forgot to mention at the top of the show, of course, last week on the MMA hour, some controversy, of course, in the aftermath of the Mitreone Minute,

and Matt Matrione got suspended and definitely by the UFC and the media attention that received. Going to address that in the third hour now it's the interview time and whatnot, but I have not forgotten. I did say that on the show,

I will talk about it. I wrote that on Twitter on Wednesday, and that was a, was it on Wednesday? I think it was Tuesday afternoon. That was a weird 24-hour stretch, but we will be addressing that later on in the show. Now, coming up in a matter of moments,

that's what I'm trying to deal with here as I'm trying to talk about, talk to you. Katzengano is going to be stopping by. An amazing fight, an amazing performance out of Katzengano. If you haven't seen it, check it out on the morning report, which my man, Sean does so well each and every day over at MMAFighting.com, each and every weekday. They aired the walkout, or at least he had a clip of the walkout, which did not air on FX due to the commercial obligations. And Katzengano coming out to the cage, this is something that I've never seen before, was bawling.

She was so emotional on her way to the cage, crying. It was really an amazing scene. And had we have seen that, and they didn't really address it during the broadcast, one might think that mentally she was broken going in there. And maybe she got in there a little slow. Maybe the fight didn't start out the way she wanted. Misha Tate certainly came out guns blazing.

but as the fight went on, obviously she got more and more comfortable. You could see more and more confident. And then the third, with just a couple minutes left, she finished Misha Tate. Now, I know there were two controversial moments at the end of the fight there. One, the hand on the mat was one of her knees illegal. Seconds before the final knee, which finished Misha, Misha had fingers on the mat. It appeared.

and I know there have been screencaps or screen grabs been thrown around and whatnot. I watch it in super slow mo, like maybe 30 times, and it is so close. It is so unbelievably close that it's even hard to tell whether or not her fingers, Misha's fingers were truly on the mat or if it's kind of the slow motion

that makes it look that way. It is so close, and you're watching it 20, 30 times via replay, via slow mo. Remember, Kim Winslow is in there, watching it in real time has to make a decision. That being said, it's hard to have a problem with it. Now, as far as the stoppage goes,

so the knee, the hand on the mat, I think she made the right call. It wasn't illegal. It's so incredibly close. If you have one of those things on your DVR where you can slow things down, on my remote, you just press play twice. If you have that, you can kind of go frame by frame,

and I must have done it 10 times. It was kind of fun. but it's so incredibly close. The timing of it all is just unbelievable. So it's impossible to say that it was 100%, 100%, 1,000% illegal niece. That's why I'm okay with it. Now, the finishing blow, the decision to stop the fight, I had a bit of an issue with.

I thought that Misha was shooting. Obviously she was in pain. Obviously she was in trouble. I thought she was shooting. She dropped down desperately to try to get out of that situation. situation. And Kim stopped the fight. Obviously, Misha was upset afterwards. I don't think it was a travesty. I don't think it was a complete robbery. I certainly don't think it was one of Kim's worst moments. But, you know, and she's had some, and I still don't think that she should be

reffing UFC fights. That's just the way it is. And I knew 100%. I knew that there was a women's fight in Las Vegas. You just had to know that they would put her in there. And this was a fight with a lot at stake. This was a fight that there are many people watching. That was just so much. Not just You know, the tough spot. I mean, this is a second fight in UFC history, women's fight, all that stuff. There's a lot at stake. And just, you know, nothing personal. I'm just not sure if she's qualified to be in that position.

And I think Misha was trying to get out of the situation, drop down, and she viewed that as an actual knockdown she was done from the knees. She might have been, but it didn't seem that way. So we're trying to get Kat on. I'm not quite sure what the confusion is here, there are emails being thrown around, there are text messages being thrown around, and hopefully in the next couple of seconds,

we'll get Kat on the show to talk about the win, and of course now she'll be on Tough 18, opposite Rhonda Rousey. It was an unbelievable performance. She came back, two of the judge's scorecards had her down to nothing. So it was 20 to 18 going into the third to come back like that and all of a sudden be very, you know, calm, cool, collected, and then just pour it on Misha.

it was very impressive. And as a result, she improves her, her MMA record to A to O, and her life is about to change drastically as she has now accepted the role of being a coach on the Ultimate Fighter. So it's huge for her,

and this is a huge time for her, and we appreciate her stopping by. I believe we finally got her. Katzangano, are you there? I am. Hi, Ariel. How are you? I'm doing great.

Congratulations on the win. I'm going to ask you the same question that I just asked Kelvin, who won the Ultimate Fighter on Saturday night, less than 48 hours removed how are you feeling mentally you know do you still feel like this was

a surreal moment in your life I'm feeling really good and it definitely was surreal that just one night felt like an entire week out of my life um we uh went to the fight

it was emotional I got to experience a lot of different things and the my after party vanilla ice performed so it was like a It was like a complete picture out of my youth and lots of friends and fans I got to meet and hang out to people that I saw fight earlier in the night. And it was just surreal. The whole night was really, really awesome.

Now Vanilla Ice performing at your after party is almost as impressive as your win over Misha Tate. How did you pull that off? Well, I really felt, I don't know, I felt a lot of nerves and emotion going into the octagon. I was walking out there and I was like, oh no, I'm crying. Like, I don't want to be the girl walking under the cage crying. You know, like, stop it. And, you know, I got out there and, you know, I just kind of felt, you know, I just felt a little, like I hadn't been woken up and was watching stuff happen all right in front of me.

Like I was standing out of my body, you know, and Misha did a really good job. I think her camp of capitalizing on that on coming out and knowing they needed to be jumping all over me in order to take advantage of those UFC jitters and she did good. And, you know, I think she got that first round and then that was the second round. Well, after the first round, she got up and she kind of shoved herself off my face. and, you know, definitely, I don't know, that woke me up. You know, went into the second round, and I had a lot more confidence, but still had a little bit to shake out of my body.

And then after getting out of that arm bar, I was really looking forward to being myself and definitely could tap back into who I really am and started fighting my fight. And the third round, I came out, you know, me, and I was really excited that I got there. You just answered like nine questions in one answer there, but I don't even know if you heard that.

No, no, it's great. It's amazing to listen to. But what I was asking was how you got vanilla ice to perform at your after party? I thought that was very impressive. Oh, I don't know. We had a, you know, we had our VIP area, And it said that he was going to the fights that night and that he was going to be at the same after party.

So I thought he was going to just be in the building like we were, having his little, having like a lounge and a cool area to be in. But all of a sudden he just came out and had an awesome performance in the little concert. And I was like, oh, my God, this is happening. Like, I just fought in the UFC. you know, I just won this contender shot. I just won.

And now I'm coaching on Ultimate Fighter and Vanilla Ice is right here wrapping Ice Ice Baby right in front of me. This is really happening because it was nuts. And then we went and hung out with him and the guys from Tap Out afterwards. And it was just crazy. My life definitely has changed in 48 hours. Oh, and it's going to change a whole lot more as you go on the show and you become a and then eventually fight Ronda Rousey. Has that ever happened to you before where you were so...

I mean, obviously you're an emotional person, and you've been through a lot, but to show that kind of emotion before a fighter in a public setting like that, I mean, has that ever happened to you before something like that? No, no. I mean, I've been nervous before, before fights, you know, where I've been in the back and I've had a little hard,

a bit of a hard time kind of shaking it off, but by the time they closed it, door, you know, to the cage, I'm always, you know, raped and rare in a go. And this fight, I don't know, it was strange. It was definitely a weird experience, and I'm really glad that it happened because, you know, I learn everything through experience and not much from through other people's experiences, unfortunately. So, I, you know, I'm really glad it happened that way because I got to feel what it feels

like to be dominated and on bottom and to, you know, take some elbows and, and, uh, I don't know, just really have to pull myself together and tell myself I want it. You know, I, I, it was interesting listening to the fight because I watched the fight and, um, having the commentators say, you know, how dangerous they am on my feet and, and, you know, my striking and that's a big threat and all this. And I was like, wow, I never really considered myself to be a striker. I know I have good knees and good elbows when people don't protect themselves from them. But, like, I really never, you know, coined myself as being a striker.

So, you know, going in there and having my coaches say, you know, that second round was too close, you need to go wrestle. Like, all right, I need to go out of there and just go do what I'm good at. And so when I watched the fights and I was seeing myself kind of get lit up on my feet, I wasn't really surprised because I was going out of my comfort zone to go try to strike. I wanted to knock her out. I wanted to hit her. And, you know, I've always wanted to get a knockout with my hands.

And then, you know, when it didn't happen by the second round, it was like, all right, you know, just go back to what I'm good, you know, what I know I like and what I'm comfortable doing. And then that's why the third round became so dominant because that's just me and my personality right there. And it's like I had permission instead of striving for these other things. Did you say anything to yourself? Did you think about anything to get back into the moment and not get so emotional about it? Or do you think it just kind of happened over time? Maybe she hit you a few times.

You woke up. You understood the situation. I mean, how did you get back from, you know, because you're crying. You're in a different mental state that when you need to, you know, go out there and punch someone in the face. So how did you transition from the crying to the quote-unquote, you know, punisher, the killer out there? Well, I had, um, when I was in the back, I was warming up and there was a scene on, because we had one of the TVs in the room when I was warming up and it had this,

it kind of panned into this part where I was at the gym and I was playing with my kids. And we were doing like a hand-slapping water, you know, and I saw it. that and it just kind of like clicked in my head and I started hitting pads all hard and I started getting all rowdy back there and then when I walked out you know I it's like the crowd hit me like a like a bucket of ice water you know and I was as excited to see them as I feel like well probably even more excited to see them than they were to see me and it's kind of like being in high school you know when you're looking at a piece of paper on an exam and and you know the answers to it but you can't remember them and I um I don't know I kind of had that and then as soon as uh you know I got

hit a few times and and I felt like I had been dominated a bit and that the round was too close um you know I tap back into that emotion of like man like I want my kid to see me do good at this I want him to see that I you know all this work that I put into this all this time that when in these last like eight weeks was not for nothing, you know. He's been looking forward to Las Vegas, and, you know, I told him if I won, we would be coming out there for a while, and there's lots of swimming pools and all that stuff, and I didn't want to go home and say that I had lost. You know, I wanted to go home and say I had continued to be successful.

And, you know, in between the second and third round, my coach just sat, you know, in front of of me and he was like, that was too close. You know, you need to go finish her. And I was like, that's right, I am a finisher, you know. And so everything about that third round was about finishing her and making her quit. And, you know, I have cardio and gas for days. It's never been a problem. I always start strong and finish stronger.

That's how I've been my whole career. And I'm always the most comfortable in the later rounds. So it was just, yeah, it was just a matter of waking up and thinking. about what my goals are that I left outside the gauge and bringing them back into my mind and implementing them right at the right exact time. And I love that you mentioned your son. Of course, you are the first mother to ever step foot inside the octagon, compete inside the octagon, and win a UFC fight.

So that's an amazing little trivia note that someone will say one day, and you should be very proud of that. Now, you mentioned that you watched the fight, and I just want to get your comments quickly on two, quote-unquote, controversial moments. I addressed them before you came on, and I gave my take. I'd love to hear what you say about them. First, I'm sure you've heard about it, that some people think it was an illegal knee, one of the knees that you threw her fingers around the ground.

What do you think? Did that look good to you? Well, it is controversial. One thing, you know, I really think she should drop it. the knee is something that I am very savvy to look you for as soon as people get up to their

feet I know to lift them up if they're on their hands and feet it's something that I would teach an ultimate fighter for sure that when they get to their hands and feet and they're in a position for their weight to be manipulated to go ahead

and pull up at the right exact moment that you take off with that knee so yeah you'll pull them up their fingers of belly let's hit the mat and then you're going to tag them in the head and I'll fall. You know, I think Necea should drop that it was an illegal knee, you know, because, you know, she she had butted my knee and my knee hurts and that's illegal to headbutt people's knees. So, you know, I'm going to drop that. So I'm just kidding.

Yes, of course. It's a, I don't feel like it was illegal. I feel like it was perfectly timed and, you know, it's something that we train and it's something that I'll continue to train for and as something and I'll continue to teach. So, you know, if you really slow it down and you look at it, it's exactly the way that we train for and you go by a frame by frame and you'll find people. I mean, it's like splitting hairs, you know, but I know what it was. I know what it felt like and I know what I've seen and what I've done.

And I don't feel it a controversy. I feel it was a, it was. exactly the skill style and a format that I've been trained and that I know to do. And for the record, I agree with you on that point. As I mentioned before you came on, slowed it down a bunch of times, and it did seem like it was perfectly timed or way too close to call. I mean, unbelievable, slowing it down, you know, frame by frame. So for the record, I agree with you on that.

Now, what do you think about the stoppage? Do you think that she was, you know, actually going down on her? her own, that she was trying to take you down, that she was dropping levels, or do you think that she went down because of the knee? Well, I was really trying to push that knee through her face, you know what I mean? And I was going to go right into an elbow series right after that. I think between the three of us that were standing within that radius, like, we all knew that she was done.

And I think that it's, you know, it's emotional to lose that way when she had had such a a good performance in the beginning of the fight. But I wasn't going to stop going for her nose. You know, I wasn't going to stop trying to give that thing in. And it was only going to get worse from there. So I think that it was a good call for the referee to stop in and stop it because she was, you know, she was taking a lot of damage. And, you know, they were all tagging her right where they were supposed to

and they were hard. but, you know, I think in Misha's defense, you know, she should have let it go and see what could have happened in the next few seconds, which I honestly don't think we're going to get any better for her. But, you know, yeah, like, you look at what happened, you know, she dropped and, you know, when you shoot a double leg, you don't drop and then shoot forward, you know, if you're going to shoot, you're going to reach right for my legs. So, you know, yeah, she could have been shooting a certain kind of double for her. And I would like to have seen that maybe go a little bit longer just because I was on a role and I wasn't going to stop there. But, and it sucks to have a controversial call. You know, you never like to hear, oh, well, that wouldn't have ended the fighter. That would have whatever.

You know, that sucks. I don't like hearing that. I walked away because I thought she was done. If I didn't think the fight was over, I would have sat there and needed to be pulled off of her. But between the three of us sitting right there and the damage Misha was taking to her face, you know, when the referee stepped in, that's why it was easy for me to just turn around and walk away because I was like, yeah, that was that was about time. You know, it was within a matter of a couple more strikes before I thought, you know, it was going to be beyond return. and, you know, yeah, so I kind of wish it would have gone a little bit longer, just so there's no question, but I think that she did a good job keeping Misha safe.

After the fight at the post-fight press conference, you had a face-off with Ronda Rousey, who, of course, they'll be coaching against and then later on fighting, and you guys got pretty close. I mean, she got up in your face, although afterwards she kind of laughed in the midst of it all. Were you expecting that, and is there an issue there? between you and Rondeau, or was that just kind of selling the fight? There's no issue. I'm just ready to fight, and especially after that one, you know, like, I realize where I'm at right now.

You know, like, I just fought an octagon. I just left some blood in there to go down with the history of the legends and the legacies that I've seen. And like I said, I needed to be woken up, and I got woken up, and now I see what's going on and what's in front of me, and I'm going to fight Rhonda. And, you know, I want to go get up and see in her eyes and looking to her soul and see what she's got in her too. And, you know, I'm very lit up. I'm very excited about this opportunity that I just earned,

and I'm not taking it lightly. You know, I don't know her. I don't have any animosity towards her. But, yeah, we are going to fight, and that fight starts now. it started as soon as my hand got raised. So, you know, I'm really looking forward to fighting Rhonda. I'm really looking forward to training for her and, well, not even training for her, training for me. And I don't know.

It was going from one to the other, and I feel like I could have fought her right there. You know, my cardio feels really good. my heart, that third round, I felt excellent. You know, it felt like how I wish the first round would have gone, and I think I could have gone all night on the cloud I was on, you know what I mean? So it was a cool experience to be up there and have that shot. And how do you feel about being a coach? Are you ready for that?

And do you have any idea who you'll be bringing with you to be coaches on the team, including will your son be an assistant coach on the team? You know, I am looking forward to being a coach a lot. You know, I see that there's a lot of ideas. You know, people are like, well, I don't know if the guys are going to want to listen to girls or stuff like that. And I've never had a problem with that. You know, there's been guys that have come in in my program more that I've gone into other schools. I mean, I've taught seminars all over the world and never had a problem controlling a room or, you know, giving people insight.

and, you know, even kind of developing a little bit of growth on their own personal style. You know, my objective is to keep everybody fresh and confident in what they have and hopefully teach them something by the end of the show. Other than that, just keeping their tools sharp and making sure that their heads strong and, you know, they're getting their good workouts, their good warm lips, and they're staying mentally tough. So, you know, as a coach, I know how to keep things first. I know how to stay encouraging while at the same time disciplined.

And I think that that'll all really be comforting for the fighters, both male and female. I would like to bring my son, you know, that he's a six and a half a dog. So, you know, that could go in any direction for anybody at any moment, you know. One minute, you know, he could be helping people count push-ups in the next minute. he could be mad at someone because they're not playing tag with him, you know. So, like, it's going to be calculated. How is he feeling today kind of thing? But he'll be coming out there with you, though, right?

Oh, yeah, he's coming out to the show. He's going to be staying with me. That's something that's actually really important to have for me is have him there. And, you know, he's been training since he has, I mean, he's done jihitsu since he was four. He knows a lot about the game and he understands the moves and stuff and he's done a lot of competition so he gets that part

and he's important for me to have around and keeps me really happy. Do you want him to be a fighter? You know, I don't want him to cut weight really. That's the only thing if he wants to fight I absolutely support him. I want him to do

whatever he wants to do that makes him happy. Like right now he does piano lessons and he played flag football and he wants to do soccer this year and all throughout everything. He still wants to do martial arts. He wants to do the jiu-jitsu class and the kickboxing and stuff. I want him to know it for practicality and for safety reasons, so he will always have a way to defend himself and options of that sort.

But, you know, if he chooses to fight, I will be in the front row every time. You know, I don't know how I'll feel. I'm sure it's going to be completely different emotions for me than watching my other fighters fight because he is my son and it's hard for me to watch him do jiu-jitsu because it's just so overwhelming um i love it it's so cute and cool and i'm so proud of him but at the same time it's i'm a mama bear so i'm like oh oh me safe that didn't happen um and um you know so whatever he chooses to do in his life i'm going to support him 100 percent whatever that is and if he chooses to fight you know, that'll be cool too.

And he's got a lot of athleticism in his blood, so I think that it'll work out for him well. And, you know, if you watch him all around, he's a little version of me. So it's definitely possible. It's a big possibility. Well, Kat, congratulations. Again, it was amazing.

It was inspiring. I got to see the walkout today. Unfortunately, didn't air on television. It made me tear up and just hearing your story. And for someone who got into all of this just to lose some baby weight, Now here she is, you know, about to fight Ronda Rousey to be on, you know, she's going to be on the show and all this stuff. It's one of the true great stories in our sport this year. So enjoy, congratulations.

Good luck on the show. I'm sure we'll talk to you before the fight and before the show and all that stuff. But, again, thanks for coming on. I know you're very busy and slammed, and we appreciate a couple minutes of your time here today. Thanks a lot, Ariel. Let's good talking to you again. All right, there she is. Katzengano, the new number one contender in the UFC women's bantamweight division.

She'll probably face Ronda Rousey in December or so the Ultimate Fighter moves to Fox Sports One. That was announced on Saturday. Moves to Fox Sports One in September. The new channel coming out on August 17th. She'll be a coach. Ron Rousy, you'll be a coach. And it should be interesting. I'll give you my thoughts on the Ultimate Fighter a little later on in the show.

Let's transition now. It's a big weekend coming up for the UFC again. UFC on Fox 7. It is stacked. And the main event is Benson Henderson versus Gilbert Melendez. about lightweight champ versus lightweight champ. And now we've got the man behind the champ, the man who doesn't get enough credit in this sport, in my opinion.

John Crouch from the lab in Arizona. John, how are you? Good. What's up, man? I think what everybody wants to know is what kind of shoes are you wearing today? Well, no one has the best shoes. You see, that's perfect for me. That's a perfect transition to my first question.

Why do we always hear about, why do we always talk to you, why do we always have on shows like this, the Greg Jackson's, the Farahza hobbies, the. the Mike Winkle-Johns, guys like that. But we never have John Crouch. Where are you? When are you going to get the respect that you deserve? You know, you just threw me in with a bunch of pretty good guys. I'm okay with them getting their props for, and I'm good.

They've earned their stripes for sure, you know? But it's good to be on finally. I thought you were just going to ignore me for the rest of my life. I'm kind of saddened me, honestly. But it doesn't bother you at all. I mean, you have a lightweight champion who's looked impeccable. You're grooming some great guys. You see Misha Tate coming to work with you before her fight.

Do you ever think, you know, when am I going to get some of this attention? No, never. I don't really care. You know what I mean? Like my favorite parts are the preparation for fight. My favorite parts in the gym and teaching, the fights are, they're okay. I mean, they're celebrations of what we've done. I certainly am proud of those moments, you know, win or lose, I'm proud of them.

But my favorite deal is in the gym. So I'm okay with it. I'm good. So Misha went to train with you guys in preparation for the, this fight she lost. Why do you think she lost? What happened? I play to tell, you know, they came and used the facility more than anything else. They were there for a little over a week, I guess, two weeks maybe. And, you know, they had their game plan. They had their coaches in place. So it wasn't necessarily, you know, they didn't come down to be part of the team, but to use the

place. And so I was proud of her effort. But I'm not sure exactly what we're wrong. I feel like, She could have been a little better conditioned, but that was more from a Monday morning quarterback sort of perspective. Sure. So will you be working with her in the future? I don't think so. I haven't heard anything. You know what I mean? They seem to have a pretty set thing that they're comfortable with.

So I guess we'll have to see. I haven't heard from them. But I think they're comfortable with their setup and they're happy to be there. So maybe, you know, we'll talk about it. If it ever comes up, I'd be happy to talk to her about it, but I haven't heard anything about it yet. Well, obviously, there's a lot on your plate going into this weekend with Benson. Going to defend his title one more time against Gilbert Melendez, big unification about it. I just want to play a quick clip here, which I think is one of the best things to come out on the Internet in years.

I mean, this is an amazing clip, and I want to ask you about it, and then obviously transition into Benson. We have the clip ready. Okay, we got the clip. This is you and Benson a couple years ago. you know the clip that I'm talking about, right? When Benson was just starting out and you had a discussion with him, what year was that? I was five years ago in January. Five years ago in January.

This is the clip in case you missed it. All right. We don't have the clip. The clip is basically, I'm sorry about that. It's great. You talked to Benson as he's kind of getting ready for a practice and you tell him, you know, you're going to be a star. You're going to be a star essentially.

and you knew it. And this is before he was even in, you know, like anything in WEC. What about him made you think that? Well, you know, at the time, the reason that I was miced up is because we were doing a documentary on Alvin Robinson who fought an idea. So, you know, I kind of forgot, you know, you do those kind of things, you forget you have a microphone on.

But he had just finished barring with Alvin and finished barring with Joe Barrett, who was also in the UFC at that time. time. And he had done really well, you know, and he was making great strides. And man, he just, the kid worked so hard. He never missed a day. He cleaned the gym at the time. So he was really at the gym literally, you know, from seven in the morning until nine at night. And just his heart and his desire to keep learning and getting better really made him stick out and seem like something special. It's such a great clip. I think we have it now. I really want to play it and show it to

people in case they haven't seen it. Here it is. Check it out. It's very quick. You look awesome today. You're going to be a superstar in this sport. Remember, I was the first one that said that.

Hey, I mean it. I think you're going to be phenomenal. You're going to be a household name if you want to be. You know, if you keep going doing the things you're doing, you're going to beat everybody else. Stay with you guys. Everybody. It's you, though, man.

I mean, you got a big heart. You're a great guy, and you're a great fighter. I'm enjoying every... It's just unbelievable. That gives me goosebumps. Listen to that. It's so heartfelt. It's like a father talking to his son,

and now here he is fighting on Fox for the second time, and he is a household name. Is he the same guy now that he was back then? Yeah, you know, he was 23 when he started that, and he's 28, 29 now. So, you know, things have changed. Certainly, he's matured to grow up. He's a grown man, and he's a grown man,

and he's a guy. control of what he does. Like back then, he was still young and trying to figure out if this was really something he wanted to do. So, you know, he's changed a little bit, but as far as, you know, he treats people. He's such a kind guy. He always has time for people. He's always in the gym, you know, rolling around with people, giving people tips.

He hasn't changed a bit in that aspect, not one bit. And you're okay with him, you know, competing in juditsu competitions a month before a huge fight like this one? I get more nervous about it than he does. Honestly, the day before he competed in the PNM tournament, he did six hard rounds with Jamie Varner, F. and Escadero, Mike Chiesa was in town, Sam Cecilia was in town. He went hard. He did, you know, our Saturday sparring are to mimic the fights, you know.

And then he went the jih Tijuana to walk in the park compared to that. I get more nervous for sparring. Jishishu, I don't worry too much. He's not going to get hurt. He's fine. He gets stuck, he'll tap. It doesn't bug him. And usually he does very well. I mean, he went two and one that day, and he lost to the eventual champ. So it was, you know, not the day we had planned, but still, he loves to compete AOL.

If you take that away, I don't think there'd be much fun in it for him. So it's fun for him to just go out and relax and compete like that. So right now, Benson, as champion or in title fights, obviously he beat Frankie at 144, came back. and beat him again at 150, then beat Nate Diaz at Fox 5 in December. Now, here he is fighting Gilbert, and it's an interesting fight, of course, because of the promotion, the unification battle and whatnot. But where do you put – because Gilbert's a bit of an unknown. We don't know because he hasn't fought UFC caliber competition while in Strike Force still,

you know, in many people's top five, if not top three. Where do you put him as far as who Benson has fought this far in the UFC? Do you value him as high, or do you think he's kind of a little bit of? below the Nate Diaz or the Frankie Edgars of the world? Oh, God, no, no. Do you remember when we came over from the W.C. and everybody said we didn't belong here? Yeah.

You know what I mean? It's just retarded for people to talk like that. Gilbert trains with the best people in the world. And all Gilbert does is win all his fights. That's it. He's won, what, 21 or 22 fights? So that guy's super tough. He's, I can't think of anybody

more deserving of a title shot than Gilbert Melendos. I have no problem. I think He's in a great camp. He's an awesome fighter. He's a tough guy, and he deserves it completely. What do you think is his best attribute in the cage? I think it's his... Honestly, he's pretty good at everything.

I wouldn't say he's awesome at anything. And I don't mean that as a diss. I mean as a compliment because his real strength is his spirit and his... I'm going to win this fight. His will to win, I guess. But he just is going to win. He's going to do it no matter what it takes. and I think that's a real strength for him.

I don't know if that's an attribute that you can write down, but it's sort of an intangible that he feels like he's going to win every fight. And that's the thing. That's really hard to beat in somebody. If they feel like they're going to win, that's a tough thing to deal with. So I feel like that's his best attribute. What, if anything, does it mean to Benson to unify those belts to kind of take over the Strike Force belt?

Have you talked about that at all? not even for a second it doesn't matter at all it didn't matter you know it really doesn't matter who we fight it's all about just winning our next fight like a big thing in my gym

and I say all the time is I just want to win the next moment you know what I mean I want the next five seconds that's all I want so that's all we're focused on is this next fight you know we're going to go out and try to win round one and then we're going to win round two and then we're going to keep going from there so

it's cool I guess And it's going to be, I think Ben said it once, it was a really great way. In retrospect, it's going to be really fun to look at. But as we're traveling down the road, we're not looking at that stuff. We're just trying to win. We're trying to do our best and win the next moment, win the next fight. So what about his future at 155? Because you hear more and more that he's not enjoying this cut.

And we know it's always been a bit of a grind. And recently said he was interested in a fight against GSP. Do you think that there's a chance that he may move, up, vacate the title and just fight as a welterweight in the near future? No. You know, the super fight, it came about, like, we'd love to fight GSP. I've been talking to Ben about that for a couple of years, actually. It's been in our long-term plans for a long time.

And because GSP is the best, he's the best, you know. And, you know, try to fight somebody like Anderson Silva, who walks around at whatever, 215, he's just a lot bigger, you know, not that we would necessarily turn down the fight. was the right thing and, you know, blah, blah, blah. But GSP is the next weight division up. And he's arguably the greatest fighter of all time. So why wouldn't we want to challenge ourselves to beat somebody that's great, you know? And so, you know, that's how that came about.

And it kind of happened early, you know, like we want to make sure that we're the 55-pound title holder for a while and that we're cemented in. You know, GST's done a lot and deserves everything he gets. But would love to fight that guy. But I don't think I moved to the 70-pound division is in the cards. The cut's going good. He's actually lighter than he's been in quite a while. Oh, okay.

So everything's going good there. In the past, though, did he have issues with it? Not really. He just doesn't like it. Okay. I mean, who does? If you ask every fighter, exactly right. Every fighter, every single one of them is going to tell you the weight cuts the worst part of their career.

And so he hates it. And, you know, he delays. and he always says he wants to be on weight for about three seconds and then start getting fatter again, you know? Right. So he kind of waits to the last minute, and, you know, we've been over by half a pound, but he dropped it in, you know, 10 minutes and was back on the scale.

So I don't think it's a problem where can't make it. I think it just gets to be so tedious for these guys and it's so difficult mentally and physically that they're just tired of it. But I don't think it's a, it's no more of a problem for him to answer anybody else. Okay, you're a straight shooter, so I know you'll tell us the truth here. Back in December against Nate Diaz, was he fighting with a toothpick in his mouth? I didn't see one, did you? Yes, I did.

I thought afterwards, but I don't remember. You don't remember. You guys are crazy. What is up with that? I mean, we've seen him train. He's talked openly about it. How are you comfortable with that? I mean, it just makes me feel uncomfortable, just watching it.

he's done it since he was in college training i've tried to get him to stop doing it you know and uh and he hides it from me the shape of his mouth and his mouth piece i actually physically tried looking i checked his mouth a few times early and he hit it and i didn't see it i really didn't i opened up his mouth literally i put my nose in his mouth looking for it and i couldn't see it and then later in the match it popped out and i'm like what the hell so i i gave up you know he's grown up. He's going to do what he does. But he's stopped doing it as much. So I'm hoping it'll stop forever.

Has there ever been an accident? Never. Wow. That's amazing. That in itself is impressive. He's an impressive guy to begin with. I know that sounds funny like I'm some scientist, some dental guy, but he's got a shape mouth. The toothpick stays on the side of his gum. It's stuck in there underneath his mouthpiece. So it's not, I mean, I'm not saying it's safe.

Like, who knows, but it stays in there pretty darn good. I couldn't find it, I'm telling you. I'm not sure of our homes, but I couldn't find it. You know, you have an amazing story, an amazing backstory. One of these days we'll be able to, you know, peel off some of those layers when there's not this big fight coming up. But, you know, getting a black belt from the legendary hoist-gracy, things like that. But when you started this journey, you know, many years ago,

did you think you would be in this position, you know, the coach, the right-hand man to one of the best in the UFC grooming people, you know, fighters coming to you from other camps to learn more. And yes, we joked at the beginning that you don't get the attention. But clearly your star is rising, the lab. People talk about it. They know about it. Benson has helped put the whole team on the map.

But did you think this would happen? Did you foresee this happening to you? No, I really, you know, I didn't start teaching MMA. I guess MMA, whatever. I taught Brazilian chit-su. And then a kid came into my school, was 17 years old, his name was Alvin Robinson. He said, I want to fight in the UFC.

And I go, well, okay, let's give it a shot. And with, you know, 10 jiu-jitsu guys in a little tiny gym, he made it to the UFC. And Ben Henderson came down because he liked Alvin Robinson. And my friend called me and asked me if we wanted to teach at this gym in Arizona, and so here we are. So, no, I had no idea. I honestly stopped watching M.A.

after the early days, you know? Once they added rules and weight divisions, I was like, oh, come on. And so now, you know, when Alvin came back in, I actually started watching it again and trying to study it and learn it. And here we are. But no, it will, in no way, shape, or form was it in my mind. So when you stopped watching and all that stuff, what did you want to be? Like, what was your goal in life? I was just teaching jihitsu.

Okay. It was good just being a jihits instructor, you know. And I had a good time with that. I really enjoyed my time at the Gracie Academy. And I had some great teachers as far as how to be a teacher. You know what I mean? I definitely could have been a better competitor. I wasn't very good or decorators or anything.

But I had Horian Gracie and Aleo... I had a lot of classes with Aalio Gracie. Wow. And I learned how to be... Like, it really helped me be a better teacher. And I'm really appreciative. And I think about them every time. Every fight, as a matter of fact.

I have an Aelio Gracie t-shirt on underneath my sponsor t-shirt because I want to fly the flag every single time. Wow, that is unbelievable. Last thing before we let you go, John, we appreciate the time. Who's the next Benson Henderson at the lab? Who's one guy that you're really excited about, or girl, that we may be talking about as champion in the next couple years? Gosh.

You know, we have a 45-a that's been here a long time. His name's Chris Gritzmacher, and he is a tough son of a gun, and he is 12 and 1. He's on 11-fight win streak, nine finishes in a row. Last two people have been Frank Gomez and Brulie Delgado. And he's a monster. I can't wait for him to get in the UFC,

but it's really tough to get in there now. You have to take a, you know, you have to kind of sign up for one of those last-minute fights. Yeah. And hope for the best. But he deserves to be in there. He's tough. He beat, you know,

DeMarcus Johnson came down from Utah the other day and was sparring with grips, and he came over to me, Who is that little son of a bitch right there? Wow. But he's like, man, a dude beat me around the gym, which is not entirely accurate,

but still, he's a tough kid, man, and I really, I can't say it enough. I'll shout out from the rooftops. I think he's going to be a mess for people at 45. All right.

Well, we'll look out for him. Before that, though, Saturday night, Fox UFC Saturday. It's Benson Henderson versus Gilbert Melendez, the main event, live and free on Fox unification bout.

John Croucher, be in his corner, of course. Can't wait for it. Good luck to you, John. Great to have you on the show finally, and I'm sure I'll see you down in or over there in San Jose this weekend. I was about time. You gave me a little respect, Ariel. Come on. You deserve it. I'm in the wrong, long overdue. You know what I'm a big fan of you, and I really appreciate the time, buddy. I'll see you there. All right, there he is. John Crouch. Check him out on Twitter. J.C.B.J.J. is his Twitter handle, one of the best in the business. Now, on Saturday night, let's go back to Saturday night. in Las Vegas. It was a great show for the UFC, the tough 17 finale, highs and lows, great fights,

unbelievable performances by the likes of Katzenegano and Travis Brown and Uriah Faber and Kelvin Gasselman. While I'm sitting there watching this on television, all of a sudden UFC television, UFC programming cuts to the man I still consider to be the WWE champion, the world wrestling entertainment champion, the best in the world, the voice of the voiceless, CM Punk on WWE, excuse me, UFC TV, I was that confused. I can't even get it right. Well, he joins us right now. We're out to get some answers here because we got a lot of questions. CM Punk, are you there? I am here. Aren't you sick about talking about Saturday night already?

No, that was just less than 48 hours ago. Oh, okay. Well, let's talk about it. What were you doing there? I was enjoying some fights. I've obviously been a huge UFC fan for a long time. and I've never been able to, they don't let me out of the house too often. You know, I had a free Saturday, and I was there celebrating my girlfriend's birthday, so we went to the site. That was your first live UFC event that you took in in person, right?

Yeah. Now, compare it to what you do. W.W.E puts on a great live event. What do you think of the live event? Well, and it's funny because I found myself sitting there coming up with, ways to sort of make it better in my own head, but that's just because that's what I do. But, you know, aside from a lot of downtime in between fights, which I understand why that they know that is, I enjoyed it very, very much.

The live atmosphere, everybody in the organization is super, super friendly and inviting, and they made me feel like I was sitting in my living room. It was a great time. But now I've got to ask, what would you do differently? You know, I would try to put a big clock somewhere so people can keep track of that time within whatever round it is. I found myself looking up at the big screen to try to keep track of time. And, you know, the screen, they got this huge, you know, monitors and TVs and the arenas and stuff like that, but I still found myself straining to look at the time.

A couple of those rounds felt like the longest five-minute rounds I've ever witnessed, but I'm sure it felt longer for certain people that were in the cage. What do you prefer now, now that you saw it live, because there are some who say, you know, I like hearing the announcers and all that stuff and just getting to different camera angles. Live event versus TV experience, which do you prefer for a UFC event?

Well, there's pros and constant both. I definitely enjoyed myself Saturday night. I had really good speech, too. I can't really complain. I wasn't obstructed by anything. I got a clear shot at the cage. And, you know, but watching at home, you do, you get the better camera angles, you get some replay. You get the hear the announcers.

I got to hear the corners sometimes, you know, yelling and scream. And I thought that was interesting. That was not fun. Who impressed you the most? I think Katzegano. I knew she was tough before, but just watching her live and watching. her demeanor change from her kind of tearful

nervousness like walking into the octagon and then coming out in that second round and like flashing a double bicep pose and like all of a sudden gaining confidence and realizing that she had this fight I thought I was super super was the crowd as hot for that fight

as it seemed on television and more so than any other fight because on TV it seemed like they were more interested in every single move in that fight than all the other fights combined? Yeah, I think so. It definitely, I think the energy

in the entire place went up when the girls, you know, got locked in that. I definitely think women's MMA has not only come a long way and has a long way, you know, still to go, but it's probably the most exciting dynamic fights you're going to get

in the future, at least in my thing. In your world, is there something to be learned from this? because, again, in your world, women's wrestling is pretty much non-existent these days. There wasn't a match at at WrestleMania. I mean, there are no real stars. Do you think they're looking at this and saying,

wait a second, we should invest some time? People like watching women compete against each other. Are they looking at it like that? Probably not. Should they be? Yeah, probably, maybe. But, you know, the big difference between what I do and what the fighters do.

but, you know, also, I've had this discussion many, many times. Also, there's a lot of similarities. Yeah, I mean, the women are red hot right now. You think that on the pro wrestling side of the fence, you try to capitalize on her. Famously, last year you wanted to walk out with Chale's son and before his fight on Fox, and that was, I guess, Vince McMahon put the kibosh on it, your boss over at WW. What did they think of you being not only there but being shown on television? Did you get any heat for that?

No, I have, nobody, nobody really talks to me. They don't like you? What's going on? No, no, so I don't, I don't think it's an issue. I just think, you know, before it was, hey, let's do this, it'll be fun, we'll be in Chicago, and, you know, for whatever reason it, he put his stuff to it. This was just, you know, hell, I was in Vegas that happened to be some fight, you know. It was, oh, you know, can I say something? Yeah, Kelvin on earlier.

Yeah. I think I wasn't so much interested in that fight. There was kind of hype around Uriah Hall and everything like that. I sort of thought it was going to be way more one-sided than it was. And that fight was infinitely more entertaining for me because I was sitting in front of Kelton's standing. Was his mom there? They were, I believe, the sister's and his girlfriend. I don't know if I saw his mom.

But in between rounds, I was having a time of my life, like, lean it over, going, geez, you know, that first round was pretty close. I think I'm going to have to give it to your eyes. They were, you know, they were like, who is this guy? Wow, what an asshole. Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, totally. It was fun message.

I thought you were going to say that you were enjoying the moment with them, that you were rooting for him. You were actually trying to spoil their moment. No, I was rooting for him, but I had to be a wide-bed-bent between rounds. It was fun to watch the other guy. Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Is this your first interview since WrestleMania?

I mean, I was like, what, four weeks ago or something like that? Was it? I thought it was last weekend. You might be right. I don't know. Well, even if it isn't, for my own ego, I'll say that it is, and I'm very proud of that, and I appreciate you coming on. A lot of people want to know what's up with you.

You know, are you injured? Are you unhappy? Are you leaving? We're straying over to the dark side here, but there are a lot of people tuning in trying to find out what's going on with you. What is going on? Are you still on the team? Nobody cares about that. They want to know what I think about Travis Brown's supposed illegal elbows with the back of Gonzaga's head. Nobody cares about what me or what I have to say about what I do. Come on. What are you doing? Okay. You're right. You're right. Silly me. What do you think? Were they illegal at the elbows?

I think he was already out and the positioning of his head, you know, obviously when he one switched and you might have got him with one or two that were illegal, but the ones that knocked them out were completely illegal. But on the flip side, though, just because, okay, fine, he fell, he fell, but that doesn't really give you the right to kick someone in the balls. You know, like, you can't just do something illegal just because the guy is out. You still have to control yourself, right? I think it's a very gray area. Yeah, I think so. It's a super gray area. It's like Nisha is also claiming that you get hit

with an illegal knee, right? Yeah. You know, when you're in there, and there was one time she got hit with a knee clean, and Misha immediately, you know, dropped in that three-point stand, so these were illegal. You know, so I don't know if that one snuck in there or what. I mean, obviously, Windblow was right there, and she was yelling and screaming the entire time, so I'd like to think if something happened that was illegal, she would jump all over it. But you can't really blame Kat.

It's not like she did it up purpose or was malicious about it. She's in there fighting, she's doing what works. And to me, that's what wanted to fight. Those last couple of knees that she took at Niships, I mean, that has been a fight. I think the knee wasn't illegal. I think it was an early stoppage. I don't think she was out. I think given the stakes, you've got to give her some time.

Winslow is known to, I mean, she's actually very, she's very, what can I say, inconsistent. I mean, you never know what she can do. Either she lets a fight go on too long or too short. that time I thought it was too short. Really? Yeah. I wouldn't want to see me should take another one or two of those needs. They were horrible.

Now, you were sitting there watching it, and I heard you were at the press conference when you were taking all this in. Did you start to think, man, I could get used to this. This is something that appeals to me. I want to be a part of this. Did you think that at all? Oh, what? To be like a journalist, you mean?

Like you do? And, like, sit there and ask stupid questions. questions to the people who just got their brains being? Yeah. No, that and actually being one of those people who got their brains being in. Oh, God, I don't know. You with your hard-hitting question. You know, that's what I'm known for, right? I need that round clock above the octagon. That's what I need.

Oh, you're trying to get out of here? No, no, not at all. Am I trying to change the subject? So what about Cole Miller tracking you down via Twitter and all that? And he finally found you, right? Yeah, he did. He did. What do he say to you when he saw you? Because it seems like he's a really big fan. Yeah, huge. We just took some pictures and hung out and bullshit

a little bit, a bit. He's a nice guy. Does that make you feel weird when a guy who's kind of your age, who's a fighter and all that, is such a big fan of yours? Does that make you feel at all a little strange? Kind of my age. I'm like 10 years older than him. Well, you actually look a lot alike.

I'm anxious. Yeah, you know, I just think it's cool. There's actually plenty of fighters who were happy to see me and excited. Get out of here. You know, we got the swap stories. I know it's weird, right? You know, a lot of fans from the UFC. It's cool to get to suddenly meet everybody.

I'm fans of a lot of those guys, and it's nice to share stories and get the bullshit with everybody. Did you meet Dana? I met Dana before, yeah. But did you talk to him on Saturday? A little bit, yeah. What did you guys talk about? Just the fights, and he was happy that, because we always discussed how I can never come out to one of these things. So we just discussed, he said he was happy that I was finally there.

And, you know, I said he might not be able to get rid of me now. Oh, what do you mean? I don't know. I might, you know, like I got to go to my first show. I definitely don't want it to be in my lap. Oh, okay. I wasn't quite sure if you meant on that side of the fence or on the other side of the fence,

if you know what I'm saying? No, I don't know. What are you talking about? Well, there's a fence in between where you were sitting and where the actual fighters were competing, so maybe you were saying, you know, get rid of me. You know what? They do need some better reps,

so maybe I will make the transition via a referee. Okay, a couple more things, and then I'll let you go, and I appreciate it. Are you being sponsored by the Gracie family or what? Because you're wearing that sweatshirt everywhere.

where you're essentially putting them on the map here. What's going on? Do you just like the sweatshirt or is there a deal in place here? Hennar always asks me that if I just don't have any other clean clothes. No, I just, you know, I think people need to know. I represent the family and the jit-to because, you know, I love it. And people ask me all the time, like if I roll or if I had that awful question, train, bro.

Yeah, this is what I do. You know what I mean? And I, it's just, I guess it's just me and what I do. And I've done it before with other friends and, you know, my friends are in bands. I just, I rep the T-shirts. I rep them on TV. You know, there's a lot of eyes on Monday Night Raw every Monday or, you know, whatever. So I like to expose people to maybe something that I feel they don't have in their lives

that they need in their lives. Speaking of which, Monday Night Raw is in. South Carolina this evening. You'll be there, right? Yeah, I'm on my way there right now. Your big return. Can you give us a preview? What do you have on your mind here? What are you going to get off your chest? I don't know. They're giving me one of those live microphones again, so we'll see what happens. Wow. Well, we look forward to that, but are you healthy? Are you okay? In all honesty, not about the, I just want to know. Are you okay?

I don't want to spoil anything. If you ask me, if you ask me that question tomorrow, I'll be able to answer it better. But, you know, because I don't know if I'm going to address that tonight or anything. All right. And you did get the, you did get me. You got the scoop. You got the first scene punk interview post-Resslemania, but I don't want to divulge too much.

Okay. I've got to get people to tune in tonight to USA and, you know, do what I have to say. Okay, last thing. I got to ask you this. The Fandango craze. What do you make of this? Is this the greatest thing to happen to wrestling since your infamous promo in Las Vegas, or is this all a big joke?

Oh, I definitely don't think it's a big joke. I just want to see if the momentum can, you know, can sustain itself. You know, I think a lot of that has to do with the predominantly European crowd that we had last Monday night, you know, kind of like the leftovers from WrestleMania. Yeah, people bring their families, they make a whole week of it, they hang out, and so they go to the show that's after WrestleMania. And I just think it's very akin to how they start soccer chance when they're at, you know, the football games and everything.

And I love it. I think it's great. Fandango is awesome. So if we can get South Carolina singing his music tonight, I definitely think we're on something. If we don't, I think it was more of, more or less the crowd kind of just enjoying. It sucks that I fear that they're going to screw it up. You see something great develop out of nowhere organically.

And then in the back of your mind, you're thinking, well, how are the people buying? behind the scenes going to screw this up, but hopefully they don't. You know what I'm saying? Wow, you must be a wrestling fan. I'm sorry. I had to go there. I appreciate the time, man. Right, right. It's great having you on the show.

Thanks for... What's that? I said I was going to put you over and say that I'm always here for you to think you cut me off. Oh, no, whatever. Whatever, Ariel. Hey, one of these days, if that sweatshirt gets a little too stinky, maybe you'll wear one of my shirts.

How Wani knows in front of millions of people. Maybe. Are you going to be in San Jose next week? I am, are you? I don't know yet. Well, that's a tease. Tune in, tune in the Monday Night Raw on the USA Network tonight to find out. Can't wait. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Anytime, buddy. Thank you.

There he is. The best in the world himself, the man who was supposed to break the Undertaker's streak, C.M. Punk, stopping by. He was in attendance on Saturday night. That was a great plug for UFC on. Fox number seven. So tune in. If you want to know what tax... And if you don't know about this Vandango thing, yes, it's pro wrestling related,

but this thing's everywhere. There are people... I see the Houston Texans cheerleaders doing this dance. I'm seeing... Who else did I see do this dance? Something very random. I saw...

There's tons of videos online of people doing this guy's music. They're humming his music and dancing to it. It's actually kind of fun. And we'll see if that translates. So if someone comes out to that music, a UFC fighter. I'm waiting for a UFC fighter to come out to punk song,

cult of personality. I think that would be awesome. Anyway, we appreciate him stopping by the first interview of his since WrestleMania last weekend. That's a big deal. That's a big feather in our cap. Now, we talked about UFC on Fox 7. That's this Saturday night.

In San Jose, the Shark Tank, H.Pavilion, one of the guys who will be making his UFC debut on that card is Lorenz Larkin. He makes his debut against Francis Codalek. a mole. From France, now living in Montreal. Lorenz joins us right now on the MMA hour. Lorenz, how are you?

Pretty good, man. So, you're chilling. Not a worry in the world. No, man. You know, that's what I do. That's what you do. You're five days away from your UFC debut. This isn't your typical Monday, is it?

I mean, it's not too different than, you know, what I'm used to. You know what I mean? I don't know, more eyes on me, but other than that, you know, it's just the same thing. It doesn't feel different at all? Not yet, you know. I mean, pretty sure, you know, to me, maybe little things of, you know, bigger increments, you know, maybe more media and things like that, and, you know, more people at the arena. But other than that, you know, I'm kind of getting kind of used to it.

find the figure on the bigger stage. This is a big stage. It's going to be a great crowd. It feels like, I don't know, I don't know if the fighters feel this way. We'll find out later on this week, but this feels like UFC versus Strike Force.

Like the first time, the main card is all, you know, UFC versus Strike Force bouts. There's a couple of them on the undercard as well, including your fight. Do you get behind that kind of thing? Like, does that make things a little more interesting for you? Or at this point, every man for himself?

Yeah, me. At the end of the day, you know, it's every man for itself. Yeah, you know, that's what it is. It's a strike force versus a UFC type of thing. But when you see the Strike Force guys doing so well in the last couple months, that has to inspire, you know? Yeah, no, I mean, it's good for the aspect of, you know, from, you know, people on the Internet, you know,

all the keyboard warriors saying that, you know, that Strike Force was a feeder league and, you know, things like that. So, yeah, it justifies, you know, when people say stuff like that. So, you know, that's good. You know what I mean? So you haven't fought since July of last year. You were supposed to fight a couple of times. At the end of Strike Force was a little rocky.

How frustrating has this year been for you? You're in your prime. You're not injured or anything like that. And now here you are having to sit on the sidelines. Yeah, you know, it sucks. But I'm just glad that, you know, be a UFC now. and hopefully be able to fight more times a year than I was. I like to fight as long as I'm in shape, you know what I mean?

And, you know, I just want to get in and get in as many times. Not as many times I want, you know, because if I was the purpose, I'll be fighting every weekend. But, you know, at least three times a year, you know what I mean? How do you feel about Luke Rockhold these days? Next question. That's it. That's how you feel about him? That's how I feel about him. So you still feel like he was ducking you?

I don't care anymore. Does that, I mean, you see him fighting Vitor Belford in the main event. You're fighting on the prelims. Does that bug you? You know? I don't know. Do you have any kind of theory as to why this fight didn't happen? Do you believe strongly in one way or the other? I don't care. You don't care?

I do not care about me. All right. Whatever. Do you want to fight him in the UFC? If they make it happen, then, you know, it'll happen. But you're not thinking about him. Not thinking about him. What about Francis?

Are you impressed with him? He's looked good in the UFC thus far. Yeah, you know, to me, you know, he's one of the top prospects. You know, that hasn't really broke the top 10 yet. But to me, you know, he's a top prospect of the UFC. He's on a four-fight win streak. And, you know, that's good. in my eyes, you know what I mean?

And he's on the seven-fight win streak, you know, including his fights, you know, out of the UFC. So, yeah, you know, he's doing good, and he's doing what he needs to do to maintain his position, you know, as far as, you know, his status. So it's good, you know. I'm trying to get a real good guy.

What do you think of his performance in his last fight? Because there were some people who thought he lost to Tom Loller. I mean, in my eyes, that fight. he did lose. Oh, yeah. But, you know, that's how the judges scored. And, you know, when you leave it in the judge's hands, you know, sometimes things like that happen. But, you know, what can you do?

And he walked away with the wind, so I guess, you know. Where did you train for this fight? Just at my gym and Millennium MMA out in Rancho. And I did a little bit of cross-training with, you know, business. Yeah, that's what I was asking. How long have you been training with him for? Um, I've helped them out with, um, two camps now. No, um, two camps, you said?

Three camps, sorry, three. Oh, wow, so you've been with him for a while. Yeah, no, not too long, but yeah, yeah, three, about three camps. I've been helping him out. So, he's going to help me out. So at 185 these days, is that, are you, are you 100% certain that that's the best place for you? For right now, you know, you know, yeah. Yeah. I mean, who's the say down the line?

You know, I always said that, you know, I would never go to 185. Here I am. So, I don't know, we'll see. Maybe further down the line, I don't know if I should say else. I'll stay or we'll see. How tough is the cut for you? Physically, not that bad. Mentally, that's a little hard.

How so? Like food. I have, like, relapsed and stuff. Oh. You know, eat pizza and things like that. So when's the last time you had pizza? Nah, I don't know. I'll say, like, three weeks ago.

But last night, I had, like, an Oreo shake. What I shouldn't have. Last night? Yeah. Uh-oh. So. How much do you weigh now? Uh, 200.

And that's normal for you, right? Yeah, I like to get on the plane at 200. Now, like, post-fight meal, what's the best one for you? What's your go-to meal? Do you have one? Post-fight meal? Oh, I know I'm going to be rating the nearest Taco Bell out there. Taco Bell?

You can do better than that. Yeah. And I'd probably get, like, 12 of the cool-range tacos. 12? For sure. 12? Oh, yeah. In one sitting?

One sitting. I do work, man. What's your all-time best? And what? You said you could do worse, so what's worse than that? Oh, no, I do work. Oh, you do work. You do work, okay.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm very surprised with fighters. I was talking to Jorge Mazvedal last week, and he was saying how he's craving McDonald's, Mike Ritchie the same. How can people who their bodies are their mecca, that's how you make your money? that's your living, how can you put that stuff in your body?

Because, you know, it's when you get a little taste of it, you know what I mean? And it's hard, man. I mean, for some people, you know, they think, you know, that, you know, that we make money and we wouldn't want to put that stuff in our bodies, but, you know, it's kind of like, kind of like saying we should never eat ice cream. You know what I mean? It's like we deprive ourselves from that stuff for like, like for a whole camp, you know? You know what I mean?

And some guys can't even cheat. You know, some guys have really hard weight cuts, and you can't cheat. You can't have none of that stuff. I mean, it's one of those things where if we're able to eat McDonald's every day, we would. But since that, you know, that we have to stop and make sure that we can't eat that stuff, and we want it so bad. You know what I mean? Why do they call you the monsoon?

The monsoon? Well, I got it from my older brother's name is Monsu. His real name is Monsu. So, you know, when I think about nicknames, when I was, you know, as an amateur, I was like, you know, that'd be cool, you know, to like a chop of a storm. So it'd be cool to use and give him a little credit. So that's how your brother actually spells his name, like the same way as your nickname, like the natural disaster of the monsoon, yeah? Uh-huh. That's amazing.

Monsoon Larkin? Uh-huh. No, Mokal. I have to do with that. Okay. It's one of the coolest first names I've ever heard. I've never heard that first name before. I know Gorilla Monson, you've heard of him, of course, right?

Uh-uh. Guerrilla Monson? Gorilla Monson. One of the greatest pro- Wrestling play-by-playman of all time. Uh, I haven't heard. Oh. In your early days, I can't... I watch wrestling, too.

Yeah, and you know. never heard a guerrilla monsoon, him and Bobby the Brain Heenan, Jesse the body Ventura. He was the man. Yeah, Ventura. Yeah, I heard of Ventura. He was the other guy. He was the Mike Goldberg. I remember in your early strike force days, I'm not sure if you did this in your last

fight in July. You had designs in your hair, right? Yeah, no, I have every fight. The Riverside Bell. Sorry, say that again. You have it every fight? What? Yeah, it's the Riverside Bell. Oh, what is it? Yeah, that's why I wanted to ask you. Explain what that picture is?

Yeah, it's the Riverside Raincross Bell. It's like, it's our city symbol. So all across the like Riverside's. Viewers are worded drive-through. They're on everything. They're on the walls, buildings, sign, street lights. They're all everything. So it's the same design every time?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh. I always stepping the rib. I like that. like a basketball player named Anthony Mason who always used to do different pictures. So would you ever consider maybe doing different things or are you always going to stick with that?

No, I was always going to stick with that one. Yeah, all right. Well, I like it. Do you have it in your hair right now or do you have to wait like to the day before the fight? No, today, I look rugged right now because I don't shave or cut my hair when I can't. So I'm going to go get my hair cut today or tomorrow.

But is it still going to look? look, you know, as pronounced by Saturday? Oh, yeah. You know, I freshen it up a little bit. All right. You know, before Saturday. Is it true that you tried out for the Ultimate Fighter a few years back?

Yep. What year was that? I believe I was 2010, or maybe early 2011. It was back when they did, they were going to have a 185 and 205 season and they kind of just canned it. They didn't, they didn't

never did. They never did it. They had all the tryouts and never, you know, went on to, or no, no, they did 185. They canceled the 205 season. So you didn't, it's not fair to say that you didn't make the show circumstances worked against you. No, I didn't make the show, man. All right.

Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Why didn't you try it again? You're kind of soured about it? No, no, no. It was cool. I mean, it was cool because I got to tell data.

I didn't mean, you know, my whole little story about it. When did you tell them that? I mean, when did you tell them that? Oh, no, I seen him at the Fighter Summit. Well, it was not last year, but it was a year before that. Out in Vegas, I just pulled him aside. I told him, you know, but I tried out, and I didn't make it, I didn't make it past the first round.

It's, like, rolling, and the second round is, like, mid-work, and things like that. So anyway, I didn't make it past the first round. And this guy, I knocked out in like four seconds in my first pro fight, made it on to like the later, like, interviews and things like that. You know what I mean? Yeah.

So I was just telling me, but yeah, man, you know, I was sour. I thought you're a dickhead, you know. Wow. Like, man, after the USC, you know what I mean? I was just mad. I told him I was just mad, but, you know, maybe it was for the best because, you know, kind of lit a fire under.

from deep my ass and I was just like, you know, I'm going to get there just through fighting. You know what I mean? Instead of, you know, I'm not like putting, you know, sand on anybody as far as like if they make it in the house and make the UFC, you know, all, you know, all praise to them. But I was just telling them, you know, that it just kind of made me just think about like, yeah, I'm just going to fight and then they're going to want to put me in the UFC, you know what I mean? Yeah, well, here you are. Now, you mentioned you got the hair, the same hair.

What about the attire? You usually go with the sort of gladiator-like shorts. Are you going with that again? No, I'm going normal, man. A lot of people like you grab them at the back. Like when you're against the cage, you like to grab the little schools or whatever. So you're done with it? Yeah, I'm done with it.

I was looking forward to seeing that in the UFC. Yeah, it would be fun, too, man. But it's just, when they get you against the cage, man, they would say, and they, you know, they have, like, maybe a underhook. They like to grab it, you know, and you can't really see it. I mean, the guy who has it on, you feel it,

but, you know, the rest can't see it, things like that. Yeah. It's like a football player with long hair. It just doesn't seem worth it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Final thing, how do you see this fight playing out? You know, my hand raised And me just trying to make a splash in the UFC And, you know I'll showcase my talent You know, I'm just on a bigger stage And get more people, you know Want to see more, more big fight

Well, I look forward to it If anyone's seen you in Strike Force Always entertaining, exciting, somewhat flashy And for the record, I'd like to see you fight Luke Rockhold Just want to throw it out there I know you don't want to hear that but I just wanted to let you know. All right.

Well, good luck on Saturday, Lorenz. Thanks for coming by. All right, thank you, Leo. All right, there he is. Lorenz Larkin. DeMonsune, stopping by here on the MMA hour. He makes his UFC debut on Saturday night against Francis Carmon. As I said, it is a great card.

On the main card, you have Jordan Miann going up against Matt Brown. You have, of course, Josh Thompson versus Nathan Diaz, Daniel Cormier versus Frank Mier. and the main event, Gilbert Melendez versus Benson Henderson. And right below this video, if you're watching the show live, we have a poll up there. And I'm curious. I'm curious as to which fight you're most looking forward to on the main card.

Of those four, we'll talk about the undercard a little later on. And right now, it's kind of neck and neck between the main event and the co-main, expectedly. Frank Mirre Cormier, as I see it right here, let me freshen this page up here. One second. So fresh and so clean. Yeah, 40% Frank Mir, 44% for Benson versus Gill.

So weigh in. Have your say, I like the poll. It's very interactive. It's a people's poll. I like it. It's fun. Now, speaking of liking things, I'm a big fan of our next guest. And as I mentioned at the top of the show, you people have been, and I say you people.

Yes, you people, the ones out there have been harassing me to get this guy or this person. I don't even know what, I guess it's a guy on the show to, to, I'm. I don't even know what you expected out of the situation, but I can tell you I'm very excited about it, and I'm curious to see how this whole thing plays out. He is, of course, Tommy Tohold. He is the brains behind and the host of a very popular internet show. If you're watching the MMA hour, if you're listening to the MMA hour,

it's a very good chance that you know who Tommy Tollhold is. You've seen his YouTube videos. You probably follow him on Twitter. But in case you don't know who Tommy Tollhold is, here's a quick little snippet of what this character is all about. I think you'll understand why. Oh, there you go. Here we go. Fans, welcome to Triple THS.

I'm the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, Tommy Toho. Today, tough gets nasty. The lady's gear up for Friday night. Big Gus gets dropped. We'll celebrate Chales' birthday. Plus, if you're a comment of the week, let's do this shit. There you go. So there's a taste of Tommy Tohold.

More to come here in this interview. Great to have him on the show. Tommy, are you there? I'm here. Well, you don't sound the same. So what's going on? Is this Tommy the character, or is this the brain's behind, Tommy? This is the guy behind Tommy. Wow. I am a guy. I'm not a girl. This is a worldwide exclusive.

Yes, absolutely. Is this the first time you've done an interview out of character? It is not. I've done a few here and there, but none on this scale, most definitely. All right, so it's not an exclusive. We can call whatever you want. All right, fair enough. Now, are you willing to tell us what your name is? I am not. I'm not willing to tell you what my name is. Why not? Well, you know, when I first started doing the show, I was actually, I used to be an English teacher. So I kind of thought, you know what, if I get back into education, maybe it wouldn't look too great in a job interview if I was a cursing cartoon. So I kind of kept it incognito. But now, because it's kind of like blown up and it's this whole thing and everybody wants to know who I am and people think I'm Dana White, people think I'm you, people think I'm Santa Claus.

I thought it's kind of cool to have this mystery about me, so I'm just going to keep it going as long as I can. I think that's a good idea, and I certainly respect that. Now, you mentioned when you started the show, and I was looking at your first episodes, you know, the character looks different, he sounds different. Before we get into all that, how did you even come up with this? Because it's a very unique thing, and the fact that you pump them out every week is to be commended, because that's a lot of work. Thank you, yeah, it is.

I don't, honestly, I wish I could tell you I'm some awesome creative genius, but it's sort of an accident. I wanted to do like just a blog for YouTube. So I had a camera and I set it up and it was called Poling Guard, which is just a horrible name. And I was basically just me talking about fights. But the video quality was so terrible, I really couldn't use it. So I thought, okay, well, I have a good microphone and I've got Photoshop. So I made a little animated character. Actually, I stole the first character.

Just used it from some website that makes avatars. And then once the show got a little bit bigger, I thought maybe I should make my own. So I took the time to draw Tommy and do all that. But it sort of just fell on the place by accident. I wish I could tell you that there was some great inspiration, but it just kind of happened. Now, how long ago was this? Just a year ago. Wow.

All this in a year, that's unbelievable. Did you ever expect that it would turn out to be what it is today? I mean, we've seen Rhonda Rousey wearing your shirt, Invicta Wayans, you're all over the place, fighters talking about you, Lorenzo Fertita tweeting you. I mean, you're a big deal. Yeah, I did not expect any of this at all. This was just something I was doing for fun on the side,

and then it started blowing up, and then I'm talking to all these people that You know, I watch on TV. It was crazy. I had no idea that this thing was going to do what it did. You know what's amazing listening to you right now? I hear Tommy. You kind of speak very quickly, and that's kind of his thing, but I just hear like little, I hear the root of it all.

So now I know it really is you. Yes, it is. Yeah, I do sound a little bit like Tommy. Do you alter the voice at all? No. I just do the voice. Actually, all the voices on the show are me. The only voices I alter are when I do a girl's voice.

I increase the pitch. because I just can't do a good girl's voice. But, yeah, no, it's all me. I don't really do any altering. As far as, like, the speed goes, because people say, how do you talk that fast? Like you said, you can tell I kind of do talk quickly. But as far as, like, the editing goes,

I kind of take out the spaces in between phrases and I'm doing it in the microphone. So there's a little bit of editing as far as that's concerned, but everything else is actually me. So give us the process here. When you start working on an episode, how long does it take? I always want to start on Tuesday night after the ultimate fighter ends.

but I end up starting probably Wednesday morning because I can't. You know, there's a little bit of a process at the beginning, just kind of thinking about it, not really doing anything. And then I write the show. I do all of the photoshopping, so I make all of the fake interview images. Then I record the audio. I get all the images I need. Then I start putting it together.

I would say the process generally takes anywhere from 16 to 24 hours, and I usually do it in one block. So there are times where I'll go an entire day making the show. Wow. and without sleeping or anything like that. Yeah, yeah. No, I've definitely lost quite a bit of sleep doing this. Have you ever had a fighter or some kind of fight personality reach out to you

and, you know, they were offended by something you did, said, whatever, involving them? No, I think generally speaking, the fighters get that it's kind of tongue-in-cheek. And, you know, I even put a little disclaimer underneath my videos that said, you know, look, I don't have any disrespect to these fighters. It's just something fun that I'm doing because I enjoy the sport. I do. I've had maybe one or two fighters that didn't really appreciate what I was doing. But for the most part, I've had a lot of really positive response. Who are those fighters?

I don't really want to. I mean, you know, I don't know if he didn't like it or not. I know Tito blocked me on Twitter. What? And I've never even, I never even sent him the video. I think a lot of people did because I did an impression of him doing a press conference with Cyborg. But, you know, like I said, generally speaking, it's been nothing. Great response from the fighters. For the record, I think that was my favorite segment of yours.

That was pretty... What's great about it is you're so timely, and you do this every... I mean, when's the last time you missed a week? It's amazing that you're timely and you're talking... It's like how South Park is, right? I mean, what's great about South Park is that they're kind of mocking things that happen recently. It's not something that was put in the can a year ago. I think that's part of why it's fun.

I mean, there are other reasons as well, but you get my point. No, I do. I agree. And that's why I kind of do the show as late as I can before Wednesday, because if a story breaks, even Wednesday morning, I've had times where a story breaks on Wednesday afternoon or something like that, and I'll have to, you know, put it on that show that night. So, yeah, I do like to be as relevant as possible. And because the quality of the show is so low, you know, low end, it makes it, I'm able to do that. I'm able to make the show in a pretty short amount of time. Now, believe it or not, one of the first times that I realized that, wow, this guy's actually,

he's doing great work and he's getting noticed was, I had a conversation with Bruce Buffer about you, and he was like, oh, this guy's great, and he said he was going to have you, or the character wear his It's Time Industries shirt, and I think he kind of hooked you up with Crave,

things like that. Was he one of the first people in the sport as far as, you know, the well-known people to recognize your talents and give you a bit of a push? Oh, absolutely. Bruce has been tremendous. Yeah, I mean, really, you know, When I first started doing the show, I was trying to get people to see it, so I was sitting at the fighters,

but then I realized that that wasn't the right people, so I started, like, kind of looking for media people. And really the first person that ever kind of really started, it was Steffie Daniels from Bloody Elbow, and she kind of got things rolling, and then Bruce came along, and Bruce has been tremendous and building it up. And, yeah, I just had some help along the way from different MMA personalities, and it's been tremendous. But, yeah, Bruce has been absolutely great. So is this your full-time job right now? I know I want it to be I started selling shirts and I'm doing okay with that

and I haven't really monetized the videos on YouTube because I don't know I'm kind of if you on that right now but yeah I do like freelance writing freelance videography wedding stuff like that so it allows me to have this kind of schedule but like I said there really wasn't my plan at first I used to be a teacher but the school district I was in had budget cuts and they had cut a bunch of young teachers and I just sort of ended up floating in all these odd jobs

And that's when Tommy got created. So you must have loved, here comes the boom, right? Oh, yeah, it was great. Well, because the whole teacher angle. Oh, yeah, no, that was very cool. Yeah, it was definitely cool. Both things that I really enjoy, education and M.A. That was definitely very funny.

And how old were the kids that you were teaching at the time? I was teaching freshmen and sophomores in high school. In high school, okay. So that's – in Canada, the whole system is much different. So I'm guessing – is that 9 and 10? Grade 9 and 10? Yes, grade 9 and 10. Yep.

In Quebec, high school starts grade 7 for us, and it goes to grade 11, and there's no middle school, there's no junior high. It's very different here in the state, so we don't use freshman sophomore. I just blew your mind, right? You did. I didn't know that. I'm learning stuff every day. Now, I don't understand the whole YouTube monetizing situation. Why wouldn't you want to make money off this?

Oh, there's two reasons. One, honestly, the views aren't high enough to really make too much of a dent. two, I don't like when I have to watch an advertisement before a video. And my show is only five minutes long. So if I get a 30-second ad before that, I just don't, I don't know. I feel like people don't appreciate that. So early on, I definitely was like, no, I'm not going to have any ads. And then now I've kind of kept it, and I'm kind of hesitant to put it on there because people have expected that for so long that there's not going to be advertisements.

But I think eventually if I do get enough views in the future, I'll probably do something else to monetize it. can't you go with a feature that the ad pops up like on the bottom and it doesn't play beforehand or do they get the pick? I don't know much about that stuff, but aren't there different options that you can use as far as ads go for the videos? Yeah, there are. And I guess I could do those. I don't know. Like I said, I should probably get on that. I think really the biggest thing is the views.

I mean, I don't know how much YouTube partners make, but it's not as much as a lot of people think as far as like a per, per, view goes. Like I said, I guess anything helps, but I just, I know people find those annoying, but I kind of try to stay away from them. Are you the complete brains behind the soup to nuts? There's no one else helping you with these videos. No, it's just me. Other than the occasional, like, guest person I have on, like I had Chale come on one

time, and Pat Barry and some other people. No, it's me. I do all the writing, all the voicing, all the animating, all that stuff. How'd you hook that up? How'd you get Chale, Pat, those guys come on your show? Um, that shale happened through, um, his, uh, boxing coach, uh, Jamie Huey. Okay. And, uh, he's a great guy.

And then, um, you know, that just sort of kind of happened organically. And then, uh, with Pat, he's just a fan of the show. And I think, uh, somebody tweeted me and him and said, hey, you should have Pat on the show. And I was like, yeah, that'd be cool. And then it just sort of went from there. So, um, all of the actual guests I've had on the show just kind of happened organically. And you know what's impressive about you? I've noticed this.

People give you props all the time. You have a very loyal fan base. you respond personally to everyone. It seems like you respond to every single person that writes to you on Twitter, and I give you props for that. That's a very cool thing to do. Yeah, I mean, I feel it's like the least I can do since they're going to take the time to write me a message. And, I mean, at some point it might get too much where I just can't respond.

Like, when I post a show on Wednesday, I'll have like 400 tweets, and I'll end up in Twitter jail for like half the day because I'm responding to too many people. But, yeah, I mean, I just figure if they're going to take the time to say, you know, hey, I love your show, I can at least just say thank you. I mean, it doesn't take that much out of my day. And, yeah, I definitely like respond to the fans are great. It felt to me like a major turning point for you, a big moment for you, at least, was when Dana White tweeted your videos, said he loved it and everyone check it out.

Would you agree with that? Was that a major turning point for you? Was that a big moment for the Tommy Tollhold character? Oh, yeah, absolutely. That was huge. Having Dana tweeted out, I couldn't even believe the amount of response I got. It was nuts. And still, to this day, each episode that he has,

I think he's done twice. Okay. Both of those episodes are my highest as far as views go. So, yeah, no, it was definitely a big deal. And he followed me on Twitter, and I thought that was pretty cool, too. So was that the biggest sort of shout-out that you received this far? Yeah, I would say so. I mean, you know, he's a dude running the company.

So I suppose that's definitely the biggest. I mean, obviously Lorenzo, too, that was really cool. But, yeah, I mean, it's funny, you know, like even people that are just getting started in the business, when they say they like the show and I've heard of them and stuff, I'm just, I still kind of get star-struck. I'm like, I can't believe you're even talking to me. It's just kind of crazy. What is the longtime goal of the show?

Where do you want to take this? Obviously, you want to go as far as possible. Do you have a plan in place? Yeah, kind of. I mean, I do want to take it as far as I can. I'll be 100% honest. I want it to be on TV. I don't think it could be 30 minutes,

but I think a segment on maybe UFC tonight or something like that will work. I would love to work with Fox or the UFC. But, yeah, I want to take this as far as I can. If only you knew someone that worked on Fuel TV, that can maybe put in a good word. That's right. That's true. Well, hopefully you meet that person. That would be huge for you. That would be awesome. Now, you're not going to take any, because, you know, I had my man, I'll be honest, I have my man Prebeck on.

You know Prebeck, right? I do. Now, he does great work. He put out a video recently. But I think lately, I was talking about this in New York, Rick, and I'm not trying to throw him under the bus or anything because I think his work is outstanding. But with that kind of thing, you've got to be consistent. Wednesday at a certain time, people need to know that this stuff is coming out. I think that's part of your success. They know that it's coming out on this day. Don't take any days off.

Is that part of your game plan as well, despite the fact that it may be a holiday or whatever, you've got to come out with a show. Oh, absolutely. You know, I've missed, you know, all kinds of things, vacations and other things just because I needed to get the show out. I decided when I started and my fans will joke because sometimes I'm so late, it comes out at, you know, 11, 50, on Wednesday or sometimes one in the morning on Thursday. But I do, every single week I said I'm going to get to show out, and that's it. There's another, you know, I'm not going to stop it. So it's been literally every single week as I started.

I think I'll be up to episode 60 coming up next week, and I have not missed one Wednesday. And what's the deal with you in Invicta? Because I saw you all over in Victa a couple weeks ago. Well, you know, Shannon Knapp, she's awesome. And I've been interacting with her for a while through Twitter and other social media and mutual contacts. And I just am a big fan of Invictus, so I've been covering it on the show, and she just kind of approached me and said, hey, we'd like to do something fun with your logo,

and would you be interested in that? And it sort of went from there. So you weren't necessarily sponsoring them. You weren't paying them. It was just kind of a friendship deal. Yeah, it was kind of a friendship thing. Yeah, it was, you know, just sort of mutual respect, I guess. And where do you live?

I will give you the region of the United States. I live in the Midwest. Oh, okay. All right, fair enough. Now, I asked you while we were setting this up if you could give us a taste of Tommy. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure, like I said, if you alter anything, so I didn't know if you could pull it off. Are you able to give us a taste? I am, and let me say, once I start, it's going to get a little silly, but I want you to kind of play along with it.

Okay, so we're going to talk to each other. Yeah, I'm going to interact with you. Okay, great. Are you ready right now? Yeah, I'm going to start it right now, so if you're ready. Let's do it. I'm ready. Hey, Erle, how are you doing?

I'm doing great. That's great. Hey, Tomic told here. Do me a favor. Ask me about my cartoon rival Prebeck. What do you think about Prebeck? I'm not following that one. Stop trying to get me in trouble with your relevant questions in your actual journalism.

Now, last time you had a fictional character on the show, things got a little nuts. So if I do the same, I fully expect you to walk me through Central Park, but I do have some demands. Okay. I want the entire interview to be done while we ride swings, and we have to get cotton candy. Do we have a deal? Deal. Okay, well, I changed my mind, and now I want to ride bikes. And you've already agreed, so there's no turn it back.

Hey, thank you for having me on the show. I'd love to stay in chat, but Lois Griffin's going to be here in five minutes. And I've not laid any plastic down to my bedroom yet. Stay Canadian, my friend. That was awesome. By the way, I don't know how to ride a bike, so we need to figure out a new deal. What? No way.

I swear, I don't know how to ride a bike. Isn't it embarrassing? It's not embarrassing, man. You just got to try it. You can't be scared to fall down. I was actually impressed. I thought you knew that, and you were trying to call me out, world exclusive right here.

I really was not. That's awesome, though. That's great. That was awesome. That was incredible. Hey, are you able to do the April Fool? That was great. That was awesome.

The Van der Le Silva? I just try it. I don't know if it would sound the same. It's funny. Like, sometimes characters like that that I don't do very often. It's hard for me to remember how I did their voice the first time, but I'll give it a try.

That was a good one. He kept coming back. That was obviously a topic that I spoke about. I was upset about the whole situation. But then when I saw your show, I was like, I can't really be mad at Vanderlay. You made me lighten up a little bit, so I appreciate that. Hey, not a problem.

Yeah, I thought that was such a funny situation. And so silly, I thought it would be great for the show. What about Tito? That's tough, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, it was one of those things. I almost didn't do the joke. What? I almost didn't do it.

I almost didn't do it because I was like, I don't know. Because most of my jokes are kind of tongue-in-cheek, but that was almost malicious as far as making fun of his voice. But, you know, it was good and it was funny, and I think a lot of people enjoyed it, and I'm sure I'll end up doing it again in the future. But every once in a while, I'll do a joke, and I'm like, do I want to do this?

But I usually end up doing it anyway. So are you just going to keep YouTube as your home, or you actually have a site that, I mean, if you go to the YouTube page, and by the way, you don't have an actual, it's on YouTube.com slash Tommy Toehold, is it? Yeah, it is. It is.

Oh, because when I looked at it, maybe my thing was all messed up. I just got a bunch of numbers and a weird URL. So it's YouTube.com slash Tommy Tohold. Website, things like that. Do you care about that, or do you just want people to go to your YouTube? No, I actually do have a website. It's just triple-th-hs.com, so t-tthths.com. And right now it's just, I'm selling, like, my shirts and stuff.

But I think eventually I'll kind of probably put a little bit more content on there as well. Right now I'm happy with YouTube. obviously YouTube is, you know, one of the top three websites in the entire world. So it's nice to have it on something that people are familiar with, and it's easy to embed. But I suppose if something came along in the future and the right deal, you know, I could move somewhere else. But I would like to stay on YouTube as long as possible. So you got Ronda Rousey wearing your shirt, cutting it up and things like that. I see that that almost has to be a little surreal, right?

It is. Seriously, all this stuff is just every time I interact with a fighter or just talking to you right now, on the MMA hour. It's just, I would never have thought a year ago, if you had told me that any of this was going to happen,

I told you you're nuts. So, yeah, anytime any fighter interacts with me, I just, I'm kind of baffled by it. How far do you, do you honestly think this can go? Do you have realistic expectations?

You know, I don't know how long it's going to go. I don't know if people are going to get sick of me after a few more years, but I'm going to, I'm going to ride it into the ground. You know, I'm going to go Brett Farb-style.

I'm going to do it until people just ask me to stop. And then, you know, If I leave a mark on MMA and people remember it 10 years down from the road, that's great. But yeah, I'm going to try to do this as long as I can. Well, that's awesome, man. I wish you nothing but the best of luck, success.

I mean, it's really great to see someone kind of do something on their own by themselves organically without anyone helping them out and then just develop this following, you know, week by week. I mean, I know Sean on the MMA report, he supports you a lot and posts your videos every week, you know, when they come out. And I know New York Rick back there. New York, Rick has actually been, to be honest, he was campaigning to have you on the show many moons ago, so he deserves some props as well. And I'm very happy for you. If there's anything we can do to help you out to get your word out there, let us know because it's fun to see someone in your position to succeed.

Hey, thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it. And I appreciate all the support from everybody that has done anything, even just sending me a Twitter message. It's been great. Thank you so much for having me on. All right. There he is. Tommy Tollhold stopping by.

Check him out. Triple THS, as he says at Triple THS. dot com, YouTube.com slash Tommy Tollhold, Twitter.com slash Tommy Tollhold. The guys everywhere. If you haven't seen his stuff, do yourself a favor. After the show, check it out.

Heck, even pause the show if you want. Check it out. He is very talented. We don't know his name. We're not quite sure where he lives. It doesn't really matter at this point. Very talented. A great addition to the MMA community. And it's always a fun watch every Wednesday or Thursday

when he comes out with those videos. so we appreciate him stopping by, and we wish him nothing but the best of luck. Let him know that you enjoyed his spot on the show and that you're pulling for the guy. He needs a support. He needs that motivation. Tommy Toehold on the M.A. hour.

We have seen it all. We have done it all, my friends. But we're not done. Let us move along now because as I was talking to Kelvin about at the top of the show, this is a big day in Las Vegas. Tryouts of the Ultimate Fighter, season 18, men and women,

135 pounders. And this morning, when I was coming to the show, to the studio, I noticed that our longtime friend Ulysses Gomez, the number one fan of Mr. Justin Bieber, was trying out, and I thought this is interesting. Of course, recently a member of the UFC

Flyweight Division, now trying out as a bantamweight on the ultimate fighter, but then he tweeted that they wouldn't let him try out. So we wanted to have him on the show to make sense of this situation. I believe he's on right now. Ulysses, are you there? Okay, how you doing, boss?

So what happened? You went to Las Vegas, you went to try out. They didn't let you try out? Well, the good thing is I live in Vegas, so I didn't have to go that far. Okay. But yeah, I got that application. I filled it all out.

The application didn't say anything that I couldn't try out. They didn't stand in my former UFC veterans. So I said, okay, why not? You know, I got there like around 6, 30, you know, there was probably about 15, 20 people in front of me. So once they opened the registration up, I gave them a paperwork, you know, they check your way, you know, they took my picture,

and said, you know, just sit down. you know and get out, wait, or if they're going to call you. So I'm sitting down, then they called me and three other people. And by the time I got there, they told the other three guys that they couldn't try out as well. I think because I didn't recognize them, so I don't think of the same as their reason why I couldn't try out. I think they couldn't try out because it didn't have enough fights. But so I go to the guy, I was like, oh, you can't try out your, you know, your former fighter. I was just like, well, the application doesn't say that say that I can't, and I know former fighters have tried out.

know, Joe Lauer on, West Sims and all that. Sure. He was like, well, you know, you're not allowed to. I was like, what do you mind if I talked to Joe Silver and Sean Shelby when they get here? He's just like, oh, yeah, no, go ahead. Like, probably about 10 minutes later, I saw Joe Silver and I asked him first. And he was like, yeah, you know, you can't try out this and that. He's like a situation.

But I didn't say that application, I guess what happened was it says on the website, but my manager, he emailed me the application. I didn't get it from the website directly. Ah. So, yeah. So how are you feeling now? I mean, a little bummed, you know, but I did talk to Sean Shelby, and, you know, he know that, you know, that, you know, I told him that, you know, like, if I, what I have to do to get back to the UFC is go to the tournament, you know, I'm willing to do that, you know.

I'll humble myself to it, you know. I think it gets kind of hard, like, you know, I was in the UFC, I do fights, kind of feel like maybe take the step backwards, you know, but the same time is just like, if that's what I feel like, if that's what I have to do, you know, I'm all. You know, it kind of, you know, gave me, you know, a little spiel, you know, win a couple fights, you know, stay ready, you know, because people always get hurt, you know, and you'll be back. Do you want to be fighting at 135 as opposed to 125, or you just saw the opportunity at 135 for the show here? A little bit of both. I definitely saw the opportunity with 135.

I'm also on the Pia at 135, you know, I've had three fights. The cut to 135 is definitely the cut to 125. But the same time, I think, I mean, at 1-305. I mean, at 125, I'm probably, you know, three, maybe four fights away from the remote and the world, depending on what route you take. At 135, it's probably like 13 and 14. So the road's a lot longer at 35. But I think the road is, even though it's shorter.

At 125, it's a lot more difficult because, I mean, there is no easy fights, you know. So you last fought in the UFC in February. Did you turn down any opportunities because you were saying, all right, you know, let's say someone offered you a fight last week the week before or this coming week. well, I want to try it for the ultimate fighter, so I don't want to take these opportunities. Did that happen? I actually signed with the show called Panamonian.

They're in the Pomona, a roadst area. So I have a fight for them June 1st. They knew that I was going to try out for the show. So, you know, they let me out my contract if I wasn't good sign, back up for the show. But I didn't, I guess I'm going to have to beat some new up on June 1st. You know, you had a very interesting predicament that you were tweeting about. You got there very early.

You were in line. And then all of a sudden you had the urge to use the restroom, and you weren't sure what you were going to do. What did you do? I felt bad for you there. I know, dude. I had to wait, man. I was kind of afraid I was in Tim Hilton myself. But thankfully, you know, I waited, you know, I had a true-headed a little bit.

Oh, all right, though. Dang. That's a lot of info. But you know what? I sympathize. It's a tough spot to be in. Well, I mean, you know, like, well, I got there at 630. There was probably, like, 15 people.

But it wasn't in the line. They were just all kind of like sitting on the floor. And then at 8 o'clock, they just opened the doors. They got, every getting in the line. And I'm like, oh, I thought it was in line. So I went for being the 15th person, the 75th person. So I was like, man, I really got old with him because I don't want to get at the end of the line. And, you know.

Did you recognize any big names who haven't fought in the UFC this far? Yeah, Wolfson Hayes was there. Oh, I don't know if he was trying out. But I know he was there. Danny Martinez. who's nominated 525, he was there. Mani and Cappio was there. He was kidding Jimmy Jones, who fought Sergio Pettis last.

He's there. Chris Holsworth, who's, I think, he's four or five million in the RFA, all by submissions. He was there. And who else they have? A couple of girls, Kim Cout tried out, which I thought that was kind of interesting. They could have the first mom, dad, and son in the UFC. Is Kim Cout you're saying? Yeah, she tried out.

Wow. Wow. I saw her to try out. I don't know how far she went, but I know she was in the grappling portion. Any other notable women? I think Carol Rosa, and there's this one girl. I forgot how she had pronounced her last thing. But she always has classes.

She's super nice. Yeah, Roxanne Mataferri. Yeah, her, her, yep. She's actually coming on after you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I know the girls, they just got done with the grappling and about to start doing this striking. So you just see how they all do. You know, Manning Tapia has an interesting one because he fought in

WEC? Do you think it's fair that he should get? Well, I mean, same thing with L.C. L.C. Davis is trying out. Right. They both fought on WC, but then they're on the UFC. Right. Still, it's a super banner, but, I mean,

how much do you want to think, you know? Right, right. Yeah, that's a tough spot. And, you know, I'm wondering, of course, when we reported, there were a lot of cuts, a lot of cuts since then, you were on that list, and quite famously, you tweeted that you didn't even know, which, you know, Honestly, I felt horrible about it, and I wrote to you via Twitter, via direct message that, you know, I apologize that you found out that way.

And then now this happens. I mean, did you have bad feelings towards UFC? Clearly not, you tried out, but after something like this, how do you feel towards the company now? I mean, you know, when I got released, the way I found out was it was unfortunate, but the next day, didn't tweet amid the video saying that he was sorry about the people that didn't know. I don't feel that he needed to address that situation. It's their company. They can run it how they want. It made me feel a lot better, you know.

I realize an honest mistake that they didn't, I guess Dana thought that some of the fighters knew before they actually did. You know, it happens. The way I look at it, you know, I had two fights in the UFC. I made a good amount of money. I found him, you know, fun of hundreds of thousand people. So there's really nothing to be upset about, you know. I had a chance to, you know, to do it again. I would definitely jump on it.

So there's no heart feelings, you know. That is very good to hear, and you're handling that with a lot of class. Your next fight, June 1st, you said, for this promotion pandemonium, 125 or 135? From when I hear at 125, I'm trying to stay busy, you know, I figure if they want to be a Daltrow fighter, you know, which was two fights and six weeks. I'm going to try to have three fights and six weeks or eight weeks.

Wow. I'm trying to fight in, I want to fight in the Arphane in July, because I hear, I hear if I have a show in July or August, If I can get on that one, I know Tocchi Pal has a show in August. I want to get on that one as well. All right, man. Well, I'm sorry this happened. I wanted to have you on to talk about this great story of you, you know, trying out for the show and hopefully making it.

And I know you are upset. That's why I really appreciate you coming on and telling us about it all. Good luck with the fight in June. We'll, of course, be monitoring it. And good luck on your road back to the UFC. Wish you nothing but the best of luck. Thanks, I appreciate it. All right, there he is.

Ulysses Gomez. Check them out on Twitter. Twitter.com slash Ulysses Gomez. former UFC flyweight, hoping to make his way back up the UFC ranks and get another shot in there. I think that would be a nice story, and I think on the ultimate fighter would have been nice,

but I guess you can understand where they're coming from. Only 8 135ers from the men's side of things, eight women, bantamweight fighters, Tyler Rose, as he mentioned, Kim Couture, ex-wife of one Randy Couture. I don't know if she's ever fought a 135 before. That's very interesting. and Roxanne Mataferi, who I believe we're trying to get in touch with any moment now from the Ultimate Fighter tryouts.

I think that would be a lot of fun. Roxanne's been around this sport a long time, came all the way from Japan to try out. And, you know, as I mentioned, I've said this on the show a lot. You know, the Ultimate Fighter, yes, maybe it's gotten a little stale. It's kind of the same thing. But with the Kelvin win and even what Yerai did this year, now moving on to this, and what Kat did on Saturday, I got to admit,

I'm more interested in this season than I have been probably since the Kimbo season. I think this is the first season, especially from the women's side of things, when it's the first time they can tap into a division, you're going to get some really good athletes, some really good fighters,

and it's only the second time that they've had 135-pound men. So I'm really curious to see who they get. Of course, as CN Punk was saying, women's MMA very hot right now, and they're building the divisions. They're putting together great matchups. I give Sean Shelby a lot of credit for that. He's putting together the right matches.

Sheila Gaff versus Sarah McMahon coming up next week. Rosie Sexton versus Alexis Davis coming up at 161. There's some fun matchups coming up. And of course, Ronda Rousey against Katzenegano. That'll probably be in December. And I'm just, I'm interested. I'm interested in the dynamic, in the house. I'm interested in the dynamic at the gym, the fights themselves.

I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to that September 4th it premieres on Fox Sports 1. So New York, Rick, telling me right now that Roxy's running a little late. Still want to get her on the show 20 minutes or so. So before we get to, what are we going to do first? The pictures, the picks or the questions? Let's run through the pictures while we wait for Roxy. Okay, before we get to the pictures, I just want to quickly address what happened.

on the show last week. And by the way, when your mic is on a hear a bit of an echo, I'm not sure if that's from the computers or anything, but just to let you know. Of course, last week, if you may have not heard or missed the show, we had the Mitreone minute, which we've done on this show many times in the past. Of course, we've also had the McCorkel Minute, and it's something that just kind of started up. I remember when Matt Matrione was on this show, back in the AOL days, he came on, and I remember trying to end the interview, and he started asking me questions about an upcoming fight. And I was like, this is fun.

It's fun to get someone else's perspective, someone who kind of gets it, who's engaging. So I invited him back on, and we kind of came up with this idea that'll be his take on the world of MMA, because, you know, quirky guy and meathead, all that stuff, and called it the Mitchio Minute, even though it wasn't a minute,

kind of a playoff, the MMA hour, it's not really an hour. And it just, it was fun, it worked. Of course, we had the issue with Tito, which, you know, may or may not, have been a warning sign or whatever, but I didn't think that was a big deal then, and we kind of got over it, and everyone's okay now. And he came on the show, of course, you know, it was kind of hard to keep up with it, especially he was injured and losing streak and all that stuff. But he won, and he told me he wanted to do it again on the show from wherever he was, and I said, sure,

we never really had a real issue in the past, and, you know, that was that. Last week's Mitchio Minute obviously wasn't the funniest one ever. To be honest, I've never even seen Silence of the Lamb. So when he was making those jokes about Buffalo Bill and that stuff, I didn't really know what he was talking about. I never saw the film. And then, of course, the guy, as I mentioned, very serious when he was, you know, giving his take on Fallon Fox

and her fighting in mixed martial arts. And then a couple hours later, word got out that Matt Matrione had been suspended indefinitely by the UFC. In fact, I was the one who told Matt of this when he was still on Skype from wherever he was. And I asked him. And then I said, did you hear about this? And then he kind of just disappeared. I had a conversation with him yesterday, but that was off the record.

And I want to keep that between us. And we're fine. And, you know, I just want to say that to anyone who is watching this show, who is listening to it. I mean, I've played it over and over in my mind. And people are saying, oh, congratulations on getting on CNN.com, Huffington Post, all that stuff. that's not how I want our show to be seen, to be associated with. I don't want anyone to listen to the show and be offended by anything. The only thing I want you to be offended by maybe is a bad plaid shirt that I'm wearing

or maybe my big nose, something like that. But you get my point. It got too serious, and I regret that, and I played it over in my mind a thousand times. People asked me about the Bob Aram interview. Oh, that was so great. And quite frankly, that was one of my lowest moments. I didn't like that because I introduced. Now, it was a little different, the MMA guy interviewing, the boxing guy, he's ripping

MMA. So I kind of felt like, oh, here I am, I need to stick up for the sport. But as far as what my job is, what my role is, it was not that. When you give someone the microphone, when you ask them a question, you shouldn't interject. And if it's a fighter ripping on another fighter saying something, a promoter, whatever, it's their time. On a show like this, I can talk about it. But it's their time.

I shouldn't interject. Now, when it comes to the Mitrione situation, that's what I believe in. It comes to Mitrione, he was doing the minute, and it's more of a monologue where I'm kind of just sitting there, you know, taking it all in. And I've wrestled. Should I have interjected? Should I said something? Well, I did ask him about, you know, why are you calling her a him? Why do you have so much hatred towards her? You know, I was trying to kind of reel him back in. At least I thought, I'm not, you know, those are his opinions, and you can do whatever he wants with them. but it wasn't obviously something that we agreed with. I've been covering Fallon. I reached out to her for a comment.

As I said on the show a bunch of times, I don't know enough about the situation to come out here and say that this is something that should not be allowed or allowed. I just don't know. So I'm going to cover like a women's fighter, and that's the best that I can do. So I replayed it over in my mind.

I thought about what to tweet. I didn't want to, you know, because he was on my show and he was doing the minute, and we've had that relationship. I didn't want to throw them under the bus, but I also didn't want to condone it. So I wrestled with it,

and that's why I said, I just want to talk about it on the show and kind of let it all out there. And, of course, some people weren't happy with that, thought that I was, you know, lacking emotion. It wasn't that. I just felt like it started here. It should end here.

So I just wanted to say that if anyone was listening to that and was offended, I apologize. It wasn't our idea. It wasn't anything that we came up with together, or anything like that. And I'm not even sure if I should apologize, but I will.

because it just it didn't really have it it didn't have a place here it went the Mitchie oman has always been kind of lighthearted it was always been fun and it it crossed the line and you know I obviously heard what Dana said on the conference call of course it wasn't an interview you know I didn't I didn't know that he was going to go that route I didn't ask him about Fallon Fox, and he also said, you know, why are people doing those interviews? Well, I think that was just kind of in the moment. Of course, we've had Kelvin, who the UFC helped me get. We've had Katzenegano, who the UFC helped me get. So, you know, I don't think that's what he really meant, but I get what he was saying. Why are you talking about Fallon if you don't know

about the situation? You don't, you're not a medical expert. I believe that's what he was saying. So I wasn't offended by that. I know some have asked me about that, joked about it. I wasn't offended. But all I just want to say is this was nothing that you know, we never meant to offend anyone. And the minute, I think, has kind of run its course, to be honest. I think over time, we just

kind of evolved, we've become a different kind of show. And I regret it went that way. I regret it went to that limit. So that's that. New York, Rick? Are you there? I can't hear you. Sorry, I'm here. What happened

in Boston? Apparently, there was some kind of explosion near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I don't have many details right now, but just a lot of people were injured and our thoughts go out to them. It's a devastating scene. There's pictures online and things like that, and it's tragic. Wow. I'm looking on CNN.com right now. Two explosions have been reported near the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street. There's thousands of people gathered for the race, and there are reports of injuries. The blast happened at about 250 p.m.

near the intersection of Boylston and Exeter Streets. Storefronts have been blown out, and there have been reports of dozens of injuries. This, again, according to CNN.com, witnesses said several victims lost limbs, and the area was being evacuated. The first explosion happened across the Lenox Hotel, and the second blast was about 15 seconds later, witnesses said.

Many of the injured appeared to be spectators who gathered for the 117th running of the race. Wow. Well, that is devastating. The victims were being taken to the Massachusetts General Hospital. NewsCenter 5 and WCVB.com will have more information when it becomes available. So, whoa. Well, thanks for letting me know about that, and that is horrendous.

Boston Marathon, of course, a huge tradition here in the United States. States, as I mentioned, 117th edition. And I hope that there are no casualties, but it sounds like a very serious situation. And our thoughts and prayers go out to the people who were affected by this. That is horrible. And if anything major comes out regarding this, I know we're an MMA show, but if you're listening to this and not tuning into the news right now, good to know about that as well. Thank you for letting me know. New York, Rick, let's take questions. Sure. First, let's tell people what's at stake. For the Frank Mirror face?

Yeah. Okay. Let's tell people what's at stake. Let's, yeah, okay, let's go with the, yeah, tell the people about the Frank Mirror Face prize at stake. It's an unbelievable prize. We met the man who did it. I was going to say young man, but he told us he's actually 39 years old, which blew my mind. Why are you blowing a spot on the show?

That's something to be proud of. Yeah, he was a fantastic shape for 39 years old. Okay, so what we're giving away is a print of art, original art created by Scott Cohn. This is it right here. Let me see. I think we got, can we see this on camera? Yeah, that looks good.

Benson Henderson, in the likeness of his favorite character Cable from the X-Men in Marvel Comics. So this is the print that our fans will be winning. Now, I'm looking at it here. It's fantastic. The quality is really great, and as you can see, the drawing is fantastic as well.

So that's what's up for grabs. If you don't win today, you can find out more or order. You can learn more about Scott at Twitter.com slash Scott underscore C-O-H-N-U-H-R-R-R-R-E. He's also at Scott C-C-C-C-O-H-R-R-R. He's also at Scott-Cone, dot blogspot.com and

facebook.com slash scott.combe. It's great stuff. It's unbelievable. You saw it right there. Benson Henderson loved it. Does work with WW Magazine. This is arguably one of our best prizes yet. That's for the Frank Mearface, and we really appreciate him stopping by,

giving a signed picture to myself, New York Rick, and Buzzkill Brendan, who had no idea what the heck was going on. You even know who Benton Anderson was, but he got one too. That's how big a part of the show Mr. Buzzkill is. He has no idea. Yep. So we appreciate that.

Now, let's go to the questions first. Sure. And soon we have Roxy stopping by, right? Yep. I have the phone line open waiting for her to call. She's going to call. Yeah. So I will let you know when that happens.

All right. Just getting the Twitter question. Actually, the website question's up. Give me one minute. All right. And just one last thing. One, one, one last thing on the whole Mitroen thing. People are, oh, you know, you were laughing and things like that.

Honestly, that's kind of, you know, the sort of give and take that we have. Again, I didn't know what he was talking about with the Buffalo Bill and all that. And he was joking, is this on? You know, I don't even know. I may have said too much at this point. The point is there, you know, he said what he had to say. I want to say that we don't condone and we don't agree with it. But he's a lot to say what he has saying.

has to pay the consequences. He got suspended. You know, that's his issue. I'm still not sure if we should have interrupted or not, but I just want to say if you were listening and you were offended, we regret that and we're sorry. That's all. All right. Our first question from the website regarding women's MMA in the UFC. After the incredible fight between Kat and Misha on Saturday's tough finale,

have the doubters been silenced when it comes to the question of women fighting in the UFC? I think 100%. I mean, they're always the most exciting fight on the card. It's unbelievable. It's like 95% of the time they're the most exciting fight on the card. And on Saturday, you just saw... And it's only that. Before the fight even really got going,

people were going nuts. People were going nuts about every single moment. It's like they're so... They're focused on every single moment of the fight. They're so locked into the fight. There's something about the women fighting that they're captivated by. And it's brilliant.

And it makes you wonder why, took this long. But this was the right time with Ronda's the champion and the talent being more developed. So I haven't heard one person hit on it, to be honest. And they shouldn't. Our next question. Recently, Ben Henderson made waves by stating that he wanted to fight GSP, with his second title defense being on Fox if he wins his fight this weekend. How far away is he from actually being considered in a super fight with GSP? As I think, George would be a lot more interested in taking this fight than a fight with Anderson Sova? I mean, we heard what John Crouch had to say about the whole situation. It doesn't

sound, it sounds like right now they take the fight, but they understand that they have to be champions for, you know, they have to hold onto that belt for at least a few more defenses. So I just, I really don't think it's going to happen. And Dana White didn't seem all that interested in it. I think it's an interesting fight. I thought he had more issues with cutting the weight than he did. John being his coach and, you know, his right-hand man kind of squashed all that, but I think that we're at least a year or two away from that being a serious possibility. Now, he may lose, goes on a losing streak. Maybe he rethinking things. But right now, considering how good he is, how strong he's looked, how dominant he's been as champion,

I don't really think it's a real possibility right now. Our final question from the website is about home field advantage. The way I understand it from a business standpoint for the UFC, is it an unfair advantage for the champions and big stars to continuously get their fights at or near their hometowns? GSP seems to always fight and win in Montreal. Kane Velasquez has two title fights in Anaheim and where there's a large Hispanic community and now John Jones has his fight in New Jersey next week. Guess what? That's smart. That's promoting 101. Why would you put GSP in another town when he sells out Montreal? Why would you put Kane Velasquez in another town if he's such a big,

draw in Anaheim or in any Latino market, that's what made Strikeforce so good. You got to sell tickets. It's not just about you sitting at home and thinking, yes, and guess what? The champion? He should have an advantage. Now, I know sometimes when Kane fought Brock, he was a challenger, GSP Sarah, GSP was the challenger in Montreal, but that's promoting 101. That makes sense. That's what you have to do. You have to go where the guy at the top is the biggest draw. I never understood that. There's no home field advantage. End of the day, you're fighting in a cage.

It's the same cage anywhere. Of course, you know, there is a crowd that's behind the fighter and supporting him, et cetera, et cetera, maybe louder in one place or the other. But the name of the game is sell tickets. Biggest gate possible. One day, if you become that big of a draw, you'll have your time. But it makes no sense to argue about that. Complain about it.

It's a smart move. Okay, that does it for our website questions. All right. Here are the Twitter questions. The first one comes from R.D. 93. Faber looked ultra-impressive Saturday. Could we see him challenge for the belt again before Cruz, who started light plio and running?

Well, Henanbrow's fighting Eddie Weinland, June 15th, in Winnipeg. I'm not quite sure. You know, we'll see what happens there. I think the goal is to have the winner of that fight-fight cruise. But I'll tell you what, you know, after this week with Cruz interviewing Faber on UFC tonight and then in the post-fight show on Fuel, there's still a lot of tension there. There's still the two biggest names at 135. Uriah calls me a hater and he thinks, you know, just because I ask questions,

doesn't mean that I believe it. It doesn't mean that that's my opinion, but it is something that has been talked about. Does he get too many title shots? he is still the biggest draw at 135. He's a bigger draw than Dominic, in my opinion. It's the truth. He's a bigger draw than anyone at 125 right now. He's a big deal.

So I think there's a very good chance. He fights one more time. Dominic fights the winner of Borough v. Wine Land. If he wins that fight, I think he could fight for the belt, especially if Dominic ends up being the unified champ. I want to see it. He has a win over him. The second fight was close.

There's still that tension. I definitely want to see it. Our next question comes from Ryan Mitchell. Would the Misha Tate rivalry rematch have been bigger than Zingano's undefeated hype for a tough fight with Ronda Rousey? You know, I thought of that. And I think because of their tension, because of their history, I think Misha may be a little more comfortable on camera right now. She presents something completely different. I wonder if she would have brought more to the table.

But I think they have a potential start. here with Kat. You know, with her being emotional and coming back and the way she won, she's undefeated, she's a fresh opponent. You know, it's kind of a, you know, I don't want to call it a win-win, but

either route, I see the positives. I see the pros and cons of either route. So I don't think they lose too much. I think it's a natural the Misha and Ronda rivalry and I don't think we may, we've seen the last of it, but I think this is fresh, on Saturday I was like, wow, this is another one of those where they rolled the dice and it didn't work out.

But now the more I think about it, seeing her entrance, hearing her on the show today, I think this will be good for her. And I think come December or so when they fight, I think people will be very interested in seeing them fight. That stare down on Saturday was incredible, that face off. So I think people will definitely be behind it. Our next question comes from our friend, Sean Sheehan. is Misha Tate versus Liz Karmouche the logical fight to make now? You know what? I agree with the guy who tweeted him underneath the tweet, M.M.A. Ireland.

Yeah. I didn't think of that, but I like it. I think that makes total sense. What I'm interested in is how long is Misha going to sit out for? Because she said on this show, she wanted to take a break after the Ronda fight. She came back very quickly for Julie Kedzi, won that fight, but then she really wanted to take a break. and she came back less than a year later.

She said the UFC call, it woke her up, and it made her want to fight again. Well, I wonder if now she thinks she came back a little too quick. I wonder if she's in the right mindset. I wonder if she will come back in four to five months. I'm not 100% sure of that. And once you start talking about that, it gets to be tricky. If she is ready to come back and get back on the horse, I love that fight. I think that makes total sense.

Our next question comes from Kyle Young. With Kelvin winning tough, do you think the UFC made out better? Now they have two new stars, and people still want to see Hall's next fights. I don't know if they made out better. I think Uriah Hall, you know, winning would have been a great moment. There's so much buzz behind him. I think he was one of those guys coming off the show that a lot of people believe this guy can be a contender right away. Of course, that didn't happen.

But I don't think there's anything wrong with Yerai winning for the UFC, and I don't think there's anything wrong with this situation. It's kind of like we were just talking about with Kett. Pros and cons to both, two different directions, but they both kind of work out. I think, you know, Kelvin is very young, raw. You saw here on the show, you know, maybe a little bit shy. But he's only 21 years old. It's amazing.

Youngest champion in the history of the Ultimate Fighter. And I think people are going to be very interested in seeing how Yeraya rebounds from this. So, yeah, you know, was it a good thing for the U.S.? I don't know if it was good or bad, but that's the beauty of the sport. It's unpredictable. You don't know what's going to happen. Everyone thinks Uriah is going to win. No one thought Kelvin will make it to the finals.

He makes it. He wins. Underdog Cinderella story. And now you have an opportunity to build up Uriah. So I don't think the UFC was crying over that at all. Our next question comes from Alex Shalinsk. Shalinsk? Yeah, that looks right.

Do you think that hall tried to coast up? We have a phone call. Hold that time. Okay. I will read the question while you get the phone call. You let me know if it was Roxy. do you think that Hall tried to coast against Kelvin because he really didn't want to hurt him?

I don't know about that. I think he knew what was at stake. And as the fight went on, maybe his first minute of the fight, he didn't have that killer instinct, but I don't know about that. I don't think that's exactly what he said. He said it was hard for him to get up for the fight

because he liked him so much. But I think he's a professional and he's been in situations like this before. I'd like to think that, you know, he had an instinct in him that he was like, I got to finish this guy, I got to beat him up. That's what I'd like to think. Okay. What was that?

That wasn't her? No. Okay. Our next question comes from Kyle L. Jones. Oh, yeah. Who? Okay, let's rephrase this. Who's next for Travis Brown, winner of Cormier-Mier?

So does anyone else ask about the elbows? Nobody else asks about that because I heard you address it earlier but Well I just wanted to You know I was talking about it with With CM Punk

I think that And I'm curious to hear your take on it as well You know As I mentioned on Saturday First off I think Travis Brown is arguably The most underrated heavyweight out there It shocks me that people still have

Stefan Struve ranked ahead of him When He knocked him out In a very impressive fashion At UFC 130 it wasn't all that long ago. People seemed to have forgotten. The elbows, I mean, it was great what he did.

In that position, Gonzaga going for the single leg, dropping those elbows around, you know, this area right here above his ear. And then as Gonzaga appeared to be out kind of going limp, he clearly hit him with at least one or two illegal elbows. I don't believe he tried to do that on purpose. But I think it was Gonzaga falling in a certain direction, and it just so happened that his elbow connected. Now, should he be?

penalized for that because he didn't mean to do it and he was falling, but he still did it at the end of the day. So should that be illegal? I think it's a very gray area. Initially, I said it and Dana White agreed in the post-fight scrum. You could see that on MMA fighting. Well, he was kind of falling. The fight was being stopped. I think the bigger issue was where was the referee? It seemed like the referee had to run five miles to get to that point. It seemed like he was way out of position. And maybe if he was in there a little closer, he could have stopped the fight. sooner. That was my biggest issue coming out of that, but as far as the actual action that took place, the actual

elbow to the back of the head, you know, thinking about it more, I kind of think that maybe it should have been a DQ. What do you think? Or maybe you're on the phone. The bottom line is the fight wasn't stopped. You there? I am. We're going to

try and get Roxy in a minute here. All right. We'll talk about that later. The bottom line is the fight was stopped after those elbows hit. So of course he didn't mean to do it. Of course it was partial. And that's the gray area involved in mixed martial arts. You know, guys are falling. We saw this many times over. I mean, we saw this with, I believe we saw it with Hendo and Fador. We've seen this with other guys. Guys move around. We saw it with Eric Silva back in Brazil with Yamasaki, Carlo Prater.

You know, it's such a gray area. Guys are moving around. You're moving, Brock Lesnar, Frank Meir. I don't know. It's tough. It's a very tricky situation. That's why being a ref is tough. You know, we constantly criticize the refs, I feel like, and at times they deserve it. But it should be noted that of all the referee jobs out there in sports, this, in my opinion, is the toughest because there's so much gray area. The sport is still evolving, and I don't think the rules are as set as they are in other sports. And even in boxing, there isn't this much gray area. Many of the calls are judgment calls. in MMA. I think that's a problem. And by the way, I think it's a problem that's probably not going to be solved anytime soon. So Travis Brown, going back to the question, asked, who's next? Well, I'm curious to see what Daniel Cormier does.

Because if Cormier wins this fight, I think he should be, honestly, I think he should be the number one contender. But if Cain Velasquez wins his next fight, he doesn't want to fight Cain. So what is he going to do? Is he going to go down to 205? some people were talking about Roy Nelson versus Czech Congo I feel like that's a fight that he's going to get it's happening next week in New Jersey they're both at around the same sort of you know ranking

I think that's a fight that makes a lot of sense but for Travis Brown you know I think he deserves some more credit looking great looking more fit than ever I'm curious to see how far he goes remember when he lost the Bigfoot Silva he got injured in that fight. All right, let's go to Las Vegas here.

Let's go to the Skype Machine. Welcome in one of our favorite guests. There she is. Roxanne Mataferi. How are you? Roxy, are you there? Yes, I'm here, Ariel. Why do you seem so worried?

Worried. Oh, I don't know. It's so hot, I just had to fan myself with this fan. Oh, I love that fan. I believe we were supposed to get one of those many moons ago. I'm still waiting for it. Oh, gosh. Give me your address.

It's yours. Okay. So what's going on? What's the scene? We wanted to talk to you. You came all the way from Japan to Las Vegas to trial for tough. How's it going so far? It's going well. There's a big turnout, men and women. It's very exciting. I'm so excited just to be here and be a part of everything. Is it kind of surreal for you? Did you ever think you'd get an opportunity like this? I can barely imagine myself here and doing all this. Like it's really surreal. Now, did you get to compete yet for the UFC? see? We did tryouts. I can't say anything about that, though. Oh, okay. I understand. It was exciting.

It was exciting. Well, you seem to be in good spirits. Now, what about the other people trying out, as far as the women go? Any familiar faces? Yeah, yeah. I was hanging out sitting next to Tara La Rosa, Shana Bezler, Jessamine Duke is a new friend of mine now. Wow. Let's see, Tanya Evinger. Wow, she's a character Yeah Carol Maras She's cake

This kind of feels It's an amazing thing Like you mention all those names These are women who are fighting in women's in May Before it was cool Before it was popular And now here you all are kind of congregating In Las Vegas to get this opportunity

It must feel like kind of a reunion But also like Yeah, you guys are the pioneers In many ways to this Do you feel that way? I do and it's interesting One thing about female fighters is like we're kind of in it together.

So whereas I think we have a different like group bonding than men, so to speak. So like we're totally cool of hanging out and then like, all right, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll punch your face tomorrow. Okay, see you. Like, it's just fine. So was there anyone out in there that you were like, eh, I hope she doesn't make it. I don't want to live in a house with her? There were a few physically larger women that looked bigger than me.

I'm not saying like Fattaweta, but just like a lot bigger than me. They was like, oh, well, fine. It might be nice not to fight here someday. But, yeah, I want to fight strong people anyway. So I'm not in this to cut corners. Sure. I just hope that, you know, regardless of who makes it, and whether it's me or not, I hope that good people are selected

and that they can represent female fighters. Well, that's my hope. No one that you dislike personally, that you didn't want to share a house with. Nope. I like mom. Well, we expect nothing less from you. You live in Japan.

You'd be okay with coming to Las Vegas and living in this house for six or so weeks? Yes. What about your job? Yes. Yeah, it's a good question. My boss gave me a week off to do this, and then if I get selected, then we'll have to have another chat. So then we'll see. I'm hoping that they can give me leave of absence.

We'll say pretty much this is really important to me. You know, this is my chance to grab my dream, to chase my dream and grab it. So I got to do this, you know, regardless. How do you feel about living in a house with men? Are you okay with that? Strange 135-pound fighters, testosterone, a bunch of psychos. What do you think of that? Yeah, that's a good question.

I'm trying not to think about it, actually. Yeah, I'm not really sure. It will be an adventure. You know, I'm sure there will be awkward moments, but we'll say, you know, I'm not, I'm in a minute to get the contract, you know, I'd like to make friends, but that's it, you know, so. Do you think it will take you off your game because you have to live with these people and fight? I mean, it's a very unique situation for a fighter, one who's been in this sport a long time, not used to that situation. Does that concern you at all?

Well, you said it. It's a unique situation, so I really have no idea. All right. Except that I train with mostly guys, so I'm sure it will be fine. You've been in this sport longer than both Kat and Rhonda. You may have, off top of my head, more fights than both of them combined. How do you feel about being coached by them? It'll be interesting, but I'm sure they have their strengths.

Kat's knees are better than mine, and Rhonda's judo is better than mine. And I'm sure they have different camps and they have different training methods, especially since I've been living in Japan and doing deputies training style. So, you know, I'll just take what I can from what they have to offer. and I'm looking forward to whatever they have to offer. You were in Las Vegas on Saturday. Did you watch the fight live at Mandalay Bay? Yes, I did.

What is it like, we were just talking about it. You know, you have a bunch of fights, they're great fights, and then you have, you know, the women's fight, Misha Tay, Katzengano, and it sounds like the crowd is just going insane for every single move. Like, they like that fight more than all the fights combined. What's it like for someone like you to witness that? When they went into the ring, I cried.

I was like, oh, there's been women in the UFC. So it was awesome. Yeah, it was really exciting. It was an exciting fight. You know, I was riveted. Like, that was the fight I wanted to see. I could have left after that, you know. Yeah.

It was good. It was a good fight. It was exciting, you know. What did you think of the stoppage? It's a tough one because, you know, Misha did be a bunch of unanswered news. But she was, you know, people have gotten, dazed and then gone in for a takedown and then recovered and done something with it

so it's kind of hard to know. You know, she fell in her hands and knees, but was it like falling on her hands and knees senseless or was it falling under hands and knees preparing to do something else? So it's kind of up to the rep at that point. I really don't want to say anything. All right, fair enough. Now, did you think you'd be in this position? I mean, do you think that women's MMA would come

to the UFC in 2013 or was this sooner or maybe even later than you thought? It's a little sooner than I thought, actually. But I knew that it would take some superstar to kind of sell everybody like Gina Carrano first and then now, Ronda Rousey and other group, Eishitae and other people fighters who have that combination of charm, strength, you know, talent, charisma. You know, that's what it needs. You know, that's kind of like how pride was, you know, they had their heroes and they had their personalities and they built stuff around that. you know, the fighters start retiring, and then now there's not so many big names, and so Japanese MMA is kind of in a bad state.

I think that's one of the causes. So, you know, now it's kind of for female fighters. It's gone up because of this, so I hope it continues like this. And I think, actually, it's really smart to make the ultimate fighter with women now, because I think it'll really help, you know, get the public support of female fighters. So do you kind of root for Rhonda? because do you think that she needs to, you know, win a few more fights and be out there, and it kind of trickles down to you guys?

Do you think that her success equals more success, more opportunities for the ladies? Good question. I think she said that she wants it not to be just about her, but about everybody. So in that regard, I'm glad that other fighters are challenging her and Misha and then winning, getting a chance to be in the spotlight too, you know, so many people can see different faces. At the same time, I used to do judo, so I really... really want to learn from Rhonda, and I really like her personality, too. So I'm kind of rooting for her, but I don't really know much about my cat, but I don't want to say anything. But

you know what I'm trying to say about that. Yeah. So if you get picked, you want to be on Ronda's team? I'll be happy with whoever's team. Can you describe the vibe in there right now? We're seeing people like kind of warming up, trying to stay loose. Is there, is it an anxious vibe? What's it like in there? Because I can't really imagine what the feeling is. Waiting sucks. Oh, okay. Like, I was going nuts.

I was like, my turn yet? We're going yet? Like, crazy. So people are just chilling out. You know, the women went first. Thank you. So we got to do our thing first. You know, now the women are waiting to be interviewed with the guys.

I think they just started their grappling part. Oh, okay. What time did you get there? I got there, like, six-ish, and the doors opened at like a little before eight. So what are you waiting for now? What's next for you here today? I'm not supposed to say. Oh, okay. You know, I'm very nosy. I'm a little hungry, you know. I mean, I use ice cream, but I don't know where can get ice cream around here.

Oh. I'll have to survive. Do you have any idea when the day ends for you? How long you're going to be there for? No. You don't know anything. But someone better get me ice cream for this day. Well, how much longer I can handle this. Well, we're pulling for you. Thank you very much. I think it would make for great. I think you and all the ladies you mentioned, Tara and Shana, I mean, I think it would be very apropos if you guys make it. Would they let you bring that fan in the house?

I don't know. That's kind of an outside object. Well, I don't know. I can probably make one on paper. I know that let you bring paper in. That is true. And have they given you a timeline as to when you'll find out? I'm not asking you if you made it or did you know how long you'll have to wait?

I think I read the website and it said like by the end of the day you find out Oh wow you'll find out today I think don't put me on that Whoa well that's exciting I hope so All right well we'll stay tuned She's on she's on Twitter of course At Roxy Fighter

And also you still do a you still do a MySpace blog Is that accurate? No I left I go my space but I have a blog on my website Roxanne modifery.net Yes So I update that very frequently lots of pictures cool stuff, geeky stuff, fighting stuff, Japanese stuff. That's how...

I always... Links on my blog, I mean, on Twitter and Facebook and stuff. That's how I found out that you were trying out for the show. I love your blogs. They're great. Thank you. And I know you inquired, maybe we'll do a swap. You hooked me up with a fan.

I'll give you a Halwani nose shirt. What do you think? I didn't realize you didn't have a fan yet. All right, I'm going to send you a care package. Do you have a one nose shirt? I really want a Helwani nose shirt. I have one with your name on it. Hopefully in your UFC debut, you can rock it.

We'll see. Roxanne, I appreciate it. Good luck to you. We're pulling for you. Thank you very much. I know it's kind of a tense time, so I appreciate you stopping by and giving us a few minutes of your time.

This is my tense face. Yes, I sense it. But hey, we only talk to one person trying out today, and, you know, that should be, at least for us, it was great that you stopped by. And we thank the UFC. Thank them as well for allowing you to jump on their computer there and doing the interview with us.

We really appreciate it. Thank you very much. All right. is Roxanne Modifery trying out for the Ultimate Fighter season 18 in Las Vegas right now, eight men, eight women coming to a reality show near you. Okay. Let's finish up the questions. Then we'll go to the faces.

Then we'll end off with Rick's picks. Sounds good. Right before we left the questions, we were talking about refereeing, right? Am I correct? Well, I wanted to get your take. Should it have been illegal or were you okay with the stoppage? Not the stoppage, but, you know, He clearly hit him in back of the head.

Sure. But it happened as he was going down. Ref was a little late to get in there. Should he be dequeed or are you okay with the fact that he was already out? You know, it happens. I think he should not be decued. I'm okay with that being the way it works. Because if the referee had stopped him before that, the illegal blows wouldn't have occurred.

Now, obviously, I'm not saying that's free reign to just drop illegal blows whenever you want. But intent is important. And obviously he wasn't trying to land illegal shots. He had knocked him out already with legal shots. And I think that that was very clear. And that's what makes me okay with it. It was very clear that the shots that he landed to knock him out were legal, and his intent wasn't to land those illegal shots.

So I'm okay with it standing as a win, and I think he deserves it. Yeah, it's a tough one. I kind of think, like, you know, what if someone's, you know, kicking someone, and then the guy falls and he accidentally kicks him, you know, below the belt? What happens? I don't know. Tough one. Tough one. All right, let's move along. Hold on one second. There we are. Our next question comes from Matt Dumk or Dumke. What do you make of John Jones? What do you make of John Jones' ability to promote a fight? During the tough finale interview, John appeared disinterested.

Oh, man. This one surprised me because I said afterwards that that was, that's the interview that got me interested or re-interested in this fight, maybe even just interested, to be honest. That was one of John Jones's best interviews. No nonsense. At that point, he is sick and tired of Chelle Sondon. That's what he was saying. Chale was, you know, being chale, he was doing his thing. John wanted nothing to do with him. Couldn't even look at him in the eye, in the eyes. He was, you know, kind of swinging his arms, didn't want to hear anything that he was saying, didn't want to interact with him, didn't want to play along. I loved it. What I had a problem with was at the beginning of all this,

you know, they were doing media tours together, they were joking together, they were on the ultimate fighter, all that stuff. And it kind of ruined it. Because remember, when this fight happened, it was because of Chale calling him out, criticizing him, all this stuff, the tweets, you know, there was tension there,

and I felt like some of it was lost. That interview got me right back into it, and I couldn't believe so many people were saying there was a horrible interview, that it was awkward. No, it was great. It was brilliant. It was fascinating to watch

And that's what fighting is all about Now I want to see How much does John Jones Truly hate Chale Sondon? How uncomfortable is John Jones around Chale Sondon And what's he going to do To him come April 27th?

I thought it was great I thought it was one of John's best interviews And that is To me, that's promoting a fight That's promoting a fight genuinely You don't like him You want to beat him up You don't want to look at him or talk to him

Our next question comes from Josh Kuypers in the upcoming UFC on Fox 8, Strike Force versus UFC, which organization will come away with the most wins? Well, first off, it's UFC on Fox 7. Yes. All right, well, we've got Benson Gill, Frank, Mir, Cormier, Nate Diaz, Josh Thompson, Matt Brown,

Jordan, me, and those are four fights. What else we have as far as? We've got Larkin, Carmon, Mazvedel Means, Dillon, bowling, and Jokwani Starks Romero so that's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 8 fights.

Based on that, I won't tell you my picks, but I'll tell you, and that one, that one, 1, 2, I could see it, honestly, I could see it being 4-4. What about you? Can you read them off one by one, and then I'll give a pick.

Benson Melendez. Benson. Cormier. Cormier, so that's one to one. Diaz, Thompson. Thompson. Dang. Matt Brown,

Jordan Mian. Meen. So that's three to one right now? Yep. Strike Force. Yep. Mazvedal means. Mazvedal.

Four to one. All right, so they're kind of running away with it. Okay. Whoa, well, let's see. Carmel Larkin. Larkin. Dang. So five to one.

Starks Romero. I think I'm going to go with Romero. Okay. That's 6 to 1. And Enjokwani bowling. Interesting one, 155 debut. I'm going to go with Anthony. So that's one of the UFC's favorite.

So 6 to 2 for Strike Force? Yeah, that might change, but that's my gut feeling on those right now, yeah. All right. Well, there you have it. It's going to be fun. I like it. I wish every fight was Strike Force for the UFC. I could see 4-4.

But you won't say which four, correct? No, you know why? Because then I get crap for it. It's just not worth it. Okay, we're moving on to the next one. Ah, geez. The next one comes from Champ Tran. Who has a better chance at a title shot? Cormier or Josh Thompson?

Well, clearly, we think that you both have. You think that both of them have a chance. Who has a better chance? I'm going to say Cormier. I agree with that. Less people in the division, 155 stacked. And I don't know. You know, I just, the problem is, where will it be?

205 heavyweight? I think if he wins this fight, he kind of has his choice. It's going to be very interesting to see what Kormier does, but I'll go with Kormier. I agree. Thomas Clark, ask our next question. Which fighter stands a better chance of dethroning the champion Chris Widman or Johnny Hendricks? Gosh, these are tough. Wideman?

I think I'm going to go Hendricks. You know what? Yeah. I don't know. I think they both have great chances. I think they're both the best, the best threat, the biggest threat to the champion in a very long time. So it was the biggest threat. The fact that this is even a question, it means that we're in a good place.

Very good place. For both those divisions right now. I'm going to go with, I'm going to with Wyman just for kicks. Your boyfriend. Yeah. This is our last question. Margarito Roman Jr. who should Demi and Maya fight?

Looks like all the top guys are booked. You know, I was actually trying to figure this out myself because they announced Safedine versus Lawler, they announced Jake Ellenberger versus Roy McDonald, and I can't really think of anyone. The only two that come to mind as far as in the top ten, I really thought that he was going to fight Safedin. I thought that made the most sense.

Only two that I could think of, Martin Catman, which I don't really think makes a lot of sense, or Condit, who's coming off two losses, I don't think that makes a lot of sense. Of course, those two losses were against two of the best in, you know, GSP and Johnny Hendrix. If I had to guess right now, unless there's some secret entry we don't know about, I'm going to say Carlos Condit. I like that.

But I thought he was going to fight Safferty. I thought that made the most sense. He was asking for it. He wanted it. Just made, I don't know. It was surprising that they gave Loller Saffodine. We'll wait and see. Some good questions today.

I forgot to mention that we have one more Halwani No shirt here in studio to giveaway. And I thought the last two were particularly good. You want to go with the Wyman the Wyman-Hendricks one? That sounds good. We'll be in touch. All right. Congratulations. That was a tough one. I still don't know what the answer is.

Weidman has a very good chance. They fight in July. We don't know when Hendricks-GSP is. They're fighting later on this year. Two very good opponents, but I think New York-Rick said the best we're in a very good spot. It's interesting. Big threats. You want to do these mirror faces?

Yes, let's do the mirror faces. I was just wondering, is there an update on the Boston situation? I believe so. Give me one second to get the info. Okay. Just in case someone's listening overseas or something. In a second, we'll look at your Frank Mereface submissions. Thank you very much to Scott for stopping by and giving those to us.

They're amazing. What do you got? No update in terms of the people harmed or anything like that, but there was a fire in the JFK library, and they found an explosive that was undettonated. So obviously it shows the coordination of an attack, but nothing else in terms of casualties or anything like that. All right.

All right. Thanks, man. What do we got here? We got good ones? Yeah, we've got a lot. I actually had to cut some out this time. That's how many we got. That's good.

Good. I like that. Now, at stake, everyone knows that great Benson-Henderson drawing. Let me show it one more time. All right. Show it one more time. Here we are. Scott Cohn, fantastic artist, as you can see. That's amazing. It's a great picture, and he deserves some love. All right, what do we got? Our first one. Is that an actual... What is that? Is that John Jones?

Is that John Jones? No, that's our friend Darnell. It actually looks like a John... It looks like a Photoshop of John Jones. Like in a ghost... No, am I wrong? No comment here, but that's Darnell. Okay. Well, here I see.

I don't really think he looks much like John Jones. I think he looks exactly like John Jones. Okay. That's the Brock Lesnar Frank Meier. We've got a few of the Photoshop variety. We'll see about that. All right, what else we got? Okay.

Oh. Let me zoom out a little bit so we get the full head there. Oh, okay. Notice no motorcycle, cars are safe. That's a good comment. But I also like that he has the, huh? Like the... Yeah.

Like, I don't really... Like, really... Yeah. That's perfect. The really, really face? Yeah. Like, come on. This is a stupid question you're asking.

So that's a good one. Okay. Now here we've got a throwback to the Lesnar Mere. That's pretty amazing. By the way, do you think he... That's what I'd love to know. There's a few of these, and I'm not sure that they were made for this show. I can't tell.

But that's impressive. But it's very good. Okay. Let me zoom out. That's the classic Danny Castillo. This is the real mirror face. Yeah. We got a real contender.

Yeah, but I don't think he nailed it. Oh, don't worry. There's plenty of hats with the confused look. Okay. Like, really? Here's another. Okay, well, the other guy beats him just because he had the blood. Okay.

Right. This guy. Wow, he actually has a very similar toque. Yeah. We're getting warm. And he claims this was his idea from last week. I believe that's correct, actually. I did check Twitter.

And there was one suggestion for Benson Henderson, and there was one for Frank Mear, and I believe that Josh was the one. Josh Carey. Congratulations. Okay. But I'm not sure if you won. Oh, look at this.

The many faces of. At work again, this time with the Frank Mear face, notice that I haven't even tweeted since the last contest. This is Ruben Vera. I like his top one. Oh, he did old school Frank Meir. Yeah. I think that this might be my leader so far.

Really? Okay. I think this one or the blood on the face. You can see the corner of the mouth is the only bit that moved. He's so unamused. Yeah, he's like, really? Please. Wow. Did Bas Rune do a Frank Mere face? I don't know if he was doing a Frank Mere face, but he definitely incorporated...

Pass Rune. A nice comparison shot. Norty designs. Wow. It's quite the... beard as well. Impressive. Yeah.

All right, what else? Oh, I like this one. This is not the classic mirror, but this is a very good... Honestly, that's a really good Frank Beer face. I mean, he picked a... I've seen Mirror make that face many times. I don't know. You know, it's just one of those things.

So is this your front runner? I'll put those three at the top right now. Okay. Let's zoom in. That one is kind of like... What are you looking at? Like, I don't know. It's interesting.

Not feeling it, huh? The mouth is very key here, and I don't think Joshua Guthrie nailed the mouth. Okay. Fair enough. Now, this is a different mirror face. Old school mirror. Very old school. Very old school.

Looks like a welterweight. It looks like Diego Sanchez. I do appreciate it, but it's not the classic Frank Mear face. Completely agree. Wow. Holy moly. Now, we've got a few of these. which I think are done well.

Very, very artistic. Very artistic, black and white. But that's not the Frank Mir face. It's a copy of a Frank Mir face, but it's not what you think of when you think of the Frank Mir face, right? Sure. You know, it's a nice try right here,

A.J. Rodriguez, but the mouth is key, and I don't think he nailed the mouth. I think he did. I think it's so subtle that you can't even tell. It's not subtle enough. if you know what I'm saying. Okay. Fair enough.

Wow. That actually looks like Frank Mear. I agree. This is the throwback to the other face. Dan Mick. McVee. McVee.

I think he has another submission. Let me see. Oh. Here he is with the hat. It actually looks like Frank Mir. Gosh, these are tough. I know you're always partial to the people who look alike. I know.

Yeah, it's true. All right. What else you got? Whoa. where is this picture from I don't know everyone seems to like it it's funny that people are using that one I thought they'd all be copying

the Danny Castillo one yeah we got we got a lot of these but we also got quite a few hats wool hat all right what else pictures that one's that you know that mouth is better this one's very good in my opinion

gosh it's very subtle and he didn't dress it up with a you know but it's, I like it. Yeah. Gosh, I don't know what I'm going to do here. All right, what else we got? I can tell it already. You're not feeling it.

No, not feeling it. But I appreciate it. And his name is Beard Hero Ben. He did two mirror faces. Neither of them, the classic. But it looks like he's like in a library or something. The one on the bottom is just ridiculous. How do you find that picture?

I don't know. He says he Googled it. Top pick is from my Twitter. Mears Twitter. Bottom is where Googling Frank Mearface gets you. Oh, that's maybe his Twitter profile. The top one. Maybe.

Okay, what else? I'm waiting for a home run. Whoa. Kids. Getting the kids involved. Wyoming Nation. I think this wins. This is the home run. That's incredible. Look at the daughter. The daughter nailed it. The daughter did the best one.

The daughter nailed it. The daughter The Tailed it. They got the mouth exactly. Let's go through the rest of these. But I agree. Okay. That's number one.

Joshua Heiser. Oh, that guy's a long time fan of the show. Yes. We talked to him before, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, this one's really good, but I don't know if this was made for our show. That's the thing. That's incredible.

What does it say quit eating? My goddamn strawberries. That's pretty funny. Santa Brode. Famous internet meme. Is it? Yeah, this picture of Frank Meir with quit eating my goddamn strawberries.

Oh, I never saw that. But I appreciate this one greatly. It's just that I don't know if this was made for us. Yeah. Jamie Varner. I see it a little bit. Yeah, it's too much. Too much.

Yeah. Oh, my man Lee was tweeting me a lot this morning about this. I appreciate that he's got the picture you're holding it up. I'm not sure. It's a tilt of the head. It's a tilt of the mouth. I'm not sure if he nailed it. These are the last two.

These are from our buddy Sean. who never fails to deliver. Missing. Horseshoe last scene at UFC 100. If found, please return to... Now, he also goes with a reference, which is great. What's the horseshoe? Brock Lesnar said that Frank Mier had a horseshoe.

Oh, my God. That is unbelievable. This guy never disappoints. Never. Never disappoints. He has one more, too. He's doing the Frank Mere face, and at the bottom, Jackson's teammate,

John Dodson. Oh, he actually gets it very well. Sean wins all the intonats, but I don't think he wins the Frank Mirace. Jax. I love this guy. This guy's great. Amazing. So that's it?

I'm thinking our friend Joshua Heiser and his lovely children. Yeah, they win. Congratulations. You win the Benson-Henderson drawing. Yeah, one more time. Twitter.com slash Scott underscore cone underscore art. C-O-H-N.

Scott cone.blogspot.com and Facebook.com slash scott.combe. And we appreciate everyone submitting them. We'll have more. It seems like people are really liking this. So thank you very much. And the good news is we have three more of those.

So if you didn't win this week, there's always next week. All right. Let's finish up. We got the questions out of the way. We got the Frank Mier faces out of the way. No controversy thus far this week, so it sounds like we're not going to make it on the mainstream news unless New York Rick does something crazy. What do you got? Rick's picks, how'd you do on the weekend? Just an update on the Boston Marathon thing. Okay. We have the numbers reported right now are 22 wounded and two dead. Unfortunately. And possibly a third explosion. A new one? Yes. Wow. This is turning pretty. horrific. Yeah, let's get going. And, you know, you kind of feel weird even talking about

MMA at this point. So we certainly don't begrudge you if you stop listening or want to listen later or anything like that. I'd certainly be watching the news right now. But let's finish up the show. And again, certainly our hearts and prayers are with everyone that's involved in this. This is horrible. And I'm going to read up about it the second we finish. So let's finish up here. Well said. Okay. So last week, or rather this weekend, I only put down one bet. It was Misha Tate parlayed with Uriah Faber. And unfortunately, Misha Tate couldn't come through. She lost to Kat Zengano. So I lost the 25 that I bet on that. And I'm down to around 115 now. Entering the home stretch. We've got two events left. Two events. Two UFC events. Correct. Yeah.

So let's look at this card. this weekend. Benson Henderson versus Gilbert Melendez, the main event. Benson is a minus 270 favorite, and Melendez is plus 230. My initial reaction is that I actually think there's some value on Henderson here. I don't think that Gilbert has anything that he can really bring to Benson that

is going to be something he hasn't either seen before or doesn't do better. Gilbert's great at, you know, at boxing, being very aggressive and combining that with his takedowns, which he's very good at. But that said, Benson is, in my opinion, slightly better in those areas. So I don't see Gilbert being able to do much to Benson.

I think that Benson's going to win rather easily, and I do see some value there at minus 270 for Benson Henderson. Wow. You usually don't go that far into the 200s and things like that. Yeah, but I, I, I, really think that Benson has an advantage in almost every single area for this fight. And his last fight was one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen in MMA, just the way he completely dismantled Nate Diaz.

So I'm heavy on Benson for this one. All right. Next one, Daniel Cormier and Frank Meir. Cormier's a minus 430 favorite, and Frank Mir is plus 345. Holy moly. Now, I've been banging the Cormier drum for a lot. long time here. And I do think that Kormier is going to win this fight, and I don't think it's going to be all that competitive. But I think that minus 430 is an absurd line for somebody who hasn't

fought in the UFC yet. Now, granted, he's faced, you know, some very high-level competition and looked very impressive doing it. But I just think that you can't give a guy who hasn't fought in the octagon that big advantage on the betting line against a guy who's fought an octagon for this long. Frank Mir. And the other thing is, Frank Mir's resume speaks for itself. He submitted, or rather didn't submit because Big Nag didn't tap. He submitted Big Nag and knocked out Big Nag. If you can claim that on your resume, there's nothing else that needs to be said. And the list of fighters he's beaten goes on and on. So I think that this line is a little off, but I will not be betting on Frank Mir here just because I'm so confident in Cormier. And I think that he's going to win. But I don't like the value on Cormier here. But my pick is obviously Cormier.

I think that he's going to prove himself to be an elite heavyweight, if not the best. I say he's the best heavyweight in the world, actually. Wow. Better than Cain? In my opinion, yes. I'd love to see that fight. So that's that fight, but I'm completely staying away from it unless there's some kind of prop that I like in favor of Cormier.

Okay. Now, as I previewed earlier, I think that Josh Thompson is going to be Nate Diaz. Wow. Nate Diaz is a minus 200 favorite. Thompson is plus 170. You're all over this. I'm going to be on Thompson because I think that while Diaz, and remember that I pick

Diaz against Henderson, while I think that Diaz has the advantage in the stand-up, I think that Thompson's going to use his takedowns and his wrestling to control this fight. I think he's going to stand long enough that it's going to be a competitive fight. Nate's going to get his opportunities. but I think that Thompson's just going to mix the game up a little better and be able to take Diaz down when he needs to, and I think that that's going to win him this fight. Now, it's going to be competitive, as I said,

because he's going to stand long enough for Diaz to get his chances, but I think that Thompson's going to edge him out in the end. Wow. I haven't seen a lot of people pick Thompson. I'm curious to see how healthy is. Health has always been an issue for him. That's a factor that I have to consider, but at this point I'm on Thompson. All right.

Those are the only ones with betting odds for right now. No, there's no odds out for that. But I'll talk about that fight. I'm a very big fan of Jordan Mian and Matt Brown, actually. I think that this is one of the best fights of the year. And I think that in the end, Mian's going to pull it out. Brown's going to try and make it dirty. He's going to try and take him down, box with him.

A Matt Brown fight goes everywhere, and he's talented everywhere. But I just think that Mien's so good as he showed getting out of the submission from Dan Miller, that his ground game isn't a weakness, as strong as his stand-up is. So I think that he's going to be able to withstand Brown's aggression, and eventually I think he might even finish him. I think that Jordan Mian is one of the top prospects in MMA and extremely talented, and I think that he's going to win.

So I'd be very interested to see the betting line on this one. I wouldn't be surprised if it was close because Brown is on such a role right now, and he is such a good fighter. But I'm on me in for this one. All right. Mendez Elkins. I like Mendez here. I think he's going to be a big favorite, even though Elkins has a very, very impressive resume.

I think that Mendez is rightfully going to be a big favorite, and I probably won't play it if it turns out that way. Now, if the fight is close, I'm going to be on Mendez, for sure. I think that's an interesting fight, especially considering the fact that Alkins is coming off a win not too long ago, but he didn't really fight all that long. So I don't think that'll be a huge factor. Huge fight for him. He could take a real big step at 145, but I still think Mendez is maybe two or three at 145. I don't think he gets a lot of love.

It's like when you lose to the champion, all of a sudden you fall. Even in the UFC rankings, Chal Sun is like eight or nine at middleweight. How does that make any sense? Yeah, but I mean, rightfully so. Chad Mendes is a stud. Yeah. I'm going to be on Mendes, but I got to see the line. I hope his goats okay.

Next fight, let's see, we got Carman and Lorenz Larkin. As I said, I was favoring Larkin. I don't know who's going to be the betting favorite here. I wouldn't be surprised if it was close. Similarly, athletic. You know what? Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, Carman might try and take this to the ground.

Hmm. Oh, you may change your pick. I may change to Francis on this one. Wow. I'm going to wait for the betting line to come out before I declare one way or the other. But if Francis gets this to the ground, it could be a problem for Lorenz. But I think standing up Lorenz is going to take this fight. So I'm going to be interested to see the betting line on this one.

And this one's ripe for prop bets as well. So that's going to be interesting. All right. I'll do the rest on Twitter. Nothing you feel strongly about. There are just so many big names on this card. It's a great card. I can't even just break down every single one.

No, I know. It is loaded. The Facebook prelims, they begin at around 4 p.m. Eastern. Clifford Starks versus Yuel Romero. I actually spoke to Romero last week. He hasn't fought since his phageal loss since Strike Force had neck surgery. So looking forward to seeing him back. Roger Bowling versus Anthony and Joe Coani.

T.J. Dillishaw versus. Hugo Viana. That's just the Facebook prelims. Then on FX, we've got Darren Elkins versus Chad Mendez, Francis Carman, versus Lorenz Larkin, Miles Jury, versus Ramsey Nidjim, George Mosvedal, Jorge, I should say, versus Tim Means. I asked him. He likes to be called Jorge. That's actually he said he'll go with both, but Jorge is what it really should be. Against Tim Means. Remember Tim Means,

suffered a concussion, hit his head in the sauna 24 hours before his fight, at UFC on Fox 5. He returns. And Joseph Benevides versus Darren Uyeye Noyama. And then main card, Brown, Mian, Diaz, Thompson, Mir, Cormier, Henderson, Melendez. That's UFC on Fox 7. Arguably their best one. If you haven't seen Road to the Octagon, we have it on MMAfighting.com right now, that was one of their best ones. I thought they did a great job with that.

Anything else? That's it. All right. You can hit my music, Mike. well again it feels a little weird talking about MMA kind of seeing some of this stuff here and it's heartbreaking, horrible

it just seems like one tragedy after the next these days and not sure about the specifics or anything like that but again our prayers go out to those affected and hopefully this story doesn't get even worse so everyone in Boston

hope you're safe and and hopefully we don't get even more bad news regarding the situation over in Boston and the Boston Marathon. Today I want to thank everyone who stopped by. I want to thank everyone who sent in tweets, pictures, questions.

We really appreciate the interaction and the support. It's great each and every week. I want to thank Kelvin Gaslam for stopping by. Congratulations to him on his big win on Saturday night, the winner of the 17th season of the ultimate fighter, the youngest winner, to boot. Looking forward to what he does. Katzengano, congratulations.

to her and good luck as you prepare for ronda rousey and get ready to be a coach on the ultimate fighter season 18 john crotch looking forward to that fight against benson henderson good to give him some some rub some time in the sun i should say some attention he deserves it most definitely cm punk as he mentioned check him out on w wm monday night raw tonight at 9 p m p.m eastern i should say on u.sa network always appreciate his insight you can tell he is a huge fan it's a lot of fun to hear and listen to. Lorenz Larkin, good luck to him and his UFC debut on Saturday. And Tommy Tohold, congratulations on all your success.

Good luck. Also, Ulysses Gomez, Roxanne Madaferi. Good luck to them. We really appreciate it next week. Same time and place. We'll see you then. Thank you so much. Peace.

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